Among the intellectual prodigies which sometimes appear to excite the
wonder and astonishment of mankind, Zerah Colburn was certainly one of
the most remarkable. He was born at Cabot, Vermont, Sept. 1st, 1804. He
was the sixth child of his parents, who were persons in low
circumstances and of little education. He was regarded as the most
backward of the children till he was about six years old, when he
suddenly attracted attention by the display of his astonishing powers.
In August, 1810, when his father, Abia Colburn, was one day employed at
a joiner's work-bench, Zerah was on the floor, playing among the chips;
suddenly, he began to say to himself,--5 times 7 are 35--6 times 8 are
48, &c. His father's attention was immediately arrested by hearing this,
so unexpected in a child so young, and who had hitherto possessed no
advantages, except perhaps six weeks' attendance at the district
school, that summer. He therefore left his work, and turning to the
child, began to examine him in the multiplication table. He thought it
possible that Zerah had learnt this from the other boys; but finding him
perfect in the table, his attention was more deeply fixed, and he asked
the product of 13x97, to which 1261 was instantly given as the answer.
He now concluded that something unusual had actually taken place;
indeed, he has often said he should not have been more surprised if some
one had risen up out of the earth and stood erect before him.
It was not long before a neighbor rode up, and stopping at the house,
was informed of the singular occurrence. He desired to be a witness of
the fact. Zerah was called, and the result of the examination astonished
every one present. The strange phenomenon was now rapidly spread
throughout the town. Though many were inclined to doubt the correctness
of the reports they heard, a personal examination attested their truth.
Thus the story originated, which within the short space of a year found
its way not only through the United States, but also reached Europe, and
extorted expressions of wonder from foreign journals of literature and
science in England, France and other countries.
Very soon after the discovery of his remarkable powers, many gentlemen,
at that time possessing influence and public confidence throughout the
state, being made acquainted with the circumstances, were desirous of
having such a course adopted as might most directly lead to a full
development of Zerah's talents, and their application to purposes of
general utility. Accordingly, it was proposed that Mr. Colburn should
carry his son to Danville, to be present during the session of the
court. This was done, and the boy was very generally seen and questioned
by the judges, members of the bar, and others.
The legislature of Vermont being about to convene at Montpelier, Mr.
Colburn was advised to visit that place with his son, which they did in
October. Here large numbers had an opportunity of witnessing his
calculating powers, and the conclusion was general that such a thing had
never been known before. Many questions, which were out of the common
limits of arithmetic, were proposed, with a view to puzzle the child,
but he answered them correctly; as, for instance,--which is the most,
twice twenty-five, or twice five and twenty? Ans. Twice twenty-five.
Which is the most, six dozen dozen, or half a dozen dozen? Ans. Six
dozen dozen. Somebody asked him how many black beans would make five
white ones. Ans. Five, if you skin them! Thus it appeared that the boy
could not only compute and combine numbers readily, but that he also
possessed a quickness of thought, somewhat uncommon among children, as
to other things.
Soon after this, Mr. Colburn took his son to other large towns, and at
last to Boston. Here the boy excited the most extraordinary sensation,
and several gentlemen of the highest standing proposed to undertake his
education. The terms, though very liberal, were not equal to the
high-raised expectations of the father. The offer was therefore refused,
and Mr. Colburn proceeded to the southern cities, exhibiting his son in
public, his performances everywhere exciting the utmost wonder.
The author of these pages had an opportunity of seeing Zerah Colburn, at
this period. He was a lively, active boy, of light complexion, his head
being rather larger than that of boys generally at his age. He was then
six years old, and had the manners common to children of his age. He was
playful, even while performing his calculations. The quickness and
precision with which he gave answers to arithmetical questions was
amazing. Among those proposed to him at Boston, in the autumn of the
year 1810, were the following:
What is the number of seconds in 2000 years? The answer, 63,072,000,000,
was readily and accurately given. Another question was this: Allowing
that a clock strikes 156 times in a day, how many times will it strike
in 2000 years? The child promptly replied, 113,800,000 times.
What is the product of 12,225, multiplied by 1,223? Ans. 14,951,175.
What is the square of 1,449? Ans. 2,099,601. Suppose I have a
corn-field, in which are seven acres, having seventeen rows to each
acre, sixty-four hills to each row, eight ears on a hill, and one
hundred and fifty kernels on an ear; how many kernels in the corn-field?
Ans. 9,139,200.
It will be recollected that the child who answered these questions was
but six years old; that he had then had no instruction whatever in
arithmetic; that he could neither read nor write, and that he performed
these immense calculations by mental processes, wholly his own. His
answers were usually given, and the calculations performed, while
engaged in his sports, and the longest process seemed hardly to divert
his mind from his amusements. His answers were often made almost as soon
as the question was proposed, and in most cases before the process could
be performed on paper.
His faculty for calculation seemed to increase, and as he became
acquainted with arithmetical terms, his performances were still more
remarkable. In June, 1811, he was asked the following question: If the
distance between Concord and Boston be sixty-five miles, how many steps
must I take in going this distance, supposing each step to be three
feet? The answer, 114,400 steps, was given in ten seconds. He was asked
how many days and hours had elapsed since the Christian era commenced.
In twenty seconds he replied, 661,015 days, 15,864,360 hours.
Questions still more difficult were answered with similar promptitude.
What sum multiplied by itself will produce 998,001? In less than four
seconds he replied 999. How many hours in thirty-eight years, two
months, and seven days? The answer, 334,488, was given in six seconds.
These extraordinary performances, witnessed by thousands of people, and
among them persons of the highest standing, were soon reported in the
papers, and attracted scarcely less attention in Europe than in this
country. In England, particularly, great curiosity was expressed, and
the plan of taking young Colburn thither was suggested. After some
deliberation, this project was resolved upon; and in the spring of
1812, the father and son embarked at Boston for Liverpool, where they
landed on the 11th of May. They proceeded to London, and taking rooms at
Spring Gardens, commenced their exhibition.
Great numbers came to witness the performances of the boy, among whom
Zerah, in his Life, enumerates the dukes of Gloucester and Cumberland,
Lord Ashburton, Sir James Mackintosh, Sir Humphrey Davy, and the
Princess Charlotte. The latter, attended by her tutor, the bishop of
Salisbury, remained a full hour, and asked a number of questions. Among
the rest was this: What is the square of 4001? The answer, 16,008,001,
was immediately given. The duke of Cambridge asked the number of seconds
in the time elapsed since the commencement of the Christian era, 1813
years, 7 months, 27 days. The answer was correctly given,
57,234,384,000.
An extraordinary interest was excited in London in respect to this
remarkable youth, and schemes for giving him an education suited to his
turn of mind were suggested. At a meeting of several distinguished
gentlemen, to mature some plan of this sort, various questions were
proposed to the child. He multiplied the number eight by itself, and
each product by itself, till he had raised it to the sixteenth power,
giving, as the almost inconceivable result, 281,474,976,710,656. He was
asked the square root of 106,929, and before the number could be written
down, he answered 327. He was then requested to name the cube root of
268,336,125, and with equal facility and promptness he replied, 645.
A likeness of the young prodigy, drawn by Hull and engraved by Meyer,
was now published, and sold at a guinea each. Many were sold, and a
considerable profit was realized. Another scheme was now started,--a
memoir of the child,--and among the committee to superintend its
publication, were Sir James Mackintosh, Sir Humphrey Davy and Basil
Montague. Several hundred subscribers were obtained, but, though many
paid in advance, for some reason or other the work was never published.
Young Colburn and his father now made a tour to Ireland and Scotland.
Among his visitors in Scotland, were Dugald Stewart, Professor Playfair,
Doctor Brewster and Doctor Macknight. In March, 1814, they returned to
London. By the advice of friends, they now proceeded to Paris, where
they arrived in July, 1814.
Zerah was carefully examined before the French Institute. It is curious
that on this occasion he was longer in giving his answers than ever
before; probably owing to some embarrassment. His performances, however,
excited here, as everywhere else, the greatest astonishment. La Place,
the author of the Mechanique Celeste, was present. Guizot received the
youth at his house, and expressed in his behalf the liveliest interest.
Such was the feeling excited, that a project was set on foot for giving
Zerah an education at the Royal College of Henry IV. Nothing was wanting
but the sanction of the king; but at the precise moment when measures
were in progress to secure this object, Bonaparte came back from Elba,
sweeping everything before him. The Bourbons fled, and the emperor was
reinstated upon his throne. Application was now made to him in behalf of
young Colburn; his assent was obtained, and on the 13th May, 1815, he
entered the seminary, which was now restored to its original title, the
Lyceum Napoleon.
Mr. Colburn had, in England, Scotland and Paris, obtained a large number
of subscribers to the memoir. Having placed his son in the Lyceum, he
went to London to attend to the publication of the work. Here he met
with bitter disappointment. His agent, who had been authorized to
collect the money, had received about one third of the whole
subscriptions, and appropriated the money to his own use. As he was
poor, the whole sum was irretrievably lost. At the same time, Mr.
Colburn found that his former friends were greatly chagrined to find
that the French government, more liberal than themselves, had made
provision for his son. Under this influence, the project of the memoir
was abandoned, and a new scheme was proposed, the object of which was to
raise two hundred pounds a year for six years, to defray the expenses of
the boy's education.
While Mr. Colburn was pursuing this scheme, Zerah was at the Lyceum at
Paris, which now became the theatre of the most interesting events. The
battle of Waterloo was fought, Napoleon fled, and the French army
retreated toward the capital. To this point, the hostile armies were now
directing their march, and the citizens of Paris were roused for its
defence. Every effort was made to strengthen the walls and throw up
entrenchments. The scholars at the Lyceum received permission to join in
this work, and with enthusiastic ardor, heightened by their sympathy
for Napoleon, they went to their tasks, crying, "_Vive l'Empereur_." Our
little mathematician was among the number, and if he could have
multiplied forts as easily as he managed figures, Paris would,
doubtless, have been saved. But the fortune of war decided otherwise.
Paris was overwhelmed, Napoleon dethroned, and Louis XVIII. restored.
Zerah Colburn might have continued at the Lyceum, but his foolish
father, having embraced the London scheme, proceeded to Paris, and
carried him thence again to London, where they arrived February 7, 1816.
The scheme which had excited Mr. Colburn's hopes, was, however, a mere
illusion. His friends were worn out with his importunities, and,
doubtless, disgusted with his fickleness. They were dissatisfied by
discovering that while he wished to obtain a provision for his son, he
desired also that some emolument, sufficient for his own wants, should
come to himself. The result was, that both the father and son were
reduced to a state of poverty. While attempting, by means scarcely
better than beggary, to obtain transient support, they chanced to call
upon the Earl of Bristol, who received them kindly, and expressed great
interest in the youthful calculator. He invited them to his country
residence at Putney, whither they went, and spent several days. The
result of this fortunate acquaintance was, that the Earl made a
provision of six hundred and twenty dollars a year for young Colburn's
education at Westminster school, where he was regularly entered on the
19th September. At this period, he was a few days over twelve years old.
It now seemed that better fortunes had dawned upon this gifted, but
still unfortunate boy; but these were soon clouded by disappointment.
The custom of fagging existed in this school, as in all the higher
seminaries of England. By this system, the boys of the under classes
were required to be waiters and servants of those in the upper classes.
Zerah was subjected to this arrangement, and a youth in the upper school
was pitched upon for his master. This was the son of a baronet, Sir John
L. Kaye.
Soon after he had been initiated into these menial duties, one of the
upper scholars called upon him to perform some servile task. This he
accomplished, but not to the satisfaction of his employer. He therefore
complained to young Kaye, his proper master, whose wrath being greatly
excited, he fell upon poor Zerah, twisted his arm nearly out of joint,
and, placing him in a helpless situation, beat his shoulder black and
blue. Zerah went to his father, who immediately proceeded to Mr. Knox,
the usher. The latter expressed regret for the abuse Zerah had received,
but when the father claimed exemption for his son from the custom of
fagging, the usher positively refused compliance. Mr. Colburn enjoined
it upon his son by no means to submit to this system of drudgery again,
and departed. In the evening, he was called upon to clean a pair of
shoes. This he refused; whereupon, a number of the larger boys, who had
gathered around him, first threatened, and then beat him without mercy,
until at last he complied. All this occurred under the same roof where
the usher then was. In the morning, the father came, and appealing to
him, was treated with contempt. As he was going across the yard to see
Dr. Page, the head master, the boys yelled at him from their windows,
calling him Yankee; doubtless, deeming it the most opprobrious of
epithets. The final result of this matter was, that Zerah was exempted
from the custom of fagging, though no relaxation of the custom,
generally, was made in the school.
Zerah continued at Westminster, spending his vacations with the Reverend
Mr. Bullen, Lord Bristol's chaplain, at the village of Danton. His
father, in the mean time, picked up the means of subsistence, partly by
boarding his son and a few other scholars, and partly by contributions.
At length, the Earl, who was now in Germany, made an arrangement for the
removal of Zerah from the Westminster school to the exclusive charge of
Mr. Bullen. Mr. Colburn objected to this, and wrote accordingly to Lord
Bristol. The latter persisted in his plan, and in order to reconcile the
father to it, offered him fifty pounds a year for his own personal use.
With stubbornness, amounting to infatuation, he rejected the generous
offer, and withdrew his son from the Westminster school, and the
patronage of his noble friend.
Young Colburn had spent two years and nine months at the Westminster
seminary, where his progress in the acquisition of languages and other
studies was extremely rapid. Euclid's Elements of Geometry were mastered
with ease; but it is a curious fact that while the boy was fascinated
with arithmetical calculations, as he advanced into the abstruser
portions of mathematics, his taste revolted from a pursuit that was dry
and repulsive.
Again the father and son were afloat in the sea of London. What was to
be done now? The education of his son was, doubtless, an object to Mr.
Colburn; but, with blind selfishness, he seems to have thought more of
turning him to account as a means of raising money. With this view he
proposed that he should go upon the stage; no doubt supposing that the
youth's notoriety would render him available in this capacity. He was
put in training, under the care of Charles Kemble. After four months'
tuition, he appeared at Margate in the character of Norval. His
reception was tolerably flattering, but he obtained no compensation. Mr.
Colburn now determined to exhibit his son in his new profession, in
Scotland and Ireland; but being almost entirely destitute of money, they
were obliged to take a steerage passage in a vessel, and subsist upon
hard fare. They arrived at Edinburgh, but received no encouragement in
the theatrical line. Mr. Colburn called upon his former friends, and
they contributed to his immediate relief. They now proceeded by
canal-boat to Greenock, and thence in a vessel to Belfast. Here they
found a strolling company of players, with whom an arrangement was made
for Zerah's appearance at Londonderry, whither the party were about to
proceed; to that place father and son journeyed on foot. Here the latter
performed in some inferior characters, and soon returned with the band
to Belfast. At this place he played the part of Richard the Third--but
alas! even this master-stroke of policy failed. The father and son
pushed on to Dublin, but they could get no engagement at the theatre.
The inventive resources of Abia Colburn were not yet exhausted. Zerah
must now turn author--and the future Methodist preacher must write a
play! The subject chosen was that of Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered. The
drama was composed--and we believe it was actually performed. But, alas!
says Zerah, in his honest, modest book--"it never had any merit or any
success."
After an absence of two months, the wanderers returned to London. A long
period of inaction follows, during which Zerah wrote plays, which were
never printed or performed, and the father picked up a precarious living
by levying contributions upon his former friends. These were at last
worn out with his importunities, and finally, one of the best of them
deliberately turned Zerah out of doors, when he came upon some errand
from his father.
Deprived of all other means save that of begging, which was now a poor
resource, the youth obtained employment in October, 1821, as an usher in
a school, and soon after established one on his own account. This
afforded so poor a support, that still another effort was made to raise
funds, ostensibly to provide for his permanent relief. To obtain
subscribers to this proposal, Zerah went to Edinburgh, Glasgow and
Belfast. At the former place, Mr. Combe took a cast of his head, seeking
thereby to throw light upon his phrenological theories. He returned to
London, with little success, and resumed his school.
The health of his father now began to give way. Unhappily, he had, from
the first discovery of his son's extraordinary gifts, looked upon them
with mercenary feelings--as a source of revenue. It is true he had a
father's love for his child--and in this respect, Zerah, in the simple
memoir of his own life, does his parent more than justice; but still, it
was this short-sighted selfishness which made him convert his child's
endowments into a curse to him, to his friends, and Zerah himself. His
expectations had been lifted to such a pitch, that nothing could satisfy
them. The most generous offers fell short of what he felt to be his due;
liberality was turned, in his mind, to parsimony--and even friends were
regarded as little short of enemies. His sanguine temper led him
constantly to indulge high hopes, which were as constantly doomed to
disappointment. Such a struggle could not always last. His mind was torn
with thoughts of his home and family neglected for twelve years; of his
life wasted; his prospects defeated; of fond dreams, ending at last in
failure, shame and poverty. He failed gradually, and on the 14th
February, 1824, he died. A few days after, the body was consigned to the
tomb, and Zerah, in his life, notices the fact that John Dunn Hunter was
among the mourners. We mention this, as coinciding with the account we
have given in this volume of that extraordinary character.
Zerah continued in London for a few months, in the employment of Mr.
Young, in making astronomical calculations. He had, however, a desire,
enforced by his father's death-bed injunctions, to return to his
country, and his mother, at Cabot. Again aided by his friend, Lord
Bristol, he was provided with necessary means, and in June, 1824, he
arrived at New York. On the third of July he approached his mother's
door. He found there an elderly woman, and being uncertain who it was,
he asked if she could tell him where the widow Colburn lived. "I am
she," was the reply.
The mother of Zerah Colburn was a remarkable woman. During the long
absence of her husband, with a family of eight children, and almost
entirely destitute of property, she had sustained the burthen with
indomitable energy. She wrought with her own hands, in house and field;
bargained away the little farm for a better; and, as her son says, "by a
course of persevering industry, hard fare, and trials such as few women
are accustomed to, she has hitherto succeeded in supporting herself,
besides doing a good deal for her children."
Zerah Colburn was now unable to offer much aid to his mother or the
family. He found employment for a time as a teacher; but his mind at
last was impressed with religious views, and after some vicissitudes of
life, and many fluctuations of feeling, he finally adopted the Methodist
faith, and became a humble but sincere preacher of that sect. With
pious, patient assiduity he continued in this career for a number of
years. He published a modest memoir of his life and adventures, from
which we have gathered the greater part of our account,--and at last
became professor of the Greek, Latin, French and Spanish languages, as
well as of classical literature, in the "Vermont University," at
Norwich. At this place he died, March 2d, 1840, in the thirty-eighth
year of his age.
Whoever has carefully attended to the facts stated in the early part of
this notice, will be prepared to admit that Zerah Colburn was one of the
most astonishing intellectual prodigies that has ever appeared. Totally
uninstructed in figures, at the age of six years, he was able to perform
mental operations which no man living, by all the training of art, is
able to accomplish. It had been stated by scientific men, that no rule
existed for finding the factors of numbers; yet this child discovered a
rule by which he ascertained results of this kind, accessible only to
skilful arithmeticians. In the London prospectus, the following facts,
in relation to this point, are stated, which cannot fail to excite
astonishment.
At one of his exhibitions, among various questions, it was proposed that
he should give the factors of 171,395--and he named the following as the
only ones: 5x34279; 7x22485; 59x2905; 83x2065; 35x4897; 295x581;
413x415. He was then asked to give the factors of 36,083; but he
immediately replied that it had none, which is the fact, it being a
prime number. "It had been asserted and maintained by the French
mathematicians that 4294967297, was a prime number; but the celebrated
Euler detected the error by discovering that it was equal to
641x6,700,417. The same number was proposed to this child, who found out
the factors by the mere operation of his mind."
Great pains were taken to discover the processes by which this boy
performed his operations. For a long time he was too ignorant of terms,
and too little accustomed to watch the operations of his mind, to do
this. He said to a lady, in Boston, who sought to make him disclose his
mode of calculation, "I cannot tell you how I do these things. God gave
me the power." At a subsequent time, however, while at the house of Mr.
Francis Bailey, in London, upon some remark being made, the boy said
suddenly, and without being asked--"I will tell you how I extract
roots." He then proceeded to tell his operations. This is detailed in
Zerah's book; but it in no degree abates our wonder. The rule does not
greatly facilitate the operation; it still demands an effort of mind
utterly beyond the capacity of most intellects; and after all, the very
rule itself was the invention of a child.
As he did not at first know the meaning of the word factor, when desired
to find the factors of a particular number, the question was put in this
form--"What two numbers multiplied together will produce such a number?"
His rule for solving such problems was sought for with much curiosity.
At last this was discovered. While in Edinburgh, in 1813, he being then
nine years old, he waked up one night, and said suddenly to his
father--"I can tell you how I find the factors!" His father rose,
obtained a light, and wrote down the rule, at Zerah's dictation.
It appears that when he came to maturity, these faculties did not
improve; and after a time he was even less expert in arithmetical
calculations than when he was ten years old. It is probable, his whole
mind was weakened, rather than strengthened, by the peculiar
circumstances of his life. As a preacher, he was in no way
distinguished. He says this in his book, with simple honesty; and seems
at a loss to understand the design of Providence in bestowing upon him
so stupendous a gift, which, so far as he was able to discover, had
produced no adequate results.
He suggests, indeed, a single instance, in which an atheist in Vermont,
who witnessed his performances in childhood, was induced to reflect upon
the almost miraculous powers of the mind, and led to the conclusion that
it must have an intelligent author. He saw that which was as hard to
believe, as much beyond the routine of experience, as any miracle--and
hence fairly concluded that miracles could be true. By this course of
reflection he was induced to reject his infidelity, and afterwards
became a sincere Christian.
This, we doubt not, was one of the designs of Providence, in the
bestowment of Zerah Colburn's wonderful gifts. But their use should not
be confined to an individual case. If there is argument for God in a
flower, how much more in a child of Zerah Colburn's endowments? What
infidelity can withstand such an instance, and still say, there is no
God? And farther, let us reflect upon the noble powers of the mind, and
rejoice, yet with fear and trembling, that we are possessors of an
inheritance, which, at God's bidding, is capable of such mighty
expansion.
The history of Zerah Colburn may teach us one thing more--that the gifts
of genius are not always sources of happiness to the possessor; that
mental affluence, like worldly riches, often brings sorrow, rather than
peace to the possessor; and that moderate natural gifts, well
cultivated, are generally the most useful in society, and most conducive
to the happiness of the possessor.
[Illustration: _Zerah Colburn, at eight years of age._]