Entry of Philadelphia: history and constitution of the state of
Pennsylvania: commerce, agriculture, &c.: city of Philadelphia:
public buildings, public institutions, prisons, &c.
On Monday, the 27th of September, we crossed the Delaware upon a bridge
about nine hundred feet long, and entirely roofed, so as effectually to
preserve it from the weather. Foot passengers cross on a good side walk;
the middle of the bridge is divided into two roads, one of which
carriages take in going, and the other in coming, in order to avoid all
accidents. It is built after the plan of Mr. Burr, who laid the
foundation in 1804; the structure was completed in 1812. At his entrance
into Pennsylvania, General Lafayette was received by the governor and
his staff, at the head of a number of troops, and citizens of
Morrisville; from Morrisville we went to sleep at the arsenal in
Frankford, after passing through the charming little town of Bristol. We
resumed our march next morning, amidst a still more numerous escort than
that of the previous evening; and as we approached Philadelphia, the
footmen, horsemen, and carriages, increased our procession so much, that
we could not without great difficulty advance. On a plain at a short
distance from the city, General Lafayette was received by the civil and
military officers, and about 6000 uniformed volunteer militia, drawn up
in hollow square, amid the thunder of cannon. After he had reviewed the
troops, and they had defiled before him under the command of General
Cadwalader, we resumed our march to enter the city. Never could it be
more truly said, that a whole population came out to meet Lafayette;
none remained at home but those whom age and feebleness detained. Stages
had been erected on each side of the streets, as high as the eves of the
houses, for the accommodation of spectators. In the principal street of
the suburbs by which we entered, the different trades were drawn up in
line, at the head of each corps was a workshop, in which were workmen at
their employments; a banner accompanied each of these workshops,
containing portraits of Washington and Lafayette, with this inscription,
“To their wisdom and courage we owe the free exercise of our industry.”
The printers were the most remarkable among all these mechanics. Over a
press which they had in operation in the open street, was the following
inscription, “Liberty of the Press, the surest guarantee of the rights
of Man.” From this press, an ode to Lafayette, written by JAMES N.
BARKER, was thrown into the carriages, and among the crowd, as they
passed. After the mechanics, followed the public schools, the masters
and scholars all being decorated with a ribband bearing a portrait of
the general, and the motto “Welcome Lafayette.” At the head of the
procession marched a detachment of cavalry; the nation’s guest followed
in a magnificent barouche drawn by six horses, and by his side was
placed the venerable Judge PETERS, who was the secretary and soul of the
war office throughout the revolutionary struggle. Then followed the
mayor, city council, and judges, in different carriages; then George
Lafayette and myself in a barouche, and behind us four large open cars
resembling tents, containing each forty revolutionary soldiers. No one
could, without emotion, behold these veterans of liberty, whose eyes
half extinguished by age, still poured forth tears of joy at their
unexpected happiness, in once more beholding their ancient companion in
arms. Their feeble and trembling voices were re-animated by the sounds
of the martial music which accompanied them, and acquired a new vigour
in blessing the names of Washington and Lafayette. A long column of
infantry closed the procession. After passing through the principal
streets, and under thirteen triumphal arches, we halted and alighted
before the state house. While we rested there a few moments, the
representatives and senators of Pennsylvania, the city councils,
judiciary, and military officers, assembled in the principal hall, and a
few minutes after, under a salute of thirteen guns, we were conducted
into the Hall of Independence, and the general having been led to the
foot of the statue of Washington, was impressively addressed by the
mayor.
In listening to this address, and recognizing this hall in which the
declaration of independence of the United States was signed; this hall
at whose door he had waited in 1777, with so much impatience to devote
his life and fortune to an almost desperate cause, Lafayette felt an
emotion he could scarcely conceal, and which several times shewed itself
in his eloquent answer.
The people were then admitted to take the guest of the nation by the
hand; this greeting lasted for several hours, and presented a picture of
the most perfect equality that can be imagined. Mechanics with their
hardened hands and uprolled sleeves, advanced to Lafayette; the
magistrate and plain clad farmer stood together; the clergyman and
player moved side by side, and children sure of having their rights and
feebleness respected, marched boldly along before soldiers and sailors.
The varieties of dress contrasted singularly with the uniformity of
physiognomy, which all expressed the same sentiment of gratitude and
admiration.
After this reception, General Lafayette was conducted to Washington Hall
amidst a constantly increasing crowd.—A splendid dinner was here served
up; all the public officers were present, and numerous toasts were
drank. One was drank to Greece regenerated, wishing her a Washington for
a leader, and a Lafayette for a friend.
At night, a population of one hundred and twenty thousand souls,
augmented by forty thousand strangers from various parts of the union,
walked about by the light of an illumination, celebrating the exploits
of the champion of liberty, and these rejoicings of the people, which in
Europe under the protection of the police would have been signalized by
murders, robberies, and accidents of all sorts, here passed without the
slightest disorder. The next morning the mayor, JOSEPH WATSON, came to
visit General Lafayette. He brought in his hand the report from the high
constable, which he showed us. “See there,” said he with an expression
of lively satisfaction, “see how freemen behave! More than forty
thousand strangers have come to participate in the rejoicings of my
fellow citizens, and I have not found it necessary to increase the
number of watchmen. We have but a hundred and sixty, who are unarmed,
and they have not had a single tumult to repress in this night of joyous
and popular effervescence! Examine these reports! not a single
complaint—not the slightest trouble,” and joy sparkled in the eyes of
this virtuous magistrate, whose chief happiness has its source in the
excellence of those over whom he presides. In my opinion the mayor of
Philadelphia would make a very bad prefect of police in Paris.
On the succeeding days the general received in the Hall of Independence,
the addresses of various regularly constituted bodies, such as the
clergy, the Philosophical Society, Bible Society, the University, the
Chamber of Commerce, the bar, children of the public schools, Washington
Light Infantry, Lafayette Benevolent Association, the revolutionary
soldiers, the French residents of Philadelphia, &c. &c. To each of these
addresses General Lafayette replied extemporarily with an elegant
facility, so appropriate to the various circumstances by which he was
surrounded or was reminded of, that the admiration and surprize of the
public constantly increased.
The deputation of the clergy presented a very interesting picture, and
was well suited to fix the attention of an European. Led by the
venerable Bishop WHITE, who was chaplain to Congress during the
revolutionary war, it consisted of nearly eighty pastors of almost every
different sect, but all animated with the same sentiment of tolerance
and charity. The orator always expressing himself in the name of _the
ministers of all denominations_ proved himself the faithful organ of
their unanimous sentiments in the following address.
“GENERAL,
“The Ministers of the Gospel, in this City and its
Liberties, present to you their congratulations on your arrival in
the United States, and assure you of the interest which they take in
the satisfaction manifested universally by their fellow-citizens, on
the occasion: the effect of gratitude for your services, in the
infancy of their national existence.
“As Pastors of different religious denominations, we are thankful to
the Bestower of all Good, for the enjoyment of a Government of equal
laws, extending its protection to professors of religion in every
form, not hostile to the peace and the due order of civil life.
Possessed of this sentiment, we honour and esteem those who have
contributed to the establishment, or to the stability, of the
liberal institutions of our country. Among them we cannot but
perceive a conspicuous station to be occupied, by the eminent person
whom we have now the honour of addressing.
“It is gratifying to us, that having hazarded his person and his
fortune in the cause of our commonwealth, in the season of her
difficulties and her dangers, he has revisited her after such a
lapse of years; and become a witness of her subsequent prosperity,
and of her progress in whatever can adorn society, or ensure its
safety.
“With our congratulations, general, we request you to accept of our
affectionate wishes, and the assurances of our prayers, that under
the blessings of a gracious Providence, your remaining days may be
as happy, as the former have been glorious.”
The following is General Lafayette’s answer.
“The joint testimonies of affection and esteem, with which I am
honoured by the respectable pastors of the several denominations in
the city and environs of Philadelphia, at the same time that they
fill my heart with sentiments of high gratification and profound
gratitude, afford an additional proof of the holy fraternity which,
in this happy land, unite together the ministers of a gospel of
liberty and equality.
“How can republican principles be better supported than by pastors,
who, to their own eminent virtues, join the inappreciable advantage
of being the free elective choice of their respective congregations.
“I beg you, reverend gentlemen, to accept my respectful and
affectionate thanks for your kind address, the more gratifying to
me, as it is delivered by a respectable old friend, the friend of
WASHINGTON, whose patriotic prayers and blessings have in this
Congress Hall been associated with the most important events of the
revolution.”
The discourse of bishop White, and the answer of Lafayette awakened in
me, I confess many new ideas; I began to comprehend that under a good
government, religion and liberty, far from being incompatible, mutually
support each other, and to procure this happy alliance, unknown in
Europe, nothing is wanting but that government, renouncing the absurd
and monstrous system of wishing to make tool of religion, should leave
the citizens to choose and pay those to whom they entrust their
consciences.
I have said that the French residents of Philadelphia, expressed to
General Lafayette their sentiments of personal attachment, and the
pleasure they experienced in seeing one of their compatriots in the
enjoyment of so glorious a triumph. They were led by Mr. Duponceau,
their orator, who acquitted himself with that ardent eloquence which has
its source in loyalty and love of liberty.
Mr. Duponceau, whom we already had the pleasure of hearing address
General Lafayette, at the head of the Philosophical Society, of which he
is a member, and of the Philadelphia Bar, of which he is one of the
principal ornaments, has resided in the United States since the war of
Independence, through which he served with distinction under the command
of Baron Steuben, whose aid-de-camp he was. As a lawyer and learned man,
Mr. Duponceau has acquired in his adopted country a brilliant
reputation, which is enhanced by the practice of every virtue. During
our stay in Philadelphia, we counted among our happy moments, those
which were passed in his always amiable and instructive conversation.
We found also in Philadelphia another of our compatriots, whom we were
very happy to embrace; this was General BERNARD, a man not less modest
than learned, whose talents and disinterested patriotism were not
appreciated by the French government of 1815. General Bernard, who as is
known passed with distinction through the imperial court of Napoleon,
without losing any thing of his republicanism, which may be considered
as a phenomenon, has here found just estimators of his merits. Charged
by the American government to secure the defence of the Union by a
complete system of fortification, and the prosperity of its commerce by
the construction of canals and roads of immense extent, he gives us the
satisfaction of seeing a French name nobly connected with all the
sublime enterprises of a great nation. No one can know General Bernard
without feeling for him sincere sentiments of esteem, admiration and
friendship.
All the time that General Lafayette could withhold from the kindness of
his numerous friends and the people of Philadelphia, was spent in
visiting the humane and public institutions, which are exceedingly
multiplied in this vast city; but before designating or describing them,
I will give a rapid glance at the settlement and history of
Pennsylvania.
In 1627, a company of Swedes and Finlanders landed on the banks of the
Delaware, and laid the first foundations of that colony, which was
afterwards so rapidly developed under the mild and humane institutions
of William Penn. The wisdom and moderation of the Swedes and their
excellent administration, should have secured them the peaceful
possession of a soil which they had acquired by the free grant of the
natural proprietors, the Indians, but scarcely thirty years elapsed
before they were deprived of their possessions by the Hollanders, who
themselves were soon dispossessed by the English, not less rapacious,
and more cunning.
In 1681, Charles II. king of England willing to reward the services
Admiral Penn had rendered to the crown, granted to his son William Penn
20,000 acres of land upon the banks of the Delaware; this grant was
secured by a charter which contained the following clause.
“The colony shall bear the name of Pennsylvania. William Penn, his
successors and lieutenants, with the consent of a majority of the
freemen, or their representatives freely assembled, shall levy taxes for
public service, establish tribunals, appoint judges, &c. The laws shall
be framed with reason and in such manner as not to be in opposition with
those of England. The sovereign reserves to himself the right of
examining private affairs, and to judge them in cases of appeal. In all
cases where the positive law of the province is mute, the laws of
England shall be followed. A duplicate of all the laws passed in the
province shall be forwarded every five years to the Privy Council, and
if in the lapse of six months afterwards, they are declared to be
contrary to the royal prerogative, or to the laws of England, they shall
be declared null. The proprietary shall collect such taxes as the
assembly shall fix upon merchandize: they shall always have at the court
of London a deputy to answer any allegations against them; and in case
they shall be condemned by the courts, and shall not satisfy the award
within the lapse of a year, the king shall resume the government until
the demands are satisfied, nevertheless without prejudice to individual
proprietors, as well as the inhabitants of the province. They may
transfer the property. The property of lands already occupied by
Christians shall be respected. The monarch will neither impose fines nor
taxes upon the colony without the consent of the proprietary or the
assembly, or without an act of the government.”
On the 11th July 1681, the proprietary, and those who were to emigrate
with him, agreed “that before distributing lands to purchasers enough
should be reserved for the public roads, and that all business with the
Indians should be transacted in the public market; that all differences
with the Indians should be settled by six emigrants and six Indians;
that of every five acres one should be left in wood, in order to
preserve the oaks and white walnuts for shipbuilding; and that no one
should leave the province without giving three weeks previous notice at
the public market.”
About the end of the same year the colonists arrived in Pennsylvania,
and commenced their settlement. Penn himself arrived at the beginning of
the next year, and bought of Lord Berkely, and the heirs of George
Carteret, for the sum of £4,000, some parts of New Jersey, which he
added to his property, and thus became possessor of all the space
comprised between the 40th and 42d degree of latitude. He also bought
some lands of the Indians, which he paid for with scrupulous exactness,
never thinking that his title of European gave him the right of
unmercifully despoiling the savage nations of their natural and
legitimate possessions. This spirit of justice and moderation soon
conciliated the attachment of the Indians, who from being as at first
hostile to the settlements of the whites, soon became benevolent and
faithful allies; Penn’s reputation soon reached Europe, and inspired a
multitude of unfortunate men with the desire of seeking within his
territories for peace and liberty. The first colonists, who came over
with him, imitated his virtues, and the settlement flourished. In the
year 1682, William Penn called a general assembly of the inhabitants,
and employed their aid in drafting a constitution, the execution of
which should be confided to a governor assisted by a provincial council,
and the inhabitants formed into a general assembly. The council was to
be composed of seventy members chosen by the inhabitants, and presided
over by the governor or his representative. One third of this council
was to be renewed every year.—On this occasion William Penn delivered an
address in which he established this proposition, too much misunderstood
by the people and governments of Europe.—
“Whatever may be the form of government, the people are always free so
long as they are only governed by the laws, and they participate in the
formation of these laws; that it is the sole means by which they can be
free; and that beyond these conditions there is nothing but oligarchy
and confusion: that the great ends of all government are, to make power
respected by the people, and to guarantee the people from the abuse of
power; and that thus a people is free in obeying, and the magistrates
are honorable, and honored by the justice of their administration and
submission to the law.”
Troubles, however ensued; they were caused by the claims of the governor
of Maryland, Lord Baltimore, and William Penn was obliged to go to
England to maintain his rights. During his absence he confided the
government to five commissioners, who disappointed every one by abusing
their authority. Under these circumstances, king James having abdicated,
his successors seized on the government of Pennsylvania, but three years
after, that is, in 1696, it was restored to the proprietary. In 1699
Penn returned to Pennsylvania, and resumed the management of affairs; he
then proposed a new constitution which was adopted and maintained until
the revolution. New vexations soon recalled Penn to England where he
suddenly died of apoplexy in 1718. His death was undoubtedly a great
loss to the colony, but the society of Friends, of which he was the
chief, showed itself a worthy inheritor of his virtues, and continued by
its liberal politics to attract to the province all the men who were
disgusted by regal despotism and religious persecution in Europe. From
1729 to 1754 the colony received 30,517 emigrants, principally Irish and
Germans. Then all the different doctrines arose from the bosom of the
new population, which affected their consciences, and separated the
colony into quakers, episcopalians, baptists, presbyterians, catholics,
lutherans, calvinists, moravians, covenanters, methodists,
universalists, &c. &c. Some of these sects unfortunately let loose their
spirit of proselytism and persecution, of which themselves had been
victims in Europe, and sometimes they were found to persecute their
neighbours the Indians, to impose upon them their creeds. It was this
fanaticism which led in 1763, under the execrable pretext of freeing the
land from the pagans to the merciless massacre of the Conestoga tribe,
which lived so peacefully and securely under the treaty of William Penn.
This barbarous act destroyed the good understanding, which had existed
during nearly sixty years between the Indians and colonists, and excited
those wars which were only terminated in 1779 by the almost total
extermination of the natives, the sad remains of which were sent to the
banks of Niagara.
From the death of Penn until 1763, the good understanding between the
colony and mother country appeared to have suffered no alteration; but
the stamp act met with as much resistance from the Pennsylvanians as it
did in New England; and in 1768 the provincial assembly protested with
energy against the right which parliament wished to arrogate of taxing
the colonies. In 1773, the tea imported into Philadelphia by the British
was destroyed as it had been at Boston, and all Pennsylvania answered by
an unanimous cry of approbation to the insurgent voice of Massachusetts.
Finally it was at Philadelphia that in 1776, fifty-four representatives
from thirteen states, headed by John Hancock their president, signed the
immortal declaration of Independence of the United States.
Towards the end of the same year, the convention of Pennsylvania
assembled at Philadelphia, adopted and proclaimed a new constitution,
which was preceded by a preamble and declaration of rights.
From the time that this constitution was adopted, Pennsylvania has
continually advanced in population, wealth, and prosperity. In 1790, she
had but 450,000 souls, at present she contains 1,500,000, of which
41,000 are engaged in agriculture, whose flourishing condition may be
compared with the most fertile parts of France. It is especially since
property has become more divided by the augmentation of population, that
agriculture has made such rapid advances. Ancient estates of 1200 acres,
are at present generally divided into farms containing from eighty to a
hundred acres, on which are erected commodious dwellings and out-houses,
and rich orchards, which constantly furnish the markets with the finest
fruits. Since the introduction of plaster as a manure, lands have much
increased in value. It would be difficult, I believe, to purchase land
in the vicinity of large towns, lower than at the rate of one hundred
dollars an acre, or lower than from six to seven dollars in the least
inhabited parts of the state.
The greater part of the farmers are not only cultivators, but also
traders and manufacturers; they make the woollen cloths for their own
use, and sell a great deal of liquor distilled from peaches, corn, rye,
maple sugar, &c. They make also large quantities of cider, and for their
particular occasions they make wine from currants, raspberries, &c. &c.
but seldom from the grape.
The war of 1812, which paralyzed foreign commerce, largely contributed
to the advancement of the manufactures of Pennsylvania, which are at
present very numerous and very various. According to late estimates it
appears, that they employ a capital of more than 40,000 dollars, and at
least 60,000 persons.
Since the last war, commerce has resumed its wonted activity; however,
the exports are not in proportion with the activity of the industry of
the state. Exports consist principally of corn, flour, beef, pork,
flax-seed, iron utensils, plank, soap, candles, &c.: in 1820 they did
not exceed 8,000,000 of dollars. The coasting trade is considerable, and
about thirty ships are employed constantly in the India, China, and
North West Coast trade. Altogether, internal and external commerce
occupies about 7,000 persons.
As commerce, agriculture and industry, have no obstacles to prevent
their increase, and have no great burthens to support, their prosperity
is unavoidably augmented every year. Taxes are light, since none of them
can ever be increased beyond one per cent. of the value of the goods.
They are levied and collected in the following manner. Every three
years, at the period of the general election, _the people_ choose
assessors, who after having estimated in money the value of the taxable
property, send to the commissioners of the county the names of two
respectable freeholders of the district, one of which is appointed
receiver. This individual announces to the citizens the amount of their
taxes, and the day on which their objections will be heard by the
commissioners. The payments are then made, and the money placed in the
hands of the county treasurer, who receives as his fee one per cent. of
the funds that pass through his hands. The taxes are levied upon lands,
houses, mills, manufactures, ground rents, cattle over four years old;
upon lucrative commercial charges, and in general upon all offices,
except those of ministers of the gospel, and schoolmasters; and in short
upon tavern licences, and upon adults engaged in no profession.
The excellent financial organization of the state, and the severe
economy carried into all the expenses of government, never require
extraordinary taxes, and still allow the public agents to devote
sufficiently considerable funds to the execution of the seventh article
of the constitution, which directs the legislative power to employ all
the means proper to multiply the means of public instruction, to procure
gratuitous elementary education for indigent children and contribute to
the rapid developement of the arts and sciences. The primary schools for
the poor, and academies for the study of literature and the sciences are
encouraged not only by legislative enactment, but also by the constant
efforts of all the citizens, who subscribe together to create new ones
where a want of them is felt.
The civil laws of England are still generally in force in the state of
Pennsylvania; their conservation was one of the conditions stipulated in
the patent granted by Charles the 2nd to Wm. Penn; they should have been
entirely changed at the epoch of the revolution, as all connection with
England was then broken off; but time and use had so consecrated them
that they were left untouched, and even at present they have undergone
but few and slight modifications. The same could not be the case with
the criminal laws. The penal code of Great Britain, so often sanguinary,
is entirely repugnant to the principles of the mild and philanthropic
society of Friends; thus from the earliest days of the colony the object
of Penn’s attacks who sought to substitute for it a code more
conformable to the spirit of his sect, which vigorously opposed capital
punishment, or at least desired that it should not be of such frequent
and easy application. But the English Parliament was deaf to the cry of
humanity and revoked the code of Penn and the tolerant decrees of
Calvert which preceded them about half a century.
After the revolution, the disciples of Penn always animated by his
philanthropic spirit, again raised their voice against the barbarity of
the English penal code. This voice found an echo in the luminous and
profound writings of Franklin, William Bradford, Caleb Lowndes and Dr.
Rush, and soon after punishment by death was only inflicted upon
premeditated murderers or poisoners. Imprisonment and labour
proportioned to the strength of the convict, displaced corporal
punishment, and those shameful brandings which complete the corruption
of the soul, by consigning the body to enduring contempt.
These happy changes were wrought in 1793; from that period a
considerable number of useful essays on the improvement of prisons and
amelioration of the condition of prisoners, and particularly on the
philanthropic system of the moral improvement of the convicts, have
appeared in Philadelphia, and soon were imitated in other parts of the
union. The state and city governments have not been the exclusive agents
in this work, but a great number of benevolent societies, among which
the society of Friends occupy a distinguished place, have devoted
themselves to this great and good work. Among all the evidences I could
cite, I shall confine myself to that of the most respectable and useful
philanthropist, the duke Delarochefoucault Liancourt, who in a large and
very instructive work, his travels in the United States during the years
’95, ’96 and ’97, speaks with enthusiasm of the reforming prisons of the
United States, and particularly of the _state_ prison of Philadelphia,
principally managed by the society of Friends. This word state prison
has another signification in Europe; but it here signifies the prisons
erected by the state legislatures, for the criminals condemned by the
courts of justice. Whenever the prisons of France, England, or other
parts of Europe have been ameliorated, the prisons of the United States,
and especially those of Philadelphia, have been taken as models.
However, the moral means of reformation so well detailed in the works of
Liancourt and other travellers, have not entirely satisfied the ardor of
improvement which animates the managers of these establishments; on the
other hand, it is probable that the prisons of Philadelphia, by
receiving a greater number of convicts, and among these a greater number
of Europeans, and a much larger proportion of men less susceptible of
reform, have furnished less satisfactory results than at the period
described by the duke De Liancourt. These respectable friends of
humanity have thought to do still better, and by resorting to solitary
confinement, which leaving the prisoner to his reflexions, or to those
which may be suggested to him, and separating him from other convicts,
offers more chances of his amendment. In consequence, and as no expense
frightens the Americans when they are once convinced of any great public
good, they have built at a great cost, near Philadelphia, an immense
building with its court yards and cells, where every prisoner may be
separately shut up, and where from the form of the edifice, an easy and
continual watch may be kept up.
This superb establishment was still unfinished, when general Lafayette,
accompanied by the committee appointed to do the honours of the city
went to visit it, and were received by the respectable directors and
managers, who explained to him the improvements made. One must have
courage to venture upon contradicting men so virtuous and experienced,
as generous in design as in the execution of their benevolent works. The
frankness and conviction of the general, overcame his repugnance, and
with all the regard and respect which were due, and which his personal
situation rendered still more necessary, he represented to them that
solitary confinement was a punishment which should be experienced to be
rightly appreciated; and that the virtuous and enlightened Malesherbes,
who during his administration under the monarchical government of
France, had ameliorated the condition of prisoners of state, regarded
solitary confinement as leading to madness. The general observed that
during his five years’ captivity, he had passed an entire year in
solitary confinement, and another part of the time seeing a companion
but during a single hour, and he added, smiling, that he had not found
it to be the means of reformation, since he was imprisoned for wishing
to revolutionize the people against despotism and aristocracy, and
passed his solitude in thinking upon it, without coming out corrected in
that respect. He also made some observations on a too assiduous
watchfulness, such for example as that he had been subjected to, during
the early part of his captivity, when he was constantly guarded by a
sub-officer who remained in sight of him, and was relieved every two
hours. Mr. Adams, at this time secretary of state, appeared to be of the
same mind with Lafayette. These opinions have since been discussed in
newspapers and pamphlets, in which persons on both sides, understanding
the subject thoroughly, have maintained opposite opinions. “I observe,”
said Lafayette, “that in the states where the prisons are less crowded,
in New Hampshire, or in the state of Vermont, the managers, (in New
Hampshire the senate have charge of the prisons,) the legislators and
the public, find the old method still good, and it procures the
reformation of the convicts, which you complain of being unable to
effect in Pennsylvania, and in the most populous states. Why may not
your fine building be divided into several parts, each of which to
contain the same number of prisoners as the prisons of New Hampshire and
Vermont, which would be a mode of separating the criminals and exciting
the emulation of prisoners who behaved well; and since in your admirable
and philanthropic generosity, you have gone to the expense of a cell for
each prisoner, shut them up separately at night, instead of crowding
them together in those vast sleeping rooms, where it is true the
convicts mutually corrupt each other more than in the day time and at
work, when they are watched by their guards.” This discussion of equally
well meant opinions, in which it must be confessed the directors and
managers have the advantage of experience, has not been limited to
Pennsylvania, nor even to America. Many philanthropic Europeans who
considered the prisons of Pennsylvania as the type of perfection, have
become alarmed at this avowal of their insufficiency, this necessity for
change, as likely to trammel the efforts of the friends of humanity in
Europe. One of the most distinguished Englishmen, ROSCOE, the historian,
has already written against some opinions which he regards as erroneous,
contained in a report made upon prisons to the legislature and public.
Soon after Mr. Roscoe entered into a discussion relative to the prison
of Philadelphia, and has published some pamphlets on the subject which
do equal honour to his understanding and his heart. Such was the
existing state of the question, which the circumstance of our visit to
the prison caused me to consider. A numerous, enlightened, and
experienced portion of the citizens of Pennsylvania, and especially of
Philadelphia, appear disposed to try solitary confinement, not as an
exception to, but as the basis of, the penitentiary system. Many worthy
men whom I have seen and conversed with on both sides of the Atlantic,
are of an opposite opinion; but it is exceedingly fortunate for a
country that already bestows so much attention upon questions of this
sort, that the experiment will be made by well meaning persons, who
beyond doubt will modify their system when they perceive its unfitness.
After having obtained such wise and generally desired reforms, the ever
active philanthropy of the Pennsylvanians has been unremittingly
directed to every thing which can contribute to repair or diminish the
evils of humanity. The government and directors have vied with each
other in zeal; in all parts of the state, hospitals and charitable
establishments have exceedingly multiplied. In the year 1774, a society
devoted to the abolition of the slave-trade, and to the succour of
blacks illegally held in bondage was formed, of which Franklin was the
first president.
The Humane Society for affording succour to apparently drowned persons,
was established in 1780. This society has considerably diffused the
apparatus necessary for attempting to afford such relief; and has
established prizes for those who have in any way contributed to save the
life of a fellow creature.
Four female benevolent societies, for the relief of widows and orphans,
were founded during the years 1793, 1802, 1809, and 1811. The Washington
Benevolent Society of Pennsylvania, founded in 1812, also deserves to be
mentioned; it was composed of more than 3,000 members, each of which
payed two dollars on admission, and the same sum annually into the
treasury. These funds were devoted to the relief of members of the
society, or to their families.
Nearly thirty benevolent associations for mutual assistance, have been
established by the different classes of mechanics, designated by the
names of the _society of master masons_; _of carpenters_; _of
stone-cutters_, &c. There are similar associations for foreigners, and
their descendants, among which may be numbered the benevolent society
for Frenchmen in distress, founded in 1805. That for the Germans was
founded in 1801.
A circumstance well worthy of remark, is that of four great benevolent
establishments in Philadelphia; there is not one which is not founded
and supported by private donations or subscriptions, and managed by
citizens who devote their time and attention to them without fee. These
four institutions are the Pennsylvania hospital; Christ church hospital;
the Philadelphia dispensary, and the lunatic asylum.
Most of the travellers who have visited Philadelphia, agree in this
point, that the rigid manners and grave characters of the Friends, who
are very numerous in the city, have produced an unfortunate effect upon
general society, by impressing upon it an air of frigidity and monotony,
which render it insupportable to Europeans. I can neither contradict nor
adopt these opinions; for how can I form a judgment upon a population
which I have only seen in an accession of enthusiasm and gratitude,
which reigned in all hearts, and drew along with it the most serious,
even the Friends themselves, after him who was the cause of the
sentiment. It is difficult, however, to believe that society lacks charm
and resources in a city where science and the arts are cultivated so
successfully. The learned men who belong to the philosophical society,
the medical society, to the academy of natural sciences, the
agricultural society, &c. &c. the large public libraries, rich museums,
numerous journals of all sorts, &c. ought to offer in this city
sufficient aliment to the most active mind, and in my opinion may
largely compensate for the absolute want of all the frivolities to which
we unfortunately attach so high a price in Europe.
One may affirm that Philadelphia is the most regularly beautiful city,
not only of the United States, but in the world. Its fine streets
crossing all at right angles, its large and always clean foot pavements,
the elegance of its houses, built of brick, and adorned with fine white
marble, and the good taste of its public buildings, at first sight
present a seducing view; but may eventually become fatiguing from their
exceeding regularity. The plan of the city which was drawn by Penn
himself, extends from the right bank of the Delaware to the left bank of
the Schuylkill; this distance is about two miles long by one broad;
two-thirds only of this space is at present covered with buildings, but
new houses are daily erected, and I believe a few years will be
sufficient to fill with houses all the space at present remaining
unoccupied between the city and the Schuylkill.
Among the public buildings which adorn this beautiful city, we cannot
avoid indicating the old bank of the United States, in Third street, the
first edifice erected in Philadelphia with columns and a portico. It was
begun in 1795, and finished in 1798. Its principal front is entirely of
white marble, and resembles considerably the Dublin exchange, which is
said to have served for its model. It is at present the banking-house of
Stephen Girard.
The new bank of the United States in Chesnut street, the work of the
American architect Strictland, is generally considered as one of the
finest pieces of architecture in the union. It presents in miniature a
tolerably exact image of the temple of Minerva at Athens. It is entirely
built of white marble, brought from Montgomery county, in the state of
Pennsylvania.
Perhaps, before ending this chapter, I should resume the description of
the brilliant and varied festivities which the inhabitants of
Philadelphia offered to the Nation’s Guest, during the eight days we
passed among them; but a simple enumeration of them, would carry me far
beyond the circle to which I wish to confine the narration of this
journey, or rather triumph; and notwithstanding all the pleasure I
should have had in speaking of the masonic dinner, the civic ball, the
visit of general Lafayette to the arsenal, and navy yard, the party at
general Cadwalader’s, &c. &c., I am forced to pass from Philadelphia to
Baltimore, where the guest of the nation was received with equal
transports of love and gratitude.