“Ye sacred Muses, with whose beauty fir’d,
My soul is ravish’d, and my brain inspir’d;
Whose priest I am, whose holy fillets wear,
Would you your poet’s first petition hear;
Give me the way of wand’ring stars to know:
The depths of heav’n above, and earth below.
Teach me the various labours of the moon,
And whence proceed th’ eclipses of the sun.
Why flowing tides prevail upon the main,
And in what dark recess they sink again.
What shakes the solid earth, what cause delays
The summer nights, and shortens winter days—
Happy the man, who, studying nature’s laws,
Through known effects can trace the secret cause.”
Footnote 40:
The lines here referred to were written about eight years after Sir
Isaac Newton’s death. Voltaire supposes an apotheosis of Newton to
have taken place, among the planets personified by some of the deities
of the heathen mythology. Thus ascribing intelligence to the stars, he
considers them, by a poetical fiction, as being in the _confidence_ of
the Most High—the _true_ God; and to those subordinate deities, or,
perhaps, a fancied superior order of angelic beings, the poet makes
his figurative address; which may be thus rendered in English verse:—
Ye confidents of the Most High,
Ye everlasting lights!
Who deck, with your refulgent fires,
The scene of godlike rights!
Whose wings o’erspread the glorious throne
Whereon your Lord is plac’d,
That Lord, by whose transcendent pow’r
Your borrow’d rays are grac’d;
Speak out, bright orbs of heaven’s expanse!
And frankly let us know:
To the exalted NEWTON’S name,
Can you refuse to bow?
-----
Astronomy has not only engaged the attention of multitudes of
illustrious men, of every age and nation, but it has been patronized by
great and enlightened princes and states; cultivated by men of genius
and learning, of all ranks and professions; and celebrated by historians
and poets.
This charming, as well as sublime and invaluable science, has also been
studied, and even practically cultivated, by many celebrated women, in
modern times. There are indeed circumstances connected with this
innocent and engaging pursuit, that must render it very interesting to
the fair sex. Some ladies have prosecuted this object with such success,
as to acquire considerable distinction in the philosophical world.
While, therefore, the meritorious transactions of men are held in
grateful remembrance and frequently recorded in the annals of fame, it
is due to justice and impartiality, that literary, scientific, and other
attainments of the gentler sex, calculated for the benefit of civil
society, should be alike commemorated. Among such then, as examples, may
be named the following:—
Maria Cunitia (Kunitz,) daughter of a physician in Silesia, published
Astronomical Tables, so early as the year 1650.
Maria-Clara, the daughter of Eimmart and wife of of Muller, both
well-known astronomers, cultivated the same science.
Jane Dumée published, in the year 1680, Conversations (or Dialogues) on
the Copernican System.
Maria-Margaretta Winckelman, wife of Godfrey Kirch, an astronomer of
some distinction[41] who died in 1710, at the age of seventy-one years,
worked at his Ephemerides, and carried on Astronomical Observations with
her husband. This respectable woman discovered the Comet[42] of 1702, on
the 20th of April in that year: she produced, in 1712, a Work on
Astronomy; and died at Berlin, in the year 1720. Her three daughters
continued, for thirty years, to employ themselves in Astronomical
Observations, for the Almanacks of Berlin.
-----
Footnote 41:
Godfrey Kirch was born in the year 1640, at Guben in Lower Lusatia,
and lived with Hevelius. He published his Ephemerides in 1681, and
became established at Berlin in 1700. This astronomer made numerous
observations.
Footnote 42:
—-—-—“Amid the radiant orbs
That mere than deck, that animate the sky,
The life-infusing suns of other worlds,
Lo! from the dread immensity of space
Returning with accelerated course,
The rushing Comet to the sun descends;
And, as he sinks below the shading earth,
With awful train projected o’er the heavens,
The guilty nations tremble. But, above
Those superstitious horrors that enslave
The fond sequacious herd, to mystic faith
And blind amazement prone, th’ enlighten’d few,
Whose godlike minds Philosophy exalts,
The glorious stranger hail. They feel a joy
Divinely great; they in their powers exult;
That wond’rous force of thought, which mounting spurns
This dusky spot, and measures all the sky;
While, from his far excursions through the wilds
Of barren ether, faithful to his time,
They see the blazing wonder rise anew,
In seeming terror clad, but kindly bent
To work the will of all-sustaining love:
From his huge vapoury train perhaps to shake
Renewing moisture on the numerous orbs,
Through which his long elipsis winds; perhaps
To lend new fuel to declining suns,
To light up worlds, and feed th’ eternal fire.”
_Thomson’s Summer_, l. 1702 and seq.
-----
Elizabeth d’Oginsky Puzynina, Countess Puzynina and Castellane of
Mscislau, in Poland, erected and richly endowed a magnificent
Observatory at Wilna, in the year 1753; and in 1767, she added to this
establishment a fund equivalent to twelve thousand (American) dollars,
for the purpose of maintaining an observer and purchasing instruments.
The king of Poland afterwards gave to this institution the title of a
“Royal Observatory.”
The wife of the celebrated Hevelius was, likewise, an astronomer. Madame
Hevelius made Observations along with her husband; and she is
represented, in the _Machina Cœlestis_, as having been engaged in
measuring distances.
In the century just passed, the Marchioness du Chatelet translated
_Newton_: Besides whom,—
Madame Lepaute and Madame du Piery were both known in the Astronomical
World.
In our own time, Miss Caroline Herschel, sister of the great practical
astronomer of the same name, in England, has not only distinguished
herself, by having discovered the Comet of 1786; another, on the 17th of
April, 1790; and a third, on the 8th of October, 1793;[43] but likewise
by attending to Astronomical Observations, along with her brother, for
several years.
-----
Footnote 43:
Mr. Messier observed this Comet in France, eleven days before it was
discovered in England by Miss Herschel.
-----
To these may be added the name of an illustrious female; Elizabeth,
eldest daughter of Frederick V. Count Palatine of the Rhine and King of
Bohemia, by the only daughter of James I. This Princess (who was an aunt
of King George I.) cultivated a fine genius for the several branches of
natural philosophy, and was well versed in mathematical science.
Although this excellent woman was a Protestant, she was Abbess of
Herworden in Westphalia, where she died in 1680, at the age of sixty-two
years.
Mr. Lalande, in the prefatory department of his great work on
_Astronomy_, after noticing the Abbé Pluche’s book, entitled _Spectacle
de la Nature_, says: “The freshness of the shade, the stillness of
night, the soft beams of twilight, the luminaries that bespangle the
heavens, the various appearances of the moon, all form in the hands of
Pluche a fit subject for fine descriptive colouring: it takes in view
all the wants of man, regards the attention of the Supreme Being to
those wants, and recognizes the glory of the Creator. His book is a
treatise on final causes, as well as a philosophical work; and there are
a great many young persons to whom the reading of it would afford
satisfaction and pleasure.” Observing that he himself had no object in
view, in his own work, but merely to treat of Astronomy, Lalande
recommends to his readers, _Nature Displayed_, Derham’s
_Astro-Theology_, and the Dialogues of Fontenelle on _The Plurality of
Worlds_. Such works as these, with some elementary books on astronomy
and those branches of science most intimately connected with that
science, would be very proper for the study of that respectable class of
females, whose minds are too elevated and correct to derive any
gratification from the trifling productions of most of the modern
novellists and romance-writers; but who, at the same time, might not be
desirous of engaging in the more abstruse and laborious researches,
which demand the attention of profound practical astronomers.[44] The
grand, the delightful views of nature, which studies of this sort would
present to the vivid imagination, the delicate sensibility, and the good
dispositions of a woman of genius and refinement, would not only improve
her understanding and sanction the best feelings of her heart, but they
would furnish her mind with an inexhaustible fund of animating
reflections and rational enjoyments: in every respect, indeed, they
would contribute to her happiness.
-----
Footnote 44:
That the mind of the female sex is capable of compassing great and
extraordinary attainments, even in the most arduous branches of
science, is attested by many instances; and it cannot be doubted that
these would be more numerous, were women oftener attentive to
philosophical pursuits. Those who have been just named serve to shew,
that astronomy has been cultivated with success, by them. And Dr. Reid
tells us (in his _Essays on the intellectual and active Powers of
Man_,) that both the celebrated Christiana, Queen of Sweden, and the
Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Frederick, King of Bohemia, and aunt
of George I., were adepts in the philosophy of Descartes. The latter
of these princesses, though very young when Descartes wrote his
_Principia_, was declared by that philosopher to be the only person he
knew, who perfectly understood not only all his philosophical
writings, but the most abstruse of his mathematical works.
-----
Let not, then, the beauties of astronomical science, and the captivating
studies of natural philosophy in general, be exclusively enjoyed by men;
but let the amiable, the intelligent, and the improved part of the
female sex, be invited to a participation, with them, in these
intellectual pleasures.[45]
-----
Footnote 45:
The writer is happy in having it in his power to cite, in support of
his own opinion, that of an amiable and conspicuous female, in favour
of ladies making themselves acquainted with, at least, the rudiments
of astronomical science.
The Countess of Carlisle, a woman whose literary attainments, as well
as virtues and accomplishments, do honour to her sex and station, in
her Letters, under the signature of _Cornelia_, thus recommends an
attention to the study of astronomy, to the young ladies to whom her
letters are addressed. “Attain a competent knowledge of the globe on
which you live, that your apprehension of Infinite Wisdom may be
enlarged; which it will be in a much higher degree, if you take care
to acquire a general idea of the structure of the universe. It is not
expected you should become adepts in astronomy; but a knowledge of its
leading principles you may, and ought to obtain.”—Her ladyship then
refers her young female correspondents to the _Plurality of Worlds_ of
Fontenelle, in order that they might acquire a knowledge of the
planetary orbs; pleasantly recommending this author as a proper
person, in the capacity of “a gentleman usher,” to “introduce” them to
an “acquaintance” with “that brilliant assembly.”
_Lady Carlisle’s Letters_, lett. 8th.
-----
Here, perhaps, might be rested the evidence of the all-important
usefulness of that branch of knowledge, in which our American
Philosopher was pre-eminently distinguished.
But, inasmuch as astronomy forms a part of mathematical science, more
especially of those branches of it, which, under the denomination of
mixed and practical mathematics, are intimately and inseparably
interwoven, every where, with physical considerations, the reader will,
it is presumed, be gratified by a perusal of the following admirable
description of the Uses of Mathematics, extracted from the great Dr.
Barrow’s _Prefatory Oration_,[46] upon his admission into the
Professorship, at Cambridge. Indeed, in writing the Life of a man so
eminently skilled as Dr. Rittenhouse was, in the several departments or
various branches of natural philosophy, it seems proper and useful to
exhibit to the reader such views as have been furnished by men of
renowned erudition, of the nature and importance of that complicated,
that widely-extended science, in the cultivation of which our
philosopher held so exalted a rank.
-----
Footnote 46:
Translated from the Latin.
-----
Dr. Barrow[47] thus eulogizes the Mathematics—a science “which depends
upon principles clear to the mind, and agreeable to experience; which
draws certain conclusions, instructs by profitable rules, unfolds
pleasant questions, and produces wonderful effects: which is the
fruitful parent of—I had almost said—all arts, the unshaken foundation
of sciences, and the plentiful fountain of advantage to human affairs:
In which last respect we may be said to receive from mathematics the
principal delights of life, securities of health, increase of fortune
and conveniences of labour: That we dwell elegantly and commodiously,
build decent houses for ourselves, erect stately temples to God, and
leave wonderful monuments to posterity: That we are protected by those
rampires from the incursions of an enemy, rightly use arms, artfully
manage war, and skilfully range an army: That we have safe traffic
through the deceitful billows, pass in a direct road through the
trackless ways of the sea, and arrive at the designed ports by the
uncertain impulse of the winds: That we rightly cast up our accounts, do
business expeditiously, dispose, tabulate, and calculate scattered ranks
of numbers, and easily compute them, though expressive of huge heaps of
sand, nay immense hills of atoms: That we make pacific separations of
the bounds of lands, examine the momentums of weights in an equal
balance, and are enabled to distribute to every one his own by a just
measure: That, with a light touch, we thrust forward bodies, which way
we will, and step a huge resistance with a very small force: That we
accurately delineate the face of this earthly orb, and subject the
economy of the universe to our sight: That we aptly digest the flowing
series of time; distinguish what is acted, by due intervals; rightly
account and discern the various returns of the seasons; the stated
periods of the years and months, the alternate increasements of days and
nights, the doubtful limits of light and shadow, and the exact
difference of hours and minutes: That we derive the solar virtue of the
sun’s rays to our uses, infinitely extend the sphere of light, enlarge
the near appearances of objects, bring remote objects near, discover
hidden things, trace nature out of her concealments, and unfold her dark
mysteries: That we delight our eyes with beautiful images, cunningly
imitate the devices and portray the works of nature; imitate, did I say?
nay excel; while we form to ourselves things not in being, exhibit
things absent, and represent things past: That we recreate our minds,
and delight our ears, with melodious sounds; attemperate the inconstant
undulations of the air to musical tones; add a pleasant voice to a
sapless log; and draw a sweet eloquence from a rigid metal; celebrate
our Maker with an harmonious praise, and not unaptly imitate the blessed
choirs of heaven: That we approach and examine the inaccessible seats of
the clouds, distant tracts of land, unfrequented paths of the sea; lofty
tops of mountains, low bottoms of vallies, and deep gulphs of the ocean:
That we scale the ethereal towers; freely range through the celestial
fields; measure the magnitudes and determine the interstices of the
stars; prescribe inviolable laws to the heavens themselves, and contain
the wandering circuit of the stars within strict bounds: Lastly, that we
comprehend the huge fabric of the universe; admire and contemplate the
wonderful beauty of the divine workmanship, and so learn the incredible
force and sagacity of our own minds by certain experiments, as to
acknowledge the blessings of heaven with a pious affection.”
-----
Footnote 47:
This very eminent mathematician, as well as learned and pious divine,
died in the year 1677, aged only forty-seven years. See the life of
this extraordinary man, written in 1683, by the learned Abraham Hill;
prefixed to the first volume of the doctor’s theological works; a
fifth edition of which, in three folio volumes, was published by
archbishop Tillotson, in 1741. He also wrote and published many
geometrical and mathematical works, all in Latin.
“The name of Dr. Barrow,” says Mr. Granger, one of his biographers,
“will ever be illustrious, for a strength of mind and a compass of
knowledge that did honour to his country. He was unrivalled in
mathematical learning, and especially in the sublime geometry, in
which he was excelled only by one man; and that man was his pupil, the
great Sir Isaac Newton. The same genius that seemed to be born only to
bring hidden things to light, to rise to the heights or descend to the
depths of science, would sometimes amuse itself in the flowery paths
of poetry, and he composed verses both in Greek and Latin.”
This “prodigy of learning,” as he is called by Mr. Granger, was
interred in Westminster Abbey, where a monument, adorned with his
bust, is erected to his memory.
-----
The honours that have been rendered to celebrated men in almost every
age of the world, and by all nations concerning which we have any
historical memorials, are noticed by numberless writers, both ancient
and modern. The cultivation of astronomical science had, doubtless, its
origin in the remotest ages of antiquity,[48] through the Chaldeans,[49]
the Egyptians, the Phœnicians and Greeks, the Arabs, and the Chinese.
But the Indians of the western hemisphere appear to have had little
knowledge of astronomy, at the time of Columbus’s discovery, yet they
were not inattentive to its objects: for Acosta tells us, that the
Peruvians observed the equinoxes, by means of columns erected before the
temple of the sun at Cusco, and by a circle traced around it. Condamine
likewise relates, that the Indians on the river of the Amazons gave to
the Hyades, as we do, the name of the Bull’s-head; and Father Lasitau
says, that the Iroquois called the same stars the Bear, to which we give
that name; and designated the Polar star by the appellation of the
immoveable star. Captain Cook informs us, that the inhabitants of Taiti,
in like manner, distinguish the different stars; and know in what part
of the heavens they will appear, for each month in the year; their year
consisting of thirteen lunar months, each being twenty-nine days.
-----
Footnote 48:
Flavius Josephus informs us, (in his _Jewish Antiquities_, b. i. chap.
7. 8.) that the sons of Seth employed themselves in astronomical
contemplations. According to the same historian, Abraham inferred the
unity and power of God, from the orderly course of things both at sea
and land, in their times and seasons, and from his observations upon
the motions and influences of the sun, moon and stars. He further
relates, that this patriarch delivered lectures on geometry and
arithmetic to the Egyptians, of which they understood nothing, until
Abraham introduced those sciences from Chaldea into Egypt, from whence
they passed into Greece: and, according to Eupolemus and Artapan, he
instructed the Phœnicians, as well as the Egyptians, in astronomy.
Footnote 49:
We are informed by some ancient writers, that when Babylon was taken,
Calisthenes, one of Aristotle’s scholars, carried from thence, by the
desire of his master, celestial observations made by the Chaldeans,
nearly two thousand years old; which carried them back to about the
time of the dispersion of mankind by the confusion of tongues: and
those observations are supposed to have been made in the famous temple
of Belus, at Babylon. But these accounts are not to be depended on:
because Hipparchus and Ptolemy could find no traces of any
observations made at Babylon before the time of Nabonassar, who began
his reign 747 years before the birth of Christ; and various writers,
among the ancients, agree in referring the earliest Babylonian
observations to about the same period. In all probability, the
Chaldean observations were then little more than matters of curiosity;
for, even in the three or four centuries immediately preceding the
Christian era, the celestial observations which were made by the
Greeks were, for the most part, far from being of any importance, in
relation to astronomical science.
Indeed, the knowledge of astronomy at much later periods than those in
which the most celebrated philosophers of Greece flourished, must have
been very limited and erroneous, on account of the defectiveness of
their instruments. And, added to the great disadvantages arising from
this cause, the ancients laboured under the want of a knowledge of the
telescope and the clock; and also maintained a false notion of the
system of the world; which was almost universally adhered to, until
the revival and improvement of the Pythagorean system by Copernicus,
who died in 1543. Within the last two hundred years, but,
particularly, since the laws of nature have been made manifest by the
labours and discoveries of the immortal NEWTON, the science of
astronomy has made astonishing advances towards perfection.
-----
Astronomy has been patronised by many great princes and sovereign
states. Lalande observes, that, about the year 1230, the Emperor
Frederick II.[50] prepared the way for the renewal of the sciences among
the moderns, and professed himself to be their protector. His reign,
according to the great French astronomer just mentioned, forms the first
epocha of the revival of astronomy in Europe.
-----
Footnote 50:
This sovereign re-established the university of Naples, founded that
of Vienna in Austria, in the year 1237, and imparted new vigour to the
schools of Bologna and Salerno. He caused many ancient works in
medicine and philosophy to be translated from the Arabian tongue;
particularly, the _Almagest_ of Ptolemy.
Cotemporary with the Emperor Frederick II. was Alphonso X. King of
Castile, surnamed _the Wise_. This prince was the first who manifested
a desire of correcting the _Tables of Ptolemy_. In the year 1240, even
during the life of his father, he drew to Toledo the most experienced
astronomers of his time, Christians, Moors, or Jews; by whose labours
he at length obtained the _Alphonsine Tables_, in 1252 (the first year
of his reign:) which were first printed at Venice, in 1483. He died in
the year 1284.
-----
Coeval with that sovereign, was Johannes de Sacro-Bosco,[51] a famous
English ecclesiastic, who was the first astronomical writer that
acquired celebrity in the thirteenth century. Very nearly about the same
time, appeared also that prodigy of genius and learning, Friar
Bacon:[52] and from that period, down to our own day, there has been a
succession of illustrious philosophers: whose names have justly been
renowned, for the benefits they have conferred on mankind; names which
reflect honour on the countries to which they respectively belong. Many
of those benefactors of the world were honoured with marks of high
distinction, by their sovereigns and cotemporaries; and their fame will
descend to the latest posterity.
-----
Footnote 51:
His name was _John Holywood_; deduced, according to a practice
prevalent in his time, from the place of his nativity, which was
Halifax, a town in the west-riding of Yorkshire, in England, where he
was born in the year 1204. It was formerly named _Holy-wood_; and was,
probably, so called in _Sacro-Bosco’s_ day: but the more ancient name
of that place was Horton, or _Hair_-town; and Halifax signifies
_Holy-hair_.—This great man was the inventor of the sphere; and wrote
a work, entitled _De Sphærâ_, which was very celebrated. He died at
Paris, in 1256.
Footnote 52:
He died in 1294, at the age of eighty years.
-----
In recording these Memoirs of the Life of an American Philosopher, whose
name adds dignity to the country that gave him birth, it is the design
of the author to represent him as he truly was; and in doing so, he
feels a conscious satisfaction, that his pen is employed in delineating
the character of a man, who was rendered singularly eminent by his
genius, his virtues and his public services. Deeply impressed with the
magnitude and importance, as well as delicacy of the subject, the writer
has not undertaken the task without some hesitation. He is sensible of
the difficulties attending it, and conscious of his inability to do
justice to its merits. Arduous, however, as the undertaking is, and
since no abler pen has hitherto attempted any thing more, on this
subject, than to eulogize[53] some of the prominent virtues and talents
of our philosopher, his present biographer will endeavour, by the
fidelity with which he shall portray the character of that truly
estimable man, to atone for the imperfections of the work in other
respects. Possessing, as he does, some peculiar advantages, in relation
to the materials necessary for this undertaking, he flatters himself it
will be found, that he has been enabled thereby to exhibit to his
countrymen, and the world generally, a portrait, which, in its more
important features, may prove deserving of some share of public regard.
-----
Footnote 53:
Dr. RUSH’S _Eulogium_, “intended to perpetuate the memory of DAVID
RITTENHOUSE,” &c. was delivered before the American Philosophical
Society in Philadelphia, (a great many public characters, and a
numerous concourse of private citizens, also attending,) on the 17th
of December 1796. It was pronounced in pursuance of an appointment
made by the society, in these words, viz:
“At a meeting convened by special order, on the 1st of July, 1796, the
following motion was made, and unanimously adopted; viz. That this
Society, deeply affected by the death of their late worthy President,
do resolve, That an EULOGIUM, commemorative of his distinguished
talents and services, be publicly pronounced before the Society, by
one of its members.”—Dr. Rush’s appointment was made at the next
meeting of the society.
The following resolutions passed by them, after the delivery of the
oration, will evince the high sense they entertained of the merit of
this performance; viz.
“_Philosophical Hall, Dec. 17, 1796.—In Meeting of the American
Philosophical Society_,
“_Resolved_, unanimously, That the thanks of this society be presented
to Dr. Benjamin Rush, for the eloquent, learned, comprehensive, and
just Eulogium, which he has this day pronounced, upon the character of
our late respected President, Dr. David Rittenhouse.
“_Resolved_, unanimously, That Dr. Rush be requested to furnish the
society with a copy of the Eulogium, to be published under their
direction.
“An extract from the minutes:—SAMUEL MAGAW, ROBERT PATTERSON, W.
BARTON, JOHN BLEAKLEY, Secretaries.”
It may not be thought superfluous, to add, that Dr. Rush well knew Mr.
Rittenhouse. A personal friendship of an early date subsisted between
them: it probably originated when the latter established his residence
in Philadelphia, about six and twenty years before his death. In the
summer of 1772, Mr. Rittenhouse (in a letter to the Rev. Mr. Barton)
expressed his friendly estimation of the doctor in these few
words—“The esteem I have for Dr. Rush is such, that his friendship for
Mr. —— would, alone, give me a very good opinion of that gentleman.”
-----
Sir William Forbes, in the introduction to his interesting Account of
the Life and Writings of the late Dr. Beattie, reminds his readers, that
“Mr. Mason prefaces his excellent and entertaining Memoirs of the Life
and Writings of Gray, with an observation more remarkable for its truth
than novelty;” that “the Lives of men of letters seldom abound with
incidents.”—“A reader of sense and taste, therefore,” continues Mr.
Mason, “never expects to find, in the Memoirs of a Philosopher or Poet,
the same species of entertainment or information, which he would receive
from those of a Statesman or General. He expects, however, to be
informed or entertained. Nor will he be disappointed, did the writer
take care to dwell principally on such topics as characterize the man,
and distinguish that peculiar part which he acted in the varied drama of
society.”
Yet these observations of Mr. Gray’s biographer, though pretty generally
correct, admit of some qualification and many exceptions, depending on a
variety of circumstances. It is true, that a mere narrative of the life
of a “philosopher,” as well as of a “poet,” considered only as such, and
abstractedly, must be expected to be devoid of much “incident” that can
interest the generality of readers. But, both philosophers and poets
have, in some instances, been also statesmen; sometimes, even generals:
both have, not unfrequently, distinguished themselves as patriots, and
benefactors of mankind.
In writing the life of our philosopher, the plan of a dry recital of
only such circumstances and occurrences as have an immediate relation to
the individual, has not been pursued. Biographical Memoirs, it is
conceived, do not confine a writer to limits so narrow, but permit him
to take a much greater latitude. It is even allowable, in works of this
kind, to introduce historical facts, memorable events, proceedings of
public bodies, notices of eminent men, evidences of the progress and
state of literature, science and the arts, and the actual condition of
civil society, in the scene that is contemplated; together with
occasional reflections on those and similar subjects. Some of these
objects may not seem, perhaps, to be necessarily or very intimately
connected with the principal design, the life of the person treated of:
but such of them as should, at first view, appear to have the most
remote relation to that object, may be afterwards discovered to be both
useful and interesting in a discussion of this nature; while others
serve to elucidate the main scope of the work. A latitude of this
description, in the compilation of memoirs, seems to be quite consistent
with the genius and spirit of works of that nature; and the modern
practice of memoir-writers has been conformable to this view of the
subject.[54]
-----
Footnote 54:
“Biography, or the writing of Lives,” says Dr. Hugh Blair, “is a very
useful kind of composition; less formal and stately than history; but
to the bulk of readers, perhaps, no less instructive; as it affords
them the opportunity of seeing the characters and tempers, the virtues
and failings of eminent men, fully displayed; and admits them into a
more thorough and intimate acquaintance with such persons, than
history generally allows. For, a writer of lives may descend, with
propriety, to minute circumstances and familiar incidents. It is
expected of him, that he is to give the private, as well as public
life, of the person whose actions he records; nay, it is from private
life, from familiar, domestic, and seemingly trivial occurrences, we
often receive most light into the real character.”—_Lectures on
Rhetoric and Belles Lettres_, sect. 36. In addition to so respectable
an opinion as that of Professor Blair, respecting the utility and
characteristic features of biographical works, the writer of these
memoirs hopes he will be excused for giving the sentiments on the same
subject, contained in the following extracts from Dr. Maty’s _Memoirs
of the Life of Lord Chesterfield_, “tending to illustrate the civil,
literary, and political history of his own time.”
“Besides the great utility which general history derives from private
authorities, other advantages no less important,” says this learned
and ingenious biographer, “may be obtained from them. It is from
observing individuals, that we may be enabled to draw the outlines of
that extraordinary, complicated being, man. The characteristics of any
country or age must be deduced from the separate characters of
persons, who, however distinguishable in many respects, still preserve
a family-likeness. From the life of almost any one individual, but
chiefly from the lives of such eminent men as seemed destined to
enlighten or to adorn society, instructions may be drawn, suitable to
every capacity, rank, age or station. Young men, aspiring to honours,
cannot be too assiduous in tracing the means by which they were
obtained: by observing with what difficulty they were preserved, they
will be apprized of their real value, estimate the risks of the
purchase, and discover frequent disappointment in the possession.”
“It is from the number and variety of private memoirs, and the
collision of opposite testimonies, that the judicious reader is
enabled to strike out light, and find his way through that darkness
and confusion in which he is at first involved.”
“Who does not wish that Cæsar had lived to finish his Commentaries;
and that Pompey’s sons, instead of fighting their father’s cause, had
employed themselves in writing his life?—What a valuable legacy would
Cicero have left us, if, instead of his philosophical works, he had
written the memoirs of his own times! Or how much would Tyro, to whom
posterity is so much indebted for the preservation of his master’s
letters, have encreased that obligation, if, from his own knowledge,
he had connected and explained them! The life of Agricola, by his
son-in-law Tacitus, is undoubtedly one of the most precious monuments
of antiquity.”
-----
The writer of the present work has therefore ventured, with all due
deference to the public opinion, to pursue the course here described.
And in doing this, he presumes that the comprehensive range he has
allowed himself has enabled him to render his memoirs, even of a
“philosopher,” not altogether barren of incidents, nor destitute, he
trusts, either of pleasing information or useful instruction.
========================================
NOTE.—The reader is requested to substitute (with his _pen_) the word
_Earth_, in the place of “_Sun_,” in the sixth line of the note numbered
(18), page xxxii. of the foregoing Introduction: the error in the print
is an essential one; and passed unobserved, until it was too late to
correct it in the press. At the same time the reader will be pleased to
insert the word _security_, in the place of “_scarcity_,” in the ninth
line from the top of page xlii.
MEMOIRS
OF THE
LIFE OF DAVID RITTENHOUSE;
ANTERIOR TO
HIS SETTLEMENT IN PHILADELPHIA.
========================================
The paternal ancestors of DAVID RITTENHOUSE were early and long seated
at Arnheim, a fortified city on the Rhine, and capital of the district
of Velewe or Veluive, sometimes called the Velau, in the Batavian
province of Guelderland;[55] where, it is said, they conducted
manufactories of paper,[56] during the course of some generations. The
orthography of the name was formerly Rittinghuysen, as the writer of
these memoirs was informed by an European member of this family.[57] But
it is net improbable, that, in more strict conformity to the idiom of
its Saxo-Germanic original, the name was spelt Ritterhuysen[58]—or,
perhaps, Ritterhausen; which signifies, in our language, _Knights’
Houses_: a conjecture that seems to be somewhat corroborated by the
chivalrous emblems alluding to this name, belonging to the family, and
which have been already noticed.
-----
Footnote 55:
The duchy of Guelderland formerly belonged to the Spanish monarchy;
but by the peace of Utrecht, in 1713, part of it was ceded to Austria,
part to Prussia, and guaranteed to them by the treaty of Baden, in
1714: that part which became subject to Prussia was, in exchange for
the principality of Orange, ceded to France. By the barrier-treaty, in
1715, the states general of the United Provinces likewise obtained a
part of it. But the Upper and Lower Guelderland have no connexion with
each other: Lower Guelderland is (or was, until very lately) one of
the Seven United Provinces: it is the largest of them all, and the
first in rank. Arnheim, which is the capital of the whole province, is
a large, populous, and handsome town: it was formerly the residence of
the dukes of Guelderland, and the states of the province held their
meetings there.
Footnote 56:
The writer of these memoirs having been in Holland in the summer of
the year 1778, adverted, while in Amsterdam, to the circumstance of
the Rittenhouses, of Pennsylvania, having come into America from some
part of the United Provinces; and his curiosity being excited, by his
consanguineous connexion with that family, to obtain some information
concerning them, the following was the result of his enquiries. He
found a Mr. _Adrian Rittinghuysen_, (for so he himself wrote his
name,) residing in that city. This venerable man, who was then
eighty-five years of age, appeared to be at least independent in his
condition; and had, probably, retired from business, the part of the
city in which he resided (the Egelantier’s Gracht, or Canal,) not
exhibiting the appearance of a street of trade.
The information derived from this respectable old man, was, that his
forefathers had long been established at Arnheim; that his father,
Nicholas, was a paper-manufacturer in that city, as others of the
family had been; and that his father’s brother, William, went with his
family to North America, where he some time afterward, as he had
understood, established the paper-mills near Germantown. He further
stated, that he had only one child, a daughter, who was married, and
resided at the Hague; and that he was, himself, as he believed, the
last of his family-name, remaining in the United Provinces.
Although plain in his dress and manners, and in the general appearance
of his household, this person seemed to be pleased in shewing the
writer a family-seal, on which was engraved a coat of arms. The
armorial device represented a castellated house, or chateau; on the
left side of which was a horse, standing on his hind feet and rearing
up, with his fore feet resting against the wall of the house: and this
house very much resembled the chateau in the armorial bearing of the
Spanish family “_de Fuentes, señores del Castillio_,” as represented
in Dubuisson’s French Collection of Arms: The seal having been much
worn, the lines, &c. describing the several tinctures of the bearing,
could not be discerned; and, therefore, it cannot be properly
blazoned. At the same time, the old gentleman did not omit to mention,
that his mother was a _De Ruyter_; and that her arms were, a mounted
chevalier armed cap-à-piè.
These facts, relative to the origin of the American Rittenhouses, did
not appear to the writer to be unworthy of notice. They are correctly
stated, being taken from a memorandum made by him, immediately after
his interview with Adrian Rittinghuysen.
The introduction of this slight sketch of the occupation and condition
of some of the European ancestors of our Philosopher, into his Life,
may be the more readily excused, since the great Newton himself was
not inattentive to such objects. There is, indeed, implanted by nature
in the human mind, a strong desire to become acquainted with the
family-history of our forefathers. Hence, Sir Isaac Newton left, in
his own hand-writing, a genealogical account or pedigree of his
family; with directions, subjoined thereto, that the registers of
certain parishes should be searched, from the beginning to the year
1650; and he adds—“Let the extracts be taken, by copying out of the
registers whatever may be met with, about the family of the Newtons,
in words at length, without omitting any of the words.” This
investigation and enquiry of Sir Isaac, was made in the sixty-third
year of his age; and he himself caused the result to be entered in the
books of the herald’s office.
Such, also, was the curiosity of Dr. Benjamin Franklin. While the
Doctor was in England, he undertook a journey to Eaton, in
Northamptonshire, (a village situated between Wellingborough and
Northampton,) the residence of his forefathers, for the purpose of
obtaining information, as he tells us himself, concerning his
family.—“To be acquainted with the particulars of my parentage and
life, many of which are unknown to you,” (said Dr. Franklin in his
_Life_, which he addressed to his son,) “I flatter myself, will afford
the same pleasure to you as to me—I shall, relate them upon paper.”
Footnote 57:
See the preceding note.
Footnote 58:
Conradus Rittershusius was a learned civilian of Germany. He was born
at Brunswick in the year 1560, and died at Altorf in Switzerland, in
1613. Two of his sons, George and Nicholas, also distinguished
themselves in the republic of letters. The writer of the present
memoirs is too little acquainted with the genealogies of either German
or Dutch families, to pretend to claim any consanguinity between this
C. Rittershuysen (or, as latinized, Rittershusius,) and our
Rittenhouses. But the name appears to have been, originally, the same;
and the ancestors of both, it may be presumed, were of the same
country: In giving a latin termination to the name, the _y_ is
omitted, not being a Roman letter.
-----
It has been asserted, that the first of the Rittenhouses who migrated to
America, was named William; and that he went from Guelderland to the
(now) state of New-York, while it was yet a Dutch colony. This William
was also said to have left at Arnheim a brother, Nicholas, who continued
to carry on the paper-making business in that city.[59] But, in a
genealogical account of the family in the possession of the Memorialist,
Garrett (or Gerard) and Nicholas Rittenhouse are stated to have arrived
at New-York, from Holland, so late as the year 1690: it likewise states,
that Nicholas there married Wilhelmina Dewees, a sister of William
Dewees, who came thither about the same time; and that, soon afterwards,
they all removed to the neighbourhood of Germantown in Pennsylvania;
where Nicholas established the first paper-mill ever erected in
America.[60] It is believed, however, that Garrett and Nicholas
Rittenhouse were sons of William; who is supposed to have arrived in
some part of the original territories of New-York, prior to the year
1674;[61] that the Nicholas left in Arnheim, was his brother; and that
his sons Garrett and Nicholas, who are stated to have been the first of
the family that settled in New-York, in 1690 (from whence they removed,
“soon afterwards,” into Pennsylvania,) did, in fact, transfer themselves
into this latter province, in that year.—Garrett left children; some of
whose descendants are resident in Pennsylvania, and others in
New-Jersey.
-----
Footnote 59:
The Dutch were early and long distinguished for the superior quality
of the paper manufactured in their country. It excelled, in its
whiteness and the closeness of its texture, as well as its goodness in
other respects, the paper made elsewhere; and it was an article of
great importance to the republic, both for the internal consumption
and for exportation, until the Hollanders were rivalled in this
manufacture by the perfection to which it was afterwards brought in
other parts of Europe.
Paper, made from linen rags (for that made from cotton, silk, and some
other substances, was of a much elder date,) is said to have been
originally introduced into Germany from Valencia and Catalonia, in
Spain, as early as the year 1312, and to have appeared in England
eight or ten years afterwards. But the first paper-mill in Great
Britain was erected at Dartford in Kent, by Mr. Speelman, a German,
jeweller to queen Elizabeth, in the year 1558: and it was not until
more than a century after, that any other paper than of an inferior
quality was manufactured in England. Little besides brown paper was
made there, prior to the revolution in 1688: yet, soon after that
period, the English were enabled to supply themselves with much the
greater part of the various kinds of paper used in their country, from
their own mills; and the perfection to which the manufacture of this
important article has since been carried, not only in England, but in
France, Italy and Germany, has greatly diminished the consumption of
Dutch paper.
It is a fact worthy of notice, that the establishment of paper-mills
in Pennsylvania, by the Rittenhouses, was nearly co-eval with the
general introduction of the manufactory of white paper in the mother
country. This appears from the following circumstance:—There is now
before the writer of these memoirs a paper in the hand-writing of the
celebrated William Penn, and subscribed with his name, certifying that
“William Rittinghousen and Claus” (Nicholas) “his son,” then “part
owners of the paper-mill near Germantown,” had recently sustained a
very great loss by a violent and sudden flood, which carried away the
said mill, with a considerable quantity of paper, materials and tools,
with other things therein, whereby they were reduced to great
distress; and, therefore, recommending to such persons as should be
disposed to lend them aid, to give the sufferers “relief and
encouragement, in their needful and commendable employment,” as they
were “desirous to set up the paper-mill again.”—This certificate is
without date: but Mr. Penn was twice in Pennsylvania. He first arrived
in the year 1682, and returned to England in 1684; his second arrival
was in 1699, and he finally left the province in 1701. It was probably
during the latter period of his residence in his proprietary-dominion,
though, perhaps, in the first, that the Germantown paper-mills were
destroyed.
The William Rittinghousen (so Mr. Penn writes the name) here
mentioned, is supposed to be the same named in the text, and to have
been the great-grandfather of our astronomer. In Mr. Penn’s
certificate he is called an old man, and is stated to have then been
“decrepid.”
In order to shew the present importance of that article, as a
manufacture, in the United States, and which was first fabricated in
this country by the Rittenhouses, the reader is presented with the
following view of the quantity of paper, of various descriptions,
annually made at one hundred and eighty-five paper-mills, within the
United States; taken from the latest information furnished on this
subject.
Tons. Reams. Value.
For Newspapers,[59a] 500 50,000 $150,000
Books, 630 70,000 245,000
Writing, 650 111,000 333,000
Wrapping, 800 100,000 83,000
—-— —-—-— —-—-—
2580 331,000 811,000
Footnote 59a:
The number of Newspapers, printed annually in the United States, is
estimated at twenty-two and an half millions.
Footnote 60:
Mr. Benjamin Rittenhouse, a younger brother of David, speaking of his
paternal ancestors, in a letter addressed to the writer of these
memoirs, says: “The family originally settled in the state of
New-York, while a Dutch colony; and were, undoubtedly, the first
paper-makers in America.” This fact was also communicated to the
writer, by Dr. Franklin, some years before.
Footnote 61:
At the peace of Breda, in 1667, the Dutch colony of New Netherlands
was confirmed to the English, to whom it had been ceded in 1664. But
the Dutch having reduced the country in the years 1672 and 1673, it
was finally restored to the English by the peace of Westminster, on
the 9th of February, 1674. The Rittenhouses are supposed to have
seated themselves, before this latter period, in that part of the
colony afterwards called East-Jersey. Some of the name reside in the
state of New-Jersey, at this day; but it is not known that any of them
are inhabitants of the state of New-York. Those in New-Jersey, with
most of those of the name in Pennsylvania, are descendants of
Nicholas.
-----
Nicholas Rittenhouse, the grandfather of our Philosopher, died about the
year 1730; leaving three sons, William, Henry, and Matthias; and four
daughters, Psyche, Mary, Catharine, and Susanna. Of these daughters,
Psyche intermarried with John Gorgas, from whom are descended the
Gorgas’s of Cresham and Cocolico; Mary, with John Johnson, the father of
Casper, John, Nicholas, William, and Benjamin Johnson, some of whom are
now (or were lately) living, in the neighbourhood of Germantown;
Catharine, with Jacob Engle, in the same vicinity; and Susanna, with
Henry Heiley of Goshehoppen.
William Rittenhouse, the eldest brother of our Philosopher’s father,
died at the paper-mills, near Germantown. He left several children, one
of whom did lately, and perhaps yet does, carry on those works.—Henry
and Matthias removed to the townships of Worcester and Norriton, about
the year 1732 or 1733; where both lived to be upwards of seventy years
of age.
The old American stock of the Rittenhouses were Anabaptists,[62] and
persons of very considerable note in that religious society. Probably,
therefore, they were induced to establish their residence in
Pennsylvania, towards the close of the seventeenth century, by the
tolerating principles held forth by William Penn,[63] in respect to
religious[64] concerns; the justness of the tenure by which he became
proprietor of the soil;[65] and the excellence of the political
regulations established by that great legislator, for the civil
government of his newly-acquired domains.
-----
Footnote 62:
The Rittenhouses who first settled in America, are supposed to have
leaned towards the religious tenets of (if they did not belong to)
that peaceable branch of the Anabaptists, denominated Mennonites.
Simon Menno, the founder of this sect, was one of the first reformers:
he was born at a village called Witmarsum, in the Batavian province of
Friesland, in 1505; the same year in which John Knox was born, and
four years before the birth of Calvin.
Menno had been a priest of the Roman Catholic Church, and some have
endeavoured to stigmatize him, as one who was “a notorious
profligate.” This, however, may be attributed to his having left the
communion of the church of which he was originally a member: for, he
is represented to have been “a man of probity, of a meek and tractable
spirit, gentle in his manners, pliable and obsequious in his commerce
with persons of all ranks and characters, and extremely zealous in
promoting practical religion and virtue, which he recommended by his
example as well as by his precepts.” He was, moreover, a man of genius
and eloquence, and possessed a considerable share of learning. This
extraordinary man died in the duchy of Holstein, in the year 1561.
The fundamental principles of the followers of Menno are, in some
respects, similar to those of the people called Quakers: They use,
likewise, great plainness in their apparel, and adhere to some of the
practices of the primitive Christian church. But this peaceable sect
baptize adults, and celebrate the eucharist in a manner peculiar to
themselves.
Some of Menno’s disciples came into Pennsylvania from New-York, in the
year 1692. The principal congregation of this sect was established at
Germantown, soon after the Rittenhouses had settled themselves there;
and this may be considered as the mother of the sect, in America. The
Mennonites have since become a numerous body in Pennsylvania,
principally in the county of Lancaster; and this religious society
comprehends, among its members, many intelligent worthy men, and
valuable citizens.
Footnote 63:
In the Preface to a printed copy of the celebrated Speech delivered in
the House of Assembly of Pennsylvania, on the 24th of May, 1764, by
the late John Dickinson, Esq. the Merits of the Founder of
Pennsylvania, as they were declared at various times, in the
proceedings of the Legislative Body of the colony, and in some other
public Documents, are thus summed up by the writer.
“WILLIAM PENN,
A Man of Principles truly humane;
An Advocate for
Religion and Liberty;
Possessing a noble Spirit,
That exerted itself
For the Good of Mankind;
was
The great and worthy Founder
of
PENNSYLVANIA.
To its Inhabitants, by Charter,
He granted and confirmed
Many singular Privileges and Immunities,
Civil and Religious,
Which he continually studied
To preserve and defend for them;
Nobly declaring,
That they had not followed him so far,
To lose a single tittle
Of the Great Charter,
To which all Englishmen were born.
For these Services,
Great have been the Acknowledgements
Deservedly paid to his Merit;
And his Memory
Is dear to his People,
Who have repeatedly confessed,
That,
Next to Divine Providence,
Their Happiness, Prosperity, and Increase
Are owing
To his wise Conduct and singular Goodness;
Which deserve ever to be remembered
With
Gratitude and Affection,
By
PENNSYLVANIANS.”
For the materials of which the foregoing Eulogy is composed, its
author[63a] has referred his readers to the Minutes of Assembly, for
the years 1719 and 1725, to those from the year 1730 to 1740, both
inclusive, excepting only 1736, 1737 and 1739; also, for 1745, 1755
and 1756; to other proceedings of the assembly, in the years 1730 and
1738; and to their Address to Governor John Penn, in 1764.
A very respectable Memorial of another nature, in honour of the justly
celebrated Penn, decorates the edifice of a noble public institution
in the capital of his former domain; an institution devoted to the
purposes of charity, humanity and benevolence. It is a finely executed
metallic statue, in bronze, of that great man; representing him in his
appropriate attire, and holding in his right hand _The Charter of
Privileges_.[63b] The statue stands on an elegant pedestal of marble,
in an handsome area on the south front of the Pennsylvania Hospital:
and the four sides of the pedestal contain these modest inscriptions;
viz.
“William Penn—Born, 1644—Died, 1718.”
(And underneath, the Family-Arms, with his Motto; viz.)
“Mercy—Justice.”
---
“Pennsylvania Granted by Charles II. to William Penn,
1681.”
---
“The Proprietary arrived in 1682; made a just and amicable arrangement
with the Natives, for the purchase of their Lands; and went back to
England in 1684.”
---
“Returned to Pennsylvania, 1699; and finally withdrew to his Paternal
Estate, 1701.”
The public in general, with the Pennsylvania Hospital more
particularly, are indebted for this Memorial of true Greatness, to the
munificence of a Grandson of the Founder of the extensive Dominion
that bears his name; John Penn, of Stoke-Poges in Buckinghamshire,
Esquire; by whom the statue was presented, in the year 1804.
Footnote 63a:
In the continuation of the _Life of Dr. Franklin_, (written by the
late Dr. Stuber, of Philadelphia,) it is said that the Preface to Mr.
Dickinson’s Speech was drawn up by the late learned Provost Smith, and
that Dr. Franklin wrote the Preface to Mr. Galloway’s, in reply.
Footnote 63b: