Chapter 20

260a. Mr. Jackson was professor of languages and master of the Latin school, in the college, until the spring of the year 1758; when he accepted of a captaincy in the provincial service, in the expedition under general Forbes, against the French and their Indian allies. On the resignation of his professorship, Mr. Jackson was succeeded by Mr. Beveridge.

261. Dr. William Shippen, the younger, who first filled the anatomical chair in the College of Philadelphia, (afterwards, the University of Pennsylvania,) and which he continued to occupy for almost forty-three years with great respectability, may be justly considered as the founder of the medical department of that institution. The establishment of a medical school in his native city, had long been contemplated by this distinguished lecturer, as a most desirable object: but, in the execution of such a plan, serious difficulties were to be encountered at the commencement. In the language of-his anonymous eulogist,[261a]“the enterprize, arduous in itself, was rendered abundantly more so, in consideration of its novelty: for, as yet, the voice of a public lecturer in medicine had never been heard in the western world. In order, therefore, to test the practicability of the measure, and to pave the way for a more regular and extensive establishment, he determined to embark in the undertaking himself, by delivering, in a private capacity, a course of lectures on anatomy and surgery: this he did in the winter of 1762-3, being the first winter after his return from his studies and travels in Europe.”Dr. Shippen’s success, as a private lecturer, demonstrated the expediency of engrafting a medical school on the College; and, in consequence, he was unanimously elected the professor of anatomy and surgery, on the 17th of September, 1765. This able teacher held that chair until his death,[261b]which occurred the 11th of July, 1808, in the seventy-fifth year of his age.

Dr. Shippen’s success, as a private lecturer, demonstrated the expediency of engrafting a medical school on the College; and, in consequence, he was unanimously elected the professor of anatomy and surgery, on the 17th of September, 1765. This able teacher held that chair until his death,[261b]which occurred the 11th of July, 1808, in the seventy-fifth year of his age.

261a. Said to be Dr. Caldwell, of Philadelphia. See thePort Folio.

261b. Casper Wister, M. D. Professor of Anatomy and Surgery in the University of Pennsylvania, was, for some years before the death of Dr. Shippen, his adjunct professor in the same chair; to which station, this eminent teacher in those branches of medicine was appointed by the trustees of the university, at the request of his late colleague.

262. William Shippen, jun. M. D. just mentioned, was the professor of anatomy; Adam Kuhn, M. D. a distinguished pupil of the celebrated Linnæus, was professor of botany, united with the materia medica; Benjamin Rush, M. D. a learned and able professor of the theory and practice of physick, then held the chemical chair; and Dr. Thomas Bond, an ingenious and eminent physician, gave clynical lectures in the Pennsylvania Hospital. In the year 1789, the trustees of the College of Philadelphia instituted a professorship of natural history and botany; which was then conferred on Benjamin Smith Barton, M. D. Dr. Kuhn had formerly delivered several courses of lectures on botany, in the College of Philadelphia; but natural history had never before been taught there. On the union of the College with the University, in the year 1791, Dr. Barton’s former appointment was confirmed by the trustees of the united institution; and in the year 1796, he was further appointed by them to the professorship of materia medica; that chair having been then vacated by the resignation of the late professor of that branch of medical science.The other chairs, in the Medical Department of the University, are filled as follows; viz. that of Anatomy, by Casper Wister, M. D.—of the Theory and Practice of Physick, by Benjamin Rush, M. D.[262a]—of Chemistry, by John Redman Coxe, M. D.—of Materia Medica, Botany and Natural History, by Benjamin Smith Barton, M. D.—of Surgery, by Philip Syng Physick, M. D. and John S. Dorsey, M. D.—and of Midwifery, by Thomas Chalkley James, M. D.Among these collegiate-chairs in medicine, appertaining to the University of Pennsylvania, the only one which appears to be deficient in a suitable appendage to its institution—and this, too, such an appendage as may be considered almost indispensably necessary to it—is the Professorship of Botany. To this chair, aBotanical Gardenought to be appurtenant: and accordingly we find, that this requisite for rendering a Botanical Professorship complete, in most Universities, is the establishment of such a Garden, for the use of the Teacher and his Pupils.The importance that is attached to institutions of this kind, in foreign seminaries of learning, will be perceived from the following sketches of those in three of the most celebrated universities of Europe.The Botanical Garden (called the “Physick Garden”) of the university of Oxford, contains five acres of ground. It is surrounded by a noble wall, with portals in the rustic style, at proper distances. The passage to the grand entrance is through a small court: this principal portal is of the Doric order, ornamented with rustic work, and adorned with a bust of Henry Danvers, Earl of Danby, the founder; besides statues of the kings Charles I. and II.The ground is divided into four quarters. On each side of the entrance, is a neat and convenient green-house, stocked with a great variety of exotics. The quarters are filled with indigenous plants, properly classed; and without the walls is an admirable hot-house, filled with various plants, the production of warm climates.These fine and spacious gardens were instituted by Lord Danby, so early as the year 1632; and this nobleman having supplied them with the necessary plants, for the use of the students of Botany in the university, endowed the establishment with an annual revenue, for its support. The Gardens were afterwards much improved by Dr. Sherrard, who assigned a fund of 3000l.sterling, for the maintenance of a professor of Botany. Over the grand entrance into the Gardens is this inscription: “Gloriæ Dei Optimi, maximi honori Caroli I. Regis, in usum Academieœ et Reipublicæ, Henricus Comes Danby, anno 1632.”The Botanic Garden, at Cambridge, consists of nearly five acres, well watered. The ground, with a large house for the use of the governors and officers of the Garden, was purchased at the expense of about 1600l.sterling, by Dr. Richard Walker.An handsome green-house, one hundred feet in length, and having an hot-house (or, what is called a stove,) appurtenant to it, were erected by subscription. These are furnished with an extensive variety of curious exotics: the plants are all arranged according to theLinnæanLinnæansystem, and a catalogue of them is printed.These Gardens are under the government of the chancellor or vice-chancellor of the university, the heads of three of the colleges, and the regius professor of physick; and they are superintended by a lecturer or reader, and a curator.There is, besides, a Professorship of Botany, in this university; as there is also at Oxford.The Botanical Garden belonging to the university of Edinburgh, is about a mile from the city, It consists of a great variety of plants, exotic and indigenous. The Professor is botanist to the king, and receives an annual salary of 120l.sterling, for the support of the Garden. A monument to the memory of Linnæus was erected here, by the late Dr. Hope, who first planted the Garden and brought it to perfection.The Garden of Plants, at Paris, now termed the Museum of Natural History, comprises a space of many acres. It dates its origin as far back as the year 1640, during the reign of Louis XIII. In 1665, it bore the name ofHortus Regius, and exhibited a catalogue of four thousand plants. From that period, it made but slow progress, until Louis XV. placed it under the direction of the Count de Buffon, the celebrated naturalist; to whose anxious care and indefatigable exertions, it owes its present extent and magnificence: it is now under the patronage of the government.But this institution comprehends, in addition to the Botanical Garden, an extensive chemical laboratory, a cabinet of comparative anatomy, a cabinet of preparations in anatomy and natural history, a large library, a museum of natural history, and a menagérie well stocked. Besides the lectures delivered in the Amphitheatre, erected in these Gardens, the Professors of Botany give their peripatetic lessons, in good weather, to a numerous train of disciples.“When I have been seated at noon, on a fine day, in the month of August, or in the commencement of May, under one of the majestic ash of the Garden of Plants, with this Elysian scene before me, in the midst of a most profound silence, and of a solitude interrupted only by the occasional appearance of the Professor of Botany and his pupils, I have almost fancied myself,” says the writer ofLetters on France and England—(see Am. Rev. No. ii.) “among the groves of the Athenian Academy, and could imagine that I heard the lessons of the “divine” Plato. Here, as well as in the spacious and noble works and gardens of Oxford, which are so admirably calculated for the exercises both of the mind and body, the fancy takes wing, and readily transports the student of antiquity to those venerable seats of knowledge, where the sublime Philosophy of the Greeks was taught, and the masters of human reason displayed their incomparable eloquence:”———“the green retreatsOf Academus,[262b]and the thymy vale,Where, oft enchanted with Socratic sounds,Ilyssus,[262c]pure, devolv’d his tuneful streamIn gentle murmur.”Akenside’sPleasures of Imagination.The importance of establishing a Botanical Garden at Philadelphia is obvious: it has, in fact, become a necessary institution, towards completing a medical education; according to the system of teaching medicine, pursued in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania. In this respect, New-York has taken the lead of Philadelphia. Dr. David Hosack, professor of botany in the Medical School of New-York, established a Botanic Garden of about twenty acres, called the Elgin Botanic Garden, in the vicinity of that city, in the year 1801. This Garden is skirted around by forest-trees and shrubs, within the substantial enclosure of a stone wall; and on these grounds are erected extensive, commodious, and well constructed conservatories and hot-houses, which are furnished with a variety of plants, exotic and indigenous. The whole of this establishment was purchased from Dr. Hosack, by the state, in the year 1810: It is now under the direction of the regents of the University of that state.Six years ago, the general assembly of Pennsylvania made some provision for such an institution: By a law passed the 19th of March, 1807, towards the close of Governor M‘Kean’s administration, three thousand dollars were granted to the trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, “out of the monies they owe the state; for the purpose of enabling them to establish a Garden for the improvement of the science of Botany, and for instituting a series of experiments to ascertain the cheapest and best food for plants, and their medical properties and virtues.” But no application of this fund has yet been made, to the purposes contemplated by the legislature in their appropriation of it.Mr. John Bartram, F. R. S. a distinguished botanist, though self-taught, is understood to have been the first anglo-American who executed the design of a Botanic Garden in this country. He laid out, and planted with his own hands, on his farm, pleasantly situated on the west bank of the Schuylkill and about four miles below Philadelphia, a garden of five or six acres; which he furnished with a great variety of curious, useful and beautiful vegetables, exotic as well as American. He acquired the greater part of the latter, in travelling through many parts of the continent, from Canada to the Floridas. His proficiency in his favourite science was, at a pretty early period, so great, thatLinnæusLinnæuspronounced him, in one of his letters, to be the greatest natural botanist in the world. This Garden is now in the tenure and under the management of his son, the ingenious Mr. William Bartram, a well known cultivator of Natural History and Botany. Although this respectable man is above seventy years of age, he continues the most sedulous attention to his favourite pursuits. For a further account of Mr. John Bartram, see Dr. Barton’sMedical Journal.Mr. Bartram was born near Darby, in the (then) county of Chester, Pennsylvania, in the year 1701. He held the appointment of Botanist, for America, to King George III. until his death, which occurred in September, 1777, in the seventy-sixth year of his age.

The other chairs, in the Medical Department of the University, are filled as follows; viz. that of Anatomy, by Casper Wister, M. D.—of the Theory and Practice of Physick, by Benjamin Rush, M. D.[262a]—of Chemistry, by John Redman Coxe, M. D.—of Materia Medica, Botany and Natural History, by Benjamin Smith Barton, M. D.—of Surgery, by Philip Syng Physick, M. D. and John S. Dorsey, M. D.—and of Midwifery, by Thomas Chalkley James, M. D.

Among these collegiate-chairs in medicine, appertaining to the University of Pennsylvania, the only one which appears to be deficient in a suitable appendage to its institution—and this, too, such an appendage as may be considered almost indispensably necessary to it—is the Professorship of Botany. To this chair, aBotanical Gardenought to be appurtenant: and accordingly we find, that this requisite for rendering a Botanical Professorship complete, in most Universities, is the establishment of such a Garden, for the use of the Teacher and his Pupils.

The importance that is attached to institutions of this kind, in foreign seminaries of learning, will be perceived from the following sketches of those in three of the most celebrated universities of Europe.

The Botanical Garden (called the “Physick Garden”) of the university of Oxford, contains five acres of ground. It is surrounded by a noble wall, with portals in the rustic style, at proper distances. The passage to the grand entrance is through a small court: this principal portal is of the Doric order, ornamented with rustic work, and adorned with a bust of Henry Danvers, Earl of Danby, the founder; besides statues of the kings Charles I. and II.

The ground is divided into four quarters. On each side of the entrance, is a neat and convenient green-house, stocked with a great variety of exotics. The quarters are filled with indigenous plants, properly classed; and without the walls is an admirable hot-house, filled with various plants, the production of warm climates.

These fine and spacious gardens were instituted by Lord Danby, so early as the year 1632; and this nobleman having supplied them with the necessary plants, for the use of the students of Botany in the university, endowed the establishment with an annual revenue, for its support. The Gardens were afterwards much improved by Dr. Sherrard, who assigned a fund of 3000l.sterling, for the maintenance of a professor of Botany. Over the grand entrance into the Gardens is this inscription: “Gloriæ Dei Optimi, maximi honori Caroli I. Regis, in usum Academieœ et Reipublicæ, Henricus Comes Danby, anno 1632.”

The Botanic Garden, at Cambridge, consists of nearly five acres, well watered. The ground, with a large house for the use of the governors and officers of the Garden, was purchased at the expense of about 1600l.sterling, by Dr. Richard Walker.

An handsome green-house, one hundred feet in length, and having an hot-house (or, what is called a stove,) appurtenant to it, were erected by subscription. These are furnished with an extensive variety of curious exotics: the plants are all arranged according to theLinnæanLinnæansystem, and a catalogue of them is printed.

These Gardens are under the government of the chancellor or vice-chancellor of the university, the heads of three of the colleges, and the regius professor of physick; and they are superintended by a lecturer or reader, and a curator.

There is, besides, a Professorship of Botany, in this university; as there is also at Oxford.

The Botanical Garden belonging to the university of Edinburgh, is about a mile from the city, It consists of a great variety of plants, exotic and indigenous. The Professor is botanist to the king, and receives an annual salary of 120l.sterling, for the support of the Garden. A monument to the memory of Linnæus was erected here, by the late Dr. Hope, who first planted the Garden and brought it to perfection.

The Garden of Plants, at Paris, now termed the Museum of Natural History, comprises a space of many acres. It dates its origin as far back as the year 1640, during the reign of Louis XIII. In 1665, it bore the name ofHortus Regius, and exhibited a catalogue of four thousand plants. From that period, it made but slow progress, until Louis XV. placed it under the direction of the Count de Buffon, the celebrated naturalist; to whose anxious care and indefatigable exertions, it owes its present extent and magnificence: it is now under the patronage of the government.

But this institution comprehends, in addition to the Botanical Garden, an extensive chemical laboratory, a cabinet of comparative anatomy, a cabinet of preparations in anatomy and natural history, a large library, a museum of natural history, and a menagérie well stocked. Besides the lectures delivered in the Amphitheatre, erected in these Gardens, the Professors of Botany give their peripatetic lessons, in good weather, to a numerous train of disciples.

“When I have been seated at noon, on a fine day, in the month of August, or in the commencement of May, under one of the majestic ash of the Garden of Plants, with this Elysian scene before me, in the midst of a most profound silence, and of a solitude interrupted only by the occasional appearance of the Professor of Botany and his pupils, I have almost fancied myself,” says the writer ofLetters on France and England—(see Am. Rev. No. ii.) “among the groves of the Athenian Academy, and could imagine that I heard the lessons of the “divine” Plato. Here, as well as in the spacious and noble works and gardens of Oxford, which are so admirably calculated for the exercises both of the mind and body, the fancy takes wing, and readily transports the student of antiquity to those venerable seats of knowledge, where the sublime Philosophy of the Greeks was taught, and the masters of human reason displayed their incomparable eloquence:”—

——“the green retreatsOf Academus,[262b]and the thymy vale,Where, oft enchanted with Socratic sounds,Ilyssus,[262c]pure, devolv’d his tuneful streamIn gentle murmur.”Akenside’sPleasures of Imagination.

——“the green retreats

Of Academus,[262b]and the thymy vale,

Where, oft enchanted with Socratic sounds,

Ilyssus,[262c]pure, devolv’d his tuneful stream

In gentle murmur.”

Akenside’sPleasures of Imagination.

The importance of establishing a Botanical Garden at Philadelphia is obvious: it has, in fact, become a necessary institution, towards completing a medical education; according to the system of teaching medicine, pursued in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania. In this respect, New-York has taken the lead of Philadelphia. Dr. David Hosack, professor of botany in the Medical School of New-York, established a Botanic Garden of about twenty acres, called the Elgin Botanic Garden, in the vicinity of that city, in the year 1801. This Garden is skirted around by forest-trees and shrubs, within the substantial enclosure of a stone wall; and on these grounds are erected extensive, commodious, and well constructed conservatories and hot-houses, which are furnished with a variety of plants, exotic and indigenous. The whole of this establishment was purchased from Dr. Hosack, by the state, in the year 1810: It is now under the direction of the regents of the University of that state.

Six years ago, the general assembly of Pennsylvania made some provision for such an institution: By a law passed the 19th of March, 1807, towards the close of Governor M‘Kean’s administration, three thousand dollars were granted to the trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, “out of the monies they owe the state; for the purpose of enabling them to establish a Garden for the improvement of the science of Botany, and for instituting a series of experiments to ascertain the cheapest and best food for plants, and their medical properties and virtues.” But no application of this fund has yet been made, to the purposes contemplated by the legislature in their appropriation of it.

Mr. John Bartram, F. R. S. a distinguished botanist, though self-taught, is understood to have been the first anglo-American who executed the design of a Botanic Garden in this country. He laid out, and planted with his own hands, on his farm, pleasantly situated on the west bank of the Schuylkill and about four miles below Philadelphia, a garden of five or six acres; which he furnished with a great variety of curious, useful and beautiful vegetables, exotic as well as American. He acquired the greater part of the latter, in travelling through many parts of the continent, from Canada to the Floridas. His proficiency in his favourite science was, at a pretty early period, so great, thatLinnæusLinnæuspronounced him, in one of his letters, to be the greatest natural botanist in the world. This Garden is now in the tenure and under the management of his son, the ingenious Mr. William Bartram, a well known cultivator of Natural History and Botany. Although this respectable man is above seventy years of age, he continues the most sedulous attention to his favourite pursuits. For a further account of Mr. John Bartram, see Dr. Barton’sMedical Journal.

Mr. Bartram was born near Darby, in the (then) county of Chester, Pennsylvania, in the year 1701. He held the appointment of Botanist, for America, to King George III. until his death, which occurred in September, 1777, in the seventy-sixth year of his age.

262a. Since deceased.

262b. Academus was an Athenian hero, from whom the original Academists, or that sect of philosophers who followed the opinion of Socrates, as illustrated and enforced by Plato, derived their name; Plato having taught his disciples in a grove, near Athens, consecrated to the memory of that hero.

262c. The Ilyssus is a rapid, but, when not swollen by rains, a small stream, of pure and limpid water, in the vicinity of Athens; and near the margin of which, in a vale at the foot of Mount Hymettus, is supposed to have stood the Grove, dedicated to Academus, in which the Socratic Philosophy was taught in its greatest purity.

263. This highly important and well conducted institution owes its rise to the liberal contributions of several humane, charitable and public-spirited persons, aided by a legislative grant of two thousand pounds, Pennsylvania currency, (equivalent to $5333⅓ in the beginning of the year 1751: the first design, it is believed, was suggested by the late Dr. Thomas Bond, long an eminent physician in Philadelphia; and heretofore an active and useful member of the Philosophical Society, as well as sometime one of the vice-presidents of that body. By a law passed the 11th of April, 1793, the general assembly liberally granted ten thousand pounds ($26,666,) out of the funds accruing to the loan office of February 26, 1773; to enable the managers of the Hospital to make additions to their buildings, conformably to the original plan; and so to extend it as to comprehend a Lying-in and a Foundling Hospital,[263a]so soon as specific funds for those purposes should be obtained.The first twelve managers (whose names deserve to be held in remembrance, as prominent benefactors to their country,) were Joshua Crosby, Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Thomas Bond, Samuel Hazard, Richard Peters, Israel Pemberton, (then styled junior,) Samuel Rhoads, Hugh Roberts, Joseph Morris, John Smith, Evan Morgan and Charles Norris; and John Reynell officiated as treasurer: all of these were gentlemen of most respectable characters.In order to obviate some objections, that were at first made, to the contemplated expense of the medical department of the institution, and which it was apprehended might obstruct the passage of the bill then depending in the legislature, by which the grant of the two thousand pounds, before mentioned, was obtained from the public, Dr. Thomas Bond, together with his brother Dr. Phineas Bond, and Dr. Lloyd Zachary, generously offered to attend the Hospital, gratuitously, for the term of three years.The Hospital establishment is now very complete, according to the original plan of this valuable institution; and, indeed, much beyond what was at first contemplated, in some respects: yet its utility might be much increased, by a further extension of the design. In its present condition, however, it reflects great honour on Pennsylvania, justly celebrated, as she is, for her charitable, literary, scientific, and other useful institutions; and the conduct of the managers has been uniformly such, as to entitle them to the gratitude of the community.The Students in the Medical School of the University pay ten dollars per annum, for the privilege of attending the Hospital-practice, which is of very important advantage to them: and the physicians, with the managers, have generously appropriated a fund out of the monies, thus obtained, for the purpose of founding a Medical Library, and of purchasing the late Dr. Abraham Chovet’s most curious anatomical preparations.[263b]By these means, in addition to Dr. John Fothergill’s valuable present, and other donations, this Hospital, with little expense of its more immediate funds, already possesses the most useful as well as ornamental collection, of the kind, that is to be found any where in America: and when the superbly magnificent painting, representing Christ healing the sick, (now in a train of execution by Mr. West, in London, and intended to be a donation from him to this Hospital,) shall have been received, thischef-d’œuvreof the sublime artist will constitute there, not only a noble monument of his liberality, benevolence, and attachment to his native country, but a splendid and admirably well-suited ornament to the institution possessing it. It is scarcely sixteen years since the hospital-tickets of the medical pupils amounted to only about three hundred dollars per annum. This fund has been since increasing; the annual income to it being at present estimated at fifteen hundred dollars: it is now amply sufficient to supply the library belonging to the Hospital with new books, and to keep in good preservation the anatomical casts, &c.As Dr. Franklin was eminently instrumental in promoting the establishment of the Pennsylvania Hospital, so he likewise bore a conspicuous part in the formation of the Library-Company of Philadelphia; an institution which holds a distinguished rank, for its usefulness, among the many that do honour to the capital of Pennsylvania. A public Library was first set on foot in Philadelphia by Franklin, about the year 1731; at which time he was scarcely twenty-six years of age. Fifty persons then subscribed forty shillings each, and agreed to contribute ten shillings annually, for that purpose. Some other companies for similar purposes had been formed in that city, after the one here mentioned; but these were soon after united with “The Library Company of Philadelphia.” This Company now possess many thousand valuable books; and their stock is continually deriving accessions from donations, as well as from purchases. Besides the marble statue of Dr. Franklin, presented to the company by the late William Bingham, Esq. of Philadelphia, (which decorates the front of the Library-edifice,) and many other considerable benefactions to the institution, from time to time, “the Penn family” (as the late ingenious Dr. Henry Stuber, the continuator of the Life of Franklin, has remarked,) “distinguished themselves by their donations” to it. The Loganian Library was, a few years since, placed under the same roof with that of the Philadelphia Company; though in a distinct apartment. It consists of an extensive collection of curious, rare and valuable books, in various branches of ancient and modern learning: and for this noble benefaction to his native country, the public are indebted to James Logan, Esq. many years an eminent citizen of Philadelphia, and well known, not only throughout America, but in the old world, for his erudition and talents.Dr. Rittenhouse’s intimate connexion with the College, and afterwards with the University of Pennsylvania, rendered it improper, in the opinion of the Memorialist, not to notice those institutions in the manner he has done: and in doing this, he could not without injustice omit a similar mention of the Hospital, so nearly allied to them through the Medical School of the former; nor of the Philadelphia Library Company, which bears a close affinity to them all.The name of Mr. West having been introduced on this occasion, the writer conceives it will not be thought foreign to the design of these Memoirs (though only incidentally connected with the present article), to make some further mention of a native American, whose name must ever hold a most conspicuous place in the history of the fine arts, in relation to this country.This celebrated Artist is the youngest of ten children of John West, a person descended from very respectable ancestors, and a native of England. John early embraced the tenets of the people called Quakers. Migrating, in the year 1714, to Pennsylvania, where some members of the same family had arrived with William Penn about fifteen years before, he married and settled in the vicinity of Philadelphia; and there his son Benjamin was born.This gentleman’s residence has been in England, during the last forty-five years: but he left his native country some considerable time prior to that period; having first visited Italy, and some other schools of painting on the continent. When a Society of Artists was instituted in London, a few years after the accession of the present king to the throne, Mr. West (who had then recently arrived in England, on his return from Italy,) became a member of that body. Their exhibitions of painting, sculpture and architectural designs, became objects of attention to men of taste in the fine arts;—“the young Sovereign,” says Mr. West (in a letter to Mr. C. W. Peale, written in 1809,[263c]) “was interested in their prosperity.” After the dissolution of that society, the king desired Mr. West and three other artists to form a plan for a Royal Academy; which having been approved by his majesty, he directed that it should be carried into execution. “Thus,” continues Mr. West, “commenced the institution of the Royal Academy of London[263d]:” And again, speaking of this patronage, he says;—“his majesty, by his regard for the arts, gave a dignity to them, unknown before in the country.” Referring to this meritorious patronage of the fine arts by the present king of England, Mr. Latrobe (in his Anniversary Oration before the Society of Artists in Philadelphia, in May, 1811,) makes this just remark: “Nor ought we to omit mention of the name of George III. by whose patronage, our illustrious countryman, West, has become the first historical painter of the age.”

The first twelve managers (whose names deserve to be held in remembrance, as prominent benefactors to their country,) were Joshua Crosby, Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Thomas Bond, Samuel Hazard, Richard Peters, Israel Pemberton, (then styled junior,) Samuel Rhoads, Hugh Roberts, Joseph Morris, John Smith, Evan Morgan and Charles Norris; and John Reynell officiated as treasurer: all of these were gentlemen of most respectable characters.

In order to obviate some objections, that were at first made, to the contemplated expense of the medical department of the institution, and which it was apprehended might obstruct the passage of the bill then depending in the legislature, by which the grant of the two thousand pounds, before mentioned, was obtained from the public, Dr. Thomas Bond, together with his brother Dr. Phineas Bond, and Dr. Lloyd Zachary, generously offered to attend the Hospital, gratuitously, for the term of three years.

The Hospital establishment is now very complete, according to the original plan of this valuable institution; and, indeed, much beyond what was at first contemplated, in some respects: yet its utility might be much increased, by a further extension of the design. In its present condition, however, it reflects great honour on Pennsylvania, justly celebrated, as she is, for her charitable, literary, scientific, and other useful institutions; and the conduct of the managers has been uniformly such, as to entitle them to the gratitude of the community.

The Students in the Medical School of the University pay ten dollars per annum, for the privilege of attending the Hospital-practice, which is of very important advantage to them: and the physicians, with the managers, have generously appropriated a fund out of the monies, thus obtained, for the purpose of founding a Medical Library, and of purchasing the late Dr. Abraham Chovet’s most curious anatomical preparations.[263b]By these means, in addition to Dr. John Fothergill’s valuable present, and other donations, this Hospital, with little expense of its more immediate funds, already possesses the most useful as well as ornamental collection, of the kind, that is to be found any where in America: and when the superbly magnificent painting, representing Christ healing the sick, (now in a train of execution by Mr. West, in London, and intended to be a donation from him to this Hospital,) shall have been received, thischef-d’œuvreof the sublime artist will constitute there, not only a noble monument of his liberality, benevolence, and attachment to his native country, but a splendid and admirably well-suited ornament to the institution possessing it. It is scarcely sixteen years since the hospital-tickets of the medical pupils amounted to only about three hundred dollars per annum. This fund has been since increasing; the annual income to it being at present estimated at fifteen hundred dollars: it is now amply sufficient to supply the library belonging to the Hospital with new books, and to keep in good preservation the anatomical casts, &c.

As Dr. Franklin was eminently instrumental in promoting the establishment of the Pennsylvania Hospital, so he likewise bore a conspicuous part in the formation of the Library-Company of Philadelphia; an institution which holds a distinguished rank, for its usefulness, among the many that do honour to the capital of Pennsylvania. A public Library was first set on foot in Philadelphia by Franklin, about the year 1731; at which time he was scarcely twenty-six years of age. Fifty persons then subscribed forty shillings each, and agreed to contribute ten shillings annually, for that purpose. Some other companies for similar purposes had been formed in that city, after the one here mentioned; but these were soon after united with “The Library Company of Philadelphia.” This Company now possess many thousand valuable books; and their stock is continually deriving accessions from donations, as well as from purchases. Besides the marble statue of Dr. Franklin, presented to the company by the late William Bingham, Esq. of Philadelphia, (which decorates the front of the Library-edifice,) and many other considerable benefactions to the institution, from time to time, “the Penn family” (as the late ingenious Dr. Henry Stuber, the continuator of the Life of Franklin, has remarked,) “distinguished themselves by their donations” to it. The Loganian Library was, a few years since, placed under the same roof with that of the Philadelphia Company; though in a distinct apartment. It consists of an extensive collection of curious, rare and valuable books, in various branches of ancient and modern learning: and for this noble benefaction to his native country, the public are indebted to James Logan, Esq. many years an eminent citizen of Philadelphia, and well known, not only throughout America, but in the old world, for his erudition and talents.

Dr. Rittenhouse’s intimate connexion with the College, and afterwards with the University of Pennsylvania, rendered it improper, in the opinion of the Memorialist, not to notice those institutions in the manner he has done: and in doing this, he could not without injustice omit a similar mention of the Hospital, so nearly allied to them through the Medical School of the former; nor of the Philadelphia Library Company, which bears a close affinity to them all.

The name of Mr. West having been introduced on this occasion, the writer conceives it will not be thought foreign to the design of these Memoirs (though only incidentally connected with the present article), to make some further mention of a native American, whose name must ever hold a most conspicuous place in the history of the fine arts, in relation to this country.

This celebrated Artist is the youngest of ten children of John West, a person descended from very respectable ancestors, and a native of England. John early embraced the tenets of the people called Quakers. Migrating, in the year 1714, to Pennsylvania, where some members of the same family had arrived with William Penn about fifteen years before, he married and settled in the vicinity of Philadelphia; and there his son Benjamin was born.

This gentleman’s residence has been in England, during the last forty-five years: but he left his native country some considerable time prior to that period; having first visited Italy, and some other schools of painting on the continent. When a Society of Artists was instituted in London, a few years after the accession of the present king to the throne, Mr. West (who had then recently arrived in England, on his return from Italy,) became a member of that body. Their exhibitions of painting, sculpture and architectural designs, became objects of attention to men of taste in the fine arts;—“the young Sovereign,” says Mr. West (in a letter to Mr. C. W. Peale, written in 1809,[263c]) “was interested in their prosperity.” After the dissolution of that society, the king desired Mr. West and three other artists to form a plan for a Royal Academy; which having been approved by his majesty, he directed that it should be carried into execution. “Thus,” continues Mr. West, “commenced the institution of the Royal Academy of London[263d]:” And again, speaking of this patronage, he says;—“his majesty, by his regard for the arts, gave a dignity to them, unknown before in the country.” Referring to this meritorious patronage of the fine arts by the present king of England, Mr. Latrobe (in his Anniversary Oration before the Society of Artists in Philadelphia, in May, 1811,) makes this just remark: “Nor ought we to omit mention of the name of George III. by whose patronage, our illustrious countryman, West, has become the first historical painter of the age.”

263a. Towards the incorporation of either one or the other of these institutions with the present establishment of the Pennsylvania Hospital, the managers possess, also, sixteen shares of stock in the Bank of Pennsylvania, bestowed by the First Troop of Cavalry in Philadelphia. The product of this noble and very valuable donation, and which is considered as being equivalent to a capital stock of $8503.33, will, most probably, be wholly applied to the support of a Lying-in Hospital, as part of the great institution.

263b. Thirty pounds a year were payable to Mrs. Abington, a daughter of Dr. Chovet, during her life, on account of this purchase. That annuity has very recently been extinguished, by the death of the annuitant.

263c. See thePort Folio, for January, 1810.

263d. When this Academy was first established, the celebrated Dr. Samuel Johnson was appointed ‘Professor of Ancient Literature’ in the institution; an office merely honorary.

264. Of these, Francis Alison, D. D. a learned and worthy presbyterian clergyman, was vice-provost, and professor of moral philosophy; the Rev. Ebenezer Kinnersley, M. A. an eminent electrician and an amiable man, was professor of English and oratory; John Beveridge, M. A. an excellent scholar in the learned languages (some of whose Latin epistolary writings, in metrical language, after the manner of Horace, possess a considerable portion of merit and discover much classical purity of style,) was professor of languages; and Hugh Williamson, M. A. (now M. D.) a gentleman of distinguished talents, was professor of mathematics.The last mentioned of these eminently meritorious characters is yet living. He enjoys the respect and esteem due to a man who, in the course of a long life, devoted much of his time and talents to the promotion of learning, useful knowledge, and the welfare of his country. Of the other three, who have, long since, passed on to “that bourn from which no traveller returns,” the following circumstances are worthy of being preserved in remembrance, by those who shall hereafter record the history of literature and science, in this country.Dr. Alison was one of the first persons in the middle colonies, who, foreseeing the ignorance into which this part of the country seemed inclined to fall, set up a regular school of education here. He was long employed in the education of youth at New-London Cross-roads, in Pennsylvania, before his appointment to the vice-provostship of the college of Philadelphia; and many persons, who afterwards made a distinguished figure in this country, were bred under his tuition. The University of Glasgow, being well informed of the pious and faithful labours of this valuable man, in propagating useful knowledge in these then untutored parts of the world, created him a Doctor of Divinity: He was honoured with this degree, without any solicitation whatever on his part.Mr. Kinnersley possessed great merit, in the estimation of the learned world, “in being the chief inventor of the Electrical Apparatus, as well as author of a considerable part of those discoveries in Electricity, published by Mr. Franklin, to whom he communicated them. Indeed Mr. Franklin himself mentions his name with honour; though he has not been careful enough to distinguish between their particular discoveries. This, perhaps, he may have thought needless, as they were known to act in concert. But, though that circumstance was known here, it was not so in remote parts of the world, to which the fame of these discoveries has extended.” The passage here quoted, is copied from an account of the college and academy of Philadelphia, published in October, 1758.Dr. Franklin’s experiment with the electrical kite—which established the theory on which the metallic conductors of lightning were introduced, for the security of buildings, and those within them, from injury by that element—was made in June, 1752; and his letter, giving an account of it, is dated the 19th of October following. But Mr. de Romas, a Frenchman, to whom his countryman the Abbé Bertholon ascribes the honour of the experiment with the kite, made his first attempt on the 14th of May, 1753: he did not succeed, until the 7th of the next month; a year after Dr. Franklin had completed his experiments, and then generally known in Europe. It is noticed by the late ingenious Dr. Stuber, of Philadelphia, in his continuation of the Life of Franklin, that “his (Dr. Franklin’s) friend, Mr. Kinnersley, communicated to him a discovery of” (what Dr. Stuber terms) “the different kinds of electricity, excited by rubbing glass and sulphur.” This, it is said, was first observed by Mr. Du Faye; though afterwards not attended to, for many years. It seems, however, that the electricians of Europe, with Du Faye himself, had conceived a mistaken notion on this subject; and that Franklin had, at first, adopted their doctrine. “But,” says the continuator of his Life, “upon repeating the experiments, he perceived that Mr. Kinnersley was right; and the vitreous and the resinous electricity of Du Faye were nothing more than the positive and negative states which he had before observed; that the glass globe charged positively, or encreased the quantity of electricity on the prime conductor,—whilst the globe of sulphur diminished its natural quantity, or charged negatively.”Mr. Beveridge, who was appointed by the trustees of the college and academy of Philadelphia, in June, 1758, professor of languages in that institution, was one of the ablest masters of the Latin tongue; and wrote many poetical pieces in that language, in a style of superior purity and elegance. This excellent Latin scholar originally taught a grammar-school in Edinburgh, under the patronage of the celebrated Mr. Ruddiman. While in that station, he taught the Latin to Mr. Thomas Blacklock, the well-known blind poet; and it was during this time, that Blacklock wrote his fine paraphrase of Psalm CIV. which his friend Beveridge afterwards rendered into Latin verse. A collection of Mr. Beveridge’s poetical pieces, under the title ofEpistolæ Familiares et alia quædam miscellanea, was published at Philadelphia, in the year 1765.

The last mentioned of these eminently meritorious characters is yet living. He enjoys the respect and esteem due to a man who, in the course of a long life, devoted much of his time and talents to the promotion of learning, useful knowledge, and the welfare of his country. Of the other three, who have, long since, passed on to “that bourn from which no traveller returns,” the following circumstances are worthy of being preserved in remembrance, by those who shall hereafter record the history of literature and science, in this country.

Dr. Alison was one of the first persons in the middle colonies, who, foreseeing the ignorance into which this part of the country seemed inclined to fall, set up a regular school of education here. He was long employed in the education of youth at New-London Cross-roads, in Pennsylvania, before his appointment to the vice-provostship of the college of Philadelphia; and many persons, who afterwards made a distinguished figure in this country, were bred under his tuition. The University of Glasgow, being well informed of the pious and faithful labours of this valuable man, in propagating useful knowledge in these then untutored parts of the world, created him a Doctor of Divinity: He was honoured with this degree, without any solicitation whatever on his part.

Mr. Kinnersley possessed great merit, in the estimation of the learned world, “in being the chief inventor of the Electrical Apparatus, as well as author of a considerable part of those discoveries in Electricity, published by Mr. Franklin, to whom he communicated them. Indeed Mr. Franklin himself mentions his name with honour; though he has not been careful enough to distinguish between their particular discoveries. This, perhaps, he may have thought needless, as they were known to act in concert. But, though that circumstance was known here, it was not so in remote parts of the world, to which the fame of these discoveries has extended.” The passage here quoted, is copied from an account of the college and academy of Philadelphia, published in October, 1758.

Dr. Franklin’s experiment with the electrical kite—which established the theory on which the metallic conductors of lightning were introduced, for the security of buildings, and those within them, from injury by that element—was made in June, 1752; and his letter, giving an account of it, is dated the 19th of October following. But Mr. de Romas, a Frenchman, to whom his countryman the Abbé Bertholon ascribes the honour of the experiment with the kite, made his first attempt on the 14th of May, 1753: he did not succeed, until the 7th of the next month; a year after Dr. Franklin had completed his experiments, and then generally known in Europe. It is noticed by the late ingenious Dr. Stuber, of Philadelphia, in his continuation of the Life of Franklin, that “his (Dr. Franklin’s) friend, Mr. Kinnersley, communicated to him a discovery of” (what Dr. Stuber terms) “the different kinds of electricity, excited by rubbing glass and sulphur.” This, it is said, was first observed by Mr. Du Faye; though afterwards not attended to, for many years. It seems, however, that the electricians of Europe, with Du Faye himself, had conceived a mistaken notion on this subject; and that Franklin had, at first, adopted their doctrine. “But,” says the continuator of his Life, “upon repeating the experiments, he perceived that Mr. Kinnersley was right; and the vitreous and the resinous electricity of Du Faye were nothing more than the positive and negative states which he had before observed; that the glass globe charged positively, or encreased the quantity of electricity on the prime conductor,—whilst the globe of sulphur diminished its natural quantity, or charged negatively.”

Mr. Beveridge, who was appointed by the trustees of the college and academy of Philadelphia, in June, 1758, professor of languages in that institution, was one of the ablest masters of the Latin tongue; and wrote many poetical pieces in that language, in a style of superior purity and elegance. This excellent Latin scholar originally taught a grammar-school in Edinburgh, under the patronage of the celebrated Mr. Ruddiman. While in that station, he taught the Latin to Mr. Thomas Blacklock, the well-known blind poet; and it was during this time, that Blacklock wrote his fine paraphrase of Psalm CIV. which his friend Beveridge afterwards rendered into Latin verse. A collection of Mr. Beveridge’s poetical pieces, under the title ofEpistolæ Familiares et alia quædam miscellanea, was published at Philadelphia, in the year 1765.

265. A Law Professorship was instituted in the College of Philadelphia, in the year 1790, and the Hon. James Wilson, LL.D. (late one of the associate judges of the supreme court of the United States,) was appointed the first professor: the first course of lectures, under this appointment, was delivered in the winter of 1790-1. In April, 1792, when the College and University became united into one seminary, under the latter title, a Professorship of Law was erected in the new seminary; when Judge Wilson was again appointed to fill that chair: but no Law-lectures were afterwards delivered.The lectures composed by the able and very learned Judge, for this department of the institution, are given entire in his works, published in three volumes octavo, in the year 1804, by his son Bird Wilson, Esq. president of the seventh judicial district of Pennsylvania.It is much to be regretted, that this important chair in the University has remained unoccupied, since the death of its late eminent incumbent: For, as he has justly observed, in hisIntroductory Lecture, “The science of Law should, in some measure and in some degree, be the study of every free citizen, and of every free man. Every free citizen and every free man has duties to perform, and rights to claim. Unless, in some measure, and in some degree, he knows those duties and those rights, he can never act a just and an independent part.”

The lectures composed by the able and very learned Judge, for this department of the institution, are given entire in his works, published in three volumes octavo, in the year 1804, by his son Bird Wilson, Esq. president of the seventh judicial district of Pennsylvania.

It is much to be regretted, that this important chair in the University has remained unoccupied, since the death of its late eminent incumbent: For, as he has justly observed, in hisIntroductory Lecture, “The science of Law should, in some measure and in some degree, be the study of every free citizen, and of every free man. Every free citizen and every free man has duties to perform, and rights to claim. Unless, in some measure, and in some degree, he knows those duties and those rights, he can never act a just and an independent part.”

266. In an Account of Dr. Smith, prefixed to his posthumous works, the respectable Editor observes—that “Dr. Smith was actuated by a “zeal bordering on enthusiasm” (as he himself expressed it), in his devotion to the dissemination of literature and science.”

267. This University was founded in the year 1480; it consists of two colleges, called the Marischal and the King’s College, under the name of the University of King Charles. The library belonging to this ancient university is large; and in both the colleges, the languages, mathematics, natural philosophy, divinity, &c. are taught by able professors.

268. These prelates were, respectively, the Doctors—Secker, Trevor, Thomas, Hume, and Egerton.

269. See his Eulogium on Rittenhouse.

270. His salary was two thousand dollars per annum.

271. A particular instance, of a similar kind, occurred within the knowledge of the Memorialist. Mr. Peter Getz was, lately, a self-taught mechanic of singular ingenuity, in the borough of Lancaster; where he many years exercised the trade of a silver-smith and jeweller, and was remarkable for the extraordinary accuracy, elegance, and beauty of the workmanship he executed. This person was a candidate for the place of chief coiner or engraver in the mint; and, on that occasion, he offered to present to Dr. Rittenhouse, in the summer of 1792, a small pair of scales—such as are commonly called gold-scales—of exquisite workmanship as well as great exactness, as a specimen of his skill as an artist. The Director conceived, that an instrument equally well suited to the use for which this was designed, though less ornamental, could be procured for the mint, if desirable, for less money than this was worth as a matter of curiosity; he would not, therefore, purchase it for the mint: but being determined not to accept it as a present, and desirous at the same time to make compensation to the artist for his work, he insisted on his receiving twenty dollars for the instrument; on payment of which, he retained it himself.

272. “Coinage is peculiarly an attribute of sovereignty: to transfer its exercise into another country, is to submit it to another sovereign.” See a Report made to congress, in the year 1790, by Thomas Jefferson, Esq. then secretary of state, on certain Proposals for supplying the United States with Copper Coinage, offered by Mr. John H. Mitchell, a foreign artist.

273. The plan of the Bank of North-America, which was submitted to congress by their order, was approved by them on the 26th of May, 1781.

274. When the question, respecting the incorporation of the Bank of North-America was taken in congress, twenty members voted in the affirmative and only four in the negative. But the votes were then taken by states; and of these, the delegates from New-York and Delaware were absent, Pennsylvania (having only two members of her delegation present) was divided, Massachusetts (having also but two members present) voted in the negative: all the southern states were in the affirmative, with the single exception of Mr. Madison’s vote, his three colleagues (from Virginia) being on the affirmative side of the question.

275. Whatever failings (and these were of a venial nature) may have appeared in the transactions of Mr. Morris, as a private citizen, in the latter part of a life long devoted to honourable and useful pursuits, yet the eminent services which he rendered to his country, in times of her greatest peril, entitled him to the gratitude of his compatriots; for, in his numerous and important official and other public negotiations, his honour and integrity were alike irreproachable. His merits ought not only to rescue his name from oblivion, but they give him a just claim to be placed in the list of American worthies; while his subsequent misfortunes —— —— —— —— —— but,“No further seek his merits to disclose,Or draw his frailties from his dread abode,(There they alike in trembling hope repose,)The bosom of his Father and his God.”Gray.Mr. Morris, who was long distinguished for his talents and his services in this country, was a native of Lancashire, in England. He died in Philadelphia on the 8th of May, 1806.

“No further seek his merits to disclose,Or draw his frailties from his dread abode,(There they alike in trembling hope repose,)The bosom of his Father and his God.”Gray.

“No further seek his merits to disclose,

Or draw his frailties from his dread abode,

(There they alike in trembling hope repose,)

The bosom of his Father and his God.”

Gray.

Mr. Morris, who was long distinguished for his talents and his services in this country, was a native of Lancashire, in England. He died in Philadelphia on the 8th of May, 1806.

276. “The task of re-creating public credit,” (says Chief Justice Marshal, in hisLife of Washington,) “of drawing order and arrangement from the chaotic confusion in which the finances of America were involved, and of devising means which should render the revenue productive, and commensurate with the demand, was justly classed among the most arduous of the duties which devolved on the new government[276a]. In discharging it, much aid was expected from the head of the treasury. To Colonel Hamilton[276b]was assigned this important, and at that time intricate department.“This gentleman was a native of the island of St. Croix, and, at a very early period of life, had been placed by his friends in New-York. Possessing an ardent temper, he caught fire from the concussions of the moment, and with all the enthusiasm of youth, engaged first his pen, and afterwards his sword, in the stern contest between the American colenies and their parent state. Among the first troops raised by New-York was a corps of artillery, in which he was appointed a captain. Soon after the war was transferred to the Hudson, his superior endowments recommended him to the attention of the commander in chief, into whose family, before completing his twenty-first year, he was invited to enter. Equally brave and intelligent, he continued in this situation to display a degree of firmness and capacity which commanded the confidence and esteem of his general, and of the principal officers in the army.“After the capitulation at York-Town, the war languished throughout the American continent, and the probability that its termination was approaching daily increased.“The critical circumstances of the existing government rendered the events of the civil, more interesting than those of the military department, and Colonel Hamilton accepted a seat in the congress of the United States. In all the important acts of the day, he performed a conspicuous part, and was greatly distinguished among those distinguished characters whom the crisis had attracted to the councils of their country. He had afterwards been active in promoting those measures which led to the convention at Philadelphia, of which he was a member, and had greatly contributed to the adoption of the constitution by the state of New-York. In the distinguished part he had performed, both in the military and civil transactions of his country, he had acquired a great degree of well merited fame; and the frankness of his manners, the openness of his temper, the warmth of his feelings, and the sincerity of his heart, had secured him many valuable friends.“To talents of the highest grade, he united a patient industry, not always the companion of genius, which fitted him in a peculiar manner for the difficulties to be encountered by the man who should be placed at the head of the American finances.”The disastrous death of this celebrated man happened on the 12th day of July, 1804, at the age of about forty-seven years.

“This gentleman was a native of the island of St. Croix, and, at a very early period of life, had been placed by his friends in New-York. Possessing an ardent temper, he caught fire from the concussions of the moment, and with all the enthusiasm of youth, engaged first his pen, and afterwards his sword, in the stern contest between the American colenies and their parent state. Among the first troops raised by New-York was a corps of artillery, in which he was appointed a captain. Soon after the war was transferred to the Hudson, his superior endowments recommended him to the attention of the commander in chief, into whose family, before completing his twenty-first year, he was invited to enter. Equally brave and intelligent, he continued in this situation to display a degree of firmness and capacity which commanded the confidence and esteem of his general, and of the principal officers in the army.

“After the capitulation at York-Town, the war languished throughout the American continent, and the probability that its termination was approaching daily increased.

“The critical circumstances of the existing government rendered the events of the civil, more interesting than those of the military department, and Colonel Hamilton accepted a seat in the congress of the United States. In all the important acts of the day, he performed a conspicuous part, and was greatly distinguished among those distinguished characters whom the crisis had attracted to the councils of their country. He had afterwards been active in promoting those measures which led to the convention at Philadelphia, of which he was a member, and had greatly contributed to the adoption of the constitution by the state of New-York. In the distinguished part he had performed, both in the military and civil transactions of his country, he had acquired a great degree of well merited fame; and the frankness of his manners, the openness of his temper, the warmth of his feelings, and the sincerity of his heart, had secured him many valuable friends.

“To talents of the highest grade, he united a patient industry, not always the companion of genius, which fitted him in a peculiar manner for the difficulties to be encountered by the man who should be placed at the head of the American finances.”

The disastrous death of this celebrated man happened on the 12th day of July, 1804, at the age of about forty-seven years.

276a. This was in the year 1789.

276b. Afterwards promoted to the rank of Major-General.

277. The deleterious, though—as it might almost be called—fascinating influence, of the revolution undertaken by the people of France, extended itself far and wide, prior to the murder of their king, even in countries under the milder forms of government: many characters of great worth were every where misled by the plausibility of the avowed designs of its authors and supporters; and in no country was the infatuation more general, than in the United States. In England itself, it begat a kind of political frenzy; and, had not the wise and salutary writings of the celebrated Burke arrested its progress, in good time, the most fatal consequences must have ensued. Among the literary and scientific men in Britain, who became deeply infected by the revolution-mania of that day, was Dr. Erasmus Darwin, Miss Anna Seward (one of his biographers) remarks, that the Doctor has introduced into hisBotanic Gardenan allegory, representingLiberty“as a great form, slumbering within the iron cage and marble walls of the French Bastile, unconscious of his chains; till, touched by the patriot flame, he rends his flimsy bonds, lifts his colossal form, and rears his hundred arms over his foes; calls to the good and brave of every country, with a voice that echoes like the thunder of heaven to the polar extremities;“Gives to the winds his banner broad, unfurl’d,“And gathers in its shade the living world!”In consequence of Darwin’s use of this grossly misapplied figure;—as the issue of the French revolution too fatally proves it to have been,—Miss Seward offers the following apology for the subject of her friendly pen:“This sublime sally of a too-confiding imagination, has made the poet and his work countless foes. They triumphed over him,” says his fair biographer, “on a result so contrary,—on the mortal wounds given by French crimes to real Liberty. They forget, or choose to forget, that this part of the poem (though published after the other) appeared in 1791, antecedent to the dire regicide, and to all those unprecedented scenes of sanguinary cruelty inflicted on France, by three of her republican tyrants; compared to whom, the most remorseless of her monarchs was mild and merciful.”

“Gives to the winds his banner broad, unfurl’d,“And gathers in its shade the living world!”

“Gives to the winds his banner broad, unfurl’d,

“And gathers in its shade the living world!”

In consequence of Darwin’s use of this grossly misapplied figure;—as the issue of the French revolution too fatally proves it to have been,—Miss Seward offers the following apology for the subject of her friendly pen:

“This sublime sally of a too-confiding imagination, has made the poet and his work countless foes. They triumphed over him,” says his fair biographer, “on a result so contrary,—on the mortal wounds given by French crimes to real Liberty. They forget, or choose to forget, that this part of the poem (though published after the other) appeared in 1791, antecedent to the dire regicide, and to all those unprecedented scenes of sanguinary cruelty inflicted on France, by three of her republican tyrants; compared to whom, the most remorseless of her monarchs was mild and merciful.”

278. Mr. Genet arrived in Philadelphia the 16th of May, 1793; and in the evening of the same day a meeting of the citizens was held at the state-house, when a committee was appointed to draw up an address to this minister from the republic of France: Mr. Rittenhouse was the first named on that committee. At a meeting of the citizens held the next day, he, as chairman of that committee, reported an address accordingly; which, being adopted by the persons then assembled, was presented to the new minister, the ensuing morning.The president’s proclamation of neutrality had then been issued between three and four weeks:[278a]the addressers therefore say, keeping this in their view; “Earnestly giving to the national exertions (of France) our wishes and our prayers, we cannot resist the pleasing hope, that although America is not a party in the existing war, she may still be able, in a state of peace, to demonstrate the sincerity of her friendship, by affording very useful assistance to her sister republic.”—The “useful assistance,” here alluded to, and which it was supposed France might derive from this country, “in a state of peace,” did not contemplate any infringement of the neutrality of the United States: Nor could Mr. Genet, himself, consider the language of the address in any other than its true sense; for, in his extempore answer, (a written one was also returned,) he says, “From the remote situation of America, and other circumstances, France does not expect that America should become a party in the war; but remembering that she has already combated for your liberties, (and if it was necessary, and she had the power, would cheerfully again enlist in your cause,) we hope, (and every thing I hear and see assures me our hope will be realized,) that her citizens will be treated as brothers, in danger and distress.” This declaration of the French minister, made immediately after his arrival at the seat of the American government, forbad the addressers to believe, that either he or any other agent of the French government would afterwards undertake to violate the neutrality of the United States.

The president’s proclamation of neutrality had then been issued between three and four weeks:[278a]the addressers therefore say, keeping this in their view; “Earnestly giving to the national exertions (of France) our wishes and our prayers, we cannot resist the pleasing hope, that although America is not a party in the existing war, she may still be able, in a state of peace, to demonstrate the sincerity of her friendship, by affording very useful assistance to her sister republic.”—The “useful assistance,” here alluded to, and which it was supposed France might derive from this country, “in a state of peace,” did not contemplate any infringement of the neutrality of the United States: Nor could Mr. Genet, himself, consider the language of the address in any other than its true sense; for, in his extempore answer, (a written one was also returned,) he says, “From the remote situation of America, and other circumstances, France does not expect that America should become a party in the war; but remembering that she has already combated for your liberties, (and if it was necessary, and she had the power, would cheerfully again enlist in your cause,) we hope, (and every thing I hear and see assures me our hope will be realized,) that her citizens will be treated as brothers, in danger and distress.” This declaration of the French minister, made immediately after his arrival at the seat of the American government, forbad the addressers to believe, that either he or any other agent of the French government would afterwards undertake to violate the neutrality of the United States.

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