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.