lowed by many others, all circulated gratis. His enthusiasm on this subject was excessive, and often very annoying to others; but his anti-carniverous system came near proving fatal to himself; for attempting to fast in imitation of The Saviour, he was reduced almost to the gates of death. The good sense of his friends saved him, and he lived to the patriarchal age of 82. The life of Anthony Benezet was more diversified by incidents, and is better known than those of his predecessor in the same cause; to which he devoted almost his entire life, and his utmost abilities, with surprising constancy and zeal. Born in France in 1713, he came to Philadelphia at the age of 18; where, after passing several years, as a teacher in the public schools, he became impressed with the subject of African slavery. In 1762, he published his "account of that part of Africa inhabited by the Negroes." Many other works on this and religious topics were successfully put forth by him, which all bore the stamp of his mind, strength, simplicity, and order. He attained an enviablę height in the estimation of his fellow citizens, and died in 1784, aged 71.

The year 1732, gave birth to David Rittenhouse, a man who is deservedly ranked among those benefactors and ornaments of this country, by whom her character is elevated and distinguished. He was born at Germantown in the County

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of Philadelphia, and was the son of a respectable farmer. His fondness for mathematical science was displayed at the early age of 14, and while he was literally at the plough, the handles of which were covered with his calculations; and at the age of 17, without foreign assistance, he constructed a complete clock. Astronomy next became the subject of his inquiries, and procuring a few books, he soon made a wonderful progress. In 1768, he completed his first orrery, on which occasion Mr. Jefferson observed, that as an artist he had exhibited as great proofs of mechanic genius, as the world had ever produced." The next year in company with several others, a committee of the American Philosophical Society, appointed for the purpose, he observed the transit of Venus. His report on this subject, not only gave satisfaction to the friends of science in this country, but obtained the applause of foreign astronomers. In 1775, he delivered the annual oration before the Philosophical Society, in which he exhibited both his attachment to, and profound knowledge of the science of astronomy, and the soundness of his principles as a patriot. The subsequent part of his life is well known, and falls without the limits of this sketch. He died in June 1796, having tasted a full measure of the public honour and respect. "On the whole," says a foreign writer, "as a philosopher and man of science, America has not produced any one superior to David Rittenhouse. To the principle of liberty, he was invariably attached, his

philanthropy was universal and rendered him a friend to the whole human race without distinction of country, colour, or complexion. In private life, amiable and unassuming; in public, a constant and firm assertor of the rights of man."*

In the year 1734-5, another religious controversy produced another litter of pamphlets. It seems that the Rev. Mr. Hemphill pastor of one of the Presbyterian meetings, had preached divers popular sermons, inculcating the duty of good works; but which on being tried by the test of orthodoxy were found wanting. Accordingly, he was suspended from his clerical functions by a commissioner of the Synod; but continued nevertheless to preach in public. In July 1735, "he preached twice to a very numerous congregation, at the house where the assembly used to meet.' Several essays pro and con were published. Dr. Franklin himself entered the list in favour of Mr. Hemphill, with two pamphlets, besides a very ingenious article in the form of a dialogue, between two members of the Presbyterian church, which appeared in the gazette of April 1735. Mr. Hemphill, though a taking preacher, was an indifferent writer; and after a little while it was disco

Most of the facts here stated are taken from the life of Rittenhouse by William Barton of Lancaster; a work which although exhibiting perhaps too ostentatious a display of learning, is yet pleasingly written, and contains many valuable facts illustrative of the political and literary history of Pennsylvania.

vered that the eloquent sermons which he preached, were not really his own performances, but borrowed literally from other divines. Upon which discovery he took his departure in quest of better fortune, and probably in search of critics, with shorter memories than those of Philadelphia:

Political pamphlets and essays abounded in the years 1764 and 1765. The great question of the expediency of changing the form of government from a proprietary to a regal one was one of the first discussed. Then came the subject of the Indian massacre in Lancaster County, and the question of the policy of the government towards this race. And lastly, the right to call upon the citizens to bear arms; and as involved in this, the doctrine of the lawfulness of war, and the expediency of the system of government pursued by the Quakers, were vigorously contested. The principal writers were Dr. Franklin, Joseph Galloway, John Dickinson and Dr. Smith. Franklin opposed the proprietary interest, and in consequence thereof, at the election in 1764, lost his seat in the house which he had held for fourteen years. The interest which the contest excited, is proved by the number of pamphlets published on these questions. No fewer than thirteen published in one year, (1764,) remain in the collection of the American Philosophical Society. The imposition of the Stamp Act pro

duced, as may be supposed, great activity in the press. The chief writer was John Dickinson, who acquired great distinction at this period, and of whose Farmer's Letters, Dr. Ramsay says, that in this work," he may be said to have sown the seeds of the revolution." The celebrated petition to the King, and other memorials adopted by Congress, attest the sharpness of his pen, and the vigour of his mind, and he was no less distinguished for his miscellaneous knowledge and cultivated taste. He died at Wilmington on the 15th of February, 1808, at an advanced age. His political writings were collected and published in 2 Vols. 8vo. in 1810.

The name of Francis Hopkinson is more identified with the revolutionary, than with the provincial history of the State; but in sketching out the literature of the province, he must not be omitted. A poet, a wit, a patriot, a chemist, a mathematician, and a judge of the admiralty; his character was composed of a happy union of qualities and endowments, commonly supposed to be discordant; and with the humour of Swift and Rabelais, he was always found on the side of virtue and social order. His publications were chiefly of a fugitive nature, and originally appeared in the Magazines and Newspapers. They are admirable in their way, and he is equally great in exposing the formalities and pedantry of science, and in ridiculing the absurd pre