Journal of a Voyage across the Atlantic by George Moore
page 28 of 83 (33%)
page 28 of 83 (33%)
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left to educate and provide for orphans of all classes. He was a poor
French tobacconist, and rose through trading with the West Indies. We then drove to the Laurel Hill Cemetery, a beautifully situated place or plot of ground, by the Schuylkill river: there is the figure of Sir Walter Scott's Old Mortality cut out of solid stone. The cost for interment is 3s. 6d. per square foot. We then drove up the Wissiocou-road to German Town, where they beat us in making woollen drawers, stockings, &c., owing to our laws and the American high tariff. Came home by the West, having now driven all round--East, North, and South. Had tea; and went to St. John's Episcopal Church, and heard a good sermon from the rector, the Rev. Mr. Newton; text, Hebrews i. 11: "They shall perish, but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment." It was most eloquent. With a population of 250,000, they have 250 churches of different sects, and nearly all talented men for preachers--indeed, Philadelphia has ever been known for its learning and benevolence since its rise. I forgot to say we crossed a _wire bridge_, the only one in the world that would bear 80 tons. Home, and to bed. _Monday_ morning.--Took a regular turn through all the commercial houses again, and like their system better than New York. Lunched off peaches, and then drove off to the Mint--not worth seeing. Thence to the Eastern Penitentiary, where they have 360 prisoners. The solitary system is abominable. I could not walk a happy man beneath the open sky by day, or lay me down upon my bed at night, with the consciousness that one human creature, for any length of time, lay suffering this unknown punishment, and I the cause, or consenting to it in the least degree. The building is very large, and kept in perfect order: it cannot be praised too highly. We entered into a large chamber, from which seven long passages |
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