“Philadelphia, Feb. 12, 1787.“Dear Sir,“The elements of the new Planet have been pretty well determined by several European astronomers. The following I have extracted from the Almanack[232]for 1787.Mean Longitude4h2°21′58″{To Dec. 31,Mean Anomaly4853561787, at noon,Place of Aphel.1123282Paris.Ascending Node2125254Mean Motion in Long.in 365 days4°19′47″in 30 days21′21″in 24 hours42″.7“The Aphelion and Nodes move according to the precession of the Equinoxes; that is50″.3 per ann.Inclination of the Orbit46′13″Log. of greatest distance from the Sun6.3007701Log. of least distance6.2594052The Log. of the Earth’s mean dist. from ☉ being5.0000000“Dr. Halley’s Table of the equation of ♃’s orbit will do very well for computing the place of Herschel’s planet, only subtracting1/16part of the equation there found; the greatest equation of this planet being 5° 27′ 16″. So, if from the Log. to any degree of anomaly, in the Table for Jupiter, we subtract1/76part of the excess of that Log. above the least, and to the remainder add the constant Logarithm .5647750, we shall have the Log. for ♅ sufficiently accurate. On these principles, I have computed the Right Ascension of ♅, and find both agree with my own observation, to a few seconds.“I am sorry you have engaged the notice of *******. Men of his principles, with a printing-press at command, are the greatest pests of society.“My very bad state of health, and a multiplicity of business, have prevented my answering yours as soon as I wished to have done it. I am, Dear Sir, your Friend and Humble Servant,“David Rittenhouse.“Andrew Ellicott, Esq.Baltimore.”The correctness of the calculations respecting the Georgium Sidus, stated in this letter, is noticed in the following extract from one of Mr. Ellicott’s Almanacks.“The reader will find in this Almanack a continuation of the planet ♅. The elements on which the calculations were made, appear by observation to be very accurately determined, not only by the astronomers in Europe, but by my ingenious friend Mr. Rittenhouse, whose knowledge of the theory and practice of astronomy, is not surpassed in the old world.”From this time, until his resignation of the treasurership of Pennsylvania in the autumn of 1789[233], Mr. Rittenhouse appears to have continued to be pretty much engaged in the duties of that office. A short time before this event, the Writer of these Memoirs visited the city of New-York; where the first congress, chosen under the present constitution of the United States, were then convened, having commenced their session on the fourth day of March preceding: and on that occasion, Mr. Rittenhouse addressed a letter to General Washington, then President of the United States, recommendatory of his friend and nephew. Delicacy forbids this relative to present to public view that portion of the letter, which more especially relates to himself: but the introductory part of it is here presented to the reader, for the purpose of testifying the continuance of the high esteem entertained for the truly great man to whom it was addressed,by one who never disguised his sentiments. This extract is as follows:“Philadelphia, Aug. 14, 1789[234]“Sir,“However unwilling I am to add to that multitude of letters which must encroach so much on your precious time, I cannot altogether forbear, without doing violence to my feelings. As we have, all of us, through the course of life, been greatly indebted to the good offices of others; so we are no doubt under obligations to perform the same in our turn, as well with respect to our particular friends, as society in general.“Mr. William Barton, my sister’s son, knowing that you have heretofore honoured me with your acquaintance, I might, perhaps, say friendship, is willing to believe that any thing I can say in his favour, might have some weight with your Excellency.—* * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * *“Wishing your Excellency every happiness, I have the honour to be, Sir, with the greatest respect, your most obedient humble servant,“David Rittenhouse.“His Excellency the President of the U. States.”On the 10th of November, 1789, the following letter from Mr. Rittenhouse, offering his resignation of the office of treasurer of the state, was presented to the general assembly; and, after having been twice read, was, by order of the house, entered on their minutes.November 9, 1789.“Sir,“On account of the very unfavourable state of my health, as well as because I most earnestly wish to devote some of the few remaining hours of my life to a favourite science, I find myself under the necessity of declining the office of treasurer.“I have now held that office for almost thirteen years, having been annually appointed by the unanimous voice, so far as I know, of the representatives of the freemen of this state; a circumstance I shall ever reflect on with satisfaction, and which does me the greatest honour.“I will not pay so ill a compliment to those I owe so much, as to suppose the principal motive in these repeated appointments was any other than the public good; but I am nevertheless very willing to believe, that a regard to my interest was not wholly out of view. And I shall, perhaps, never have another opportunity of expressing, with so much propriety, my sincerest gratitude to the representatives of my countrymen, whose favour I have indeed often experienced on other occasions.“I accepted the treasury, when it was attended with difficulty and danger, and consequently when there was no compensation for it. Soon afterwards, a depreciated currency, prodigiously accumulated, made it extremely burthensome, without any prospect of profit.“In a more favourable situation of our affairs, it might have been lucrative, had not the very small commissions allowed by law, been scarcely equal to the risk of receiving and paying. In 1785, my commissions were increased, and the office was for sometime profitable; but the difficulties or remissness in collecting the public revenues, again reduced it to a very moderate compensation.“If, however, the embarrassments of the office have, in general, been little understood by those not immediately concerned in it; if the emoluments of it have been greatly exaggerated in the public opinion; I am still the more obliged to the several assemblies, who, under these impressions, have nevertheless continued me so long their treasurer.“The confidence of the public I have ever esteemed so invaluable a possession, that it has been my fixed determination not to forfeit it, by any voluntary act of impropriety. Where my conduct has been deficient in the discharge of my duty, I hope it will be imputed to want of ability, and not of integrity.“Fully sensible of the importance of the office I have the honour to hold, I cheerfully commit it into the hands of those who properly are, and ever must be, the guardians of the public good. I am, sir, with great respect, your most obliged and very humble servant—“David Rittenhouse“The honourable the Speaker of the Assembly.”From the commencement of the year 1777, at which period Mr. Rittenhouse was invested with the treasurershipof his native state, until the month of September following, when its capital was actually possessed by the British army, that city was in imminent danger of an hostile invasion. When it was reduced to a moral certainty, that the speedy occurrence of such an event was inevitable, he had retired with the treasury (as before noticed) to Lancaster, as a place of security; where he remained until the succeeding summer: when, after the evacuation of the capital by the British forces, he returned thither, and replaced the treasury in its ancient seat. The time, therefore, at which he accepted the office of treasurer, was truly one of “difficulty and danger.”That it was not, for many years, a lucrative place, must be apparent from the ever memorable circumstance of the great and unexampled depreciation of that species of paper-currency, called continental money;[235]which was the only circulating medium of theUnited States, until the year 1782, when the bank of North America went into operation. The vast accumulation in the treasury, of that depreciated and daily depreciating substitute for money, must necessarily have been “extremely burthensome” to the treasurer, and could not have afforded him “any prospect of profit,” during the first five years of his tenure of the office. And it was not, in fact, until those last few years, which constituted the interval between the time of augmenting the commissions and his retirement from the office, that the treasurership was profitable to him. During the greater part of the time he held it, the profits of the office did not enable him to employ even a clerk: nor could he have performed the numerous and laborious duties of that station (such as they then were,) had he not been greatly assisted bythe assiduity, care and abilities, of an excellent woman—Mrs. Rittenhouse. Singular as this circumstance may appear, this notice of it seems due to the memory of an highly meritorious wife; while, on the other hand, it must be acknowledged, that it does not reflect any honour on the liberality of a great, wealthy, and populous state. Such a man as David Rittenhouse ought to have been otherwise employed, by a generous and enlightened public: the exercise of his transcendent talents, in works of great and permanent public utility, would not only have constituted services which would have entitled him to a bountiful remuneration; but such as would have conferred great additional benefits and honours on his country.That he should have had, in thirteen years, successively, an unanimous annual vote for the office of treasurer, is a very strong testimonial of the exalted sense which his countrymen entertained of his integrity: it would have been so, under a popular government, at any period. But when it is considered, that, during the whole of the time he held the treasurership, the people of Pennsylvania were divided into two opposing parties, which sprung into existence with the adoption of the state-constitution of 1776, the unanimity of their representatives in favour of this individual, is still more conclusive evidence of his merits. Most of those men in the community, best acquainted with human nature, and practically versed in the science of politics, very early pointed out the radical defects ofthe new frame of government; and predicted the utter incompetency of that instrument, as they conceived, to promote the true interest and happiness of civil society. In a single legislative body, a plural executive, and in a limited duration of the judicial authority—consequently, an undue dependence of the judges on the executive for their re-appointment,—they foresaw those evils, which were too soon realized: and in a septennial council of censors, such as that constitution provided for,[236]they beheld a political chimera,at variance with common sense and the experience of mankind. Men entertaining these views, formed, of course, one of these parties.The other was composed of the projectors of the constitution of 1776, and other speculative politicians; together with all those whom they were enabled to influence, through the medium of their prejudices, their inexperience or their interests.These two parties continued to divide the state, until the adoption of the fœderal constitution. The great and multiplied evils which resulted to the people of the United States, after the restoration of peace, and which had also been severely felt during the greater part of the war, from the inefficacy of the original confœderation of the States, had convinced all thinking men of the necessity of forming a more energetic national government, as the only remedy for those evils. And the actual formation of such a government, aided by the long experience which the citizens of Pennsylvania had then acquired, of the injurious effects of their own existing constitution, disposed them soon after to establish the present constitution of the state, which was done in convention on the 2d of September 1790; a form of government, free from the palpable errors of the preceding one, and much more consonant to the genius and spirit of the fœderal constitution.It is, then, a very extraordinary circumstance, and one that reflects great honour on the character of Mr. Rittenhouse, that, in the long course of years duringwhich the people of Pennsylvania were thus divided into two contending parties, he alone could unite the favourable opinion of both parties, respecting his superior claims to hold one of the most important offices in the government.Although little more than six years and an half intervened, from the time of Mr. Rittenhouse’s resigning the treasurership of the state, until the period of his decease, literary and other public honours then flowed in upon him. He enjoyed, likewise, the satisfaction of experiencing, during that short interval, multiplied proofs of the esteem in which his abilities and character were held, both at home and abroad. And, notwithstanding it appears to have been his wish, when he retired from the treasury, to decline for the future any official situation, or public employment of any kind, not connected with science; in order that he might, without interruption, devote the remainder of his life to his favourite pursuits; a variety of public trusts, some of them requiring arduous duties, were constantly pressed upon his acceptance.Shortly before he resigned the treasurership, the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred on Mr. Rittenhouse, by the College of New-Jersey: his diploma bears date the 30th of September, 1789. This respectable seminary had given him the degree of Master in the Arts, seventeen years before[237]; and this newhonour was a further pledge of the high estimation in which he continued to be held by the regents of the institution. His diploma for the Doctorate has a place in the Appendix.The College at Princeton, in New Jersey, then possessed—as she still does—the first Orrery constructed by Dr. Rittenhouse; a monument of his genius and abilities, that seemed to give him a just claim to this highest academical honour, appropriate to his character, which the college could confer.This institution, called Nassau Hall, was founded about the year 1738; but its original charter was enlarged by Governor Belcher, in 1747. The president and trustees of Nassau Hall possessed a power, by their charter, of granting to “the students of the college, or to any others thought worthy of them, all such degrees as are granted in either of the universities, or any other college, in Great Britain.” This privilege, it is believed, was not enjoyed generally—if at all, in any other instance[238], by the American colleges, before the revolution; as it is supposed they were restricted, prior to that era, to the conferring of degrees in the Arts only. But all the superior seminaries of learning, in the United States, now possess the right of creating Bachelors and Doctors, in Divinity, Law, and Medicine: and it is greatly to be wished, thatthey may always dispense these high academic honours with impartiality and a due discretion.The college-edifice at Princeton is a stately and durable one, constructed of stone; and it will afford satisfaction to the reader, to be informed, that in this building is deposited the Rittenhouse Orrery. He will derive additional pleasure from learning, that this grand machine has, lately, been repaired in some considerable degree, and at a great expence, by the ingenious Mr. Henry Voight, of the Mint: by whom, that belonging to the University of Pennsylvania, has likewise been put in good order. Neither of these Orreries appeared to have suffered any material injury from the British troops, during the war of the revolution; though it has been generally believed, they did. The libraries, indeed, and some of the apparatus, belonging to both the colleges in which the Orreries are placed, experienced great losses from the presence of an hostile army in their vicinity: but the officers of that army seem to have respected these greater works of human ingenuity.[239]On the first day of January, 1790,[240]Dr. Rittenhouse was elected one of the Vice-presidents of theAmerican Philosophical Society; his colleagues, in this office, being the Rev. William Smith, D. D. and John Ewing, D. D. both of them able and distinguished astronomers.This appointment he held but one year; in consequence of the death of Dr. Franklin,[241]on the 17th day of April following.[242]In supplying the vacancy which had thus occurred in the Presidentship of the Society, the members ofthat body could not hesitate in selecting, for that honourable station, a suitable successor to their late venerable patron and chief: the eyes of all were immediately directed towards Dr. Rittenhouse. He was accordingly elected to be President, at the stated annual meeting of the Society for the purpose of chosing their officers, held in January, 1791. On being notified of this appointment, he addressed the following letter to Mr. Patterson, one of the secretaries of the Society.“Philadelphia, Jan. 22 1791.“Sir,“I am extremely sensible of the honour the members of the Philosophical Society have done me, by electing me their President, in the room of that very worthy patron of the Society, the late Doctor Franklin.“They have, by this act of theirs, laid an additional obligation on me to promote the interests of the institution, by the best means in my power, to which I shall ever be attentive; though my ill state of health will frequently deny me the pleasure of attending the stated meetings.“I send you, herewith, two letters which you will please to communicate to the society.—I am, Sir, your very humble servant.“David Rittenhouse.”–—“In this elevated situation, the highest that Philosophy can confer in our country,” says his learned and eloquent Eulogist,[243]“his conduct was marked by its usual line of propriety and dignity.”—“Never,” continues his Eulogist, “did the artificial pomp of station command half the respect, which followed hisunassuming manners in the public duties of this office. You will,” says he, “often recollect, Gentlemen, with a mixture of pleasure and pain, the delightful evenings you passed in the Society, every time he presided in your meetings. They were uniformly characterized by ardour in the pursuits of science, urbanity, and brotherly kindness.”About the time of Dr. Rittenhouse’s elevation to the Presidency of the Philosophical Society, and indeed pretty generally afterwards, the delicate state of his health confined him much to his house and his observatory. On a dry day, he would, occasionally, walk a little abroad; in the proper seasons, he would now and then recreate himself in a pretty little flower-garden adjoining his house, which Mrs. Rittenhouse took pleasure in decorating. His evenings were uniformly passed at home; except at the times of the stated meetings of the Philosophical Society, when he usually attended, if the weather permitted.Besides a few of his most intimate friends, who were in the habit of visiting him pretty often towards the close of the day[244], many strangers of distinction,and persons who had no particular claims upon him on the score of friendship, made him occasional visits at other times: but in such portions of his time as he could retrench from these avocations, he was much employed in reading; and the books he read comprehended works of literature, taste, and science. He blended theutile cum dulci, in the choice of his subjects;and while he devoted some of what might be called his leisure hours, such as were abstracted from his more appropriate pursuits, to works of amusement, he did not neglect studies of a more serious and important nature. He was at no loss for books: independently of his own collection, he had ready access to two valuable and extensive public libraries[245]; those of several literary gentlemen were open to him; and some of his friends occasionally supplied him with new publications. The following note addressed to him by Mr. Jefferson, in the beginning of the year 1791, will shew that Dr. Rittenhouse then devoted some attention to chemistry, and that he continued to read works of natural science, in French, as well as in his own language.“Th. Jeffersonsends to Mr. Rittenhouse Bishop Watson’s essay on the subjects of chemistry, which is too philosophical not to merit a half an hour of his time, which is all it will occupy. He returns him Mr. Barton’s papers[246], which he has perused with great pleasure; and he is glad to find the subject hasbeen taken up by so good a hand: he has certainly done all which the scantiness of his materials would admit. If Mr. Rittenhouse has done with the last number of the Journal de Physique, sent him by Th. J. he will be glad to receive it, in order to forward it on to Mr. Randolph: if not done with, there is no hurry.“Monday morning.”–—The relation in which Dr. Rittenhouse now stood to the American Philosophical Society, of which he had attained to the honour of being the President, renders it proper that some account should be given, in this place, of an institution heretofore distinguished by its Transactions. The following are the leading features in its history.This Society was instituted on the 2d day of January, 1769, by an union of two literary societies that had subsisted some time previously, in Philadelphia. In the same year this united body petitioned the general assembly of the province to grant them the privilege of erecting a building, suitable for their accommodation, on some part of the State-House square. But the Library Company of Philadelphia, also a very useful and respectable institution and a much older corporation, having about the same time made a similar application to the legislature, in their own behalf,the prayer of neither was then granted. The latter have, long since, erected for their accommodation a large, commodious and elegant structure[247], on a lot of ground purchased by them for the purpose, in the immediate vicinity of the public square originally contemplated for its site.A second petition was presented to the general assembly by the Philosophical Society, for the same purpose, soon afterwards; though without success. But, finally, in pursuance of another application to the state legislature by the Society, for the same object, a law was enacted on the 28th of March, 1785; by which a lot of ground (being part of the State-House Square) was granted to them, for the purpose of erecting thereon a Hall, Library, &c. “for their proper accommodation.”The ground appropriated by the legislature, for this purpose, contains seventy feet in front on (Delaware) Fifth-Street, (and nearly opposite the Hall of the Philadelphia Library-Company,) and fifty feet in depth; on which the Society erected, between the years 1787 and 1791, a neat, convenient, and spacious edifice: it was completed under the direction and superintendence of Samuel Vaughan, Esq. formerlya vice-president of the Society; and by means of this gentleman’s disinterested exertions, principally, somewhat more than $3500 were obtained from about one hundred and fifty contributors, towards defraying the expense of the building. Dr. Franklin gave at sundry times, towards this object, nearly $540 in the whole amount.[248]The act of assembly of 1785 having, however, restricted the corporation of this Society, not only from selling or transferring, but from leasing, any part of the ground thus granted to them, or of the erections to be made on it, a supplement to that act was obtained, on the 17th of March, in the following year; authorizing the Society to let out any part of their Building, for such purposes as should have an affinity to the design of their institution; but restricting the profits arising from any such lease to the uses for which the Society was originally instituted. The cellars and some of the apartments in the house, have been leased accordingly; and the profits arising from these leases constitute a considerable part of the Society’s funds, which are of very moderate extent. The resident members pay to the Treasurer a small annual assessment, fixed by a by-law of the Society: these payments, in addition to occasional donations in money,made by members and others,[249]form the residue of the funds of the Society; besides which, they receive from time to time valuable presents, in books, astronomical and other instruments, &c. Their library, philosophical apparatus, and collections of various kinds, are now respectable.The objects of this institution are readily comprehended, from its name; the style of the corporation being—“The American Philosophical Society held at Philadelphia, for promoting Useful Knowledge:” And with this view, in its formation, the fundamental laws (passed on the 3d day of February, 1769,) direct, that “The members of the Society shall be classed into one or more of the following committees:1. Geography, Mathematics, Natural Philosophy and Astronomy.2. Medicine and Anatomy.3. Natural History and Chemistry.4. Trade and Commerce.5. Mechanics and Architecture.6. Husbandry and American Improvements.”The same original laws and regulations of the Society indicate the style of the several officers of the institution,and prescribe the duties of their respective stations: they likewise direct the manner in which the general economy of the Society shall be managed, and their proceedings, in the more appropriate business of their institution, arranged and conducted. “These Rules,” say the Society (in an Advertisement prefixed to the first volume of their Transactions,) “were adopted from the Rules of that illustrious Body, the Royal Society, of London; whose example the American Philosophical Society think it their honour to follow, in their endeavours for enlarging the sphere of knowledge and useful arts.”The Officers of the Philosophical Society are—a patron, who is the governor of the state for the time being—a president—three vice-presidents—a treasurer—four secretaries, and three curators,—together with twelve counsellors; which last board of officers was created by an act of the legislature, in the year 1780, and the same law designates the duties of their appointment.The number of members of this Society is not limited: it consisted of three hundred, forty years ago; and, probably, now amounts to about four hundred and fifty. Of this number, however, a large proportion is made up of foreigners; many of whom are eminent personages, and men of the most distinguished abilities in various departments of science, in different parts of the world.The Proceedings, hitherto, of this very respectable association of literary and scientific characters, have been published in six[250]quarto volumes, denominated the “Transactions” of the Society: Besides which, several learned and ingenious Orations—including two or three of much eloquence, under the title of Eulogiums—have been delivered before the Society and by their appointment, by members of their body.These outlines will serve to furnish the reader with some ideas of the nature, condition, and character of an institution, which has, in many respects, reflected honour on the country to which it belongs. Its usefulness,[251]it is earnestly to be wished, will not be sufferedto diminish, by any declension of that noble ardour in cultivating, that public spirit in promoting, learning and science, which, while they adorn the names of individuals, contribute to the glory of a nation. Let a hope be still cherished, that notwithstanding the tumult, the folly, and the distractions, which at the present day pervade a large portion of the civilized world, the period is not remote, when tranquillity, good sense and order, shall resume their blest dominion over the conduct of the too many now infatuated nations of the earth.—Let a belief be yet encouraged, that under the guidance of a benign Providence, not only the rising generation will be found zealous to emulate the fair fame of aFranklinand aRittenhouse; but even, that good and rational men in our own time, and among ourselves, will continue to cultivate the arts of peace, and to promote those objects of literature and science, which, at the same time they meliorate the heart and elevate the mind, contribute to the happiness of the individual and the general welfare of mankind.Dr. Rittenhouse’s attachment to the interests of the institution of which he had been thus recently elected President, was amply manifested soon after. In the month of November, of the same year, he presented to the Society, the sum of 308l.(equivalent to821⅓ dollars,) for the purpose of discharging a debt due by their corporation to the estate of the late Francis Hopkinson, Esq. the treasurer, then deceased. This liberal donation was thankfully received; and the acknowledgments of their grateful sense of it were made to the donor, by the following address,—expressive as well of their feelings on the occasion, as of the high opinion they entertained of his merits and character.“ToDavid Rittenhouse, Esq. LL.D. President of the American Philosophical Society, held at Philadelphia, for promoting Useful Knowledge.“Sir,“The American Philosophical Society embrace the present occasion of a meeting for stated annual business, to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, dated Nov. 15th, addressed to their treasurer; in which you are pleased to inform him, that you have paid the 308l.due to the late Judge Hopkinson, and will lay the bond and mortgage before the Society; expressing your hopes, that this benefaction, on your part, may “encourage the Society to exert themselves to get rid of some other heavy debts and incumbrances.”“This renewed instance of your liberality joined to the consideration of the illustrious part which you have taken in their labours, for many years past, hasmade such an impression upon them, that they are at a loss in what manner they can best express their gratitude, or their respect and veneration for your name.“At any time, and in any country, such a “brilliant present” would indicate a mind that can feel the inseparable connection between Learning and Human Felicity: But in the present state of our finances, it is a most important benefaction; and a noble specimen of Literary Patronage in a young empire, where many other improvements must share with the Arts and Sciences, in the public attention and bounty.“We are sensible of the necessity of extinguishing the other heavy debts of the Society, with all possible speed, and have appointed a proper committee for that purpose.“Signed in behalf, and by order, of the Society, at a meeting held the 16th day of December, 1791.“John Ewing,William Smith,Th. Jefferson,Vice Presidents.“James Hutchinson,Jonathan Williams,Samuel Magaw,Secretaries.”To which address, Dr. Rittenhouse returned this answer.“Gentlemen,“The satisfaction I feel, in contributing something towards promoting Science, the interests whereof are,I am persuaded, inseparable from those of humanity, is greatly increased by your very polite approbation.“My sincerest wishes are, that you may ever merit public encouragement, and enjoy the patronage of the generous and the good.”In the spring succeeding Dr. Rittenhouse’s election to the Presidency of the Philosophical Society, his name was included, jointly with those of Thomas Willing, Esq. and the late Samuel Howell, Esq. in a commission to receive subscriptions, in Pennsylvania, to the Bank of the United States. This appointment was made by President Washington, on the 26th of March, 1791.Soon after, he was commissioned by Governor Mifflin to be one of three joint “Agents of Information,” relating to the business of opening and improving certain roads, rivers and navigable waters, in Pennsylvania. His colleagues in this commission were the Rev. Dr. William Smith and William Findley, Esq. and this board of commissioners, whose appointment bears date the 10th of May, 1794, was erected in pursuance of an act of assembly, passed the 13th of April, preceding. These gentlemen, it appears, proceeded on that service; for, about two months after their appointment, monies were advanced to them, towards defraying the expences to be incurred in executing the duties of their commission.These duties, it is believed, were in some way connected with an investigation of the most practicable route for a turnpike-road between Philadelphia and Lancaster. A company, which had been formed some time before, for the purpose of constructing such a road, were incorporated by the governor of the state, by virtue of a law passed the 9th of April, 1792. Dr. Rittenhouse was a member of that company, and he actually superintended the surveyors, who were employed in tracing one of the then contemplated routes: Dr. Ewing was likewise engaged in the same service. Neither of those gentlemen held any appointment for such purposes, from the managers of the turnpike-company, nor received any compensation from them, for their services: it is therefore presumed, that Dr. Rittenhouse officiated under the commission last mentioned; and perhaps Dr. Ewing acted, also, under a similar commission.[252]The former, however, washimself one of the board of managers; in which capacity he acted as a member of several committees, particularly in 1792: but at the end of that year, he declined to continue any longer a manager.[253]It has been before noticed, that, on the elevation of the College of Philadelphia to the grade of an University, by an act of assembly passed in November, 1779, Dr. Rittenhouse was one of the trustees of the new institution, created by that law. On the 30th of September, 1791, almost twelve years afterwards, a compromise was effected between the respective advocates of the old and the new institution; a law of the state being then passed, “to unite the University of the state of Pennsylvania, and the College,Academy and Charitable School of Philadelphia, &c.” By this act, the then existing trustees of each institution were to elect twelve trustees; and the twenty-four persons who should be thus chosen, together with the governor of the state for the time being, as president of the board, were to be the trustees of this united seminary, under the denomination of “The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania.”On this occasion, Dr. Rittenhouse was again chosen a member of the corporation, on the part of the University, the election having been made the 3d of November, 1791; at which time, Bishop White was president of the board of the College trustees, and Dr. M‘Kean, late governor of Pennsylvania, of that of the University. By an act of assembly, passed the 6th of March, 1789, so much of the act erecting the University, as affected the charters, franchises and estates of the College of Philadelphia, had been repealed, and the powers of the former trustees revived: but by the act of 1791, all the estates of the two institutions were vested in this one, composed of both.The union of the separate interests of those seminaries, it may be reasonably expected, will eventually prove a fortunate circumstance: because, by its extinguishing the jealousies and rivalship[254]that heretoforesubsisted between the friends of each, which must, too, have continued to operate, had they remained separate; and, by consolidating their estates and pecuniary resources into one fund, greatly encreasing the sphere of their usefulness, beyond the ratio in which they could have been enjoyed separately; the important interests of literature might be expected to be proportionably advanced. A doubt can not be entertained, that this was an object very desirable by the benevolent Rittenhouse, as well as by the trustees, generally, of these conjoint institutions.[255]It has been already noticed, that the first academic honour conferred on Dr. Rittenhouse, was obtained from the College of Philadelphia: he might therefore consider it as being hisAlma Mater; and his attachment to that seminary must have been strengthened, by the circumstance of one of his (only two) Orreries having been acquired by it, and its being deposited in the college-edifice. But, besides these considerations,he officiated, for some time, as Vice-provost and a professor in the institution, after it became an University. To the first of these stations, he was elected on the 8th of February, 1780; having been unanimously appointed professer of astronomy, the 16th of December preceding: a salary of one hundred pounds per annum was annexed to the vice-provostship, and three hundred pounds per annum to the professor’s chair. These places Dr. Rittenhouse resigned, the 18th of April 1782.Thus attached to, and connected with, this very respectable seminary of learning, as Dr. Rittenhouse was, the following occurrences in the history of its origin and advancement, will not be deemed uninteresting, by the reader.The Academy and Charitable School, of Philadelphia, originated in the year 1749. This institution, which was opened in that year, was projected by a few private gentlemen; and many others, of the first respectability, gave their countenance to it, as soon as it became known: some of them were, on its first establishment, appointed trustees of the infant seminary.The persons on whom the charge of arranging and digesting the preparatory measures for this important undertaking, were Thomas Hopkinson,[256]TenchFrancis,[257]Richard Peters and Benjamin Franklin, Esquires.[258]The last mentioned of these distinguished and patriotic gentleman draughted and published the original proposals; and on the opening of the Academy, another of them, Mr. Peters, (afterwards D. D. and rector of Christ’s-Church and St. Peter’s in Philadelphia,) who long officiated as provincial secretary, preached an appropriate sermon—on the 7th of January, 1751—from these words (St. John, viii. 32.) “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”—“This reverend and worthy gentleman” said Dr. Smith, in his account of this institution, first published among his works in the year 1762 “(who, amid all the labours of his public station, as well as the private labours in which his benevolence continually engaged him, has still made it his care to devote some part of his time to classical learning, and the study of divinity, to which he wasoriginally bred,) took occasion, from these words of our blessed Saviour, to shew the intimate connexion between truth and freedom,—between knowledge of every kind, and the preservation of civil and religious liberty.”The Rev. William Smith, M. A. (afterwards D. D.) was inducted, on the 25th of May, 1754, as head of this seminary, under the title of Provost, with the professorship of natural philosophy[259]annexed to thatstation.station.On the 14th of May, 1755, an additional charter was granted by the Proprietaries to this seminary, by which a College was engrafted upon the original Academy: a joint government was agreed on for both, under the style of “The College, Academy and Charitable School, of Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania;” and this enlarged institution became invested with a power of conferring degrees, and appointing professors in the various branches of the arts and sciences.The first commencement, in this College and Academy, was held the 17th of May, 1757;[260]on whichoccasion, an excellent charge was delivered to the graduates, by the Provost. One passage in that charge is so patriotic and impressive, as to merit attention at all times, in a country that boasts of a free constitution of government; its introduction at this time, and on the present occasion, cannot be considered improper: it is the following animated and eloquent exhortation to active patriotism, in times of misrule, popular delusion, and public danger:—“Should your Country call, or should you perceive the restless tools of faction at work in their dark cabals, and ‘stealing upon the secure hour of Liberty;’ should you see the corruptors, or the corrupted, imposing upon the public with specious names,—underminingthe civil and religious principles of their country, and gradually paving the way to certain Slavery, by spreading destructive notions of Government;—then, Oh! then, be nobly roused! Be all eye, and ear, and heart, and voice, and hand, in a cause so glorious! Cry aloud, and spare not,—fearless of danger, regardless of opposition, and little solicitous about the frowns of power, or the machinations of villany. Let the world know, that Liberty is your unconquerable delight; and that you are sworn foes to every species of bondage, either of body or of mind. These are subjects for which you need not be ashamed to sacrifice your ease and every other private advantage. For, certainly, if there be aught upon earth suited to the native greatness of the human mind, and worthy of contention,—it must be to assert the cause of Religion, and to support the fundamental rights and liberties of mankind, and to strive for the constitution of your country,—and a government of laws, not of Men.”In the year 1765, the original plan of this institution was greatly enlarged, by the addition of the Medical School;[261]with the appointment of Professors,[262]for reading lectures in anatomy, botany, chemistry, the materia medica, the theory and practice of physick,and also for delivering clynical lectures in the Pennsylvania Hospital.[263]Since that period, and after theerection of the whole of the College-establishment into an University, the Medical department has been stillfurther extended, by the creation of other Professorships in the Schools of Medicine, and filling thesenew chairs—as well as those originally instituted—with men of distinguished learning and abilities: Bywhich means, the Medical School in Philadelphia, connected with the University of Pennsylvania, now justly vies with that of Edinburgh, in celebrity.The whole of the literary and scientific institution, thus formed—which, besides the Medical Schools,was composed of the College, the Academy and the Charitable School, continued under the provostship ofthe Rev. Dr. Smith, assisted by able teachers and professors,[264]from his induction in the year 1754, until theestablishment of the University, in 1779:[265]during which time, comprehending a period of twenty-fiveyears, this seminary increased in reputation and flourished; and indeed it was indebted for much of its respectabilityand usefulness to the zeal,[266]the talents and the services of Dr. Smith.This gentleman was educated in the university of Aberdeen,[267]in Scotland, where he graduated as Masterof Arts. He soon after obtained clerical orders, in the Church of England; and, in the year 1759, hewas honoured with the degree of Doctor in Divinity, from the University of Oxford, on the recommendation of the archbishop of Canterbury, and the bishops of Durham, Salisbury, Oxford and St. Asaph.[268]About the same time, he received a similar degree from the University of Trinity-College, Dublin. Dr. Smith died the 14th of May, 1803, at the age of seventy-six years.On the 10th of April, 1792, an act was passed by the general assembly of Pennsylvania, for the purpose of enabling the governor to incorporate a company for opening a canal and water-communication between the rivers Delaware and Schuylkill: and by this act, David Rittenhouse, William Moore, Eliston Perot, Cadwallader Evans, jun. and Francis Johnston, Esquires, were appointed commissioners to receive subscriptions of stock, for constituting a fund for this purpose.Thus, after having been engaged in the course of eleven years, at a prior period, in the improvement of a great natural highway of his native country, he was again employed, in conjunction with others, by the legislative body of that country, after a lapse of nineteen years from the time of his first appointment to a similar duty, in forwarding the great design of uniting more intimately, and more beneficially for the purposesof agriculture and commerce, the waters of the beautiful stream near whose banks he was born, with those of the majestic Delaware.This comparatively inconsiderable appointment was presently after succeeded by a most important one. Dr. Rittenhouse was commissioned to be Director of the Mint, by President Washington, the 14th of April, 1792; but he did not take the requisite qualifications for that office, until the 1st of July following. He entered upon the duties of this arduous and very respectable station with great reluctance: it was, indeed, pressed upon him; not only by Mr. Jefferson, then secretary of state, with whom Dr. Rittenhouse had long been in habits of intimate friendship; but (through the means of Mr. Secretary Hamilton, of the Treasury,) by the illustrious President himself, who always entertained the highest regard for him: and this esteem was mutual, notwithstanding some “shades of difference” in the political tenets of these two great and good men; for no person could hold a more exalted opinion of the integrity, abilities, and public services of Washington, than Dr. Rittenhouse uniformly did. Such was the extreme diffidence with which our Philosopher accepted this appointment thus honourably conferred on him, that he declined, for a considerable time, to be sworn into office; until, finally, on applying to the writer of these memoirs, he obtained his promise to render such assistance to him as he should be able to do, in the event of his own incapacity,from want of health or by reason of any incidental circumstance, to devote a sufficient portion of his time to the duties of the station. Although the writer was never required to act in the capacity thus proposed to him, circumstances not occurring to render it necessary, he shall always consider the arrangement then made upon the subject, on the voluntary proposition of Dr. Rittenhouse, as an estimable testimonial of his confidence in his friend and relative: yet the writer would have introduced the mention of these particulars, into the present work, with greater hesitation than he does, did he not conceive that a statement of facts of this kind will evince the delicate sensibility of Dr. Rittenhouse, on the occasion.As soon as he had determined to accept the Directorship of the Mint, he began to make suitable arrangements for carrying the institution into operation. Towards this end, he suggested to the secretary of state the expediency of purchasing two contiguous houses and lots of ground, conveniently situated, for the establishment; in preference to taking buildings upon lease, for a purpose that seemed to require something like a permanent position. His proposal relative to this matter, it appears, was communicated to the secretary of state, for the purpose of being submitted to the consideration of the President: for, on the 9th of June, 1792, his approbation of the plan was expressed in the following note to the secretary.
“Philadelphia, Feb. 12, 1787.“Dear Sir,“The elements of the new Planet have been pretty well determined by several European astronomers. The following I have extracted from the Almanack[232]for 1787.Mean Longitude4h2°21′58″{To Dec. 31,Mean Anomaly4853561787, at noon,Place of Aphel.1123282Paris.Ascending Node2125254Mean Motion in Long.in 365 days4°19′47″in 30 days21′21″in 24 hours42″.7“The Aphelion and Nodes move according to the precession of the Equinoxes; that is50″.3 per ann.Inclination of the Orbit46′13″Log. of greatest distance from the Sun6.3007701Log. of least distance6.2594052The Log. of the Earth’s mean dist. from ☉ being5.0000000“Dr. Halley’s Table of the equation of ♃’s orbit will do very well for computing the place of Herschel’s planet, only subtracting1/16part of the equation there found; the greatest equation of this planet being 5° 27′ 16″. So, if from the Log. to any degree of anomaly, in the Table for Jupiter, we subtract1/76part of the excess of that Log. above the least, and to the remainder add the constant Logarithm .5647750, we shall have the Log. for ♅ sufficiently accurate. On these principles, I have computed the Right Ascension of ♅, and find both agree with my own observation, to a few seconds.“I am sorry you have engaged the notice of *******. Men of his principles, with a printing-press at command, are the greatest pests of society.“My very bad state of health, and a multiplicity of business, have prevented my answering yours as soon as I wished to have done it. I am, Dear Sir, your Friend and Humble Servant,“David Rittenhouse.“Andrew Ellicott, Esq.Baltimore.”
“Philadelphia, Feb. 12, 1787.
“Dear Sir,
“The elements of the new Planet have been pretty well determined by several European astronomers. The following I have extracted from the Almanack[232]for 1787.
“Dr. Halley’s Table of the equation of ♃’s orbit will do very well for computing the place of Herschel’s planet, only subtracting1/16part of the equation there found; the greatest equation of this planet being 5° 27′ 16″. So, if from the Log. to any degree of anomaly, in the Table for Jupiter, we subtract1/76part of the excess of that Log. above the least, and to the remainder add the constant Logarithm .5647750, we shall have the Log. for ♅ sufficiently accurate. On these principles, I have computed the Right Ascension of ♅, and find both agree with my own observation, to a few seconds.
“I am sorry you have engaged the notice of *******. Men of his principles, with a printing-press at command, are the greatest pests of society.
“My very bad state of health, and a multiplicity of business, have prevented my answering yours as soon as I wished to have done it. I am, Dear Sir, your Friend and Humble Servant,
“David Rittenhouse.
“Andrew Ellicott, Esq.Baltimore.”
The correctness of the calculations respecting the Georgium Sidus, stated in this letter, is noticed in the following extract from one of Mr. Ellicott’s Almanacks.
“The reader will find in this Almanack a continuation of the planet ♅. The elements on which the calculations were made, appear by observation to be very accurately determined, not only by the astronomers in Europe, but by my ingenious friend Mr. Rittenhouse, whose knowledge of the theory and practice of astronomy, is not surpassed in the old world.”
“The reader will find in this Almanack a continuation of the planet ♅. The elements on which the calculations were made, appear by observation to be very accurately determined, not only by the astronomers in Europe, but by my ingenious friend Mr. Rittenhouse, whose knowledge of the theory and practice of astronomy, is not surpassed in the old world.”
From this time, until his resignation of the treasurership of Pennsylvania in the autumn of 1789[233], Mr. Rittenhouse appears to have continued to be pretty much engaged in the duties of that office. A short time before this event, the Writer of these Memoirs visited the city of New-York; where the first congress, chosen under the present constitution of the United States, were then convened, having commenced their session on the fourth day of March preceding: and on that occasion, Mr. Rittenhouse addressed a letter to General Washington, then President of the United States, recommendatory of his friend and nephew. Delicacy forbids this relative to present to public view that portion of the letter, which more especially relates to himself: but the introductory part of it is here presented to the reader, for the purpose of testifying the continuance of the high esteem entertained for the truly great man to whom it was addressed,by one who never disguised his sentiments. This extract is as follows:
“Philadelphia, Aug. 14, 1789[234]“Sir,“However unwilling I am to add to that multitude of letters which must encroach so much on your precious time, I cannot altogether forbear, without doing violence to my feelings. As we have, all of us, through the course of life, been greatly indebted to the good offices of others; so we are no doubt under obligations to perform the same in our turn, as well with respect to our particular friends, as society in general.“Mr. William Barton, my sister’s son, knowing that you have heretofore honoured me with your acquaintance, I might, perhaps, say friendship, is willing to believe that any thing I can say in his favour, might have some weight with your Excellency.—* * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * *“Wishing your Excellency every happiness, I have the honour to be, Sir, with the greatest respect, your most obedient humble servant,“David Rittenhouse.“His Excellency the President of the U. States.”
“Philadelphia, Aug. 14, 1789[234]
“Sir,
“However unwilling I am to add to that multitude of letters which must encroach so much on your precious time, I cannot altogether forbear, without doing violence to my feelings. As we have, all of us, through the course of life, been greatly indebted to the good offices of others; so we are no doubt under obligations to perform the same in our turn, as well with respect to our particular friends, as society in general.
“Mr. William Barton, my sister’s son, knowing that you have heretofore honoured me with your acquaintance, I might, perhaps, say friendship, is willing to believe that any thing I can say in his favour, might have some weight with your Excellency.—
* * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * *
“Wishing your Excellency every happiness, I have the honour to be, Sir, with the greatest respect, your most obedient humble servant,
“David Rittenhouse.
“His Excellency the President of the U. States.”
On the 10th of November, 1789, the following letter from Mr. Rittenhouse, offering his resignation of the office of treasurer of the state, was presented to the general assembly; and, after having been twice read, was, by order of the house, entered on their minutes.
November 9, 1789.“Sir,“On account of the very unfavourable state of my health, as well as because I most earnestly wish to devote some of the few remaining hours of my life to a favourite science, I find myself under the necessity of declining the office of treasurer.“I have now held that office for almost thirteen years, having been annually appointed by the unanimous voice, so far as I know, of the representatives of the freemen of this state; a circumstance I shall ever reflect on with satisfaction, and which does me the greatest honour.“I will not pay so ill a compliment to those I owe so much, as to suppose the principal motive in these repeated appointments was any other than the public good; but I am nevertheless very willing to believe, that a regard to my interest was not wholly out of view. And I shall, perhaps, never have another opportunity of expressing, with so much propriety, my sincerest gratitude to the representatives of my countrymen, whose favour I have indeed often experienced on other occasions.“I accepted the treasury, when it was attended with difficulty and danger, and consequently when there was no compensation for it. Soon afterwards, a depreciated currency, prodigiously accumulated, made it extremely burthensome, without any prospect of profit.“In a more favourable situation of our affairs, it might have been lucrative, had not the very small commissions allowed by law, been scarcely equal to the risk of receiving and paying. In 1785, my commissions were increased, and the office was for sometime profitable; but the difficulties or remissness in collecting the public revenues, again reduced it to a very moderate compensation.“If, however, the embarrassments of the office have, in general, been little understood by those not immediately concerned in it; if the emoluments of it have been greatly exaggerated in the public opinion; I am still the more obliged to the several assemblies, who, under these impressions, have nevertheless continued me so long their treasurer.“The confidence of the public I have ever esteemed so invaluable a possession, that it has been my fixed determination not to forfeit it, by any voluntary act of impropriety. Where my conduct has been deficient in the discharge of my duty, I hope it will be imputed to want of ability, and not of integrity.“Fully sensible of the importance of the office I have the honour to hold, I cheerfully commit it into the hands of those who properly are, and ever must be, the guardians of the public good. I am, sir, with great respect, your most obliged and very humble servant—“David Rittenhouse“The honourable the Speaker of the Assembly.”
November 9, 1789.
“Sir,
“On account of the very unfavourable state of my health, as well as because I most earnestly wish to devote some of the few remaining hours of my life to a favourite science, I find myself under the necessity of declining the office of treasurer.
“I have now held that office for almost thirteen years, having been annually appointed by the unanimous voice, so far as I know, of the representatives of the freemen of this state; a circumstance I shall ever reflect on with satisfaction, and which does me the greatest honour.
“I will not pay so ill a compliment to those I owe so much, as to suppose the principal motive in these repeated appointments was any other than the public good; but I am nevertheless very willing to believe, that a regard to my interest was not wholly out of view. And I shall, perhaps, never have another opportunity of expressing, with so much propriety, my sincerest gratitude to the representatives of my countrymen, whose favour I have indeed often experienced on other occasions.
“I accepted the treasury, when it was attended with difficulty and danger, and consequently when there was no compensation for it. Soon afterwards, a depreciated currency, prodigiously accumulated, made it extremely burthensome, without any prospect of profit.
“In a more favourable situation of our affairs, it might have been lucrative, had not the very small commissions allowed by law, been scarcely equal to the risk of receiving and paying. In 1785, my commissions were increased, and the office was for sometime profitable; but the difficulties or remissness in collecting the public revenues, again reduced it to a very moderate compensation.
“If, however, the embarrassments of the office have, in general, been little understood by those not immediately concerned in it; if the emoluments of it have been greatly exaggerated in the public opinion; I am still the more obliged to the several assemblies, who, under these impressions, have nevertheless continued me so long their treasurer.
“The confidence of the public I have ever esteemed so invaluable a possession, that it has been my fixed determination not to forfeit it, by any voluntary act of impropriety. Where my conduct has been deficient in the discharge of my duty, I hope it will be imputed to want of ability, and not of integrity.
“Fully sensible of the importance of the office I have the honour to hold, I cheerfully commit it into the hands of those who properly are, and ever must be, the guardians of the public good. I am, sir, with great respect, your most obliged and very humble servant—
“David Rittenhouse
“The honourable the Speaker of the Assembly.”
From the commencement of the year 1777, at which period Mr. Rittenhouse was invested with the treasurershipof his native state, until the month of September following, when its capital was actually possessed by the British army, that city was in imminent danger of an hostile invasion. When it was reduced to a moral certainty, that the speedy occurrence of such an event was inevitable, he had retired with the treasury (as before noticed) to Lancaster, as a place of security; where he remained until the succeeding summer: when, after the evacuation of the capital by the British forces, he returned thither, and replaced the treasury in its ancient seat. The time, therefore, at which he accepted the office of treasurer, was truly one of “difficulty and danger.”
That it was not, for many years, a lucrative place, must be apparent from the ever memorable circumstance of the great and unexampled depreciation of that species of paper-currency, called continental money;[235]which was the only circulating medium of theUnited States, until the year 1782, when the bank of North America went into operation. The vast accumulation in the treasury, of that depreciated and daily depreciating substitute for money, must necessarily have been “extremely burthensome” to the treasurer, and could not have afforded him “any prospect of profit,” during the first five years of his tenure of the office. And it was not, in fact, until those last few years, which constituted the interval between the time of augmenting the commissions and his retirement from the office, that the treasurership was profitable to him. During the greater part of the time he held it, the profits of the office did not enable him to employ even a clerk: nor could he have performed the numerous and laborious duties of that station (such as they then were,) had he not been greatly assisted bythe assiduity, care and abilities, of an excellent woman—Mrs. Rittenhouse. Singular as this circumstance may appear, this notice of it seems due to the memory of an highly meritorious wife; while, on the other hand, it must be acknowledged, that it does not reflect any honour on the liberality of a great, wealthy, and populous state. Such a man as David Rittenhouse ought to have been otherwise employed, by a generous and enlightened public: the exercise of his transcendent talents, in works of great and permanent public utility, would not only have constituted services which would have entitled him to a bountiful remuneration; but such as would have conferred great additional benefits and honours on his country.
That he should have had, in thirteen years, successively, an unanimous annual vote for the office of treasurer, is a very strong testimonial of the exalted sense which his countrymen entertained of his integrity: it would have been so, under a popular government, at any period. But when it is considered, that, during the whole of the time he held the treasurership, the people of Pennsylvania were divided into two opposing parties, which sprung into existence with the adoption of the state-constitution of 1776, the unanimity of their representatives in favour of this individual, is still more conclusive evidence of his merits. Most of those men in the community, best acquainted with human nature, and practically versed in the science of politics, very early pointed out the radical defects ofthe new frame of government; and predicted the utter incompetency of that instrument, as they conceived, to promote the true interest and happiness of civil society. In a single legislative body, a plural executive, and in a limited duration of the judicial authority—consequently, an undue dependence of the judges on the executive for their re-appointment,—they foresaw those evils, which were too soon realized: and in a septennial council of censors, such as that constitution provided for,[236]they beheld a political chimera,at variance with common sense and the experience of mankind. Men entertaining these views, formed, of course, one of these parties.
The other was composed of the projectors of the constitution of 1776, and other speculative politicians; together with all those whom they were enabled to influence, through the medium of their prejudices, their inexperience or their interests.
These two parties continued to divide the state, until the adoption of the fœderal constitution. The great and multiplied evils which resulted to the people of the United States, after the restoration of peace, and which had also been severely felt during the greater part of the war, from the inefficacy of the original confœderation of the States, had convinced all thinking men of the necessity of forming a more energetic national government, as the only remedy for those evils. And the actual formation of such a government, aided by the long experience which the citizens of Pennsylvania had then acquired, of the injurious effects of their own existing constitution, disposed them soon after to establish the present constitution of the state, which was done in convention on the 2d of September 1790; a form of government, free from the palpable errors of the preceding one, and much more consonant to the genius and spirit of the fœderal constitution.
It is, then, a very extraordinary circumstance, and one that reflects great honour on the character of Mr. Rittenhouse, that, in the long course of years duringwhich the people of Pennsylvania were thus divided into two contending parties, he alone could unite the favourable opinion of both parties, respecting his superior claims to hold one of the most important offices in the government.
Although little more than six years and an half intervened, from the time of Mr. Rittenhouse’s resigning the treasurership of the state, until the period of his decease, literary and other public honours then flowed in upon him. He enjoyed, likewise, the satisfaction of experiencing, during that short interval, multiplied proofs of the esteem in which his abilities and character were held, both at home and abroad. And, notwithstanding it appears to have been his wish, when he retired from the treasury, to decline for the future any official situation, or public employment of any kind, not connected with science; in order that he might, without interruption, devote the remainder of his life to his favourite pursuits; a variety of public trusts, some of them requiring arduous duties, were constantly pressed upon his acceptance.
Shortly before he resigned the treasurership, the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred on Mr. Rittenhouse, by the College of New-Jersey: his diploma bears date the 30th of September, 1789. This respectable seminary had given him the degree of Master in the Arts, seventeen years before[237]; and this newhonour was a further pledge of the high estimation in which he continued to be held by the regents of the institution. His diploma for the Doctorate has a place in the Appendix.
The College at Princeton, in New Jersey, then possessed—as she still does—the first Orrery constructed by Dr. Rittenhouse; a monument of his genius and abilities, that seemed to give him a just claim to this highest academical honour, appropriate to his character, which the college could confer.
This institution, called Nassau Hall, was founded about the year 1738; but its original charter was enlarged by Governor Belcher, in 1747. The president and trustees of Nassau Hall possessed a power, by their charter, of granting to “the students of the college, or to any others thought worthy of them, all such degrees as are granted in either of the universities, or any other college, in Great Britain.” This privilege, it is believed, was not enjoyed generally—if at all, in any other instance[238], by the American colleges, before the revolution; as it is supposed they were restricted, prior to that era, to the conferring of degrees in the Arts only. But all the superior seminaries of learning, in the United States, now possess the right of creating Bachelors and Doctors, in Divinity, Law, and Medicine: and it is greatly to be wished, thatthey may always dispense these high academic honours with impartiality and a due discretion.
The college-edifice at Princeton is a stately and durable one, constructed of stone; and it will afford satisfaction to the reader, to be informed, that in this building is deposited the Rittenhouse Orrery. He will derive additional pleasure from learning, that this grand machine has, lately, been repaired in some considerable degree, and at a great expence, by the ingenious Mr. Henry Voight, of the Mint: by whom, that belonging to the University of Pennsylvania, has likewise been put in good order. Neither of these Orreries appeared to have suffered any material injury from the British troops, during the war of the revolution; though it has been generally believed, they did. The libraries, indeed, and some of the apparatus, belonging to both the colleges in which the Orreries are placed, experienced great losses from the presence of an hostile army in their vicinity: but the officers of that army seem to have respected these greater works of human ingenuity.[239]
On the first day of January, 1790,[240]Dr. Rittenhouse was elected one of the Vice-presidents of theAmerican Philosophical Society; his colleagues, in this office, being the Rev. William Smith, D. D. and John Ewing, D. D. both of them able and distinguished astronomers.
This appointment he held but one year; in consequence of the death of Dr. Franklin,[241]on the 17th day of April following.[242]
In supplying the vacancy which had thus occurred in the Presidentship of the Society, the members ofthat body could not hesitate in selecting, for that honourable station, a suitable successor to their late venerable patron and chief: the eyes of all were immediately directed towards Dr. Rittenhouse. He was accordingly elected to be President, at the stated annual meeting of the Society for the purpose of chosing their officers, held in January, 1791. On being notified of this appointment, he addressed the following letter to Mr. Patterson, one of the secretaries of the Society.
“Philadelphia, Jan. 22 1791.“Sir,“I am extremely sensible of the honour the members of the Philosophical Society have done me, by electing me their President, in the room of that very worthy patron of the Society, the late Doctor Franklin.“They have, by this act of theirs, laid an additional obligation on me to promote the interests of the institution, by the best means in my power, to which I shall ever be attentive; though my ill state of health will frequently deny me the pleasure of attending the stated meetings.“I send you, herewith, two letters which you will please to communicate to the society.—I am, Sir, your very humble servant.“David Rittenhouse.”
“Philadelphia, Jan. 22 1791.
“Sir,
“I am extremely sensible of the honour the members of the Philosophical Society have done me, by electing me their President, in the room of that very worthy patron of the Society, the late Doctor Franklin.
“They have, by this act of theirs, laid an additional obligation on me to promote the interests of the institution, by the best means in my power, to which I shall ever be attentive; though my ill state of health will frequently deny me the pleasure of attending the stated meetings.
“I send you, herewith, two letters which you will please to communicate to the society.—I am, Sir, your very humble servant.
“David Rittenhouse.”
–—
“In this elevated situation, the highest that Philosophy can confer in our country,” says his learned and eloquent Eulogist,[243]“his conduct was marked by its usual line of propriety and dignity.”—“Never,” continues his Eulogist, “did the artificial pomp of station command half the respect, which followed hisunassuming manners in the public duties of this office. You will,” says he, “often recollect, Gentlemen, with a mixture of pleasure and pain, the delightful evenings you passed in the Society, every time he presided in your meetings. They were uniformly characterized by ardour in the pursuits of science, urbanity, and brotherly kindness.”
About the time of Dr. Rittenhouse’s elevation to the Presidency of the Philosophical Society, and indeed pretty generally afterwards, the delicate state of his health confined him much to his house and his observatory. On a dry day, he would, occasionally, walk a little abroad; in the proper seasons, he would now and then recreate himself in a pretty little flower-garden adjoining his house, which Mrs. Rittenhouse took pleasure in decorating. His evenings were uniformly passed at home; except at the times of the stated meetings of the Philosophical Society, when he usually attended, if the weather permitted.
Besides a few of his most intimate friends, who were in the habit of visiting him pretty often towards the close of the day[244], many strangers of distinction,and persons who had no particular claims upon him on the score of friendship, made him occasional visits at other times: but in such portions of his time as he could retrench from these avocations, he was much employed in reading; and the books he read comprehended works of literature, taste, and science. He blended theutile cum dulci, in the choice of his subjects;and while he devoted some of what might be called his leisure hours, such as were abstracted from his more appropriate pursuits, to works of amusement, he did not neglect studies of a more serious and important nature. He was at no loss for books: independently of his own collection, he had ready access to two valuable and extensive public libraries[245]; those of several literary gentlemen were open to him; and some of his friends occasionally supplied him with new publications. The following note addressed to him by Mr. Jefferson, in the beginning of the year 1791, will shew that Dr. Rittenhouse then devoted some attention to chemistry, and that he continued to read works of natural science, in French, as well as in his own language.
“Th. Jeffersonsends to Mr. Rittenhouse Bishop Watson’s essay on the subjects of chemistry, which is too philosophical not to merit a half an hour of his time, which is all it will occupy. He returns him Mr. Barton’s papers[246], which he has perused with great pleasure; and he is glad to find the subject hasbeen taken up by so good a hand: he has certainly done all which the scantiness of his materials would admit. If Mr. Rittenhouse has done with the last number of the Journal de Physique, sent him by Th. J. he will be glad to receive it, in order to forward it on to Mr. Randolph: if not done with, there is no hurry.
“Monday morning.”
–—
The relation in which Dr. Rittenhouse now stood to the American Philosophical Society, of which he had attained to the honour of being the President, renders it proper that some account should be given, in this place, of an institution heretofore distinguished by its Transactions. The following are the leading features in its history.
This Society was instituted on the 2d day of January, 1769, by an union of two literary societies that had subsisted some time previously, in Philadelphia. In the same year this united body petitioned the general assembly of the province to grant them the privilege of erecting a building, suitable for their accommodation, on some part of the State-House square. But the Library Company of Philadelphia, also a very useful and respectable institution and a much older corporation, having about the same time made a similar application to the legislature, in their own behalf,the prayer of neither was then granted. The latter have, long since, erected for their accommodation a large, commodious and elegant structure[247], on a lot of ground purchased by them for the purpose, in the immediate vicinity of the public square originally contemplated for its site.
A second petition was presented to the general assembly by the Philosophical Society, for the same purpose, soon afterwards; though without success. But, finally, in pursuance of another application to the state legislature by the Society, for the same object, a law was enacted on the 28th of March, 1785; by which a lot of ground (being part of the State-House Square) was granted to them, for the purpose of erecting thereon a Hall, Library, &c. “for their proper accommodation.”
The ground appropriated by the legislature, for this purpose, contains seventy feet in front on (Delaware) Fifth-Street, (and nearly opposite the Hall of the Philadelphia Library-Company,) and fifty feet in depth; on which the Society erected, between the years 1787 and 1791, a neat, convenient, and spacious edifice: it was completed under the direction and superintendence of Samuel Vaughan, Esq. formerlya vice-president of the Society; and by means of this gentleman’s disinterested exertions, principally, somewhat more than $3500 were obtained from about one hundred and fifty contributors, towards defraying the expense of the building. Dr. Franklin gave at sundry times, towards this object, nearly $540 in the whole amount.[248]
The act of assembly of 1785 having, however, restricted the corporation of this Society, not only from selling or transferring, but from leasing, any part of the ground thus granted to them, or of the erections to be made on it, a supplement to that act was obtained, on the 17th of March, in the following year; authorizing the Society to let out any part of their Building, for such purposes as should have an affinity to the design of their institution; but restricting the profits arising from any such lease to the uses for which the Society was originally instituted. The cellars and some of the apartments in the house, have been leased accordingly; and the profits arising from these leases constitute a considerable part of the Society’s funds, which are of very moderate extent. The resident members pay to the Treasurer a small annual assessment, fixed by a by-law of the Society: these payments, in addition to occasional donations in money,made by members and others,[249]form the residue of the funds of the Society; besides which, they receive from time to time valuable presents, in books, astronomical and other instruments, &c. Their library, philosophical apparatus, and collections of various kinds, are now respectable.
The objects of this institution are readily comprehended, from its name; the style of the corporation being—“The American Philosophical Society held at Philadelphia, for promoting Useful Knowledge:” And with this view, in its formation, the fundamental laws (passed on the 3d day of February, 1769,) direct, that “The members of the Society shall be classed into one or more of the following committees:
1. Geography, Mathematics, Natural Philosophy and Astronomy.2. Medicine and Anatomy.3. Natural History and Chemistry.4. Trade and Commerce.5. Mechanics and Architecture.6. Husbandry and American Improvements.”
1. Geography, Mathematics, Natural Philosophy and Astronomy.2. Medicine and Anatomy.3. Natural History and Chemistry.4. Trade and Commerce.5. Mechanics and Architecture.6. Husbandry and American Improvements.”
1. Geography, Mathematics, Natural Philosophy and Astronomy.2. Medicine and Anatomy.3. Natural History and Chemistry.4. Trade and Commerce.5. Mechanics and Architecture.6. Husbandry and American Improvements.”
1. Geography, Mathematics, Natural Philosophy and Astronomy.
2. Medicine and Anatomy.
3. Natural History and Chemistry.
4. Trade and Commerce.
5. Mechanics and Architecture.
6. Husbandry and American Improvements.”
The same original laws and regulations of the Society indicate the style of the several officers of the institution,and prescribe the duties of their respective stations: they likewise direct the manner in which the general economy of the Society shall be managed, and their proceedings, in the more appropriate business of their institution, arranged and conducted. “These Rules,” say the Society (in an Advertisement prefixed to the first volume of their Transactions,) “were adopted from the Rules of that illustrious Body, the Royal Society, of London; whose example the American Philosophical Society think it their honour to follow, in their endeavours for enlarging the sphere of knowledge and useful arts.”
The Officers of the Philosophical Society are—a patron, who is the governor of the state for the time being—a president—three vice-presidents—a treasurer—four secretaries, and three curators,—together with twelve counsellors; which last board of officers was created by an act of the legislature, in the year 1780, and the same law designates the duties of their appointment.
The number of members of this Society is not limited: it consisted of three hundred, forty years ago; and, probably, now amounts to about four hundred and fifty. Of this number, however, a large proportion is made up of foreigners; many of whom are eminent personages, and men of the most distinguished abilities in various departments of science, in different parts of the world.
The Proceedings, hitherto, of this very respectable association of literary and scientific characters, have been published in six[250]quarto volumes, denominated the “Transactions” of the Society: Besides which, several learned and ingenious Orations—including two or three of much eloquence, under the title of Eulogiums—have been delivered before the Society and by their appointment, by members of their body.
These outlines will serve to furnish the reader with some ideas of the nature, condition, and character of an institution, which has, in many respects, reflected honour on the country to which it belongs. Its usefulness,[251]it is earnestly to be wished, will not be sufferedto diminish, by any declension of that noble ardour in cultivating, that public spirit in promoting, learning and science, which, while they adorn the names of individuals, contribute to the glory of a nation. Let a hope be still cherished, that notwithstanding the tumult, the folly, and the distractions, which at the present day pervade a large portion of the civilized world, the period is not remote, when tranquillity, good sense and order, shall resume their blest dominion over the conduct of the too many now infatuated nations of the earth.—Let a belief be yet encouraged, that under the guidance of a benign Providence, not only the rising generation will be found zealous to emulate the fair fame of aFranklinand aRittenhouse; but even, that good and rational men in our own time, and among ourselves, will continue to cultivate the arts of peace, and to promote those objects of literature and science, which, at the same time they meliorate the heart and elevate the mind, contribute to the happiness of the individual and the general welfare of mankind.
Dr. Rittenhouse’s attachment to the interests of the institution of which he had been thus recently elected President, was amply manifested soon after. In the month of November, of the same year, he presented to the Society, the sum of 308l.(equivalent to821⅓ dollars,) for the purpose of discharging a debt due by their corporation to the estate of the late Francis Hopkinson, Esq. the treasurer, then deceased. This liberal donation was thankfully received; and the acknowledgments of their grateful sense of it were made to the donor, by the following address,—expressive as well of their feelings on the occasion, as of the high opinion they entertained of his merits and character.
“ToDavid Rittenhouse, Esq. LL.D. President of the American Philosophical Society, held at Philadelphia, for promoting Useful Knowledge.
“Sir,
“The American Philosophical Society embrace the present occasion of a meeting for stated annual business, to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, dated Nov. 15th, addressed to their treasurer; in which you are pleased to inform him, that you have paid the 308l.due to the late Judge Hopkinson, and will lay the bond and mortgage before the Society; expressing your hopes, that this benefaction, on your part, may “encourage the Society to exert themselves to get rid of some other heavy debts and incumbrances.”
“This renewed instance of your liberality joined to the consideration of the illustrious part which you have taken in their labours, for many years past, hasmade such an impression upon them, that they are at a loss in what manner they can best express their gratitude, or their respect and veneration for your name.
“At any time, and in any country, such a “brilliant present” would indicate a mind that can feel the inseparable connection between Learning and Human Felicity: But in the present state of our finances, it is a most important benefaction; and a noble specimen of Literary Patronage in a young empire, where many other improvements must share with the Arts and Sciences, in the public attention and bounty.
“We are sensible of the necessity of extinguishing the other heavy debts of the Society, with all possible speed, and have appointed a proper committee for that purpose.
“Signed in behalf, and by order, of the Society, at a meeting held the 16th day of December, 1791.
“John Ewing,William Smith,Th. Jefferson,Vice Presidents.
“James Hutchinson,Jonathan Williams,Samuel Magaw,Secretaries.”
To which address, Dr. Rittenhouse returned this answer.
“Gentlemen,
“The satisfaction I feel, in contributing something towards promoting Science, the interests whereof are,I am persuaded, inseparable from those of humanity, is greatly increased by your very polite approbation.
“My sincerest wishes are, that you may ever merit public encouragement, and enjoy the patronage of the generous and the good.”
In the spring succeeding Dr. Rittenhouse’s election to the Presidency of the Philosophical Society, his name was included, jointly with those of Thomas Willing, Esq. and the late Samuel Howell, Esq. in a commission to receive subscriptions, in Pennsylvania, to the Bank of the United States. This appointment was made by President Washington, on the 26th of March, 1791.
Soon after, he was commissioned by Governor Mifflin to be one of three joint “Agents of Information,” relating to the business of opening and improving certain roads, rivers and navigable waters, in Pennsylvania. His colleagues in this commission were the Rev. Dr. William Smith and William Findley, Esq. and this board of commissioners, whose appointment bears date the 10th of May, 1794, was erected in pursuance of an act of assembly, passed the 13th of April, preceding. These gentlemen, it appears, proceeded on that service; for, about two months after their appointment, monies were advanced to them, towards defraying the expences to be incurred in executing the duties of their commission.
These duties, it is believed, were in some way connected with an investigation of the most practicable route for a turnpike-road between Philadelphia and Lancaster. A company, which had been formed some time before, for the purpose of constructing such a road, were incorporated by the governor of the state, by virtue of a law passed the 9th of April, 1792. Dr. Rittenhouse was a member of that company, and he actually superintended the surveyors, who were employed in tracing one of the then contemplated routes: Dr. Ewing was likewise engaged in the same service. Neither of those gentlemen held any appointment for such purposes, from the managers of the turnpike-company, nor received any compensation from them, for their services: it is therefore presumed, that Dr. Rittenhouse officiated under the commission last mentioned; and perhaps Dr. Ewing acted, also, under a similar commission.[252]The former, however, washimself one of the board of managers; in which capacity he acted as a member of several committees, particularly in 1792: but at the end of that year, he declined to continue any longer a manager.[253]
It has been before noticed, that, on the elevation of the College of Philadelphia to the grade of an University, by an act of assembly passed in November, 1779, Dr. Rittenhouse was one of the trustees of the new institution, created by that law. On the 30th of September, 1791, almost twelve years afterwards, a compromise was effected between the respective advocates of the old and the new institution; a law of the state being then passed, “to unite the University of the state of Pennsylvania, and the College,Academy and Charitable School of Philadelphia, &c.” By this act, the then existing trustees of each institution were to elect twelve trustees; and the twenty-four persons who should be thus chosen, together with the governor of the state for the time being, as president of the board, were to be the trustees of this united seminary, under the denomination of “The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania.”
On this occasion, Dr. Rittenhouse was again chosen a member of the corporation, on the part of the University, the election having been made the 3d of November, 1791; at which time, Bishop White was president of the board of the College trustees, and Dr. M‘Kean, late governor of Pennsylvania, of that of the University. By an act of assembly, passed the 6th of March, 1789, so much of the act erecting the University, as affected the charters, franchises and estates of the College of Philadelphia, had been repealed, and the powers of the former trustees revived: but by the act of 1791, all the estates of the two institutions were vested in this one, composed of both.
The union of the separate interests of those seminaries, it may be reasonably expected, will eventually prove a fortunate circumstance: because, by its extinguishing the jealousies and rivalship[254]that heretoforesubsisted between the friends of each, which must, too, have continued to operate, had they remained separate; and, by consolidating their estates and pecuniary resources into one fund, greatly encreasing the sphere of their usefulness, beyond the ratio in which they could have been enjoyed separately; the important interests of literature might be expected to be proportionably advanced. A doubt can not be entertained, that this was an object very desirable by the benevolent Rittenhouse, as well as by the trustees, generally, of these conjoint institutions.[255]
It has been already noticed, that the first academic honour conferred on Dr. Rittenhouse, was obtained from the College of Philadelphia: he might therefore consider it as being hisAlma Mater; and his attachment to that seminary must have been strengthened, by the circumstance of one of his (only two) Orreries having been acquired by it, and its being deposited in the college-edifice. But, besides these considerations,he officiated, for some time, as Vice-provost and a professor in the institution, after it became an University. To the first of these stations, he was elected on the 8th of February, 1780; having been unanimously appointed professer of astronomy, the 16th of December preceding: a salary of one hundred pounds per annum was annexed to the vice-provostship, and three hundred pounds per annum to the professor’s chair. These places Dr. Rittenhouse resigned, the 18th of April 1782.
Thus attached to, and connected with, this very respectable seminary of learning, as Dr. Rittenhouse was, the following occurrences in the history of its origin and advancement, will not be deemed uninteresting, by the reader.
The Academy and Charitable School, of Philadelphia, originated in the year 1749. This institution, which was opened in that year, was projected by a few private gentlemen; and many others, of the first respectability, gave their countenance to it, as soon as it became known: some of them were, on its first establishment, appointed trustees of the infant seminary.
The persons on whom the charge of arranging and digesting the preparatory measures for this important undertaking, were Thomas Hopkinson,[256]TenchFrancis,[257]Richard Peters and Benjamin Franklin, Esquires.[258]The last mentioned of these distinguished and patriotic gentleman draughted and published the original proposals; and on the opening of the Academy, another of them, Mr. Peters, (afterwards D. D. and rector of Christ’s-Church and St. Peter’s in Philadelphia,) who long officiated as provincial secretary, preached an appropriate sermon—on the 7th of January, 1751—from these words (St. John, viii. 32.) “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”—“This reverend and worthy gentleman” said Dr. Smith, in his account of this institution, first published among his works in the year 1762 “(who, amid all the labours of his public station, as well as the private labours in which his benevolence continually engaged him, has still made it his care to devote some part of his time to classical learning, and the study of divinity, to which he wasoriginally bred,) took occasion, from these words of our blessed Saviour, to shew the intimate connexion between truth and freedom,—between knowledge of every kind, and the preservation of civil and religious liberty.”
The Rev. William Smith, M. A. (afterwards D. D.) was inducted, on the 25th of May, 1754, as head of this seminary, under the title of Provost, with the professorship of natural philosophy[259]annexed to thatstation.station.
On the 14th of May, 1755, an additional charter was granted by the Proprietaries to this seminary, by which a College was engrafted upon the original Academy: a joint government was agreed on for both, under the style of “The College, Academy and Charitable School, of Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania;” and this enlarged institution became invested with a power of conferring degrees, and appointing professors in the various branches of the arts and sciences.
The first commencement, in this College and Academy, was held the 17th of May, 1757;[260]on whichoccasion, an excellent charge was delivered to the graduates, by the Provost. One passage in that charge is so patriotic and impressive, as to merit attention at all times, in a country that boasts of a free constitution of government; its introduction at this time, and on the present occasion, cannot be considered improper: it is the following animated and eloquent exhortation to active patriotism, in times of misrule, popular delusion, and public danger:—
“Should your Country call, or should you perceive the restless tools of faction at work in their dark cabals, and ‘stealing upon the secure hour of Liberty;’ should you see the corruptors, or the corrupted, imposing upon the public with specious names,—underminingthe civil and religious principles of their country, and gradually paving the way to certain Slavery, by spreading destructive notions of Government;—then, Oh! then, be nobly roused! Be all eye, and ear, and heart, and voice, and hand, in a cause so glorious! Cry aloud, and spare not,—fearless of danger, regardless of opposition, and little solicitous about the frowns of power, or the machinations of villany. Let the world know, that Liberty is your unconquerable delight; and that you are sworn foes to every species of bondage, either of body or of mind. These are subjects for which you need not be ashamed to sacrifice your ease and every other private advantage. For, certainly, if there be aught upon earth suited to the native greatness of the human mind, and worthy of contention,—it must be to assert the cause of Religion, and to support the fundamental rights and liberties of mankind, and to strive for the constitution of your country,—and a government of laws, not of Men.”
In the year 1765, the original plan of this institution was greatly enlarged, by the addition of the Medical School;[261]with the appointment of Professors,[262]for reading lectures in anatomy, botany, chemistry, the materia medica, the theory and practice of physick,and also for delivering clynical lectures in the Pennsylvania Hospital.[263]Since that period, and after theerection of the whole of the College-establishment into an University, the Medical department has been stillfurther extended, by the creation of other Professorships in the Schools of Medicine, and filling thesenew chairs—as well as those originally instituted—with men of distinguished learning and abilities: Bywhich means, the Medical School in Philadelphia, connected with the University of Pennsylvania, now justly vies with that of Edinburgh, in celebrity.
The whole of the literary and scientific institution, thus formed—which, besides the Medical Schools,was composed of the College, the Academy and the Charitable School, continued under the provostship ofthe Rev. Dr. Smith, assisted by able teachers and professors,[264]from his induction in the year 1754, until theestablishment of the University, in 1779:[265]during which time, comprehending a period of twenty-fiveyears, this seminary increased in reputation and flourished; and indeed it was indebted for much of its respectabilityand usefulness to the zeal,[266]the talents and the services of Dr. Smith.
This gentleman was educated in the university of Aberdeen,[267]in Scotland, where he graduated as Masterof Arts. He soon after obtained clerical orders, in the Church of England; and, in the year 1759, hewas honoured with the degree of Doctor in Divinity, from the University of Oxford, on the recommendation of the archbishop of Canterbury, and the bishops of Durham, Salisbury, Oxford and St. Asaph.[268]About the same time, he received a similar degree from the University of Trinity-College, Dublin. Dr. Smith died the 14th of May, 1803, at the age of seventy-six years.
On the 10th of April, 1792, an act was passed by the general assembly of Pennsylvania, for the purpose of enabling the governor to incorporate a company for opening a canal and water-communication between the rivers Delaware and Schuylkill: and by this act, David Rittenhouse, William Moore, Eliston Perot, Cadwallader Evans, jun. and Francis Johnston, Esquires, were appointed commissioners to receive subscriptions of stock, for constituting a fund for this purpose.
Thus, after having been engaged in the course of eleven years, at a prior period, in the improvement of a great natural highway of his native country, he was again employed, in conjunction with others, by the legislative body of that country, after a lapse of nineteen years from the time of his first appointment to a similar duty, in forwarding the great design of uniting more intimately, and more beneficially for the purposesof agriculture and commerce, the waters of the beautiful stream near whose banks he was born, with those of the majestic Delaware.
This comparatively inconsiderable appointment was presently after succeeded by a most important one. Dr. Rittenhouse was commissioned to be Director of the Mint, by President Washington, the 14th of April, 1792; but he did not take the requisite qualifications for that office, until the 1st of July following. He entered upon the duties of this arduous and very respectable station with great reluctance: it was, indeed, pressed upon him; not only by Mr. Jefferson, then secretary of state, with whom Dr. Rittenhouse had long been in habits of intimate friendship; but (through the means of Mr. Secretary Hamilton, of the Treasury,) by the illustrious President himself, who always entertained the highest regard for him: and this esteem was mutual, notwithstanding some “shades of difference” in the political tenets of these two great and good men; for no person could hold a more exalted opinion of the integrity, abilities, and public services of Washington, than Dr. Rittenhouse uniformly did. Such was the extreme diffidence with which our Philosopher accepted this appointment thus honourably conferred on him, that he declined, for a considerable time, to be sworn into office; until, finally, on applying to the writer of these memoirs, he obtained his promise to render such assistance to him as he should be able to do, in the event of his own incapacity,from want of health or by reason of any incidental circumstance, to devote a sufficient portion of his time to the duties of the station. Although the writer was never required to act in the capacity thus proposed to him, circumstances not occurring to render it necessary, he shall always consider the arrangement then made upon the subject, on the voluntary proposition of Dr. Rittenhouse, as an estimable testimonial of his confidence in his friend and relative: yet the writer would have introduced the mention of these particulars, into the present work, with greater hesitation than he does, did he not conceive that a statement of facts of this kind will evince the delicate sensibility of Dr. Rittenhouse, on the occasion.
As soon as he had determined to accept the Directorship of the Mint, he began to make suitable arrangements for carrying the institution into operation. Towards this end, he suggested to the secretary of state the expediency of purchasing two contiguous houses and lots of ground, conveniently situated, for the establishment; in preference to taking buildings upon lease, for a purpose that seemed to require something like a permanent position. His proposal relative to this matter, it appears, was communicated to the secretary of state, for the purpose of being submitted to the consideration of the President: for, on the 9th of June, 1792, his approbation of the plan was expressed in the following note to the secretary.