St. Mary's beacon., 1857-09-10

szseFU ~ pem-
upon the plain Of Saint Mary's on the
evening of the 1St Of May, 1850, pc
destrian traveller was pursuing his way
to The city by The road which. debouch-
ing into The PLAIN around the flank of the
"heights, terminated at the State-bouSe
square. This road being nothing more
or less than suburban prolongation OF
the avenue, traversing the plain in its
broadest part and stretching more than
mile east and west, was shaded bv for
rest trees which our colonial ancestors
permitted to remain TO beautify and
adorn what they presumed would IN the
course OF time be the central "boule-
ward" of their city, when the entire plain
would be covered by dense mass Of
houses and a forrest of masts would arise
from the waters which penInsulated it.
The appearance of the traveller was
that of toll, WEAKNESS and poverty. His
threadbare clothes were solled and ira
vel->tained. His grey beard was matted
with perspiration and dust His short
cropped hair showed the full length and
breadth of very short bull neck con-
Meeting large head with his very square
and broad shoulders, indicative of great
personal strength. His worn broad
leafed hat fell limpidly and s!oughingly
over his face, but not sufficiently so as
I TO conceal a coarse sensual mouth, bloat-
ed cheeks and carbuncleI nose. At the
first glance he would have been taken
for one of those sensual, senseleSs ine-
briates Just recovering from the effects
of one carovse TO ener with more zest
iuto another; but large blue eye aud
fine development of the forehead.
would, on second glance, show that the
intellectual and visionary sometimes
] struggled with, and occasionally triusuPh-
4 ed over, the inherent beastiaIIty winch
predominated and shed its blighting In
fluence up,n his life, and that the turbid
whirlpool of his history sometimes
brought 10 the surface Of every day lift
waits, aatsom and jetsam, treasures from
an argosy wrecked by one great be-
setting sin. ..,.s. ....s. i
The question may be asked, why dc
such men appear in historys Why are
they agents in cause so contradictory
TO the coarse and mean vices of every.
day life? The historian will tell US, tha
: those Neros, those Caligulas, those Phil.
ips the Cd, those Richards the Sd. are
Sent.into the world that the fine powers
OF noble mind may em5iazon in hlsto.
rvs record the thousand vices of human
weakness; that earth's imperial lord:
E may be grand in their baseness; tina
T creations pride may blush for creation
shame.
I: Thus it was that John Coade-for il
is he who is entering the plain of Sain
Mary 's-never appears in the colonia
annals of Maryland but as the leader o
some insurrectionary emeate or legisla
ture sedItion, which others planned ant
. he executed aud they reaped the reward
D Though the leader in the Protestant re
volution of 1859, in moving and concen
trating the insurgent elements in th,
march and assault upon Saint Mary's
for which he was eminently qualified By
his personal prowess and rude eloquence
vet he was nullifed in the convention
> which constituted the provisory govern
!. ment of The province until the arrival o
!, Sir Lyonel Copley by the legislative tao
of FendalI, to whom Goa les intemper
: ate habits ga, amadxantage a
r tiV
; ID
: govern0fsh1pW -, one as tn
: reward Of reV0l0lIonary triumph in th'
.k6eld, the olher for long years Of civil ser
lslces aud political martyrdom. Wlllisu
the Sd. to avoid the difficulty of clloosin:
, between these two rivals in the unset
tied political and religious condition o
. the province, sent over Sir Lyonel Cop.
LEY. Coade disappeared from the pio
vince, aud Nas on this day returning {,
claim from the privy council. TO whom
he had been referred, and which was t.
sis on the morrow. aratifcation Of con.
| fiscatory grant which he haa receivee
from the provisory government Of the
| preceding year. era
| Coade advanced along The PARALLEL.
ogram like avenue, which bisected the
plain of Saint Mary's. with that regular
cadencedtramp 81 peculiar TO persons oi
strong locomotive systems. aud who
walk a great deal. When he reached
the gate Of the park wall which opened
: t1tO tgfe 4&WH tu front % ANG GAStke, Ut
stopped abruptly and gaxed upon the
scene with the ar Of a man recalling re-
miniscences rather than one who has
seen it for the first time. i. The windows
along the front facade of The castle were
: lighted up and threw their long pencils
of light upon the lawn. Saint John q
! creek, IN the rear Of the castle. gEttereG
like a steel mirror-spring had burst forth
in all its glory. TIE air was laden with
the peculiar aroma Of spring fiowers and