jury, though nearly equally divided in political sentiments, were
highly gratified by his characteristic promptness and energy, and
refused to find any bills of indictment for the supposed violations
of law, and unanimously passed a very full vote of thanks to him
for the fairness and independence with which he had presided
over their deliberations.

For the last twenty years of his life, he retired altogether
from the exciting scenes of political strife to what he called his
"peaceful mathematics ;" though he still continued to entertain and
express decided opinions upon public men and measures, and to act
upon these convictions. Dr. Bowditch was never fond of public life.
He never held a seat in the House of Representatives of his native



MEMOIR. 77

State, and was never a speaker in the assemblies of his fellow-
citizens. He was, however, elected to the honorable ofRce of
one of the Executive Council of Massachusetts, which he held
during the years 1815 and 1816, being, during one of those
years, at the council board under the administration of Governor
Strong, for whose dignified manners, commanding talents, and
exalted character, he entertained the highest respect ; and this
sentiment, it is believed, was cordially reciprocated on the part
of the chief magistrate. At this board, upon more than one
trying occasion, he gave his vote and exerted his influence in
support of the law, and refused to screen from its penalties the
murderer and other criminals who had deliberately violated its
provisions without any palliating circumstances ; notwithstanding
the strong and urgent appeals in their behalf, made by many
excellent and benevolent citizens, among whom were some of
his own personal friends. He considered that a capricious
exercise of even the prerogative of mercy, would, in efiect,
convert a government of law into a government of men.

Dr. Bowditch's father had originally worshipped at the Episcopal
church in Salem, but became a member of Dr. Bentley's society
while his son was quite young. Upon his second marriage,
Dr. Bowditch removed to a different part of the town, and, for
this and other reasons, became a member of the society under
the pastoral care of his friend Dr. Prince, and always continued
so during his residence in Salem. Within the walls of its
ancient church was the first simple rite of the Christian religion
administered to all his children. A coolness on the part of Dr.
Bentley, originating in this removal from his society, resulted,

VOL. IV. . u



78 MEMOIR.

from political causes during the war, in an entire estrangement,
which was always a source of regret to Dr. Bowditch, who made
the first advances toward a reconciliation, by a direct call at his
house with a friend who desired an introduction. The visiters
were received with the utmost cordiality, and the intercourse,
thus happily renewed, was never afterwards interrupted ; and the
family still retain in their possession memorials both of the early
and the late friendship of Dr. Bentley. It was indeed particularly
delightful to Dr. Bowditch to find that the restoration of peace to
the country, brought with it a renewal of that social intercourse
which political dissensions had wholly interrupted. He often
mentioned the visit of Mr. Monroe, the President of the United
States, to the town of Salem, in 1817, as an occasion never to be
forgotten, because it was the first upon which, after a separation
of many years, were again brought together within the same
circle so many of his earliest and most valued friends.

Many and very flattering and advantageous proposals were
made to Dr. Bowditch, from time to time, to induce him to leave
Salem ; but his attachment to his native place proved stronger
than any temptation to which he was thus exposed. In 1806^
he was elected Hollis Professor of Mathematics in Harvard
University.* In 1818, President Jefferson desired him to accept

* By a singular coincidence, it happened that, at the annual commencement of that year,
he was seated between two strangers, one of whom, reaching forward, observed to the other
the fact of his nomination to this office, and asked whether it would probably be accepted ;
to which the other replied, that he rather thought not, since Mr. Bowditch would probably be
afraid of " singing small on classic ground." But with the classics of his own science
Dr. Bowditch was sure that he was more conversant than any one there, and his ability to



MEMOIR. 79

the like professorship in his University at Charlottesville in
Virginia ; and in his letter containing this request he says, " We
are satisfied we can get from no country a professor of higher
qualifications than yourself for our mathematical department."
In the same year, he was also urgently requested to take charge
of an insurance office in Boston. In 1820, Mr. Calhoun, the
Secretary of War of the United States, requested him to consent
to a nomination to the vacant , professorship of mathematics at
West Point, and says, " I am anxious to avail myself of the first
mathematical talents and acquirements to fill the vacancy."

In 1823, he received an invitation to take upon himself the
charge of an institution in Boston, — similar to that which he
then managed, — jointly with another, recently incorporated by the
name of the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company,
for which latter institution his services were considered almost
indispensable. The salary offered at first was exactly three
times that which he then enjoyed. After mature consultation
with his friends, and after bestowing upon the proposal his own
most careful deliberation, it was also decidedly declined. But
those who made it would admit of no refusal. A new offer was
forthwith made of a still more liberal compensation, ($5000;) and
as he felt it to be more than an equivalent for any services which
he could render, — and as any further refusal on his part, which
should have led to the offer of a still higher salary, he would



teach to others what he knew himself, he had often abundantly tested. But he declined the
appomtment, solely from an unwillingness to break away from all the pleasant associations
connected with Salem.



8D MEMOIR.

have regarded as a mere extortion, — he felt that, in hstening
to the proposal, he was now obeying a call of duty, and he
accordingly, though with great reluctance, determined to quit
the town where, as he says in his will, ** he had passed so
pleasantly the first fifty years of his life." He could, indeed,
hardly determine to make the sacrifice in question ; and, even
when it was determined upon, a vague hope and anticipation
were long cherished both by himself and his wife, that eventually
they should return and end their days amid the scenes of their
childhood. Until his death he continued to take the same lively
interest as ever in the afiairs of that city.

He left his early home attended with as cordial and sincere
expressions of respectful and afiectionate regret as could possibly
have honored his departure. A public dinner was given to him
upon that occasion, which will long be remembered by those
present as a scene of the most interesting character ; while the
recorded account of the festival will ever attest that it was
a tribute paid to '' science supported by genius, guided by
benevolence, and attended by all the virtues ; " — to their
" distinguished citizen, the first of his countrymen in the walks
of science, and second to no man on earth for purity and honor ; "
— to "their respected guest, who reflected upon his country the
brightest honors of science, and diflfused in social life the warmest
influences of benevolence." And the wish was expressed, that
he might " enjoy a happiness as pure as his fame, and constant
as the activity of his virtues ; " and it was declared that, " as the
monarchy of France had done homage to her La Place, so would
the republic of America not be ungrateful to her Bowditch."



MEMOIR. 81

It may here be mentioned, as an instance of Dr. Bowditch's
diffidence and aversion to all public displuy, that he previously
obtained from the president of the day a promise not to call
upon him to address, however briefly, his assembled friends ; — an
incident which probably never before occurred upon a like occasion.
It is also an interesting circumstance, that that gentleman (Hon.
Benjamin Pickman) was the same individual to whom he was
indirectly indebted in early life for his copy of Newton's Principia.*

This was the last occasion upon which Dr. Bowditch was
personally to receive from his native city any public expression
of those sentiments which continued, however, to be uniformly
cherished and manifested towards him by its citizens to the
close of his life. But honorable indeed to his memory were the
proceedings of Salem consequent upon his decease, and gratefully
will his children ever cherish the remembrance of them. The
resolutions then adopted describe him to have been *' a townsman
of singular simplicity, integrity, purity, and benevolence of
character ; attaining from humble life, by his intellectual and
moral energy, the highest honors of science, and the respect

• Dr. Bowditch had, many years before, been a member of an engine club in Salem, —
a voluntary association of gentlemen for securing each other's property ilrom the ravages
of fire. At the occasional meetings of this club, of a social character, he stipulated that
be should never be called upon for toasts or sentiments, unless he could be allowed to
get them written and delivered by proxy. Thb was agreed to, and a friend, of " infinite
humor," prepared accordingly a number of them, of a most appropriate character, which
were fix)m time to time produced, and highly applauded, and the more warmly from the
above circumstance respecting their origin, which, though ostensibly concealed with
suitable gravity, was yet known to all the members.

VOL. IV. V



82 MEMOIR.

and gratitude of the community as a public benefactor ; " and
*' earnestly commend to the admiration and imitation of all,
and especially of the young men of his native place, the
noble example of active and patient industry, unconquerable
perseverance, unbending uprightness and faithfulness in all
the relations of life, and ardent love and constant pursuit of
knowledge and truth, which were the foundations of a character
of such honorable distinction and rare usefulness ; " and declare
that *' the people of Salem have ever retained a deep interest
in his happiness and fame since he reluctantly left his native
place for a sphere of more extended usefulness ; " and that
they " now receive and acknowledge with grateful sensibility the
evidence of his generous remembrance of his first home in the
last days of his life, contained in his liberal bequests to three
of the most useful and important institutions of the city." *

Thus, in 1823, Dr. Bowditch removed to Boston, with his
wife and a family of six children, — four sons and two daughters,
— the eldest of whom had not completed his professional studies,
and the youngest of whom was but an infant. The remains
of one interesting child, who died in 1820, at the age of ten
years, and those also of an infant boy, repose in the burial-
grounds of Salem. All the anticipations and motives which

* Pursuant to another resolution, a public Eulogy was pronounced upon the deceased
by Hon. Daniel Appleton White, which, listened to at the time with the deepest interest,
will in its published form remain as true, beautiful, and discriminating a delineation of
character, as might have been expected from one who himself possesses a high order
of talent, who was long an intimate personal friend of the deceased, and whose thoughts
are always clothed in a classic elegance of style.



MEMOIR. 85

determined Dr. Bowditch to this removal, were fully realized
and justified by its ultimate results. In Boston he found many
of his early friends, who had preceded him in this removal, and
was in a few years followed by others. Strangers extended to
him the hand of friendship, and gradually became endeared to
him. He saw his three eldest sons engaged in the professions
or pursuits which their tastes had led them to select, under
circumstances more advantageous than his former place of
residence would have afforded. His own increased income
allowed him to enrich still more his valuable library ; and he
found himself surrounded by sources of the purest and highest
enjoyments. In his will he speaks of Boston as "the home of
bis adoption, where as a stranger he met with welcome, and
bad continued to receive constantly increasing proofs of kindness
and regard."

The affairs of the Commercial Insurance Company were
successfully conducted by him till the increasing labor of his office
as Actuary of the Life Insurance Company, induced the latter
institution to offer him the same salary which had been previously
paid by both together, and which was subsequently still further
increased to six thousand dollars. He now relinquished the
charge of the other corporation, whose charter was surrendered,
and its concerns prosperously closed. And it was without any
regret that Dr. Bowditch bade farewell to the cares and anxieties
attendant upon marine insurance, where occasionally an unforeseen
accident intervenes to destroy the fairest prospect of success. The
company of which he was President had met with two losses,
of thirty thousand dollars each, within one week ; and though



a4 MEMOIR.

one was a case of piracy, of which none lived to tell the tale, and
the other a case of a tempest and shipwreck, and in each instance
the vessels lost were of the first class, so that no error of judgment
could be attributed to him, still the immediate influences of these
disasters were disheartening ; and he felt that, with the multitude,
success, and that alone, is wisdom, and that, in the majority of
cases, their verdict is a just one. He himself, indeed, always
was of opinion that continued ill-luck indicated incapacity.
On one occasion, when he had refused to underwrite upon a
vessel commanded by Mr. A .... , because " he was unlucky,"
the captain called upon him to complain of his imputing to him
as a fault what was but a misfortune ; and, after trying for some
time to evade a direct reply. Dr. Bowditch at last said, " If you
do not know that, when you got your vessel on shore on Cape
Cod, in a moon-light night, with a fair wind, you forfeited your
reputation as an intelligent and careful ship-master, I must now
tell you so ; and this is what i mean by being unlucky."

It was with pleasure, therefore, that he now turned his
undivided attention to the management of the institution which
was truly *' the child of his affections." The act incorporating
this company with a capital of a half a million of dollars,
conferred powers of effecting insurance upon lives and granting
annuities ; and Dr. Bowditch, before he had even removed to
Boston with his family, expressed so decidedly the opinion that the
business would not be a source of profit with these limited powers,
that, at his suggestion, an additional act was obtained, recognizing
the right of the company to take money in trust to manage for
individuals. His judgment proved perfectly correct upon both



MEMOIR. M

points : while the former branch of business has been very trifling
in its results, the amount of property already received in trust
exceeds five millions of dollars, and the charge deducted for its
management is the chief, almost the only, source of the profits
of the company. He calculated interest tables, for the common
year and leap year, specially designed for the use of this
corporation, involving a great amount of labor ; and a few
copies were privately printed. These tables have saved the
constant employment of at least one clerk. The continually
increasing degree of public confidence and general popularity
which this institution has enjoyed, has been chiefly attributable
to the financial skill, sound judgment, strict integrity, and watchful
vigilance, with which he devoted himself to its administration,
and the fearless and decided manner in which he always
checked, prevented, and guarded against, every possible abuse. He
considered the institution as being morally the guardian of the
property intrusted to it belonging to widows, minors, and others,
and was careful that they should fully understand the contracts
made by them, or on their behalf, and that those contracts, when
made, should be observed strictly according to their true intent
and meaning. Displaying the utmost courtesy, and the most
liberal spirit of accommodation towards other institutions and
individuals who dealt with the company, he had always in view,
in its widest sense, the permanent and ultimate good of the
institution over which he presided, and never compromised its
interests or rights. Disarming all jealousy upon the part of the
legislature, by the open and frank communications which he made
to its committees, he gradually overcame much of that prejudice
which a republican form of government naturally tends to foster

VOL. IV. to



86 MEMOIR.

against all large moneyed institutions. Identified almost with
himself, the public, no less than the stockholders and depositors,
reposed in it a degree of trust, which has probably never been
exceeded by the most extensive and well-earned popularity of
any similar institution. In the settlement of estates of deceased
persons in the Probate Office for the county, the records often
speak of it as " the Bowditch Office."

Hardly a day passed which did not exhibit in full view all
his most peculiar and methodical habits of business, and many
of the most valuable and important of the distinguishing traits
of his character. Instances without number might be cited.
One of the wealthiest citizens of Boston, himself a member of
the Board of Control of the company, wished, upon a Saturday,
to deposit ten thousand dollars to be managed in trust. His
balance in the bank, however, was less than that sum by three
hundred dollars, and he offered to the actuary his check for that
part, to be good on the next Monday. Dr. Bowditch said, " I
cannot, sir, receive any check payable at a future day as cash.
It is a rule of the office, which you yourself assisted in making,
that I shall never part with the money of the institution, or make
any engagement in its name, without an actual payment, or
sufficient collateral security received in return. It is my duty
to enforce this rule against the most powerful and influential,
as well as the most humble, individual who deals with the
institution." The gentleman was at first not a little astonished
at such a novelty as the refusal to trust him for three hundred
dollars for one day. Dr. Bowditch resumed, — "I am happy, sir,
that it has become necessary to enforce this rule in an extreme



MEMOIR. 87

case. Having been once applied to yourself, no one else can ever
object to a compliance with it. And it is in itself an excellent
regulation." A moment aflerwards, finding that his own private
balance in the bank was more than that sum^ he offered to take
the gentleman's check himself, giving to the company his own
check payable that day; which was done accordingly.

Upon another occasion, a person called to take away a policy
for which he had contracted. Dr. Bowditch asked him the time
of making it and the amount ; then turned in a moment to two
books in succession, went into the vault in which was contained
the property of the company, and looking over a small file of
papers in one corner, came out again, and said, **You have got
it, sir." — " No, sir, I have not." — "I am certain you have." —
" Nothing but your being so certain that I have, makes me doubt
at all that I have not got it." — "I am ready to take my oath
in court, if necessary, that it has been delivered to you." — " O,
then, you remember, I suppose, placing it in my hands." — " No,
sir, I have no particular recollection about the matter at all.
But when a policy is once recorded in that book (pointing to a
volume before him,) and has received the examination both of
myself and the secretary, the original policy is always put by
me in that corner of the safe. It is the rule of this ofHce, that
nobody shall deliver out an original paper but myself. I have
the key of that safe ; your paper is not there. Therefore, if I
were called upon in court, I could take my oath that you have
received it." The lost paper was of course found.

A female had deposited with the office all her property, in



g8 MEMOIR.

strict trust for her own life, the sum being sufficient to secure
her an income of about six dollars a week. She subsequently
became insane, and a guardian was appointed, who took her into
his own family to reside. He complained every year that the
income was not enough to pay the necessary expenses of taking
care of her, and said that he must have part of the principal. Dr.
Bowditch told him it was impossible ; that the company never
would consent to any violation or modification of the original
contract which the lady had made when in possession of her
reason ; and added, " You can have her placed in any private
institution for the insane, at a much less weekly expense than
you yourself charge." Finally, one day, when he called for
the annual income which was payable, he refused to receive it
unless he could obtain also part of the principal ; and added that
if the company would not pay it voluntarily, he should commence
a suit to compel them to do so. Dr. Bowditch, fired with
indignation, said, '* The moment a writ is served upon the
company for such an object, I will institute a complaint against
you as an unfaithful guardian, and get you removed from your
trust." From this time, the income was amply sufficient to meet
all the wishes of the guardian.

A gentleman wished to obtain a loan upon mortgage. On
examination, it appeared that the former owner of the estate had,
before his purchase of it, devised all his property, of every kind,
to the lady he was about to marry, and, several years afterwards,
died without children, leaving her his widow ; and that she had
conveyed the estate in question to the applicant, with warranty.
Notwithstanding the clear intent of the testator, this particular



MEMOIR. 8d

estate legally belonged not to his widow, but to his brothers and
sisters as his heirs at law. The loan must therefore be declined.
But the equity of the case was so strong, that, upon the
applicant's giving such further security as was required, in
addition to that afforded by the improvements which he had
made upon the estate, the loan was at last agreed to ; and the
secret of the defect of title thus discovered, was long preserved
inviolate. It happened, by a singular coincidence, that the
widow had died, and that her property, including the proceeds
of this very estate, had been placed with the company in trust
for a daughter, who, with a large family, was dependent upon
the income which it afforded. The gentleman, ascertaining
this fact, and being impatient of waiting for the expiration of
about a year, when his title to the land would be rendered
perfect by the statute of limitations, actually disclosed the
defect to those legally entitled to the estate, feeling sure that,
if they recovered it from him, he should be able to obtain his
indemnity from the property thus placed in trust with the
company. The heirs at law, as soon as they became apprized
of their rights, brought a suit to enforce the legal claim, which
had originated about thirty-nine years before. When Dr.
Bowditch learned these circumstances, and found that the
person in question, rather than wait silently a few months
longer, had been willing to give effect to this unjust claim,
and thus indirectly to deprive of her last resource this female
and her family, he said to him, "You have involved yourself
in one suit, and must lose it ; and never will I voluntarily
part with one dollar of the widow's money intrusted to me, to
make good a loss which you have thus brought upon yourself.

VOL. IV. X



90 MEMOIR.

You shall first have still another suit, against all the weight and
influence which this company can command." The gentleman
died during the pendency of the original suit, by which event
the action was ended ; and the period of limitation having been
previously completed, a new suit could not be instituted. Nothing
but the loss of life could have prevented his losing the cause.

A gentleman called to deposit a small sum of money in behalf