r
little rosy fingers with a look of intense interest, as they are
called upon to shew where each of them is to be found. The
dress, both of boys and girls, was elegantly neat, and their
manner, when called upon to speak individually, was well-bred,
intelligent, and totally free from the rude indifference, which
is so remarkably prevalent in the manners of American children.
Mr. Ibbertson will be benefactor to the Union, if he become the
means of spreading the admirable method by which he had polished
the manner, and awakened the intellect of these beautiful little
Republicans. I have conversed with many American ladies on the
total want of discipline and subjection which I observed
universally among children of all ages, and I never found any who
did not both acknowledge and deplore the truth of the remark. In
the state of Ohio they have a law (I know not if it exist
elsewhere), that if a father strike his son, he shall pay a fine
of ten dollars for every such offence. I was told by a gentleman
of Cincinnati, that he had seen this fine inflicted there, at the
requisition of a boy of twelve years of age, whose father, he
proved, had struck him for lying. Such a law, they say,
generates a spirit of freedom. What else may it generate?

Mr. Ibbertson, who seems perfectly devoted, heart and head to
the subject, told me that he was employed in organizing
successive schools that should receive the pupils as they
advanced in age. If he prove himself as capable of completing
education, as he appears to be of beginning it, his institution
will be a very valuable one. It would, indeed, be valuable any
where; but in America, where discipline is not, where, from the
shell, they are beings "that cannot rule, nor ever will be
ruled," it is invaluable.

About two miles from Baltimore is a fort, nobly situated on the
Patapsco, and commanding the approach from the Chesapeak bay. As
our visit was on a Sunday we were not permitted to enter it. The
walk to this fort is along a fine terrace of beautiful verdure,
which commands a magnificent view of the city, with its columns,
towers, domes, and shipping; and also of the Patapsco river,
which is here so wide as to present almost a sea view. This
terrace is ornamented with abundance of evergreens, and wild
roses innumerable, but, the whole region has the reputation of
being unhealthy, and the fort itself most lamentably so. Before
leaving the city of monuments, I must not omi