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Memoirs of the Life of David Rittenhouse; Late President of the American Philos. Society With an App. Containing Sundry Philos. and Other Papers
Memoirs of the Life of David Rittenhouse Late President of the American Philos Society With an App Containing Sundry Philos and Other Papers Author:William Barton Subtitle: Late President of the American Philos. Society ... With an App. Containing Sundry Philos. and Other Papers ... General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1813 Original Publisher: Parker Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. ... more » When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: MEMOIRS OF THR LIFE OF DAVID RITTENHOUSE; CONTINUED, TIME OF HIS SETTLEMENT IN PHILADELPHIA. AN 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 hy 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 aproject, assisted by my neighbours, the Wissahiekon 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;'0 telling him, Mr. Riltenhouse 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...« less