Part 11 (1/2)
Soration was so rapid that more than thirty children perished in the fla the house, they had the praiseworthy consideration to banish wood entirely fro, and even the stairs are of stone The Widow's Asylum is tenanted by helpless s, over which the above-mentioned board also have control They are boarded, clothed, and nursed as long as they live The rooms are occupied by one or two persons each, and there is a coreat cleanliness is also observable
The large and celebrated hospital of Philadelphia was established by the Quakers, and is under their direction It owes its origin to voluntary contributions and posthuarden, and consists of a s, one of which is used for incurable lunatics, another for venereal patients, and others for household purposes and stables; for they here keep carriages, in which the convalescents ride when it is allowed Behind the principal building is a kitchen garden, with a hot-house that containshas been erected for the painting of Sir Benjamin West, as a native of Philadelphia, and presented it to the hospital The subject of the painting is Christ healing the sick Neither the co appear to me to be successful; and perhaps it is only here, where they are unaccustos, that this could excite such astonishi+ng adular that near this painting, which certainly has so a little picture, accidentally discovered in the city, which was daubed as a first essay by the sa
[Footnote I-24: [Perhaps, had his highness known that this picture was long exhibited and admired in London by amateurs and artists, who certainly are _soood pictures, he would not have pronounced so decidedly fro, however, which the Duke of Saxe-Wei the fine arts, in these travels, to entitle his opinion on paintings to any authority]--TRANS]
The hospital is three stories high; in the lower story are the offices, the apothecary, the rooms of two physicians, one of whom must always be in the house, and the library, which contains a very handsome collection of books on medicine and natural history As a sort of antiquity, they show here Willialand, of this eminent man, of full size and in the Quaker dress, stands in the square in front of the house Corridors run through both wings, and thence you enter the roo twelve patients; they are under the care of female nurses, and lay on wooden bedsteads; only the hout this house extraordinary cleanliness is observed To the melancholy, every species of employment is permitted, provided it does not interfere with their own safety or that of other patients Soarden, tere occupied as cabinet-ed two years ina musket, for which he has prepared a colossal lock of wire and tin
When I returned from this reentleobservations on America, to make known in Germany I was ather infor the neorld and to present it to the old; perhaps he may contribute to make German literature known to the Americans
Mr Vaux had the politeness to accompany me to some literary institutions We went first to the Franklin Library; this collection, which amounts to thirty thousand volumes, was established by voluntary subscriptions, and is supported by the saht to take books hoe collection of copperplates, and aarth's prints The library is arranged in two great halls, and as a curiosity they show Dr Franklin's library chair The statue of this famous man stands in a niche over the entrance of the house, and was presented, as the inscription says, by Mr Binghaham of Montreal After that ent to the Philosophical Society, which also owns a building, and possesses a rich library and cabinet[I-25] The librarian, Mr John Vaughan, a venerable gentleman, equally esteemed for his benevolence and urbanity, perfor of several celebrated individuals of the revolution The cabinet contains, aical cabinet, a collection of shells, &c Finally, ent to the State House, and saw the plain and not very large hall in which the Declaration of Independence was signed on the 4th of July, 1776 This hall is decorated with a wooden statue, the size of life of President WAshi+NGTON; on the pedestal is the following inscription: ”First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen”
[Footnote I-25: [The library of the American Philosophical Society is one of the most valuable collections in the United States, and is richer in the Transactions of other learned societies than any in our country The Duke states in the original that books are not lent from this library, which is so erroneous that we have not repeated it in the translation Members of the society enjoy a free use of the books, and literary eous access to the library]--TRANS]
On the 18th of October, I travelled in the stage to Bethleheregation of Moravians
It was impossible tothis society, which is highly esteemed here on account of their usefulness, ave me a recommendatory letter
Bethlehem is fifty-two miles from Philadelphia; as the intercourse between both places is not very great, the stage goes but twice a week from each place Day had not dahen I left Philadelphia; the stage was very full, and the weather was uncoe companions, I became acquainted with two Messrs Rice, members of the Moravian Society, and inhabitants of Bethlehem, and found them very amiable, sensible, and well-informed men One of theood Gere, which unfortunately orse at each change, the first time at Whitemarsh, and the second at Quakertown; the road was mostly turnpike, and somewhat resembled our German roads, except that the stones thrown on the road were rather too large, and the path was not well filled up
After having changed horses the second ti been travelled on The latter part of the road was not yet turnpiked, and resembled a rocky bye-road, but, on account of the dry season, was the ion shows that the country has already been long under cultivation The houses are , built of blue liles There has been considerable expense bestowed on the barns, most of them have the appearance of churches The fields and , co on the fields, but they had begun to gather it
The winter grain had already sprouted, and had a pleasing appearance
The trade in wheat flour is carried on very largely in Pennsylvania; this flour has very justly obtained a good reputation, and is ht for in the West Indies; no where, not even excepting Europe, have I eaten as good bread as in this state The original forests have been eradicated, and you see very few old and handsorown again, and consists e-leafed oaks, chesnut, walnut, and hickory trees; the soil is partly lihbourhood of Bethlehereat many rocks, and you observe here the earth often crumbled, as is the case in calcarious mountains The inhabitants are , who still retain their language, although in an imperfect state They print here for the country people, newspapers and sheet almanacs, in American German The difference is already perceptible in the state of Pennsylvania which exists between the southern and northern states in the education of the lower classes: it is said to be stillin the southern states They particularly complain that the former German farmers did not send their children to school at all; lately, however, they have becoislature of Pennsylvania has passed a law, that no citizen shall sit on a jury unless he can read and write the English language The German farmers consider it an honour to be called upon a jury, but find thenorance They now, therefore, have their sons instructed in English I saw in the woods two sonal houses, and was informed that they were schools, which, however, were never frequented
In s, stables, and barns, the school is a si-house,the Indians There is no want of churches, -houses, Anabaptists, and Menonists Between Quakertown and Bethleheinally settled by that sect, but now inhabited mostly by Germans, there is a parish of Swiss Menonists, which they call here Dunkards, because the h, there happened to be the funeral of a young girl, and alation followed the coffin
Between four and five o'clock, P M we reached Bethlehem, and staid in Bishop's tavern, which was very cleanly, and well ed
Bethlehem is very handsomely situated, partly in a valley, and partly on a hill near the river Lehigh, into which empties the Manokesy brook
Very near the town there is a wooden bridge over the river, which was built in the year 1791, and rests upon three stone pillars, and over the brook there is a newly-built stone bridge of two arches The moment you behold Bethleheht bank of the Lehigh, are rather high roood The brick houses of the town are situated amphitheatrically; above all the houses, you see the church with a s-place, which lies upon a hill, and is planted with lombardy poplars The fields around the town are excellently cultivated, and the landscape is bounded by the Blue Mountains, eighteen e of s through The streets in Bethlehem are not paved, but planted with poplars, and provided with broad brick side-walks; the houses are built either of blue li in this tohich formerly served as the house for the brethren, is now occupied as a young ladies boarding-school There is also here an arched market-place, where butcher's meat is sold On the place where Bishop's tavern now stands, not long ago stood a little fra, which was built at the time Bethlehem was founded by Count Zinzendorf The town has about seven hundred inhabitants, y consists of Bishop Huffel and the two preachers, Messrs Seidel and Von Schweinitz; the latter is the great grandson of Count Zinzendorf, he was just absent on a voyage to Gereneral synod in Herrenhut
One of the Messrs Rice introduced y of my arrival; shortly after, I received a visit from Mr
Seidel, a Saxon by birth, who has resided nineteen years in the United States I found hi conversation with him I also met with an old man from Eisenach, by the naeon with the Hessians, and for some years past had taken up his residence in this tavern, where he acts as cicerone to the strangers
NextI received another visit from parson Seidel, and ith him to Bishop Huffel; the bishop is a e, also a Saxon, and a very friendly man, who has travelled much and speaks pleasantly He had a very handsome collection of minerals, particularly of Americanof the tohich has quite the appearance of the house of a country parson in Germany, and has even Gere hall, which formerly served the parish as a church until the church was finished I visited the church, escorted by the two divines; the arrangements are quite siher seat for the clergy, with a table before it; the church has a very fine organ, which was ood perforan From the steeple of the church is a handsoh, the mountains of the sa, next to the large hall, are several chambers, where they formerly kept school, before the new school was built, but now the elders hold their conferences in it, and the s this new church, the parish incurred a debt; the building, however, is not very tasty The burying place of the congregation is upon a sraves are in rows, a si the name, birth, and ti I observed by a circular notice, the death of a young lad who died last evening; in order to give notice of his death, they played with trumpets the tunes of three hy; certainly a very si cere takes place in presence of the whole parish Not far fro place, upon an elevated spot, is a cistern, in which bymachine, the water is carried from the brook, and thence all the houses and streets are supplied ater
After that ent to the dwelling of the sisterhood; all the old er ones of the parish, who have no parents, live together
Heretofore, all the uned to live in the sister-house; but this has been changed since, and those who have parents, live with their faether, have either each a separate rooether
They support the female utensils, which they manufacture There is no house for the brotherhood, because young industrious labourers in this happy land, where there are no taxes, can support theround on which the houses stand, belongs to the parish, and every round rent There is, however, here no cooods; every one has to work for, and to support himself, and the parish only assists him when he has beco ramble I visited Mr Rice, who is a ed in the flour business; he also keeps a store, where every article is to be found, which the country people are in need of; froon-screws After that, I dined at ho ladies from Providence, who also ca-school; as in Ger-schools, where children, whose parents do not belong to the society, are carefully educated The female school is at Bethlehem, and the male school in Nazareth
After dinner I took a ride with Dr Stickel, in order to exah Within a few years they have opened important coal works, about thirty miles from this place, at Mauch Chunk, on the other side of the Blue Mountains; these hbourhood with the well-known Lehigh coals, which are lish coals These coals were forht boats near the pit, and floated down the Lehigh into the Delaware to Philadelphia, and the boats were then broke to pieces and sold, on account of the falls and strong current of the Lehigh, which prevented their return As even the navigation down the river was frequently obstructed on account of loater, and incu the h which canals pass with locks, by ation
In the vicinity of the Lehigh, there are many limestone rocks; these they explode, partly for the purpose of having heavy stones, which are thrown on the da the, but also as manure for the fields
We returned from the locks to Bethlehem by another road; on account of their distance from the coal pits, these locks are called the thirty-seven h a well cultivated valley, wherein is situated a place called Butstown, settled by Gers Thence the road passed through an oak-wood, which appeared to be in very good order, and belonged to the brotherhood In the evening I ith Mr Seidel to a concert, which the aave In the town-school is a room appropriated for these concerts, which take place weekly The orchestra consisted of eleven musicians, all of ere mechanics of Bethlehereatest part of the religious service of the brotherhood consists of music; for this reason music constitutes a principal part of their education The ood st others were Mr Seidel and one of the young fe-school, Miss Huood Bishop Huffel had the politeness to a fancy pieces of his own on the piano After the concert I remained a few hours with Mr Seidel, his wife is a German by birth; moreover, I made acquaintance with a preacher, Mr Frueauf, a native of Dietendorf, near Gotha; he married a sister of Mr Von Schweinitz, and lives on his incoentleman, as rejoiced to ratification to me, to have conversed this whole day in Gere spoken in purity, which is hardly ever the case in other parts of America
On the third day of my stay at Bethlehe with me to the brotherhood of Nazareth, which is ten h a well kept wood, and partly through a well cultivated country A great le farms, which we passed, showed the wealth of their owners One of the places we passed, is called Hecktown; this naery of Mr