10 HISTORICAL SKETCH

population had, in its tardy advance, only reached 13, 503
souls; but its ratio of increase was not long destined to re-
main at this snail like pace; for although we have been four
times visited with that dreadful scourge of humanity, the
yellow fever, between that period and the year 1800, and in
that year also, our population had increased to 26, 614, in
1810 to 35, 563, in 1820 to 62, 738, and in 1830 to 80, 622.

In 1796 the city was chartered, and henceforth was go-
verned by a Mayor and Council.

Thus it is evident that whatever had retarded our growth
in population prior to the year 1790, had ceased to operate,
and that our march was then onward.

The causes which favorably influenced our future growth
may not here be an unprofitable inquiry. The seeds of the
revolution, which in 1791 were sown in France had been
matured into life by those discontented and restless spirits
which are to be found in all countries, and without entertain-
ing any definite ideas of rational freedom, the cry of "liberty"
had been raised by men who had no precise object in view,
as was amply proved by the subsequent indiscriminate
slaughter of the aged and the young of all sexes and con-
ditions—and by the sentencing the virtuous and the good to
the same fate with the vicious and the depraved. Such
butchery—such deluging of streets with human blood, the
dissemination of the odious system of morals, and the utter
prostration of religion as marked the mad career of the mad
actors in this nefarious crusade against human life, soon
alarmed the other powers of Europe, and France, revolution-
ary France found them as with one arm rallied against her.
The whole continent at war with her, and France herself
convulsed with a revolution which uprooted all that was holy
in the sight of God or man—deluded her territory with its
best blood, and suspended the industry of the artizan and
the labors of the husbandman In this state of affairs at
Home, the brutal advocates of the Guillotine, the Robbes-
pieres. the Marats and the Dantons, ana those other sanguin-
ary directors of the whirlwind, which was sweeping every
thing righteous and good to destruction and ruin, at home,
instigated the slaves of St Domingo to turn their knives
against the lives of their masters. "Liberty and equality"—'
words which are thrice hallowed in the sight of rational free-
dom, were rendered odious by those demons in human
shape, who perverted them to purposes from which truth,
honor, justice and humanity, shrink away in horror and dis-
gust. But the midst of ail this deadly strife—out of the
very elements of evil, good ensued to us. The whole conti-
nent of Europe in arms; America became its carriers, —and
Baltimore in the rivalry which ensued for the rich boon,
which was thus presented, became a successful and most for-
tunate competitor. Our clippers—those winged messengers
of commerce, whose speed have given to our shipwrights an
enviable name in every clime—were seen whitening the en-
tire coast of France—and the insurrectionary West India
colonies were alike the objects of their enterprise.