DAVID RITTEN HOUSE, LL. D., F. R. S. THE life of a philosopher affords less scope for the pen of a biographer, than the career of a warrior or statesman. His thoughts make but a small impression in comparison with deeds of arms, but he is nevertheless entitled to equal regard when his mind is employed for the purpose of extending the knowledge of his fellow creatures, or his discoveries and acquirements are such as those of RITTENHOUSE. son. This amiable philosopher was born near Germantown, Pennsylvania, April 8th, 1732; his parents emigrated from Holland, and had been distinguished, as well as their progenitors, for probity, industry, and simple manners; they had been proprietors of considerable paper manufactories. The youth of Mr. RITTENHOUSE was passed on the farm of his father in the county of Montgomery, twenty miles from Philadelphia, whither his father removed during the childhood of the His peculiar turn of mind there manifested itself; his plough, the fences, and even the stones of the field in which he worked, were found covered with figures denoting a talent for mathematics. His health, never robust, unfitting him for hard labor, his father consented that he should acquire the trade of a clock and mathematical instrument maker; a trunk containing tools which had been the property of a maternal relative, afforded the instruments with which he worked, and he was mainly his own teacher. He early made himself master of Sir Isaac Newton's Principia, through the medium of Mott's translation, and studied the science of fluxions; of this invention he conceived himself at first to be the author, nor was he undeceived for some years, when he ascertained that a contest had been carried on between Sir Isaac Newton and Leibnitz, for the honor of the discovery. On this, Dr. Rush remarks; "what a mind was here! without literary friends or society, and with but two or three books, he became, before he reached his twenty-fourth year, the rival of the two greatest mathematicians in Europe!" From the age of eighteen to twenty-five, his time during the day was actively employed upon his labors, while the night, or his idle hours, as he called the time for sleep, was devoted to study. It was during this double occupation, that Mr. RITTENHOUSE projected and completed an instrument which required the union of knowledge and mechanical skill of the highest order; this was his Orrery, which he succeeded in making more complete than had been done by former astronomers. A description of this great instrument will be found. in the first volume of the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society; this Orrery was purchased by Princeton college, New Jersey, where it still remains. It exhibits the positions of the planets and their satellites at any given period of the world; past, present, or future; thus forming a perpetual astronomical almanac, where the results, in lieu of being found in tables, are actually exhibited to the sight. He completed a second, after the same model, for the college of Philadelphia, now the University of Pennsylvania, where it still is. This extraordinary instrument commanded the wonder and admiration of the learned from every part of the world. A genius of such superior order could not long remain in obscurity; the fame of his Orrery spread far and wide. Several gentlemen, among whom were his brother-in-law, the Rev. Dr. Barton, Dr. Smith, and an ingenious mathematician, named John Lukens, appreciating more fully his talents, united in inviting him to take up his residence in Philadelphia, where his opportunities for acquiring knowledge and fame, would be enlarged; yielding, not without reluctance, he removed to that city in the year 1770, where he continued to manufacture mathematical instruments, which were acknowledged to be superior to any imported. Having previously joined the American Philosophical Society, he made a communication to that body, respecting the transit of Venus, as it would occur on the 3d of June, 1769, and was appointed on the committee to observe it in the township of Norriton, In the preparations for this observation, he was extremely active and useful; the management and construction of the apparatus being perfectly familiar to him. This phenomenon had been seen but twice by the inhabitants of our earth; it would never be again visible to any person then alive; on it depended many astronomical calculations: under such circumstances, our young star-gazer was of course in a state of mental excitement and solicitude. The sun of that day rose without a cloud; the moment of observation came -the great event occurred as RITTENHOUSE predicted, and so excited was he at the circumstance, that in the instant of one of the contacts of the planet with the sun, he actually fainted with emotion. His report was received with satisfaction by the learned, everywhere, and acquired him an extended reputation. In 1775, he delivered the annual oration before the Philosophical Society; it was marked by ingenious though simple language, and comprehended a lucid history of astronomy. Though delivered in a feeble tone of voice, and without the graces of the practised orator, it commanded profound attention from the audience. Astronomy was his favorite study, and the theme of the greater part of his communications for the society's transactions. In Pennsylvania viewed with pride the accession of so valued a son, and soon took care to provide for talents so uncommon; he was employed in several geodetic operations involving a considerable stake. In 1779, the legislature appointed him one of the commissioners to settle the boundary between Pennsylvania and Virginia; this he was mainly instrumental in terminating satisfactorily in 1783. 1784, he assisted in determining the length of five degrees of longitude, from a point on the Delaware, in order to fix the western limits of the state, and in 1786, he fixed the northern line between New York and Pennsylvania. He performed the same service for New York and New Jersey, in 1769; and in 1787, he was called upon to ascertain the boundary line between Massachusetts and New York. occupation led him to long and lonely rambles in the wilderness, to which he carried with him his habits of inquiry and investigation; but we do not find any mention of particular acquisitions thereby obtained to natural history. This In 1791, he was elected to fill the chair of president of the American Philosophical Society, vacant by the death of Dr. Franklin. His attachment to the society was evinced by a donation to its funds of the sum of three hundred pounds. Though so ardently attached to the study of his choice, he had paid attention to theology, and was well acquainted with practical metaphysics; a great reader, a musician, and a poet; had acquired an intimate knowledge of the French, German, and Dutch languages, in which he took delight to peruse the works of the learned of those countries. His name was known and revered in every place where science was respected. Wherever he went, he was honored. As president of the society, he was much esteemed for his bland and unassuming manners, as well as for his affectionate regard for others. He received the degree of master of arts, in 1768, from the college of Philadelphia, and the same honor was conferred upon him by the college of William and Mary, in Virginia, in 1784. The college of |