North, and South.  Had tea; and went to St. John’s Episcopal Church, and heard a good sermon from the rector, the Rev. Mr. Newton; text, Hebrews i. 11:  “They shall perish, but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment.”  It was most eloquent.  With a population of 250,000, they have 250 churches of different sects, and nearly all talented men for preachers—­indeed, Philadelphia has ever been known for its learning and benevolence since its rise.  I forgot to say we crossed a wire bridge, the only one in the world that would bear 80 tons.  Home, and to bed.

Monday morning.—­Took a regular turn through all the commercial houses again, and like their system better than New York.  Lunched off peaches, and then drove off to the Mint—­not worth seeing.  Thence to the Eastern Penitentiary, where they have 360 prisoners.  The solitary system is abominable.  I could not walk a happy man beneath the open sky by day, or lay me down upon my bed at night, with the consciousness that one human creature, for any length of time, lay suffering this unknown punishment, and I the cause, or consenting to it in the least degree.  The building is very large, and kept in perfect order:  it cannot be praised too highly.  We entered into a large chamber, from which seven long passages radiate; on either side of which is a long row of low cell-doors, numbered.  Standing at the central point, and looking down these dreary passages, the dull repose and quiet that prevails is awful.  I was much interested with one prisoner that had nearly completed his seven years, who stated that he had been guilty of stealing 100 dollars, and that, his conscience upbraiding him, he took them back previous to being found out:  still he was sentenced.  He had a loom, had extracted some colours from the yarn, and painted his room all over.  But enough.  I left it labouring under a feeling of melancholy, and visited the Blind Asylum, where we saw the system of reading by raised letters beautifully carried out.  A little girl and boy, about nine, who had been there only one year, could read the Bible well:  a young lady from Gloucester (England) could tell you the latitude and longitude of any place upon a raised map; and two others could sing and play well, thoroughly understanding music.  They take thirty boys and thirty girls upon the charity, and educate them so that they can get a living in after-life; and others they take at 200 dollars a-year for any period.  Strange to say, they sometimes get married.  I bought some of their work, and printed some of the raised letters.  Contributed to the charity, and left much pleased.  And I may here observe—­Jones’s, the Union Hotel, is very first-rate.  He is from Warwickshire:  all black servants, with a first-rate system.  Got a good dinner; and then saw the process of hatching chickens by steam.  I regretted I saw this, as I think I shall never like eggs again.  We ought to have visited the City Almshouse, Navy