most varied information. His intimate friends have often been
surprised at finding him quite conversant with subjects apparently
the most foreign from his favorite studies ; and one of the most
profound scholars among them observed, that he could hardly
form an adequate estimate of the extent of his general attainments.
He was an ardent admirer of Shakspeare, whose most beautiful
passages were treasured up in his memory from earliest youth.
His famiHarity with the Old and New Testament was very great,
surpassing that of many professed theologians. The family Bible,
which he first read, is still preserved, having in it a curious
map of the wanderings of the Israelites, and various engravings
calculated to awaken that interest in the young reader, which
every subsequent perusal in manhood and old age has a tendency
to strengthen and confirm. Through the kindness of his friends,
and especially of Dr. Prince and Dr. Bentley, both Unitarian
clergymen of Salem, the former of whom was distinguished for his
fondness for natural philosophy, he obtained the use of books which
would otherwise have been unattainable by him. It happened
that, in his youth, the extensive scientific library of the late Dr.



MEMOIR. 23

Richard Kirwan was captured in the British Channel by a
privateer fitted out from Beverly, the next town to Salem.
The enlightened and liberal owners of the vessel permitted the
library thus captured to be sold at a very low rate to an association
of gentlemen in Salem, and it became the basis of the present
Salem Athenaeum.* From this extremely valuable hbrary, which
was a better one than then existed in any part of the United States,
except at Philadelphia, he obtained leave freely to take out books,
and to consult and study them at pleasure. Among its treasures
were the Transactions of the Royal Society of London. All the
mathematical papers in these Transactions, and many scientific
works, were wholly or partially transcribed by him, and are still
preserved in his library, contained in more than twenty folio and
quarto common-place books and other volumes. And this immense
labor he was obliged to undergo chiefly from his inability to
purchase the books in question, — which he wished to have by
him permanently, for the purpose of convenient reference, — and
partly, perhaps, from his desire to impress their contents more
strongly upon his memory than could be done by a mere perusal.
The title-page of one of these volumes states that it contains,
with the next volume, '* A complete Collection of all the
Mathematical Papers in the Philosophical Transactions ; Extracts
from various Encyclopaedias, from the Memoirs of the Paris



• It is an interesting fact, that, many years afterwards, " an offer of remuneration was
made to Dr. Kirwan, who respectfully decHned it, expressing his satisfaction that his valuable
library had found so useful a destination." — An Eulogy on the Life and Character of
Nathaniel Bowditch, LL. D., F. R. S., delivered at the Request of the Corporation of th%
(% of Salem, May 24, 1838; by Daniel Appkton IVhite; p. 43.



24 MEMOIR.

Academy ; a complete Copy of Emerson's Mechanics ; a Copy of
Hamilton's Conies; Extracts from Gravesande's and Martyn's
Philosophical Treatise, from Bernoulli, &c. &c." He always
read with close attention, and endeavored to ascertain the exact
meaning of every word about which he was doubtful. This led
him, in after life, to collect around him dictionaries, which he
constantly consulted. He had more than one hundred in his
library.

He began to learn Latin, January 4, 1790, without an instructer,
that he might read Newton's Principia, which he had before
attempted to understand by means only of his knowledge of
mathematical subjects and the various equations and diagrams
which it contained. He now read a copy of Euclid, which had
been given him by his brother-in-law, Mr. Martin, and which was
once the property of Dr. Mather Byles, a clergyman of Boston,
distinguished for his humor and eccentricity. The book still
retains his original pencil marks, recording the meaning of the
simplest Latin words — " tamen, nevertheless ; rursus, again ; "
&c. He had previously read Euclid in English, and the letters
" Q. E. D.," which had remained an impenetrable mystery to him
on his previous attempt to read the Principia, were now explained
by the *'quod erat demonstrandum^^ which he here discovered;
but he was for a long time perplexed by the words " mutatis
mutandis,^^ and unable to conjecture what particular change they
indicated. He had received from Dr. Bentley a copy of the
Principia, which had formerly been presented by that gentleman
to a young friend, who kindly consented to relinquish his prior
claims ; and this work he at last mastered, as he had done Euclid



MEMOIR. 25

before. The Hon. Nathan Reed, then an apothecary in Salem,
afterwards a member of Congress, being himself fond of scientific
pursuits, was attracted by this love of science manifested by Dr.
Bowditch, and formed an intimate acquaintance with him. In his
shop was an assistant who was a schoolmate and friend of Dr.
Bowditch, and here their Sunday evenings were often passed
together. Mr. Reed states as a fact, that Dr. Bowditch, while
in Mr. Ward's employment, actually translated Newton's Principia
into English. No such translation is, however, now to be found
among his papers ; though translations of parts of it, indeed, are
contained in the manuscript volumes before mentioned. In a
similar manner, and from the same motive, he acquired the
elements of the French language ; to perfect himself in which,
he took lessons during sixteen months, from a foreigner then in
Salem, whom, in return, he instructed in English. At first, he
declined learning the pronunciation, as a matter which could not be
of any use to him ; but at last, the foreigner was so shocked at
hearing him read the words parlez vous, &c., as if these had been
English, that he almost insisted upon instructing him in the true
pronunciation, telling him that it might be of importance in the
business of life. And in fact, he had scarcely learned it, before
his first voyage was decided upon, and to a French port, where
he was thus enabled to act as a successful interpreter.

Excepting a few lessons which he took in book-keeping from
Mr. Michael Walsh, it is believed that he received no other
regular instruction after leaving school. But it has been stated
that Drs. Bentley and Prince rarely passed his employer's
shop, without stopping to converse with him ; and thus, perhaps,

VOL. IV. g



26 MEMOIR.

by the interest he had awakened in their minds, he had secured
to himself the gratuitous and invaluable assistance of the two ablest
instructers whom the town then contained. The world, indeed,
was his school, and Nature herself his best instructor. She offers
her lessons to all, though many overlook or disregard her teachings.
But his was one of those powerful intellects which only at intervals
appear among men : it was stimulated and aroused to action by
that sternest though best of monitors, necessity ; and it mastered
every thing within its reach. Dr. Bowditch never considered that
the obstacles in his path had the slightest tendency to retard his
progress. On the contrary, he felt that they afforded him a foot-
hold by which that progress was rendered more sure and steady.
Much as he valued all the " means and appliances " of learning,
— and he did value them beyond all price, — he thought it a great
disadvantage to any one to be born and educated in the midst of ease
and luxury, even though surrounded with every facility for mental
cultivation ; since, to such a one, the needful stimulus or inducement
to use the means within his reach would be almost surely wanting.
He often mentioned with approbation, as containing much truth,
the remark of a distinguished French mathematician to a young
pupil, whose ready and intelligent answers had awakened his
interest, and who, in reply to the question of his instructor, had told
him his parentage and situation in life, — **Ah ! I am sorry. You
are too rich. You must give up mathematics." One remarkable
exception, indeed, to this rule. Dr. Bowditch readily admitted in
the instance of him whose genius reflected as bright a lustre on
the noble house of Cavendish as had been received from it.*

* " En sorte qu'il n*y a nulle temerite a presager qu'il fera rejailler sur sa raaison autant de
lustre qu'il en a regu d'elle." — Cuvier's Eulogy on Cavendish, before the Institute of France.



MEMOIR. 27

In the manuscript volumes before mentioned are often
contained the precise dates at which he was studying and
recording the mathematical papers there collected, and occasionally
they contain mottoes or sentiments upon other subjects. Thus the
title-page of one of them, under the date of December 13, 1794,
has the well-known quotation, " Nullius addictus jurare in verba
magistri." A minute analysis, indeed, of these volumes, in a
more extended biography, might perhaps enable the reader to
trace, step by step, the mental progress of Dr. Bowditch. It
is only necessary, however, here to state, that he who, at the age
of twenty-one years, had read the immortal work of Newton, was,
even then, unsurpassed, and probably unequalled, in mathematical
attainments by any one in the commonwealth. Those habits were
then formed which were to render him as eminent among men of
business, as, by his talents and acquirements, he was to become
eminent among men of science. And his character, also, then
exhibited all those beautiful and harmonious elements which it
ever afterwards retained. That deep religious principle, which
sustained and cheered him in the last hours of his life, had guided
his boyhood, and was now the familiar and inseparable companion
of his mature years ; and already were displayed those various
social and personal virtues, which were to render him a moral
exemplar to the community in which he lived.

Dr. Bowditch began life with the same pursuits which his
ancestors had followed for so many generations. Between the
years 1795 and 1804, he made five voyages, — performing the first
in the capacity of clerk, and the three next in that of supercargo, —



28 MEMOIR.

all under the command of Captain Henry Prince, of Salem. On
his fifth and last voyage, he acted as both master and supercargo.
He sailed upon the first of these voyages, January 11, 1795, in the
ship Henry, bound to the Isle of Bourbon, and w^as absent exactly
one year. His three next voyages were in the ship Astrea, which
sailed, in 1796, for Lisbon, Madeira, and Manilla, and arrived at
Salem in May, 1797 ; and again in August, 1798, sailed for Cadiz,
thence to the Mediterranean, loaded at Alicant, and arrived at
Salem in April, 1799 ; and in July, 1799, sailed from Boston to
Batavia and Manilla, and returned in September, 1800; — and his
fifth voyage was in the Putnam, which sailed from Beverly,
November 21, 1802, bound for Sumatra, and arrived at Salem
December 25, 1803.

He has related that, upon the first of these voyages, he carried
out, as an adventure, a small box of shoes, which article proved
on his arrival at the Isle of Bourbon to be in great demand.
He sold them for about three times the first cost, and having
made an advantageous investment of the proceeds, he returned
home quite elated, and feeling that the fickle goddess had smiled
upon him more propitiously than she ever had done upon any
mortal before.

Of his second voyage. Captain Prince relates, that one day,
when dining at the table of the American consul at Madeira, " his
supercargo laid down his knife and fork, and, after squeezing the
tips of his fingers for two minutes," gave to the lady of the house
an answer to an intricate question which she had proposed ; to the



MEMOIR. 2^

great astonishment of her clerk, who, after a long calculation,
had succeeded in solving it, and ** who exclaimed that he did not
believe there was another man on the island who could have done
it in two hours."

During his third voyage, on the passage from Cadiz to Alicant,
they were chased by a French privateer ; but, being well armed
and manned, they determined on resistance. The duty assigned
to Dr. Bowditch was that of handing up the powder upon deck.
And in the midst of the preparations, the captain looked into the
cabin, where he was no less surprised than amused at finding his
supercargo quietly seated by his keg of powder, and busily
occupied, as usual, with his slate and pencil. He said to him,
" I suppose you could now make your will," to which he smilingly
assented. He did in fact give to his eldest son his instructions
in regard to his last will, with the like calmness and composure,
when there was not only an apparent danger, but an absolute
certainty, of the near approach of death.

Upon his arrival at Manilla, during his fourth voyage, the
captain, being asked how he contrived to find his way, in
the face of a north-east monsoon, by mere dead-reckoning,
replied, " that he had a crew of twelve men, every one of whom
could take and work a lunar observation as well, for all practical
purposes, as Sir Isaac Newton himself, were he alive." During
this conversation. Dr. Bowditch sat ** as modest as a maid, saying
not a word, but holding his slate pencil in his mouth ; " while
another person remarked, that " there was more knowledge

TOL. IV. h



30 MEMOIR.

of navigation on board that ship than there ever was in all the
vessels that have floated in Manilla Bay." *

In his last voyage, Dr. Bowditch arrived off the coast in
mid-winter, and in the height of a violent north-east snow-storm.
He had been unable to get an observation for a day or two, and
felt very anxious and uneasy at the dangerous situation of the
vessel. At the close of the afternoon of December 25, be-
came on deck, and took the whole management of the ship
into his own hands. Feeling very confident where the vessel
was, he kept his eyes directed towards the light on Baker's Island^
at the entrance of Salem harbor. Fortunately, in the interval
between two gusts of wind, the fall of snow became less dense
than before, and he thus obtained a glimpse of the light of which
he was in search. It was seen by but one other person, and
in the next instant all was again impenetrable darkness.
Confirmed, however, in his previous convictions, he now kept
on the same course, entered the harbor, and finally anchored in
safety, t He immediately went on shore, and the owners were
very much alarmed at his sudden appearance on such a
tempestuous night, and at first could hardly be persuaded that
he had not been wrecked. And cordial indeed was the welcome-

* An interesting incidental notice of Dr. Bowditch, in the case of a black cook who
could work lunar observations, may be found in Zach's Correspondance Astronomique,
Vol. IV. p. 62.

f Upon this occasioti, he had given his orders with the same decision and preciseness as if
he saw all the objects around, and thus inspired the sailors with the confidence which he felt
himself. One of them, who was twenty years older than his captain, exclaimed, " Oar old
man goes ahead as if it was noon-day ! "



MEMOIR. SI

which he received from one who had been listening to the
warfare of the elements with all the solicitude of a sailor's wife.

In his transactions with custom-house officers upon the continent
of Europe, he found that they almost universally required a fee, not
less for the performance of duty than for a violation of it; and
several amusing instances might be mentioned as illustrating his
own experience in this matter. Indeed, all his subsequent
observation convinced him that there is hardly a labor or duty
in life that is not rendered more light and easy by gratuitous
compensation ; and therefore it was always his rule, not only
during these voyages, but through life, to make it for the interest
of those about him to be upon the alert in attending to his
wishes, or complying with his requests ; though never did he
attempt by this means to persuade any one to what he considered,
in the slightest degree, a violation of duty, or breach of trust.

During these voyages, he perfected himself in the French
language, and acquired a knowledge of the Italian, Portuguese,
and Spanish, especially of the latter language. Thus he read
through the whole of the voluminous Spanish History of Mariana,
during one of these voyages ; and many interesting facts there
stated respecting Cardinal Ximenes and the Great Captain, &c.,
he distinctly remembered in his recent perusal of Prescott*s
Ferdinand and Isabella, — the last work which he read before
his death. An interpreter, with whom he was transacting
business, and whose piety consisted in the external observances
of a good Catholic, cautioned him against reading so many books,
lest some of them should bring him into the hands of the



te MEMOIR.

Inquisition. It is worthy of remark, that it was to this acquisition
of the Spanish language, and the consequent opportunity afforded
him of conferring an obhgation upon an active merchant in Salem,
by gratuitously translating for him a Spanish protest, that Dr.
Bowditch always attributed his appointment to the situation
which he, a few years afterwards, obtained against a powerful
competitor, and for which he was much indebted to the influence
and friendship of the merchant alluded to. In view of this
circumstance, and that before mentioned respecting his knowledge
of French pronunciation, with other incidents of a similar
character, he used to say that nothing which he ever learned
came amiss. It may here be mentioned that, as late in life as the
age of forty-five, he learned the German language thoroughly,*
and acquired, at about the same time, a slight knowledge of
Dutch. A manuscript in his library contains probably ten thousand
German words and English meanings, which he had transcribed
that he mio^ht better remember them. He deliofhted to trace
analogies between different languages, and especially to discover
resemblances of foreign words to those of his mother tongue, of
which many striking examples were detected and mentioned by
him — the Handschuh of the German, meaning glove; and the
verse in the Dutch New Testament in which the stoning of

* In a letter of Dr. Bowditch to Baron Zach, dated November 22, 1822, published in
Zach's Correspondance Astronomique, Vol. X. p. 224, he states that he had, three years
previously, purchased several of the most important works of the German mathematicians,
and among others Zach's Monatliche Correspondenz, in twenty-eight volumes, — and adds,
" With this work I began to learn German, and have been amply rewarded for the labor."
His own experience led him to say, that this language could be acquired, in a degree
sufficient for reading all mathematical works, by studying two hours each day for four months.



MEMOIR. 33

Stephen is described, and where it is added that the apostles
mode *' eenen grootea rowe over hem/' &c. The serious attempt
to prove that jour was derived from diea^ he thought not so absurd
as he might have done, had not a Spanish boy who once sliipped
with him, having the Christian name of Benilo, been in the next
voyage entered upon tlie books by the good American cognomen
of Ben or Benjamin Eaton, He was often amused at discovering
in the dictionary of some foreign language, a definition expressing
more clearly than elegantly the precise signification of a word.*
He also acquired some knowledge of Greek, but how early in life
is not known. He always began to learn a language by taking
the New Testament and dictionary, and attempting immediately
to translate. Thus he left in his library the New Testament
in more than twenty-five different dialects or languages.

But the long intervals of leisure which a sailor's life afforded,
he chiefly devoted to his favorite study, pursuing with unremitting
zeal those researches in which he had already made such progress,
notwithstanding the interruptions and embarrassments of his earlier
days. Here, with only the sea around him, and the sky above
him, protected alike from all the intruding cares and engrossing
pleasures of life, he especially delighted to hold converse with the
master-spirits who had attempted to explain the mysteries of
the visible universe, and the laws by which the great energies of
nature are guided and controlled. M. Lacroix mentioned to
one of the sons of Dr. Bowditch, that from him he had
received several corrections and notices of errata in his works,

* See Ebers's German Dictionary, passim,
VOL. IV. t



.34 "memoir.

which our navigator had discovered during these long India
voyages. And in the ship in which he sailed were witnessed
not merely the labors and vigils of the solitary student, but the
teachings of the kind and generous instructer, anxious and
eager to impart to others the knowledge which he had himself
acquired. ** He loved study himself," says Captain Prince, *' and
he loved to see others study. He was always fond of teaching
others. He would do any thing if any one would show a
disposition to learn. Hence," he adds, " all was harmony on
board ; all had a zeal for study ; all were ambitious to learn."
On one occasion, two sailors were zealously disputing, in the
hearing of the captain and supercargo, respecting sines and
cosines. The result of his teaching, in enabling the whole
crew of twelve men to work a lunar observation, has been
before stated. Every one of those twelve sailors subsequently
attained, at least, the rank of first or second officer of a ship.
It was a circumstance highly in favor of a seaman, that he had
sailed with Dr. Bowditch, and was often sufficient to secure his
promotion. Connected with much testimony of this sort, is that
of the uniform aflfability and kindness of manner displayed by
Dr. Bowditch in his intercourse with all on board, which
were especially calculated to increase the self-respect of the
sailor, and inspire him with a due sense of his own powers,
and of the importance of his occupation. In a letter from
an officer in the United States navy, who sailed twice in the
Astrea with Dr. Bowditch, at first as a cabin boy, and who died
a few months after the friend of whom he speaks, the writer
states some of the above particulars respecting Dr. Bowditch,
and adds that " his kindness and attention to the poor sea-sick



MEMOIR. 35

cabin boy are to this hour uppermost in my memory, and will
be so when his logarithms and lunar observations are remembered
no more."*



It is unnecessary to state, that Dr. Bowditch discharged his
duty toward his employers with the utmost fidelity and exactness.
His voyages were conducted with uniform skill and success,
and to their entire satisfaction. It is said by Captain Prince,
that Dr. Bowditch, though he had such a thorough knowledge
of navigation, knew but little of what is called seamanship ;
that he never went to see a launch in his life, &c. It
is without doubt true, that the mere detail of seamanship
was always irksome to him. He has often told his children
that, upon common occasions, he left the management of the
ship to his first officer ; but upon any emergency, he was
not only ready and desirous, but, as is believed, perfectly
competent, to perform all the duties which could, on such
occasions, be required of an experienced and practical seaman.

The following is the account of his habits when at sea, given
by one who was his companion during several voyages. " His
practice was to rise at a very early hour in the morning, and
pursue his studies till breakfast, immediately after which he
walked rapidly for about half an hour, and then went below to
his studies till half past eleven o'clock, when he returned and
walked till the hour at which he commenced his meridian
observations. Then came the dinner, after which he was

* Charles F. Waldo, Esq., died August 31, 1838.



36 MEMOIR.

engaged in bis studies till five o'clock ; then he walked till tea
time, and after tea was at his studies till nine in the evening.
From this hour till half past ten, he appeared to have
banished all thoughts of study, and, while walking at his usual
quick pace, he would converse in the most lively manner, giving
us useful information, intermixed with amusing anecdotes and
an occasional hearty laugh. He thus made the time delightful
to the officers who walked with him. Whenever the heavenly
bodies were in distance to get the longitude, night or day,
he was sure to make his observations once, and frequently