Chapter XII: Part 12

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]

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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.

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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]

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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.

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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.”

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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.”

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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.

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Footnote 259:

He was, afterwards, also professor of astronomy and rhetoric; and he
gave lectures in these branches, in addition to natural philosophy.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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

Footnote 265:

A Law Professorship was instituted in the College of Philadelphia, in
the year 1790, and the Hon. James Wilson, LL.D. (late one of the
associate judges of the supreme court of the United States,) was
appointed the first professor: the first course of lectures, under
this appointment, was delivered in the winter of 1790-1. In April,
1792, when the College and University became united into one seminary,
under the latter title, a Professorship of Law was erected in the new
seminary; when Judge Wilson was again appointed to fill that chair:
but no Law-lectures were afterwards delivered.

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

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

Footnote 266:

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

This gentleman was educated in the university of Aberdeen,[267] in Scotland, where he graduated as Master of Arts. He soon after obtained clerical orders, in the Church of England; and, in the year 1759, he was honoured with the degree of Doctor in Divinity, from the University of Oxford, on the recommendation of the archbishop of Canterbury, and the bishops of Durham, Salisbury, Oxford and St. Asaph.[268] About the same time, he received a similar degree from the University of Trinity-College, Dublin. Dr. Smith died the 14th of May, 1803, at the age of seventy-six years.

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Footnote 267:

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

Footnote 268:

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

-----

On the 10th of April, 1792, an act was passed by the general assembly of Pennsylvania, for the purpose of enabling the governor to incorporate a company for opening a canal and water-communication between the rivers Delaware and Schuylkill: and by this act, David Rittenhouse, William Moore, Eliston Perot, Cadwallader Evans, jun. and Francis Johnston, Esquires, were appointed commissioners to receive subscriptions of stock, for constituting a fund for this purpose.

Thus, after having been engaged in the course of eleven years, at a prior period, in the improvement of a great natural highway of his native country, he was again employed, in conjunction with others, by the legislative body of that country, after a lapse of nineteen years from the time of his first appointment to a similar duty, in forwarding the great design of uniting more intimately, and more beneficially for the purposes of agriculture and commerce, the waters of the beautiful stream near whose banks he was born, with those of the majestic Delaware.

This comparatively inconsiderable appointment was presently after succeeded by a most important one. Dr. Rittenhouse was commissioned to be Director of the Mint, by President Washington, the 14th of April, 1792; but he did not take the requisite qualifications for that office, until the 1st of July following. He entered upon the duties of this arduous and very respectable station with great reluctance: it was, indeed, pressed upon him; not only by Mr. Jefferson, then secretary of state, with whom Dr. Rittenhouse had long been in habits of intimate friendship; but (through the means of Mr. Secretary Hamilton, of the Treasury,) by the illustrious President himself, who always entertained the highest regard for him: and this esteem was mutual, notwithstanding some “shades of difference” in the political tenets of these two great and good men; for no person could hold a more exalted opinion of the integrity, abilities, and public services of Washington, than Dr. Rittenhouse uniformly did. Such was the extreme diffidence with which our Philosopher accepted this appointment thus honourably conferred on him, that he declined, for a considerable time, to be sworn into office; until, finally, on applying to the writer of these memoirs, he obtained his promise to render such assistance to him as he should be able to do, in the event of his own incapacity, from want of health or by reason of any incidental circumstance, to devote a sufficient portion of his time to the duties of the station. Although the writer was never required to act in the capacity thus proposed to him, circumstances not occurring to render it necessary, he shall always consider the arrangement then made upon the subject, on the voluntary proposition of Dr. Rittenhouse, as an estimable testimonial of his confidence in his friend and relative: yet the writer would have introduced the mention of these particulars, into the present work, with greater hesitation than he does, did he not conceive that a statement of facts of this kind will evince the delicate sensibility of Dr. Rittenhouse, on the occasion.

As soon as he had determined to accept the Directorship of the Mint, he began to make suitable arrangements for carrying the institution into operation. Towards this end, he suggested to the secretary of state the expediency of purchasing two contiguous houses and lots of ground, conveniently situated, for the establishment; in preference to taking buildings upon lease, for a purpose that seemed to require something like a permanent position. His proposal relative to this matter, it appears, was communicated to the secretary of state, for the purpose of being submitted to the consideration of the President: for, on the 9th of June, 1792, his approbation of the plan was expressed in the following note to the secretary.

“Dear Sir,

“I am in sentiment with you and the Director of the Mint, respecting
the purchase of the lots and houses which are offered for sale, in
preference to renting—as the latter will certainly exceed the interest
of the former.

“That all the applications may be brought to view, and considered, for
Coining &c., Mr. Lear will lay the letters and engravings before you,
to be shewn to the Director of the Mint:—I have no other object or
wish in doing it, than to obtain the best. Yours, &c.

“G^o. WASHINGTON.

“Mr. JEFFERSON.”

---

Dr. Rittenhouse executed this high trust with great ability and unimpeachable integrity, during three years; at the expiration of which he resigned it, on the 30th of June, 1795. He had, long before, expressed his anxious wish to retire from this station; but continued in office until that time, on the solicitation of the President and at the earnest desire of Mr. Jefferson.

As he was the first person appointed to that office, after the institution of the Mint under the present federal government of the Union, the duties that devolved upon him, in conducting it, were arduous and complicated. He directed the construction of the machinery; made arrangements for providing the necessary apparatus; and, in daily visits to the Mint, whenever his health permitted, personally superintended, with the most sedulous fidelity, not only the general economy of the institution, but its operations in the various departments;—duties, which his love of system and order, his extensive knowledge, and his practical skill in mechanicks, eminently qualified him to perform with peculiar correctness. At those times when he was prevented, by indisposition, from attending at the Mint in person, reports were made to him by the proper officers, either verbally or in writing, of the state of the institution and the progress of its business; and those officers received from him, on such occasions, the instructions requisite for their several departments.

In conducting the affairs of the Mint, Dr. Rittenhouse was seconded by capable and trusty officers; among whom was Mr. Voight, the Chief Coiner, with whose ingenuity and skill, as an operative mechanic, he was well acquainted, having long before employed him in that capacity, while he was engaged in constructing one of his Orreries and carrying on other branches of his professional business. Dr. Nicholas Way, a physician of some eminence, officiated at the same time as Treasurer of the Mint; and that respectable co-adjutor of the then Head of this important institution in the national economy, has borne testimony to his scrupulous attention to the public interests, in its direction:—“I have been informed by his colleague in office, Dr. Way,”—says Dr. Benjamin Rush,[269] who succeeded that gentleman in the Treasurership of the Mint,—“that, in several instances, he,” (speaking of the Director) “paid for work done at the Mint out of his salary,[270] where he thought the charges for it would be deemed extravagant by the United States.[271]

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Footnote 269:

See his Eulogium on Rittenhouse.

Footnote 270:

His salary was two thousand dollars per annum.

Footnote 271: