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On
the
5th
of
October
,
at
eight
p.
m.
,
a
dense
crowd
pressed
toward
the
saloons
of
the
Gun
Club
at
No.
21
Union
Square
.
All
the
members
of
the
association
resident
in
Baltimore
attended
the
invitation
of
their
president
.
As
regards
the
corresponding
members
,
notices
were
delivered
by
hundreds
throughout
the
streets
of
the
city
,
and
,
large
as
was
the
great
hall
,
it
was
quite
inadequate
to
accommodate
the
crowd
of
savants
.
They
overflowed
into
the
adjoining
rooms
,
down
the
narrow
passages
,
into
the
outer
courtyards
.
There
they
ran
against
the
vulgar
herd
who
pressed
up
to
the
doors
,
each
struggling
to
reach
the
front
ranks
,
all
eager
to
learn
the
nature
of
the
important
communication
of
President
Barbicane
;
all
pushing
,
squeezing
,
crushing
with
that
perfect
freedom
of
action
which
is
so
peculiar
to
the
masses
when
educated
in
ideas
of
"
self-government
.
"
On
that
evening
a
stranger
who
might
have
chanced
to
be
in
Baltimore
could
not
have
gained
admission
for
love
or
money
into
the
great
hall
.
That
was
reserved
exclusively
for
resident
or
corresponding
members
;
no
one
else
could
possibly
have
obtained
a
place
;
and
the
city
magnates
,
municipal
councilors
,
and
"
select
men
"
were
compelled
to
mingle
with
the
mere
townspeople
in
order
to
catch
stray
bits
of
news
from
the
interior
.
Nevertheless
the
vast
hall
presented
a
curious
spectacle
.
Its
immense
area
was
singularly
adapted
to
the
purpose
.
Lofty
pillars
formed
of
cannon
,
superposed
upon
huge
mortars
as
a
base
,
supported
the
fine
ironwork
of
the
arches
,
a
perfect
piece
of
cast-iron
lacework
.
Trophies
of
blunderbuses
,
matchlocks
,
arquebuses
,
carbines
,
all
kinds
of
firearms
,
ancient
and
modern
,
were
picturesquely
interlaced
against
the
walls
.
The
gas
lit
up
in
full
glare
myriads
of
revolvers
grouped
in
the
form
of
lustres
,
while
groups
of
pistols
,
and
candelabra
formed
of
muskets
bound
together
,
completed
this
magnificent
display
of
brilliance
.
Models
of
cannon
,
bronze
castings
,
sights
covered
with
dents
,
plates
battered
by
the
shots
of
the
Gun
Club
,
assortments
of
rammers
and
sponges
,
chaplets
of
shells
,
wreaths
of
projectiles
,
garlands
of
howitzers
--
in
short
,
all
the
apparatus
of
the
artillerist
,
enchanted
the
eye
by
this
wonderful
arrangement
and
induced
a
kind
of
belief
that
their
real
purpose
was
ornamental
rather
than
deadly
.
At
the
further
end
of
the
saloon
the
president
,
assisted
by
four
secretaries
,
occupied
a
large
platform
.
His
chair
,
supported
by
a
carved
gun-carriage
,
was
modeled
upon
the
ponderous
proportions
of
a
32-inch
mortar
.
It
was
pointed
at
an
angle
of
ninety
degrees
,
and
suspended
upon
truncheons
,
so
that
the
president
could
balance
himself
upon
it
as
upon
a
rocking-chair
,
a
very
agreeable
fact
in
the
very
hot
weather
.
Upon
the
table
(
a
huge
iron
plate
supported
upon
six
carronades
)
stood
an
inkstand
of
exquisite
elegance
,
made
of
a
beautifully
chased
Spanish
piece
,
and
a
sonnette
,
which
,
when
required
,
could
give
forth
a
report
equal
to
that
of
a
revolver
.
During
violent
debates
this
novel
kind
of
bell
scarcely
sufficed
to
drown
the
clamor
of
these
excitable
artillerists
.
In
front
of
the
table
benches
arranged
in
zigzag
form
,
like
the
circumvallations
of
a
retrenchment
,
formed
a
succession
of
bastions
and
curtains
set
apart
for
the
use
of
the
members
of
the
club
;
and
on
this
especial
evening
one
might
say
,
"
All
the
world
was
on
the
ramparts
.
"
The
president
was
sufficiently
well
known
,
however
,
for
all
to
be
assured
that
he
would
not
put
his
colleagues
to
discomfort
without
some
very
strong
motive
.
Impey
Barbicane
was
a
man
of
forty
years
of
age
,
calm
,
cold
,
austere
;
of
a
singularly
serious
and
self-contained
demeanor
,
punctual
as
a
chronometer
,
of
imperturbable
temper
and
immovable
character
;
by
no
means
chivalrous
,
yet
adventurous
withal
,
and
always
bringing
practical
ideas
to
bear
upon
the
very
rashest
enterprises
;
an
essentially
New
Englander
,
a
Northern
colonist
,
a
descendant
of
the
old
anti-Stuart
Roundheads
,
and
the
implacable
enemy
of
the
gentlemen
of
the
South
,
those
ancient
cavaliers
of
the
mother
country
.
In
a
word
,
he
was
a
Yankee
to
the
backbone
.
Barbicane
had
made
a
large
fortune
as
a
timber
merchant
.
Being
nominated
director
of
artillery
during
the
war
,
he
proved
himself
fertile
in
invention
.
Bold
in
his
conceptions
,
he
contributed
powerfully
to
the
progress
of
that
arm
and
gave
an
immense
impetus
to
experimental
researches
.
He
was
personage
of
the
middle
height
,
having
,
by
a
rare
exception
in
the
Gun
Club
,
all
his
limbs
complete
.
His
strongly
marked
features
seemed
drawn
by
square
and
rule
;
and
if
it
be
true
that
,
in
order
to
judge
a
man
's
character
one
must
look
at
his
profile
,
Barbicane
,
so
examined
,
exhibited
the
most
certain
indications
of
energy
,
audacity
,
and
sang-froid
.
