Chapter VII: Part 7

The Planetarium invented by Mr. George Graham,[132]—and a model of which was improperly retained by Mr. Rowley, its constructor,—had, long before the appearance of Mr. Rittenhouse’s machine, acquired the name of an Orrery; in compliment to Richard Boyle, Earl of Orrery,[133] who merely patronized the construction of one, from the artist Rowley’s pirated model. This complimentary appellation of Mr. Graham’s then newly invented Planetarium is said to have been bestowed upon it by Lord Orrery’s friend, Sir Richard Steele:[134] and, the name being thus applied to _that_ machine, all those of the nature of _Planetaria_, subsequently constructed,—however variant in usefulness or design, from the original one bearing the name of an “Orrery,”—were denominated _Orreries_.[135] In compliance, then, with long established usage, Mr. Rittenhouse modestly called his Planetarian-machine, from the first projection of it, an Orrery; although the entire merit, both of the invention and construction, belonged to himself.[136]

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Footnote 132:

In the work, entitled, “A new and general Biographical Dictionary,”
&c. published in 1761, the _Invention_ of _Graham’s_ Planetarium is
attributed to the celebrated Charles Boyle, Earl of Orrery; and the
compilers of that work cite this _supposed_ Invention of Lord
_Orrery_, “as an indubitable proof of his mechanical genius.” On this
authority, the compilers of the British Encyclopædia (reprinted in
Philadelphia by Mr. Dobson,) in the very words of the Biographical
Dictionary, make the nobleman from whom the first English Orrery
derives its name, the Inventor. But it seems to be now pretty
generally admitted, that his lordship was only the Patron of the
machine, made for George I. by Mr. Rowley.

Footnote 133:

This accomplished nobleman, who was also the fourth Earl of Cork, in
Ireland, and the third Earl of Burlington, in England, was born in the
year 1695, and died in 1753. He was a great encourager of the liberal
arts, possessed an extraordinary taste and skill in architecture, and
was animated by a most exalted public spirit.

Footnote 134:

Mr. Martin (in his _Philosophia Britannica_) says: “The Orrery, though
a modern name, has somewhat of obscurity in respect to its origin;
some persons deriving it from a Greek word, which imports to _see_ or
_view_:” “But others say, that Sir Richard Steele first gave this name
to an instrument of this sort, which was made by Mr. Rowley for the
late Earl of Orrery, and shewed only the movement of one or two of the
heavenly bodies. From hence many people have imagined, that this
machine owed its invention to that noble lord.” This Orrery was a
large one; and, although it is represented by Mr. Martin as a very
defective machine, it was purchased by King George I. at the price of
one thousand guineas.

Footnote 135:

Besides the Orrery here referred to, as the invention of the
celebrated mechanic and watchmaker, Mr. George Graham, a like machine
was afterwards contrived by Mr. James Ferguson, an eminent Scotch
mechanic and astronomer, and another planetarium of the same kind, by
Mr. William Jones, an ingenious mathematical instrument maker, of
London. From the planetarium or orrery of Graham, however, as a model,
all the modern orreries, prior to Mr. Rittenhouse’s, appear to have
been taken. The one constructed by Mr. Rowley is said to be very
similar to that invented by Dr. Stephen Hales.

But the idea of a planetarium, somewhat similar to the
Rittenhouse-orrery, seems to have been conceived by Huygens, who died
in 1695. A collection of this celebrated philosopher’s works was
printed at Leyden in the year 1724 and 1728: and in these will be
found the description of a planetarium; “a machine” (says Lalande, in
speaking of the one contemplated by Huygens,) “which represents, by
wheel-work, the revolutions of the planets around the sun and of the
moon around the earth, in their durations and natural dimensions; with
their excentricities, their inequalities, and their inclinations
towards the ecliptic.” See Lalande’s _Astron._

Footnote 136:

Mr. Jefferson remarks, in his _Notes on Virginia_, that “Mr.
Rittenhouse’s model of the planetary system has the plagiary
appellation of an Orrery.” This was, undoubtedly, a plagiary name, in
its relation to Graham’s Planetarium, of which Lord Orrery was the
supposed inventor: but the charge of plagiarism does not properly
apply to the same name, when bestowed by Mr. Rittenhouse himself, on
the grand machine of his own invention and construction. How improper
soever this name may have been in its first application to a
planetarium, it has since been generally applied to similar machines;
and it has thus acquired an appropriate signification in relation to
them. Mr. Rittenhouse did not choose to depart from the appellation in
common use, in naming a machine for surpassing, in ingenuity of
contrivance, accuracy and utility, any thing of the kind ever before
constructed; yet, in all those points of excellence, he was the
inventor of that admirable machine, which has been generally
denominated, by others, “the Rittenhouse Orrery.”

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It is not ascertained, at what time Mr. Rittenhouse first conceived the plan of that extensive, complicated and inestimable Orrery, which he afterwards executed. Probably, he had long thought on the subject, before he publicly announced his design. It is certain, however, that before the beginning of the year 1767, there was some correspondence and some understanding, respecting it, between himself and the Rev. Mr. Barton. It appears in fact, that, prior to that period, Mr. Barton had been fully apprized of his brother-in-law’s desire to carry into effect his meditated design of constructing a complete Orrery, on a plan entirely new; and that some arrangement was previously made, between these gentlemen; by which Mr. Barton undertook to indemnify Mr. Rittenhouse, for such actual expenditures as he should incur in making the machine and his loss of time while employed in the work, not exceeding a stipulated sum; provided he should not be able to dispose of it, when finished, at a price then fixed on. The prudential caution of our young Philosopher (then about thirty-four years of age,) and the public spirit of his friend, grounded on the confidence he had in the artist’s talents and abilities, were alike evinced on this occasion.

The first written communication made by Mr. Rittenhouse to Mr. Barton, on the subject of the Orrery, is contained in a letter under the date of Jan. 28th, 1767: it is in these words:—“I am glad you took the pains to transcribe, and send me, Martin’s _Account of Orreries_.”[137] “Two forms (he says) have principally obtained, the Hemispherical Orrery and the Whole Sphere. But the idea given us by the former, is very unnatural and imperfect. An Orrery, then, adapted to an Armillary Sphere is the only machine that can exhibit a just idea of the true System of the World.”—“But in my opinion,” says Mr. Rittenhouse, “the latter is likewise very unnatural; for, what has a Sphere, consisting of a great number of metaline Circles, to do with the true System of the World? Is there one real, or so much as apparent Circle, in it? (the bodies of the Sun and Planets excepted.) Are they not all merely imaginary lines, contrived for the purpose of calculation? I did not intend to let one of them have a place in my Orrery, except the Zodiac, on which I would have the true latitude and longitude of each planet pointed out by its proper Index.”

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Footnote 137:

See Note 131.

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“I did not design a Machine, which should give the ignorant in astronomy a just view of the Solar System: but would rather astonish the skilful and curious examiner, by a most accurate correspondence between the situations and motions of our little representatives of the heavenly bodies, and the situations and motions of those bodies, themselves. I would have my Orrery really useful, by making it capable of informing us, truly, of the astronomical phænomena for any particular point of time; which, I do not find that any Orrery yet made, can do.”

“But,” continues Mr. Rittenhouse, “perhaps it may be necessary to comply with the prevailing taste: If so, my plan must be entirely altered;—and this is a matter that must be settled between you and me, before I can proceed. However, I shall send you, in my next, a particular account of my design; such as I would have it, if not limited by the fear of making it too expensive.—A specimen (if I may so call it) of the most curious part of it, though much smaller than that intended for the Orrery, is now in hand, and I hope will soon be finished.”

To this letter Mr. Barton returned the following answer.

“_Lancaster, February 21st, 1767._

“Dear Brother,

“I received, a few days ago, yours of the 28th ult.—after it had
undergone the torture of some Dutchman’s pocket, which compelled it to
force its way through the cover: However, the inside did escape
without many fractures; so that I had the pleasure of getting it into
my hands in such a condition that I could read it.

“Had I known your distress, at the time you received my letter, I
should have sincerely felt for you. I well know the anxiety of an
husband, on such occasions, and my heart will ever join in sympathy
with him: For you, my feelings would have been doubled, as a husband,
as my friend and brother. Glad I am, therefore, that I have no
occasion to condole with you, but rather to rejoice; and I most
sincerely and affectionately congratulate you, on the escape and
recovery of your good girl, and wish you joy of your daughter. I
desire to offer my best regards to sister Nelly, for the compliment
she intended me, had her child been a boy. Her intention was kind, and
I hope to have the continuance of her favourable opinion of me.

“I am much pleased with your remarks on Spherical Orreries, or rather
on the circles generally adapted to such Orreries. Mr. Rowning seems
to be so much of the same opinion, that I could not deny myself the
pleasure of transcribing some part of his account of Orreries, and of
an imaginary machine, which he thinks might be made very useful.[138]
Several of his hints appear to me ingenious, and I hope they will not
be unacceptable to you.

“I would have you pursue your Orrery in your own way, without any
regard to an ignorant or prevailing taste. All you have to study is
truth, and to display the glorious system of Copernicus in a proper
manner;—and to make your machine as much an original, as possible. I
beg you will not limit yourself in the price. I am now perfectly
convinced, that you can dispose of it to advantage; and should be
sorry you would lose one hour more in fears or doubts about it. In
fact, I have laid such plans for the disposal of it, that I have
almost a moral certainty of having a demand for more than one of the
kind. I have not time to write you as fully as I could wish, as the
transcribing from Rowning has detained me so long, and I am this
moment setting out for Caernarvon.

“My letter to the Proprietor[139] is delayed, till I can send him the
account of your design, which you are pleased to promise me. You say
you have “a specimen” in hand: I should be glad to know what it is.

“I shall not neglect the things you mentioned to me, as I shall always
receive a pleasure in serving you.... She joins me in love to father,
mother and all friends.—I am, in haste, dear Davy, your very
affectionate friend and brother,

“THOMAS BARTON.

“P. S. Forgive this wretched scrawl—I have not time to examine whether
I have committed any errors in copying Mr. Rowning.

“I beg leave to recommend Huygens’, Cotes’, Helsham’s, and Power’s
Philosophy to you. You will be much pleased with them.

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Footnote 138:

See _A Compendious System of Natural Philosophy_, &c. by J. Rowning,
M. A. part iv. chap. 15.

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“I wish you would purchase Bion’s Description of Philosophical and Mathematical Instruments, &c.”

“MR. DAVID RITTENHOUSE.”

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Footnote 139:

The Hon. Thomas Penn, of Stoke-Poges, in Buckinghamshire, heretofore
one of the Proprietaries of the former province of Pennsylvania. This
gentleman was then usually styled, in Pennsylvania, “The Proprietor.”

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His next letter to Mr. Barton, covering the promised Account of his Orrery, is dated the 27th of March, 1767: and this, it will be perceived, is very nearly a year before a description of it was communicated to the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. In this letter, he says—“Rowning’s opinion of Orreries pleases me more than any thing I had met with before. The idea of his _imaginary_ machine naturally presents itself to persons conversant in Astronomy; but, if actually made, it could not answer the purpose, unless prodigiously large,—which I presume is the reason it has never been done.

“I send you a description of _my_ imaginary machine: the foundation of it is now laid; and I hope that part of it, containing the mechanical Astronomy of the Moon, will be finished some time this spring: _then_ we shall be able to judge, whether my abilities are equal to the undertaking.”

The “Description” here referred to, in Mr. Rittenhouse’s own hand-writing, is new before the writer of these Memoirs; and is thus endorsed by the Rev. Mr. Barton—“Original Description of Mr. Rittenhouse’s Orrery, first communicated to Thomas Barton.”—For the satisfaction of those, who may not have an opportunity of seeing the American Philosophical Society’s Transactions, in which this short account of the Orrery was afterwards published; and, as this _original_ description of it differs somewhat from the _printed_ one, it is presumed that the introduction of the former into this work, will not be unacceptable to the reader.

The impossibility of conveying to the mind of any one, even the most intelligent and skilful, by means of either any delineation upon paper in the nature of a diagram, or by words, an adequate idea of so complex and multiform a machine as the one now about to be described, will instantly be conceived. Indeed no description, alone, can render the nature of its construction, and the many curious and useful purposes it is capable of answering, perfectly intelligible to the most scientific Astronomer. Mr. Rittenhouse’s very concise description of his Orrery will, therefore, necessarily be found defective: it is thus worded by himself.

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“DESCRIPTION OF A NEW ORRERY.

“This Machine is intended to have three faces, standing perpendicular to the horizon: that in the front to be four feet square, made of sheet-brass, curiously polished, silvered, and painted in proper places, and otherwise ornamented. From the centre arises an axis, to support a gilded brass ball, intended to represent the Sun. Round this ball move others, made of brass or ivory, to represent the Planets: They are to move in elliptical orbits, having the central ball in one focus; and their motions to be sometimes swifter, and sometimes slower, as nearly according to the true law of an equable description of areas as is possible, without too great a complication of wheel-work. The orbit of each Planet is likewise to be properly inclined to those of the others; and their Aphelia and Nodes justly placed; and their velocities so accurately adjusted, as not to differ sensibly from the tables of Astronomy in some thousands of years.

“For the greater beauty of the instrument, the balls representing the planets are to be of a considerable bigness; but so contrived, that they may be taken off at pleasure, and others, much smaller, and fitter for some purposes, put in their places.

“When the Machine is put in motion, by the turning of a winch, there are three indexes which point out the hour of the day, the day of the month, and the year (according to the Julian account,) answering to that situation of the heavenly bodies which is then represented; and so continually, for a period of 5000 years, either forward or backward.

“In order to know the true situation of a Planet at any particular time, the small set of balls are to be put each on its respective axis; then the winch to be turned round until each index points to the given time. Then a small telescope, made for the purpose, is to be applied to the central ball; and directing it to the planet, its longitude and inclination will be seen on a large brass circle, silvered, and properly graduated, representing the zodiac, and having a motion of one degree in seventy-two years, agreeable to the precession of the equinoxes. So, likewise, by applying the telescope to the ball representing the earth, and directing it to any planet,—then will both the longitude and latitude of that planet be pointed out (by an index and graduated circle,) as seen from the earth.

“The two lesser faces are four feet in height, and two feet three inches in breadth. One of them will exhibit all the appearances of Jupiter and his Satellites—their eclipses, transits, and inclinations; likewise, all the appearances of Saturn, with his ring and satellites. And the other will represent all the phænomena of the moon, particularly, the exact time, quantity, and duration of her eclipses—and those of the sun, occasioned by her interposition; with a most curious contrivance for exhibiting the appearance of a solar eclipse, at any particular place on the earth: likewise, the true place of the moon in the signs, with her latitude, and the place of her apoge in the nodes; the sun’s declination, equation of time &c. It must be understood, that all these motions are to correspond exactly, with the celestial motions; and not to differ several degrees from the truth, in a few revolutions, as is common in Orreries.

“If it shall be thought proper, the whole is to be adapted to, and kept in motion by, a strong pendulum-clock; nevertheless, at liberty to be turned by the winch, and adjusted to any time, past or future.”

“N. B. The diurnal motions of such planets as have been discovered to revolve on their own axes, are likewise to be properly represented; both with regard to the Times, and the situation of their Poles.”

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The foregoing is a literal copy of the original manuscript; and such readers of this article as may think proper to compare it with the printed description of Mr. Rittenhouse’s Orrery, communicated to the American Philosophical Society by Dr. Smith, on the 21st of March 1768, and contained in the first volume of that Society’s Transactions, will find some (though, on the whole, not very essential) differences, in the two descriptions. The concluding paragraph, indeed,—designated, in each, by a N. B.—is materially variant in the two: and it appears, by its having been announced in the published (and later) account of this machine, that, “the clock part of it may be contrived to play a great variety of Music,” (a suggestion wholly omitted in Mr. Rittenhouse’s original communication, made to the Rev. Mr. Barton,) that the philosophic Artist had been afterwards induced, in one particular at least, “to comply with the prevailing taste.”[140] But this may be readily accounted for: our artist had previously made some extremely curious and beautiful Time-pieces, to each of which was attached the mechanism of a Musical Clock, in addition to a limited Planetarium, in miniature. These were in the hands of gentlemen of respectability and taste:[141] and they were much and generally admired, as well for the great ingenuity displayed by the constructor, in these combined and pleasing operations of his machinery, as for the superior accuracy and beauty of the workmanship; qualities eminently conspicuous in all his mechanical productions.

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Footnote 140:

This design was, however, finally abandoned.

Footnote 141:

One of these valuable clocks, which is of a large size, with an
accurate little planetarium attached to its face and placed above the
dial-plate,[141a] was made for the late Mr. Joseph Potts, of
Philadelphia county, who paid for it, as the writer is informed, six
hundred and forty dollars. In the spring of the year 1774, it was
purchased by the late Mr. Thomas Prior, of Philadelphia; to whom, it
is said, general Sir William Howe made an offer of one hundred and
twenty guineas for it, shortly before the evacuation of that city, in
1778. It is also said, that Don Joseph de Jaudenes, late minister of
Spain to the United States, offered Mr. Prior eight hundred dollars
for this clock, with a view of presenting it to his sovereign. Mr.
Prior, however, retained it until his death, in the spring of the year
1801: after which, it passed through two other hands, successively,
into the possession of Professor Barton, of Philadelphia, whose
property it now is.

Footnote 141a:

The area of the face of the dial plate is twenty inches square, and
the motions and places of the planets of our system are represented on
a circular area of eight inches in diameter.

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It appears, that when Mr. Rittenhouse sent the foregoing description of his projected Orrery to Mr. Barton—that is to say, on the 27th of March, 1767[142]—the “foundation” of it was “laid.” But, notwithstanding his earnest wishes prompted him to the utmost diligence, in his exertions to finish it, many circumstances concurred to retard its completion. The magnitude of the undertaking—the multiplicity of the work—and, perhaps, the difficulty of sometimes readily procuring, even from Philadelphia, the necessary materials,—all conspired, to prevent as early a completion of the machinery as he had anticipated: and, added to these causes of unavoidable delay, was the yet unabandoned pursuit of his professional business.

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Footnote 142:

It appears that Mr. Barton must have transmitted to the honourable Mr.
T. Penn, in London, a description of the Orrery, very soon after it
was publicly communicated to the Philosophical Society in
Philadelphia; for, a letter from Mr. Penn to that gentleman, dated
July 22, 1768, contains this remark—“The account you give me of Mr.
Rittenhouse’s Orrery, is what I could not have imagined could be
executed in Pennsylvania; and I shall be much pleased to see a
copper-plate of it, for which I would make that gentleman a present,
for his encouragement; or, perhaps he may be induced to bring it
hither, and exhibit it, by publicly lecturing on it.”

Had Mr. Rittenhouse taken an Orrery to England, and it appears by his
letters of March 15, 1771, and Feb. 3, 1772, quoted in the text, that
he had seriously intended going thither, he would, very probably, have
derived great emolument, as well as fame, by delivering lectures on
astronomy, adapted to his orrery; and it is probable, that, in
addition to the public encouragement he might reasonably have
calculated upon, Mr. Penn would have patronised him, with his usual
liberality. Of the disposition of that worthy gentleman to befriend
him, Mr. Rittenhouse seems to have been fully sensible: for, in a
letter of the 11th of December, 1768, to Mr. Barton, he said—“I am
very desirous to send Mr. Penn something: as the orrery is not
finished, perhaps a description of it, with draughts of the clock I
have just made, may answer the purpose, together with some little
instrument: I shall be glad to have your thoughts on the matter.” It
may be proper here to remark, that no engraving, or drawing, could
give an adequate idea of the orrery: and that the clock, mentioned by
Mr. Rittenhouse, was one of those of which a short notice is
introduced, immediately after the original description of the orrery,
in the text.

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The Orrery was, nevertheless, then his favourite object. On the 18th of June, 1767, he wrote to Mr. Barton, thus—“I hope you will persuade your Pequea friends to stay for the clocks, till harvest is over; and then, I think, I may venture to promise them, for ready money: but, at this time, one part of the Orrery is in such forwardness, that I am not willing to lay it by till it is done. I hope it will far exceed the description I gave you of it. To-morrow morning I am to set off for Reading, at the request of the Commissioners of Berks county, who wrote to me about their town-clock. They had employed a ... to make it, who, it seems, is not able to go through with it: if I should undertake to finish it, this will likewise retard the great work.”

Amidst the more important philosophical pursuits which engaged Mr. Rittenhouse’s attention before his removal to Philadelphia, as well as after he fixed his residence in that city, he now and then relaxed the energy of his mind from its employment in laborious investigations, by bestowing a portion of his time on minor objects in physical science; and indeed, sometimes, even on little matters of ingenuity, curiosity and amusement. As instances of this, he addressed to the Rev. Mr. Barton the letter under the date of the 20th of July, 1768, which will be found in the Appendix; and also another, dated the 4th of February, 1770, to which there is the following postscript:

“I have,” says he, “seen a little curiosity, with which you would be pleased; I mean the glass described by Dr. Franklin, wherein water may be kept in a boiling state, by the heat of the hand alone, and that for hours together. The first time I shall be in Lancaster, where I hope to be next June, I expect to prevail on you to accompany me to the Glass-house,[143] where we may have some of them made, as well as some other things I want.”—A description of this instrument, then usually called _Dr. Franklin’s Pulse-Glass_,[144] by means of which water may be made to boil, _in vacuo_, by the heat of the human hand, was communicated by Mr. Rittenhouse to Mr. Barton in a subsequent letter.

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Footnote 143:

The glass-house mentioned in the text, was erected several years prior
to the American revolutionary war, at the village of Manheim, about
twelve miles from the borough of Lancaster, by Mr. Henry William
Stiegel, an ingenious and enterprising German gentleman. Glass of a
very good quality and workmanship, was made at that glass-house; as
will appear by the following extracts from a letter of Mr. Rittenhouse
to Mr. Barton, written in the summer of 1771, and acknowledging the
receipt of a barometer-tube executed there. He says—“I am obliged to
you for the glass tube; it will make a pretty barometer, though the
bore is somewhat too small. I have compared it with an English tube,
and do not think the preference can, with any reason, be given to the
latter.” And in the same letter, he requests Mr. Barton to procure for
him, from the glass-house, “some tubes of a size fit for
spirit-levels.” “The bore,” says he, “must be half an inch in
diameter, and from four to eight inches in length; as straight as
possible, and open at one end only.”

While Mr. Stiegel was thus early and meritoriously carrying on the
manufacture of glass, he was also engaged in manufacturing iron at
Elizabeth-Furnace in the vicinity, which then belonged to him. But he
proved unfortunate in his extensive undertakings, and the glass-works
have not since been in operation. The foundery of Elizabeth, together
with the great establishment of iron-works connected with it, and of
which Robert Coleman, Esq. of Lancaster, is now the proprietor, are
well known.

Footnote 144:

Dr. Franklin is said to have first met with the Pulse-Glass in
Germany, and to have introduced it into England with some improvement
of his own.

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MEMOIR
OF THE
LIFE OF DAVID RITTENHOUSE;
CONTINUED,
FROM THE TIME OF HIS SETTLEMENT IN PHILADELPHIA.

In the autumn of 1770, our Philosopher changed the place of his residence; removing, with his family, into the city of Philadelphia. To this exchange of his beloved retirement, at his Norriton farm, for the scene of noise and activity presented by a great town, he must have been induced by the flattering prospects of advantage to himself and usefulness to the public, pointed out to him by his friends: and among these, Dr. Smith was one of the most urgent for the measure. The following extract of a letter, dated the 27th of January, 1770, and addressed to the Rev. Mr. Barton by that gentleman, will explain his motives, and at the same time exhibit Mr. Rittenhouse’s views, on that occasion: it will also afford strong evidence of the Doctor’s friendship for our philosopher.

“As my esteem for Mr. Rittenhouse increases, the more I know him,” said Dr. Smith, “I set on foot a project, assisted by my neighbours, the Wissahickon millers, to get him recommended to the Assembly, to be put in as a trustee of the loan-office, in the bill now before the house. I first broke the matter to the speaker;[145] telling him, Mr. Rittenhouse ought to be encouraged to come to town, to take a lead in a manufacture, optical and mathematical, which never had been attempted in America, and drew thousands of pounds to England for instruments, often ill finished; and that it would redound to the honour of Philadelphia to take a lead in this, and of the Assembly, to encourage it. The speaker took the proposal well, and, in short, so did every person applied to; and when the vote passed, the day before yesterday, for the three trustees, the whole house rose for Rittenhouse’s name; so that Mr. Allen,[146] who was hearty among the rest for him, observed—“_Our name is Legion, for this vote_,”—though Dr. M—— got in only by the speaker’s casting vote.

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Footnote 145:

Joseph Galloway, Esq. a representative in assembly from the county of
Bucks. He was speaker of the house, from the year 1766 to 1773,
inclusively; excepting a short interval in the session of 1768-9, in
which Joseph Fox, Esq. officiated as speaker.

Footnote 146:

William Allen, Esq. chief-justice of the supreme court of
Pennsylvania, and a member of assembly from the county of Cumberland.

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“This will give you pleasure, as it shews that a good man is capable of sometimes commanding all parties; and it will be creditable for Mr. Rittenhouse, even if the bill should not succeed for the present. The salary to each of the trustees is 200_l._[147] Both the Mr. Ross’s,[148] Mr. Biddle,[149] and Mr. Carpenter,[150] were hearty in their interest for Rittenhouse,—so was Minshull;[151] and I hope you will thank them all. The governor[152] declared (and with more frankness than usual,) when I waited on him,—“Mr. Rittenhouse’s name shall never be an objection with me, in this or any other bill: on the contrary, I shall rejoice if the bill come to me in such a form, as that I can shew my regard for him.”

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Footnote 147:

Equal to 533 Spanish or American dollars.

Footnote 148:

John and George Ross, Esqrs. lawyers of great respectability, and
brothers; the former a resident in Philadelphia; the latter in
Lancaster. Mr. George Ross was a member of the first congress; and was
appointed by the assembly on the 5th of April, 1775, judge of the
admiralty-court for Pennsylvania.

Footnote 149:

Edward Biddle, Esq. a lawyer of eminence, and a representative in
assembly for the county of Berks, in which he resided. This gentleman
was one of the delegates appointed to the congress of the 10th of May,
1775, under an unanimous resolution of the assembly, passed in
December, 1774; but, having succeeded Mr. Galloway as speaker of that
house, in the session of 1774-5, he did not take his seat in congress,
with his colleagues. These were John Dickinson, Charles Humphreys,
John Morton, George Ross, Thomas Mifflin, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas
Willing and James Wilson, Esqrs.

Footnote 150:

Emanuel Carpenter, Esq. long a respectable member of assembly from
Lancaster county.

Footnote 151:

Thomas Minshull, Esq. a respectable member of the house, from York
county.

Footnote 152:

The Hon. John Penn.—This worthy gentleman, a grandson of the
celebrated William Penn, was lieutenant-governor of Pennsylvania,
under the chief proprietaries of the province, from October 1763, to
May 1771; and again, from August 1773, until the revolution.

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“Yet, my dear friend,” adds Dr. Smith, “I fear this bill will not pass; and the Governor may be reduced to the hard dilemma, of even _striking out_ the name he would wish _in_, if he had the nomination himself. The house insist on putting the names in the bill, before it goes up: the Governor contends, that he ought to have at least a share in the nomination. This matter has been long litigated. The governor, to maintain his right, always strikes out _some_ names—even though he approves of them, and puts in others. This he did last year, and put in the name of Dr. M——, and the other trustee now in the bill. The house would not admit his amendment, then; but now, this year, they take two of the very men the governor had appointed last year, vote them in themselves, and join Mr. Rittenhouse with them. The governor cannot well _negative_ any of those approved by him, before; yet he must negative _some one_, to assert his right;—and I believe it would really give him pain, if _that_ one should be _David_.

“I am thus particular,” continues the Doctor, “that you may understand the whole, and not think our friend slighted by the government, even if this thing should not succeed. All the council[153] are hearty for Mr. Rittenhouse; and if he does not get this matter, he will not be long without something else. But I hope some expedient may be hit upon, to compromise the matter, should the bill not have faults in itself, that may set it aside.”

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Footnote 153:

The proprietary’s and governor’s council, consisting of James
Hamilton, William Allen, Joseph Turner, William Logan, Richard Peters
(D. D.), Lynford Lardner, Benjamin Chew, Thomas Cadwallader, Richard
Penn, James Tilghman, Andrew Allen, and Edward Shippen, jun. Esquires.
Joseph Shippen, jun. Esquire, officiated many years as provincial
secretary and clerk of the council.

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The warm and sincere interest which Mr. Barton took in every thing that seemed likely to promote the welfare of his brother-in-law, was manifested on this occasion. In his answer to Dr. Smith’s letter, written a week after, he says: “Your letter by Mr. Slough was so truly obliging and friendly, that I cannot think of words strong enough to express my gratitude. Rittenhouse, I trust, will always be sensible of the favours you have shewn him, and of the uncommon pains you have taken to serve him on this occasion, which have been represented to me, fully, by Mr. Slough.[154] Accept then, dear sir, my most hearty thanks for your kind offices in behalf of Mr. Rittenhouse. Accept of my wife’s best thanks, also — —. She shed tears of gratitude, when she read your letter, (for her attachment to her brother David is very great,) and declared, in a high strain of enthusiasm, that Dr. Smith was the most steady friend and obliging man that ever lived; that she should honour and respect him, while living, and, should she survive him, would always revere his memory. Thus it was, that the sister of your ‘optical and mathematical’ friend expressed herself on the occasion.”

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Footnote 154:

Matthias Slough, Esq. who served several years with reputation as a
representative in the assembly, from the county of Lancaster.

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Notwithstanding the fair prospects which Mr. Rittenhouse thus had, in the beginning of the year 1770, of being enabled to establish himself in Philadelphia, with a handsome salary of 200_l._ _per annum_ from the government, in addition to such funds as he might reasonably calculate on acquiring, in that capital, by his professional occupation, both he and his friends were disappointed, in regard to the contemplated official station: The assembly rose, as Dr. Smith seemed to have anticipated a very short time before, without passing the loan-office bill.

Mr. Rittenhouse’s actual removal into the city, in the succeeding autumn, appears to have been made in pursuance of a previous determination more recently formed;[155] one founded on some plan, not liable to be affected by such contingencies as have been just noticed. Prior to that period, his Orrery was nearly if not quite completed: for it appears by a letter which he wrote to Mr. Barton from Norriton, on the 12th of May preceding his removal to the city, that the trustees of Nassau-Hall, in New-Jersey, had then agreed on some terms with him, as the inventor, maker, and proprietor, for the purchase of it.[156] The trustees of the College of Philadelphia had likewise been in treaty with him, for the same purpose: but the Princeton College succeeded in their negociation, and thus acquired the property of the Orrery first constructed.

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Footnote 155:

On the 4th of Feb. 1770, he mentioned to Mr. Barton his then
contemplated removal into that city, in these terms—“Dr. Smith, to
whom I am indebted for many kindnesses, is very urgent to have me come
to Philadelphia to reside, which it is probable I may do shortly: but
I am not yet determined. If I live to write again, you shall know more
of my mind; in the mean time, I shall be glad to have your opinion of
the matter.”

Footnote 156:

Since writing the above the author has ascertained, that towards the
close of April, 1770, the orrery was purchased for the college of
New-Jersey. On the 23d of that month, Dr. Witherspoon, then the
president of that college, accompanied by some gentlemen, went to
Norriton for that purpose, and it appears that the orrery was then
nearly finished.

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This circumstance gave, at the time, some dissatisfaction to the more immediate friends of the Philadelphia institution; though it is confidently believed that no degree of censure, whatever, could be justly imputed to Mr. Rittenhouse, on the occasion; perhaps, none was fairly chargeable on any of the parties. Mr. Rittenhouse, however, experienced some unpleasant sensations; although, in order to avoid any suspicion of his having been actuated by an undue partiality towards the College of Princeton, he had made such a stipulation in favour of its sister-institution, as could not fail, when made known, to remove any imputation of impropriety of conduct on his part, in the transaction. This is explained by the following passage in the letter to his brother-in-law, last referred to,—evidently penned without any reserve. After noticing the dissatisfaction just mentioned, he says—“I would not, on any account, incur the imputation of cunning; nor are there, probably, many persons living who deserve it less: yet I am greatly mistaken if this matter” (his transfer of the Orrery to Princeton College) “does not, in the end, turn out to my advantage, and consequently, to your satisfaction. At present, the point is settled as follows: I am to begin another” (Orrery) “immediately, and finish it expeditiously, for the College of Philadelphia. This I am not sorry for; since the making of a second will be but an amusement, compared with the first: And who knows, but that the rest of the colonies may catch the contagion.”[157]

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Footnote 157:

The following extract of a letter from Dr. Smith to Mr. Barton,
written the day after Mr. Rittenhouse’s on the same subject, will
further explain the embarrassing circumstances that attended this
transaction, and the delicate situation in which Mr. Rittenhouse,
particularly, was placed.

“I never,” said the Doctor, “met with greater mortification, than to
find Mr. Rittenhouse had, in my absence, made a sort of agreement to
let his Orrery go to the Jersey College. I had constantly told him,
that if the Assembly did not take it, I would take it for our College,
and would have paid the full sum, should I have begged the money. I
thought I could depend, as much as on any thing under the sun, that
after Mr. Rittenhouse knew my intentions about it, he would not have
listened to any proposal for disposing of it, without advising me, and
giving our College the first opportunity to purchase. I think Mr.
Rittenhouse was never so little _himself_, as to suffer himself to be
taken off his guard on this occasion. This province is willing to
honour him, as her _own_: and believe me, many of his friends wondered
at the newspaper article; and regretted that he should think so little
of his _noble_ invention, as to consent to let it go to a village;
unless he had first found, on trial, that his friends in this city had
not spirit to take it: For if he would wish to be known by _this
work_—and introduced to the best business and commissions for
instruments, from all parts of the continent,—his _Orrery_ being
placed in our College, where so many strangers would have an
opportunity of seeing it, was the sure way to be serviceable to
Himself.

“You will think, by all this, that I am offended with him, and that
our friendship may hereby be interrupted: Far from it—I went to see
him, the day the newspaper announced the affair. I soon found that I
had little occasion to say any thing: he was convinced, before I saw
him, that he had gone too far. But still, as no time was fixed for
delivering the Orrery, I was glad to find he had concluded that it
should not be delivered till next winter; against which time, he said,
he could have a _second_ one made, if this one staid with him for his
hands to work by. As I love Mr. Rittenhouse, and would not give a man
of such delicate feelings a moment’s uneasiness, I agreed to wave the
_honour_ of having the first Orrery, and to take the second.”

In fact, the Orrery was not at that time finished; for Mr. Rittenhouse
then informed Dr. Smith, that he was under the necessity of waiting
for brass from England, to enable him to complete it. “The result
(continued the Doctor) will be, I think, that he will keep his Orrery
till towards winter; and should they not _then_ receive it, in the
Jersies, they will take it at New-York.”

On the 7th of the following month, Dr. Smith wrote thus finally, to
Mr. Barton, on this subject—“Your and my friend, Mr. Rittenhouse, will
be with you on Saturday. The Governor says, the Orrery shall not go:
he would rather pay for it, himself. He has ordered a meeting of the
Trustees on Tuesday next; and declares it as his opinion, that we
ought to have the _first_ Orrery, and not the second,—even if the
second should be the best.”

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The second Orrery was soon completed: for, on the 15th of March, 1771, only ten months after the date of his last quoted letter to the Rev. Mr. Barton, he wrote to that gentleman, on the subject, in these words. “Dr. Smith bids me to tell you he will write by your son William. He is fully employed, at present, with his Lectures, and has great success, having raised upwards of two hundred pounds.[158] I am sure you would afford me _some additional compassion_, if you knew the drudgery of explaining the Orrery to two hundred persons,[159] in small companies of ten or twelve, each: the satisfaction they universally express, makes however some amends.”[160]

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Footnote 158:

The Rev. Dr. Peters wrote thus to Mr. Barton, under the date of March
22, 1771—“Dr. Smith has done wonders in favour of our friend
Rittenhouse. His zeal has been very active: he has got enough to pay
him for a second orrery; and the assembly has given him 300_l._ The
Doctor, in his introductory lecture, was honoured with the principal
men of all denominations, who swallowed every word he said, with the
pleasure that attends eating the choicest viands; and in the close,
when he came to mention the orrery, he over-excelled his very
self!”—“Your son will acquaint you with all the particulars respecting
it. The lectures are crowded by such as think they can, thereby, be
made capable of understanding that wonderful machine: whereas, after
all, their eyes only will give them the truth, from the figures, and
motions, and places, and magnitudes of the heavenly bodies.”

Footnote 159:

The author of _The Vision of Columbus_, a Poem, (first published at
Hartford in Connecticut, in the beginning of the year 1787,) alludes
to the Rittenhouse-Orrery, and to the numerous resort of persons to
the College-Hall, for the purpose of viewing that machine, in the
following lines, (book vii.)

“See the sage RITTENHOUSE, with ardent eye,
Lift the long tube and pierce the starry sky;
Clear in his view the circling systems roll,
And broader splendours gild the central pole.
He marks what laws th’ eccentric wand’rers bind,
Copies Creation in his forming mind,
And bids, beneath his hand, in semblance rise,
With mimic orbs, the labours of the skies.
There wond’ring crouds with raptur’d eye behold
The spangled Heav’ns their mystic maze unfold;
While each glad sage his splendid Hall shall grace,
With all the spheres that cleave th’ ethereal space.”

Footnote 160:

In a letter from Dr. Smith to Mr. Barton, dated March 23, 1771, is
this paragraph:—

“I have been so busy these two months past, that I could not find a
moment’s leisure to write. A good deal of time was to be given to the
public lectures, the Orrery, and the getting our dear friend
Rittenhouse brought into as advantageous a light as possible, on his
first entrance into this town as an inhabitant; all which has
succeeded to our utmost wishes; and the notice taken of him by the
province, is equally to his honour and theirs. The loss of his wife
has greatly disconcerted him; but we try to keep up his spirits, under
it.”

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The _italicised_ words, in the foregoing paragraph, have reference to a great domestic calamity Mr. Rittenhouse had experienced, only a very few months before,—the death of an affectionate wife, whom he tenderly loved. This afflicting event appears to have overspread, for some time, the highly sensible and delicate mind of our Philosopher, with a considerable degree of gloominess. In this mood, then, he thus commenced the letter just quoted: “_You_ are not unacquainted with the dismal apprehensions of losing what is most dear to you” (alluding, here, to a dangerous fit of illness from which Mrs. Barton, the writer’s sister, had recently recovered;) “and therefore you can better judge, than I can describe, what I feel at present. I do, indeed, endeavour to bear my loss in the manner you recommend: but how irksome does every thing seem! Nothing interesting, nothing entertaining! except my two little girls; and yet my reflecting on their loss sinks me the deeper in affliction. What adds to my misfortune, is the hurry of business I am engaged in, and know not how to get rid of. My design, at present, is to keep the children with me, until I can conveniently take a ramble to Europe.” And, in the same strain of melancholy reflections, he concluded this letter to his friend and brother-in-law: “I suppose,” said he, “you have been informed, that the Assembly have made me a donation of three hundred pounds. This would have been very agreeable to me, if my poor Eleanor had lived: but now, neither money—nor reputation—has any charms; though I must still think them valuable, because absolutely necessary in this unhappy life.”

Although such was the keen sensibility of this amiable man, on so distressing an occasion, his numerous avocations of business and studies, aided by the correctness of his own reflections, gradually dispelled these over-shadowings of his dejected mind; and ere long, he very naturally regained his usual serenity and cheerfulness of temper.

A new phænomenon in the heavens soon after engaged his attention: this was the Comet which appeared in June and July, 1770. His Observations on this Comet, with the elements of its Motion and the Trajectory of its Path, were communicated to the American Philosophical Society, through his friend Dr. Smith, on the 3d of August, soon after the Comet’s disappearance, and were dated at Norriton the 24th of the preceding month. The letter to Dr. Smith, that covered this communication, and in which he says, “Herewith I send you the fruit of three or four days labour, during which I have covered many sheets, and literally drained my ink-stand several times”—will demonstrate how completely his mind was occupied in those researches.

About the close of the following autumn, some accounts of Observations of this Comet in England and France, respectively, reached this country, when a further correspondence on the subject took place between Dr. Smith and Mr. Rittenhouse. These communications are published, entire, in the first volume of the Philosophical Society’s Transactions; and, with those already noticed, complete the list of our Astronomer’s papers in that volume. It is here worthy of remark, that a comparison of Mr. Rittenhouse’s Observations of this Comet with those of M. Messier in France and Mr. Six in England, confirmed the theory of the American Observer.

Before this subject is dismissed, however, it may not be deemed uninteresting to subjoin an extract of a letter which Mr. Rittenhouse addressed to the Rev. Mr. Barton (from Norriton,) on the 30th of July, respecting the same Comet: it will, at least, serve to shew the zeal of our Astronomer, on the occasion.

“I told you,” said Mr. Rittenhouse, “that some intricate calculation, or other, always takes up my idle hours” (he seems to have considered all his hours as “idle” ones, which were not occupied in some manual employment,) “that I cannot find time to write to my friends as often as I could wish: a new object has lately engrossed my attention. The Comet which appeared a few weeks since was so very extraordinary, that I could not forbear tracing it in all its wanderings, and endeavouring to reduce that motion to order and regularity, which seemed void of any. This, I think, I have accomplished, so far as to be able to compute its visible place for any given time: and I can assure you, that the account from York, of its having been seen again near the place where it first appeared, is a mistake. Nor is Mr. Winthrop of Boston happier, in supposing that it yet crosses the Meridian, every day, between twelve and one o’clock, that it has already passed its perihelion, and that it may, perhaps, again emerge from the Southern Horizon. This Comet is now to be looked for no where but a little to the North of, and very near to, the Ecliptic. It rises now a little before day-break; and will continue to rise sooner and sooner, every morning. Yet perhaps, on account of its smallness, we may see it no more; though I rather think we shall: But I must stop, for fear of tiring you.”

The subjects of all Mr. Rittenhouse’s philosophical papers, comprised in the first volume of the Society’s Transactions, having been now noticed, some public acts connected with two of the objects to which those papers relate, and which took place about the time to which these memoirs are brought down shall, at present, be adverted to.

The Orrery had attracted a very general attention, among learned, ingenious, and well-informed persons, in this country: it could not, therefore, escape the notice of the then Legislature of Pennsylvania. Accordingly, the honourable testimony borne by that very respectable body, to the merits of Mr. Rittenhouse, is thus expressed in the Journal of the House, under the date of March the 8th, 1771.

“The members of assembly, having viewed the Orrery constructed by Mr. David Rittenhouse, a native of this Province, and being of opinion that it greatly exceeds all others hitherto constructed, in demonstrating the true Situations of the celestial Bodies, their Magnitudes, Motions, Distances, Periods, Eclipses, and Order, upon the principles of the Newtonian System:

“_Resolved_, That the sum of three hundred pounds be given to Mr. Rittenhouse, as a Testimony of the high sense which this House entertain of his Mathematical genius and Mechanical abilities, in constructing the said Orrery. And a Certificate for the said sum, being drawn at the table, was signed by the Speaker and delivered to Mr. Evans.

“_Ordered_, That Mr. Evans, Mr. Rhoads, Mr. James, Mr. Rodman, Mr. Morton, Mr. Carpenter, Mr. Montgomery, and Mr. Edwards, with the Speaker,[161] be a Committee to agree with and purchase from Mr. Rittenhouse a new Orrery, for the use of the Public, at any sum not exceeding four hundred pounds, lawful money of this Province.”[162]

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Footnote 161:

Joseph Galloway, Esq. was then speaker.

Footnote 162:

The committee, named in the above order of the general assembly, made
the following report to that body, on the 24th of September, 1771;
viz.

“The committee appointed to agree with, and purchase from Mr.
Rittenhouse a new Orrery for the use of the public, beg leave to
report, that they have, in pursuance of the order of assembly, agreed
with Mr. Rittenhouse for a new Orrery, at the price of four hundred
pounds, the price limited by the house; to consist of one principal
square (face,) of eight feet or more each way, with two wings; making
in the whole one large front, as nearly resembling the form of the
Orrery now standing in the College of the city of Philadelphia, as its
superior size will admit.” (Signed by all the members of the
committee.)

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