Chapter VIII: Part 8

Unfortunately, the important object designed to have been obtained “for the use of the Public,” by the Order which closes this legislative resolution was not executed. This disappointment of the liberal intentions of the Legislature arose, probably, from the many and arduous employments in which Mr. Rittenhouse was almost constantly engaged, in the short period which intervened between that time and the commencement of the troubles in America. But, whatever may have been the cause, the consequence is much to be regretted.

In January, 1771, Mr. Rittenhouse was elected one of the Secretaries of the American Philosophical Society; and on the 22d of February following, an Address was presented to the General Assembly by that Society, requesting the acceptance, by each Member of the House, of the first volume of the Society’s Transactions, then recently published. This Address, which was signed by order and in behalf of the Society, by Dr. Smith, Dr. Ewing, and Mr. Robert Strettel Jones, together with Mr. Rittenhouse, as the Secretaries, was favourably received by the Assembly.

Some short time prior to this, viz. on the 22d of September, 1770, Dr. Thomas Bond and Samuel Rhoads, Esq. two of the Vice-Presidents of the American Philosophical Society, had, by their Order and in their behalf, transmitted to the General Assembly the Observations on the Transits of Venus and Mercury, then unpublished; not only those which had been made under the directions of that Society, but such as had, in the intermediate time, been received from the other American Colonies and from England: the Society expressing, at the same time, a due sense of the obligations they were under to the Assembly, “for the countenance and encouragement they had given them, in carrying on the designs of the Institution; and, that they were particularly thankful for the generous assistance granted to them, for making those Observations.” They say further: “We have the pleasure to find they have been highly acceptable to those learned Bodies in Europe, to whom they have been communicated;” and, that they were “likely to be of great service, in settling that important point in Astronomy, which was proposed from the Transit of Venus.”

It is evident from these proceedings, that there was, at that day, a reciprocation of good will between the Legislature of Pennsylvania, and a most valuable Scientific Institution, established within the bounds of their jurisdiction. While the legislative body, on the one hand, encouraged such institutions, and extended a liberal patronage to persons of genius and useful talents; men of learning and abilities, on the other, were stimulated by a sense of gratitude, and a laudable desire of honourable fame, to exert themselves for the public welfare.

Among the Members of the then General Assembly of Pennsylvania, were John Dickinson, William Allen, George Ross, Edward Biddle, Charles Humphreys, John Sellers, John and Israel Jacobs, and James Wright, besides the very respectable characters named in the foregoing resolution and order of the House.[163]

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Footnote 163:

Messrs. Dickinson, Humphreys, Morton, Ross and Biddle, together with
Mifflin and Franklin, were delegated on the part of Pennsylvania to
the first general congress, which met in Philadelphia on the 5th of
September, 1774; and the same gentlemen, with the addition of Messrs.
Willing and Wilson, were also delegates from Pennsylvania in the
second general congress, which met in the same city on the 10th of
May, 1775. Of these “dignified and ever memorable assemblies,”
composed of that “illustrious band of patriots whose worth sheds a
lustre on the American character,” the great Washington was also a
member.

Mr. Dickinson, the writer of the celebrated _Farmer’s Letters_, was a
distinguished lawyer, statesman and scholar. Dr. Ramsay (who published
his _History of the American Revolution_ at the close of the year
1789,) remarks, that “the stamp-act, which was to have taken place in
1765, employed the pens and tongues of many of the colonists,” and,
that “the duties imposed in 1767, called forth the pen of John
Dickinson, who in a series of letters, signed ‘_A Pennsylvania
Farmer_,’ may be said to have sown the seeds of the revolution.”

From the commencement of the momentous controversy between the
North-American colonies and the parent state, Mr. Dickinson was an
able and strenuous assertor of the rights of the colonists. In the
summer of the year 1768, the Rev. Mr. Barton sent him a little
artificial fountain or jet-d’eau, called a perpetual fountain,
prettily contrived and ornamented. On that occasion, the patriotic
feelings of Mr. Dickinson were thus expressed, in an handsome allusion
to this engine; feelings, called forth by some sentiments contained in
the letter which accompanied this small present,—“I wish” (said he, in
his answer to Mr. Barton’s letter, dated the 29th of August,)—“I wish
‘a perpetual fountain’ may water the tree of American liberty—I shall
always be ready and willing, with pious hands, to sprinkle its roots;
even though, for every drop of the pure element I throw upon them, the
free-booters should pour upon me all the foul waters in which they
delight to dabble. I have acted from the best of motives, the love of
freedom and of my country. If reproaches can influence the weak and
malicious, they never can blot from my memory the pleasing
consciousness of having endeavoured to do my duty. I am extremely
sensible of my own frailties; and yet I think I have so much charity,
that I reflect with pleasure, that perhaps these very people who abuse
me, may derive some little advantage from those very actions of mine
for which they abuse me. May heaven grant this to be the case! It is
all the revenge I desire to take of them; and this I think, my good
sir, is a Christian revenge.”

Messrs. Allen, Ross, and Biddle, shall be noticed in another place.

Mr. Sellers was a sensible and ingenious country-gentleman, possessed
of some skill in mathematical and astronomical science. Messrs. John
and Israel Jacobs (whose sister was the second wife of Mr.
Rittenhouse) were also well-informed country-gentlemen: the former was
speaker of the general assembly of Pennsylvania, and the latter a
member of congress, after the revolution. Mr. James Wright was a very
respectable representative of the county of Lancaster, before the
revolution. The gentlemen named in the committee of the general
assembly, to treat with Mr. Rittenhouse for the purchase of an Orrery
for the use of the public, were likewise conspicuous for their worth.
Of these, Mr. Rhoads was one of the vice-presidents of the American
Philosophical Society, and Mr. Morton, a judge of the supreme court of
Pennsylvania, before the revolution: both were afterwards members of
congress.

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The various agitations which the public mind underwent in this country, in the succeeding four years, in consequence of its disputes with the parent state, and until the commencement of hostilities between the two countries, seem to place Mr. Rittenhouse more out of view for some time, with respect to any public employments. Then, all classes of people appeared to have become Politicians. The interests of Literature were neglected; Science, abstracted from Politics, was little cultivated; and all other considerations were, in general, apparently absorbed in the views which the American people entertained of their public affairs, and in the prosecution of measures, adapted either for the obtaining a redress of the then existing grievances, or to meet the possible contingency of an adverse event. There was, in fact, for about four years preceding the year 1775, a great interruption, sometimes an almost total suspension, in the American colonies of Great Britain, of all pursuits, except the ordinary and indispensable ones of Industry and Commerce. Yet about the commencement of this period, (viz. in the summer of 1771,) Mr. Rittenhouse was engaged with Mr. Kinnersley and some other gentlemen, several days successively, in making a series of experiments at Philadelphia, on the Gymnotus Electricus, or Electric Eel; for the purpose of ascertaining the nature of the faculty by which this fish is enabled, on being touched, to impart a shock, very similar in sensation to that produced by the electric fluid. An account of these experiments was long afterwards communicated by Mr. Rittenhouse to Professor Barton of Philadelphia, and will be found in the first volume of his _Philadelphia Medical and Physical Journal_.

It was during this interval that Mr. Rittenhouse experienced a long course of exemption from any very conspicuous public employments, which could interfere with his favourite studies; an interval, in which he was disposed to have enjoyed a kind of dignified leisure, amidst the tranquillity of domestic employments; so far as the existing state of things in the political world would permit a man, solicitous for his country’s happiness, to participate in any sort of gratification, that might be deemed incompatible with a due degree of interest in the public weal. He possessed too enlightened and patriotic a mind not to be keenly sensible of the delicate, as well as alarming situation, in which his country was then placed. But nature had fitted him for the quiet station of domestic life, and the delightful pursuits of natural science; rather than for the bustle of official situation, and for those speculative projects in politics, wherein specious theories often terminate in the most deceptive results.

He had been investigating principles founded in Truth, from his childhood; this object was always near to his heart; and he set little value on any thing that did not lead to its attainment. This predominating disposition of his mind is indeed plainly evinced by a single sentence, contained in a letter which he addressed to Mr. Barton, so early as the 16th of February, 1764. Having had a personal interview with an eminent and worthy clerical gentleman, well disposed to befriend him, but who was more a metaphysical than a natural philosopher, he thus expressed himself on the occasion: “I had a good deal of conversation with Mr. ******, not, perhaps, greatly to the satisfaction of either of us; for he appears to me to be a Mystical Philosopher, and you know I care not a farthing for any thing but sober Certainty in Philosophy.”

Fifteen years elapsed between the publication of the first and second volumes of the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society; and there is an interval of about ten years between the latest of Mr. Rittenhouse’s communications, contained in the first volume, and the earliest in the second. These facts, alone, are sufficient to demonstrate to what a state of depression all philosophical pursuits had sunk, not only during the war of the revolution, but for some years preceding it. It is true, that long before the close of that war, an attempt was made by a few individuals to revive the long interrupted meetings of the Society, at the stated times of their convening; and that, for this purpose, a Charter of Incorporation was granted to the members of that Institution, by an act of the Pennsylvania Legislature, passed the 15th of March 1780: but that act itself contains an acknowledgment of the truth, that, “The Society, after having been long interrupted in their laudable pursuits by the calamities of war and the distresses of our country,” had “found means to revive their design,”—“in hopes of being able to prosecute the same with their former success.”

But, at the date of Mr. Rittenhouse’s letter to Mr. Barton, of the 3d of February, 1772,[164] he appears to have been chiefly engaged in his domestic concerns and professional employment. He remained, even then, very sensible of the loss he had sustained in the death of his wife: and his reflections on that circumstance, together with the serious aspect of the times and his frequent indisposition, depressed his mind, occasionally, much below its natural state of cheerfulness. It must have been in one of these hours of mental gloom, that he penned the succeeding passage, in the letter last referred to.

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Footnote 164:

See Note 167.

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“I do not doubt, my dear Brother, but that you condemn me, as usual, for not writing: but much writing ill suits a Mechanic. After the comfortless toil of the day, when evening comes, I am glad to sooth my mind with a favourite poet, or some other book of amusement. That you may not be disappointed, I would have you to expect nothing of me, in future. I no longer feel any inducement to exert myself: every thing—even life itself—is insipid. Yet you will be told, I suppose, that I am paying my addresses to some one:—I sincerely wish sad experience may never teach you to reconcile these contradictions.”

“It is still my intention to go to England, as soon as my business will permit. I have had my health as well as usual, until the last fortnight; but have now a violent cold.”

The tenor of this quotation manifests, that our Philosopher did not, at that time, enjoy his accustomed serenity of mind. Some of the causes of his depression of spirits appeared to his friend and correspondent to be of such a nature, as might, perhaps, be removed by a little pleasantry. Under this impression, Mr. Barton, in his answer, thus rallied him:

“I am extremely sorry,”—said this gentleman, after replying to some other parts of Mr. Rittenhouse’s letter—“to find your Ambition so low, as to render you indifferent to that _Fame_ to which you might justly aspire; and your Spirits so sunk, as to put you out of humour with the world. My dear Brother, what can this be owing to? You have, indeed, received a severe blow: but I am sure that your Philosophy has taught you, with the Poet,—that,

“To be from all things that disquiet, free,
Is not consistent with Humanity.”

“Your case is not singular;—nay, it is favourable in comparison with that of thousands. Though you have been deprived of one comfort, yet many have been continued to you; such as, a tolerable share of health—-your children—the means of subsistence—the esteem of your friends—the applause of your countrymen, &c. &c. Banish therefore, I beseech you, this serious sadness—these melancholy reflections; which, if _Dr. Cadogan_[165] is to be credited, must be more injurious to your health than any other cause can be.”

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Footnote 165:

Dr. William Cadogan’s “Dissertation on the Gout and all Chronic
Diseases,” &c. made its appearance in America about that time; and the
Rev. Mr. Barton, who had long experienced an hereditary gouty
affection, then thought favourably of the Doctor’s general theory,
although he could not adopt that ingenious theorist’s doctrine,
denying the existence of any hereditary diseases.

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“I know not, indeed, what kind of _Melancholy_ yours can be. To use the words of the immortal Shakespeare,—

“You have neither the Scholar’s Melancholy,
Which is Emulation; nor the Musician’s,
Which is fantastical; nor the Courtier’s,
Which is Pride; nor the Lawyer’s, which is politic;
Nor the Lady’s, which is nice; nor the Lover’s,
Which is all these: but it is a Melancholy
Of your own,—compounded of many simples,
Extracted from many objects,—and, indeed,
The sundry Contemplation of the”——STARS.

“If you will promise to pardon your saucy niece, I will tell you what she attributes it to. She says you are _in Love_; and, really, you seem to insinuate as much, yourself: If it be so, I sincerely wish you success in your “Addresses;” or a happy deliverance from the effects of Love.”

“It would give me great pleasure to hear, that you had fairly resolved upon going to England;[166] because it would be the means not only of cheering your spirits, but of establishing your interest as well as reputation. You give me some hopes of seeing you soon: your Sister and I would be extremely glad, indeed, to see you at Lancaster.[167]

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Footnote 166:

Mr. Barton and some others of Mr. Rittenhouse’s friends had repeatedly
recommended to him to visit England: the former, particularly, often
urged him to it, and for the reasons assigned in the text. That he
had, himself, long contemplated that voyage, is apparent from the
extract of his letter to Mr. Barton, of the 15th of March 1771,
already quoted; and his last mentioned letter to the same gentleman
shews, that, nearly a year afterwards, he still had that object
steadily in view.

Footnote 167:

In a preceding letter, Mr. Barton had sent him some Mathematical
Problems, for solution. These had been furnished by a schoolmaster, in
Mr. Barton’s neighbourhood; who, although reputed a pretty good
mathematician, possessed but a small share of genius or invention,
while he had a large portion of confidence in his own abilities. In
noticing these problems, Mr. Rittenhouse could not refrain from
shewing some little irritation: he thought the communications too
trifling, too destitute of originality, or too useless, to merit his
attention; and, accordingly, he thus expressed himself on the
occasion, in a letter dated Feb. 3, 1772:

“I entreat you not to insist on my measuring heads with any
pragmatical schoolmaster, who is heartily welcome, for me, to divert
himself with his _x. y. z’s_, at which he may be very expert, and yet
be, as you say, both ignorant and conceited. His first question,
however, may be answered by any young algebraist: the second and third
are more difficult, and will admit of various answers. The fourth
contains four observations, picked out, (and carelessly enough,
several of the figures being wrong,) of a set made on the comet of
1682, which I shewed your son William in about half a dozen different
books; you will find them in Dr. Halley’s Astronomical Tables. Every
thing relating to this comet has long ago been settled by Dr. Halley;
so that, to give a complete answer to the question, I need only
transcribe from him: but you cannot conceive how much I despise this
kind of juggle, where no use is proposed. If your schoolmaster will
give me but three good observations (I do not want four) of the comet
of 1769, I will accept them with thanks, and soon undertake the
laborious task of determining its orbit, which we yet know nothing
about.”

To this Mr. Barton replied, in a vein of good-humoured pleasantry:

“I imagine you have mistaken me, with regard to the mathematical
questions. They were not sent as trials of your abilities: but, for
reasons with which W. B. is acquainted, and which I have desired him
to give you, in order to afford you a laugh. I shalt never “insist” on
your “measuring heads” with a “schoolmaster,” of any kind; because I
know full well, already, that your head is longer than all the heads
of the whole tribe. Had you known what diversion your solutions would
have afforded me, you would have sent them.”

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Although no doubt can be entertained, that, in the early part of the year 1772, Mr. Rittenhouse had it very seriously in contemplation to visit England, as soon, to use his own words, as his business would permit, his intention in that particular was eventually frustrated: but it is now uncertain, to what cause was owing a change of his views or the disappointment of his plan.[168] He married, however, in the month of December following, Miss Hannah Jacobs, of the city of Philadelphia.[169]

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Footnote 168:

It is not improbable, that about the time of writing the letter of the
3d of Feb. 1772, from which extracts are given in the text, he began
to think seriously of marrying again. Both his natural disposition and
his habits endeared to him the comforts of domestic society; and these
he could not enjoy in a single state, his two only children being
infants. He therefore married, in December 1772; at which time he was
only in the forty-first year of his age. The lady he chose as his
companion, was a sensible, prudent and valuable woman; whose family
were members of the religious society of Friends, and with whose
brothers Mr. Rittenhouse had long been intimately acquainted. By that
marriage there was but one child, a daughter, who died in her infancy.
Mrs. Rittenhouse survived her husband little more than three years.
She died in October, 1799.

Footnote 169:

See the preceding note.

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By an act of the legislature of Pennsylvania, passed the 26th of February, 1773, Mr. Rittenhouse was appointed one of the Commissioners for making the river Schuylkill navigable;[170] and by two subsequent laws, passed on the 24th of March, 1781, and the 15th of March, 1784, he was again appointed a Commissioner, at those two periods, for the same purpose. And by a list of the incidental expences of the government, for the first mentioned of those years, it appears that he received 41_l._ 15_s._ 11_d._ for his services in that business. In these several appointments of commissioners, during a term of eleven years, Mr. Rittenhouse was uniformly first-named; and, consequently, became president of their board.

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Footnote 170:

The first law of Pennsylvania, for removing rocks, sandbars and
gravel, from the bed of the river Schuylkill, so as to render it
passable with rafts, boats, and other small river-craft, was passed
the 14th of March 1761.

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The last important business of a public nature, in which Mr. Rittenhouse was engaged, prior to the American war, was in fixing, jointly with a Commissioner on the part of New-York, the beginning of the 43° of North latitude, and to establish a Line, thence Westward, as the Boundary between Pennsylvania and New-York.

Mr. Rittenhouse was appointed the Commissioner for this purpose, on the part of the then province of Pennsylvania, by Gov. John Penn, on the 24th of October, 1774; and Samuel Holland, Esquire, was the Commissioner on the part of New-York, appointed by Lieutenant-Governor Colden. As Captain Holland’s[171] commission was not made out until the 8th of November, these Joint-Commissioners could not proceed on the business of their appointment, before that late period. It appears, however, by the duplicate returns made by these gentlemen to their respective governments, under the date of December the 14th in the same year, that they “ascertained and fixed the beginning of the forty-third degree of North latitude on the Mohawk or Western branch of the Delaware; and there, in a small island of the said river, planted a stone, marked, &c.”[172]—“but that the rigour of the season prevented them from proceeding further in running the said line, &c.”[173]

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Footnote 171:

Mr. Holland was an able engineer in the British service, and held the
military rank of captain.

Footnote 172:

The Marks, &c. are particularly described in the Pennsylvania Act of
Assembly, passed the 29th of Sept. 1779, entitled “An Act to
establish and confirm the Boundary Line between this state and the
state of New-York.”

Footnote 173:

The Law, referred to in the preceding note, states the extent of
their further progress in the business at that time, which was
inconsiderable.

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In September 1772, the Philosophical Society announced in the public
prints, the receipt, by them, of sundry communications: among which
were various astronomical observations, made in Canada, by this
gentleman and two other military officers, from June 1765, to May
1770, (captain Holland being, at that period, surveyor-general of the
district of Quebec.) These observations were communicated to the
society by Mr. Rittenhouse; but, having been received after the first
volume of the Society’s Transactions was published, their publication
in the subsequent volumes was by some means omitted.

This Line remained thus unsettled, until after the conclusion of the American war. Mr. Rittenhouse and Captain Holland having previously established the North-Eastern Corner of Pennsylvania, on that boundary, by ascertaining and marking thereon the beginning of the 43° of North latitude, the Pennsylvania Legislature, on the 31st of March, 1785, enacted a law, authorizing the Executive of the State to appoint a Commissioner, in conjunction with one or more on the part of New-York, to run and complete the Line. The person selected for this service by Pennsylvania, in addition to Mr. Rittenhouse, was Andrew Ellicott, Esq. an able Mathematician and Astronomer, and well qualified also, by his practical knowledge of Surveying or Land-Mensuration: this gentleman was accordingly commissioned[174] by the hon. Charles Biddle, Esquire, then Vice-President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, on the 16th of June, 1786.[175] The Commissioners on the part of New-York, were James Clinton and Simeon De Witt, Esquires: And by these gentlemen, appointed on behalf of their respective governments, this business was prosecuted; but it was not then completed.[176]

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Footnote 174:

Although Mr. Ellicott’s commission bears date the 16th of June, 1786,
his appointment took place some months sooner. On the 3d of April, in
that year, Mr. Rittenhouse wrote him thus:—

“Dear Sir,

“By direction of Council” (the Supreme Executive Council of
Pennsylvania,) “I wrote some time ago to the gentlemen appointed by
the state of New-York for running the northern boundary of this state.
I have received their answer; which is, that they will meet us at
Philadelphia on the 20th of this month, in order to concert measures
for carrying that business into execution. It will be necessary for
you to attend, and I shall confidently expect you—’till then, I must
defer many things I have to say to and settle with you: perhaps
copying the Nautical Almanack may wait until I see you. Hurry of
business will not permit me add more, than that I am,

Dear Sir,
Your very humble serv’t.
DAV. RITTENHOUSE.”

“ANDREW ELLICOTT, Esq.
Baltimore.”

And on the 29th of September, in the succeeding year, he addressed
another letter on the subject of this boundary, to Messrs. Ellicott
and Porter, jointly; wherein he says:

“Your packet came safe to hand, about three weeks after the date of
the letters. I am much obliged to you for the intelligence it
contains; you have succeeded beyond my expectation, and I have no
longer any doubt of your completing the line this season. I should
have been glad, if, to the account of your work, you had added some
description of the country: but my curiosity must wait till your
return.”

Mr. Rittenhouse continued in commission, for the establishing of this
line, until its entire completion: but his non-attendance with the
other commissioners in the actual running of the line, in the year
1787, was prevented by his being then engaged in fixing the
territorial boundary between the states of Massachusetts and New-York.
In the letter, last quoted, is this paragraph:—“Dr. Ewing and myself
were absent seven weeks, on the line between New-York and
Massachusetts, in which time we happily completed it, to the
satisfaction of all parties; and, with this business, I have bid
adieu, forever, to all running of lines.”

Footnote 175:

Dr. Rush has been led into a mere mistake of the date on this
occasion; probably, by an hasty perusal of the confirmatory law, of
Sept. 29, 1789. He states, in his eulogium, that it was the year 1786,
in which Mr. Rittenhouse “was employed in fixing the northern line
which divides Pennsylvania from New-York: his services on that
business were originally employed in 1774, He did, indeed, again act
as a commissioner, in the year 1786, and it was on the 16th day of
June, in that year, that Mr. Ellicott was commissioned to complete, in
conjunction with Mr. Rittenhouse, what the latter had begun to execute
eleven years and an half before the last mentioned date.

Footnote 176:

“In order to carry on the parallel of latitude with as much expedition
and economy as possible,” says Mr. Ellicott, “we dispensed with the
method of tracing a line on the arc of a great circle, and correcting
into the parallel; as pursued by Messrs. Mason and Dixon, in
determining the boundary between this state” (Pennsylvania,) “and the
state of Maryland, and which we followed in completing their line in
the year 1784. We commenced our operations by running a guide-line,
West, with a surveying compass, from the point mentioned on the
Delaware” (the one which was fixed by Dr. Rittenhouse and Capt.
Holland, in the year 1774,) 20¼ miles; and there corrected by the
following zenith lines” (laid down in the sequel,) “taken, at its
western termination, by a most excellent Sector, constructed and
executed by Dr. Rittenhouse.”

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The following letter, addressed by Mr. Rittenhouse to his wife, while he was engaged in this service, will not only furnish the reader with some idea of the manner in which the commissioners, with their attendants, were obliged to live in the wilderness, and the nature of their accommodations; but it will also present him with an interesting little story, illustrative of the manners and condition, in our day, of some of that unfortunate race of men, who were once the independent lords of that vast territory, over which the descendants of a grant transatlantic people now exercise all the rights of sovereignty and ownership. This letter is dated the 6th of August, 1786.

“It is,” says Mr. Rittenhouse, “six long weeks since I have had the happiness of seeing you or hearing from you; and this is the first opportunity I have had of conveying a letter to you, since I left Wyoming. As I cannot hope to receive a line from you until we approach nearer to the habitable world, my next greatest pleasure is to inform you of the favourable state of my health: this pleasure is indeed damped in some degree, by my fears that you will not give full credit to what I say, though I mean to abide strictly by the truth. The head-ach has been unknown to me, almost ever since I left you; my cough, though much better, is not quite removed; and I have no other complaint, except, that which will never leave me in this world: this, however, far from being worse than usual, is certainly something less troublesome; which I attribute to my being more at liberty to use moderate exercise, and less exposed to summer heats than I should be at home. This seems to be a different climate from that you are in; the weather is constantly cool, but not cold. We are at present situated on a pleasant bank of the Susquehanna, about fifteen miles above the mouth of the Chenango, one of the principal branches of this river. From this place to Middletown in Lancaster county, is, by estimation, 270 miles along the river: much of the road is very bad, so that we had a tedious journey.

“At Chenango, there are a few Indian families settled, amounting to forty souls. Some of these people frequently visit us, and bring us fish and venison; in return for which, they are very desirous to have flour or salted provisions: and we live in the greatest harmony with them. Five or six days ago, one of the Onondago Sachems with his family came up in three canoes, and encamped in the evening, just below us. Next morning, we received a message from them, requesting an audience for two young ladies of the family. To this, a proper answer was returned, (General Clinton having prudently brought an interpreter with him,) and at the time appointed they were introduced to us in our tent, unattended by any other Indians. After a draught of punch, and a decent silence, our visitors were told that we were ready to hear what they had to say. The eldest of the two, a fine girl of about twenty, and extremely well dressed, with a becoming modesty made a short speech; concluding with an handsome apology for acquitting herself no better, on account of her youth and sex. The purport of her speech was, that thinking it would not be disagreeable to us, they were come to spend a few days in our company: that they were poor, and in want of provisions, especially flour; and hoped we would furnish them with a small portion of our stores,—at least for present use, whilst they staid with us. We encouraged them to bring us fish and other fresh provision; in return for which, they should have salt meat and some bread. Business being over, some cheerful conversation ensued: and we had reason to think our interpreter went much further than he was warranted to do; for he made some proposition which the young lady negatived strongly, though we are ignorant of what it was. He was then bid to assure them, that no insult should be offered, and that they might visit us at our tents whenever they pleased: to this one gentleman added, that we would treat them as we would our own country women.

“It seems the old interpreter mistook the word _treat_, and construed it, the _giving them victual and drink_: in consequence of this mistake, the ladies expected to dine with us every day. They then departed, seeming well satisfied; but in the afternoon we received a message from them, complaining that we had already broken the treaty, in not sending for them to dinner. To this we sent a verbal answer, with an apology, and letting the ladies know we should expect them to tea. To my great surprise, we then received a written note, thanking us for our kindness and promising to drink tea with us,—signed, _Jacowe and Sally_: it was in the Indian language, and written by Miss Sally herself. We now thought it our duty to return a written compliment likewise; and this intercourse ended with a verbal message from Miss Sally, assuring us, that she thought herself honoured by our letter and would carefully preserve it. The ladies did not fail to come; and have drank tea every day, and sometimes dined with us. They are cheerful and agreeable; but cannot, or will not, speak one word of English. Mr. De Witt draws prettily, and is taking a very good picture of the young princess, which I hope to have the pleasure of shewing you in a few weeks. I have mentioned their _writing_, which you will be surprised at: but these Indians are in some measure civilized; many of them have learned to read;—they have the Common Prayer Book of the Church, printed in their own language, which is the Mohawk.[177] The family now with us have several books with them; likewise paper, pens and ink. Every evening, the females jointly sing several religious hymns, and their music is at least equal to any of this kind I have heard: the old mistress is very devout, and sometimes says her prayers with great fervency. They are, nevertheless, still but Indians; and Miss Sally will sit, with all her finery about her, flat on the ground for hours together, under a miserable bark shed, making buckskin shoes, until her eyes are almost smoked blind; then, by way of relaxation, she and her cousin will step into a little tottering canoe, where, standing upright, they row away with incredible swiftness.

-----

Footnote 177:

The Liturgy of the Church of England was first translated into the
Mohawk language, in the year 1714. Another translation was made under
the direction of three clergymen of that church; namely, the Rev. Mr.
William Andrews, Dr. Henry Barclay, and Dr. John Ogilvie: This was
printed in the year 1769; but the place where it was printed does not
appear. In the year 1787, an handsome edition of the English Book of
Common Prayer, with a translation into the Mohawk language by captain
Joseph Brant, was published in London.

-----

“You will excuse me for entertaining you so long with an account of these poor wretches. But your news, and your politics, are almost forgotten. Still, my principal happiness is, that not only waking but frequently in my dreams, I feel all that esteem and affection for you, which I hope will never end. My companions are agreeable enough; but as every one has his own humours, it is by no means a desirable thing to be cooped up in a little tent, night and day, for weeks together, with any one. I want something to employ my leisure hours. This I could do by writing, but here is no privacy: I am at present obliged to write badly and in a small hand, to prevent its being overlooked. I cannot think of taking my departure for Philadelphia, until we approach nearer the inhabited country: our next station, but one, will be at or near Tioga, and from thence I shall return.”

* * * * * * * * * *

“God grant you health and spirits,” &c.

---

In 1787, Mr. Ellicott’s associates, in completing this line, were Col. Andrew Porter of Pennsylvania, and Abraham Hardenberg and William Morris, Esquires, of New York; Mr. Rittenhouse, who was engaged the same year in a similar occupation, being unable to attend the finishing of this boundary. It was then finally run and marked, by the other commissioners here named; and, in conformity to the return of these commissioners, their proceedings were ratified by a confirmatory law of Pennsylvania, passed on the 29th of September, 1789.

Thus did the labours of a great work,—of one which employed the talents of Mr. Rittenhouse towards the close of the year 1774—which were resumed by him in 1786, and were afterwards continued and completed by Mr. Ellicott and his associates,—receive the legislative sanction of Pennsylvania, fifteen years after the commencement of this arduous undertaking.

His studious habits, and zealous investigation of the works of nature, led Mr. Rittenhouse to devote as much of his time, as the delicate state of his health permitted him to retrench from occasional public employments and his private occupations, to those objects for the promotion of which the American Philosophical Society was instituted. After he fixed his residence in Philadelphia, the established seat of that Society, he attended their Meetings pretty regularly; and by that means had an opportunity of forming a more intimate acquaintance with many persons, most conspicuous, at that time, for talents, knowledge, and learning. His great abilities had then become almost universally known; and these, in connexion with the suavity of his deportment, his great modesty, and exemplary moral character, had not only procured him the esteem and respect of all good men; but confirmed the friendship of his old acquaintances, and attached to him the high and sincere regard of many new ones.

As one instance, among many, of the distinguished estimation in which Mr. Rittenhouse was held by his fellow-citizens, after a residence of between four and five years in Philadelphia; the American Philosophical Society petitioned the legislature, on the 6th of March, 1775, fer pecuniary aid, to enable them to erect an Observatory; and to allow Mr. Rittenhouse an annual salary, as the “Public Astronomical Observer.”

The objects of this application were important, in a public view; and its whole tenor was alike honourable to the enlightened patriotism of the Philosophical Society, and the merit of the person to whom, more particularly, it had reference.[178] Indeed, such a public act of so respectable a body as that society, is a testimonial reflecting great honour on the character of Mr. Rittenhouse; insomuch, that it would be doing injustice to his memory, not to insert it in these Memoirs of of his Life. It is as follows:

-----

Footnote 178:

Mr. Rittenhouse is not mentioned in the petition, by name. This was
unnecessary: for it was universally known, that it could apply to no
other person in America, so unquestionable and pointed are its
allusions to him; and that, perhaps, no other Astronomer then living,
so well merited the high encomiums on his philosophical abilities,
which it contains.

-----

“To the honourable the Representatives of the Freemen of the province of Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met:

“The Representation and Petition of the American Philosophical Society, held at Philadelphia, for promoting useful knowledge.

“Gentlemen,

“It must yield a sensible satisfaction to the good people of this
province, whom you represent, to find, that although it be among the
youngest of our American settlements, its reputation has risen high
among the sister colonies, and has extended even to the remotest part
of Europe, on account of our many public-spirited institutions, and
our rapid improvements in all useful arts. This satisfaction is also
greatly increased, when we consider, that notwithstanding these
institutions, through the necessity of the case, were generally
obliged to derive much of their first support from the benevolence of
individuals; yet a liberal spirit, for their encouragement and final
establishment, has gone forth among our Representatives, in proportion
to the increase of our provincial funds. And indeed the savings of
public money, after supplying the exigencies of the state, are never
more laudably directed, than towards the promoting whatever is useful
and ornamental in society.

“It is with unfeigned gratitude that your petitioners recollect the
repeated occasions you have given them, of acknowledging your bounty
and protection, in carrying on their designs ‘for the advancement of
useful knowledge;’ and it is their firm resolution never to abuse your
former indulgence, by any future unnecessary or unimportant
applications. By the means now in their own power, they hope, in
general, to be able to prosecute their plan; except so far as they may
sometimes find it incumbent on them humbly to suggest to you the
encouragement of useful inventions, and the patronizing undertakings
beneficial to the whole community: And it is in this last view, that
they presume to address you at this time.

“Amidst the variety of fields, which, in this new world, lie open to
the investigation of your petitioners, they have, for several years,
turned their views towards one, wherein they hope to gather some of
their chief laurels, and to make discoveries alike honourable to their
country and themselves. Our distance from the chief Observatories in
the world, the purity and serenity of our atmosphere, invite us, nay
loudly call upon us, to institute a series of regular Astronomical
Observations; the comparison of which with those made in Europe, and
elsewhere, might settle some very important points, and contribute
greatly to give a last perfection to Geography and Navigation. The
advantages derived to those noble and useful sciences, from such
observations, are so obvious, that there is scarce a civilized nation
in the world that has not made some provision for prosecuting them;
and your petitioners have been honoured with repeated solicitations
from some of the greatest men in Europe, to join with them in this
great work, and in a mutual communication of our labours.

“It would be inexcusable, therefore, in your petitioners to neglect
the present opportunity of endeavouring to set such a design on foot,
when we have a Gentleman among us, whose Abilities, speculative as
well as practical, would do Honour to any Country, and who is,
nevertheless, indebted for bread to his daily toil, in an occupation
the most unfriendly both to health and study. Under his auspices, the
work may now be undertaken with the greatest advantages; and others
may be bred up by him, to prosecute it in future times: but if the
present opportunity is neglected, perhaps whole centuries may not
afford such another. To rescue such a Man from the drudgery of manual
labour, and give him an occasion of indulging his bent of genius, with
advantage to his Country, is an Honour which crowned heads might glory
in,—but it is an Honour also, which it is hoped, in the case of a
native, Pennsylvania would not yield to the greatest prince or people
on earth!

“The design, which your petitioners have projected, and now humbly beg
leave to lay before your honourable House, is as follows, viz.

“First, That the Honourable Proprietaries be petitioned to grant a Lot
of Ground, for erecting a Public Observatory, and to give such other
encouragement to the design as they may think proper. And from their
known attachment to the interest of this country, as well as their
professed readiness to serve the Gentleman who is proposed to conduct
the design, your petitioners cannot have any doubt of their kind
compliance with this humble request.

“Secondly, That the assistance of your honourable House be requested,
agreeably to the concluding prayer of this petition.

“Thirdly, That a subscription be promoted for erecting a Public
Observatory, and furnishing it with such instruments as may be wanted,
in addition to those valuable ones now in the province. Of the success
of this subscription among our benevolent fellow-citizens, there can
be no doubt; and the expense of the additional instruments will not be
great, as the Gentleman proposed to conduct the design, is capable of
constructing them all with his own hand, in the most masterly manner.

“Fourthly, That the Observatory shall be at all times open to the
curious; and, particularly, that captains and mates of vessels, and
young gentlemen desirous of obtaining a practical knowledge in
Astronomy, shall have admittance, and (under proper rules, to be
framed for that purpose,) be taught the use of Instruments, and the
method of making Observations, especially the _new method_ of
ascertaining the longitude at sea; for the perfecting of which, the
Parliament of Great Britain has of late given such ample rewards, to
the singular advantage of trade and navigation.

“Fifthly, That the Observations to be made by the Public Observer,
shall be annually published, under the inspection of the American
Philosophical Society, and communicated to the learned Societies in
Europe, with such remarks as may render them generally useful and
entertaining.

“Sixthly, That the same person might also be appointed Surveyor of the
high roads and waters; in order that when any public proposals are to
be made, for improving navigation, and shortening the communications
between capital trading places, there be always a person who has
leisure, and is skilled in measuring and reducing distances, taking
heights and levels, and who may be employed in conjunction with
others, when necessary, to make report on all such matters, either at
the expence of those who request such service, or at the public
expence, as the case may require.

“Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray, that your Honourable House
would take the premises into your consideration, and allow a yearly
salary for such person, at least as a Public Astronomer, if you should
not view the additional office of Surveyor of the high roads and
waters in the same important light as it is viewed by your
petitionors; and they further pray, that you would give them leave to
bring in a bill for the legislative appointment of such Public
Observer, and for regulating his duty in the execution of his trust:
and your petitioners shall ever pray, &c.

Signed in behalf and by order of the American Philosophical Society,
at Philadelphia, March 6th 1775.

THOMAS BOND, V. P.”[179]

-----

Footnote 179:

Joseph Galloway and Samuel Rhoads, Esq’rs. the other vice-presidents
of the society, were then members of the general assembly; and Dr.
Franklin, the president, had not at that time returned from England.
Mr. Rittenhouse was, at the same time, one of the curators of the
society; as he was, also, during the year 1772.

-----

Nothing was done, in pursuance of this application to the legislature; although there is not any reason whatever to doubt, that there was the most favourable disposition in that enlightened and liberal assembly, to promote the laudable views of the Philosophical Society, both as they regarded the public interest, and the personal advantage of Mr. Rittenhouse. But the period was then close at hand, and its arrival had been for some time before anticipated, when the public voice was expected to proclaim, in a tone of awful solemnity, “_Cedant Armis Togæ_:” and, in fact, the calamatous appeal to arms which soon after succeeded, seemed almost wholly to absorb all other considerations, than such as were connected with the defence of the country and a new organization of its internal polity.

Mr. Rittenhouse was among those, who early yielded to the call of their fellow-citizens to serve them in a civil capacity. Dr. Franklin and Major (afterwards General) Mifflin had been respectively appointed by the continental congress, in the year 1775, to be post-master general of “the United Colonies of North-America,” and quartermaster-general of the American army: and, in consequence of these appointments, both these gentlemen resigned, in the early part of the ensuing year, the seats they had occupied in the general assembly of Pennsylvania, as burgesses for the city of Philadelphia. To supply this vacancy in the representation of that city, Colonel (afterwards General) Joseph Reed and David Rittenhouse, Esq. were elected, in March 1776. Mr. Rittenhouse took his seat on the 5th day of the same month, and continued an useful member of that body until the termination of its legislative functions. But, although he was a valuable and highly respectable member of that house, he did not possess that species of talent which often enables a man of even moderate abilities, to make a prominent figure in popular assemblies: his perception was extremely quick; in deliberative powers he excelled; and all his reasoning faculties were most accurate: yet, an insuperable native diffidence—pursuits which precluded opportunities of public speaking—and, perhaps, a peculiar structure of his mind—all forbad his being an orator.

Notwithstanding the agitating and highly important public events which occupied men’s minds, in the memorable year 1776, Mr. Rittenhouse could not entirely abandon, even then, his darling pursuits. His ardent attachment to the Newtonian philosophy led him, on various occasions, to vindicate it against new-fangled theories which sometimes appeared against it: for there still remained a few speculative men, and, among these, some persons of considerable learning, who continued to adhere to the visionary principles of Descartes and his followers.[180] Of this, an instance occurred in the year 1776. A writer under the signature of M. W. (and who is supposed to have been the late Rev. Matthew Wilson, a respectable presbyterian clergyman, of Lewes,[181] in the county of Sussex on Delaware,) published in _The Pennsylvania Magazine_, for March and April in that year, (conducted by the late Mr. Robert Aitken of Philadelphia,) some speculations, under the head of “A proposal for reducing Natural Philosophy to a System, with Remarks on the Cartesian and Newtonian Theories.” In his lucubrations, this writer discovered a decided partiality for the doctrine of Descartes, in preference to those of Newton. Nor did this admirer of the justly exploded philosophy of the former long want a coadjutor: for, in the same Magazine, for the succeeding month, appeared another reverend gentleman of the same religious persuasion, and known to possess a copious fund of scholastic learning; who, under the signature of J. W. approved, in the main, of the opinions of his precursor, on this occasion. After acknowledging that the Newtonian system prevailed universally in Great Britain, and pretty generally throughout the rest of Europe, he asks—“Shall we then hear any thing against the Newtonian principles, in Answer?” He adds—“I answer, yes.” After rendering a constrained kind of compliment to the great Newton, for his “inexpressible service to Philosophy”—“so far as he adhered to his own plan,”—he proceeds with introducing “A few Thoughts on Space, Dimension, and the Divisibility of Matters _in infinitum_.”

-----

Footnote 180:

That eminent mathematician and astronomer, Mr. Roger Cotes,[180a] in
an excellent preface to his edition of Sir Isaac Newton’s _Mathematica
Principia Philosophiæ Naturalis_, has explained the true method of
philosophising; shewn the foundation on which the Newtonian system was
built; and refuted the objections of the Cartesians, and all other
philosophers, against it. In this preface, Mr. Cotes has ably answered
those, who contended, that gravity or attraction, in the system of
Newton, was not a clearer principle, nor one more fit to explain the
phænomena of nature, than the occult qualities of the peripatetics:
for, there were still philosophers, such as they were, who persisted
in that absurd opinion! “Gravity,” said the objectors, “is an occult
cause; and occult causes have nothing to do with true philosophy.” To
which Mr. Cotes made this lucid reply:—“Occult causes are not those
whose existence is most clearly demonstrated by observation and
experiment; but those only whose existence is occult, fictitious, and
supported by no proofs. Gravity, therefore, can never be called an
occult cause of the planetary motions; since it has been demonstrated
from the phænomena, that this quality really exists. Those rather have
recourse to occult causes, who make vortices to govern the heavenly
motions; vortices, composed of a matter entirely fictitious, and
unknown to the senses. But, shall gravity therefore be called an
occult cause, because the cause of gravity is occult, and as yet
undiscovered? Let those who affirm this, beware of laying down a
principle which will serve to undermine the foundation of every system
of philosophy that can be established. For causes always proceed, by
an uninterrupted connexion, from those that are compound, to those
that are more simple; and when you shall have arrived at the most
simple, it will be impossible to proceed further. Of the most simple
cause, therefore, no mechanical solution can be given; for if there
could, it would not be the most simple. Will you then call these most
simple causes _occult_, and banish them from philosophy? You may so;
but you must banish at the same time the causes that are next to them,
and those again that depend upon the causes next to them, till
philosophy, at length, will be so thoroughly purged of causes, that
there will not be one left whereon to build it.”