Note 284 — MEMOIR OF THE LIFE OF DAVID RITTENHOUSE; CONTINUED, FROM THE TIME OF HIS SETTLEMENT IN PHILADELPHIA.

Mr. B. H. Latrobe, in speaking of the great improvement in architecture recently manifested in Philadelphia, notices the peculiar advantages derived to that city, from the valuable marbles in its vicinity. “The beautiful marble,” says he, “with which this neighbourhood abounds, and the excellence of all other building materials, give to Philadelphia great advantages in this branch of the fine arts.” (See Mr. Latrobe’s Annual Oration, delivered before the Society of Artists, in Philadelphia, May 8th, 1811.) The correct taste and superior skill of this gentleman, as an Architect and Civil Engineer, are well known in the United States. In Philadelphia, the Bank of Pennsylvania will, more especially, remain a lasting monument of his talents in architectural science, as well as of the excellent quality of the marble (for such purposes) of which that edifice is constructed.