1 80j.J Sketch b/ the Origin ana Prefent Slate of Philadelphia. 33 



and it vv^s a coimtry-walk for the citizens 

 to po to the H, f'piia!, the Swedes churcji, 

 or the fiiip-yanis at Kcniington. 



Since the revolution, (o happily termi- 

 nared by the independtncc ot the United 

 States, under the difiiittrcfled co-opeiatio;i 

 of a Franklin in council, a Morris in 

 finsnce, sn i a Wafliingfon in the fitll, 

 Piiiiridt-lphia has increaltrd with aftonifli- 

 ing jap;dity, notwithilanding the repeated 

 ravages of a mortal fever, introduced from 

 the pefiilentiai atmofphtre of the wei^crn 

 ArchlpeUgo, wliere it liai. been excited to 

 iin'.i!"u;ii viriiier.re by the civil wars of St. 

 Domingo. lo the year 1793 it fwept 

 away five thoiifand people. 



A fupsrb edifice of the Corinthian or- 

 <lcr, AMth a ni^jcdic portico of fix fiiited 

 Ci)lunM)s of white marble, was then build- 

 j'lg tor 'he recepiio:! of the Bank of the 

 Unite i States, a vigorous f fFspring of the 

 Federal Confti'tition, that had been Iram- 

 ed in 17S8, ar.d orga-iizfcl in tiie following 

 year, by the patriotic V/arnington, on he- 

 ing volui:tarily latified by two-th'.rls of 

 the thirteen indepeni'e:it (fates that then 

 formed the American Univ.n;- — -bus exhi- 

 biting to the e3spc6fing waridafiilf ex- 

 ample ot a great nation rcfoiming a defec- 

 tive fyftetn of g-ivernnient vvi;h.:ut un- 

 fhratlung ihe f^ord. 



The ci'y has fmce been biautified with 

 an elegant ft;ii£lure, execu'ed in whire 

 marble, frona the defign of an Ionic 

 temple, for the ofiices of the B.ink of 

 Ptniifyivania ; and ihe interfe£i:cn of the 

 two principal ftreets i.s now occuaied by a 

 marble Ro umia, for the retepti n anddlf- 

 tributim of the Schuylkill water, raiftd by 

 machinery to a level ot thirty or f^rty feet 

 sbove the highelt ground in the city. 



The (triets of Philadelphia are paved 

 with pebble-ltones, and bori'iered with 

 sniple foot-ways of brick, rai/ijd one fcot 

 above the car'iace- way, for the eale and 

 fatsty of paffengtrs, Tht-y are kept 

 cleaner than thofe of any city in Eiirote, 

 excrptlng the towns ot Holland, where 

 trade n carried on by cainis ; and Lon- 

 don is the only capital in the wcrid that 

 is better lighted at nifjht. 

 ■ The private bui dings are generally 

 three llorics high : they aie budt of a 

 cle.ir red brick, and generally ornamented, 

 iij the new ftrdets, with facings, kty- 

 ttores, and riights cf Heps, in white 

 marble. 



Ever fince the operation of the Federal 

 C'-nfliiUMon, four or live hundred houfes 

 have b.en annually erei'.led, no fmall pro- 

 portion cf wiiich (it is laid not lelis than 



) hiimirsd) have been birlt, or caufcd 



'-ONTifLY MdC- Nt>, lli. 



to be built, by a fingle citizen, vihofe 

 well-laid phns have grea'ly iitiproved the 

 city, particularly in Walnut-ftreet ; in' 

 Sanfoin ftieet, t^e frrfl that has been built 

 in America with a Itriil attention to uni- 

 formity ; and in Second ftrcef, where it 

 eroded a morafs that had long formed aa 

 inconvenient lepara'ion between the city 

 and the northern fuburbs. 



Philadtlphia, ircluding Southwark and 

 the Northern Liberties, now extends near 

 three miles along the Delaware, and about 

 a mile eaft and welt ; :iiid is fuppofed to 

 cnntain thirieen th.ufand haufes, and 

 eighty thoufar.d people. 



There are in it upwards of t'liity 

 churches, or meeting ho'il'es, in which 

 the various denominatiori^ of believers 

 pel form the iiomagc of public worlb.ip to 

 the common Father of M;inkind, acco d- 

 ing to their peculiar forms and pefua- 

 (ions, under the happy f) (fern of toleration, 

 fecured to all prnteifions, without a legal 

 eftabliflimenf for any. 



Three large meeting-horifes are now 

 bniidi.ig ir. dfterent parts of the city, and 

 ftone piers have bein erefted in the river 

 Schuylkill, for a permsnent bridge of 

 three aiches, whole gigantic fpan would 

 have been thought iinpraflicable in Eu- 

 rope long after the firft Icttiement of 

 Pcnnfylvania, 



The market of Philadelphia, for beef, 

 veal, and mutton, is fecond only to th^t of 

 Leadenhall ; and i;s pork, poultry, .and 

 gaiTe, ate not inferior to t'loie of tlie fineft 

 cliir.ates in the world ; thougii it is ez- 

 celled by New- York iu the articles of (ilh. 

 and frui't. 



Tiic city was firft incorporated in 1701, 

 befvie which period it was called- the 

 town of Philadelphia ; but the corpora- 

 tion was feif-eleftive, and not accountable 

 to the citizens, nccordi.ig to the arbitrary 

 fyftems of the mother-country. 



On the late aufpicious revolution, this 

 charter was annulled, and its powers were 

 varioufly diftri'.."!;ed, until, in 1780, a 

 corporation was again regularly organiz- 

 ed by charter, conflituting a mayor, re- 

 corder, fifteen aldermen, commcin co\in- 

 cil, (S-'C. iScc. Szc. j the latter to be annu- 

 ally chofcn by the taxable ir.habit.^nts. 



The public inttit'.iticnsof Philadelphia 

 are peculiarly numcriius and beneficial, — 

 They include a univcrfity, as well as a 

 con-jptrtent number of p.iblic, private, and 

 frte-fchools, a philosophical' Ibciety, a mu- 

 feum, a public library, an holpic d, a dif- 

 penfary, one publjc and two private alin«- 

 houies, a college of pliyficians, Ibcietiea 

 jor promctiiig agriculture, i.r the encou- 

 £ ragenient 



