A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF BALTIMORE. 13

about three and a half miles from north to south, and four and a half from east
to west. The City Court was organized this year, and Nicholas Brice was
appointed chief Judge. In March, 1817, St. Paul's church was consecrated
and the old church taken down. In June, 1817, President Monroe visited the
city and was invited to a public dinner, which he declined. In 1818, a society
was formed to induce the industrious to save a portion of their earnings, which
was afterwards incorporated as the " Savings Bank." The city was now
divided into twelve wards. In 1819, Gen. Jackson visited the city, and re-
ceived and answered an address from the city authorities. This year was
marked by great distress, arising from the appearance of the yellow fever at
the Point, the failure of the City Bank, and the fall in the price of flour and
tobacco in foreign markets. By the census of 1820, the population of the city
Jwas ascertained to be 62,738 ; being an increase of 16,183, in ten years, and
of 49,235, since 1790.

On the 31st of May, 1821, the Cathedral, the building of which had been
begun in 1806, suspended during the war, and re-commenced in 1817, was
consecrated. The form is that of a. cross; its length, 166 feet; breadth, 77
feet; and across the transept, 115 feet. It yet wants the portico on the
western front; but through the exertions of an association formed for the pur-
pose, it has been surrounded by a handsome iron railing, and a sexton's lodge
has been erected. In November of this year, a committee of gentlemen from
Maryland and Pennsylvania, examined the Susquehanna, with a view to the
removal of obstructions in the navigation. In the beginning of 1822, the small
pox prevailed to a considerable extent. The city and county purchased the
present location of the Alms House. In December, 1823, at a great meeting
held at the Exchange, on the subject of canals, the majority decided in favor
of the Susquehanna, in preference to the Potomac. In April, 1824, the steam-
boat Eagle, plying between Baltimore and Annapolis, burst her boiler; the
first fatal accident of the kind on the waters of the Chesapeake. In October,
Gen. La Fayette visited the city, and was received with the utmost enthusiasm.
in January, 1825, he returned and partook of a splendid dinner, offered him
by the fraternity of Masons.

In February, 1825, a bill passed the House of Delegates, allowing the city
four delegates, but met with opposition in the Senate. On July 26th, 1826,
a public funeral procession took place, and a funeral oration was delivered by
Gen. Smith, in honor of Adams and Jefferson, recently deceased. In March,
1827, Wm. Patterson, Esq., presented to the city, two squares of ground, on
Hampstead Hill, for a public walk. On the 31st of the same month the book
of subscriptions to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was closed. The amount
subscribed, in the city alone, was over four millions of dollars. On the 4th
of July, 1828, the first or coiner stone of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
was laid by the venerable Charles Carroll, and a grand civic procession was
formed on the occasion. On the 8th of August, 1829, a centennial celebra-
tion of the settlement of Baltimore was held, and an oration was delivered by
W. George Read, Esq. The Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad Company
embraced this opportunity to lay the corner stone of that improvement. On
the 21st of September, 1829, the first public school was opened. In 1830,
the population of the city was 80,990.

In 1832, the Canton Company was actively engaged in clearing and laying
out its grounds. During this year, the cholera prevailed to a considerable ex-
tent. In 1835, the stock debt of the city was about $1,000,000; mostly for
internal improvements. In March, of this year, a meeting of congratulation
was held, on account of the passage, by the House of Delegates, of a bill to
loan $2,000,000 to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and $1,000,000 to the