“Dryburgh Abbey, Jan. 12, 1795.“Sir,“My worthy friend, Mr. John Miller, son of the eminent professor, John Miller, of Glasgow, whom I recommend to your attention, has charged himself with this letter, and will deliver to you a Writing-Box, which I dedicate to your use, as President of the Philosophical Society at Philadelphia, and toyour successors in office, as a testimony of my high esteem for your literary character and for that of the Society over which you preside.“This Box is made of Yew, of Black Cherry tree, and Acacia and Barberry, and veneered with Holly; all the growth of my garden at this place, and joined, fitted and finished, by my own joiner, in this house.“On the lid is an authentic picture of Copernicus, and in the inside thereof is a similar one of Napier. That of Copernicus is from the accurate copy of the Chancellor Hupazzuoski’s original picture, which was sent by the learned Dr. Wolf, of Dantzic, to the Royal Society of London; and this limning of mine is most faithfully delineated and shaded, from a drawing made by Mr. Thomas Parke, of Picadilly, formerly a pupil of Valentine Green, engraver at London, from the picture in the Royal Society, on a scale proportional in all parts and with great fidelity; so that I can assure you of my limning being a fac simile, as to the features and countenance. That of Napier[286]is indeeda most exquisitely beautiful piece, by John Brown, of Edinburgh, executed with the black-lead pencil, from an original portrait in the possession of Lord Napier; and, as a drawing with black-lead, excels, I believe, every thing of the kind now extant: Mr. Brown having by drawing, during twelve years in Italy, from statues, obtained a super-eminent accuracy and beauty of design.“I consecrate this interesting piece of furniture to American Science, and to the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia: willing, however, that in consideration of the high esteem I bear to you personally, you should have the custody and use of it in your own house, during your life; producing it only to the Society for the use of the Secretary, when you think proper. I have subjoined by way of postscript to this letter, some particulars relating to the Residence of Copernicus, and his Tomb; which I wish you to communicate to our Society.[287]“Permit me to repeat my earnest request, that you should be kind and attentive to the Bearer (and his Family,) who I hope will have the happiness to obtain a literary establishment in the United States, andprove of much utility to the public. I am, Sir, with esteem, your obliged humble servant—Buchan.”“Dr. Rittenhouse, Pres. of the Am. Phil. Society.”This really “interesting piece of furniture” was viewed by Dr. Rittenhouse and the Philosophical Society, in the light it was intended to be,—as a mark of the Donor’s good-will towards this institution, and of his respect for the character of its President. The Box has been disposed of, agreeably to his Lordship’s desire: it is inserted in the list of Donations to the Society, prefixed to the fourth volume of their Transactions, under the date of May 15, 1795, and it is, at present, deposited in their Hall.The friendship that subsisted between Dr. Rittenhouse and Mr. Jefferson, was produced, in a great measure, by the congeniality of these gentlemen in the concerns of science. The correct and penetrating mind of the former knew how to estimate at their just value, without over-rating them, the literary and scientific acquirements of the latter; while, on the other hand, this last was fully capable of discerning the sublime genius and most extraordinary talents of that man whom he greatly admired. While Mr. Jefferson resided in Philadelphia, as secretary of State, he made frequent visits to Dr. Rittenhouse: he thus became intimately acquainted with his character, for which he conceived the highest respect; and, as a mark of his esteem forhim, he presented him with his own bust, in the costume of the day, cast in plaster, from one in marble executed by Houdon, of Paris.Mr. Jefferson has testified to the world the exalted opinion he entertained of our Philosopher. In his refutation of the Count de Buffon’s preposterous theory, “of the tendency of nature tobelittleher productions on this side the Atlantic,” he makes the following remarks, on the assertion of another French philosopher[288]—that America has not produced “one able mathematician, one man of genius in a single art or a single science:”—“In war,” says Mr. Jefferson, “we have produced aWashington, whose memory will be adored while liberty shall have votaries, whose name will triumph over time, and will in future ages assume its just station among the most celebrated worthies of the world: when that wretched philosophy shall be forgotten, which would have arranged him among the degeneracies of nature. In physics,“ continuesMr. Jefferson, “we have produced aFranklin, than whom no one of the present age has made more important discoveries, nor has enriched philosophy with more, or more ingenious solutions of the phænomena of nature.—We have supposed Mr.Rittenhousesecond to no astronomer living: that in genius, he must be the first, because he is self-taught. As an artist he has exhibited as great a proof of mechanical genius, as the world has ever produced. He has not indeed made a world; but he has by imitation approached nearer its Maker, than any man who has lived from the creation to this day.”[289]Mr. Jefferson retained the highest esteem for Dr. Rittenhouse, during his life; and it is believed this sentiment was mutual. Letters of friendship were occasionally interchanged by them: part of one of the latest of these, is as follows:“Monticello, Feb. 24, 1795.“Dear Sir,....[290]“I am here immersed in the concerns of a farmer, and more interested and engrossed by them, than Ihad ever conceived it possible. They in a great degree render me indifferent to my books, so that I read little and ride much; and I regret greatly the time I have suffered myself to waste from home. To this, indeed, is added another kind of regret, for the loss of society with the worthy characters with which I became acquainted, in the course of my wanderings from home. If I had but Fortunatus’s wishing cap, to seat myself sometimes by your fireside, and to pay a visit to Dr. Priestly, I would be contented: his writings evince, that he must be a fund of instruction, in conversation, and his character an object of attachment and veneration.“Be so good as to present my best respects to Mrs. Rittenhouse; and to accept, yourself, assurances of the high esteem of, dear sir, your sincere friend and humble servant,“Th. Jefferson.“David Rittenhouse.”At this time, Dr. Rittenhouse still held the Directorship of the Mint, though he resigned it a few months after; and from that period, his health being then much on the decline, he seemed to be desirous of passing the remainder of his days in tranquillity, and an abstraction from all business and severe studies, in the society of his family and a few particular friends. He now received numerous proofs of the affectionate respect and high consideration, in which his personand character were held; both among his own countrymen and in foreign nations. Many of his fellow-citizens were assiduous in their attentions to him: they frequently visited him; and, when he was suffering in his health, he experienced repeated acts of friendship and kindness:—President Washington often made calls upon him, and enquiries concerning his health; and among his other friends, the late Mr. Henry Hill and Mr. Robert Morris manifested towards him the kindest attentions.In the spring of the year 1795, our amiable Philosopher was admitted a member of the Royal Society of London. He was apprized of this new mark of distinction conferred on him, by the following note, addressed to him by Phineas Bond, Esq. late the British Consul, resident in Philadelphia.“Chesnut Street, 15th June, 1795.“Mr. Bond has the honour to inform Mr. Rittenhouse, that he has received a letter from his friend Mr. George Chalmers, of the office of the Lords of the Committee of Council for Trade, &c. at White-hall, in which he requests him to apprize Mr. R. of his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, which took place on the 23d of April.“Mr. B. begs leave to congratulate Mr. R. on this new honour, to which his merits, as a Philosopher, so eminently entitle him.“David Rittenhouse, Esq.”It was not until towards the close of the summer, that Dr. Rittenhouse received the certificate of his Fellowship, in the Royal Society. His Diploma, for this honour, bears date the 16th of April, 1795;[291]and was accompanied by the following letter:“Sir,“Having the honour to transmit to you the Diploma of your election into the Royal Society, as a foreign Member, I beg leave to congratulate you on this proof of the high esteem in which you are held by that illustrious body. I have the honour to be, with the greatest respect, Sir, your most obedient and very humble servant.“Charles Peter Layard.“R. Society’s Apartments, Somerset Place,“London, July 3d, 1795.”The Royal Society of London has dealt out the honour of Fellowship with a sparing hand, to foreigners; and very few Americans have been admitted into that body, at any time: the Writer does not recollect any others than Dr. Franklin, Dr. Johnson, formerlyof Connecticut, and the late Dr. Morgan and Mr. John Bartram, of Philadelphia, who were Fellows of the Royal Society before the American revolution; and since that period, he believes Dr. Rittenhouse to have been one of but two or three native Americans who have borne that mark of distinction.Soon after Dr. Rittenhouse became associated with that illustrious band of scientific men, a letter was written to him by Mr. Lalande, the celebrated Astronomer of France; of which the following translation is given in this place, as it will be perused with interest by the reader versed in astronomy.“Paris, at the College of France, May 14th, 1795.“It is a long time, my dear Associate, since I have heard from you: but Mr. Adet, our worthy ambassador, will probably procure for me that satisfaction. You will see by the little history which I send you, that the troubles of the revolution have not impaired my labours; and that I have, now, twenty-seven thousand stars, observed.“I have seen with great pleasure, in the transactions of your Philosophical Society, the annular eclipse of 1791:[292]I have calculated the conjunction7h42′ 19″; but I have been obliged to take one minute from the phases of the ring, and to suppose {6h49′ 30″} / {6h53′ 47″}, in order to agree, either with your end of the eclipse, or the difference of meridians, already known with sufficient accuracy by the transit of Venus, which gives 9h10′ 6″; and your eclipse gives, 9h10′ 3″, or 5h0′ 43″ in relation to Greenwich.“What has given me still greater pleasure, is, that the duration of the ring, as you observed it, agrees very well with the diameters of the Sun and of the Moon, which T have adopted in the third edition of myAstronomy(1792), and the diminutions that I there propose for eclipses; viz. 3″½ to be taken from the diameter of the Sun, and 2″ from that of the Moon.[293]“I pray you to make many compliments for me, to the astronomers whom I know, in your country, Mr. Willard at Beverley and Mr. Williams at Cambridge: Is there any other astronomer, now, who applies himself seriously to astronomy? I greet you with health and brotherhood.“Lalande.“Professor of Astronomy, and Inspector of theCollege of France,[294]Cambray Place.“The mind of Dr. Rittenhouse, ever intent on doing, good, was always zealously engaged on occasions which afforded him opportunities of contributing to therewards of merit and the promotion of beneficial establishments, or useful undertakings of any kind.Such an occasion presented itself, at the close of the year 1795. His nephew Dr. B. S. Barton, to whom he was attached by the strongest ties of friendship, then held the Professorship of Botany and Natural History in the University of Pennsylvania: but a vacancy being at that time expected in the chair of the Materia Medica, which branch of medicine was then taught by Dr. Samuel Powell Griffitts, Dr. Rittenhouse exerted himself to obtain that appointment for his nephew; upon whom it was conferred soon after, in conjunction with the chair he already occupied.With a view to the gratification of his anxious wishes, in the attainment of this object, Dr. Rittenhouse addressed himself personally to some of his colleagues in the board of trustees of the University: and to Dr. M‘Kean, president of that board, he wrote the following letter[295]on the subject.“Philadelphia, Dec. 26th, 1795.“Dear Sir,“I am informed that Dr. Griffitts intends to resign his Professorship in the University, sometime this winter. On this occasion, I beg leave to recommend to your favourable notice my nephew, Dr. Barton. He certainly has abilities sufficient to enable him to be useful in any branch of medicine, and ambition enough to induce him to make the greatest exertions: Besides, the Materia Medica seems so nearly connected with Botany and Natural History, his favourite studies, that I flatter myself he will be successful in his intended application to the honourable Board of Trustees; yet I am certain this will much depend on your interest. I am, Dear Sir, with the sincerest affection and esteem, your most obedient Servant,“David Rittenhouse.[296](Superscribed.)“Hon. Thomas M‘Kean, LL. D.Chief Justice of Pennsylvania.”letterThe affectionate regard and high respect which Professor Barton uniformly cherished for the personand character of this worthy relative,—who, on all occasions, evinced himself to be his sincere friend,—cannot be better manifested, than by citing his own words. In his dedication to Dr. Rittenhouse, of a dessertation, entitled,A Memoir concerning the fascinating faculty which has been ascribed to the Rattle-Snake and other American Serpents, is this passage—“In inscribing this Memoir to you, dear sir, I follow the regular course of my feelings, which, when I have received acts of friendship or kindness, ever lead me to acknowledge them. Whilst your example early implanted in me an ardent love of science, the assistance which you afforded me, by removing many of the obstacles that have opposed my advancement in life, has enabled me to devote a portion of my time to the cultivation of science; and thereby to increase the quantity of my happiness:” This was written just four months before the decease of our Philosopher. And in a subsequent inscription by the same gentleman,—that of hisNew Views of the Origin of the Tribes and Nations of America,—dedicated to Mr. Jefferson, and dated about a year after that event, he says: “The only dedications I ever wrote, were to two persons[297]whom I greatly esteemed and loved; the last, to a common friend, whose virtues and science endeared him to his country, and whose removal from us, we shall long have reason to deplore.”Soon after Dr. Priestley’s arrival in Pennsylvania, our Philosopher became personally acquainted with him, and presently conceived for his fellow-labourer in science a sincere esteem. This was reciprocal; and, therefore, while the celebrated English philosopher remained in Philadelphia, and also when he occasionally visited that city after his removal to the town of Northumberland on the Susquehanna, he passed much of his time in Dr. Rittenhouse’s family. So far as the pursuits of these gentlemen, in matters of science, were congenial—for, in some respects they were very dissimilar,—their opinions appeared to harmonize with each other: but, how far their sentiments accorded on other subjects, or whether at all, the Writer cannot undertake to pronounce; not possessing the necessary means to enable him to do so with a sufficient degree of certainty. Dr. Rittenhouse’s intercourse with Dr. Priestley, either personal or epistolary, was, however, of short duration; being terminated by the death of the former, in little more than two years after the latter first came to Philadelphia. One of the last interviews which Dr. Rittenhouse had with his friend Priestley, was very shortly before our philosopher’s death: he was one of a select few whom the writer had the pleasure of meeting at Dr. Rittenhouse’s, to dine, on the 18th of March, 1796.That learned and eminent foreigner,—for Dr. Priestley never became a naturalized citizen of the UnitedStates,—died at Northumberland in Pennsylvania, at an advanced age, on the 6th day of February 1804.The scanty remnant of life that yet remained to the great American Astronomer and Mathematician, was neither uselessly, nor altogether unpleasantly employed. In this interval of time, short as it was, such portions of it as afforded him some respite from sickness and pain, were either devoted to the society of his family and friends, or occupied in study. From these sources of rational enjoyment, be derived much comfort; and the solace he drew from them, was greatly heightened by the endearing attentions, which, amidst the rapid decline of his health and strength, he experienced, in an eminent degree, in the bosom of his affectionate family and some surrounding relatives. He was fully sensible of the approaching crisis of his disease; and he appeared to be quite prepared to meet the awful stroke, with the fortitude which a retrospective view of a well-spent life would naturally inspire; as well as with the resignation, which an entire confidence in the goodness, the wisdom, and the mercy of his omnipotent Creator, taught him to be a duty. His elevated conceptions of the Deity, together with his decided belief of the immortality of the soul, according at the same time with the doctrines of a pure religion, animated him with the stedfast hope of an happy futurity, worthy of a Christian and a Philosopher. His intimate knowledge of the sublimest works of creation, rendered him highly sensible of the wisdom andpower of the Great Supreme; while that knowledge, aided by the lights furnished by the Christian dispensation, led him to ascribe suitable attributes to the Author of Nature,—a Being infinitely good, as well as perfect: for, as he once familiarly expressed himself,[298]he was “firmly persuaded, that we are not at the disposal of a Being, who has the least tincture of ill-nature, or requires any in us.”[299]It is an observation of a judicious biographer,[A]that “nothing can awaken the attention, nothing affect the heart of man, more strongly, than the behaviour of eminent personages in their last moments; in that only scene of life where we are all sure, later or sooner, to resemble them.” The writer of these Memoirs feels a sort of pensive gratification, in having it in his power to announce the manner in which the great American Astronomer deported himself, during the closing scene of his life: The following information on this head, was communicated by the writer’s brother, Professor Barton, the deceased’s nephew and friend,—for some years, also, his family-physician; and who, in his medical capacity, attended him in the whole of his last illness.–—“The last visit I ever received from Mr. Rittenhouse was about the middle of June, 1796. He called at my humble habitation in Fifth street, to inquire aboutmy health, and to learn from me the result of the experiments and inquiries in which he knew I was, at this time engaged, concerning the mode of generation and gestation of our opossum, an animal to whose economy and manners he had himself paid some attention, and whose history he justly considered one of the most interesting in the whole range of zoology.“It was on this occasion, that our excellent friend first informed me, that he had received a diploma from the Royal Society. He observed, with a tone of voice and with a certain expression of countenance, which were not calculated to afford me any pleasure, “that a few years ago, such a mark of respect from that illustrious body would have been received by him with pleasure and with pride.”“In fact, Mr. Rittenhouse, now and for some months past, was strongly impressed with the idea, that his career of usefulness and virtue was nearly at an end. He had several times, during the preceding part of the spring and summer, intimated to me (and doubtless to others of his friends) his impressions on this head. In what precise condition of his system, whether physical or intellectual, these impressions were founded, I have only been able to form a distant, and unsatisfactory conjecture.“A few days after this interview, viz. on the 22d of June, I was sent for to visit Mr. Rittenhouse. I foundhim in his garden, where he loved to walk, and soon learned that he laboured under a severe attack of cholera, accompanied, however, with more fever than we generally find with this disease; and with a great increase of that violent pain and sense of oppression at the region of his stomach, to which he had been subject for at least thirty years. Notwithstanding his age, the debility of his system, and the unfavourable state of the season, I ventured to flatter myself, that the attack would not prove mortal. On the following day, however, finding him no better, but rather worse, I requested permission to call in the aid of another physician; and having mentioned the name of Dr. Adam Kuhn, that gentleman accordingly visited our friend, in company with me, during the remainder of his illness.His febrile symptoms being very urgent, it was thought necessary to bleed our patient; and notwithstanding his great and habitual repugnance to the practice on former occasions, he now readily consented to the operation, on condition that I would perform it myself. The blood which was drawn, exhibited a pretty strong inflammatory crust; and the operation seemed to give him a temporary relief from his pain. Soon after this, his strength gradually declined; and on the third day of his illness, it was but too obvious, that our illustrious relative was soon to be separated from his friends. He expired without a struggle, and in the calmest manner, ten minutes before two o’clock on the morning of Sunday the 26th, inthe presence of his youngest daughter, Mrs. Waters, and myself. His excellent wife, who had ever been assiduous in her attention on her husband, both in sickness and in health, had retired from his chamber about two hours before, unable to support the awful scene of expiring genius and virtue.“There can be no doubt, I think, that Mr. Rittenhouse, from the first invasion of his disease, or at least from the day when he was confined to his bed or room, entertained but little hopes of his recovery. He signed his will in my presence. He discovered no more solicitude about his situation, than it is decorous and proper in every good or great man to feel, when in a similar situation. During the greater part of his illness, he manifested the most happy temperament of mind: and it was only in the last hour or two of his life, that his powerful intellects were disturbed by a mild delirium. About eight hours before he died, the pain in the region of his stomach being unusually severe, a poultice composed of meal and laudanum was applied to the part. In less than two hours after the application, I called to see him, and upon asking him if he did not feel easier, he calmly answered, in these memorable words, which it is impossible for me to forget,—for they were the last he ever distinctly uttered, and they make us acquainted with the two most important features in his religious creed,—“Yes, you have made the way to God easier!”“Such were the dying words, as it were, of our illustrious relative and friend. He was dear to us both, to all his relatives and friends; and to his country. To me, let me add, he waspeculiarlydear. The most happy and profitable hours of my life were passed in the society of this virtuous man. I followed his foot-steps in the wilderness of our country, where he was the first to carry the telescope, and to mark the motions and positions of the planets. In the bosom of his family, I listened to his lessons, as an humble disciple of Socrates, or Plato. Science mixed with virtue was ever inculcated from his lips.—But to me, Mr. Rittenhouse was more than a friend and preceptor. He was a father and supporter. He laid the foundation of what little prosperity in life I now, or may in future, enjoy: and if it shall ever be my fortune, either by my labours or my zeal, to advance the progress of science, or to reflect any honour upon my country, I should be the most ungrateful of men, if I did not acknowledge, and wish it to be known, that it wasDavid Rittenhousewho enabled me to be useful.”–—Such was the death ofDavid Rittenhouse,—soon after his entrance into the sixty-fifth year of his age:—“Thus, with a heart overflowing with love to his family, friends, country, and to the whole world, he peacefully resigned his spirit into the hands of hisGod.”[300]Thus did his immortal soul gently pass away, from this transitory but variegated scene; from a theatre of mingled afflictions and comforts, of privations and enjoyments, of absolute certainty with respect to the non-continuance of this state, and of equal incertitude as to our possible knowledge of the term of its duration:—And it is most confidently believed, that his departed spirit, while yet hovering on the confines of time, devoutly relied on being “promoted to a more exalted rank among the creatures of God.”[301]145. Joseph Galloway, Esq. a representative in assembly from the county of Bucks. He was speaker of the house, from the year 1766 to 1773, inclusively; excepting a short interval in the session of 1768-9, in which Joseph Fox, Esq. officiated as speaker.146. William Allen, Esq. chief-justice of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, and a member of assembly from the county of Cumberland.147. Equal to 533 Spanish or American dollars.148. John and George Ross, Esqrs. lawyers of great respectability, and brothers; the former a resident in Philadelphia; the latter in Lancaster. Mr. George Ross was a member of the first congress; and was appointed by the assembly on the 5th of April, 1775, judge of the admiralty-court for Pennsylvania.149. Edward Biddle, Esq. a lawyer of eminence, and a representative in assembly for the county of Berks, in which he resided. This gentleman was one of the delegates appointed to the congress of the 10th of May, 1775, under an unanimous resolution of the assembly, passed in December, 1774; but, having succeeded Mr. Galloway as speaker of that house, in the session of 1774-5, he did not take his seat in congress, with his colleagues. These were John Dickinson, Charles Humphreys, John Morton, George Ross, Thomas Mifflin, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Willing and James Wilson, Esqrs.150. Emanuel Carpenter, Esq. long a respectable member of assembly from Lancaster county.151. Thomas Minshull, Esq. a respectable member of the house, from York county.152. The Hon. John Penn.—This worthy gentleman, a grandson of the celebrated William Penn, was lieutenant-governor of Pennsylvania, under the chief proprietaries of the province, from October 1763, to May 1771; and again, from August 1773, until the revolution.153. The proprietary’s and governor’s council, consisting of James Hamilton, William Allen, Joseph Turner, William Logan, Richard Peters (D. D.), Lynford Lardner, Benjamin Chew, Thomas Cadwallader, Richard Penn, James Tilghman, Andrew Allen, and Edward Shippen, jun. Esquires. Joseph Shippen, jun. Esquire, officiated many years as provincial secretary and clerk of the council.154. Matthias Slough, Esq. who served several years with reputation as a representative in the assembly, from the county of Lancaster.155. On the 4th of Feb. 1770, he mentioned to Mr. Barton his then contemplated removal into that city, in these terms—“Dr. Smith, to whom I am indebted for many kindnesses, is very urgent to have me come to Philadelphia to reside, which it is probable I may do shortly: but I am not yet determined. If I live to write again, you shall know more of my mind; in the mean time, I shall be glad to have your opinion of the matter.”156. Since writing the above the author has ascertained, that towards the close of April, 1770, the orrery was purchased for the college of New-Jersey. On the 23d of that month, Dr. Witherspoon, then the president of that college, accompanied by some gentlemen, went to Norriton for that purpose, and it appears that the orrery was then nearly finished.157. The following extract of a letter from Dr. Smith to Mr. Barton, written the day after Mr. Rittenhouse’s on the same subject, will further explain the embarrassing circumstances that attended this transaction, and the delicate situation in which Mr. Rittenhouse, particularly, was placed.“I never,” said the Doctor, “met with greater mortification, than to find Mr. Rittenhouse had, in my absence, made a sort of agreement to let his Orrery go to the Jersey College. I had constantly told him, that if the Assembly did not take it, I would take it for our College, and would have paid the full sum, should I have begged the money. I thought I could depend, as much as on any thing under the sun, that after Mr. Rittenhouse knew my intentions about it, he would not have listened to any proposal for disposing of it, without advising me, and giving our College the first opportunity to purchase. I think Mr. Rittenhouse was never so littlehimself, as to suffer himself to be taken off his guard on this occasion. This province is willing to honour him, as herown: and believe me, many of his friends wondered at the newspaper article; and regretted that he should think so little of hisnobleinvention, as to consent to let it go to a village; unless he had first found, on trial, that his friends in this city had not spirit to take it: For if he would wish to be known bythis work—and introduced to the best business and commissions for instruments, from all parts of the continent,—hisOrrerybeing placed in our College, where so many strangers would have an opportunity of seeing it, was the sure way to be serviceable to Himself.“You will think, by all this, that I am offended with him, and that our friendship may hereby be interrupted: Far from it—I went to see him, the day the newspaper announced the affair. I soon found that I had little occasion to say any thing: he was convinced, before I saw him, that he had gone too far. But still, as no time was fixed for delivering the Orrery, I was glad to find he had concluded that it should not be delivered till next winter; against which time, he said, he could have asecondone made, if this one staid with him for his hands to work by. As I love Mr. Rittenhouse, and would not give a man of such delicate feelings a moment’s uneasiness, I agreed to wave thehonourof having the first Orrery, and to take the second.”In fact, the Orrery was not at that time finished; for Mr. Rittenhouse then informed Dr. Smith, that he was under the necessity of waiting for brass from England, to enable him to complete it. “The result (continued the Doctor) will be, I think, that he will keep his Orrery till towards winter; and should they notthenreceive it, in the Jersies, they will take it at New-York.”On the 7th of the following month, Dr. Smith wrote thus finally, to Mr. Barton, on this subject—“Your and my friend, Mr. Rittenhouse, will be with you on Saturday. The Governor says, the Orrery shall not go: he would rather pay for it, himself. He has ordered a meeting of the Trustees on Tuesday next; and declares it as his opinion, that we ought to have thefirstOrrery, and not the second,—even if the second should be the best.”158. The Rev. Dr. Peters wrote thus to Mr. Barton, under the date of March 22, 1771—“Dr. Smith has done wonders in favour of our friend Rittenhouse. His zeal has been very active: he has got enough to pay him for a second orrery; and the assembly has given him 300l.The Doctor, in his introductory lecture, was honoured with the principal men of all denominations, who swallowed every word he said, with the pleasure that attends eating the choicest viands; and in the close, when he came to mention the orrery, he over-excelled his very self!”—“Your son will acquaint you with all the particulars respecting it. The lectures are crowded by such as think they can, thereby, be made capable of understanding that wonderful machine: whereas, after all, their eyes only will give them the truth, from the figures, and motions, and places, and magnitudes of the heavenly bodies.”159. The author ofThe Vision of Columbus, a Poem, (first published at Hartford in Connecticut, in the beginning of the year 1787,) alludes to the Rittenhouse-Orrery, and to the numerous resort of persons to the College-Hall, for the purpose of viewing that machine, in the following lines, (book vii.)“See the sageRittenhouse, with ardent eye,Lift the long tube and pierce the starry sky;Clear in his view the circling systems roll,And broader splendours gild the central pole.He marks what laws th’ eccentric wand’rers bind,Copies Creation in his forming mind,And bids, beneath his hand, in semblance rise,With mimic orbs, the labours of the skies.There wond’ring crouds with raptur’d eye beholdThe spangled Heav’ns their mystic maze unfold;While each glad sage his splendid Hall shall grace,With all the spheres that cleave th’ ethereal space.”160. In a letter from Dr. Smith to Mr. Barton, dated March 23, 1771, is this paragraph:—“I have been so busy these two months past, that I could not find a moment’s leisure to write. A good deal of time was to be given to the public lectures, the Orrery, and the getting our dear friend Rittenhouse brought into as advantageous a light as possible, on his first entrance into this town as an inhabitant; all which has succeeded to our utmost wishes; and the notice taken of him by the province, is equally to his honour and theirs. The loss of his wife has greatly disconcerted him; but we try to keep up his spirits, under it.”161. Joseph Galloway, Esq. was then speaker.162. The committee, named in the above order of the general assembly, made the following report to that body, on the 24th of September, 1771; viz.“The committee appointed to agree with, and purchase from Mr. Rittenhouse a new Orrery for the use of the public, beg leave to report, that they have, in pursuance of the order of assembly, agreed with Mr. Rittenhouse for a new Orrery, at the price of four hundred pounds, the price limited by the house; to consist of one principal square (face,) of eight feet or more each way, with two wings; making in the whole one large front, as nearly resembling the form of the Orrery now standing in the College of the city of Philadelphia, as its superior size will admit.” (Signed by all the members of the committee.)163. Messrs. Dickinson, Humphreys, Morton, Ross and Biddle, together with Mifflin and Franklin, were delegated on the part of Pennsylvania to the first general congress, which met in Philadelphia on the 5th of September, 1774; and the same gentlemen, with the addition of Messrs. Willing and Wilson, were also delegates from Pennsylvania in the second general congress, which met in the same city on the 10th of May, 1775. Of these “dignified and ever memorable assemblies,” composed of that “illustrious band of patriots whose worth sheds a lustre on the American character,” the great Washington was also a member.Mr. Dickinson, the writer of the celebratedFarmer’s Letters, was a distinguished lawyer, statesman and scholar. Dr. Ramsay (who published hisHistory of theAmericanAmericanRevolutionat the close of the year 1789,) remarks, that “the stamp-act, which was to have taken place in 1765, employed the pens and tongues of many of the colonists,” and, that “the duties imposed in 1767, called forth the pen of John Dickinson, who in a series of letters, signed ‘A Pennsylvania Farmer,’ may be said to have sown the seeds of the revolution.”From the commencement of the momentous controversy between the North-American colonies and the parent state, Mr. Dickinson was an able and strenuous assertor of the rights of the colonists. In the summer of the year 1768, the Rev. Mr. Barton sent him a little artificial fountain or jet-d’eau, called a perpetual fountain, prettily contrived and ornamented. On that occasion, the patriotic feelings of Mr. Dickinson were thus expressed, in an handsome allusion to this engine; feelings, called forth by some sentiments contained in the letter which accompanied this small present,—“I wish” (said he, in his answer to Mr. Barton’s letter, dated the 29th of August,)—“I wish ‘a perpetual fountain’ may water the tree of American liberty—I shall always be ready and willing, with pious hands, to sprinkle its roots; even though, for every drop of the pure element I throw upon them, the free-booters should pour upon me all the foul waters in which they delight to dabble. I have acted from the best of motives, the love of freedom and of my country. If reproaches can influence the weak and malicious, they never can blot from my memory the pleasing consciousness of having endeavoured to do my duty. I am extremely sensible of my own frailties; and yet I think I have so much charity, that I reflect with pleasure, that perhaps these very people who abuse me, may derive some little advantage from those very actions of mine for which they abuse me. May heaven grant this to be the case! It is all the revenge I desire to take of them; and this I think, my good sir, is a Christian revenge.”Messrs. Allen, Ross, and Biddle, shall be noticed in another place.Mr. Sellers was a sensible and ingenious country-gentleman, possessed of some skill in mathematical and astronomical science. Messrs. John and Israel Jacobs (whose sister was the second wife of Mr. Rittenhouse) were also well-informed country-gentlemen: the former was speaker of the general assembly of Pennsylvania, and the latter a member of congress, after the revolution. Mr. James Wright was a very respectable representative of the county of Lancaster, before the revolution. The gentlemen named in the committee of the general assembly, to treat with Mr. Rittenhouse for the purchase of an Orrery for the use of the public, were likewise conspicuous for their worth. Of these, Mr. Rhoads was one of the vice-presidents of the American Philosophical Society, and Mr. Morton, a judge of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, before the revolution: both were afterwards members of congress.
“Dryburgh Abbey, Jan. 12, 1795.“Sir,“My worthy friend, Mr. John Miller, son of the eminent professor, John Miller, of Glasgow, whom I recommend to your attention, has charged himself with this letter, and will deliver to you a Writing-Box, which I dedicate to your use, as President of the Philosophical Society at Philadelphia, and toyour successors in office, as a testimony of my high esteem for your literary character and for that of the Society over which you preside.“This Box is made of Yew, of Black Cherry tree, and Acacia and Barberry, and veneered with Holly; all the growth of my garden at this place, and joined, fitted and finished, by my own joiner, in this house.“On the lid is an authentic picture of Copernicus, and in the inside thereof is a similar one of Napier. That of Copernicus is from the accurate copy of the Chancellor Hupazzuoski’s original picture, which was sent by the learned Dr. Wolf, of Dantzic, to the Royal Society of London; and this limning of mine is most faithfully delineated and shaded, from a drawing made by Mr. Thomas Parke, of Picadilly, formerly a pupil of Valentine Green, engraver at London, from the picture in the Royal Society, on a scale proportional in all parts and with great fidelity; so that I can assure you of my limning being a fac simile, as to the features and countenance. That of Napier[286]is indeeda most exquisitely beautiful piece, by John Brown, of Edinburgh, executed with the black-lead pencil, from an original portrait in the possession of Lord Napier; and, as a drawing with black-lead, excels, I believe, every thing of the kind now extant: Mr. Brown having by drawing, during twelve years in Italy, from statues, obtained a super-eminent accuracy and beauty of design.“I consecrate this interesting piece of furniture to American Science, and to the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia: willing, however, that in consideration of the high esteem I bear to you personally, you should have the custody and use of it in your own house, during your life; producing it only to the Society for the use of the Secretary, when you think proper. I have subjoined by way of postscript to this letter, some particulars relating to the Residence of Copernicus, and his Tomb; which I wish you to communicate to our Society.[287]“Permit me to repeat my earnest request, that you should be kind and attentive to the Bearer (and his Family,) who I hope will have the happiness to obtain a literary establishment in the United States, andprove of much utility to the public. I am, Sir, with esteem, your obliged humble servant—Buchan.”“Dr. Rittenhouse, Pres. of the Am. Phil. Society.”
“Dryburgh Abbey, Jan. 12, 1795.
“Sir,
“My worthy friend, Mr. John Miller, son of the eminent professor, John Miller, of Glasgow, whom I recommend to your attention, has charged himself with this letter, and will deliver to you a Writing-Box, which I dedicate to your use, as President of the Philosophical Society at Philadelphia, and toyour successors in office, as a testimony of my high esteem for your literary character and for that of the Society over which you preside.
“This Box is made of Yew, of Black Cherry tree, and Acacia and Barberry, and veneered with Holly; all the growth of my garden at this place, and joined, fitted and finished, by my own joiner, in this house.
“On the lid is an authentic picture of Copernicus, and in the inside thereof is a similar one of Napier. That of Copernicus is from the accurate copy of the Chancellor Hupazzuoski’s original picture, which was sent by the learned Dr. Wolf, of Dantzic, to the Royal Society of London; and this limning of mine is most faithfully delineated and shaded, from a drawing made by Mr. Thomas Parke, of Picadilly, formerly a pupil of Valentine Green, engraver at London, from the picture in the Royal Society, on a scale proportional in all parts and with great fidelity; so that I can assure you of my limning being a fac simile, as to the features and countenance. That of Napier[286]is indeeda most exquisitely beautiful piece, by John Brown, of Edinburgh, executed with the black-lead pencil, from an original portrait in the possession of Lord Napier; and, as a drawing with black-lead, excels, I believe, every thing of the kind now extant: Mr. Brown having by drawing, during twelve years in Italy, from statues, obtained a super-eminent accuracy and beauty of design.
“I consecrate this interesting piece of furniture to American Science, and to the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia: willing, however, that in consideration of the high esteem I bear to you personally, you should have the custody and use of it in your own house, during your life; producing it only to the Society for the use of the Secretary, when you think proper. I have subjoined by way of postscript to this letter, some particulars relating to the Residence of Copernicus, and his Tomb; which I wish you to communicate to our Society.[287]
“Permit me to repeat my earnest request, that you should be kind and attentive to the Bearer (and his Family,) who I hope will have the happiness to obtain a literary establishment in the United States, andprove of much utility to the public. I am, Sir, with esteem, your obliged humble servant—
Buchan.”
“Dr. Rittenhouse, Pres. of the Am. Phil. Society.”
This really “interesting piece of furniture” was viewed by Dr. Rittenhouse and the Philosophical Society, in the light it was intended to be,—as a mark of the Donor’s good-will towards this institution, and of his respect for the character of its President. The Box has been disposed of, agreeably to his Lordship’s desire: it is inserted in the list of Donations to the Society, prefixed to the fourth volume of their Transactions, under the date of May 15, 1795, and it is, at present, deposited in their Hall.
The friendship that subsisted between Dr. Rittenhouse and Mr. Jefferson, was produced, in a great measure, by the congeniality of these gentlemen in the concerns of science. The correct and penetrating mind of the former knew how to estimate at their just value, without over-rating them, the literary and scientific acquirements of the latter; while, on the other hand, this last was fully capable of discerning the sublime genius and most extraordinary talents of that man whom he greatly admired. While Mr. Jefferson resided in Philadelphia, as secretary of State, he made frequent visits to Dr. Rittenhouse: he thus became intimately acquainted with his character, for which he conceived the highest respect; and, as a mark of his esteem forhim, he presented him with his own bust, in the costume of the day, cast in plaster, from one in marble executed by Houdon, of Paris.
Mr. Jefferson has testified to the world the exalted opinion he entertained of our Philosopher. In his refutation of the Count de Buffon’s preposterous theory, “of the tendency of nature tobelittleher productions on this side the Atlantic,” he makes the following remarks, on the assertion of another French philosopher[288]—that America has not produced “one able mathematician, one man of genius in a single art or a single science:”—“In war,” says Mr. Jefferson, “we have produced aWashington, whose memory will be adored while liberty shall have votaries, whose name will triumph over time, and will in future ages assume its just station among the most celebrated worthies of the world: when that wretched philosophy shall be forgotten, which would have arranged him among the degeneracies of nature. In physics,“ continuesMr. Jefferson, “we have produced aFranklin, than whom no one of the present age has made more important discoveries, nor has enriched philosophy with more, or more ingenious solutions of the phænomena of nature.—We have supposed Mr.Rittenhousesecond to no astronomer living: that in genius, he must be the first, because he is self-taught. As an artist he has exhibited as great a proof of mechanical genius, as the world has ever produced. He has not indeed made a world; but he has by imitation approached nearer its Maker, than any man who has lived from the creation to this day.”[289]
Mr. Jefferson retained the highest esteem for Dr. Rittenhouse, during his life; and it is believed this sentiment was mutual. Letters of friendship were occasionally interchanged by them: part of one of the latest of these, is as follows:
“Monticello, Feb. 24, 1795.“Dear Sir,....[290]“I am here immersed in the concerns of a farmer, and more interested and engrossed by them, than Ihad ever conceived it possible. They in a great degree render me indifferent to my books, so that I read little and ride much; and I regret greatly the time I have suffered myself to waste from home. To this, indeed, is added another kind of regret, for the loss of society with the worthy characters with which I became acquainted, in the course of my wanderings from home. If I had but Fortunatus’s wishing cap, to seat myself sometimes by your fireside, and to pay a visit to Dr. Priestly, I would be contented: his writings evince, that he must be a fund of instruction, in conversation, and his character an object of attachment and veneration.“Be so good as to present my best respects to Mrs. Rittenhouse; and to accept, yourself, assurances of the high esteem of, dear sir, your sincere friend and humble servant,“Th. Jefferson.“David Rittenhouse.”
“Monticello, Feb. 24, 1795.
“Dear Sir,
....[290]
“I am here immersed in the concerns of a farmer, and more interested and engrossed by them, than Ihad ever conceived it possible. They in a great degree render me indifferent to my books, so that I read little and ride much; and I regret greatly the time I have suffered myself to waste from home. To this, indeed, is added another kind of regret, for the loss of society with the worthy characters with which I became acquainted, in the course of my wanderings from home. If I had but Fortunatus’s wishing cap, to seat myself sometimes by your fireside, and to pay a visit to Dr. Priestly, I would be contented: his writings evince, that he must be a fund of instruction, in conversation, and his character an object of attachment and veneration.
“Be so good as to present my best respects to Mrs. Rittenhouse; and to accept, yourself, assurances of the high esteem of, dear sir, your sincere friend and humble servant,
“Th. Jefferson.
“David Rittenhouse.”
At this time, Dr. Rittenhouse still held the Directorship of the Mint, though he resigned it a few months after; and from that period, his health being then much on the decline, he seemed to be desirous of passing the remainder of his days in tranquillity, and an abstraction from all business and severe studies, in the society of his family and a few particular friends. He now received numerous proofs of the affectionate respect and high consideration, in which his personand character were held; both among his own countrymen and in foreign nations. Many of his fellow-citizens were assiduous in their attentions to him: they frequently visited him; and, when he was suffering in his health, he experienced repeated acts of friendship and kindness:—President Washington often made calls upon him, and enquiries concerning his health; and among his other friends, the late Mr. Henry Hill and Mr. Robert Morris manifested towards him the kindest attentions.
In the spring of the year 1795, our amiable Philosopher was admitted a member of the Royal Society of London. He was apprized of this new mark of distinction conferred on him, by the following note, addressed to him by Phineas Bond, Esq. late the British Consul, resident in Philadelphia.
“Chesnut Street, 15th June, 1795.“Mr. Bond has the honour to inform Mr. Rittenhouse, that he has received a letter from his friend Mr. George Chalmers, of the office of the Lords of the Committee of Council for Trade, &c. at White-hall, in which he requests him to apprize Mr. R. of his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, which took place on the 23d of April.“Mr. B. begs leave to congratulate Mr. R. on this new honour, to which his merits, as a Philosopher, so eminently entitle him.“David Rittenhouse, Esq.”
“Chesnut Street, 15th June, 1795.
“Mr. Bond has the honour to inform Mr. Rittenhouse, that he has received a letter from his friend Mr. George Chalmers, of the office of the Lords of the Committee of Council for Trade, &c. at White-hall, in which he requests him to apprize Mr. R. of his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, which took place on the 23d of April.
“Mr. B. begs leave to congratulate Mr. R. on this new honour, to which his merits, as a Philosopher, so eminently entitle him.
“David Rittenhouse, Esq.”
It was not until towards the close of the summer, that Dr. Rittenhouse received the certificate of his Fellowship, in the Royal Society. His Diploma, for this honour, bears date the 16th of April, 1795;[291]and was accompanied by the following letter:
“Sir,“Having the honour to transmit to you the Diploma of your election into the Royal Society, as a foreign Member, I beg leave to congratulate you on this proof of the high esteem in which you are held by that illustrious body. I have the honour to be, with the greatest respect, Sir, your most obedient and very humble servant.“Charles Peter Layard.“R. Society’s Apartments, Somerset Place,“London, July 3d, 1795.”
“Sir,
“Having the honour to transmit to you the Diploma of your election into the Royal Society, as a foreign Member, I beg leave to congratulate you on this proof of the high esteem in which you are held by that illustrious body. I have the honour to be, with the greatest respect, Sir, your most obedient and very humble servant.
“Charles Peter Layard.
“R. Society’s Apartments, Somerset Place,“London, July 3d, 1795.”
“R. Society’s Apartments, Somerset Place,“London, July 3d, 1795.”
“R. Society’s Apartments, Somerset Place,“London, July 3d, 1795.”
“R. Society’s Apartments, Somerset Place,
“London, July 3d, 1795.”
The Royal Society of London has dealt out the honour of Fellowship with a sparing hand, to foreigners; and very few Americans have been admitted into that body, at any time: the Writer does not recollect any others than Dr. Franklin, Dr. Johnson, formerlyof Connecticut, and the late Dr. Morgan and Mr. John Bartram, of Philadelphia, who were Fellows of the Royal Society before the American revolution; and since that period, he believes Dr. Rittenhouse to have been one of but two or three native Americans who have borne that mark of distinction.
Soon after Dr. Rittenhouse became associated with that illustrious band of scientific men, a letter was written to him by Mr. Lalande, the celebrated Astronomer of France; of which the following translation is given in this place, as it will be perused with interest by the reader versed in astronomy.
“Paris, at the College of France, May 14th, 1795.“It is a long time, my dear Associate, since I have heard from you: but Mr. Adet, our worthy ambassador, will probably procure for me that satisfaction. You will see by the little history which I send you, that the troubles of the revolution have not impaired my labours; and that I have, now, twenty-seven thousand stars, observed.“I have seen with great pleasure, in the transactions of your Philosophical Society, the annular eclipse of 1791:[292]I have calculated the conjunction7h42′ 19″; but I have been obliged to take one minute from the phases of the ring, and to suppose {6h49′ 30″} / {6h53′ 47″}, in order to agree, either with your end of the eclipse, or the difference of meridians, already known with sufficient accuracy by the transit of Venus, which gives 9h10′ 6″; and your eclipse gives, 9h10′ 3″, or 5h0′ 43″ in relation to Greenwich.“What has given me still greater pleasure, is, that the duration of the ring, as you observed it, agrees very well with the diameters of the Sun and of the Moon, which T have adopted in the third edition of myAstronomy(1792), and the diminutions that I there propose for eclipses; viz. 3″½ to be taken from the diameter of the Sun, and 2″ from that of the Moon.[293]“I pray you to make many compliments for me, to the astronomers whom I know, in your country, Mr. Willard at Beverley and Mr. Williams at Cambridge: Is there any other astronomer, now, who applies himself seriously to astronomy? I greet you with health and brotherhood.“Lalande.“Professor of Astronomy, and Inspector of theCollege of France,[294]Cambray Place.“
“Paris, at the College of France, May 14th, 1795.
“It is a long time, my dear Associate, since I have heard from you: but Mr. Adet, our worthy ambassador, will probably procure for me that satisfaction. You will see by the little history which I send you, that the troubles of the revolution have not impaired my labours; and that I have, now, twenty-seven thousand stars, observed.
“I have seen with great pleasure, in the transactions of your Philosophical Society, the annular eclipse of 1791:[292]I have calculated the conjunction7h42′ 19″; but I have been obliged to take one minute from the phases of the ring, and to suppose {6h49′ 30″} / {6h53′ 47″}, in order to agree, either with your end of the eclipse, or the difference of meridians, already known with sufficient accuracy by the transit of Venus, which gives 9h10′ 6″; and your eclipse gives, 9h10′ 3″, or 5h0′ 43″ in relation to Greenwich.
“What has given me still greater pleasure, is, that the duration of the ring, as you observed it, agrees very well with the diameters of the Sun and of the Moon, which T have adopted in the third edition of myAstronomy(1792), and the diminutions that I there propose for eclipses; viz. 3″½ to be taken from the diameter of the Sun, and 2″ from that of the Moon.[293]
“I pray you to make many compliments for me, to the astronomers whom I know, in your country, Mr. Willard at Beverley and Mr. Williams at Cambridge: Is there any other astronomer, now, who applies himself seriously to astronomy? I greet you with health and brotherhood.
“Lalande.“Professor of Astronomy, and Inspector of theCollege of France,[294]Cambray Place.“
“Lalande.“Professor of Astronomy, and Inspector of theCollege of France,[294]Cambray Place.“
“Lalande.“Professor of Astronomy, and Inspector of theCollege of France,[294]Cambray Place.“
“Lalande.
“Professor of Astronomy, and Inspector of the
College of France,[294]Cambray Place.“
The mind of Dr. Rittenhouse, ever intent on doing, good, was always zealously engaged on occasions which afforded him opportunities of contributing to therewards of merit and the promotion of beneficial establishments, or useful undertakings of any kind.
Such an occasion presented itself, at the close of the year 1795. His nephew Dr. B. S. Barton, to whom he was attached by the strongest ties of friendship, then held the Professorship of Botany and Natural History in the University of Pennsylvania: but a vacancy being at that time expected in the chair of the Materia Medica, which branch of medicine was then taught by Dr. Samuel Powell Griffitts, Dr. Rittenhouse exerted himself to obtain that appointment for his nephew; upon whom it was conferred soon after, in conjunction with the chair he already occupied.
With a view to the gratification of his anxious wishes, in the attainment of this object, Dr. Rittenhouse addressed himself personally to some of his colleagues in the board of trustees of the University: and to Dr. M‘Kean, president of that board, he wrote the following letter[295]on the subject.
“Philadelphia, Dec. 26th, 1795.“Dear Sir,“I am informed that Dr. Griffitts intends to resign his Professorship in the University, sometime this winter. On this occasion, I beg leave to recommend to your favourable notice my nephew, Dr. Barton. He certainly has abilities sufficient to enable him to be useful in any branch of medicine, and ambition enough to induce him to make the greatest exertions: Besides, the Materia Medica seems so nearly connected with Botany and Natural History, his favourite studies, that I flatter myself he will be successful in his intended application to the honourable Board of Trustees; yet I am certain this will much depend on your interest. I am, Dear Sir, with the sincerest affection and esteem, your most obedient Servant,“David Rittenhouse.[296](Superscribed.)“Hon. Thomas M‘Kean, LL. D.Chief Justice of Pennsylvania.”
“Philadelphia, Dec. 26th, 1795.
“Dear Sir,
“I am informed that Dr. Griffitts intends to resign his Professorship in the University, sometime this winter. On this occasion, I beg leave to recommend to your favourable notice my nephew, Dr. Barton. He certainly has abilities sufficient to enable him to be useful in any branch of medicine, and ambition enough to induce him to make the greatest exertions: Besides, the Materia Medica seems so nearly connected with Botany and Natural History, his favourite studies, that I flatter myself he will be successful in his intended application to the honourable Board of Trustees; yet I am certain this will much depend on your interest. I am, Dear Sir, with the sincerest affection and esteem, your most obedient Servant,
“David Rittenhouse.[296]
(Superscribed.)“Hon. Thomas M‘Kean, LL. D.Chief Justice of Pennsylvania.”
(Superscribed.)“Hon. Thomas M‘Kean, LL. D.Chief Justice of Pennsylvania.”
(Superscribed.)“Hon. Thomas M‘Kean, LL. D.Chief Justice of Pennsylvania.”
(Superscribed.)
“Hon. Thomas M‘Kean, LL. D.
Chief Justice of Pennsylvania.”
letter
The affectionate regard and high respect which Professor Barton uniformly cherished for the personand character of this worthy relative,—who, on all occasions, evinced himself to be his sincere friend,—cannot be better manifested, than by citing his own words. In his dedication to Dr. Rittenhouse, of a dessertation, entitled,A Memoir concerning the fascinating faculty which has been ascribed to the Rattle-Snake and other American Serpents, is this passage—“In inscribing this Memoir to you, dear sir, I follow the regular course of my feelings, which, when I have received acts of friendship or kindness, ever lead me to acknowledge them. Whilst your example early implanted in me an ardent love of science, the assistance which you afforded me, by removing many of the obstacles that have opposed my advancement in life, has enabled me to devote a portion of my time to the cultivation of science; and thereby to increase the quantity of my happiness:” This was written just four months before the decease of our Philosopher. And in a subsequent inscription by the same gentleman,—that of hisNew Views of the Origin of the Tribes and Nations of America,—dedicated to Mr. Jefferson, and dated about a year after that event, he says: “The only dedications I ever wrote, were to two persons[297]whom I greatly esteemed and loved; the last, to a common friend, whose virtues and science endeared him to his country, and whose removal from us, we shall long have reason to deplore.”
Soon after Dr. Priestley’s arrival in Pennsylvania, our Philosopher became personally acquainted with him, and presently conceived for his fellow-labourer in science a sincere esteem. This was reciprocal; and, therefore, while the celebrated English philosopher remained in Philadelphia, and also when he occasionally visited that city after his removal to the town of Northumberland on the Susquehanna, he passed much of his time in Dr. Rittenhouse’s family. So far as the pursuits of these gentlemen, in matters of science, were congenial—for, in some respects they were very dissimilar,—their opinions appeared to harmonize with each other: but, how far their sentiments accorded on other subjects, or whether at all, the Writer cannot undertake to pronounce; not possessing the necessary means to enable him to do so with a sufficient degree of certainty. Dr. Rittenhouse’s intercourse with Dr. Priestley, either personal or epistolary, was, however, of short duration; being terminated by the death of the former, in little more than two years after the latter first came to Philadelphia. One of the last interviews which Dr. Rittenhouse had with his friend Priestley, was very shortly before our philosopher’s death: he was one of a select few whom the writer had the pleasure of meeting at Dr. Rittenhouse’s, to dine, on the 18th of March, 1796.
That learned and eminent foreigner,—for Dr. Priestley never became a naturalized citizen of the UnitedStates,—died at Northumberland in Pennsylvania, at an advanced age, on the 6th day of February 1804.
The scanty remnant of life that yet remained to the great American Astronomer and Mathematician, was neither uselessly, nor altogether unpleasantly employed. In this interval of time, short as it was, such portions of it as afforded him some respite from sickness and pain, were either devoted to the society of his family and friends, or occupied in study. From these sources of rational enjoyment, be derived much comfort; and the solace he drew from them, was greatly heightened by the endearing attentions, which, amidst the rapid decline of his health and strength, he experienced, in an eminent degree, in the bosom of his affectionate family and some surrounding relatives. He was fully sensible of the approaching crisis of his disease; and he appeared to be quite prepared to meet the awful stroke, with the fortitude which a retrospective view of a well-spent life would naturally inspire; as well as with the resignation, which an entire confidence in the goodness, the wisdom, and the mercy of his omnipotent Creator, taught him to be a duty. His elevated conceptions of the Deity, together with his decided belief of the immortality of the soul, according at the same time with the doctrines of a pure religion, animated him with the stedfast hope of an happy futurity, worthy of a Christian and a Philosopher. His intimate knowledge of the sublimest works of creation, rendered him highly sensible of the wisdom andpower of the Great Supreme; while that knowledge, aided by the lights furnished by the Christian dispensation, led him to ascribe suitable attributes to the Author of Nature,—a Being infinitely good, as well as perfect: for, as he once familiarly expressed himself,[298]he was “firmly persuaded, that we are not at the disposal of a Being, who has the least tincture of ill-nature, or requires any in us.”[299]
It is an observation of a judicious biographer,[A]that “nothing can awaken the attention, nothing affect the heart of man, more strongly, than the behaviour of eminent personages in their last moments; in that only scene of life where we are all sure, later or sooner, to resemble them.” The writer of these Memoirs feels a sort of pensive gratification, in having it in his power to announce the manner in which the great American Astronomer deported himself, during the closing scene of his life: The following information on this head, was communicated by the writer’s brother, Professor Barton, the deceased’s nephew and friend,—for some years, also, his family-physician; and who, in his medical capacity, attended him in the whole of his last illness.
–—
“The last visit I ever received from Mr. Rittenhouse was about the middle of June, 1796. He called at my humble habitation in Fifth street, to inquire aboutmy health, and to learn from me the result of the experiments and inquiries in which he knew I was, at this time engaged, concerning the mode of generation and gestation of our opossum, an animal to whose economy and manners he had himself paid some attention, and whose history he justly considered one of the most interesting in the whole range of zoology.
“It was on this occasion, that our excellent friend first informed me, that he had received a diploma from the Royal Society. He observed, with a tone of voice and with a certain expression of countenance, which were not calculated to afford me any pleasure, “that a few years ago, such a mark of respect from that illustrious body would have been received by him with pleasure and with pride.”
“In fact, Mr. Rittenhouse, now and for some months past, was strongly impressed with the idea, that his career of usefulness and virtue was nearly at an end. He had several times, during the preceding part of the spring and summer, intimated to me (and doubtless to others of his friends) his impressions on this head. In what precise condition of his system, whether physical or intellectual, these impressions were founded, I have only been able to form a distant, and unsatisfactory conjecture.
“A few days after this interview, viz. on the 22d of June, I was sent for to visit Mr. Rittenhouse. I foundhim in his garden, where he loved to walk, and soon learned that he laboured under a severe attack of cholera, accompanied, however, with more fever than we generally find with this disease; and with a great increase of that violent pain and sense of oppression at the region of his stomach, to which he had been subject for at least thirty years. Notwithstanding his age, the debility of his system, and the unfavourable state of the season, I ventured to flatter myself, that the attack would not prove mortal. On the following day, however, finding him no better, but rather worse, I requested permission to call in the aid of another physician; and having mentioned the name of Dr. Adam Kuhn, that gentleman accordingly visited our friend, in company with me, during the remainder of his illness.
His febrile symptoms being very urgent, it was thought necessary to bleed our patient; and notwithstanding his great and habitual repugnance to the practice on former occasions, he now readily consented to the operation, on condition that I would perform it myself. The blood which was drawn, exhibited a pretty strong inflammatory crust; and the operation seemed to give him a temporary relief from his pain. Soon after this, his strength gradually declined; and on the third day of his illness, it was but too obvious, that our illustrious relative was soon to be separated from his friends. He expired without a struggle, and in the calmest manner, ten minutes before two o’clock on the morning of Sunday the 26th, inthe presence of his youngest daughter, Mrs. Waters, and myself. His excellent wife, who had ever been assiduous in her attention on her husband, both in sickness and in health, had retired from his chamber about two hours before, unable to support the awful scene of expiring genius and virtue.
“There can be no doubt, I think, that Mr. Rittenhouse, from the first invasion of his disease, or at least from the day when he was confined to his bed or room, entertained but little hopes of his recovery. He signed his will in my presence. He discovered no more solicitude about his situation, than it is decorous and proper in every good or great man to feel, when in a similar situation. During the greater part of his illness, he manifested the most happy temperament of mind: and it was only in the last hour or two of his life, that his powerful intellects were disturbed by a mild delirium. About eight hours before he died, the pain in the region of his stomach being unusually severe, a poultice composed of meal and laudanum was applied to the part. In less than two hours after the application, I called to see him, and upon asking him if he did not feel easier, he calmly answered, in these memorable words, which it is impossible for me to forget,—for they were the last he ever distinctly uttered, and they make us acquainted with the two most important features in his religious creed,—“Yes, you have made the way to God easier!”
“Such were the dying words, as it were, of our illustrious relative and friend. He was dear to us both, to all his relatives and friends; and to his country. To me, let me add, he waspeculiarlydear. The most happy and profitable hours of my life were passed in the society of this virtuous man. I followed his foot-steps in the wilderness of our country, where he was the first to carry the telescope, and to mark the motions and positions of the planets. In the bosom of his family, I listened to his lessons, as an humble disciple of Socrates, or Plato. Science mixed with virtue was ever inculcated from his lips.—But to me, Mr. Rittenhouse was more than a friend and preceptor. He was a father and supporter. He laid the foundation of what little prosperity in life I now, or may in future, enjoy: and if it shall ever be my fortune, either by my labours or my zeal, to advance the progress of science, or to reflect any honour upon my country, I should be the most ungrateful of men, if I did not acknowledge, and wish it to be known, that it wasDavid Rittenhousewho enabled me to be useful.”
–—
Such was the death ofDavid Rittenhouse,—soon after his entrance into the sixty-fifth year of his age:—“Thus, with a heart overflowing with love to his family, friends, country, and to the whole world, he peacefully resigned his spirit into the hands of hisGod.”[300]Thus did his immortal soul gently pass away, from this transitory but variegated scene; from a theatre of mingled afflictions and comforts, of privations and enjoyments, of absolute certainty with respect to the non-continuance of this state, and of equal incertitude as to our possible knowledge of the term of its duration:—And it is most confidently believed, that his departed spirit, while yet hovering on the confines of time, devoutly relied on being “promoted to a more exalted rank among the creatures of God.”[301]
145. Joseph Galloway, Esq. a representative in assembly from the county of Bucks. He was speaker of the house, from the year 1766 to 1773, inclusively; excepting a short interval in the session of 1768-9, in which Joseph Fox, Esq. officiated as speaker.
145. Joseph Galloway, Esq. a representative in assembly from the county of Bucks. He was speaker of the house, from the year 1766 to 1773, inclusively; excepting a short interval in the session of 1768-9, in which Joseph Fox, Esq. officiated as speaker.
146. William Allen, Esq. chief-justice of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, and a member of assembly from the county of Cumberland.
146. William Allen, Esq. chief-justice of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, and a member of assembly from the county of Cumberland.
147. Equal to 533 Spanish or American dollars.
147. Equal to 533 Spanish or American dollars.
148. John and George Ross, Esqrs. lawyers of great respectability, and brothers; the former a resident in Philadelphia; the latter in Lancaster. Mr. George Ross was a member of the first congress; and was appointed by the assembly on the 5th of April, 1775, judge of the admiralty-court for Pennsylvania.
148. John and George Ross, Esqrs. lawyers of great respectability, and brothers; the former a resident in Philadelphia; the latter in Lancaster. Mr. George Ross was a member of the first congress; and was appointed by the assembly on the 5th of April, 1775, judge of the admiralty-court for Pennsylvania.
149. Edward Biddle, Esq. a lawyer of eminence, and a representative in assembly for the county of Berks, in which he resided. This gentleman was one of the delegates appointed to the congress of the 10th of May, 1775, under an unanimous resolution of the assembly, passed in December, 1774; but, having succeeded Mr. Galloway as speaker of that house, in the session of 1774-5, he did not take his seat in congress, with his colleagues. These were John Dickinson, Charles Humphreys, John Morton, George Ross, Thomas Mifflin, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Willing and James Wilson, Esqrs.
149. Edward Biddle, Esq. a lawyer of eminence, and a representative in assembly for the county of Berks, in which he resided. This gentleman was one of the delegates appointed to the congress of the 10th of May, 1775, under an unanimous resolution of the assembly, passed in December, 1774; but, having succeeded Mr. Galloway as speaker of that house, in the session of 1774-5, he did not take his seat in congress, with his colleagues. These were John Dickinson, Charles Humphreys, John Morton, George Ross, Thomas Mifflin, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Willing and James Wilson, Esqrs.
150. Emanuel Carpenter, Esq. long a respectable member of assembly from Lancaster county.
150. Emanuel Carpenter, Esq. long a respectable member of assembly from Lancaster county.
151. Thomas Minshull, Esq. a respectable member of the house, from York county.
151. Thomas Minshull, Esq. a respectable member of the house, from York county.
152. The Hon. John Penn.—This worthy gentleman, a grandson of the celebrated William Penn, was lieutenant-governor of Pennsylvania, under the chief proprietaries of the province, from October 1763, to May 1771; and again, from August 1773, until the revolution.
152. The Hon. John Penn.—This worthy gentleman, a grandson of the celebrated William Penn, was lieutenant-governor of Pennsylvania, under the chief proprietaries of the province, from October 1763, to May 1771; and again, from August 1773, until the revolution.
153. The proprietary’s and governor’s council, consisting of James Hamilton, William Allen, Joseph Turner, William Logan, Richard Peters (D. D.), Lynford Lardner, Benjamin Chew, Thomas Cadwallader, Richard Penn, James Tilghman, Andrew Allen, and Edward Shippen, jun. Esquires. Joseph Shippen, jun. Esquire, officiated many years as provincial secretary and clerk of the council.
153. The proprietary’s and governor’s council, consisting of James Hamilton, William Allen, Joseph Turner, William Logan, Richard Peters (D. D.), Lynford Lardner, Benjamin Chew, Thomas Cadwallader, Richard Penn, James Tilghman, Andrew Allen, and Edward Shippen, jun. Esquires. Joseph Shippen, jun. Esquire, officiated many years as provincial secretary and clerk of the council.
154. Matthias Slough, Esq. who served several years with reputation as a representative in the assembly, from the county of Lancaster.
154. Matthias Slough, Esq. who served several years with reputation as a representative in the assembly, from the county of Lancaster.
155. On the 4th of Feb. 1770, he mentioned to Mr. Barton his then contemplated removal into that city, in these terms—“Dr. Smith, to whom I am indebted for many kindnesses, is very urgent to have me come to Philadelphia to reside, which it is probable I may do shortly: but I am not yet determined. If I live to write again, you shall know more of my mind; in the mean time, I shall be glad to have your opinion of the matter.”
155. On the 4th of Feb. 1770, he mentioned to Mr. Barton his then contemplated removal into that city, in these terms—“Dr. Smith, to whom I am indebted for many kindnesses, is very urgent to have me come to Philadelphia to reside, which it is probable I may do shortly: but I am not yet determined. If I live to write again, you shall know more of my mind; in the mean time, I shall be glad to have your opinion of the matter.”
156. Since writing the above the author has ascertained, that towards the close of April, 1770, the orrery was purchased for the college of New-Jersey. On the 23d of that month, Dr. Witherspoon, then the president of that college, accompanied by some gentlemen, went to Norriton for that purpose, and it appears that the orrery was then nearly finished.
156. Since writing the above the author has ascertained, that towards the close of April, 1770, the orrery was purchased for the college of New-Jersey. On the 23d of that month, Dr. Witherspoon, then the president of that college, accompanied by some gentlemen, went to Norriton for that purpose, and it appears that the orrery was then nearly finished.
157. The following extract of a letter from Dr. Smith to Mr. Barton, written the day after Mr. Rittenhouse’s on the same subject, will further explain the embarrassing circumstances that attended this transaction, and the delicate situation in which Mr. Rittenhouse, particularly, was placed.“I never,” said the Doctor, “met with greater mortification, than to find Mr. Rittenhouse had, in my absence, made a sort of agreement to let his Orrery go to the Jersey College. I had constantly told him, that if the Assembly did not take it, I would take it for our College, and would have paid the full sum, should I have begged the money. I thought I could depend, as much as on any thing under the sun, that after Mr. Rittenhouse knew my intentions about it, he would not have listened to any proposal for disposing of it, without advising me, and giving our College the first opportunity to purchase. I think Mr. Rittenhouse was never so littlehimself, as to suffer himself to be taken off his guard on this occasion. This province is willing to honour him, as herown: and believe me, many of his friends wondered at the newspaper article; and regretted that he should think so little of hisnobleinvention, as to consent to let it go to a village; unless he had first found, on trial, that his friends in this city had not spirit to take it: For if he would wish to be known bythis work—and introduced to the best business and commissions for instruments, from all parts of the continent,—hisOrrerybeing placed in our College, where so many strangers would have an opportunity of seeing it, was the sure way to be serviceable to Himself.“You will think, by all this, that I am offended with him, and that our friendship may hereby be interrupted: Far from it—I went to see him, the day the newspaper announced the affair. I soon found that I had little occasion to say any thing: he was convinced, before I saw him, that he had gone too far. But still, as no time was fixed for delivering the Orrery, I was glad to find he had concluded that it should not be delivered till next winter; against which time, he said, he could have asecondone made, if this one staid with him for his hands to work by. As I love Mr. Rittenhouse, and would not give a man of such delicate feelings a moment’s uneasiness, I agreed to wave thehonourof having the first Orrery, and to take the second.”In fact, the Orrery was not at that time finished; for Mr. Rittenhouse then informed Dr. Smith, that he was under the necessity of waiting for brass from England, to enable him to complete it. “The result (continued the Doctor) will be, I think, that he will keep his Orrery till towards winter; and should they notthenreceive it, in the Jersies, they will take it at New-York.”On the 7th of the following month, Dr. Smith wrote thus finally, to Mr. Barton, on this subject—“Your and my friend, Mr. Rittenhouse, will be with you on Saturday. The Governor says, the Orrery shall not go: he would rather pay for it, himself. He has ordered a meeting of the Trustees on Tuesday next; and declares it as his opinion, that we ought to have thefirstOrrery, and not the second,—even if the second should be the best.”
157. The following extract of a letter from Dr. Smith to Mr. Barton, written the day after Mr. Rittenhouse’s on the same subject, will further explain the embarrassing circumstances that attended this transaction, and the delicate situation in which Mr. Rittenhouse, particularly, was placed.
“I never,” said the Doctor, “met with greater mortification, than to find Mr. Rittenhouse had, in my absence, made a sort of agreement to let his Orrery go to the Jersey College. I had constantly told him, that if the Assembly did not take it, I would take it for our College, and would have paid the full sum, should I have begged the money. I thought I could depend, as much as on any thing under the sun, that after Mr. Rittenhouse knew my intentions about it, he would not have listened to any proposal for disposing of it, without advising me, and giving our College the first opportunity to purchase. I think Mr. Rittenhouse was never so littlehimself, as to suffer himself to be taken off his guard on this occasion. This province is willing to honour him, as herown: and believe me, many of his friends wondered at the newspaper article; and regretted that he should think so little of hisnobleinvention, as to consent to let it go to a village; unless he had first found, on trial, that his friends in this city had not spirit to take it: For if he would wish to be known bythis work—and introduced to the best business and commissions for instruments, from all parts of the continent,—hisOrrerybeing placed in our College, where so many strangers would have an opportunity of seeing it, was the sure way to be serviceable to Himself.
“You will think, by all this, that I am offended with him, and that our friendship may hereby be interrupted: Far from it—I went to see him, the day the newspaper announced the affair. I soon found that I had little occasion to say any thing: he was convinced, before I saw him, that he had gone too far. But still, as no time was fixed for delivering the Orrery, I was glad to find he had concluded that it should not be delivered till next winter; against which time, he said, he could have asecondone made, if this one staid with him for his hands to work by. As I love Mr. Rittenhouse, and would not give a man of such delicate feelings a moment’s uneasiness, I agreed to wave thehonourof having the first Orrery, and to take the second.”
In fact, the Orrery was not at that time finished; for Mr. Rittenhouse then informed Dr. Smith, that he was under the necessity of waiting for brass from England, to enable him to complete it. “The result (continued the Doctor) will be, I think, that he will keep his Orrery till towards winter; and should they notthenreceive it, in the Jersies, they will take it at New-York.”
On the 7th of the following month, Dr. Smith wrote thus finally, to Mr. Barton, on this subject—“Your and my friend, Mr. Rittenhouse, will be with you on Saturday. The Governor says, the Orrery shall not go: he would rather pay for it, himself. He has ordered a meeting of the Trustees on Tuesday next; and declares it as his opinion, that we ought to have thefirstOrrery, and not the second,—even if the second should be the best.”
158. The Rev. Dr. Peters wrote thus to Mr. Barton, under the date of March 22, 1771—“Dr. Smith has done wonders in favour of our friend Rittenhouse. His zeal has been very active: he has got enough to pay him for a second orrery; and the assembly has given him 300l.The Doctor, in his introductory lecture, was honoured with the principal men of all denominations, who swallowed every word he said, with the pleasure that attends eating the choicest viands; and in the close, when he came to mention the orrery, he over-excelled his very self!”—“Your son will acquaint you with all the particulars respecting it. The lectures are crowded by such as think they can, thereby, be made capable of understanding that wonderful machine: whereas, after all, their eyes only will give them the truth, from the figures, and motions, and places, and magnitudes of the heavenly bodies.”
158. The Rev. Dr. Peters wrote thus to Mr. Barton, under the date of March 22, 1771—“Dr. Smith has done wonders in favour of our friend Rittenhouse. His zeal has been very active: he has got enough to pay him for a second orrery; and the assembly has given him 300l.The Doctor, in his introductory lecture, was honoured with the principal men of all denominations, who swallowed every word he said, with the pleasure that attends eating the choicest viands; and in the close, when he came to mention the orrery, he over-excelled his very self!”—“Your son will acquaint you with all the particulars respecting it. The lectures are crowded by such as think they can, thereby, be made capable of understanding that wonderful machine: whereas, after all, their eyes only will give them the truth, from the figures, and motions, and places, and magnitudes of the heavenly bodies.”
159. The author ofThe Vision of Columbus, a Poem, (first published at Hartford in Connecticut, in the beginning of the year 1787,) alludes to the Rittenhouse-Orrery, and to the numerous resort of persons to the College-Hall, for the purpose of viewing that machine, in the following lines, (book vii.)“See the sageRittenhouse, with ardent eye,Lift the long tube and pierce the starry sky;Clear in his view the circling systems roll,And broader splendours gild the central pole.He marks what laws th’ eccentric wand’rers bind,Copies Creation in his forming mind,And bids, beneath his hand, in semblance rise,With mimic orbs, the labours of the skies.There wond’ring crouds with raptur’d eye beholdThe spangled Heav’ns their mystic maze unfold;While each glad sage his splendid Hall shall grace,With all the spheres that cleave th’ ethereal space.”
159. The author ofThe Vision of Columbus, a Poem, (first published at Hartford in Connecticut, in the beginning of the year 1787,) alludes to the Rittenhouse-Orrery, and to the numerous resort of persons to the College-Hall, for the purpose of viewing that machine, in the following lines, (book vii.)
“See the sageRittenhouse, with ardent eye,Lift the long tube and pierce the starry sky;Clear in his view the circling systems roll,And broader splendours gild the central pole.He marks what laws th’ eccentric wand’rers bind,Copies Creation in his forming mind,And bids, beneath his hand, in semblance rise,With mimic orbs, the labours of the skies.There wond’ring crouds with raptur’d eye beholdThe spangled Heav’ns their mystic maze unfold;While each glad sage his splendid Hall shall grace,With all the spheres that cleave th’ ethereal space.”
“See the sageRittenhouse, with ardent eye,Lift the long tube and pierce the starry sky;Clear in his view the circling systems roll,And broader splendours gild the central pole.He marks what laws th’ eccentric wand’rers bind,Copies Creation in his forming mind,And bids, beneath his hand, in semblance rise,With mimic orbs, the labours of the skies.There wond’ring crouds with raptur’d eye beholdThe spangled Heav’ns their mystic maze unfold;While each glad sage his splendid Hall shall grace,With all the spheres that cleave th’ ethereal space.”
“See the sageRittenhouse, with ardent eye,Lift the long tube and pierce the starry sky;Clear in his view the circling systems roll,And broader splendours gild the central pole.He marks what laws th’ eccentric wand’rers bind,Copies Creation in his forming mind,And bids, beneath his hand, in semblance rise,With mimic orbs, the labours of the skies.There wond’ring crouds with raptur’d eye beholdThe spangled Heav’ns their mystic maze unfold;While each glad sage his splendid Hall shall grace,With all the spheres that cleave th’ ethereal space.”
“See the sageRittenhouse, with ardent eye,
Lift the long tube and pierce the starry sky;
Clear in his view the circling systems roll,
And broader splendours gild the central pole.
He marks what laws th’ eccentric wand’rers bind,
Copies Creation in his forming mind,
And bids, beneath his hand, in semblance rise,
With mimic orbs, the labours of the skies.
There wond’ring crouds with raptur’d eye behold
The spangled Heav’ns their mystic maze unfold;
While each glad sage his splendid Hall shall grace,
With all the spheres that cleave th’ ethereal space.”
160. In a letter from Dr. Smith to Mr. Barton, dated March 23, 1771, is this paragraph:—“I have been so busy these two months past, that I could not find a moment’s leisure to write. A good deal of time was to be given to the public lectures, the Orrery, and the getting our dear friend Rittenhouse brought into as advantageous a light as possible, on his first entrance into this town as an inhabitant; all which has succeeded to our utmost wishes; and the notice taken of him by the province, is equally to his honour and theirs. The loss of his wife has greatly disconcerted him; but we try to keep up his spirits, under it.”
160. In a letter from Dr. Smith to Mr. Barton, dated March 23, 1771, is this paragraph:—
“I have been so busy these two months past, that I could not find a moment’s leisure to write. A good deal of time was to be given to the public lectures, the Orrery, and the getting our dear friend Rittenhouse brought into as advantageous a light as possible, on his first entrance into this town as an inhabitant; all which has succeeded to our utmost wishes; and the notice taken of him by the province, is equally to his honour and theirs. The loss of his wife has greatly disconcerted him; but we try to keep up his spirits, under it.”
161. Joseph Galloway, Esq. was then speaker.
161. Joseph Galloway, Esq. was then speaker.
162. The committee, named in the above order of the general assembly, made the following report to that body, on the 24th of September, 1771; viz.“The committee appointed to agree with, and purchase from Mr. Rittenhouse a new Orrery for the use of the public, beg leave to report, that they have, in pursuance of the order of assembly, agreed with Mr. Rittenhouse for a new Orrery, at the price of four hundred pounds, the price limited by the house; to consist of one principal square (face,) of eight feet or more each way, with two wings; making in the whole one large front, as nearly resembling the form of the Orrery now standing in the College of the city of Philadelphia, as its superior size will admit.” (Signed by all the members of the committee.)
162. The committee, named in the above order of the general assembly, made the following report to that body, on the 24th of September, 1771; viz.
“The committee appointed to agree with, and purchase from Mr. Rittenhouse a new Orrery for the use of the public, beg leave to report, that they have, in pursuance of the order of assembly, agreed with Mr. Rittenhouse for a new Orrery, at the price of four hundred pounds, the price limited by the house; to consist of one principal square (face,) of eight feet or more each way, with two wings; making in the whole one large front, as nearly resembling the form of the Orrery now standing in the College of the city of Philadelphia, as its superior size will admit.” (Signed by all the members of the committee.)
163. Messrs. Dickinson, Humphreys, Morton, Ross and Biddle, together with Mifflin and Franklin, were delegated on the part of Pennsylvania to the first general congress, which met in Philadelphia on the 5th of September, 1774; and the same gentlemen, with the addition of Messrs. Willing and Wilson, were also delegates from Pennsylvania in the second general congress, which met in the same city on the 10th of May, 1775. Of these “dignified and ever memorable assemblies,” composed of that “illustrious band of patriots whose worth sheds a lustre on the American character,” the great Washington was also a member.Mr. Dickinson, the writer of the celebratedFarmer’s Letters, was a distinguished lawyer, statesman and scholar. Dr. Ramsay (who published hisHistory of theAmericanAmericanRevolutionat the close of the year 1789,) remarks, that “the stamp-act, which was to have taken place in 1765, employed the pens and tongues of many of the colonists,” and, that “the duties imposed in 1767, called forth the pen of John Dickinson, who in a series of letters, signed ‘A Pennsylvania Farmer,’ may be said to have sown the seeds of the revolution.”From the commencement of the momentous controversy between the North-American colonies and the parent state, Mr. Dickinson was an able and strenuous assertor of the rights of the colonists. In the summer of the year 1768, the Rev. Mr. Barton sent him a little artificial fountain or jet-d’eau, called a perpetual fountain, prettily contrived and ornamented. On that occasion, the patriotic feelings of Mr. Dickinson were thus expressed, in an handsome allusion to this engine; feelings, called forth by some sentiments contained in the letter which accompanied this small present,—“I wish” (said he, in his answer to Mr. Barton’s letter, dated the 29th of August,)—“I wish ‘a perpetual fountain’ may water the tree of American liberty—I shall always be ready and willing, with pious hands, to sprinkle its roots; even though, for every drop of the pure element I throw upon them, the free-booters should pour upon me all the foul waters in which they delight to dabble. I have acted from the best of motives, the love of freedom and of my country. If reproaches can influence the weak and malicious, they never can blot from my memory the pleasing consciousness of having endeavoured to do my duty. I am extremely sensible of my own frailties; and yet I think I have so much charity, that I reflect with pleasure, that perhaps these very people who abuse me, may derive some little advantage from those very actions of mine for which they abuse me. May heaven grant this to be the case! It is all the revenge I desire to take of them; and this I think, my good sir, is a Christian revenge.”Messrs. Allen, Ross, and Biddle, shall be noticed in another place.Mr. Sellers was a sensible and ingenious country-gentleman, possessed of some skill in mathematical and astronomical science. Messrs. John and Israel Jacobs (whose sister was the second wife of Mr. Rittenhouse) were also well-informed country-gentlemen: the former was speaker of the general assembly of Pennsylvania, and the latter a member of congress, after the revolution. Mr. James Wright was a very respectable representative of the county of Lancaster, before the revolution. The gentlemen named in the committee of the general assembly, to treat with Mr. Rittenhouse for the purchase of an Orrery for the use of the public, were likewise conspicuous for their worth. Of these, Mr. Rhoads was one of the vice-presidents of the American Philosophical Society, and Mr. Morton, a judge of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, before the revolution: both were afterwards members of congress.
163. Messrs. Dickinson, Humphreys, Morton, Ross and Biddle, together with Mifflin and Franklin, were delegated on the part of Pennsylvania to the first general congress, which met in Philadelphia on the 5th of September, 1774; and the same gentlemen, with the addition of Messrs. Willing and Wilson, were also delegates from Pennsylvania in the second general congress, which met in the same city on the 10th of May, 1775. Of these “dignified and ever memorable assemblies,” composed of that “illustrious band of patriots whose worth sheds a lustre on the American character,” the great Washington was also a member.
Mr. Dickinson, the writer of the celebratedFarmer’s Letters, was a distinguished lawyer, statesman and scholar. Dr. Ramsay (who published hisHistory of theAmericanAmericanRevolutionat the close of the year 1789,) remarks, that “the stamp-act, which was to have taken place in 1765, employed the pens and tongues of many of the colonists,” and, that “the duties imposed in 1767, called forth the pen of John Dickinson, who in a series of letters, signed ‘A Pennsylvania Farmer,’ may be said to have sown the seeds of the revolution.”
From the commencement of the momentous controversy between the North-American colonies and the parent state, Mr. Dickinson was an able and strenuous assertor of the rights of the colonists. In the summer of the year 1768, the Rev. Mr. Barton sent him a little artificial fountain or jet-d’eau, called a perpetual fountain, prettily contrived and ornamented. On that occasion, the patriotic feelings of Mr. Dickinson were thus expressed, in an handsome allusion to this engine; feelings, called forth by some sentiments contained in the letter which accompanied this small present,—“I wish” (said he, in his answer to Mr. Barton’s letter, dated the 29th of August,)—“I wish ‘a perpetual fountain’ may water the tree of American liberty—I shall always be ready and willing, with pious hands, to sprinkle its roots; even though, for every drop of the pure element I throw upon them, the free-booters should pour upon me all the foul waters in which they delight to dabble. I have acted from the best of motives, the love of freedom and of my country. If reproaches can influence the weak and malicious, they never can blot from my memory the pleasing consciousness of having endeavoured to do my duty. I am extremely sensible of my own frailties; and yet I think I have so much charity, that I reflect with pleasure, that perhaps these very people who abuse me, may derive some little advantage from those very actions of mine for which they abuse me. May heaven grant this to be the case! It is all the revenge I desire to take of them; and this I think, my good sir, is a Christian revenge.”
Messrs. Allen, Ross, and Biddle, shall be noticed in another place.
Mr. Sellers was a sensible and ingenious country-gentleman, possessed of some skill in mathematical and astronomical science. Messrs. John and Israel Jacobs (whose sister was the second wife of Mr. Rittenhouse) were also well-informed country-gentlemen: the former was speaker of the general assembly of Pennsylvania, and the latter a member of congress, after the revolution. Mr. James Wright was a very respectable representative of the county of Lancaster, before the revolution. The gentlemen named in the committee of the general assembly, to treat with Mr. Rittenhouse for the purchase of an Orrery for the use of the public, were likewise conspicuous for their worth. Of these, Mr. Rhoads was one of the vice-presidents of the American Philosophical Society, and Mr. Morton, a judge of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, before the revolution: both were afterwards members of congress.