whole of his movements since his last arrival, the honors paid to him, in short, his whole history. The exhibition took up about three hours, but they were the pleasantest I ever spent. It must be a source of ineffable pleasure to the citizens of Philadelphia, to think, that they have given happiness to such a number of human beings, and what must be the feelings of those destitute orphans toward their benefactors! They regarded the audience with a look of calm composure: what gratitude must have warmed their bosoms! what emotions of tenderness and delight, must have filled the breasts of their benefactors! The female pupils, (with their matron sitting behind them, in her simple Quaker dress,) all modest and gentle, looked round upon the assembly, with that steady self-possession, which bespoke conscious worth and innocence. Of all the institutions of Philadelphia, this sheds the brightest lustre on its citizens. Great people! They must be emphatically such, who make the misfortunes of others their own. Whi to a they hear three ed to shut awhi and taine see. sed; No Frien the F was were delp! ist th ings never ing c youn unifo: their squar celest Qual My time being short in Philadelphia, I determined to employ it in seeing every thing worth seeing in the city; and amongst the rest, the form of worship used by differ ent sects, of which I had hitherto never had an opportu uity. Accordingly, I attended the Jews' Synagogue one Saturday, which is their Sabbath. Here I found about twenty men, and not one female. They all had their hats on, and were standing, although there were seats convenient. Over their shoulders they wore a long lin-ional en scarf, in shape and size similar to those worn by la. and dies; it came down before, and each end was slung over the arm, as ladies wear them in summer. vice was begun when I entered; but one of them walked up to me and pointed out a place on the opposite side of the house where I could be seated. The service was nothing more than one of them dressed like the others standing at a desk, with a large Hebrew book open; out of which he read aloud as fast as his tongue could go, with a singing tone; and turning the leaves over with surprising rapidity; during all the time he was bowing his head up and down with such rapidity, that it kept pace with his tongue, or kept time with his song rather. The ser men and tho withd man hands ceede Be thoug preac of the honors hibition santest alcasure by have and Whilst he was thus engaged, the audience were walking to and fro, bowing in the same manner; now and then they would sing out right; but such singing! I never heard any that had less melody. In the course of about three quarters of an hour he shut up the book, and walked to a closet, (I should call it,) opened the doors, and shut them instantly; walked about, and bowed, and sung dience awhile, and then approached the same place as before, and repeated the same ceremony. But what was contained in the place, I was (from the distance) unable to see. The service now broke up; and the party dispersed; and here ends the 1st chapter of the Jews. ans to le must deruess : bene. sitting modest ith that worth elphia, eat peo ake the Next day being Sunday, I went to hear the Quakers or Friends, as they are called. Here was a direct contrast to the preceding; nought but silence reigned; not a word was said; all was solemn as midnight. Amongst them were a number of the most fashionable people of Philadelphia, between whom and the Friends, appears to exist the greatest harmony. I had been at Quaker meetings before; in fact, I was reared a Quaker myself, but never saw such a display of beauty and dress. Nothing could exceed the richness and neatness of that of the young Quaker ladies. The richest silks and satins, so uniform, and made so exquisitely neat, mostly white; their plain small round crowned bonnets; their neat square handkerchiefs, of the finest muslin, gave them a celestial appearance, and fairly eclipsed their more fashionable neighbors. The church was amazingly large, and yet it was filled to overflowing; the men, that is the Quakers, all wear their hats. The elderly men and women sat at one end of the building upon elevated seats, and during the meeting seemed deeply engaged in thought. Their countenances bespoke minds wholly withdrawn from outward objects. After sitting in this manner nearly two hours, two of the old men shook hands, the signal for breaking up; the noise which succeeded the signal, resembling distant thunder. ice was : others en; out uld go er with bowing it kept rather. Besides these I heard one of the Episcopalians; and though disappointed in the oratorical powers of the preacher, I was abundantly compensated by the sound. of the organ, the second I ever heard. The first of my hearing those instruments was in Baltimore, which I for. got to remark. I have often heard the organ applauded, and as often condemned, with that heat and violence which unfortunately distinguish religious disputes. Without any attempt to settle the point between them, 1 can only speak for myself, that it is the most heaven inspiring sound I ever heard; its soft, solemn, sweetly flowing melody, lifts the soul from earth to heaven; it for the moment shuts out every earthly thought, and is at once the most rational and pleasing of all devotions. The instrument consists of a number of brass pipes, or bollow tubes, from ten to twelve feet in length; the sound is conveyed through these by means of a bellows, which is worked by keys. It fronts the pulpit, on the opposite end of the church from the parson, upon a level with the first row of galleries, (the churches in these towns have double galleries.) The organ is accompa nied by a choir of singers, both male and female, whe make occasional pauses, which are filled by the swee swelling sound of the organ. Manners and Appearance.-Respecting the manners and appearance of the people of Philadelphia, I can give but a very imperfect sketch, owing to the shortness o my visit, and the abridged opportunity i had of mixing in society; my observations being entirely limited t meeting them in the streets, and a very few calls upon business. They have been accused of distance and re serve towards strangers. As respects the common act of politeness I cannot concur in this particular. Wher accosted, the Philadelphians are polite and condescend ing, whether abroad or at home. I found them very ea sy of access, and always a ready admittance into the houses, as much so as in Baltimore, and much more thau in Washington. But in acts of benevolence (and might add charity,) toward strangers, they are greatly behind either. In answer to a remark on this contradis tinguishing trait in their character, I received the follow ing reply:"That when they became thoroughly ac quainted, they were very kind to strangers." This is a pitiful subterfuge for their want of charity and hospital ity to strangers, one of the brightest of christian virtues Sout ture del; I w ther: but t dres shou more little pear. black swea on th sult c ich I for. plauded, violence disputes. en them, t heaven sweetly aven; it and is at evotions. pipes, or gth; the bellows, t, on the on a level in these accompa nale, who the swee manners can give ortness of of mixing: imited to ails upon e and re mon act . When particularly when thousands of dollars are spent here annually by strangers; it is an ungrateful exception to the example of a few warm-hearted yankees. In their appearance, they are rather taller than those of Baltimore, well made, and of delicate conformation; nor are they so active in their movements as the people farther south. Both men and women are very handsomely featured and have fair complexions. The ladies of Philadelphia are celebrated by travellers for their beauty. I would, however, make very little difference between them and those of Baltimore; the latter are not so fair, but they have more expression of countenance. As to dress and fashion, if I were to give an opinion at all, I should give it in favor of Baltimore. Baltimore has more splendor, Philadelphia more taste; but there is little difference; the difference as respects moral appearance was this, that there were more idlers, more blacks, and more trifling looking people, and more swearing in Baltimore than in Philadelphia, particularly on the wharves. These remarks are, however, the result of a few hasty observations. Respecting the literati of Philadelphia, it is not in my power to say a word. Nothing would have been more gratifying to me than to have seen some, at least, of those eminent men, though, perhaps, I saw the greatest man in the city; I mean Mr. Cary. From the very limited opportunity I had of judging, I am inclined to think education does not receive that attention we might expect, in a city so devoted to the public good. The dialect of the citizens, particularly of the children, gave rise to this opinion; it is very defective, and the young misses are detestably affected in their manners, dress and dialect. I questioned a few on the subject of grammar, geography, and history, who were said to be engaged re great in these studies, and found them wretchedly defeccontradisive. They have, withal, a whining tone in their speech, extremely disgusting; though the higher classes pronounce the English language with purity and even elegance. descend very ea nto the more ce (and ae follow ughly ac This is a hospital in virtues Having mentioned Mr. Cary, that giant of the pen deserves some notice. Being slightly acquainted with his your on. son, H. Cary, I gently reproached him for not introdu. History. The place where Philadelphia now stands, in 1681 was a forest, inhabited by wild men and savage beasts. In 1678, a ship from Stockholm, commanded by Shields, was the first that sailed so high up the Delaware. She approached so near where the city now stands that she run her bowsprit among the trees that lined the bank. The ship was laden with passengers, destined for Bur lington, still a small village, to which they gave tha name. They remarked the advantageous site as the sailed. along, little thinking, (the historian says,) and still less foreseeing the contrast between the city afterwards built on it, and their still humble village to which they were bound. The place where Philadelphin now stands was called by the name of " Coaquannock." This was an Indian town, which stood near the place now called |
