DAVID RITTENHOUSE. 57 



United Colonies." In this oration, three years before the 

 announcement of Mayer's discovery of the proper motion 

 of certain stars, and six years before Herschel's discovery 

 of Uranus, the author put forth the suggestion, which has 

 since proved a presage, that the fixed stars, and particu- 

 larly the Milky Way, would afford fruitful fields of obser- 

 vation. 



