building was designed by the City architect, Mr. Strickland, and the details are said to be from an Ionic temple on the Ilyssus near Athens. The two wings have a basement of granite, above which are three stories, all of fine white marble, like the portico and steps; along the front of these wings run three verandahs, one to each story, which are supported by 88 iron pillars, resting on granite piers, with an iron railing or breast-work, strikingly resembling the quarter-deck nettings in a ship of war, but whether the resemblance was accidental or intentional, I could not learn. In the basement of the centre-building is a diningroom 113 feet long, and the general kitchen of the establishment, with a furnace, from whence flues proceed for heating the whole building. From this story the communication to all the upper ones is by geometrical staircases of marble. In the first floor of this central building are, on the front, eight parlours for offices, and in the rear a chapel 56 feet square, lighted from the dome. On either side of these are the Dispensary, surgeons' and apothecaries' departments, and baths. In the third story are the sleepingrooms of the officers, and a separate department for the insane. In the wings are the general dormitories, of which there are 180 in number; these capable of accommodating 400 persons; and being all vaulted, they are spacious and airy, as well as substantial and secure. The whole edifice is built of fine white Pennsylvania marble, and cost 250,000 dollars in its erection; the funds for which were furnished by the general government. The custom of receiving, from all the seamen of the Union, the contribution of twenty cents per month, for the support of such institutions, exists here, as it does in England, where sixpence per month hospital-money has been received from mercantile seamen for years past, for a similar purpose. There is this essential difference, however, that the merchant seamen of England, who pay their sixpence per month to the support of Greenwich Hospital, are not eligible to the enjoyment of its advantages when they grow old and are worn out, as that establishment receives only the seamen of the royal navy; whereas in America, as all contribute, so all are eligible to enjoy the benefits for which they pay. Accordingly, the worn-out seamen of the American merchant-ship can enter this Asylum as freely as the veteran of the ship of war; and as, in a national point of view, the seamen who conduct the commerce of a country are as much entitled to support and protection in their old age, as the seamen who fight its battles, it is but justice that both should be put on the same footing, especially when both contribute towards the same fund. From the rear, or western front of this Asylum, the view is extensive and beautiful, embracing the winding of the Schuylkill, the water-works of Fairmount, the Alms-house on the opposite bank of the river, the State Penitentiary, and Girard College, while the moving scenery of the small-craft and boats perpetually passing up and down the stream add greatly to the interest of the scene. Notwithstanding this, the Institution is not so much resorted to by sailors, as those of Norfolk, Staten Island and Boston: because on these, the vicinity of the ocean, and the constant passing to and fro of large ships, is a source of pleasure to them, which these smaller river-craft never can afford. No doubt one of the great charms of Greenwich Hospital, to the British mariner, is the constant succession of ships of every size and form that pass every hour of the day up and down the Thames before their eyes, giving scope for nautical criticism, and maritine jokes, as to the respective styles of handling ships under weigh; but the same class of beings who are perfectly happy on the ever-varying banks of the Thames at Greenwich, would die of ennui if removed farther up the same stream, though surrounded by all the softer beauties of Twickenham or Richmond Hill. CHAP. VII. History and description of the Pennsylvania Hospital-Statistics ONE of the noblest and most extensively useful of all the benevolent institutions, is the Pennsylvania Hospital, situated in the very heart of Philadelphia. To this I had the opportunity of making a long and interesting visit, devoting an entire day to the purpose, and being accompanied by Mr. Nicholas Biddle and Dr. Bell, from whom, and from the resident director, answers to every enquiry were readily obtained. High as my admiration had already been of the perfection to which the arrangement and management of such institutions as these is carried in America, it was raised still higher by a personal inspection of every part of this admirable hospital; and as its history, as well as the statistics of its present condition, is calculated to excite the emulation of benevolent minds in other countries, a brief sketch of both is here condensed from authentic sources. The Pennsylvania Hospital was founded by a number of the benevolent citizens of Philadelphia, incorporated in the year 1751, by an act of the provincial legislature, as "The Contributors to the Pennsylvania Hospital;" every contributor of ten pounds, or upwards, being a member of the corporation, with a vote in its elections, and eligible to be appointed to the management of its concerns. The design of the Hospital is general, its charter providing for the reception of insane persons, and those afflicted with all other maladies not infectious. A lying-in department, authorized by a subsequent act of Assembly, for the accommodation of poor married women, of respectable character, has been founded on a donation from the first troop of Philadelphia City Cavalry, of money received by them for military services in the war of the revolution. The number of women annually received into this department, is now upwards of seventy. The charter of this institution provides, that no part of its income shall be appropriated to any other purpose, than to the support of the sick and diseased poor, and providing the necessary buildings for their accommodation; and that those whose diseases render them proper objects of the charity, shall be received from any part of Pennsylvania, without partiality or preference. The contributors meet annually on the first Monday in the month of May, to elect from their body, twelve Managers and a Treasurer, to serve during the ensuing year, The law regulating their duty and trust, provides, that they shall receive no emolument whatever for the performance of their official duties. The managers elect annually three physicians to have charge of the medical department; three surgeons to the charge of the surgical department; and two physicians for the lying-in department; all of |