[Illustration: DR. BOWDITCH’S STUDY IN LATER YEARS.]
_NAT THE NAVIGATOR._
A LIFE
OF
NATHANIEL BOWDITCH.
FOR YOUNG PERSONS.
[Illustration: The House in which he lived when a little Child.]
BOSTON:
LEE AND SHEPARD.
1870.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by
LEE AND SHEPARD,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the District of
Massachusetts.
ELECTROTYPED AT THE
BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY,
No. 19 Spring Lane.
* * * * *
BOSTON, December, 1869.
Moved by feelings I could scarcely comprehend, while, at the same time,
they were most sweet to me, I was led to talk with the pupils of the
Warren Street Chapel on the Sunday afternoon after my father died. The
subjects were his active and good life and happy death. I am aware that
some of my nearest friends thought it strange that my heart, on the
occasion of his death, was filled with a kind of joy rather than with
sadness. To them I could merely say, that an event so calm, and under
such circumstances of suffering as he then was, suggested to me nothing
like real sorrow. I wished my young companions to feel as I did, and
that, in their minds, a quiet death following a good life should be
clothed with beauty, and that they might thus be led to believe that,
in accordance with the Scotch proverb, “A gude life makes a gude end.
At least it helps weel.” Horace Mann was present during the address.
Being deeply interested in the education of the young, he requested me
to prepare for his Common School Journal a sketch similar to that I
had spoken. In accordance with that desire, a memoir was prepared, and
after its publication the Warren Street Chapel Association requested
that it should be put, with some revision, into this form. And as it was
originally prepared for, and dedicated to, the pupils of that institution,
SO I NOW DEDICATE IT
ANEW TO THE
GIRLS AND BOYS OF WARREN STREET CHAPEL.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
_From 1773 to 1784—under 10 years of age._
Birth.—Childhood 11
CHAPTER II.
_From 1784 to 1795—between the ages of 10 and 21._
His apprenticeship, his habits.—Studies Chambers’s
Cyclopædia.—Results of his studies; gains the respect of
all.—Dr. Bentley, Dr. Prince, and Mr. Reed, do him kindness; by
their means allowed access to “The Philosophical Library.”—He
makes philosophical instruments.—Calculates an Almanac at
the age of fourteen.—Studies algebra: delight he experienced
from this new pursuit.—Learns Latin.—Reads works by Sir Isaac
Newton.—Studies French 23
CHAPTER III.
_From 1784 to 1796—age, 10-22._
Apprenticeship continued.—Favorite of his companions.—Learns
music; neglects his studies for a time.—Gets into bad society;
his decision in freeing himself from it.—Engages in a survey
of the town of Salem.—Sails on his first voyage to the East
Indies; extracts from his Journal during this voyage; arrival
at the Isle of Bourbon; return home 37
CHAPTER IV.
_From 1796 to 1797—age, 23-4._
Second voyage.—Visits Lisbon.—Island of Madeira; festival and
games there.—Anecdotes of his skill as an accountant.—Doubles
Cape of Good Hope.—Albatrosses.—Arrival at Manilla.—Extracts
from Journal.—Curious boat.—Earthquake.—Voyage home 46
CHAPTER V.
_From 1797 to 1800—age, 24-7._
Marriage.—Third voyage; visits Spain.—Dangers.—Earl
St. Vincent’s fleet.—Arrival at Cadiz.—Observatory at
Cadiz.—Sails for Alicant.—Passage through the Straits of
Gibraltar.—Privateers; chased by one; anecdotes of Mr. B.’s
love of study shown then.—Hears news of the death of his wife;
consoles himself with mathematical studies.—More troubles with
privateers.—Leaves Alicant.—Advantages derived from his visit
to Spain.—Fourth voyage; to India.—Extracts from Journal on
viewing a ship that was engaged in the slave trade.—Arrival at
Java; introduction to the governor; respect formerly paid to
him.—Anecdote of English navy officers.—Goes to Batavia and
Manilla.—Observations of Jupiter while becalmed near the
Celebean Islands.—Voyage home 62
CHAPTER VI.
_From 1800 to 1803—age, 27-30._
Second marriage; character of his wife.—Mr. Bowditch engages
in commerce for two years.—School committee.—East India
Marine Society; a description of the annual meeting of this
society.—Mr. Bowditch becomes part owner of ship Putnam, and
sails for India.—Anecdote, occurrence a few days after leaving
Salem.—Studies during the long voyage.—Begins to study and make
notes upon La Place’s “Mécanique Céleste.”—Arrival off Sumatra;
difficulties there.—Boarded by English man-of-war.—Revisits
Isle of France.—Journal extracts about modes of procuring
pepper; seasons for it, &c.—Incident on approaching Salem
harbor.—Decision of Mr. Bowditch 80
CHAPTER VII.
Review of the labors, &c., performed by Mr. Bowditch, during
these voyages.—Habits while at sea; studies; desire to teach
others; kindness to sailors and to the sick.—Discovers errors
in a book on navigation.—Origin of “American Practical
Navigator;” success of it; industry of Mr. Bowditch upon
it.—Investigates higher branches of science.—“Mécanique
Céleste.”—Mr. Bowditch reads history.—Learns Spanish, French,
and Portuguese languages.—Anecdotes.—Chosen member of American
Academy.—Receives honors from Harvard College 99
CHAPTER VIII.
_From 1803 to 1817—age, 30-44._
Mr. Bowditch translates a Spanish paper; is chosen President
of a Fire and Marine Insurance Office.—Habits of life.—Becomes
interested in politics.—Federalists and Democrats.—Great
excitement.—Division between him and old friends in
consequence of his zeal.—Feelings of Mr. Bowditch when war
was declared.—Decision of character.—His charity.—Earnestness
in aiding others; ludicrous instance of the effects of
this.—Boldness towards a truckman.—Zeal for improving the
libraries; unites the two.—Dr. Prince’s church.—Performance
of duties of President of Insurance Office.—Answer to an
overbearing rich man.—Appointed Professor of Mathematics at
Harvard College; same at West Point.—His modesty.—Hints
about leaving Salem 115
CHAPTER IX.
_From 1803 to 1823—age, 30-50._
Papers published by Mr. Bowditch in the Memoirs of the Academy;
account of some of them.—Total eclipse of the sun in 1806;
effect of it.—Anecdote of Chief Justice Parsons.—Meteor that
fell over Weston, Ct.; account of its curious appearance;
effect of these papers upon his fame in Europe.—Chosen member
of most of the learned societies of the Old World.—Quits Salem
to become connected with larger institutions in Boston 131
CHAPTER X.
Sketch of the life of La Place, author of the “Mécanique
Céleste.”—Newton’s labors.—Halley’s comet.—The importance of
astronomy to navigation.—Comets; Dr. Bowditch translates the
Mécanique Céleste; difficulties attending the undertaking;
objects he had in view; first volume analyzed; Newton’s error
pointed out 149
CHAPTER XI.
Commentary continued; second volume.—Discussion between
the English and French mathematicians; Dr. Bowditch’s
criticisms.—Errors in La Place in regard to the earth,
&c.—Third volume; motions of the moon.—Fourth volume; many
errors discovered in it.—Halley’s comet.—Curious phenomena
of capillary attraction 169
CHAPTER XII.
_Death, March 17, 1838, aged 65._
Sketch of the life of La Grange, the equal of La Place; love
Dr. Bowditch had for La Grange’s character; comparison between
him and La Place; also between him and Dr. Bowditch.—Conclusion
of the Memoir 176
NAT THE NAVIGATOR.
CHAPTER I.
_From 1773 to 1784—under 10 years of age._
Birth.—Childhood.
Nathaniel Bowditch, whose history I shall relate to you, was one whose
character and actions presented many circumstances which cannot fail of
being interesting to you. He died more than thirty years ago, in Boston;
and, from having been a poor and ignorant boy, he became a man known all
over the world for his great learning, while at the same time he was
beloved for the goodness of his heart and the integrity of his character.
May the perusal of his history excite some of you to imitate his virtues
and his energy.
[Sidenote: BIRTHPLACE.]
[Sidenote: EARLY SCHOOL DAYS.]
He was born in Salem, a town about fourteen miles from Boston, the
capital city of our State of Massachusetts. His birthday was March 26,
1773. His father was at first a cooper, and afterwards a shipmaster.
He and his wife were exceedingly poor, and they had many children. Nat
was the fourth child. He had two sisters and three brothers. When he
was about two and a half years old, his parents removed to a very small
wooden house in Danvers, about three miles from Salem; and here the boy
attended school for the first time, and began to show those generous
feelings, and that love of learning, which he displayed so much in
after-life. A few years ago the old school-house in which he learned to
spell and read remained entire. It was an old-fashioned building, with
a long, slanting roof, which, at the back of the house, nearly reached
the ground. Its single chimney, with many curious and pretty corners,
then rose in the middle of the roof, as it had for ninety years. Around
the dwelling is a grass plat, upon which he used, when a child like
yourselves, to play with his schoolmates. It was planted with shrubs,
such as the farmers most need. The house in which he lived still stands
nearly opposite that in which the school was kept. This house formerly
had but two rooms in it, and all its furniture was of the simplest kind.
[Illustration: HIS FIRST SCHOOL-HOUSE.]
[Sidenote: BROTHERS AND SISTERS.]
I visited the relations of the schoolmistress. She died many, many years
ago; but her niece, when I asked about Nat Bowditch, told me how her aunt
used to love him for his earnestness in pursuing his studies, and for his
gentleness, while under her care. He was “a nice boy,” she used to say.
While in Danvers, his father was most of the time at sea, he having been
obliged to give up his trade and become a sailor when the Revolutionary
War broke out.[1] Nat lived, during his father’s absence, very happily
with his mother and his brothers and sisters. During the whole of his
after-life, he used to delight to go near the small house in which he
had dwelt so pleasantly. The family was “a family of love.” He had a
brother William, to whom he was very much attached. He was more grave and
sober than Nat; for the latter, with all his devotion to study, was full
of fun, frolic, and good nature. But William was equally, and perhaps
more, gentle. The brothers frequently studied together from an old family
Bible, and on Sundays, when they were quite small, their grandmother,
who was a very excellent woman, used to place this large book, with its
wooden covers and bright brazen clasps, upon the foot of her bed; and
hour after hour did those two boys trace, with their fingers upon the
map, the forty years’ wanderings of the Israelites, before they came into
the long-looked-for land of Canaan.
[Sidenote: GRANDMOTHER’S BIBLE.]
[Sidenote: HIS MOTHER.]
I have said that Nat frequently went to look upon the house in which he
had lived; and so he often called upon the family in which this old Bible
was kept, in order that he might see the volume which he had so loved
when a boy. It reminded him of the delightful home of his childhood,
where his dear and worthy mother tried to make him good, in order that
he might become an honor to her and to the people. His mother was one
who was extremely kind; yet she was by no means afraid to correct her
children, if she found them doing wrong. Nat sometimes suffered,
because, like every boy, he sometimes did wrong; but generally the mother
found that he could be easily guided by her love. I seem to see her now,
taking her little son, and leading him to the window of the cottage in
Danvers, to see the beautiful new moon just setting in the west, while,
at the same time, she kisses and blesses him, and talks to him of his
absent father, and they both send up earnest wishes for his safe and
speedy return. She was very careful to instil into all her children the
importance of truth. “Speak the truth always, my boy,” said she. She
likewise loved religion, and she was very liberal in her feelings towards
those who differed from her upon this subject. Nevertheless, believing
that the Episcopal kind of worship was the most correct, she educated
all her children in that form. An anecdote which Nat, when he became a
man, often related, will show you how much influence her instructions in
this particular had upon him. Among the Episcopalians the prayers are
read, and the people repeat, aloud, some answer. One day Nat called his
brothers and sisters around him, and, taking his mother’s Book of Prayer,
with a sober face began to read aloud from it, while his brothers made
the answers. They had continued some minutes amusing themselves in this
way, when their mother entered the room. She was very much troubled at
first, as she supposed they were ridiculing the services she held as
sacred. “My sons,” said she, “I am pleased to see you read that book; but
you should never do so in a careless manner.” They told her that, though
playing, they did not think to do any harm, or to show any disrespect.
[Sidenote: EARLY POVERTY.]
[Sidenote: CHEERFULNESS UNDER IT.]
The family was very poor; so poor, indeed, that sometimes they had
nothing to eat, for several successive days, but common coarse bread,
with perhaps a little pork. Wheat bread was almost never allowed to any
one of them. Their clothing, too, was at times very thin. Frequently,
during the whole winter, the boys wore their summer jackets and trousers.
At times, Nat’s schoolmates used to laugh at him because he wore such
a thin dress, when they were wearing their thickest winter clothing.
But he was not afraid of their merriment, nor made angry by it; on the
contrary, he laughed heartily at them for supposing him unable to bear
the cold. He knew that no good would be gained by complaints, and that he
would distress his mother if he made any; he therefore bore contentedly
his want of clothing, and tried even to make himself merry with those who
ridiculed him.
[Sidenote: LOVE OF ARITHMETIC.]
[Sidenote: DIFFICULTIES.]
At the age of seven years, and after returning to Salem, he went to
a school kept by a man named Watson. Master Watson was one who had
sufficient learning for those times; though the boys who now go to school
in Boston would think it very strange if a master did not attempt to
teach more than he did. None of the scholars had a dictionary. Master
Watson was a good man, but he suffered much from headache, and therefore
he was liable to violent fits of anger; and when thus excited, as it
generally happens in such cases, he was guilty of injustice. An instance
of this, young Bowditch met with, not long after he entered the school.
From early life, Nat had liked ciphering, or arithmetic; and thinking
that at school he would be able to learn something more about this than
he had previously gained from his brothers, while at home, during the
long winter evenings, he requested the master to allow him to study
it. As he seemed too young, this request was not granted. But, being
determined to study what pleased him so much, he obtained a letter from
his father, in which Mr. Bowditch requested Master Watson to allow his
son to pursue his favorite study. The schoolmaster, on receiving the
message, was very angry, and said to his pupil, “Very well. I’ll give
you a sum that will satisfy you;” and immediately prepared a question
that he thought Nat would be unable to answer, and which he could not
have answered had he not studied at home. But the boy had learned before
sufficiently to enable him to perform the task; and, having done so, he
ran gayly to the desk, expecting to be praised for his exact performance
of duty. You may imagine his surprise at being saluted with these words:
“You little rascal, who showed you how to do this sum? I shall punish
you for attempting to deceive me.” The poor lad’s heart swelled and beat
violently. He blushed and trembled from fear of punishment, but still
more at the suspicion which his instructor had expressed, that he had
been guilty of telling a lie. Filled with anger and alarm, he stammered
out, “_I_ did it, sir.” But his master would not believe him, and was
about to strike him, when an elder brother interfered, and stated that
Nat knew very well how to perform the task, for he himself had previously
taught him enough to enable him to do it. Our young arithmetician thus
escaped the punishment; but he never could forget that he had been
accused of falsehood. His pious and truth-loving mother had so firmly
fastened in his mind the holiness of truth, that he rarely, if ever,
thought of deviating from it; and during his life he considered that
any one who even suspected him of falsehood had done him the greatest
injury. How well it would be if all of our boys loved truth as he did!
[Sidenote: APPRENTICED TO SHIP-CHANDLER.]
This was the only serious difficulty he met with while at this school.
He was the same lively lad at everything he undertook as he had been
previously. He was beloved by his comrades for his good nature, and was
always engaged in useful employment or innocent amusements. When he was
about ten years of age, his father became poorer than ever; and moreover,
in consequence of loss of regular employment and of the little property
which he possessed, he gave himself up to habits of intoxication. From
having been a brave man, he became a coward, and, unable to look at the
distress of his family, made their poverty many times more burdensome
by habits which wholly unfitted him for active duties. Under these
circumstances, his son, at the age of ten years and three months, left
school, and soon afterwards was bound an apprentice to Messrs. Ropes and
Hodges, who kept a ship-chandler’s shop in Salem.
[Sidenote: EARLY CHARACTER.]
As this was one of the important times in his life, I think I will
finish this chapter with only two remarks, for the boys and girls who may
be reading this. You see a lively and good-natured boy, who, before he
was ten years old, showed great love of truth, much perseverance, a warm
desire for study, particularly of arithmetic; and lastly, you perceive
him under the influence of a good mother, who tries to excite in him all
just and holy sentiments. Particularly does she point out to him truth as
one grand aim of his existence. Now, I wish you to remember these facts,
and see where they eventually led him; and if you remember, you may be
induced to imitate him, at least in some respects.