After sketching these mementoes, I visited the rooms of the Maryland Historical Society, bearing a letter of introduction to its president, General Smith, a son of Colonel Samuel Smith, the hero of Fort Mifflin, portrayed on page 296. To that gentleman, and to President N. C. Brooks, of the Baltimore Female College, I am indebted for kind attentions and local information. The Historical Society is young, but vigorous and flourishing Its collection contains but few relics of the Revolution worthy of special notice. There is an old painting representing Yorktown, in Virginia, in 1781, and also a portrait of Governor John Eager Howard, a copy of which will be found in another part of this work. One of the most interesting relics which I saw during my tour is carefully preserved in. the library of the society—the crimson banner of the Count Pulaski, beautifully wrought by the Moravian sisters, at Bethlehem, in Pennsylvania. Count Pulaski (whose portrait and biography will be hereafter given) was appointed a brigadier in the Continental army on the 15th of September, 1777, just after the battle on the Brandywine, in which he participated, and was honored with the command of the cavalry. He resigned this honor within a few months, and asked and obtained permission from Congress to raise and command an independent corps, to consist of sixty-eight horse and two hundred foot. The mode March 28, 1778 of raising these was left to the direction of General Washington. * This corps was chiefly raised, and fully organized in Baltimore in 1778. Pulaski visited La Fayette while that wounded officer was a recipient of the pious care and hospitality of the Moravians at Bethlehem. His presence, and eventful history, made a deep impression upon the minds of that community. When it was known that the brave Pole was organizing a corps of cavalry in Baltimore, the nuns,* * or single women of Bethlehem, prepared a banner of crimson

* Journals of Congress, iv., 127.

** The word nun, as applied to the single sisters of the Moravian sect, has a different meaning than when applied to the recluses of the Roman Catholic Church. De Chastellux, who visited Bethlehem in 1782, says of the community: "Their police, or discipline, is of the monastic kind, since they recommend celibacy, but without enjoining it, and keep the women separate from the men. There is a particular house, also, for the widows, which I did not visit. The two sexes being thus habitually separated, none of those familiar connections exist between them which lead to marriage; nay, it is even contrary to the spirit of the sect to marry from inclination. If a young man finds himself sufficiently at ease to keep house for himself, and maintain a wife and children, he presents himself to the commissary, and asks for a girl, who, after consulting with the superintendent of the women, proposes one to him, which he may, in fact, refuse to accept; but it is contrary to custom to choose a wife for himself. Accordingly, the Moravian colonies have not multiplied in any proportion to the other American colonies. That at Bethlehem is composed of about six hundred persons, more than half of whom live in a state of celibacy." De Chastellux visited the "house for single women," a spacious stone edifice, provided with well-heated rooms for working in, and a large vaulted chamber, well ventilated, where all the girls slept in single beds. He refers to their skill in embroidery. His whole account of his visit is an interesting picture of the simple habits of the Moravians. He says they "have no bishops, being governed by synods." They have had bishops from the beginning, but their office allows them no elevation of rank or pre-eminent authority; and the communities are, indeed, governed by councils, or synods, composed of deputies from the different congregations, who meet in conference once in seven years. There are two bishops in the United States at present. The principal Moravian establishments are at Bethlehem, in Pennsylvania, and Salem, in North Carolina. Their marriage and other customs have materially changed within the last thirty years. Anburey and the Baroness Riedesel were also in Bethlehem, and speak in the highest terms of the Moravians.

Hymn of the Moravian Nuns.—Patriotism in Baltimore.—Committees of Correspondence and Observation.

silk, with designs beautifully wrought with the needle by their own hands, and sent it to Pulaski, with their blessing. The memory of this event is embalmed in verse by Longfellow, in the following beautiful "Hymn of the Moravian Nuns at the Consecration of Pulaski's Banner."

"When the dying flame of day

Through the chancel shot its ray,

Far the glimmering tapers shed

Faint light on the cowled head,

And the censer burning swung,