“P. S. If you can spare as much time as to give me notice of the
receipt of this, and what hope I may form of my Clock, it will oblige
me. If sent to Fredericksburg, it will come safe to hand.”
In the commencement of the year 1779, our benevolent Philosopher had an
opportunity of testifying the friendly interest he took in the
prosperity of his brother-in-law the Rev. Mr. Barton, and his family.
This gentleman was then, with Mrs. Barton,[195] in the city of New-York;
to which they went towards the close of the year 1778, in pursuance of a
permission granted for that purpose by the government of Pennsylvania,
under certain conditions. All Mr. Barton’s children excepting the
eldest, (the writer of these Memoirs), who was then abroad, remained in
Pennsylvania; those in their minority, being six of the seven so
remaining, having been previously placed under the charge of suitable
persons. After a long absence of the eldest son from his native country,
he returned to Pennsylvania the beginning of the year 1779. Immediately
after his arrival at Lancaster, he received a letter from Mr.
Rittenhouse, dated in Philadelphia, January 24th 1779, in which he
says—“I most sincerely congratulate you on your safe arrival, and
impatiently expect the pleasure of seeing you here. I received yours
from Baltimore, ten days after the date, and immediately wrote to your
father,[196] supposing him to be still at New-York;[197] though we
cannot be certain as to that matter.” The Rev. Mr. Barton, on the 15th
of February, acknowledged the receipt of his brother-in-law’s letter to
him, which, although dated the 16th of January, did not reach him until
the 13th of the succeeding month. In this answer, Mr. Barton says;—“To
see, and to be united with my children, is my most earnest wish; but how
that happy event is to be obtained, I know not: If my son should choose
to come to Elizabeth-Town, perhaps I might be indulged with a flag, to
have an interview with him there.”[198]
-----
Footnote 195:
To this lady, who is yet living, Mr. Barton was married in the year
1776. She remains his widow, and enjoys the very affectionate respect
of Mr. Barton’s descendants and relatives, to which her great worth
and many virtues justly entitle her.
Footnote 196:
Colonel Samuel J. Atlee, formerly a parishioner of the Rev. Mr.
Barton, had written two letters to him, to inform him of his son’s
arrival. The second of these only had got to hand, and was
acknowledged at the same time as Mr. Rittenhouse’s. Col. Atlee, who
was a steady friend of Mr. Barton’s family, was a valuable officer in
the American army, in the earlier period of the war; and afterwards
served as a delegate in congress, for the state of Pennsylvania.
The difficulty of Mr. Barton’s returning to Pennsylvania, and which he
alludes to, in his letter to Mr. Rittenhouse, arose from the terms of
his passport to New-York, from the Supreme Executive Council of
Pennsylvania: it permits him to go to New-York, “not to return.” A
letter which Mr. Barton wrote to John De Hart, Esq. of Elizabeth-Town
in New-Jersey, on the 30th of January, 1779, will sufficiently explain
the conscientious scruples which actuated the writer’s conduct; and
they were such as, it is presumed, will have weight, when
dispassionately and liberally considered.
In addressing Mr. De Hart, Mr. Barton says:—“I received your favour of
the 22d instant, by Mr. Alexander. The papers with which you entrusted
me, gave me no trouble, except that of my not being able to serve you
in the manner which was first proposed. You may depend on their safety
in my hands; subject to such directions as you shall be pleased to
give me.” “I wish for an opportunity to oblige you, and if any should
offer, I beg you will employ me without any apology.
“I am just informed that my son has returned to his native country,
after an absence of between three and four years. How melancholy and
distressing is my situation! separated from eight children, and three
congregations, to whom I am bound by duty, gratitude, and every tie of
affection! ‘A parent only knows a parent’s woes;’ and such will feel
for me. You are kind enough to tell me, that my son requests me to
return to my parish. What he can mean by this request, I am totally at
a loss to understand: could the matter have been determined by my
option, I should never have left my parish, for any prospect of
preferment that could offer. But no choice was left me, but either to
take the oath, or to suffer a painful separation from my dearest
connexions; as well as from a country which always had, since I have
known it, my predilection and best wishes; a country to which, I can
declare (with an appeal to heaven for the truth of the declaration,) I
never did, or wished to do, ‘any act or thing prejudicial or
injurious:’ and though my heart assures me, that many conscientious
and good men have conformed to the test-act, yet my own conscience
always revolted at the abjuration part of it, and prevailed with me to
surrender every worldly consideration, that should come in
competition, or tempt me to a violation of it. This, sir, was the only
crime (if a crime it be) for which I now suffer banishment from all
that are most dear to me; with an interdict, “not to return again.” I
cannot therefore comprehend, how I can consistently return, before
this interdict is cancelled; or some assurance given me, that I may
again unite and live quietly with my family, without being subject to
an abjuration, which I cannot take. The proper duties and profession
of a minister of the gospel should, in my opinion, never lead him into
the field of politics. In conformity to this opinion, every man who
knows me can testify, that I never degraded my function by
intermeddling, directly or indirectly, in the present unhappy contest:
so that my own scruples would be a stricter tie upon me, than any that
could be made by oaths or tests. You will excuse my troubling you on
this subject, when I tell you, that the kind manner in which you
address me has drawn it upon you.”
Footnote 197:
It was Mr. Barton’s intention, when he left Pennsylvania, to embark at
New-York for England or Ireland: but his ill state of health, which
soon after ensued, prevented his leaving New-York.
Footnote 198:
This indulgence was obtained in April, 1780, from the Supreme
Executive Council of Pennsylvania, chiefly through the friendship of
the late general Joseph Reed, then president of that body; and, in
pursuance of this passport, sanctioned by general Washington, the
desired interview was had with Mr. and Mrs. Barton, at Elizabeth-Town,
a very short time before the death of Mr. Barton.
-----
In the autumn of the same year, Mr. Rittenhouse again manifested his
friendly attachment to Mr. Barton’s family, on an occasion which
offered, relating to the writer of these Memoirs personally. Soon after
the appointment of the late Henry Laurens, Esq. to be envoy to Holland,
Mr. Rittenhouse applied to that gentleman for the purpose of obtaining
for the writer, who was well known to him, the secretaryship to that
mission: but Mr. Laurens had determined to appoint no secretary; at
least before he should arrive in Holland. In a letter to the writer of
this, communicating the result of his application, Mr. Rittenhouse
says—“I wish you could obtain some handsome thing of this kind; but
there are such numbers of humble suitors to, and dependants on, members
of congress, that every thing is snapped up, before you or I know any
thing of the matter.”
In consequence of a territorial dispute which had arisen between
Pennsylvania and Virginia, Mr. Rittenhouse was appointed by the
legislature of the former, in the year 1779, one of the commissioners
for settling that controversy: his colleagues, on that occasion, were
George Bryan, Esq. and the reverend Dr. Ewing.
These commissioners, thus nominated on behalf of their own state, were
authorised “to meet and agree with other commissioners, on the part of
Virginia, upon the western boundary.” They accordingly met Dr. James
Madison, president of the college of William and Mary, (late bishop of
the protestant episcopal church in Virginia), and Robert Andrews,
professor of mathematics in that institution, the commissioners
appointed by Virginia,—for the purposes of their respective
appointments. This meeting was held on the 31st day of August, 1779. The
propositions for an amicable adjustment of the boundary line in dispute,
were first made by Pennsylvania: and, at the meeting thus held, in
consequence of, Virginia having acceded to those propositions, the joint
commissioners of the two states entered into the following agreement:
“We, George Bryan, John Ewing, and David Rittenhouse, commissioners from
the state of Pennsylvania, and we, James Madison and Robert Andrews,
commissioners for the state of Virginia, do hereby mutually, in behalf
of our respective states, ratify and confirm the following agreement,
viz. To extend Mason’s and Dixon’s line, due west, five degrees of
longitude, to be computed from the river Delaware, for the southern
boundary of Pennsylvania, and that a meridian, drawn from the western
extremity thereof to the northern limit of the said state, be the
western boundary of Pennsylvania for ever.”
This agreement, signed by the respective commissioners of the contending
states, was, on the 19th of November ensuing, unanimously ratified and
confirmed by the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, and its ratification
duly transmitted to the government of Virginia.
But this agreement, thus solemnly concluded, did not quiet the
pre-existing disputes. Divers persons, deriving authority, or pretending
so to do, under the government of Virginia, proceeded to Fort Byrd in
the county of Westmoreland, thirty miles at least within the line agreed
on by the commissioners,—and upon lands originally settled under
Pennsylvania, and long held as being within its unquestionable
jurisdiction; and these intruders there exercised a summary and
arbitrary authority, tending to the dispossession of the grantees under
Pennsylvania; vexing and disturbing them, greatly, in the peaceable
possession of lands which they had honestly purchased, and cultivated
for a long course of years. Such injustice and outrages, on she part of
the Virginia intruders, induced congress to interpose the little
authority they possessed, for the purpose of tranquillizing the
contending parties, at a period when the harmony of the citizens of the
several states was highly important to the safety of the whole
confederacy. Accordingly, in December, 1779, and nearly four months
after the adjustment of the before disputed boundary by the persons duly
empowered to settle the same, congress passed a resolution, attested by
their secretary, in these words:
“_In Congress, December 27, 1779._
“Whereas it appears to congress, from the representation of the
delegates of the state of Pennsylvania, that disputes have arisen
between the states of Pennsylvania and Virginia, relative to the
extent of their boundaries, which may probably be productive of
serious evils to both states, and tend to lessen their exertions in
the common defence: Therefore,
“_Resolved_, That it be _recommended_ to the contending parties, not
to grant any part of the disputed land, or to disturb the possession
of any persons living thereon; and to avoid every appearance of force,
until the dispute can be amicably settled by both states, or brought
to a just decision by the intervention of congress; that possessions
forcibly taken be restored to the original possessors, and things be
placed in the situation in which they were at the commencement of the
present war, without prejudice to the claims of either party.”
It is evident from the face of this resolution, that congress were not
disposed to notice this controversy, otherwise, than with extreme
delicacy: and so cautious were they, under all existing circumstances,
of interfering with the merits of this dispute between two great and
powerful states, that they speak of the controversy as one then actually
in existence, between those states; although, in regard to their
respective governments, it had been settled long before. However, the
day after the date of the resolution of Congress, the president and the
supreme executive council of Pennsylvania issued a proclamation,
requiring all officers, civil and military, and others, subjects of the
state, to pay due obedience and respect to that resolution; and also
encouraging the several grantees claiming under Pennsylvania to continue
in the cultivation and improvement of their several estates and
possessions, as well as in their allegiance and fidelity to the
state,—notwithstanding any claims or pretences set up by the state of
Virginia, or any other foreign jurisdiction; and assuring them of the
protection and support of their own state, while so continuing in duty
and obedience to its laws and government.
Notwithstanding all these proceedings, this extraordinary controversy
was not terminated until long afterwards. In consequence of a resolution
of the general assembly of Pennsylvania, of the 28th of August, 1783,
the supreme executive council of that state passed, on the 11th day of
the succeeding month, a resolution on their part, stating,—that, as many
of the objections which had hitherto prevented the determination of the
boundary-line, in question, were then removed, it became necessary to
close that business with all possible accuracy and dispatch; and that,
to this end, four commissioners should be immediately appointed, with
directions to provide the necessary astronomical apparatus, and to
correspond with those appointed by the state of Virginia for the same
purpose: they therefore appointed the Rev. John Ewing, D. D., David
Rittenhouse, Esq. treasurer of the state and Thomas Hutchins, Esq. to
perform that duty.
The arduous service thus assigned to these gentlemen, all of them
possessing great abilities, was accordingly executed; and a law was
thereupon passed by the legislature of Pennsylvania, on the 1st of
April, 1784; which, after reciting that the boundary-line agreed on by
the former commissioners, on the 31st of August, 1779,—and which is
therein stated to have been unanimously confirmed by Pennsylvania on the
23d of September, 1780, with the condition attached thereto by
Virginia,[199]—was by this law finally confirmed.
-----
Footnote 199:
The conditions proposed by the state of Virginia (and which
Pennsylvania considered as having a tendency to countenance
unwarrantable claims that might be made under the state of Virginia,
in consequence of pretended purchases or settlements, pending the
controversy,) were these; viz:—That the line, commonly called Mason
and Dixon’s line, be extended due west, 5° of long. to be computed
from the river Delaware, for the southern boundary of Pennsylvania,
and that a meridian, drawn from the western extremity thereof, to the
northern limits of the said states, respectively, be the western
boundary of Pennsylvania, for ever: on condition, that the private
property and rights of all persons, acquired under, founded on, or
recognized by the laws of either country, previous to the 31st of
August, 1779, should be saved and confirmed to them, although they
should be found to fall within the other; and that in the decision of
disputes thereon &c. (see act of 1st April, 1784.)
-----
Mr. Rittenhouse bore so conspicuous a part, in negociating and executing
this long-depending and important business, that the writer of his life
could not deem it improper to introduce into it, this historical detail
of a transaction of so much moment, which originated in 1779 and was not
completed until 1784; and, more particularly, as (to use the words of
Dr. Rush,) “to his talents, moderation and firmness, were ascribed, in a
great degree, the satisfactory termination of that once alarming
controversy.”
The death of the Rev. Mr. Barton, which occurred in the spring of
1780,[200] put a period to the sincere and intimate friendship between
that gentleman and Mr. Rittenhouse, which had subsisted almost thirty
years. This friendship, which may be said to have commenced almost in
the youth of both parties, continued without interruption until the year
1776; when the declaration of American independence produced, unhappily,
some abatement of it on each side; at least, so far as related to that
great political measure, respecting which they entertained different
opinions: For, although Mr. Barton was, in truth, warmly attached to the
principles of the English whigs; and had, on various occasions,
manifested his zeal for the liberties of the American people and rights
of the colonists;[201] his opinions were conscientiously opposed, and
only these, to the expediency of that measure. Yet it is believed, that
the personal friendship of these intimate relatives was far from having
ever subsided: the ties that early united them, were of the strongest
kind; that union was of long continuance; and they were mutually
sensible of each other’s worth and talents.
-----
Footnote 200:
He died at New-York, the 25th of May, 1780, aged only fifty years; and
was interred in the chancel of St. George’s Chapel, in that city.
Footnote 201:
As Mr. Barton’s deportment and services, very early in life, evinced
his devotion to the happiness of his adopted country, the writer hopes
he may be permitted, without being chargeable with great impropriety,
to adduce the following evidences, among many which might be
exhibited, of the usefulness and public spirit of a person, who was,
during a long course of years, intimately connected with, and a
confidential friend of David Rittenhouse.
Annexed to a printed copy of “A letter, concerning the office and duty
of Protestant ministers, especially in times of public danger, written
to a clergyman on the frontiers of Pennsylvania, on general Braddock’s
defeat,”[201a] there is the following note:
“The gentleman to whom this was addressed,[201b] as well as some
ministers of other denominations, did, a few months after this, find
it necessary to appear at the head of their people, and were signally
instrumental in preventing some of the frontier counties from being
totally abandoned by their inhabitants.” See the Appendix to
“Discourses on public occasions in America: By William Smith, D. D.
Provost,” &c. who was the writer of the letter. It is dated,
“Philadelphia, August 21, 1755.”
Extract of a letter, dated London, January 10th, 1759, from the Hon.
Thomas Penn, Esq. to the Rev. Thomas Barton:—
“Since I received your last letter, I paid a visit to the present
Archbishop,[201c] and mentioned to him what you wished me to do. I
found he did not approve of your contemplated removal; but he
proposed, that twenty pounds sterling per annum should be added to
your salary: for, his grace observed, that a person so capable as you
are, to advise and assist the people in your neighbourhood,[201d]
could not be spared for any other mission: And, on that consideration,
the society[201e] had agreed to this augmentation of your salary.”
On the 17th of June, 1767, Mr. Penn again wrote to Mr. Barton, from
London; as follows:
“I am much concerned to find, that the missionaries have suffered so
much, and that you are so uneasy in your situation as to have asked
leave to move into Maryland. The society has offered, or intend to
offer, an addition to your salary, or some other encouragement, if you
stay in Pennsylvania: and I have desired Mr. Hamilton,[201f] who is
upon his return, to talk to you on this affair, before you take your
resolution; as I hope and intend to make you a present from me,[201g]
if you do not put that design into execution.”
Footnote 201a:
This letter is contained in a volume of Dr. Smith’s Sermons, &c.
published in England in two editions, in the years 1759 and 1762; and
is also comprehended in an elegant edition of the Doctor’s works,
republished in Philadelphia a few years since.
Footnote 201b:
The Rev. Mr. Barton.
Footnote 201c:
Dr. Thomas Secker, then lately translated from the diocese of Oxford
to the archi-episcopal see of Canterbury: “a name,” as the author of
the _Pursuits of Literature_ has justly observed, “never to be uttered
but with reverence, as the great exemplar of metropolitan strictness,
erudition, and dignity.” This excellent prelate, after most worthily
sustaining the highest station in the English church more than ten
years, died in the year 1768.
Footnote 201d:
Mr. Barton’s residence was, at that time, in Redding township, York
county, then a frontier settlement of Pennsylvania.
Footnote 201e:
The Society for the propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts.
Footnote 201f:
James Hamilton, Esquire.—This gentleman was lieutenant-governor of
Pennsylvania from the year 1748 to 1754—again, from 1759 to 1763—and
president of the proprietary and governor’s council, from the 6th of
May, 1771, to the 16th of October in the same year. He was a liberal
patron of learning and science.
“Est et Hamiltonus nomen venerabile, cujus
Intemerata fides.”——J. Beveridge, A.M.
Footnote 201g:
Mr. Penn actually gave to Mr. Barton, not long afterwards, the use of
a valuable farm, on which were three tenants, situated in the
neighbourhood of Lancaster. This farm, which was part of one of the
proprietary-manors, Mr. Barton held during his life.
-----
The name of the Rev. Mr. Barton, which has hitherto been so often
introduced in the course of these Memoirs, is closely connected with
that of Mr. Rittenhouse, in many of the more striking traits of his
Life: the writer cannot, therefore, restrain himself from acknowledging,
that he is happy in having this fair opportunity of rendering some small
tribute of respect—and, for himself, of filial veneration—to the memory
of a man distinguished by his virtue, his talents, and his learning;
one, who, independently of those considerations, alone, which arose out
of the American revolution, long enjoyed the friendship and esteem of
many of the most prominent characters in America, by reason of his
abilities and usefulness, as well as the urbanity of his manners. To
have said _less_ of this person, would be doing injustice to the life
and character of Mr. Rittenhouse: to say _more_, would perhaps be deemed
irrelevant to the subject; if not indecorous, as it regards the writer.
To return, however, more particularly to Mr. Rittenhouse. On the 10th
day of March, 1780, he was elected, by the general assembly of
Pennsylvania, a trustee of the loan-office of the state.
The institution here mentioned was a measure of financial policy, which
had its origin in Pennsylvania, at an early period of the provincial
government: and, from an experience of its beneficial effects, it was
not only continued, at various intervals of time, from the year 1723, to
the termination of that government; but was resorted to, and for some
time continued, by the state legislatures after the revolution. The
scarcity of gold and silver, among the earlier settlers of the province,
subjected them to many and great inconveniences, and suggested to the
legislature the necessity of adopting some rational and efficient means
of remedying the evil. The expedient was, the emiting, and making
current, bills of credit; which were loaned to cultivators of the soil
on the security of their lands, and repayable with interest, in annual
payments, within an assigned term of years. The first act of assembly
for this purpose was passed the 11th of May, 1723; and the preamble to
that law is expressive of its object: it states, that, “Forasmuch as
through the scarcity of money, the trade of this province is greatly
lessened and obstructed, and the payment of the public debts of this
government rendered exceeding difficult, and likely so to continue,
unless some medium in commerce be by law made current, instead of money:
for remedy whereof, may it please the governor that it be enacted, and
be it enacted by Sir William Keith, baronet, Governor, &c.” This act
then goes on to direct the emission of “fifteen thousand pounds, current
money of America, according to an act of Parliament made in the sixth
year of Queen Anne, for ascertaining the rates of foreign coins in the
Plantations;” and provides for the loaning of these bills, by persons
thereby appointed “trustees of the general loan-office;” to be loaned
out, upon the security of mortgages of real estates, within the
province, of at least three times the value of the sums lent: which sums
so loaned were made repayable in those bills, in eight years, in annual
payments of one-eighth part of the amount of the principal with the
addition of an interest of five per cent. per annum. The act also
contains a provision (but one which was omitted in the subsequent
loan-office laws,) for lending these bills upon the security of plate
also, for the term of one year. This paper-money, thus established upon
indubitable funds,[202] was made a legal tender in the payment of
debts;—and it never suffered any depreciation of its nominal value.[203]
-----
Footnote 202:
While the credit of the loan-office bills of credit, emitted in
moderate sums by the assembly of Pennsylvania, was fully supported,
during the course of seventy years, the quantities of paper-money
issued at different times, by the legislative body of Massachusetts,
down to the year 1748, had then depreciated that currency, for want of
it being bottomed on sufficient funds, to one-eleventh part of its
nominal value. Fortunately, about that period, a large sum in specie
arrived from England, having been granted by the British parliament to
reimburse the monies expended by the colonists in the expeditions
against Louisburg and Canada. In Massachusetts, this money was wisely
applied by its legislature to the redemption of the bills of credit of
that colony, then in circulation; which were sunk, in the succeeding
year, at the rate of fifty shillings, in those bills, for one ounce of
silver. Thus, the mint-price of an ounce of sterling silver being five
shillings and two pence, the bills were redeemed at the rate of nearly
nine shillings and eight pence, of their nominal value, for one
shilling in English coin.
Footnote 203:
How different, in this respect, from that species of paper-credit,
which, during the American war, succeeded it, under the denomination
of _continental money_! But this had nothing but the faith of
government pledged for its redemption; while the loan-office bills of
credit were bottomed (as all government-paper ought ever to be) on an
appropriated, sufficient, and substantial fund. For want of such a
foundation, Dr. Morse remarks, that “The whole history of the
continental paper is a history of public and private frauds. Old
specie debts,” says he, “were often paid in a depreciated currency;
and even new contracts, for a few weeks or days, were often discharged
with a small part of their value. From this plenty, and the
fluctuating state of the medium, sprung hosts of speculators and
itinerant traders, who left their honest occupations for the purpose
of immense gains in a fraudulent business, that depended on no fixed
principles, and the profits of which could be reduced to no certain
calculations.” See his Geographical work.
-----
Hence, an interesting fact is presented to the view of the reader; that,
ninety years ago, so small was the population, and so slender were the
agricultural and commercial resources of Pennsylvania, that the scanty
amount of a sum equivalent to forty thousand dollars, was deemed
adequate to the relief of the public and private difficulties in the
province, arising from the want of a sufficient circulating medium at
that time. Yet such was the increase of population and trade, and such
were the improvements in agriculture, in Pennsylvania, in half a century
afterwards, that the last loan-office law, under the provincial
government,[204] directed the emission of ten times the original sum; to
be applied, in aid of land-improvements, in loans for the term of
sixteen years; and repayable in like manner, with an annual interest of
six per centum.
-----
Footnote 204:
Passed 26th February, 1773.
-----
The same policy was pursued by the independent government of
Pennsylvania. Under the first loan-office law of that state,[205] the
sum of fifty thousand pounds was issued in bills of credit; and eight
years afterwards, a further sum of half a million of dollars (or
187,500_l._) was appropriated for the purposes of a loan-office on
similar principles, in pursuance of a law of the state.[206] But, as the
individual state-governments were prohibited by the constitution of the
United States, then recently established, from emitting bills of credit,
or making any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of
debts,—the money to be employed in loans, on mortgages of real estates,
was to be borrowed, according to the provisions of the law last
mentioned, from the bank of Pennsylvania; a power which the state had
reserved, for that express purpose, in the act to incorporate the
subscribers to that bank.[207]
-----
Footnote 205:
Passed 4th April, 1785.
Footnote 206:
Passed 11th April, 1793.
Footnote 207:
Passed 30th March, 1793.
-----
This loan-office law was, however, the last in Pennsylvania.[208] The
establishment of banks, for facilitating the purposes of trade, together
with the great improvements and wealth to which the landed interest of
the state had attained, by means of a widely extended foreign commerce,
coming in aid of the benefits which the cultivators had previously
derived from the loan-office system, superseded, in a great degree, the
utility of this institution. In one year after the last loan-office was
erected, the law for that purpose was repealed; the repealing act
declaring—that it had been found inexpedient, and not to answer the
purposes intended by the legislature. In fact, the establishment of
banks in the interior of the country, not only supplies the place of a
loan-office, in relation to the farmer, but greatly facilitates the
extensive inland trade of the state. Experience has demonstrated, that,
operating in this way, they are productive of all the important
advantages of the loan-office system: and of this institution, the late
governor Pownall speaks in these remarkable words—“I will venture to
say, that there never was a wiser or a better measure; never one better
calculated to serve the uses of an increasing country; that there never
was a measure more steadily pursued, or more faithfully executed, for
forty years together,[209] than the loan-office in Pennsylvania, formed
and administered by the assembly of that province.”[210]
-----
Footnote 208:
Mr. Rittenhouse continued to hold the place of a trustee of the
loan-office more than ten years; but on the 1st of April, 1790, a law
was passed, by which all the powers and duties of the trustees of that
institution were transferred to, and vested in, the treasurer of the
state.
Footnote 209:
The loan-office system was kept up, in Pennsylvania, thirty years
after governor Pownall wrote.
Footnote 210:
Paper-money was not so well managed in some of the other colonies,
where it was issued in too large quantities, and its credit not
established on funds sufficiently stable and secure;[210a] a
circumstance which induced the parliament of Great-Britain to
interdict, for a time, further emissions of that sort of money, called
bills of credit, by the provincial legislatures.
Although the last emission of loan-office bills of credit, under the
colonial government of Pennsylvania, was made in the beginning of the
year 1773, the want of this succedaneum for gold and silver, as a
circulating medium of commerce commensurate to the encreased
population and trade of the country, was experienced some considerable
time before. In a letter written by the Hon. Mr. T. Penn to the Rev.
Mr. Barton, dated, London, June 17, 1767, the writer says:
“Your account of the increase of the growth of hemp, gives me great
pleasure; and I think the demand there has been for wheat, since the
date of your letter, must have made the country people rich, even
those who were poor before: it will prevent people being under the
necessity of parting with their lands, and going to Carolina. Their
produce will always bring them money at Philadelphia, notwithstanding
there may be some more need for paper-money; yet, when trade is brisk,
it circulates faster, and a less quantity will carry on a greater
trade: however, I hope, in the next session of parliament, we may get
the law which prohibits our making any more, repealed.”
The parliamentary restriction was, in fact, afterwards taken off; and
an effort was made, in the beginning of the year 1770, by the
legislature of Pennsylvania, to enact a loan-office law, for the
purpose of putting in circulation a further emission of paper-money:
but the measure then miscarried, in consequence of some disagreement
between the governor and the general assembly respecting the right
they severally claimed, of appointing the trustees of the proposed
loan-office.
Footnote 210a:
See Note 202.
-----
In the year 1782, Mr. Rittenhouse was elected a Fellow of the Academy of
Arts and Sciences, of Boston: his certificate bears date the 30th of
January, in that year. This academy, which Dr. Morse ranks among the
first literary institutions in the state of Massachusetts, holds a very
respectable station in relation to science: yet it was not established
till so lately as May 4, 1780. The end and design of the institution are
stated to be—“to promote and encourage the knowledge of the antiquities
of America, and of the natural history of the country, and to determine
the uses to which its various natural productions may be applied: also,
to promote and encourage medical discoveries, mathematical
disquisitions, philosophical enquiries and experiments; astronomical,
meteorological and geographical observations, improvements in
agriculture, arts, manufactures, commerce, and the cultivation of every
science that may tend to advance a free, independent and virtuous
people.”[211]
-----
Footnote 211:
The number of members in the Boston Academy is never to exceed two
hundred, nor to be less than forty. By being limited to so moderate a
number as the former, for the greater extreme, this academy will be
likely to select suitable persons for the honour of fellowship, with
the more discriminating circumspection.
-----
It is supposed to have been somewhat about this time, that Mr.
Rittenhouse exercised his ingenuity upon an object, which, though not of
great importance, is nevertheless a matter of considerable utility and
some curiosity; the invention of an Hygrometer, made wholly of wood. The
simplicity of the construction of this instrument, renders it easily
attainable by almost every one; and as it is found to answer, very well,
the end for which more expensive instruments are often employed, it may
be considered as being more generally useful. Descriptions of the
construction, and principle of operation, of this Hygrometer, having
been furnished to the writer through the obligingness of two of his
friends,[212] a very concise account of it, drawn up from those
descriptions, is given in the Appendix.
-----
Footnote 212:
Robert Patterson, Esq. Director of the Mint, and David Rittenhouse
Waters, Esq. a gentleman bred to the law, and a grandson of the late
Dr. Rittenhouse.
The decease of Mr. Waters happened soon after: he died on the 4th of
September, 1813, at the premature age of twenty-two years. Although he
had just entered on the threshold of the world, this excellent young
man exhibited many proofs of extraordinary attainments in literature
and science, as well as of a superior genius. He appeared to have
inherited from his maternal grandfather, congenial talents. In his
life, his amiable disposition endeared him to all who had an
opportunity of knowing his virtues: in his death, not only have his
relatives and friends experienced an afflicting bereavement, but his
country has sustained the loss of a citizen of great promise.
-----
A circumstance shall be noticed in this place, which, although trivial
in itself, will serve to shew the grateful sense entertained by our
Philosopher of the merits of General Washington. It appears, that just
about the time when the provisional articles of peace, concluded on
between the United States and Great-Britain, were made known in America,
Mr. Rittenhouse had forwarded to the General, at the head-quarters of
the army, a pair of spectacles, and reading glasses,—as a small
testimonial of his respect for the character and services of that great
man. The terms of the letter that accompanied this little present, are
not known to the writer of these memoirs; but, of what complexion they
were, may be inferred from the General’s answer, which is in these
words:
“_Newburgh, 16th Feb. 1783._
“Sir,
“I have been honoured with your letter of the 7th, and beg you to
accept my sincere thanks, for the favor conferred on me, in the
Glasses—which are very fine; but more particularly, for the flattering
expressions which accompanied the present.
“The Spectacles suit my eyes extremely well—as I am persuaded the
Reading-Glasses also will, when I get more accustomed to the use of
them. At present, I find some difficulty in coming at the proper
focus; but when I do obtain it, they magnify perfectly, and shew those
letters very distinctly, which at first appear like a mist—blended
together and confused. With great esteem and respect, I am, Sir, your
most obedient and humble servant,
“GO. WASHINGTON.
“DAVID RITTENHOUSE, Esq.”
The grinding and polishing of the glasses were of Mr. Rittenhouse’s own
workmanship; and they were made for the purpose. This circumstance,
added to the manner and occasion of their being presented, could not
fail of being highly acceptable to the General.
In the year 1784, Mr. Rittenhouse was employed on the part of
Pennsylvania, for the purpose of determining the western extension of
that state; and was associated in that business with Mr. Lukens, Dr.
Ewing, and Capt. Hutchins: the commissioners in behalf of Virginia were
Dr. (afterwards bishop) Madison, Mr. Ellicott,[213] Mr. J. Page, and the
Rev. Mr. R. Andrews. A record of the astronomical observations which
were made on this occasion, and on similar ones of an important nature,
will be found detailed in a letter, under the date of April 2, 1795,
addressed by Mr. Ellicott to Mr. Patterson, in the fourth volume of the
Am. Philos. Society’s Transactions. Among the observations contained in
the first part of that letter, are those of the immersions of the
satellites of Jupiter, taken at Wilmington on the Delaware, by Messrs.
Rittenhouse, Lukens, Page and Andrews, at divers days from the 1st to
the 23d of August, in the year 1784; together with those taken at the
western observatory by Messrs. Ellicott, Ewing, Madison and Hutchins, at
divers days from the 17th of July to the 19th of August; also, the
emersions of those satellites by the same eastern observers, from the
29th of August to the 19th of September; and by the same western
observers, from the 27th of August to the 19th of September; all in the
same year.
-----
Footnote 213:
Although Mr. Ellicott is a native of Pennsylvania, and was a citizen
of that state until the British army took possession of Philadelphia,
in 1777, he resided in Baltimore county about eight years after that
event.
-----
“After the determination,” says Mr. Ellicott, “we completed the southern
boundary of Pennsylvania; it being likewise the north boundary of
Maryland, and a part of Virginia; and which had been carried on some
years before,[214] by Messrs. Mason and Dixon, the distance of 242
miles.” This line is in the parallel of 39° 43′ 18″ North latitude.[215]
-----
Footnote 214:
In the years 1767 and 1768.
Footnote 215:
The difference of 16′ 42″, between the latitude above mentioned and
the beginning of the 40th degree of north latitude, (which was the
southern limit assigned to Pennsylvania, by her charter,) was gained
by Mr. Penn, as far as the northern boundary of Maryland extended
westward, in consequence of a compromise entered into by him and Lord
Baltimore; whereby the latter obtained some advantage on his part in
return. From the western extremity of this northern boundary of
Maryland, the line between Pennsylvania and Virginia was continued,
westward, in the same parallel of latitude, (instead of these coming
back to the 40th deg. of N. lat.) by virtue of an agreement between
these two states; the former, in consideration of that privilege,
relinquishing her right to run her western boundary line parallel to
the meandrings of the river Delaware.
-----
It was at the close of this year, that the college of William and Mary,
in Virginia, complimented Mr. Rittenhouse with an honorary degree of
Master of Arts, by an unanimous vote of the rectors and faculty of that
institution. His diploma, which is a special one, and wherein he is
styled the Chief of Philosophers,[216] has a place in the Appendix.
-----
Footnote 216:
“Principem Philosophorum,” in the original:—Such was the appellation
(Principes Philosophorum) by which Cicero honours Pythagoras,
Democritus, Plato, Xenocrates, Zeno, Cleanthes, Diogenes the Stoic;
men, among others, whose usefulness (he observes) old age might
diminish, but not destroy.
-----
The college of William and Mary was founded in the joint reign of the
king and queen of those names, who endowed it with twenty thousand acres
of land, besides a small duty on certain exported tobaccoes, granted by
stat. 25 Ch. II: in addition to which, the assembly of Virginia also
gave to it, by temporary laws, a duty on liquors imported, and on skins
and furs exported. And from these resources, its funds amounted, on a
medium, to more than 3,000_l._ Virginia currency, (or $10,000,) per
annum. The Hon. Robert Boyle,[217] of England, had also made a liberal
donation to this college, for the purpose of instituting a
professorship, called the Brafferton, (the name of the English estate,
purchased with the money granted by him to the college,) for the purpose
of compensating missionaries, to instruct the Indian natives and to
convert them to Christianity. After the revolution, the constitution of
the college of William and Mary underwent a considerable change: three
of the six original professorships, that is to say, two of Divinity, and
one of the Greek and Latin languages, were abolished; and three others,
namely, one for Law and Police—one for Anatomy and Medicine—and a third
for Modern Languages, were substituted in their stead; the Brafferton,
it is presumed, has been diverted into other channels, if not wholly
neglected.
-----
Footnote 217:
Mr. Boyle was the seventh son of Richard, the first earl of Cork, in
Ireland, and first earl of Burlington, in England; and was born at
Lismore in Ireland, the 26th of January, 1627. This eminent
philosopher and sincere Christian established, by his will, in the
year 1691, a perpetual fund, equivalent to about two hundred and
twenty-two dollars per annum, for instituting a course of eight
sermons or lectures, to be delivered annually; designed to prove the
truth of Christianity, generally, without engaging in any of the
controversies subsisting among its professors: And to this
establishment, denominated _Boyle’s Lectures_, the world are indebted
for many able and elaborate defences both of natural and revealed
religion. In addition to several extensive benefactions, for
charitable and religious purposes, of this great and excellent man,
besides his donation to the College of William-and-Mary (which,
according to Mr. Jefferson, was “considerable” in its amount,) he
gave, in his lifetime, a sum equivalent to thirteen hundred and
thirty-three dollars, towards propagating the Christian Religion in
America. So great was his veneration for the name of God, that he
never pronounced it without a discernible pause: he was steady in his
secret addresses to the throne of heaven: and, amidst all his
enquiries into nature, his chief design seemed to be that of
continually elevating his own mind, and the minds of others, by
contemplating the Glory, the Wisdom, and the Goodness of God. Were
this illustrious man to be considered in no other point of view, than
that of a benefactor to America, his memory would be entitled to
respect in this country: but his virtues, his talents, and the
services he has rendered to mankind in general, will for ever endear
his name to the good and wise of all nations. He died the 30th of
December, in the year 1691.
-----
This once respectable college, or university, is at present in an
unprosperous condition; and will not probably soon, if ever, regain its
former reputation. A country of which a large portion of the population
consists of slaves, is ill suited for the site of an extensive seminary
of learning, and for the education of youth: nor can it be expected,
that where an almost despotic sway of masters over their slaves[218] is
daily exhibited to the view of both young and old, the children of those
masters will submit to that degree of subordination, and to that
exercise of authority by their literary preceptors, which the discipline
of an academic education renders indispensable. The late Bishop Madison
contributed much by his abilities, his suavity of manners and his
prudence, to maintain a due degree of order in this institution, over
which he long presided with distinguished reputation; but the death of
that respectable man, it is feared, augurs ill for the future prosperity
of the seminary.
-----
Footnote 218:
The author of a poem, entitled, ‘The Dying Negro,’ has introduced
these lines into that poem:[218a]
“Oft have I seen them, at the break of day,
“Rous’d by the lash, go forth their cheerless way.”
No man ever held the slave-trade, and the condition of the hapless
people who are the objects of that nefarious traffic, in greater
abhorrence, than the benevolent Rittenhouse: a passage in his Oration,
fully evinces his sentiments on this subject.
In addition to this highly respectable testimony against Negro
Slavery, let it be remembered, that one of the last acts, of a public
nature, in which our philosopher’s predecessor[218b] was concerned,
was to sanction with his name the Memorial presented to the government
of the United States, on the subject of the Slave-Trade, by “The
Pennsylvania Society for promoting the Abolition of Slavery, and the
relief of free Negroes, unlawfully held in Bondage;” of which Society,
that distinguished man was the President.
Footnote 218a:
It was written by Mr. Day, the friend of Mr. Darwin.
Footnote 218b:
Dr. Franklin.
-----
In the year following, the tracing of a meridian, northward, for the
western boundary of Pennsylvania,—and, consequently, the eastern
boundary of part of Virginia,—was commenced, from the western end of the
southern line of Pennsylvania before mentioned. On this occasion, Mr.
Rittenhouse addressed the following letter to Mr. Ellicott.
“_Philadelphia, April 28th, 1785._
“Dear Sir,
“For some months past I had not the least apprehension of being
obliged to visit the Ohio, this spring; but our affairs have taken
such a turn, that at present it is probable I shall meet you, at the
time and place appointed. Capt. Hutchins has been sent for to New
York, by Congress, as the trustees of the university will not consent
to Dr. Ewing’s absence. One or other of us will certainly set off in a
few days, to meet you: our waggons are already gone.
“I have earnestly recommended to council to commission you to act in
behalf of Pennsylvania,[219] after we pass the Ohio; and the president
directs me to inform you, that they mean to send you a commission for
the purpose: I hope it will suit your convenience.
“I ought long since to have informed you, that you were elected a
member of our Philosophical Society—I wish you would favour us with a
communication, on any subject you please. Pray let me hear from you,
before you leave Baltimore. Have you any account from Virginia? I am,
dear sir, yours with respect and sincerity.
“DAVID RITTENHOUSE.
“ANDREW ELLICOTT, Esq. Baltimore.”
-----
Footnote 219:
Mr. Ellicott being a commissioner for Virginia, his powers would have
ceased, as soon as the boundary-line between that state and
Pennsylvania had reached the river Ohio. The object, therefore, was to
enable him to complete it, to its western extremity.
-----
This boundary-line was begun in May, 1785, by Messrs. Rittenhouse,
Ellicott, Porter, and Nevill; assisted by the present Dr. Benjamin Smith
Barton, then a youth about nineteen years of age, whose medical and
other scientific acquirements rendered him, even at that early period of
life, an useful associate of the commissioners. Mr. Nevill (who was
employed on the part of Virginia) left the other commissioners late in
August; and Mr. Rittenhouse, about the middle of September.[220] Dr.
Barton remained until some time in October, when these operations ceased
for that season. The line then wanted about 55⅓ miles of being
completed: and this part of it, to its intersection of the margin of
Lake Erie, was finished in the following year, by Col. Porter and
Alexander Maclain, Esq.[221]
-----
Footnote 220:
The following report of the progress of their work was made by the
commissioners, to the government of Pennsylvania, between three and
four weeks before Mr. Rittenhouse set out on his return to
Philadelphia: it is entered on the journal of the general assembly of
that state, under the date of Nov. 2, 1785.
“We the subscribers, commissioners, appointed by the states of
Pennsylvania and Virginia, to ascertain the boundary between the said
states, do certify, that we have carried on a meridian line from the
south-west corner of Pennsylvania, northward, to the river Ohio; and
marked it, by cutting a wide vista over all the principal hills
intersected by the said line, and by falling or deadening a line of
trees, generally, through all the lower grounds. And we have likewise
placed stones, marked on the east side, P. and on the west side, V. on
most of the principal hills, and where the line strikes the Ohio;
which stones are accurately placed in the true meridian, bounding the
states as aforesaid.”
“Witness our hands and seals, this 23d day of August, 1785. (Signed,)
DAVID RITTENHOUSE, ANDREW PORTER, Pennsylvania; ANDREW ELLICOTT,
JOSEPH NEVILL; Virginia.”
Footnote 221:
Mr. Rittenhouse had probably a reference to the expected completion of
this line, perhaps to the whole business, generally, when, in a letter
to Mr. Ellicott, of the 31st of Jan. 1786, he says; “I shall be able,
some time hence, to write to you more fully about the boundary lines.”
-----
It will be readily conceived, that a person of Mr. Rittenhouse’s
delicate constitution, and regularity in his mode of living when at
home, must have experienced much inconvenience and felt many privations
of comfort, while climbing rugged mountains, traversing vast
uncultivated forests, and sleeping in a tent, for successive months, as
he was necessarily obliged to do, when employed on occasions of this
kind. For, although the government afforded to the gentlemen engaged in
these arduous services, very liberal accommodations, there were,
nevertheless, numerous conveniencies which the nature of the duty to be
performed rendered unattainable. Yet it is a fact, that Mr. Rittenhouse
always returned from these excursions with a better stock of health,
than he sat out with; notwithstanding the hardships he sometimes
endured, and the many unpleasant circumstances in regard to weather,
diet, bedding, &c. which he was compelled to encounter. The two
following letters, written by him to his wife, while he was engaged in
the service of establishing the boundary-line last mentioned, will
enable the reader to form a pretty good judgment of the kind of life he
then passed. They will at the same time serve to shew, in some degree,
the bent of his mind and the disposition of his heart.
The first of those letters, dated at “Wheeling Creek,” June 30th 1785,
is in these words.
“My dearest H,
“I have not heard one word from Philadelphia, since I left you. About
a month ago I wrote to you from Union Town, and I promise myself a
letter from you by the first messenger from that place, who is now
daily expected. To-morrow Mr. Armstrong sets off for Hanna’s Town,
where he expects to meet brother Isaac Jacobs, so that I write in
confidence of my letter reaching you.
“If I were to view only the dark side of my situation, I should
complain that I am here secluded from the society of those I love,
deprived of books and every other of my most favourite amusements;
confined to homely fare by day, and a hard bed at night; and obliged,
by our business, to take rather too much exercise. But these
inconveniences are in some measure counterbalanced by several
advantages: I am not condemned to hear that eternal din for money,
which it pains me to think you are every day perplexed with;[222]
politics have no existence here; constant and regular exercise causes
me to sleep much better at nights, than I did at home;—we have a woman
to cook for us, so that our bread is good, and every thing else
tolerable. Colonel Porter is attentive, and cousin Benjamin[223] has
recommended himself as an agreeable companion, to all of us; and I
could almost call Mr. Ellicott a congenial soul.
“I ever delighted in a wild uncultivated country; this is truly
romantic, and, at this season of the year, beautiful and luxuriant in
the highest degree. A few days ago, I walked up a little rivulet, in
company with Mr. Ellicott, for a considerable distance, in order to
enjoy the romantic scene. It was bounded on each side by steep hills
of an immense height: its bottom was finely paved with large
flag-stones, rising in steps, with, every now and then, a beautiful
cascade. The further we went, the more gloomy and cool we found it. At
last, I advised Mr. Ellicott that we should proceed no further; for,
if we did, we should in all probability find some of the
water-goddesses,—perhaps stark naked and fast asleep. Mr. A—— went
with us, for company-sake; but neither the nymphs nor their shady
bowers have any charms for _him_.[224]—Nothing but your company was
wanting to me, to heighten the enchanting scene.
“Deer are incredibly plenty here—I was the first that caught a young
fawn, and hoped to have sent the beautiful little animal a present to
H****. We kept it about a week, and it became quite tame; but our cows
ran away, and it was starved for want of milk. Col. P. called it F——
B——, and says H**** shall at least have the skin. We have all been
very healthy; my cough diminishes slowly, my old complaint is less
troublesome, and I have no other.
“I am not yet determined, as to the time of my return. Later than
September, I have no thoughts of staying; perhaps the fear of riding
in hot weather may induce me to stay till then.
“We have, hitherto, made so slow a progress, that I am much
dissatisfied with it; but do not know how to help it. Our greatest
difficulty arises from the nature of the ground; and the idleness of
the people of the country, is not the least. We have had about thirty
men employed, and are not yet able to go more than a mile per day. I
was about writing to the Vice-President, on this subject; but, on
second thoughts, concluded it best not to do it: I wish, however, that
council would, by some official letter, urge us to proceed with all
the dispatch consistent with the accuracy they expect.
“I wish to write to B***** and H****; but you will not readily imagine
how little leisure I have: Tired of the exercise of the day, I rejoice
at the approach of night; and, after a cup of tea, generally lie down
to rest as soon as it is dark, unless we have observations to make;
and then we have generally half a mile to walk, through dark woods,
from the place of observation to our encampment: this, however, does
not happen above once in a fortnight.
“Sun, gallop down the western skies;
Go quick to bed, and quickly rise;”
Until you bring round the happy day, that will restore me again to the
dear woman and children I so much love.
“Give my love to my children, and the few friends that are really
concerned for my welfare. God bless you, and make you at least as
happy as I am; and then, I am sure, you will not complain. Your ever
affectionate
“D. RITTENHOUSE.
“Mrs. HANNAH RITTENHOUSE.”
-----
Footnote 222:
Mr. Rittenhouse, being then treasurer of the state, alludes to those
incessant demands on the treasury for money, which, by reason of the
financial embarrassments of the government, at that period, could not
be always punctually paid. The activity, and the very intelligent mind
of Mrs. Rittenhouse, both prompted and enabled her to relieve her
husband from much of the perplexity, which at that time attended the
duties of state-treasurer. Indeed, it was owing to the great attention
of that excellent woman to some of the more important transactions of
the office, and her capability to manage and superintend the current
business of that department of the public affairs, in the absence of
her husband from home, or when incapacitated by bodily indisposition
from personally attending, that the government was enabled to avail
itself, in several instances, of the talents and services of Mr.
Rittenhouse, in matters of high importance to the community, which
required the aid of his abilities. On such occasions, he ever found
Mrs. Rittenhouse a competent, as well as a most faithful assistant, in
the business of the treasury.
Footnote 223:
So he then used to call his nephew, the present Professor Barton.
-----
Footnote 224:
Mr. A. was a worthy and pleasant man: but, he was an old bachelor.
-----
---
The other letter, dated at the “Head Waters of Buffalo,” the thirteenth
of July, is as follows.
“My dearest H,
“I need not say how much I feel for you, on account of the
disagreeable situation in which you last wrote. The only advice, I
believe, which I thought it necessary to give you, at leaving you, was
to keep up your spirits and endeavour to bear the fatigues of the
office. What will you say, or what will you think, when I tell you, I
believe it scarcely possible for any thing to contribute so much to
reconcile me to your absence, as the aversion I have to the plagues of
that same office.
“You have heard the reports concerning the Indians. We are still
ignorant of the true state of matters; but, from every information we
can get, it seems very improbable that we shall cross the Ohio this
summer: on this side of the river, we do not apprehend the least
danger.
“On Saturday last, we suddenly emerged from the gloomy, uncultivated
desert, into a habitable country; and encamped with joy in an open
field where we could once more see the heavens around us,—a sight we
had not been blest with, for five weeks past. Wheat, rye, and
Indian-corn, growing, afforded a very pleasing sight; even the barking
of dogs and crowing of cocks were agreeable. The next day being
Sunday, several of the neighbours, their wives and daughters, paid us
a visit; and amongst them, at least one spruce young lady, bred at the
metropolis, Fort-Pitt.[225] But would you believe it? such is my
unreasonable and incurable aversion to company, that their visits soon
became irksome. They hindered me from enjoying a lonely walk, or some
passage in Milton,—or, perhaps, a loll on my bed. Nay, even our
fellow-commissioners, the Virginians, I mean; I sometimes wish their
wine was better, and flowed more plentifully: not that I might enjoy
it with them; but that I might enjoy myself the more, alone.
“Whether you will believe me or not, I do not know; but my health is
really much better. As I told you in my last, my old complaint is the
only one I have; and this is, and has been for several weeks,
infinitely more supportable, than I have known it for months together.
I do not, indeed, flatter myself with a cure; it is, in all
probability, fixed for life: but an alleviation of the pain I have
usually felt, is to me of much importance.
“We have, for three weeks past, had a much greater proportion of dry
weather; and in this country, when it does not rain, the sky is always
fair, of a beautiful blue, and the air serene. There has been nothing
like a storm, nor scarce a puff of wind, since we came here. Though
thunder, lightning, and rain, are so very frequent, they are never
attended with high winds, nor scarcely a perceptible motion of the
air. For a month past, we had a very decent woman to cook for us, but
some little family broils obliged us to pack her home again. Our boys
have, however, learnt from her to bake good bread, and to cook much
better than they did. I mention this, because you will be pleased with
any thing that can contribute to my comfort.
“I expect several opportunities of writing, before we reach the Ohio,
none of which shall be neglected. I must lay down the pen, to retire
to rest after the fatigues of the day. Wishing you a very good night,
I conclude, &c. your ever affectionate
“DAVID RITTENHOUSE.
“MRS. RITTENHOUSE.”
“P. S. Having mentioned the fatigues of the day, I must assure you
that I find my strength fully equal to them: As to walking up the
hills, I never pretend to it, having always a horse to ride—Col. P. is
every thing I could wish; I mean, so far as is necessary to me.”
-----
Footnote 225:
Now the flourishing borough of Pittsburgh, situated at the confluence
of the rivers Allegany and Monongahela, which form, by their junction,
the commencement of the great river Ohio.
This place, which is distant about thirty-five miles, eastward, from
the western boundary-line of Pennsylvania, was the site of a fort,
formerly erected by the French, which they called Fort Du Quesne; but
on its reduction by the English, it was named by them Fort-Pitt; and
by this name the place is still recognized by many people.
-----
---
This arduous business of determining the territorial limits of several
great states, which commenced before the American revolution, was not
terminated until some years afterward. And on every occasion of that
kind, where Mr. Rittenhouse’s situation, in respect to health and
official duties, admitted of his being employed, his talents placed his
services in requisition.
He had been at home but a few weeks, after being engaged in running the
Western boundary of Pennsylvania, before he was elected by Congress,
together with the Rev. Dr. Ewing, and Thomas Hutchins, Esq. afterwards
Geographer of the United States, a commissioner “for running a line of
jurisdiction between the states of Massachusetts and New-York,
conformably to the laws of the said states.” This appointment was made
on the 2d day of December, 1785.[226] It was not, however, until the
year 1787, that the legislature of New-York ceded to the state of
Massachusetts all the lands within their jurisdiction, Westward of a
meridian to be drawn from a point in the Northern boundary of
Pennsylvania, eighty-two miles West from the river Delaware; excepting
one mile along the Eastern side of the Niagara river; and also ten
townships between the Chenengo and Owegy rivers; reserving the
jurisdiction to the state of New-York: a cession which was made to
satisfy a claim of Massachusetts, founded upon their original charter.
-----
Footnote 226:
By an agreement, entered into, on the 18th of May, 1773, between
commissioners appointed by the legislatures of New-York and
Massachusetts, respectively, for the settlement of a partition-line of
jurisdiction between those (then) provinces, on the eastern part of
New-York, and from the southern to the northern boundaries of
Massachusetts, (then called Massachusett’s Bay;) in compliance with
the king’s recommendations, which had been previously signified to sir
Henry Moore, and Francis Barnard, Esq. the then governors of those
provinces. The commissioners, on the part of New-York, were John
Watts, Robert R. Livingston, and William Nicoll, Esq’rs. and on that
of Massachusetts, William Brattle, Joseph Hawley, and John Hancock,
Esq’rs. These gentlemen met, in pursuance of their appointment, at
Hartford in the (then) province of Connecticut, where, after divers
conferences, they concluded on the following line, as the one which
should, at all times thereafter, be the line of jurisdiction between
Massachusetts and New-York, wheresoever the latter, on its eastern
boundary, should adjoin on the former: that is to say, beginning at a
place fixed upon by the two governments of New-York and Connecticut,
about the year 1731, for the north-western corner of a tract of land
commonly called the Oblong, or Equivalent Land; and running from that
corner, north, 21° 10′ 30″ east (as the needle then pointed,) to the
northern line of Massachusetts. This agreement was ratified by the
governors of Massachusetts and New-York, on the same day; and
commissioners were accordingly appointed by both provinces, before the
revolution, to run the line thus defined. It was, in part, then
effected; but those commissioners not having been able to proceed, by
reason of an eventual disagreement between them, this line was finally
run out, surveyed, ascertained and marked, by the commissioners
appointed by congress, whom the two governments concerned had
empowered to make such appointment.
-----
This line was accordingly run, in the year 1787, by the commissioners so
appointed for the purpose:—And “this last business, which was executed
with his usual precision and integrity”—says Dr. Rush, speaking of Mr.
Rittenhouse,—“ was his farewell peace-offering to the union and
happiness of his country.”
It was not until the year 1786, that the American Philosophical Society
were enabled to publish a second volume of their Transactions:[227] it
then made its appearance. Into that volume is introduced a letter to the
Society, in the original Latin, (accompanied with an English
translation,)[228] from the celebrated C. Mayer, the Elector
Palatine’s[229] Astronomer at Manheim, dated so long before as the 24th
of April, 1778. The receipt of that letter had been acknowledged by Mr.
Rittenhouse, according to a special order of the Society, so early as
the 20th of August, 1779; and the answer, it is presumable, was duly
transmitted to Mr. Mayer. Yet, although there was a lapse of seven
years, from the date of Mr. Rittenhouse’s letter to the time of Mr.
Mayer’s communication being printed in the Society’s Transactions, the
former was, by some unaccountable circumstance, omitted and unnoticed!
Nor will the reader’s surprise on this occasion be diminished, when he
learns, that a member of the Society, having obtained from Mr.
Rittenhouse a copy of his letter, had it read at their stated meeting on
the 16th of March, 1792,—twelve years and a half after its date; that it
was, thereupon, “referred to the committee of selection and
publication:” and, notwithstanding, by some other fatality, that letter
remained unpublished until now; being twenty-one years afterwards!
-----
Footnote 227:
In the beginning of the same year, Mr. Rittenhouse was elected one of
the twelve Counsellors of the American Philosophical Society; an
office in that institution, created by the incorporating act of the
15th of March, 1780.
Footnote 228:
There was some unaccountable mismanagement in the whole of this
business, on the part of the society. Mr. Mayer’s letter is published
entire, in the original Latin: but the translation ends, abruptly, in
the middle of a paragraph. When Mr. Rittenhouse was directed by the
society to answer that letter, he requested the writer of these
memoirs to furnish him with an English translation of it, for the
purpose of comparing with it one which he had himself attempted. That
translation (which, by Mr. Rittenhouse’s desire, was made to conform
pretty closely to the original,) is inserted in the Appendix, entire,
together with the hitherto unpublished answer.
Footnote 229:
Charles Theodore, Duke of Bavaria, who is denominated by Lalande, “an
illustrious patron of the sciences.”
It is about fifty years since this prince built an observatory near
the gardens of Schwetzingen, two leagues from the city of Manheim; and
there Father Christian Mayer pursued his astronomical labours for
several years. But about the year 1772, the same prince erected
another and a more magnificent edifice (of 108 Rhenish feet in
height,) at Manheim, for the same purpose: where Father Mayer made
numerous and highly estimable observations; as may be collected from
his work, entitled, _De novis in Cælo Siderio Phænomenis_. Lalande
places this observatory in N. Lat. 49° 29′ 15″.
-----
On a perusal of the answer to Mr. Mayer’s communication (in the
Appendix,) it will be found, that the “eminent utility,” which he
expected to result, at some future day, to astronomical science, from a
prosecution of such discoveries as he had recently made among the fixed
stars, had been long before anticipated by our Astronomer. In that
answer Mr. Rittenhouse mentions, that he is induced to request his
correspondent’s acceptance of a copy of the Oration he had delivered
before the American Philosophical Society, “some years”
before:—“because,” says the writer, “I therein gave my opinion, that the
fixed stars afforded the most spacious field for the industry of future
astronomers; and expressed my hopes, that the noblest mysteries would
sometime be unfolded, in those immensely distant regions.”
This early opinion of his own concerning the fixed stars, to which Mr.
Rittenhouse refers in his letter, is expressed in his Oration, in this
short paragraph: “If astronomy shall again break those limits that now
confine it, and expatiate freely in the superior celestial fields,—what
amazing discoveries may yet be made among the fixed stars! That grand
phænomenon the Milky way, seems to be the clue, that will one day guide
us.”
Such were the expectations entertained by our Philosopher, more than
three years before the date of Mr. Mayer’s communication of his
discovery to the Philosophical Society;—a discovery which Mr.
Rittenhouse, in his letter to that great astronomer, styles “excellent;”
and one that proves his own “presage” to have been well founded. He, at
the same time, modestly suggests to Mr. Mayer, the institution of a
comparison between the many observations he had already made, in order
to determine, whether the several changes observed will agree with any
imagined motion of our system; remarking, that those he had
communicated, seemed to favour such a supposition.
How important soever, in relation to astronomy, the phænomena observed
by Mayer may be, the honour of first discovering them certainly belongs
to him. Mr. Rittenhouse was not the discoverer: nor had he ever access
to so complete and expensive an astronomical apparatus, as that used by
Mayer on the occasion, and with which he was furnished by means of
princely munificence. But all candid men of science will, nevertheless,
be disposed to allow the American Astronomer no inconsiderable share of
merit for the early “presage,” which his deep-discerning and vastly
comprehensive mind enabled him to suggest, of some such future
discoveries.
The writer of these memoirs deemed it his duty to do justice to the
memory of the subject of them, by giving publicity to these interesting
circumstances; and the performance of this duty is the more gratifying
to the writer, because he alone possesses a knowledge of all the facts
he has stated, concerning them.
The late discoveries of Dr. Herschel, among the fixed stars, in addition
to those previously made by Mr. Mayer, have in a greater degree realised
the expectations which were formed, many years before either, by our
Astronomer; such, indeed, as are almost entitled to the character of
prescient annunciations, respecting that portion of the heavens which
should, some time or other, be the scene of the most important
astronomical discoveries. According to Herschel, the Milky Way is an
immense nebula, near one of the sides of which, is placed the solar
system; and he imagines, that each nebula, of which he had observed more
than nine hundred, consists of a group of suns, with their attendant
planets!
Mr. Rittenhouse never possessed the means of acquiring such stupendous
and costly telescopes, as those used by Herschel, for the purpose of
exploring the heavens. But the penetrating genius of our countryman
seems to have contemplated, by anticipation, the actual existence of
those sublime phænomena, some of which the vastly superior instruments
of the Germano-Anglican Astronomer have since manifested; when, in
language apparently prophetic, but certainly dictated by the most
exalted pre-conceptions of the grandeur of celestial objects which were
yet undiscovered, the American Philosopher observes, as he does in his
Oration,—that “all yonder stars innumerable, with their dependencies,
may perhaps compose but the leaf of a flower in the Creator’s garden, or
a single pillar in the immense building of the Divine Architect.” Well
might he exclaim, with rapturous extacy, after so beautiful and sublime
a reflection,—“Here is ample provision made for the all-grasping mind of
man!”
It will be evident to such as duly reflect on this subject, that those
expectations which occupied the mind of Mr. Rittenhouse, so long since
as the year 1775—concerning the “amazing discoveries” which should, at
some future period, be made among the fixed stars, were not mere
conjectures or vague hypotheses; but, that they were rational
anticipations of realities, founded on the most acute observation and
laborious research, as well as the profoundest philosophical judgment.
As Newton is said to have revealed those truths in physics, which his
predecessor, Bacon, had preconceived; so, that great practical
astronomer, Herschel, and some other eminent observers of our day,[230]
have been enabled, by means of the very important improvements recently
made in astronomical instruments,[231] to verify a grand hypothesis in
his favourite science, which had long before been conceived by the
towering genius of Rittenhouse.
-----
Footnote 230:
Among those who have observed, since Dr. Herschel’s discovery of the
Georgium Sidus, new phænomena in the heavens, may be ranked the
following:
M. Piazzi, a Sicilian astronomer, who, on the 1st of January, 1801,
discovered a small planet revolving round the sun, between the orbits
of Jupiter and Mars, named Ceres: Dr. Olbers, of Bremen, who, on the
28th of March in the following year, discovered another small planet,
to which he gave the name of Pallas, which revolves round the sun
nearly at the same distance, and in the same time, as Ceres; and
afterwards, viz. on the 29th of March, another planet, which he called
Vesta; similar to the others, both in its position and magnitude: and
Mr. Harding, of Lilienthal, who, between these two last mentioned
periods, viz. on the 1st of September, 1804, discovered a fourth
planet (but the third in the order of time,) also small, to which he
gave the name of Juno; resembling Pallas in a great excentricity of
its orbit, and the inclination of this to the ecliptic, and placed at
nearly the same distance from the sun.
The Georgium Sidus was not discovered until about fifteen years before
Dr. Rittenhouse’s death; and the first discovered of the four last
mentioned planets was not known in America, for almost five years
after that event.
Footnote 231:
“There is perhaps no individual of the present age,” (says the writer
of the article “Astronomy,” in the New Edinburgh Encyclopædia, now
publishing under the direction of Dr. Brewster,) “to whom practical
astronomy owes deeper and more lasting obligations, than to Mr. Edward
Troughton. The great improvements which he has made upon astronomical
instruments, and the extreme accuracy with which he divides them, have
rendered his name celebrated in every part of Europe, and have
inspired the practical astronomer with a confidence in his
observations, which he had hitherto been unaccustomed to feel. There
is scarcely an observatory of any consequence, either in this country”
(Great-Britain,) “or the continent, that does not contain some of Mr.
Troughton’s instruments; and there are few series of observations, in
which they have not been used. The admirable observations of Mr. Pond,
on the declinations of the principal stars, were made with an azimuth
circle of Mr. Troughton’s construction. The mural circle, which Mr.
Groombridge of Blackheath uses, in his numerous and accurate
observations, was made by the same artist. The splendid mural circle,
of 6 feet 2 inches radius, which Mr. Troughton is at present preparing
for the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, will cost 700_l._”
(equivalent, in money of the United States, to $311111/100,) “and will
be one of the most magnificent and accurate instruments that has ever
been erected.”
-----
From the time our astronomer became established in Philadelphia, until
the year 1787, he resided in a house belonging to the late Mr. Thomas
Clifford, at the south-east corner of Arch and (Delaware) Seventh
streets: But the mansion which Mr. Rittenhouse had erected for himself,
the preceding year, on his Observatory-lot at the diagonal corner of
those streets, being then compleated, he removed thither; and there
continued his residence, during the residue of his life. It was about
this time, perhaps towards the close of the year 1786, that he was
compelled by the duties of his office, as sole trustee of the
loan-office, to put in suit the bonds which accompanied the mortgages of
sundry delinquent loanees. The bonds were placed in the hands of the
Writer of these Memoirs, for that purpose; with instructions to treat
the delinquents with every reasonable degree of forbearance. This lenity
was observed, agreeably to Mr. Rittenhouse’s desire; few suits were
instituted, and payment of the monies due, or the greater part of them,
was not long after obtained.
Early in the year 1787, the expected appearance of a new comet in that
year, engaged Mr. Rittenhouse’s attention: and on that occasion he
addressed the following letter to Mr. Ellicott.
“_Philadelphia, Feb. 12, 1787._
“Dear Sir,
“The elements of the new Planet have been pretty well determined by
several European astronomers. The following I have extracted from the
Almanack[232] for 1787.
Mean Longitude 4^h 2° 21′ 58″ } To Dec. 31,
Mean Anomaly 4 8 53 56 } 1787, at noon,
Place of Aphel. 11 23 28 2 } Paris.
Ascending Node 2 12 52 54 }
Mean Motion in Long. in 365 days 4° 19′ 47″
in 30 days 21′ 21″
in 24 hours 42″.7
“The Aphelion and Nodes move according to
the precession of the Equinoxes; that is 50″.3 per ann.
Inclination of the Orbit 46′ 13″
Log. of greatest distance from the Sun 6.3007701
Log. of least distance 6.2594052
The Log. of the Earth’s mean dist. from ☉
being 5.0000000
“Dr. Halley’s Table of the equation of ♃’s orbit will do very well for
computing the place of Herschel’s planet, only subtracting 1/16 part
of the equation there found; the greatest equation of this planet
being 5° 27′ 16″. So, if from the Log. to any degree of anomaly, in
the Table for Jupiter, we subtract 1/76 part of the excess of that
Log. above the least, and to the remainder add the constant Logarithm
.5647750, we shall have the Log. for ♅ sufficiently accurate. On these
principles, I have computed the Right Ascension of ♅, and find both
agree with my own observation, to a few seconds.
“I am sorry you have engaged the notice of *******. Men of his
principles, with a printing-press at command, are the greatest pests
of society.
“My very bad state of health, and a multiplicity of business, have
prevented my answering yours as soon as I wished to have done it. I
am, Dear Sir, your Friend and Humble Servant,
“DAVID RITTENHOUSE.
“ANDREW ELLICOTT, ESQ. Baltimore.”
-----
Footnote 232:
The Nautical Almanack.
-----
The correctness of the calculations respecting the Georgium Sidus,
stated in this letter, is noticed in the following extract from one of
Mr. Ellicott’s Almanacks.
“The reader will find in this Almanack a continuation of the planet ♅.
The elements on which the calculations were made, appear by
observation to be very accurately determined, not only by the
astronomers in Europe, but by my ingenious friend Mr. Rittenhouse,
whose knowledge of the theory and practice of astronomy, is not
surpassed in the old world.”
From this time, until his resignation of the treasurership of
Pennsylvania in the autumn of 1789[233], Mr. Rittenhouse appears to have
continued to be pretty much engaged in the duties of that office. A
short time before this event, the Writer of these Memoirs visited the
city of New-York; where the first congress, chosen under the present
constitution of the United States, were then convened, having commenced
their session on the fourth day of March preceding: and on that
occasion, Mr. Rittenhouse addressed a letter to General Washington, then
President of the United States, recommendatory of his friend and nephew.
Delicacy forbids this relative to present to public view that portion of
the letter, which more especially relates to himself: but the
introductory part of it is here presented to the reader, for the purpose
of testifying the continuance of the high esteem entertained for the
truly great man to whom it was addressed, by one who never disguised his
sentiments. This extract is as follows:
“_Philadelphia, Aug. 14, 1789_[234]
“Sir,
“However unwilling I am to add to that multitude of letters which must
encroach so much on your precious time, I cannot altogether forbear,
without doing violence to my feelings. As we have, all of us, through
the course of life, been greatly indebted to the good offices of
others; so we are no doubt under obligations to perform the same in
our turn, as well with respect to our particular friends, as society
in general.
“Mr. William Barton, my sister’s son, knowing that you have heretofore
honoured me with your acquaintance, I might, perhaps, say friendship,
is willing to believe that any thing I can say in his favour, might
have some weight with your Excellency.—
* * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * *
“Wishing your Excellency every happiness, I have the honour to be,
Sir, with the greatest respect, your most obedient humble servant,
“DAVID RITTENHOUSE.
“His Excellency the President of the U. States.”
-----
Footnote 233:
In this interval, that is to say, towards the close of the year 1788,
Dr. Rittenhouse’s eldest daughter was married to the late Jonathan
Dickinson Sergeant, Esq. of Philadelphia.
Footnote 234:
A few days after this date (about the 20th of August,) the writer of
these memoirs was nominated by the president to the senate, and by
their advice and consent thereto was appointed, to be one of the
judges of the western territory (now the state of Ohio, &c.): the
other judges, nominated and appointed with him, were Samuel Holden
Parsons and John Cleves Symmes, Esquires. Major-General Arthur St.
Clair, who may, in some respects, be considered as a modern
Bellisarius, was at the same time appointed, in like manner, to be
governor of that territory.[234a] The writer declined the honour
intended for him by this appointment, which was unsolicited on his
part: he resigned it in a day or two after.
The promptitude with which this mark of president Washington’s
approbation of the person recommended to him by Mr. Rittenhouse, was
bestowed, is an evidence of the respect in which the president held
that gentleman’s recommendation; and it is the more so, as Mr.
Rittenhouse’s letter was the only one addressed to the president on
that occasion.
Footnote 234a:
For many interesting particulars concerning the sufferings and
ill-requited services of this respectable veteran—of a man who once
filled the chair of congress, and uniformly possessed the friendship
and confidence of WASHINGTON, see his _Narrative_, lately published.
-----
On the 10th of November, 1789, the following letter from Mr.
Rittenhouse, offering his resignation of the office of treasurer of the
state, was presented to the general assembly; and, after having been
twice read, was, by order of the house, entered on their minutes.
_November 9, 1789._
“Sir,
“On account of the very unfavourable state of my health, as well as
because I most earnestly wish to devote some of the few remaining
hours of my life to a favourite science, I find myself under the
necessity of declining the office of treasurer.
“I have now held that office for almost thirteen years, having been
annually appointed by the unanimous voice, so far as I know, of the
representatives of the freemen of this state; a circumstance I shall
ever reflect on with satisfaction, and which does me the greatest
honour.
“I will not pay so ill a compliment to those I owe so much, as to
suppose the principal motive in these repeated appointments was any
other than the public good; but I am nevertheless very willing to
believe, that a regard to my interest was not wholly out of view. And
I shall, perhaps, never have another opportunity of expressing, with
so much propriety, my sincerest gratitude to the representatives of my
countrymen, whose favour I have indeed often experienced on other
occasions.
“I accepted the treasury, when it was attended with difficulty and
danger, and consequently when there was no compensation for it. Soon
afterwards, a depreciated currency, prodigiously accumulated, made it
extremely burthensome, without any prospect of profit.
“In a more favourable situation of our affairs, it might have been
lucrative, had not the very small commissions allowed by law, been
scarcely equal to the risk of receiving and paying. In 1785, my
commissions were increased, and the office was for some time
profitable; but the difficulties or remissness in collecting the
public revenues, again reduced it to a very moderate compensation.
“If, however, the embarrassments of the office have, in general, been
little understood by those not immediately concerned in it; if the
emoluments of it have been greatly exaggerated in the public opinion;
I am still the more obliged to the several assemblies, who, under
these impressions, have nevertheless continued me so long their
treasurer.
“The confidence of the public I have ever esteemed so invaluable a
possession, that it has been my fixed determination not to forfeit it,
by any voluntary act of impropriety. Where my conduct has been
deficient in the discharge of my duty, I hope it will be imputed to
want of ability, and not of integrity.
“Fully sensible of the importance of the office I have the honour to
hold, I cheerfully commit it into the hands of those who properly are,
and ever must be, the guardians of the public good. I am, sir, with
great respect, your most obliged and very humble servant—
“DAVID RITTENHOUSE
“The honourable the Speaker of the Assembly.”
From the commencement of the year 1777, at which period Mr. Rittenhouse
was invested with the treasurership of his native state, until the month
of September following, when its capital was actually possessed by the
British army, that city was in imminent danger of an hostile invasion.
When it was reduced to a moral certainty, that the speedy occurrence of
such an event was inevitable, he had retired with the treasury (as
before noticed) to Lancaster, as a place of security; where he remained
until the succeeding summer: when, after the evacuation of the capital
by the British forces, he returned thither, and replaced the treasury in
its ancient seat. The time, therefore, at which he accepted the office
of treasurer, was truly one of “difficulty and danger.”
That it was not, for many years, a lucrative place, must be apparent
from the ever memorable circumstance of the great and unexampled
depreciation of that species of paper-currency, called continental
money;[235] which was the only circulating medium of the United States,
until the year 1782, when the bank of North America went into operation.
The vast accumulation in the treasury, of that depreciated and daily
depreciating substitute for money, must necessarily have been “extremely
burthensome” to the treasurer, and could not have afforded him “any
prospect of profit,” during the first five years of his tenure of the
office. And it was not, in fact, until those last few years, which
constituted the interval between the time of augmenting the commissions
and his retirement from the office, that the treasurership was
profitable to him. During the greater part of the time he held it, the
profits of the office did not enable him to employ even a clerk: nor
could he have performed the numerous and laborious duties of that
station (such as they then were,) had he not been greatly assisted by
the assiduity, care and abilities, of an excellent woman—Mrs.
Rittenhouse. Singular as this circumstance may appear, this notice of it
seems due to the memory of an highly meritorious wife; while, on the
other hand, it must be acknowledged, that it does not reflect any honour
on the liberality of a great, wealthy, and populous state. Such a man as
David Rittenhouse ought to have been otherwise employed, by a generous
and enlightened public: the exercise of his transcendent talents, in
works of great and permanent public utility, would not only have
constituted services which would have entitled him to a bountiful
remuneration; but such as would have conferred great additional benefits
and honours on his country.
-----
Footnote 235:
According to Dr. Ramsay, “the depreciation began at different periods
in different states; but, in general, about the middle of the year
1777, and progressively increased for three or four years.” In the
first four or five months of 1780, it depreciated to 50 or 60 for one.
“Its circulation,” continues Dr. Ramsay, “was afterwards partial; but,
where it passed, it soon depreciated to 150 for one. In some few
parts, it continued in circulation for the first four or five months
of 1781; but in this latter period, many would not take it at any
rate, and they who did, received it at a depreciation of several
hundreds for one.”
_Hist. Am. Revol._
In October, 1779, it was resolved by congress, that no further sum in
this paper-money should be issued, on any account whatever, than
would, when added to the sum then in circulation, amount to 200
millions of dollars. In their circular letter of the 13th of September
preceding, addressed to their constituents, congress asserted the
practicability of redeeming all the continental bills at par, with
gold and silver; and rejected, with indignation, the supposition that
the states would ever tarnish their credit by violating public faith.
“These strong declarations in favour of the paper-currency,” says Dr.
Ramsay, “deceived many to repose confidence in it, to their utter
ruin.” In addition to the amount of many millions of dollars, in
paper-emissions of the several states, congress, soon after, actually
continued to issue their own paper, until it amounted in the whole to
the enormous sum of 200 millions of dollars! That which was of little
value before, now became of less, and soon afterwards good for
nothing. The inevitable consequence was, that thousands of meritorious
citizens were entirely ruined, and others greatly injured in their
property.
-----
That he should have had, in thirteen years, successively, an unanimous
annual vote for the office of treasurer, is a very strong testimonial of
the exalted sense which his countrymen entertained of his integrity: it
would have been so, under a popular government, at any period. But when
it is considered, that, during the whole of the time he held the
treasurership, the people of Pennsylvania were divided into two opposing
parties, which sprung into existence with the adoption of the
state-constitution of 1776, the unanimity of their representatives in
favour of this individual, is still more conclusive evidence of his
merits. Most of those men in the community, best acquainted with human
nature, and practically versed in the science of politics, very early
pointed out the radical defects of the new frame of government; and
predicted the utter incompetency of that instrument, as they conceived,
to promote the true interest and happiness of civil society. In a single
legislative body, a plural executive, and in a limited duration of the
judicial authority—consequently, an undue dependence of the judges on
the executive for their re-appointment,—they foresaw those evils, which
were too soon realized: and in a septennial council of censors, such as
that constitution provided for,[236] they beheld a political chimera, at
variance with common sense and the experience of mankind. Men
entertaining these views, formed, of course, one of these parties.
-----
Footnote 236:
The judiciary is the only department of government, in a republic, the
officers of which ought (conformably to the principles of that form of
government) to be permanent in their stations. Judges, in order to
secure their independence, and thereby enable them to administer
justice faithfully and impartially, should hold their offices _quamdiu
se bené gesserint_: and, should they violate the condition of this
tenure, the constitution should provide, as that of Pennsylvania, in
conformity to those of the union as well as her sister states, does,
that they should no longer continue in office. Thus, this branch of
the government would have formed the only safe and effectual check,
against such unconstitutional attempts as might be made upon the
chartered rights of individuals or the public, by either the
legislative or executive power. But, unfortunately, the dependent
nature of the judiciary, under the constitution of 1776, rendered it
incompetent to that end. Hence, as was noticed by the writer of these
memoirs on a former occasion,[236a] “the framers of the first
constitution of the state of Pennsylvania discovered the indispensable
necessity of providing some tribunal for preserving the constitution
entire. They accordingly instituted a periodical body, in the nature
of a judicial inquest, and styled the council of censors; whose duty
it was, “to enquire whether the constitution had been preserved
inviolate in every part; and whether the legislative and executive
branches of government had performed their duty, as guardians of the
people, or exercised other or greater powers, than they were entitled
to by the constitution.” “This censorial tribunal was, however, ill
calculated to answer the purposes of its institution. It was, itself,
a temporary body, appointed immediately by the people. In the
alternation, and casual ascendency, of different parties in the
country, a contingency inseparable from the nature of a popular
government, the council of sensors became the representatives of the
passions, the prejudices, the political interests, of whatever party
might happen to be the predominant one at the moment of their
election. If this should prove to be the same party with that which
had borne the sway, during the seven years immediately preceding their
election, they would be disposed to sanction the proceedings of that
party: otherwise, they would be likely to censure and pronounce
unconstitutional, the official measures of an adverse party, without
just cause, impelled thereto by a spirit of party-hostility.
“Under a government thus constituted, all would be uncertain and
insecure. From the deficiency of one stationary and independent
department in its administration, the rights of the people and the
best interests of the state would, eventually, become the sport of
opposite and contending parties; these rights and interests would be
sacrificed at the shrine of some desperate and unprincipled faction;
the constitution itself, destitute of any steady disinterested support
against their machinations, would be overthrown: till, finally, the
people, having no longer any rallying point of security for their
persons or property, would be driven from anarchy and licentiousness
into the arms of despotism.
“It is further worthy of remark, that the council of censors was an
inefficient and a nugatory tribunal, in one most important particular:
Numerous unconstitutional acts of the legislature might have been
carried into effect, and have had their complete operation, attended
by the most unjust and ruinous consequences, before they could be even
pronounced unconstitutional.”
Footnote 236a:
In a pamphlet, entitled “The Constitutionalist; addressed to men of
all parties in the United States”—published in Philadelphia, in the
year 1804.
-----
The other was composed of the projectors of the constitution of 1776,
and other speculative politicians; together with all those whom they
were enabled to influence, through the medium of their prejudices, their
inexperience or their interests.
These two parties continued to divide the state, until the adoption of
the fœderal constitution. The great and multiplied evils which resulted
to the people of the United States, after the restoration of peace, and
which had also been severely felt during the greater part of the war,
from the inefficacy of the original confœderation of the States, had
convinced all thinking men of the necessity of forming a more energetic
national government, as the only remedy for those evils. And the actual
formation of such a government, aided by the long experience which the
citizens of Pennsylvania had then acquired, of the injurious effects of
their own existing constitution, disposed them soon after to establish
the present constitution of the state, which was done in convention on
the 2d of September 1790; a form of government, free from the palpable
errors of the preceding one, and much more consonant to the genius and
spirit of the fœderal constitution.
It is, then, a very extraordinary circumstance, and one that reflects
great honour on the character of Mr. Rittenhouse, that, in the long
course of years during which the people of Pennsylvania were thus
divided into two contending parties, he alone could unite the favourable
opinion of both parties, respecting his superior claims to hold one of
the most important offices in the government.
Although little more than six years and an half intervened, from the
time of Mr. Rittenhouse’s resigning the treasurership of the state,
until the period of his decease, literary and other public honours then
flowed in upon him. He enjoyed, likewise, the satisfaction of
experiencing, during that short interval, multiplied proofs of the
esteem in which his abilities and character were held, both at home and
abroad. And, notwithstanding it appears to have been his wish, when he
retired from the treasury, to decline for the future any official
situation, or public employment of any kind, not connected with science;
in order that he might, without interruption, devote the remainder of
his life to his favourite pursuits; a variety of public trusts, some of
them requiring arduous duties, were constantly pressed upon his
acceptance.
Shortly before he resigned the treasurership, the degree of Doctor of
Laws was conferred on Mr. Rittenhouse, by the College of New-Jersey: his
diploma bears date the 30th of September, 1789. This respectable
seminary had given him the degree of Master in the Arts, seventeen years
before[237]; and this new honour was a further pledge of the high
estimation in which he continued to be held by the regents of the
institution. His diploma for the Doctorate has a place in the Appendix.
-----
Footnote 237:
In September, 1772.
-----
The College at Princeton, in New Jersey, then possessed—as she still
does—the first Orrery constructed by Dr. Rittenhouse; a monument of his
genius and abilities, that seemed to give him a just claim to this
highest academical honour, appropriate to his character, which the
college could confer.
This institution, called Nassau Hall, was founded about the year 1738;
but its original charter was enlarged by Governor Belcher, in 1747. The
president and trustees of Nassau Hall possessed a power, by their
charter, of granting to “the students of the college, or to any others
thought worthy of them, all such degrees as are granted in either of the
universities, or any other college, in Great Britain.” This privilege,
it is believed, was not enjoyed generally—if at all, in any other
instance[238], by the American colleges, before the revolution; as it is
supposed they were restricted, prior to that era, to the conferring of
degrees in the Arts only. But all the superior seminaries of learning,
in the United States, now possess the right of creating Bachelors and
Doctors, in Divinity, Law, and Medicine: and it is greatly to be wished,
that they may always dispense these high academic honours with
impartiality and a due discretion.
-----
Footnote 238:
Unless, perhaps, in that of King’s College (now Columbia College,) in
New-York.
-----
The college-edifice at Princeton is a stately and durable one,
constructed of stone; and it will afford satisfaction to the reader, to
be informed, that in this building is deposited the Rittenhouse Orrery.
He will derive additional pleasure from learning, that this grand
machine has, lately, been repaired in some considerable degree, and at a
great expence, by the ingenious Mr. Henry Voight, of the Mint: by whom,
that belonging to the University of Pennsylvania, has likewise been put
in good order. Neither of these Orreries appeared to have suffered any
material injury from the British troops, during the war of the
revolution; though it has been generally believed, they did. The
libraries, indeed, and some of the apparatus, belonging to both the
colleges in which the Orreries are placed, experienced great losses from
the presence of an hostile army in their vicinity: but the officers of
that army seem to have respected these greater works of human
ingenuity.[239]
-----
Footnote 239:
Dr. Morse observes, that, before the American war, the College of
New-Jersey was furnished with a philosophical apparatus, valued at
more than thirteen hundred dollars; “which, except the elegant Orrery
constructed by Mr. Rittenhouse,” says the Doctor, “was almost entirely
destroyed by the British army, in the late war; as was also the
library, which now” (this was in 1789) “consists of between two and
three thousand volumes.”
With a view to the obtaining, with greater certainty, information
respecting the condition &c. of the Orrery in Princeton College, the
writer of these memoirs addressed a letter on the subject, to his
worthy and much respected friend, the Rev. Samuel Stanhope Smith, D.
D. then president of that institution:[239a] To that letter the
learned president promptly returned the following answer:
_Princeton_, May 3d, 1812.
“Dear Sir,
“I just redeem a moment, before the closing of the mail, to inform
you, that Dr. Rittenhouse’s Orrery cost at first 300_l._ Pennsylvania
currency. It was his own moderate price, and immediately paid him by
Dr. Witherspoon,[239b] on behalf of the College.
“The Orrery was very much injured during the revolutionary war: but
has been since partly repaired by a gentleman in your city,[239c] who
formerly worked with Dr. Rittenhouse, and under his direction, in its
fabrication. The injuries which it received were comparatively small,
by the British soldiery. A guard was set to protect it: and the
officers were said to be contemplating its removal to England; this,
at least, was the general report and opinion. The principal injury was
produced by our own militia, when the college was appropriated as a
barrack for them. Many of the wheels were seen to be taken off, as
handsome curiosities. This, however, was no more than was to be
expected from a number of ignorant men, so imperfectly disciplined as,
at that time, they were.”
“I am, dear Sir,
Your friend and very humble serv’t.
SAMUEL S. SMITH.”
Footnote 239a:
The Rev. Ashbel Green, D. D. of Philadelphia, has since been appointed
to the Presidentship of the College at Princeton, on the resignation
of Dr. Smith.
Footnote 239b:
The President of the College.
Footnote 239c:
Mr. Henry Voight.
-----
On the first day of January, 1790,[240] Dr. Rittenhouse was elected one
of the Vice-presidents of the American Philosophical Society; his
colleagues, in this office, being the Rev. William Smith, D. D. and John
Ewing, D. D. both of them able and distinguished astronomers.
-----
Footnote 240:
It was in the autumn of this year that the second (and youngest
surviving) daughter of Dr. Rittenhouse was married to the late
Nicholas Baker Waters, M. D. of Philadelphia.
-----
This appointment he held but one year; in consequence of the death of
Dr. Franklin,[241] on the 17th day of April following.[242]
-----
Footnote 241:
A very eloquent and interesting Oration on this occasion, being an
eulogium on Dr. Franklin, was delivered on the 1st of March, 1791,
before the American Philosophical Society and agreeably to their
appointment, by the Rev. William Smith, D. D. then one of the
vice-presidents of the society; for which the orator received their
unanimous thanks.
In a note addressed to the public by Dr. Smith, and prefixed to this
eulogium in the first volume of his works, the Doctor acknowledges the
assistance derived by him, in its composition, “from the friendly
communications of some of his learned colleagues, among the officers
of the American Philosophical Society:” viz. David Rittenhouse, Esq.
LL.D. President of the Society; Thomas Jefferson, Esq. LL.D. one of
the Vice-Presidents; Jonathan Williams, Esq. one of the Secretaries;
and Benjamin Rush, M. D. one of the Council. To Dr. Rittenhouse, he
makes his acknowledgements, “for sundry papers, which have been
digested into the account of Dr. Franklin’s _Electrical and
Philosophical Discoveries_;” which occupy six or seven pages of the
printed eulogium.
Dr. Rittenhouse was well acquainted with the principles of
Electricity; at least, so far as they appear to be hitherto
understood. It is believed that, pretty early in life, he acquired a
knowledge of this branch of science; which he occasionally cultivated
afterwards. A letter written by Dr. Franklin to Mr. Landriani, on the
utility of electric conductors, will serve to shew, that “our
astronomer” (as Franklin styled him) had employed the instrumentality
of his “telescope,” in observing some of the effects of lightning.
This letter, which is dated “Philadelphia, Oct. 14, 1787”, is in these
words:
“I have received, sir, your excellent dissertation on the utility of
electric conductors which you have had the goodness to send me, and I
have read it with much pleasure. I beg leave to return you my sincere
thanks for it.
“I found, on my return to this country, that the number of conductors
was much increased, the utility of them having been demonstrated by
several experiments, which shewed their efficacy in preserving
buildings from lightning. Among other examples, my own house one day
received a severe shock from lightning: the neighbours perceived it,
and immediately hastened to give assistance, in case it should be on
fire; but it sustained no damage: they found only the family much
frightened by the violence of the explosion.
“Last year, when I was making some addition to the building, it was
necessary to take down the conductor: I found, upon examination, that
its copper-point, which was nine inches in length and about one third
of an inch in diameter in the thickest part, had been almost entirely
melted, and very little of it remained fixed to the iron rod. This
invention, therefore, has been of some utility to the inventor; and to
this advantage is added, the pleasure of having been useful to others.
“Mr. Rittenhauss,[241a] our astronomer, has informed me, that having
observed with his excellent telescope several conductors which were
within his view, he perceived that the points of a certain number of
them had been in like manner melted. There is no instance where a
house furnished with a complete conductor has suffered any
considerable damage; and those even which had none have been very
little injured, since conductors have become common in the city.”
Footnote 241a:
So written by Dr. Franklin.
Footnote 242:
The body of Dr. Franklin was interred in the cemetery belonging to
Christ-Church in Philadelphia, under a plain marble tomb-stone,
inscribed with only his name, the time of his decease, and his age.
But the following epitaph on himself was written by him, many years
before his death. As it contains a pretty allusion, typically
expressed, to his belief in the Immortality of the Soul, it may not be
deemed superfluous to add, on the present occasion, the testimony of
this philosopher in concurrence with Rittenhouse’s, on that subject.
If the doctrine had needed any further verification than before
established it, the suffrages of two such men as FRANKLIN and
RITTENHOUSE could scarcely fail to remove the doubts of the most
sceptical. This epitaph is copied from Stuber’s Continuation of the
Life of Franklin.
THE BODY
of
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, _Printer_,
(Like the Cover of an old Book,
It’s Contents torn out,
And stript of its Lettering and Gilding,)
Lies here, food for worms;
_Yet the Work itself shall not be lost_,
For it will (as he believed) appear once more,
In a new
And more beautiful Edition,
Corrected and amended
by
THE AUTHOR.