country, and geologised him among basaltic rocks of great beauty; and in
passing through the woods, they made a grand collection of red leaves. I
had, during this walk, been deposited with Mrs. Silliman, and we
remained and drank tea with them. The professor's father, also
Professor Silliman, a most energetic gentleman, upwards of eighty years
old, came to meet us, as did Professor Dana and one or two others,
including the gentleman who preached to the boys. I cannot get papa to
tell me how he preached, and must draw my own conclusion from his
silence. He will only admit that the pew was very comfortable and the
cushion soft, and as he was kept awake all last night by mosquitoes, the
inference to be drawn is not difficult. I have since been employed in
arranging my leaves in a blotting-book, which I got at Boston for that
purpose, and as it is late must close this for to-night.
_New York, October 4th._--We left New Haven this morning and arrived
here this afternoon. The intermediate country along the northern shore
of Long Island Sound is very interesting. We crossed a great many rivers
which in England would be deemed large ones, at the mouths of which were
pretty villages, but we passed so rapidly that we had scarcely time to
do more than catch a glimpse of them. As the mail leaves to-morrow, I
must conclude this.
FOOTNOTES:
[4] Our driver, some years ago, at Pau.
[5] We, unfortunately, never had an opportunity of returning to
Cambridge.
LETTER VI.
DESTRUCTION OF THE CRYSTAL
PALACE.--PHILADELPHIA.--CEMETERY.--GIRARD
COLLEGE.--BALTIMORE.--AMERICAN LITURGY.--RETURN TO
PHILADELPHIA.--PENITENTIARY.--RETURN TO NEW YORK.
New York, 12th Oct. 1858.
We have seen comparatively so little since I last wrote to you, that I
have hesitated about sending by this mail any account of our travels;
but I believe, upon the whole, it may be as well to give you an account
of our movements up to this time.
My last letter would tell you of our arrival at this place. The evening
was so fine, that papa and I were induced to go to the Crystal Palace.
Although very inferior to ours at Sydenham, it was interesting as being
filled with an immense variety of farming implements, which had been
brought together for the great annual agricultural show. There were also
large collections of sewing machines, hydraulic presses, and steam
engines, besides collections of smaller articles, watches, jewellery,
&c.; and a great many statues, including the original models of
Thorwaldsen's colossal group of our Saviour and the Apostles. The place
was brilliantly lighted up, and the effect was very striking.
Next day papa was returning home and saw a dense cloud of smoke hanging
over the town; and on approaching the spot, found the poor palace and
all its contents a thing of the past; one minaret only being left of the
building. The whole had been consumed by fire in _ten minutes_; so rapid
was the progress of the flames from the time of their first bursting
out, that in that short space of time the dome had fallen in; and
wonderful to say, though there were more than 2000 people, chiefly women
and children, in the building when the alarm was given, the whole of
them escaped uninjured.
We waited on in New York till Friday the 8th, vainly hoping to hear
tidings of William; although by a letter received from him a day or two
before, he said he should probably be at Baltimore on Saturday. With
this uncertainty hanging over his plans, we determined on going there;
and on Friday night got as far as Philadelphia by the Camden and Amboy
Railway, through a country far from pretty, compared with what we have
been accustomed to.
Philadelphia is situated between the Delaware and the Schuylkill, at
about six miles above the junction of the two rivers. In order to reach
the town we had to cross the Delaware, which we did in a steamer of huge
proportions. It was getting dark when we landed at Philadelphia; and we
were much struck with the large and broad streets and well-lighted
shops. It is said of New York, that the winding lanes and streets in the
old part of the town, originated in the projectors of the city having
decided to build their first houses along paths which had been
established by the cattle when turned into the woods. The projectors of
Philadelphia have certainly avoided this error, if error it was; for
there the streets throughout the city are as regular as the squares of a
chess board, which a map of the city much resembles. The streets extend
from one river to the other.
We got up next morning betimes; and as it is our intention to see the
town more thoroughly hereafter, we took advantage of a lovely day (but
what day is not here beautiful) to see a cemetery situated upon a bend
of the Schuylkill. It is very extensive; for they have so much elbow
room in this country that they can afford to have things on a large
scale; and everything here partook of this feature. The plots of ground
allotted to each family were capacious squares, ornamented with flowers,
surrounded by white marble balustrades, and large enough to contain
separate tombstones, often inside walks, and sometimes even iron
arm-chairs and sofas. The monuments were all of white marble, of which
material there seems here to be a great abundance, and none of them were
offensive in their style, but on the contrary were in general in that
good taste, which the Americans in some way or other, how we cannot make
out, contrive to possess.
We went afterwards to see the famous Girard College, for the education
of orphan boys. Mr. Girard bequeathed two millions of dollars to found
it, and his executors have built a massive marble palace, quite
unsuited, it struck us, to the purpose for which it was intended; and
the education we are told, is unsuited likewise to the station in life
of the boys who are brought up in it. As in most public institutions for
the purposes of education in this country, no direct religious
instruction is given. This does not seem in general to proceed from any
want of appreciation of its importance, but is owing to the difficulty,
where there is no predominant creed, of giving instruction in any: but
in the case of the Girard institution, even this excuse for the
omission cannot be made, for a stipulation was imposed by Mr. Girard in
his will, that no minister of any denomination should ever enter its
walls, even as a visitor, though this, we understand is not carried out.
For the first time in America we met here with a most taciturn official,
and could learn much less than we wished of the manner in which the
institution is managed.
On Saturday the 9th, being the same afternoon, we went on to Baltimore,
and were perplexed at not finding letters from William; but to our great
relief he made his appearance in the evening, much pleased with his
travels.
The country from Philadelphia to Baltimore, like that which we passed
through on the preceding day, is much less interesting than the country
to the north of New York; but a grand feature of the road we travelled
was the Susquehanna River, which is here very broad, and which we
crossed in a large steamer, leaving the train we were in, and joining
another which was in readiness on the other side. The point at which we
crossed the river, was at the spot where it falls into the Chesapeake.
The shores of this beautiful bay are profusely indented with arms or
estuaries, the heads of which, as well as the mouths of several
tributary rivers, we repeatedly crossed on long bridges: this afforded
a great variety in the scenery, and much enlivened the last part of our
journey.
Next day being Sunday, we heard an admirable sermon from Dr. Cox. The
church in which he preached was a large and handsome one, and the
service was well performed. In describing the service at West Point, I
mentioned that it differed in some respects from our own. We have now
had frequent opportunities of becoming acquainted with the American
liturgy; and, as it will interest some of you at home, I may as well
tell you a little in what those differences consist, with which we were
most forcibly struck.
Some alterations were of course rendered necessary by the establishment
of a republic, but these seem to have been confined as far as possible
to what the occasion called for. I think, however, in spite of their
republicanism, they might have retained the Scriptural expression, "King
of Kings, and Lord of Lords," instead of changing it to the inflated,
"High and Mighty Ruler of the Universe." This reminded us of the doubt
raised by some, when Queen Victoria came to the throne, if the words
ought not then to have been changed to "King of Queens." It is pleasing,
however, to observe how small the variations in general are, if indeed
there be any, which are at variance with either the doctrine or the
discipline of the Church of England.
We are so much accustomed to the opening sentences of our own Liturgy,
"When the wicked man turneth away from the wickedness that he hath
committed," &c., that their opening words startled us at first; but
their two or three initiatory sentences are well selected to begin the
service; the first being, "The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the
earth keep silence before him."
Some of the alterations are improvements rather than blemishes, for the
constant repetitions in our service are avoided. The Lord's prayer is
less frequently repeated, and the collect for the day, when it has to be
read in the Communion Service, is omitted where it first occurs with us.
A little more freedom of choice, too, is allowed to the minister in
several parts of the service. For example: the Apostle's Creed or the
Nicene Creed may be substituted for each other, as the latter is not
used in the office for the Communion; and instead of reading the Psalter
as divided into days in the daily service, some very good selections
from the Psalms are made, which may be substituted either on the week
days, or on Sundays. The daily Lessons are shortened, and yet all the
portions read by us, out of the Canonical Scriptures, are retained,
which is managed by omitting all the Lessons taken from the Apocrypha.
The second lessons on Sundays are specially appointed as well as the
first, and not made to depend, as with us, on the day of the month.
The Commination Service for Ash Wednesday is omitted, only the two
prayers at the end being retained; these are read after the Litany. The
Athanasian Creed is never used.
Some of the verbal alterations, however, grated harshly on our ears.
They are of course obliged to pray for the President, but instead of the
petition to "grant him in health and wealth long to live," they have
substituted the word "prosperity" for the good old Saxon "wealth," for
fear, apparently, of being misunderstood by it to mean dollars. They
seem too, to have a remarkable aversion to all _them thats_, always
substituting the words _those who_. But the peculiarity which pleased us
most in the American service, was that, instead of the few words of
intercession introduced into our Litany, "especially those for whom our
prayers are desired," there are distinct and very beautiful prayers for
the different circumstances under which the prayers of the congregation
may be asked; as for example in sickness, or affliction, or going to
sea, &c. There is, also, a special form of prayer for the visitation of
prisoners, and one of thanksgiving after the harvest, also offices for
the consecration of churches, and for the institution of ministers to
churches; and some excellent forms of prayers authorised by the church
to be used in families. These seem the chief alterations, excepting that
the Communion Service differs very much from ours; the oblation and
invocation, which I believe are used in the Scotch service, being
introduced into theirs. To the whole is added, in their prayer books, a
most excellent selection of psalms and hymns, in which one is glad to
recognise almost all those which we admire most in our own hymn books.
But, after this long digression, to return to my journal. After the
service, Mr. Morgan, who had accompanied us to Baltimore with his
daughter, introduced us to Dr. Cox, and we were invited by him to return
on Thursday to a great missionary meeting, which is to be held in
Baltimore; but this, I am afraid, we shall hardly accomplish. In going
and returning from church, we saw a good deal of the city. It is built
upon slopes and terraces, which gives it a most picturesque appearance.
It is indeed generally reputed to be the most beautiful city in the
United States, and from the number of monuments it contains, it has been
called the "Monumental City." The principal structure of this kind is
the Washington monument, situated on a large open area, and upwards of
two hundred feet high. It is entirely constructed of white marble, and
has a colossal statue of Washington on the top. The town is built on the
banks of the Patapsco, about fourteen miles from where its flows into
the Chesapeake. It is navigable here for large ships, and presents one
of those enormous expanses of water, which form a constant subject of
dispute between papa and William, as to whether they are rivers, lakes,
or estuaries. Large as the expanse of water is, the distance from the
sea is at least 200 miles, and the water is quite fresh.
We returned yesterday with William to Philadelphia, and went to see the
famous water-works, which supply the town with water from the
Schuylkill. The water is thrown up by forcing-pumps to large reservoirs
above; the surrounding grounds are very pretty, and the whole is made
into a fashionable promenade, which commands a fine view of the city. We
afterwards went to the penitentiary, which has a world-wide renown from
its being the model of many which have been built in England and
elsewhere. The solitary system is maintained, the prisoners never being
allowed to see each other, nor could we see them. One poor man had been
in confinement sixteen years out of twenty, to which he had been
condemned. Any one remembering Dickens's account of this prison, must
shudder at the recollection of it, and it was sad to feel oneself in the
midst of a place of such sorrow. When here a few days ago, we had left
our letters of introduction for Mr. Starr. He called to-day, and gave
Papa some interesting information about the revivals. He takes great
interest in the young _gamins_, whom I have described as "pedlering" in
the railway cars, selling newspapers and cheap periodicals; they are a
numerous class, and often sharp little fellows. Mr. Starr takes much
pains in trying to improve their moral and religious characters. But I
have no time at present for more. We returned to New York to-day, and
are passing our last evening with William, who is to sail early
to-morrow, and will be the bearer of this letter.
LETTER VII.
WILLIAM'S DEPARTURE.--GREENWOOD CEMETERY.--JOURNEY TO
WASHINGTON.--ARRANGEMENTS FOR OUR JOURNEY TO THE FAR WEST.--TOPSY.
Washington, 16th Oct. 1858.
I closed my last letter to you on the 12th, and gave it to William to
take to you. On the following day we bade him a sorrowful farewell, made
all the more melancholy by the day being very rainy, which prevented our
seeing him on board. We so very rarely see rain, that when it comes it
is most depressing to our spirits, without any additional cause for
lamentation; but it never lasts beyond a day, and is always succeeded by
a renewal of most brilliant weather.
To console ourselves next day, although papa said it was an odd source
of consolation, we went to see the Greenwood Cemetery, which is one of
the four remaining sights of New York, the fifth, the Crystal Palace,
being, as I wrote to you, burnt down. The cemetery, however, proved a
great "_sell_," as William would have called it; for it is not to be
compared to the one at Philadelphia; and instead of the beautiful white
marble, surrounding each family plot, we found grey stone, or, still
more commonly, a cast iron rail. Moreover, it had to be reached by an
endless series of steamer-ferries and tramways, which, though they did
not consume much money (under 1_s._ a head), occupied a great deal more
time than the thing was worth. The excursion, however, gave us an
opportunity of seeing the town of Brooklyn, which, though insignificant,
in point of size, as compared with New York, has nearly as many
inhabitants as either Boston or Baltimore, and numbers more than twice
those in the town from which I now write.
We left New York yesterday, end slept at Philadelphia. When we went
there last week, the first thirty miles of our route was across the Bay
of New York, in a steamer, and, on our return, we came the whole way by
rail; but there is a third line, which we took on this occasion, called
the New Jersey Line, by which we went as far as Burlington by rail, and
thence a distance of nineteen miles in a steamboat down the Delaware. It
was splendid moonlight, and the town of Philadelphia, which stretches
along the banks of the river for nearly five miles, was well lighted,
and the river being crowded with ships, the whole effect was very
pretty.
It is marvellous how well they manage these huge steam-boats. They come
noiselessly up to the pier without the least shock in touching it, and
it is almost impossible to know when one has left the boat and reached
_terra firma_, so close do they bring the vessel up to the wharf. The
whole process is directed by a man at the wheel, and regulated by sound
of bell. There is a perfect absence of all yells, and cries, and strong
expressions, so common in a French steamer, and not unfrequent in an
English one.
We arrived too late at Philadelphia to be able to do much that evening,
and this morning, we started early for Baltimore, _en route_ for this
place. We had two very pleasant and communicative fellow-travellers, one
a coal merchant, who resides at Wilmington, the capital of Delaware, the
other a Quaker, a retired merchant from Philadelphia, who gave us a good
deal of information about some of the institutions and charities of that
place. He stood up much for the Girard College, and justified the
enormous cost of the building, by saying it was meant as a monument to
the founder. He made a very good defence of the solitary system, which I
mentioned in my last as existing in the penitentiary, and we were
beginning to think him a very wise "Friend," when he broke out on the
merits of Phonography, which, by his account, seems to have made much
progress in America, and he has asked us to call on Mr. Pitman, their
great authority on that subject, at Cincinnati. The old gentleman's name
was Sharpless, and it deserves to be recorded in this journal, he being
the only American we have heard take anything like a high tone upon the
subject of slavery. He gave us the names of some books upon the subject,
which we, in the innocence of our hearts, have been asking for in
Baltimore and here, forgetting that we are now in those states where it
forms a happy (?) feature in their domestic institutions.
As we were about to part, the old gentleman addressed us both, and
turning to me, said, "I must tell thee how well it was in thee to come
out to this country with thy husband, and not to let him come alone. A
man should never allow himself to be separated from a good wife, and
thou doest well, both of thee, to keep together." To which complimentary
speech I replied, that I had made it the one stipulation in giving my
consent to papa's crossing the ocean that I should accompany him; and I
confessed that I little thought at the time that I should be taken at
my word, or that our berths would be engaged the following day; but
hoped rather, by such stipulation, to prevent his going altogether. I
added that if all went well with our family at home, as I trusted it
would, I had no reason to do otherwise than be very glad I had come. We
arrived here at last. The Americans are very proud of their country.
But, oh! it would do them all good to see this blessed Washington, which
few of them do, except their Senators and Members of Congress, and
others connected with government. Well may Dickens term it "the city of
magnificent intentions." Such ambitious aspirings to make a great city!
Such streets marked out; twice or three times the width of Portland
Place! and scarcely anything completed, with the exception of some
public buildings, which, to do them justice, are not only on a
magnificent scale, but very beautiful. I shall, however, delay my
account of Washington till we have seen more of it, as we stay here till
Monday afternoon, when we return to Baltimore so as to allow us to make
a start for the West on Tuesday.
We are to travel quite _en prince_, over the Ohio and Baltimore
railroad, one of the most wonderful of all American railways. At New
York we had introductions given us to request the officials of this
line to allow us to travel on the engine, or on the cowcatcher if we
preferred it! either of which would undoubtedly have given us a fair
opportunity of viewing the scenery; but papa saw to-day, at Baltimore,
the managing director, who has arranged for the principal engineer to go
with us, and he is to take us in the director's car, which we are to
have to ourselves, and this gentleman, Mr. Tyson, is to let us stop
whenever we have a fancy to do so. We are to go fast or slow as we may
prefer. We are to start on Tuesday morning, at the tail of the express
train, and we have only to give the signal when our car will be
detached. There are only two or three trains daily for passengers; but
there are goods' and extra trains for various purposes, which are
constantly running at different speeds on the road. It is by reattaching
ourselves to any of these, that we can, when we like, effect all this,
and have an opportunity of seeing, in the most leisurely manner, and
without any detriment to the other passengers, the various parts of the
road that may be worth exploring. The line is very beautiful, and I hope
Mr. Tyson will be prepared for my frequently stopping him when I see
trees, with their splendid red leaves that I may wish particularly to
gather. We are to take our food in this carriage, if necessary, and
have beds made up in it, so as to make us quite independent of inns, and
we may pass as many days as we like upon the road. We are to do this
because, though some of the hotels are good, we may not find them at the
exact places where we wish to stop. Papa has no connection with this
road, and it must be American appreciation of his virtues which has led
the officials to deal with us in this luxurious way.
On Tuesday the 19th inst., therefore, we make our real start for the
West, and shall probably the first night reach Harper's Ferry, a place
which President Jefferson, in his "Notes on Virginia," which you will
find in papa's library, said, was "one of the most stupendous scenes in
nature, and well worth a voyage across the Atlantic to witness;" and
this was written when these voyages were not so easily accomplished as
they are now. But this railway has opened up scenery which was not known
to Jefferson, and is said far to surpass, in beauty, even this
celebrated Harper's Ferry; but of this we shall soon be able to judge
for ourselves.