History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 65

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992

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But the best claim that this eminent man has upon his survivors for gratitude and praise depends

upon the distinguished services he rendered through his connection with the Philosophical Society to lin- guistic and other literature. We have seen that in the objects for the study and propagation of which the society was expending its energies, neither history nor other literature was included. Through the in- fluence of Mr. Du Ponceau was established a com- mittee on history, moral science, and general litera- ture. His first paper, in pursuance of the inquiries set on foot by this committee, was on the "Structure of the Indian Langnages." The fame obtained by this on its publication among the Transactions resulted in his getting the degree of LL.D. and being elected a member of the Academy of Inscriptions of the French Institute. The Comte de Volney, while engaged in his investigations concerning ancient chronology, offered a linguistic prize, which was won by Mr. Du Ponceau with his "Indian Languages of North America." The last important work he con- tributed to literature was "A Dissertation on the Chinese Language." This is a most valuable work, and has exerted a strong influence in changing the opinion for a long time previously prevailing that this language, with that of Japan, is ideographic, representing ideas, instead of lexigraphic, represent- ing sounds, as in the European tongues.

There were several other minor pamphlets and dissertations put forth by him upon various subjects in which his versatile mind was interested, and he was prominently distinguished in the latter part of the last and the first part of the present century. In his latter years his well-known absence of mind, the infirmities of his vision, the brightness of his intellect, continned to so late a period of old age, imparted a tenderness to the consideration in which he was uni- versally held. His death, at eighty-four years, called forth expressions of public feeling mingled with regret, and of admiration for his varied talents.

The "Transactions of the Philosophical Society" during the period first succeeding its institution con- tain contributions from several persons who evinced much ability in their several pursuits. Rev. Gotthilf Henry Ernst Muhlenberg, a native of New Provi- dence, Montgomery Co., in 1753, after completing his education at Halle, was ordained to the ministry of the Lutheran Church, and became assistant to his father in Philadelphia. On the occupation of that city by the British in the Revolutionary war, he retired to the country, where his time, during the interval of clerical service, was devoted to the study of botany. In 1780 he accepted a call to the Lutheran Church of Lancaster, where he spent the rest of his life, which continued until 1815.

Dr. Muhlenberg devoted much of his leisure time to the natural sciences, particularly to botany. A member of the Philosophical Society, he sent in sev- eral papers, which have always ranked high in the Transactions. The reputation obtained by their pub- lication procured for him invitations to membership

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in kindred institutions in Germany, Sweden, and Denmark. Willdenow, in his "Species Plantarum," makes frequent allusion to him. His principal publi- cations are "Catalogus Plantarum," " Descriptio uberior Graminum," and " Flora Laneastriensis." Besides his other accomplishments, he was a gifted

REV. GOTTHILF HENRY ERNST MUHLENBERG.

scholar both in ancient and oriental literature. Vari- ous papers contributed by him were never published, but, together with his herbarium, are now in posses- sion of the society.

In this connection should be mentioned the name of Ambroise Palirot de Beauvais, who, though a eiti- zen of France, spent some years in Philadelphia, whither he had fled from the island of St. Domingo on the overthrow of the government there by the negroes and was hindered from returning to his native country on hearing the news that he had been pro- seribed by its government as an emigrant. This ad- venturous man had traveled in Guinea, and gone to St. Domingo, in pursuit of investigations on natu- ral sciences. While in America he still pursued his favorite studies among the Alleghany Mountains. Having obtained permission to return to France he did so, and become one of the most distinguished members of the Institute. It was De Beauvais who arranged the collection of Peale's Museum in Phila- delploa. Charles Wilson Peale was the author of an essay on " Wooden Bridges," with plates, "Intro- duelion to a Course of Lectures on Natural History," " The Preservation of Health," " Essay to promote Domestic Happiness," and "Economy in Fuel." Doughty's " Natural History . contains a biographical notice of him by his son, Rembrandt Peale.

Thomas Nuttall, another distinguished foreigner, belongs in part to Philadelphia, where he spent much of his time. He was a native of Yorkshire, England, and spent his boyhood to majority in serving an apprenticeship to printing. Then he came to the United States. Here he devoted much of his time to expeditions in several parts of the country, even into the great territories of the West, in the study of botany. He traversed the Missis- sippi Valley, Florida, the region around the Northern Lakes, crossed the country to the Pacific, and thenee sailed to the Sandwich Islands, in further pursuit of his favorite studies. He made Philadelphia his home until elected to take charge of the botanical garden attached to Harvard University. In 1828 the con- dition of his return to his native country having been attached to a bequest made in his favor, he went back. His principal works were "The Genera of North American Plants, and a Catalogue of the Spe- cies to 1817," " A Journal of Travels into the Ar- kansas Territory during the Year 1819," "Manual of the Ornithology of the United States and Canada," and some volumes supplementary to Michaux's " North American Sylva." A biographical sketch of Mr. Nuttall was made by Elias Durand, wbo claims for him that he made more explorations and discoveries in botanical investigations in North America than any other, and that, with the possible exception of Professor Gray, of Harvard University, no other has given descriptions of a greater variety of plants.

The name of Benjamin Smith Barton belongs both to seience and to the profession of medicine. He was son of the Rev. William Barton, of Lancaster, to whom, as we have seen, David Rittenhouse was in- debted for the encouragement and development of his extraordinary powers. He was educated for the medieal profession at Edinburgh, London, and Göt- tingen. He was first made Professor of Natural His- tory and Botany in the University of Pennsylvania, and afterward succeeded Dr. Griffiths as Professor of Materia Medica, and Dr. Rush as Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine. The first work on botany published in America was by him, and he was the editor for several years of a medi- eal journal. His other published works were "New Views of the Indiau Tribes," " Materia Medica," and "The Pyrola Umbellata," the last of which appeared in the " Medico-Chirurgieal Transactions" of London.

Another eminent member of the Philosophical So- ciety was James Woodhouse, a native of Philadelphia, and a graduate of the college there. He attended Gen. St. Clair's expedition, in 1791. as surgeon-gen- eral, and afterward served for the rest of his life as Professor of Chemistry in the University of Pennsyl- vania. Among his publications outside of his pro- fession was " Experiments and Observations on the Vegetation of Plants."

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The most able co-operator whom Franklin had was Joseph Galloway, before referred to, who alone of that party was able to compete with John Dickinson, the eloquent leader of the opposition. In the most heated contest for the Assembly he and Franklin were de- feated, but through their outside influence the recall of the petition for the relapse of the government to the crown was hindered, and at the election in 1765, Galloway was again elected, and became Speaker for nine consecutive years. In the subsequent disputes with the crown Galloway sided with the latter, and in December, 1776, went from his home in Bucks County, whither he had retired after the passage of the resolution for independence, to Gen. Howe, and served under him in his march through New Jersey, and after the evacuation of Philadelphia went to England, where he remained for the rest of his life. In his exile he became a devoted student of the book of Revelation, concerning which he imagined that he already saw the fulfillment of many of its prophecies. His publications consist of pamphlets and speeches and works relating to the American war and the sub- ject of his later studies. The list is thus given in Allibone : (1) "Speech in Answer to John Dickinson," London and Philadelphia ;1 (2) " Candid Examina- tion," New York, 1775, London, 1780; (3) " Letters to a Nobleman," 1779; (4) " Reply to Sir William Howe," 1780; (5) "Cool Thoughts," 1780; (6) "Historical and Political Reflections," 1780; (7) "Letter to Lord Howe," 1780; (8) "Comment upon the Revelation ;" (9) "Prophetic and Anticipated History of Rome." . "A new edition of his 'Candid Examination' was printed by a committee of the House of Commons, that made its appearance in Philadelphia in 1855. It was reprinted by the Council of the Seventy-Six Society, and edited by Thomas Balch, Esq., a lawyer of Philadelphia."

The most distinguished writer of political pamphlets was John Dickinson, a notice of whom will be found in the chapter on the Bench and Bar. The career of this extraordinary man is one of the most interesting in the history of this country in the times of the Revo- lution. Unlike Galloway, he was opposed to Frank- lin's policy regarding the relegation of the govern- ment of Pennsylvania from the Penns to the crown of Great Britain, and his able efforts for some time hindered the consummation of that project. But the country never possessed a citizen more patriotic than John Dickinson, and perhaps none who better understood at the last the principle on which the government he had opposed was founded. A native American, he felt that whatever were the fortunes of his country, he must take them as his own. When the measure was at length carried over his opposition, he treated it as an accomplished fact behind which

the subsequent consideration of the exactions of the British government, he did more than any other man in the country to arouse among the people the resentment that led to independence. The most famous papers written during all this period were what were known as "Letters from a Farmer in Penn- sylvania to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies." Their influence has ever been regarded as superior to all others in imparting to the people an intelligent view of their rights and duties, and it is probable that no political pamphlets ever effected such im- portant results. They were thrown broadcast over the country, reprinted in England, and translated into French. On their publication in England, Dr. Franklin, who had been his rival, wrote the preface.2 With the prudence of a wise, contented old man, he spoke of the several exactions that had been inflicted upon the colonies, and urged a firm, peaceful, con- tinued opposition until they were removed. This he did not doubt would be the case in time, and he never contemplated that matters would ever he driven to the extremity that ensued. When that extremity came, as before, he was arrayed on the side of conser- vatism, and, as long as he could do so with any hope of success, opposed the scheme of independence. A higher compliment could scarcely have been paid to him than to have been chosen to write a greater num- ber than any other man in the Continental Congress of the various addresses to the British government on the subject of grievances. Through his influence partly, and on account of the general peaceful char- acter of the Quaker population, the sentiment of armed hostility and eventual independence was later in being aroused in Philadelphia than in other parts of the colonies. It was through his influence that what was known as the second petition to the king passed in Congress, which was carried over by Rich- ard Penn. Congress voted it out of regard to him, who was universally esteemed for his talents, patriot- ism, and integrity. This petition obtained the name of "The Olive Branch." Its illustrious advocate entertained in regard to it hopes that were not felt by a large majority of the body, who, but for his sake, would have precipitated independence much sooner than it came.

The part he bore at the last was most strikingly admirable. Of the delegates that were elected in December, 1775 (of which Dickinson was one, hav- ing been unanimously re-elected), all were against

2 The judgment evinced in these letters ie moet admirable. The in- troduction to the firet ie in these words: " My dear countrymed, I am a farmer, settled, after a variety of fortunee, near the banks of the river Delaware, in the Province of Pennsylvania, I received a liberal educa- tion, and have been engaged in the busy scenes of life, but am now con- vinced that a man may be as happy without bustle as with it. My farm terest ; I wieb no more; my employment in my own affairs is easy, and with a continued grateful mind, undisturbed by worldly hopes or fears, relating to myself, I am completing the number of days allotted to me by Divine goodness."

it was neither possible nor patriotic to go, and in , ie small; my servants are few and good ; I have a little money at in-

1 His rival, John Dickinson, declared that he never made this speech, and that it was written and published after the appearance of his own.

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separation except Franklin. Through the influence of the latter, the instructions to the delegation to vote against separation were withdrawn. Yet Dick- inson persisted, and some of his speeches, made in the debates, are among the very finest orations that ever were pronounced. There was much that was pathetic in his words, when he dwelt upon the casting off of the parental authority that through so many generations had been, in the main, so benig- nant. But at last, when he saw that the sentiment in the other direction was irrepressible and con- tinnally growing stronger, more determined, and more acrimonious, when the resolu- tion reported by the committee of the whole came up for final action, and Pennsylvania would have been the only one not to join in the meas- ure, he, with Rob- ert Morris, his col- league, withdrew in sadness from the hall, and the ma- jority of the remain- ing members of the delegation having been converted to the measure, it was unanimously car- ried. lle at once yielded to the tem- porary necessity of retiring from politi- cal life, and went to the field as a private soldier of the Dela- ware militia, and, when he came forth again, bore a lead- ing part in Con- gress. As adelegate from Delaware, he served in the Convention of 1787, which met for the formation of the Federal Constitution. No man better understood the principles upon which that Consti- tution was founded. He was fully in accord with MeKean in having fixed the recognition of the equal- ity of the smaller States, and as long as he lived regarded the new government not as that of one com- pact people, but as a federation of sovereignties repre- dented in the higher hody, and a union of the peoples of those sovereignties in the lower.

Mr. Dickinson also wrote a series of papers over an assumed name, "Fabius," first for the purpose of attaching the people, in 1788, to the new Constitu-

tion, and afterward in behalf of the French people in their revolution of 1797. For some time the petition to the king was thought to have been written by Richard Henry Lee, Chief Justice Marshall having erroneously so stated in his " Life of Washington." But it was the production of John Dickinson. To him, more than to any other man in his generation, was due the opinion of the Earl of Chatham which prompted the celebrated eulogium he uttered on the American Congress. We have seen that the second petition to the king was his composition also.

Among others who were engaged in the political con- troversies of those times was Dr. Wil- liam Smith, whose most distinguished endeavors, how- ever, were made in other fields. He was a native of Ab- erdeen, Scotland, and after emigra- ting to America, and teaching for a season in the family of Governor Mar- tin, of Long Island, studied for the min- istry of the Church of England. He was made provost of the College of Phil- adelphia in 1754. This eminent di- vine and teacher joined heartily in the cause of bis adopted country, but sided with John Diekinson in advo- cating the cause of the proprietors, and became after- ward among the most eminent of the pamphleteers, espe- cially in those contests that were waged, after the war of the Revolution was ended, between the officers of the college and those who affected to believe that the former intended to defeat the object of its charter and convert it into one entirely in the interest of the Church of England.

WILLIAM SMITH, D.D

There are many interesting things told in Frank- lin's autobiography about the rise, the ups and downs of this institution, first as au academy, then a college, and lastly a university. Under Dr. Smith's presi- dency the college grew rapidly in name and import- ance, students coming from other provinces and even from the West Indies. The medical college was at-

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tached in 1765, the first professorship (that of the Theory and Practice of Physic) being filled by Dr. Morgan.

The college became a university in 1779, and, after a period of acrimonious disputes, Dr. Smith mean- while having been removed, was restored to the pro- vostship in 1789, and in 1791, upon his retirement in advanced age, the two institutions were blended, and became the University of Pennsylvania. Be- sides his political pamphlets, he was the author of several sermons and orations that were published. One of his earliest publications was " A Philosophical Meditation and Religious Address to the Supreme Being," which was intended as a text-book in philos- ophy. This was published in London in 1784. His " Brief State of Pennsylvania," published in London, was reprinted in New York. In 1803, Bishop White published, with his own preface, a collection with the title, "The Works of William Smith, D.D., late Provost of the College and Academy of Philadelphia." He was as well known in Great Britain as in America, and several of the English Reviews, notably the London Monthly and the London Critical, published lauda- tory criticisms upon his productions. In spite of his defense of the proprietary claims, he was an ardent patriot; his war sermons, in 1775, being re- garded as contributing greatly to the feeling that cul- minated so happily. His essays, contributed to The American Magazine with the title of "The Hermit," aided his professional labors in raising in the com- munity the standard of literary taste.

As for magazine-writing, it is a little curious that it should have been so far behind other similar inter- ests. Franklin, as we have seen, was a man who, devoting his energies and counsels to the cultivation of fruits, had little leisure or concern for the flowers. He started the General Magazine and Historical Chronicle in 1741, but it printed little that was purely literary ; besides, it died within a year. This, such as it was, has the honor of being the first literary journal published in the town. In the same year Andrew Bradford started The American Magazine, that lived a couple of months. Sixteen years afterward it was revived by the same publisher, and had a yet shorter existence. The Penny Post had an irregular brief existence. It appeared in 1769 from the press of Benjamin Mecom, and in the same year appeared another American Magazine, by Lewis Nicola. It also died in a few months. In 1771 a publication was issued under a name which, however high sounding, could not perpetuate it beyond a few num- bers,-The Royal Spiritual Magazine, or Christian Ground Treasury ; and in 1775, The Pennsylvania Magazine, or American Monthly Museum, was pub- lished by Robert Aitken. The career of Dr. Smith was highly favorable to the production of a taste for literature that in time would originate and support literary journals.

Several men of considerable distinction were associ-

ated with Dr. Smith. Among them was the Rev. Ebenezer Kinnersley, who was teacher of oratory and English literature. He became most distin- guished, however, for his studies and discoveries in electricity as associate with Franklin. In the Trans- actions of the Philosophical Society are papers from him, entitled "Experiments in Electricity." There were also Rev. Francis Allison, master of the Latin school, then vice-provost of the college, and Rev. John Ewing, who, in the charter of the University, in 1779, was made its first provost. He was a Marylander, born at East Nottingham, and was very highly cul- tivated not only as a divine (Presbyterian) but as a scientist, at one time being vice-president of the Philosophical Society. Besides, he was familiar with the classics and metaphysics. It was one of his delights to teach how the advance of science, instead of diminishing, enhances in reasonable minds the authority and value of the Sacred Scriptures. Among his contributions to the " Philosophical Transactions" were an "Account of the Transit of Venus," and a paper on Godfrey's quadrant. Others prominent in the office of provost were Dr. John McDowell, formerly principal of St. John's College, Maryland, Dr. John Andrews, Dr. Frederick Beasley, Bishop De Lancey (descendant of Chief Justice De Lancey), Dr. John Ludlow, Dr. Henry Vethake.

Francis Hopkinson is fully noticed in the chapter on the Bench and Bar, as he was more connected with legal and political studies than with literature. He was one of the most variously accomplished men of his time, well versed in mathematics, in chemistry, and other sciences, a wit, and considerable of a poet. Among his poems, besides " The Battle of the Kegs," were "The New Roof," "A Morning Hymn," " An Evening Hymn," "Description of a Church," "Sci- ence," " A Camp Ballad." His keen wit generally led him to take in his printed pieces the direction of satire. Of these the most noted are "The Typo- graphical Mode of Conducting a Quarrel," "Thoughts on the Diseases of the Mind," " White-Washing," and " Modern Learning." Among his poetical pieces were "The Pretty Story," "The Prophecy," and "The Political Catechism." An excellent edition was published by Dobson in 1792, three volumes, oc- tavo, entitled "The Miscellaneous Essays and Occa- sional Writings of Francis Hopkinson." Thomas I. Wharton (Register of Pennsylvania, September, 1830) says of him, " A poet, a wit, a chemist, a mathema- tician, and a judge of the Admiralty, his character was composed of a happy union of qualities and endow- ments commonly supposed to be discordant; and with the humor of Swift and Rabelais, he was always found on the side of virtue and social order. His publica- tions were chiefly of a fugitive nature, and originally appeared in the magazines and newspapers."

The absence of suitable media for the public ex- pression of literary endeavors kept down, doubtless, many of both sexes who, if they had lived sixty or

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seventy-five years later, would have become widely known. In the midst of that splendid development that the legal profession had undergone, and that which grew upon political discussions, there had grown much literary taste and culture that main- tained silence from the force of circumstances. Of the impression made upon foreigners by the notice of these we can form some idea from an account written by the Rev. Andrew Burnaby, vicar of Greenwich, in England, who, upon his return from a visit made to thuis country, published, in 1760, an account of his travels. Alluding to Philadelphia, he thus wrote: " Arts and sciences are yet in their infancy. There are some few who have discovered a taste for music and painting ; and philosophy seems not only to have made a considerable progress already, but to be daily gaining ground. The Library Society is an excellent institution for propagating a taste for literature, and the college well calculated to form and cultivate it. This last institution is formed upon an admirable plan, and is by far the best school for learning throughont America. It has been chiefly raised by contributions, and its present fund is about ten thousand pounds Pennsylvania money. An account of it may be seen in Dr. Smith's (the president's) discourses. The Qua- kers also have an academy for instructing their youth in classical learning and practical mathematics ; there are three teachers and about seventy boys in it. Be- sides these there are several schools in the province for the Dutch and other foreign children, and a con- siderable one is being erected at Germantown."

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History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 65

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 992

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992