The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1874-04-24


gone since had seen them last. One Of
these is what is now called Mount Vernon
Place, but which, in the days of my boy
hood, was plain Edwards Woods"
Altho' / imagine there is still room on
my check for Father Time to throw up a
few more burrows and a lock here and
there upon my head that has not been
bleached by the frost of passing years,
| was very nearly grown when Washington
Monument, then unfinished, stood out
solitary and alone upon the summit OF the
bill between the city and the woods. 1t
was upon grassy eminence, where hun
dreds Of boys loved to wander and sport
on pleasant Sabbath afternoons. The for
est of old oaks nearly then surrounded the
Howard mansion, where l imagine many
an Indian campfire had blaZed, and
through the recesses of which many a war
whoop had broken its stiffness. l looked
to see if | could designate the spot where
the old Howard house stood, but the archi-
tectural splendors around bewildered me,
and was stranger upon the ground up
on which had trodden thousand times
before, within the memory of many whose
boards have not yet turned gray, particu-
larly as we live in an age when there are
so many cosmetics for perpetuating the
"hue of the ravens wing"
Mount Vernon Place now, that was, so
few years ago, naked hill, is perhaps, the
prettiest part of the city, with its palatial
private residences and gorgeous public
buildings. / could but think, while stand
ing near the Monument and looking at the
splendid edifices near it, il Francis Asbury
and the plain old contemporaries who
planted Methodism in that city could re-
turn and behold the Church Of their de-
nomination on the opposite corner, they
would think that pride had usurped the
throne of humanity, and that fashion had
become the main artery in the system that
had been born Of their simple piety and
repugnance to outward adornings. In my
opinion, such beautiful edifces erected to
the honor of Him whose bountiful hand
supplies all our means and daily recurring
wants, is all right and proper, but not SO,
imagine, would think the founders of the
order who We'd with Penn and his COM
peers in their severe simplicity and con-
slant dread of worldly innovations.
Druid Hill Park, the place for the COM
mon recreation of the people Of Baltimore,
possesses wonderful natural beauties, and is
being most deliberately as well as elegantly
ornamentcd. Its magnificent forests, grassy
lawns and mirror-lke lakes, give variety
and relief that few Parks possess, and can
not fail to suit all sorts of tastes and fancies.
While it may at present be less artistic than
Central Park in New York, and far less ex-
tensiye than Paramount Park in Philadel-
phia, it will be equal to the one in its orna-
mentation, and already surpasses the other
in its natural advantages. MI Clark and
myself during our visit to this Park, had the
pleasure of forming the acquaintance of
Capt. Castle, Superintendent ofthe grounds,
who was particularly kind in giving us
such information as we sought, and who
put himself to some trouble to supply Mr..
Clark with number of gold fish from one
of the lakes, with suitable vessel to carry
them all the way to North Carolina, where
l am gratified to learn they safely landed,
and are now full of life and sprightliness.
1t affords me pleasure to thus speak of the
marked kindness Of Capt. Castle, as my ex,
perience has taught me that Superinten-
dents of most places of indiscriminate re.
sort, are unduly dignified and arrogant.
He is a Baltimorean and that is explana-
ton enough for me.
we visited other places OF interest, butl
have already arrived at my usual limit,
and must dcsist Before closing, however,
must express my qualification at meeting
with three of the natives of Hartford while
in the city. only one of whom still resides
there. l allude to Mr.. John F. McJilton,
Col. VIM. P. Maulsby and DR.. w. w. Vir-
din. The first two l knew in boyhood,
and was more than happy even for few
moments converse after u separation OF
nearly half century. l had pleasant
memories ofboth, for they are not unknown
far beyond the limit of the good old State
in which their lives have been spent; and
had for sometime been acquainted with
DR.. Virdin, through the papers, as an active
and efficient Superintendent of Public Ed
ucation in Hartford, and to whom Mr..
Clark and myself are indebted for kind
and disinterested attentions.
Respectfully, G. B. G.
ABINGDON, VA, April, 1874.