-----
In supplying the vacancy which had thus occurred in the Presidentship of
the Society, the members of that body could not hesitate in selecting,
for that honourable station, a suitable successor to their late
venerable patron and chief: the eyes of all were immediately directed
towards Dr. Rittenhouse. He was accordingly elected to be President, at
the stated annual meeting of the Society for the purpose of chosing
their officers, held in January, 1791. On being notified of this
appointment, he addressed the following letter to Mr. Patterson, one of
the secretaries of the Society.
“_Philadelphia, Jan. 22 1791._
“Sir,
“I am extremely sensible of the honour the members of the
Philosophical Society have done me, by electing me their President, in
the room of that very worthy patron of the Society, the late Doctor
Franklin.
“They have, by this act of theirs, laid an additional obligation on me
to promote the interests of the institution, by the best means in my
power, to which I shall ever be attentive; though my ill state of
health will frequently deny me the pleasure of attending the stated
meetings.
“I send you, herewith, two letters which you will please to
communicate to the society.—I am, Sir, your very humble servant.
“DAVID RITTENHOUSE.”
---
“In this elevated situation, the highest that Philosophy can confer in
our country,” says his learned and eloquent Eulogist,[243] “his conduct
was marked by its usual line of propriety and dignity.”—“Never,”
continues his Eulogist, “did the artificial pomp of station command half
the respect, which followed his unassuming manners in the public duties
of this office. You will,” says he, “often recollect, Gentlemen, with a
mixture of pleasure and pain, the delightful evenings you passed in the
Society, every time he presided in your meetings. They were uniformly
characterized by ardour in the pursuits of science, urbanity, and
brotherly kindness.”
-----
Footnote 243:
Benjamin Rush, M. D.
-----
About the time of Dr. Rittenhouse’s elevation to the Presidency of the
Philosophical Society, and indeed pretty generally afterwards, the
delicate state of his health confined him much to his house and his
observatory. On a dry day, he would, occasionally, walk a little abroad;
in the proper seasons, he would now and then recreate himself in a
pretty little flower-garden adjoining his house, which Mrs. Rittenhouse
took pleasure in decorating. His evenings were uniformly passed at home;
except at the times of the stated meetings of the Philosophical Society,
when he usually attended, if the weather permitted.
Besides a few of his most intimate friends, who were in the habit of
visiting him pretty often towards the close of the day[244], many
strangers of distinction, and persons who had no particular claims upon
him on the score of friendship, made him occasional visits at other
times: but in such portions of his time as he could retrench from these
avocations, he was much employed in reading; and the books he read
comprehended works of literature, taste, and science. He blended the
_utile cum dulci_, in the choice of his subjects; and while he devoted
some of what might be called his leisure hours, such as were abstracted
from his more appropriate pursuits, to works of amusement, he did not
neglect studies of a more serious and important nature. He was at no
loss for books: independently of his own collection, he had ready access
to two valuable and extensive public libraries[245]; those of several
literary gentlemen were open to him; and some of his friends
occasionally supplied him with new publications. The following note
addressed to him by Mr. Jefferson, in the beginning of the year 1791,
will shew that Dr. Rittenhouse then devoted some attention to chemistry,
and that he continued to read works of natural science, in French, as
well as in his own language.
-----
Footnote 244:
Of those gentlemen who were among Dr. Rittenhouse’s more particular
acquaintances, and with whom he maintained the closest friendship,
few, if any, visited him more frequently than the late Francis
Hopkinson, Esq.
Mr. Hopkinson was a man of genius, taste and learning. He possessed an
exuberance of refined and genuine wit, rarely to be met with; and his
vein for satire, which was always applied to useful ends, was almost
unrivalled. His knowledge of music was correct and extensive, both in
the theory and practice of that art; and he had also a critical
acquaintance with painting, as well as a good judgment, in relation to
the fine arts in general. These qualifications and attainments, united
with a vivacious temper, a knowledge of mankind, and a love of virtue,
rendered him a pleasing companion: but the more solid acquirements in
literature and science, of which, also, he possessed a very
considerable share, made his society not less interesting than
agreeable. No one set an higher value on Dr. Rittenhouse’s talents and
virtues, than this gentleman; their esteem was mutual; and a constant
and intimate friendship long subsisted between them.
Mr. Hopkinson held an appointment in the Loan-office of Pennsylvania,
for some years. He afterwards succeeded George Ross, Esq. in the
office of Judge of the Admiralty, for that state. In this station he
continued until the year 1790; when President Washington, by whom he
had the honour to be much esteemed, conferred on him the place of
Judge of the District Court of the United States, for Pennsylvania:
which important office he held during the remainder of his life. A
collection of Judge Hopkinson’s writings, on various subjects, was
made after his death, and published in the year 1792, in three octavo
volumes; constituting a curious and entertaining miscellaneous work.
He died on the 8th of May, 1791, in the fifty-third year of his age,
and somewhat more than five years before his venerated friend,
Rittenhouse.
Mr. Hopkinson was one of the executors of Dr. Franklin’s Will; but he
survived the Doctor little more than a year.
Footnote 245:
Belonging to the Library Company of Philadelphia, and to the American
Philosophical Society.
-----
“TH. JEFFERSON sends to Mr. Rittenhouse Bishop Watson’s essay on the
subjects of chemistry, which is too philosophical not to merit a half an
hour of his time, which is all it will occupy. He returns him Mr.
Barton’s papers[246], which he has perused with great pleasure; and he
is glad to find the subject has been taken up by so good a hand: he has
certainly done all which the scantiness of his materials would admit. If
Mr. Rittenhouse has done with the last number of the Journal de
Physique, sent him by Th. J. he will be glad to receive it, in order to
forward it on to Mr. Randolph: if not done with, there is no hurry.
“Monday morning.”
-----
Footnote 246:
The papers, referred to by Mr. Jefferson, were “Observations on the
probabilities of the Duration of Human Life, and the progress of
Population, in the United States of America;” addressed, in the form
of a Letter, to Dr. Rittenhouse, Presid. of the Am. Philos. Society,
and afterwards published in the third volume of the Society’s
Transactions.
-----
---
The relation in which Dr. Rittenhouse now stood to the American
Philosophical Society, of which he had attained to the honour of being
the President, renders it proper that some account should be given, in
this place, of an institution heretofore distinguished by its
Transactions. The following are the leading features in its history.
This Society was instituted on the 2d day of January, 1769, by an union
of two literary societies that had subsisted some time previously, in
Philadelphia. In the same year this united body petitioned the general
assembly of the province to grant them the privilege of erecting a
building, suitable for their accommodation, on some part of the
State-House square. But the Library Company of Philadelphia, also a very
useful and respectable institution and a much older corporation, having
about the same time made a similar application to the legislature, in
their own behalf, the prayer of neither was then granted. The latter
have, long since, erected for their accommodation a large, commodious
and elegant structure[247], on a lot of ground purchased by them for the
purpose, in the immediate vicinity of the public square originally
contemplated for its site.
-----
Footnote 247:
In a niche, over the entrance into the edifice, is placed a Statue, in
white marble, of Dr. Franklin; presented to the Library Company by the
late William Bingham, Esq. of Philadelphia.
-----
A second petition was presented to the general assembly by the
Philosophical Society, for the same purpose, soon afterwards; though
without success. But, finally, in pursuance of another application to
the state legislature by the Society, for the same object, a law was
enacted on the 28th of March, 1785; by which a lot of ground (being part
of the State-House Square) was granted to them, for the purpose of
erecting thereon a Hall, Library, &c. “for their proper accommodation.”
The ground appropriated by the legislature, for this purpose, contains
seventy feet in front on (Delaware) Fifth-Street, (and nearly opposite
the Hall of the Philadelphia Library-Company,) and fifty feet in depth;
on which the Society erected, between the years 1787 and 1791, a neat,
convenient, and spacious edifice: it was completed under the direction
and superintendence of Samuel Vaughan, Esq. formerly a vice-president of
the Society; and by means of this gentleman’s disinterested exertions,
principally, somewhat more than $3500 were obtained from about one
hundred and fifty contributors, towards defraying the expense of the
building. Dr. Franklin gave at sundry times, towards this object, nearly
$540 in the whole amount.[248]
-----
Footnote 248:
The Doctor also made, at different times, valuable donations to the
Society, in Books and some other articles.
-----
The act of assembly of 1785 having, however, restricted the corporation
of this Society, not only from selling or transferring, but from
leasing, any part of the ground thus granted to them, or of the
erections to be made on it, a supplement to that act was obtained, on
the 17th of March, in the following year; authorizing the Society to let
out any part of their Building, for such purposes as should have an
affinity to the design of their institution; but restricting the profits
arising from any such lease to the uses for which the Society was
originally instituted. The cellars and some of the apartments in the
house, have been leased accordingly; and the profits arising from these
leases constitute a considerable part of the Society’s funds, which are
of very moderate extent. The resident members pay to the Treasurer a
small annual assessment, fixed by a by-law of the Society: these
payments, in addition to occasional donations in money, made by members
and others,[249] form the residue of the funds of the Society; besides
which, they receive from time to time valuable presents, in books,
astronomical and other instruments, &c. Their library, philosophical
apparatus, and collections of various kinds, are now respectable.
-----
Footnote 249:
It is due to the liberality of the general assembly of 1782-3, to
notice in this place, that on the 16th of February, 1783, that
legislative body of Pennsylvania made a grant to the American
Philosophical Society, of four hundred dollars.
-----
The objects of this institution are readily comprehended, from its name;
the style of the corporation being—“The American Philosophical Society
held at Philadelphia, for promoting Useful Knowledge:” And with this
view, in its formation, the fundamental laws (passed on the 3d day of
February, 1769,) direct, that “The members of the Society shall be
classed into one or more of the following committees:
1. Geography, Mathematics, Natural Philosophy and Astronomy.
2. Medicine and Anatomy.
3. Natural History and Chemistry.
4. Trade and Commerce.
5. Mechanics and Architecture.
6. Husbandry and American Improvements.”
The same original laws and regulations of the Society indicate the style
of the several officers of the institution, and prescribe the duties of
their respective stations: they likewise direct the manner in which the
general economy of the Society shall be managed, and their proceedings,
in the more appropriate business of their institution, arranged and
conducted. “These Rules,” say the Society (in an Advertisement prefixed
to the first volume of their Transactions,) “were adopted from the Rules
of that illustrious Body, the Royal Society, of London; whose example
the American Philosophical Society think it their honour to follow, in
their endeavours for enlarging the sphere of knowledge and useful arts.”
The Officers of the Philosophical Society are—a patron, who is the
governor of the state for the time being—a president—three
vice-presidents—a treasurer—four secretaries, and three
curators,—together with twelve counsellors; which last board of officers
was created by an act of the legislature, in the year 1780, and the same
law designates the duties of their appointment.
The number of members of this Society is not limited: it consisted of
three hundred, forty years ago; and, probably, now amounts to about four
hundred and fifty. Of this number, however, a large proportion is made
up of foreigners; many of whom are eminent personages, and men of the
most distinguished abilities in various departments of science, in
different parts of the world.
The Proceedings, hitherto, of this very respectable association of
literary and scientific characters, have been published in six[250]
quarto volumes, denominated the “Transactions” of the Society: Besides
which, several learned and ingenious Orations—including two or three of
much eloquence, under the title of Eulogiums—have been delivered before
the Society and by their appointment, by members of their body.
-----
Footnote 250:
Part the 1st of the 6th volume was published in the year 1804, and a
continuation of that volume, in 1809.
-----
These outlines will serve to furnish the reader with some ideas of the
nature, condition, and character of an institution, which has, in many
respects, reflected honour on the country to which it belongs. Its
usefulness,[251] it is earnestly to be wished, will not be suffered to
diminish, by any declension of that noble ardour in cultivating, that
public spirit in promoting, learning and science, which, while they
adorn the names of individuals, contribute to the glory of a nation. Let
a hope be still cherished, that notwithstanding the tumult, the folly,
and the distractions, which at the present day pervade a large portion
of the civilized world, the period is not remote, when tranquillity,
good sense and order, shall resume their blest dominion over the conduct
of the too many now infatuated nations of the earth.—Let a belief be yet
encouraged, that under the guidance of a benign Providence, not only the
rising generation will be found zealous to emulate the fair fame of a
FRANKLIN and a RITTENHOUSE; but even, that good and rational men in our
own time, and among ourselves, will continue to cultivate the arts of
peace, and to promote those objects of literature and science, which, at
the same time they meliorate the heart and elevate the mind, contribute
to the happiness of the individual and the general welfare of mankind.
-----
Footnote 251:
At the death of Hevelius, as Lalande remarks, Europe abounded with men
of science, whose various nations disputed the glory of important
discoveries, and of perfecting those which had been already made. The
Academy of Sciences at Paris and the Royal Society of London produced,
above all, as the same learned writer further observes, that
revolution (as he is pleased to term it,) by the great number of
illustrious men and celebrated astronomers, which they gave to Europe.
The Royal Society was instituted in the year 1660; and it is deserving
of notice, that this was the period at which the English nation was on
the eve of a restoration of their legitimate and orderly government,
after the boisterous and unhappy times of Cromwell and his pretended
Commonwealth: The Academy of Sciences was established in 1666; not
long after France had likewise been distracted by domestic factions;
but, when the great Colbert had restored the finances of the state,
and not only invigorated but improved every department of that
powerful monarchy. Lalande designates this period, as an era
distinguished for the renewal of astronomy, by the establishment of
Academies. Such are the proofs of the usefulness of institutions of
this nature.
-----
Dr. Rittenhouse’s attachment to the interests of the institution of
which he had been thus recently elected President, was amply manifested
soon after. In the month of November, of the same year, he presented to
the Society, the sum of 308_l._ (equivalent to 821⅓ dollars,) for the
purpose of discharging a debt due by their corporation to the estate of
the late Francis Hopkinson, Esq. the treasurer, then deceased. This
liberal donation was thankfully received; and the acknowledgments of
their grateful sense of it were made to the donor, by the following
address,—expressive as well of their feelings on the occasion, as of the
high opinion they entertained of his merits and character.
“To DAVID RITTENHOUSE, Esq. LL.D. President of the American
Philosophical Society, held at Philadelphia, for promoting Useful
Knowledge.
“Sir,
“The American Philosophical Society embrace the present occasion of
a meeting for stated annual business, to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter, dated Nov. 15th, addressed to their treasurer; in which you are
pleased to inform him, that you have paid the 308_l._ due to the late
Judge Hopkinson, and will lay the bond and mortgage before the Society;
expressing your hopes, that this benefaction, on your part, may
“encourage the Society to exert themselves to get rid of some other
heavy debts and incumbrances.”
“This renewed instance of your liberality joined to the consideration of
the illustrious part which you have taken in their labours, for many
years past, has made such an impression upon them, that they are at a
loss in what manner they can best express their gratitude, or their
respect and veneration for your name.
“At any time, and in any country, such a “brilliant present” would
indicate a mind that can feel the inseparable connection between
Learning and Human Felicity: But in the present state of our finances,
it is a most important benefaction; and a noble specimen of Literary
Patronage in a young empire, where many other improvements must share
with the Arts and Sciences, in the public attention and bounty.
“We are sensible of the necessity of extinguishing the other heavy debts
of the Society, with all possible speed, and have appointed a proper
committee for that purpose.
“Signed in behalf, and by order, of the Society, at a meeting held the
16th day of December, 1791.
“JOHN EWING, WILLIAM SMITH, TH. JEFFERSON, _Vice Presidents_.
“JAMES HUTCHINSON, JONATHAN WILLIAMS, SAMUEL MAGAW, _Secretaries_.”
To which address, Dr. Rittenhouse returned this answer.
“Gentlemen,
“The satisfaction I feel, in contributing something towards promoting
Science, the interests whereof are, I am persuaded, inseparable from
those of humanity, is greatly increased by your very polite approbation.
“My sincerest wishes are, that you may ever merit public encouragement,
and enjoy the patronage of the generous and the good.”
In the spring succeeding Dr. Rittenhouse’s election to the Presidency of
the Philosophical Society, his name was included, jointly with those of
Thomas Willing, Esq. and the late Samuel Howell, Esq. in a commission to
receive subscriptions, in Pennsylvania, to the Bank of the United
States. This appointment was made by President Washington, on the 26th
of March, 1791.
Soon after, he was commissioned by Governor Mifflin to be one of three
joint “Agents of Information,” relating to the business of opening and
improving certain roads, rivers and navigable waters, in Pennsylvania.
His colleagues in this commission were the Rev. Dr. William Smith and
William Findley, Esq. and this board of commissioners, whose appointment
bears date the 10th of May, 1794, was erected in pursuance of an act of
assembly, passed the 13th of April, preceding. These gentlemen, it
appears, proceeded on that service; for, about two months after their
appointment, monies were advanced to them, towards defraying the
expences to be incurred in executing the duties of their commission.
These duties, it is believed, were in some way connected with an
investigation of the most practicable route for a turnpike-road between
Philadelphia and Lancaster. A company, which had been formed some time
before, for the purpose of constructing such a road, were incorporated
by the governor of the state, by virtue of a law passed the 9th of
April, 1792. Dr. Rittenhouse was a member of that company, and he
actually superintended the surveyors, who were employed in tracing one
of the then contemplated routes: Dr. Ewing was likewise engaged in the
same service. Neither of those gentlemen held any appointment for such
purposes, from the managers of the turnpike-company, nor received any
compensation from them, for their services: it is therefore presumed,
that Dr. Rittenhouse officiated under the commission last mentioned; and
perhaps Dr. Ewing acted, also, under a similar commission.[252] The
former, however, was himself one of the board of managers; in which
capacity he acted as a member of several committees, particularly in
1792: but at the end of that year, he declined to continue any longer a
manager.[253]
-----
Footnote 252:
Since the above was written, more satisfactory information has been
obtained on the subject. The agency of information, to which Dr.
Rittenhouse was appointed (together with the Rev. Dr. Smith and Mr.
Findley,) in May, 1791, was unconnected with the appointment
respecting the turnpike road. It appears, that on the 10th of October,
1791, David Rittenhouse, Esq. the Rev. Dr. John Ewing, and Mr. John
Nancarrow, were appointed by Governor Mifflin, Commissioners to view
and mark out a road, from the middle ferry on Schuylkill to the
borough of Lancaster, by courses and distances, as near to a straight
line as the nature of the ground and other circumstances would admit;
and also to view and lay out, in a general plan, the great road at
that time leading from the city of Philadelphia to the same borough,
(and now called the old road:) with topographical observations
thereon, having reference to the practicability and comparative
circumstances necessary to making turnpikes on the then existing and
proposed roads; in which, expense and materials were to be attended
to; together with the plans of the surveys, in profile, of the said
road or roads: agreeably to a resolution of the general assembly,
passed on the 30th of September, in the same year. Under commissions
thus designating their duties, these gentlemen, assisted by surveyors
and the necessary attendants, proceeded on this service, and
established that great and important public highway, known by the name
of the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Road: their compensation
for this service, was consequently drawn from the treasury of
Pennsylvania.
The author was favoured with this information by John Hall, Esq. who
acted as one of the surveyors on the occasion.
Footnote 253:
These particulars, respecting Dr. Rittenhouse’s connection with the
Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike-Company, were obligingly furnished
to the Memorialist by Mr. William Govett, secretary to the board of
managers of that company.
-----
It has been before noticed, that, on the elevation of the College of
Philadelphia to the grade of an University, by an act of assembly passed
in November, 1779, Dr. Rittenhouse was one of the trustees of the new
institution, created by that law. On the 30th of September, 1791, almost
twelve years afterwards, a compromise was effected between the
respective advocates of the old and the new institution; a law of the
state being then passed, “to unite the University of the state of
Pennsylvania, and the College, Academy and Charitable School of
Philadelphia, &c.” By this act, the then existing trustees of each
institution were to elect twelve trustees; and the twenty-four persons
who should be thus chosen, together with the governor of the state for
the time being, as president of the board, were to be the trustees of
this united seminary, under the denomination of “The Trustees of the
University of Pennsylvania.”
On this occasion, Dr. Rittenhouse was again chosen a member of the
corporation, on the part of the University, the election having been
made the 3d of November, 1791; at which time, Bishop White was president
of the board of the College trustees, and Dr. M‘Kean, late governor of
Pennsylvania, of that of the University. By an act of assembly, passed
the 6th of March, 1789, so much of the act erecting the University, as
affected the charters, franchises and estates of the College of
Philadelphia, had been repealed, and the powers of the former trustees
revived: but by the act of 1791, all the estates of the two institutions
were vested in this one, composed of both.
The union of the separate interests of those seminaries, it may be
reasonably expected, will eventually prove a fortunate circumstance:
because, by its extinguishing the jealousies and rivalship[254] that
heretofore subsisted between the friends of each, which must, too, have
continued to operate, had they remained separate; and, by consolidating
their estates and pecuniary resources into one fund, greatly encreasing
the sphere of their usefulness, beyond the ratio in which they could
have been enjoyed separately; the important interests of literature
might be expected to be proportionably advanced. A doubt can not be
entertained, that this was an object very desirable by the benevolent
Rittenhouse, as well as by the trustees, generally, of these conjoint
institutions.[255]
-----
Footnote 254:
By the legislative act of the 27th of November, 1779, the charter
granted to the Academy and Charitable School of Philadelphia, by the
Proprietaries, on the 30th of July, 1753, together with the one
granted to the College on the 14th of May, 1755, were declared void,
and David Rittenhouse, Esq. was one of the twenty-five trustees of the
University, then appointed. Twelve of these twenty-five
newly-appointed trustees, were such _ex officio_. Dr. Franklin, who
was one of them, never qualified under this act; and some of the
others afterwards withdrew.
By the law of the 30th of September, 1791, the old College and the new
University were incorporated: twelve trustees were to be appointed by
each of these institutions, and reported to the governor before the
1st of December succeeding, which was accordingly done; and thus the
union of the two institutions was happily completed.
Footnote 255:
Between the years 1762 and 1774, there were collected for the use of
the College, chiefly by the agency and zealous exertions of the
Provost, between fifty and sixty thousand dollars; the much greater
part of which amount was obtained from contributors in Great-Britain
and Ireland.
It is not precisely known to the writer, what is the present condition
of the University of Pennsylvania, with which the original College of
Philadelphia and its appendages are incorporated; but it is believed
to be prosperous: its medical department is, certainly, in a most
flourishing state.
The persons who may be considered as the Founders of the College, when
the original institution was incorporated by the name of “The Academy
and Charitable School of Philadelphia,” were Benjamin Franklin, James
Logan, Thomas Lawrence, William Allen, John Inglis, Tench Francis,
William Masters, Lloyd Zachary, Samuel M‘Call, junior, Joseph Turner,
Thomas Leech, William Shippen, Robert Strettel, Philip Syng, Charles
Willing, Phineas Bond, Richard Peters, Abraham Taylor, Thomas Bond,
Thomas Hopkinson, William Plumsted, Joshua Maddox, Thomas White and
William Coleman. The names of these respectable men, (the meritorious
promoters of that institution which fostered the genius of a
Rittenhouse, and with which his name and talents were associated,)
were deemed deserving of record, as early patrons of learning in
Pennsylvania. Of this College, the _Alma Mater_ of the memorialist, he
trusts it will not be thought presumptuous to speak in the language,
and with the grateful feelings, of one of her Sons,[255a] in an early
period of his life:
“Blest Institution! Nurse of Liberty!
My heart, my grateful heart shall burn for thee.
No common pride I boast, no common joy,
That thy instructions did my youth employ:
Tho’ not the first, among thy sons, I prove;
Yet well I feel, I’m not the last in love.
O may’st thou still in wealth and pow’r encrease,
And may thy sacred influence never cease!”
Footnote 255a:
The late Francis Hopkinson, Esq. See his Poem entitled, _Science_;
inscribed to the Trustees, Provost, Vice-Provost, and Professors of
the College of Philadelphia, A. D. 1762.
-----
It has been already noticed, that the first academic honour conferred on
Dr. Rittenhouse, was obtained from the College of Philadelphia: he might
therefore consider it as being his _Alma Mater_; and his attachment to
that seminary must have been strengthened, by the circumstance of one of
his (only two) Orreries having been acquired by it, and its being
deposited in the college-edifice. But, besides these considerations, he
officiated, for some time, as Vice-provost and a professor in the
institution, after it became an University. To the first of these
stations, he was elected on the 8th of February, 1780; having been
unanimously appointed professer of astronomy, the 16th of December
preceding: a salary of one hundred pounds per annum was annexed to the
vice-provostship, and three hundred pounds per annum to the professor’s
chair. These places Dr. Rittenhouse resigned, the 18th of April 1782.
Thus attached to, and connected with, this very respectable seminary of
learning, as Dr. Rittenhouse was, the following occurrences in the
history of its origin and advancement, will not be deemed uninteresting,
by the reader.
The Academy and Charitable School, of Philadelphia, originated in the
year 1749. This institution, which was opened in that year, was
projected by a few private gentlemen; and many others, of the first
respectability, gave their countenance to it, as soon as it became
known: some of them were, on its first establishment, appointed trustees
of the infant seminary.
The persons on whom the charge of arranging and digesting the
preparatory measures for this important undertaking, were Thomas
Hopkinson,[256] Tench Francis,[257] Richard Peters and Benjamin
Franklin, Esquires.[258] The last mentioned of these distinguished and
patriotic gentleman draughted and published the original proposals; and
on the opening of the Academy, another of them, Mr. Peters, (afterwards
D. D. and rector of Christ’s-Church and St. Peter’s in Philadelphia,)
who long officiated as provincial secretary, preached an appropriate
sermon—on the 7th of January, 1751—from these words (St. John, viii.
32.) “_And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free._”—“This reverend and worthy gentleman” said Dr. Smith, in his
account of this institution, first published among his works in the year
1762 “(who, amid all the labours of his public station, as well as the
private labours in which his benevolence continually engaged him, has
still made it his care to devote some part of his time to classical
learning, and the study of divinity, to which he was originally bred,)
took occasion, from these words of our blessed Saviour, to shew the
intimate connexion between truth and freedom,—between knowledge of every
kind, and the preservation of civil and religious liberty.”
-----
Footnote 256:
A lawyer of eminence.
Footnote 257:
Then attorney-general of Pennsylvania.
Footnote 258:
In selecting the twenty-four trustees for the proposed Academy, as
well as in the formation of his plan, Dr. Franklin consulted, besides
the three gentlemen named with him, in the text, Dr. Phineas Bond, a
physician of eminence in Philadelphia and a worthy character. The
trustees, whose names were inserted in the contributions, and which
were subscribed on the 13th of Nov. 1749, were among the most
respectable citizens of Philadelphia. The plan of the then projected
Academy was adapted to “the state of an infant country;” Dr. Franklin
having considered it as only “a foundation, for posterity to erect
(thereon) a seminary of learning more extensive, and suitable to
future circumstances.”
-----
The Rev. William Smith, M. A. (afterwards D. D.) was inducted, on the
25th of May, 1754, as head of this seminary, under the title of Provost,
with the professorship of natural philosophy[259] annexed to that
station.
On the 14th of May, 1755, an additional charter was granted by the
Proprietaries to this seminary, by which a College was engrafted upon
the original Academy: a joint government was agreed on for both, under
the style of “The College, Academy and Charitable School, of
Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania;” and this enlarged institution became
invested with a power of conferring degrees, and appointing professors
in the various branches of the arts and sciences.
-----
Footnote 259:
He was, afterwards, also professor of astronomy and rhetoric; and he
gave lectures in these branches, in addition to natural philosophy.
-----
The first commencement, in this College and Academy, was held the 17th
of May, 1757;[260] on which occasion, an excellent charge was delivered
to the graduates, by the Provost. One passage in that charge is so
patriotic and impressive, as to merit attention at all times, in a
country that boasts of a free constitution of government; its
introduction at this time, and on the present occasion, cannot be
considered improper: it is the following animated and eloquent
exhortation to active patriotism, in times of misrule, popular delusion,
and public danger:—
“Should your Country call, or should you perceive the restless tools of
faction at work in their dark cabals, and ‘stealing upon the secure hour
of Liberty;’ should you see the corruptors, or the corrupted, imposing
upon the public with specious names,—undermining the civil and religious
principles of their country, and gradually paving the way to certain
Slavery, by spreading destructive notions of Government;—then, Oh! then,
be nobly roused! Be all eye, and ear, and heart, and voice, and hand, in
a cause so glorious! Cry aloud, and spare not,—fearless of danger,
regardless of opposition, and little solicitous about the frowns of
power, or the machinations of villany. Let the world know, that Liberty
is your unconquerable delight; and that you are sworn foes to every
species of bondage, either of body or of mind. These are subjects for
which you need not be ashamed to sacrifice your ease and every other
private advantage. For, certainly, if there be aught upon earth suited
to the native greatness of the human mind, and worthy of contention,—it
must be to assert the cause of Religion, and to support the fundamental
rights and liberties of mankind, and to strive for the constitution of
your country,—and a government of laws, not of Men.”
-----
Footnote 260:
The following is an extract from the Salutatory Oration delivered by
Mr. Paul Jackson,[260a] at the first Commencement held in the College
of Philadelphia; when a Master’s degree was conferred on that
gentleman, and on him only.
After making his salutations of respect to the professors generally,
the orator thus addressed the Rev. Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Smith, the
Provost:
“Præcipué, Te, collegii et academiæ hujus Præefecte venerande! summâ
benevolentiâ a nobis observari par est. Tu gressus nostros, dum
subtilioris sapientiæ recessus curiosé indagamus, direxisti. Tu nobis,
mansuetioribus musis operam impendentibus, orationis simplicis ac
perspicuæ regulas, venusta ornamenta ac veneres accuraté eleganterque
explicuisti. Tu, quid sit magnificum tum in verbis, tum in sententiis,
tum in figuris, edocuisti, omnesque sublimitatis fontes, ipsius
Longini majestatem et acumen feliciter æmulatus, auditoribus tuis
admirantibus retexisti. Qui vult fieri disertus, scripta tua, tanquam
præceptorum exempla luculenta, sæpius versato; animum intendat ad
argumenta multifaria, quæ tam varié, tam numerosé, tam abundanter, tam
illuminaté, tum rebus tum verbis tractasti.”
Footnote 260a:
Mr. Jackson was professor of languages and master of the Latin school,
in the college, until the spring of the year 1758; when he accepted of
a captaincy in the provincial service, in the expedition under general
Forbes, against the French and their Indian allies. On the resignation
of his professorship, Mr. Jackson was succeeded by Mr. Beveridge.
-----
In the year 1765, the original plan of this institution was greatly
enlarged, by the addition of the Medical School;[261] with the
appointment of Professors,[262] for reading lectures in anatomy, botany,
chemistry, the materia medica, the theory and practice of physick, and
also for delivering clynical lectures in the Pennsylvania Hospital.[263]
Since that period, and after the erection of the whole of the
College-establishment into an University, the Medical department has
been still further extended, by the creation of other Professorships in
the Schools of Medicine, and filling these new chairs—as well as those
originally instituted—with men of distinguished learning and abilities:
By which means, the Medical School in Philadelphia, connected with the
University of Pennsylvania, now justly vies with that of Edinburgh, in
celebrity.
-----
Footnote 261:
Dr. William Shippen, the younger, who first filled the anatomical
chair in the College of Philadelphia, (afterwards, the University of
Pennsylvania,) and which he continued to occupy for almost forty-three
years with great respectability, may be justly considered as the
founder of the medical department of that institution. The
establishment of a medical school in his native city, had long been
contemplated by this distinguished lecturer, as a most desirable
object: but, in the execution of such a plan, serious difficulties
were to be encountered at the commencement. In the language of-his
anonymous eulogist,[261a] “the enterprize, arduous in itself, was
rendered abundantly more so, in consideration of its novelty: for, as
yet, the voice of a public lecturer in medicine had never been heard
in the western world. In order, therefore, to test the practicability
of the measure, and to pave the way for a more regular and extensive
establishment, he determined to embark in the undertaking himself, by
delivering, in a private capacity, a course of lectures on anatomy and
surgery: this he did in the winter of 1762-3, being the first winter
after his return from his studies and travels in Europe.”
Dr. Shippen’s success, as a private lecturer, demonstrated the
expediency of engrafting a medical school on the College; and, in
consequence, he was unanimously elected the professor of anatomy and
surgery, on the 17th of September, 1765. This able teacher held that
chair until his death,[261b] which occurred the 11th of July, 1808, in
the seventy-fifth year of his age.
Footnote 261a:
Said to be Dr. Caldwell, of Philadelphia. See the _Port Folio_.
Footnote 261b:
Casper Wister, M. D. Professor of Anatomy and Surgery in the
University of Pennsylvania, was, for some years before the death of
Dr. Shippen, his adjunct professor in the same chair; to which
station, this eminent teacher in those branches of medicine was
appointed by the trustees of the university, at the request of his
late colleague.
Footnote 262:
William Shippen, jun. M. D. just mentioned, was the professor of
anatomy; Adam Kuhn, M. D. a distinguished pupil of the celebrated
Linnæus, was professor of botany, united with the materia medica;
Benjamin Rush, M. D. a learned and able professor of the theory and
practice of physick, then held the chemical chair; and Dr. Thomas
Bond, an ingenious and eminent physician, gave clynical lectures in
the Pennsylvania Hospital. In the year 1789, the trustees of the
College of Philadelphia instituted a professorship of natural history
and botany; which was then conferred on Benjamin Smith Barton, M. D.
Dr. Kuhn had formerly delivered several courses of lectures on botany,
in the College of Philadelphia; but natural history had never before
been taught there. On the union of the College with the University, in
the year 1791, Dr. Barton’s former appointment was confirmed by the
trustees of the united institution; and in the year 1796, he was
further appointed by them to the professorship of materia medica; that
chair having been then vacated by the resignation of the late
professor of that branch of medical science.
The other chairs, in the Medical Department of the University, are
filled as follows; viz. that of Anatomy, by Casper Wister, M. D.—of
the Theory and Practice of Physick, by Benjamin Rush, M. D.[262a]—of
Chemistry, by John Redman Coxe, M. D.—of Materia Medica, Botany and
Natural History, by Benjamin Smith Barton, M. D.—of Surgery, by Philip
Syng Physick, M. D. and John S. Dorsey, M. D.—and of Midwifery, by
Thomas Chalkley James, M. D.
Among these collegiate-chairs in medicine, appertaining to the
University of Pennsylvania, the only one which appears to be deficient
in a suitable appendage to its institution—and this, too, such an
appendage as may be considered almost indispensably necessary to it—is
the Professorship of Botany. To this chair, a _Botanical Garden_ ought
to be appurtenant: and accordingly we find, that this requisite for
rendering a Botanical Professorship complete, in most Universities, is
the establishment of such a Garden, for the use of the Teacher and his
Pupils.
The importance that is attached to institutions of this kind, in
foreign seminaries of learning, will be perceived from the following
sketches of those in three of the most celebrated universities of
Europe.
The Botanical Garden (called the “Physick Garden”) of the university
of Oxford, contains five acres of ground. It is surrounded by a noble
wall, with portals in the rustic style, at proper distances. The
passage to the grand entrance is through a small court: this principal
portal is of the Doric order, ornamented with rustic work, and adorned
with a bust of Henry Danvers, Earl of Danby, the founder; besides
statues of the kings Charles I. and II.
The ground is divided into four quarters. On each side of the
entrance, is a neat and convenient green-house, stocked with a great
variety of exotics. The quarters are filled with indigenous plants,
properly classed; and without the walls is an admirable hot-house,
filled with various plants, the production of warm climates.
These fine and spacious gardens were instituted by Lord Danby, so
early as the year 1632; and this nobleman having supplied them with
the necessary plants, for the use of the students of Botany in the
university, endowed the establishment with an annual revenue, for its
support. The Gardens were afterwards much improved by Dr. Sherrard,
who assigned a fund of 3000_l._ sterling, for the maintenance of a
professor of Botany. Over the grand entrance into the Gardens is this
inscription: “_Gloriæ Dei Optimi, maximi honori Caroli I. Regis, in
usum Academieœ et Reipublicæ, Henricus Comes Danby, anno 1632_.”
The Botanic Garden, at Cambridge, consists of nearly five acres, well
watered. The ground, with a large house for the use of the governors
and officers of the Garden, was purchased at the expense of about
1600_l._ sterling, by Dr. Richard Walker.
An handsome green-house, one hundred feet in length, and having an
hot-house (or, what is called a stove,) appurtenant to it, were
erected by subscription. These are furnished with an extensive variety
of curious exotics: the plants are all arranged according to the
Linnæan system, and a catalogue of them is printed.
These Gardens are under the government of the chancellor or
vice-chancellor of the university, the heads of three of the colleges,
and the regius professor of physick; and they are superintended by a
lecturer or reader, and a curator.
There is, besides, a Professorship of Botany, in this university; as
there is also at Oxford.
The Botanical Garden belonging to the university of Edinburgh, is
about a mile from the city, It consists of a great variety of plants,
exotic and indigenous. The Professor is botanist to the king, and
receives an annual salary of 120_l._ sterling, for the support of the
Garden. A monument to the memory of Linnæus was erected here, by the
late Dr. Hope, who first planted the Garden and brought it to
perfection.
The Garden of Plants, at Paris, now termed the Museum of Natural
History, comprises a space of many acres. It dates its origin as far
back as the year 1640, during the reign of Louis XIII. In 1665, it
bore the name of _Hortus Regius_, and exhibited a catalogue of four
thousand plants. From that period, it made but slow progress, until
Louis XV. placed it under the direction of the Count de Buffon, the
celebrated naturalist; to whose anxious care and indefatigable
exertions, it owes its present extent and magnificence: it is now
under the patronage of the government.
But this institution comprehends, in addition to the Botanical Garden,
an extensive chemical laboratory, a cabinet of comparative anatomy, a
cabinet of preparations in anatomy and natural history, a large
library, a museum of natural history, and a menagérie well stocked.
Besides the lectures delivered in the Amphitheatre, erected in these
Gardens, the Professors of Botany give their peripatetic lessons, in
good weather, to a numerous train of disciples.
“When I have been seated at noon, on a fine day, in the month of
August, or in the commencement of May, under one of the majestic ash
of the Garden of Plants, with this Elysian scene before me, in the
midst of a most profound silence, and of a solitude interrupted only
by the occasional appearance of the Professor of Botany and his
pupils, I have almost fancied myself,” says the writer of _Letters on
France and England_—(see Am. Rev. No. ii.) “among the groves of the
Athenian Academy, and could imagine that I heard the lessons of the
“divine” Plato. Here, as well as in the spacious and noble works and
gardens of Oxford, which are so admirably calculated for the exercises
both of the mind and body, the fancy takes wing, and readily
transports the student of antiquity to those venerable seats of
knowledge, where the sublime Philosophy of the Greeks was taught, and
the masters of human reason displayed their incomparable eloquence:”—
——“the green retreats
Of Academus,[262b] and the thymy vale,
Where, oft enchanted with Socratic sounds,
Ilyssus,[262c] pure, devolv’d his tuneful stream
In gentle murmur.”
Akenside’s _Pleasures of Imagination_.
The importance of establishing a Botanical Garden at Philadelphia is
obvious: it has, in fact, become a necessary institution, towards
completing a medical education; according to the system of teaching
medicine, pursued in the medical department of the University of
Pennsylvania. In this respect, New-York has taken the lead of
Philadelphia. Dr. David Hosack, professor of botany in the Medical
School of New-York, established a Botanic Garden of about twenty
acres, called the Elgin Botanic Garden, in the vicinity of that city,
in the year 1801. This Garden is skirted around by forest-trees and
shrubs, within the substantial enclosure of a stone wall; and on these
grounds are erected extensive, commodious, and well constructed
conservatories and hot-houses, which are furnished with a variety of
plants, exotic and indigenous. The whole of this establishment was
purchased from Dr. Hosack, by the state, in the year 1810: It is now
under the direction of the regents of the University of that state.
Six years ago, the general assembly of Pennsylvania made some
provision for such an institution: By a law passed the 19th of March,
1807, towards the close of Governor M‘Kean’s administration, three
thousand dollars were granted to the trustees of the University of
Pennsylvania, “out of the monies they owe the state; for the purpose
of enabling them to establish a Garden for the improvement of the
science of Botany, and for instituting a series of experiments to
ascertain the cheapest and best food for plants, and their medical
properties and virtues.” But no application of this fund has yet been
made, to the purposes contemplated by the legislature in their
appropriation of it.
Mr. John Bartram, F. R. S. a distinguished botanist, though
self-taught, is understood to have been the first anglo-American who
executed the design of a Botanic Garden in this country. He laid out,
and planted with his own hands, on his farm, pleasantly situated on
the west bank of the Schuylkill and about four miles below
Philadelphia, a garden of five or six acres; which he furnished with a
great variety of curious, useful and beautiful vegetables, exotic as
well as American. He acquired the greater part of the latter, in
travelling through many parts of the continent, from Canada to the
Floridas. His proficiency in his favourite science was, at a pretty
early period, so great, that Linnæus pronounced him, in one of his
letters, to be the greatest natural botanist in the world. This Garden
is now in the tenure and under the management of his son, the
ingenious Mr. William Bartram, a well known cultivator of Natural
History and Botany. Although this respectable man is above seventy
years of age, he continues the most sedulous attention to his
favourite pursuits. For a further account of Mr. John Bartram, see Dr.
Barton’s _Medical Journal_.
Mr. Bartram was born near Darby, in the (then) county of Chester,
Pennsylvania, in the year 1701. He held the appointment of Botanist,
for America, to King George III. until his death, which occurred in
September, 1777, in the seventy-sixth year of his age.
Footnote 262a:
Since deceased.
Footnote 262b:
Academus was an Athenian hero, from whom the original Academists, or
that sect of philosophers who followed the opinion of Socrates, as
illustrated and enforced by Plato, derived their name; Plato having
taught his disciples in a grove, near Athens, consecrated to the
memory of that hero.
Footnote 262c:
The Ilyssus is a rapid, but, when not swollen by rains, a small
stream, of pure and limpid water, in the vicinity of Athens; and near
the margin of which, in a vale at the foot of Mount Hymettus, is
supposed to have stood the Grove, dedicated to Academus, in which the
Socratic Philosophy was taught in its greatest purity.
Footnote 263:
This highly important and well conducted institution owes its rise to
the liberal contributions of several humane, charitable and
public-spirited persons, aided by a legislative grant of two thousand
pounds, Pennsylvania currency, (equivalent to $5333⅓ in the beginning
of the year 1751: the first design, it is believed, was suggested by
the late Dr. Thomas Bond, long an eminent physician in Philadelphia;
and heretofore an active and useful member of the Philosophical
Society, as well as sometime one of the vice-presidents of that body.
By a law passed the 11th of April, 1793, the general assembly
liberally granted ten thousand pounds ($26,666,) out of the funds
accruing to the loan office of February 26, 1773; to enable the
managers of the Hospital to make additions to their buildings,
conformably to the original plan; and so to extend it as to comprehend
a Lying-in and a Foundling Hospital,[263a] so soon as specific funds
for those purposes should be obtained.
The first twelve managers (whose names deserve to be held in
remembrance, as prominent benefactors to their country,) were Joshua
Crosby, Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Thomas Bond, Samuel Hazard, Richard
Peters, Israel Pemberton, (then styled junior,) Samuel Rhoads, Hugh
Roberts, Joseph Morris, John Smith, Evan Morgan and Charles Norris;
and John Reynell officiated as treasurer: all of these were gentlemen
of most respectable characters.
In order to obviate some objections, that were at first made, to the
contemplated expense of the medical department of the institution, and
which it was apprehended might obstruct the passage of the bill then
depending in the legislature, by which the grant of the two thousand
pounds, before mentioned, was obtained from the public, Dr. Thomas
Bond, together with his brother Dr. Phineas Bond, and Dr. Lloyd
Zachary, generously offered to attend the Hospital, gratuitously, for
the term of three years.
The Hospital establishment is now very complete, according to the
original plan of this valuable institution; and, indeed, much beyond
what was at first contemplated, in some respects: yet its utility
might be much increased, by a further extension of the design. In its
present condition, however, it reflects great honour on Pennsylvania,
justly celebrated, as she is, for her charitable, literary,
scientific, and other useful institutions; and the conduct of the
managers has been uniformly such, as to entitle them to the gratitude
of the community.
The Students in the Medical School of the University pay ten dollars
per annum, for the privilege of attending the Hospital-practice, which
is of very important advantage to them: and the physicians, with the
managers, have generously appropriated a fund out of the monies, thus
obtained, for the purpose of founding a Medical Library, and of
purchasing the late Dr. Abraham Chovet’s most curious anatomical
preparations.[263b] By these means, in addition to Dr. John
Fothergill’s valuable present, and other donations, this Hospital,
with little expense of its more immediate funds, already possesses the
most useful as well as ornamental collection, of the kind, that is to
be found any where in America: and when the superbly magnificent
painting, representing Christ healing the sick, (now in a train of
execution by Mr. West, in London, and intended to be a donation from
him to this Hospital,) shall have been received, this _chef-d’œuvre_
of the sublime artist will constitute there, not only a noble monument
of his liberality, benevolence, and attachment to his native country,
but a splendid and admirably well-suited ornament to the institution
possessing it. It is scarcely sixteen years since the hospital-tickets
of the medical pupils amounted to only about three hundred dollars per
annum. This fund has been since increasing; the annual income to it
being at present estimated at fifteen hundred dollars: it is now amply
sufficient to supply the library belonging to the Hospital with new
books, and to keep in good preservation the anatomical casts, &c.
As Dr. Franklin was eminently instrumental in promoting the
establishment of the Pennsylvania Hospital, so he likewise bore a
conspicuous part in the formation of the Library-Company of
Philadelphia; an institution which holds a distinguished rank, for its
usefulness, among the many that do honour to the capital of
Pennsylvania. A public Library was first set on foot in Philadelphia
by Franklin, about the year 1731; at which time he was scarcely
twenty-six years of age. Fifty persons then subscribed forty shillings
each, and agreed to contribute ten shillings annually, for that
purpose. Some other companies for similar purposes had been formed in
that city, after the one here mentioned; but these were soon after
united with “The Library Company of Philadelphia.” This Company now
possess many thousand valuable books; and their stock is continually
deriving accessions from donations, as well as from purchases. Besides
the marble statue of Dr. Franklin, presented to the company by the
late William Bingham, Esq. of Philadelphia, (which decorates the front
of the Library-edifice,) and many other considerable benefactions to
the institution, from time to time, “the Penn family” (as the late
ingenious Dr. Henry Stuber, the continuator of the Life of Franklin,
has remarked,) “distinguished themselves by their donations” to it.
The Loganian Library was, a few years since, placed under the same
roof with that of the Philadelphia Company; though in a distinct
apartment. It consists of an extensive collection of curious, rare and
valuable books, in various branches of ancient and modern learning:
and for this noble benefaction to his native country, the public are
indebted to James Logan, Esq. many years an eminent citizen of
Philadelphia, and well known, not only throughout America, but in the
old world, for his erudition and talents.
Dr. Rittenhouse’s intimate connexion with the College, and afterwards
with the University of Pennsylvania, rendered it improper, in the
opinion of the Memorialist, not to notice those institutions in the
manner he has done: and in doing this, he could not without injustice
omit a similar mention of the Hospital, so nearly allied to them
through the Medical School of the former; nor of the Philadelphia
Library Company, which bears a close affinity to them all.
The name of Mr. West having been introduced on this occasion, the
writer conceives it will not be thought foreign to the design of these
Memoirs (though only incidentally connected with the present article),
to make some further mention of a native American, whose name must
ever hold a most conspicuous place in the history of the fine arts, in
relation to this country.
This celebrated Artist is the youngest of ten children of John West, a
person descended from very respectable ancestors, and a native of
England. John early embraced the tenets of the people called Quakers.
Migrating, in the year 1714, to Pennsylvania, where some members of
the same family had arrived with William Penn about fifteen years
before, he married and settled in the vicinity of Philadelphia; and
there his son Benjamin was born.
This gentleman’s residence has been in England, during the last
forty-five years: but he left his native country some considerable
time prior to that period; having first visited Italy, and some other
schools of painting on the continent. When a Society of Artists was
instituted in London, a few years after the accession of the present
king to the throne, Mr. West (who had then recently arrived in
England, on his return from Italy,) became a member of that body.
Their exhibitions of painting, sculpture and architectural designs,
became objects of attention to men of taste in the fine arts;—“the
young Sovereign,” says Mr. West (in a letter to Mr. C. W. Peale,
written in 1809,[263c]) “was interested in their prosperity.” After
the dissolution of that society, the king desired Mr. West and three
other artists to form a plan for a Royal Academy; which having been
approved by his majesty, he directed that it should be carried into
execution. “Thus,” continues Mr. West, “commenced the institution of
the Royal Academy of London[263d]:” And again, speaking of this
patronage, he says;—“his majesty, by his regard for the arts, gave a
dignity to them, unknown before in the country.” Referring to this
meritorious patronage of the fine arts by the present king of England,
Mr. Latrobe (in his Anniversary Oration before the Society of Artists
in Philadelphia, in May, 1811,) makes this just remark: “Nor ought we
to omit mention of the name of George III. by whose patronage, our
illustrious countryman, West, has become the first historical painter
of the age.”
Footnote 263a:
Towards the incorporation of either one or the other of these
institutions with the present establishment of the Pennsylvania
Hospital, the managers possess, also, sixteen shares of stock in the
Bank of Pennsylvania, bestowed by the First Troop of Cavalry in
Philadelphia. The product of this noble and very valuable donation,
and which is considered as being equivalent to a capital stock of
$8503.33, will, most probably, be wholly applied to the support of a
Lying-in Hospital, as part of the great institution.
Footnote 263b:
Thirty pounds a year were payable to Mrs. Abington, a daughter of Dr.
Chovet, during her life, on account of this purchase. That annuity has
very recently been extinguished, by the death of the annuitant.
Footnote 263c:
See the _Port Folio_, for January, 1810.
Footnote 263d:
When this Academy was first established, the celebrated Dr. Samuel
Johnson was appointed ‘Professor of Ancient Literature’ in the
institution; an office merely honorary.
-----
The whole of the literary and scientific institution, thus formed—which,
besides the Medical Schools, was composed of the College, the Academy
and the Charitable School, continued under the provostship of the Rev.
Dr. Smith, assisted by able teachers and professors,[264] from his
induction in the year 1754, until the establishment of the University,
in 1779:[265] during which time, comprehending a period of twenty-five
years, this seminary increased in reputation and flourished; and indeed
it was indebted for much of its respectability and usefulness to the
zeal,[266] the talents and the services of Dr. Smith.
Footnote 264:
Of these, Francis Alison, D. D. a learned and worthy presbyterian
clergyman, was vice-provost, and professor of moral philosophy; the
Rev. Ebenezer Kinnersley, M. A. an eminent electrician and an amiable
man, was professor of English and oratory; John Beveridge, M. A. an
excellent scholar in the learned languages (some of whose Latin
epistolary writings, in metrical language, after the manner of Horace,
possess a considerable portion of merit and discover much classical
purity of style,) was professor of languages; and Hugh Williamson, M.
A. (now M. D.) a gentleman of distinguished talents, was professor of
mathematics.
The last mentioned of these eminently meritorious characters is yet
living. He enjoys the respect and esteem due to a man who, in the
course of a long life, devoted much of his time and talents to the
promotion of learning, useful knowledge, and the welfare of his
country. Of the other three, who have, long since, passed on to “that
bourn from which no traveller returns,” the following circumstances
are worthy of being preserved in remembrance, by those who shall
hereafter record the history of literature and science, in this
country.
Dr. Alison was one of the first persons in the middle colonies, who,
foreseeing the ignorance into which this part of the country seemed
inclined to fall, set up a regular school of education here. He was
long employed in the education of youth at New-London Cross-roads, in
Pennsylvania, before his appointment to the vice-provostship of the
college of Philadelphia; and many persons, who afterwards made a
distinguished figure in this country, were bred under his tuition. The
University of Glasgow, being well informed of the pious and faithful
labours of this valuable man, in propagating useful knowledge in these
then untutored parts of the world, created him a Doctor of Divinity:
He was honoured with this degree, without any solicitation whatever on
his part.
Mr. Kinnersley possessed great merit, in the estimation of the learned
world, “in being the chief inventor of the Electrical Apparatus, as
well as author of a considerable part of those discoveries in
Electricity, published by Mr. Franklin, to whom he communicated them.
Indeed Mr. Franklin himself mentions his name with honour; though he
has not been careful enough to distinguish between their particular
discoveries. This, perhaps, he may have thought needless, as they were
known to act in concert. But, though that circumstance was known here,
it was not so in remote parts of the world, to which the fame of these
discoveries has extended.” The passage here quoted, is copied from an
account of the college and academy of Philadelphia, published in
October, 1758.