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The Project Gutenberg eBook of Memoirs of the
life of David Rittenhouse, LLD. F.R.S., late
president of the American Philosophical Society,
&c
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
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laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.
Language: English
OF THE LIFE
OF
INTERSPERSED WITH
WITH
AN APPENDIX,
CONTAINING
BY WILLIAM BARTON, M. A.
COUNSELLOR AT LAW;
Member of the American Philosophical Society, the Mass. Hist. Society, and the
Royal Economical Society of Valencia, in Spain.
PHILADELPHIA:
PUBLISHED BY EDWARD PARKER, NO. 178, MARKET-STREET.
1813.
DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, TO WIT:
BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the ninth day of October, in the
thirty-eighth year of the independence of the United States of
America, A. D. 1813, William Barton of the said district, hath
deposited in this office the Title of a book, the right whereof he
claims as Author, in the words following, to wit:
“Memoirs of the Life of David Rittenhouse, L. L. D. F.R.S, late
President of the American Philosophical Society, &c. Interspersed
with various notices of many distinguished men: with an Appendix,
containing sundry philosophical and other papers, most of which
have not hitherto been published. By William Barton, M. A.
Counsellor at Law; Member of the American Philosophical Society,
the Mass. Hist. Society, and the Royal Economical Society of
Valencia, in Spain.”
In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States,
intituled, “An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the
copies of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of
such copies during the times therein mentioned.”—And also to the
act entitled, “An act supplementary to an act, entitled, “An act for the
encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts,
and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the
times therein mentioned,” and extending the benefits thereof to the
arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints.”
D. CALDWELL,
Clerk of the District of Pennsylvania.
PREFACE.
In the adoption of this plan, the writer has been chiefly influenced
by a desire to illustrate the history, genius and character of the times,
which his Memoirs embrace; together with the progress and
improvement of literature, science and the arts, within the same
compass, more especially in this country; and this consideration has
obviously led him to introduce, in conjunction with those objects, as
well as with the Life of the great American Philosopher, various
notices of many persons distinguished for their talents and merit, not
only in our own time, but at different periods in the annals of science.
He has thought it right to rescue from oblivion—to commemorate in
this way, if not to consecrate, the names of some men in this country,
more especially, who deserve to be ranked among the worthies of
America. All this the writer has done, too, in conformity to the mode
prosecuted by some of the most judicious biographers and
memorialists, together with other writers of the same class: It is
believed to be a manner of treating the interesting subjects, on which
the pens of such authors have been employed, which, while it
renders their works more pleasing, greatly increases their
usefulness.—If, therefore, some of the matter which has been
introduced into the present work should, at first sight, appear
irrelative, and even unimportant, the Memorialist nevertheless
flatters himself, that, on reflection, nothing will be deemed really so,
how remotely soever it may seem, on a transient view of the subject,
to be connected with the principal design of the undertaking;
provided it has a tendency to illustrate the great objects he was
desirous of accomplishing.[I1]
Lancaster, in Pennsylvania,
April 11, 1813.
The meed of applause which may be sometimes, and too often is,
bestowed on meretricious worth, is ever unsteady and fleeting. The
pseudo-patriot may happen to enjoy a transient popularity; false
philosophy may, for a while, delude, if not corrupt, the minds of an
unthinking multitude; and specious theories in every department of
science,—unsupported by experience and untenable on principles of
sound reason,—may give to their projectors a short-lived reputation:
But the celebrity which is coveted by the man of a noble and
generous spirit,—that estimable species of fame, which alone can
survive such ephemera of error as are often engendered by the
vanity of the individual and nurtured by the follies or vices of the
many,—must ever rest on the permanent foundation of truth,
knowledge and beneficence.
While, therefore, the mind may view, with a sort of admiration, the
achievements of a magnanimous soldier, it turns with indignation
from the atrocities of a military tyrant: and at the same time that it
may be induced to contemplate even with complacency, at the first
view, the plausible, yet groundless speculations of ingenious
theorists, in matters of science,—still the fallacy of their systems,
when developed by experience, strips them of all their tinseled glare
of merit. Thus, too, the applause which the world justly attaches to
the character of a patriot-hero, deserts the unprincipled ruffian-
warrior, however valiant and successful he may prove: In like
manner, reason and experience expose to the censure of the good
and the derision of the wise, the deleterious doctrines of
metaphysical statesmen and philosophers.[2] Such estimable
qualities as they may possess, in either character, are merged in the
mischievous or base ones, with which they are combined: thus,
infamy or contempt eventually become the merited portion of crime
or of folly, as either one or the other may prevail. A Cæsar,[3] a
Cromwell and a Robespierre, with other scourges of mankind, of like
character, will therefore be viewed as objects of execration by
posterity, while the memories of an Alfred, a Nassau, and a
Washington—a Chatham, a Burke, and an Ames,—will be
venerated, to the latest posterity.