First impressions of the New World on two travellers from the Old, in the autumn of 1858Trotter, Isabella Strange
History
First impressions of the New World on two travellers from the Old, in the autumn of 1858
Trotter, Isabella Strange
Canada -- Description and travel; United States -- Description and travel
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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