FOOTNOTES

Sketch of the life of La Grange, the equal of La Place; love Dr. Bowditch had for this person’s character; comparison between him and La Place; also between him and Dr. Bowditch.—Conclusion of the Memoir

Sketch of the life of La Grange, the equal of La Place; love Dr. Bowditch had for this person’s character; comparison between him and La Place; also between him and Dr. Bowditch.—Conclusion of the Memoir

BOWDITCH AND LA GRANGE.

During this history I frequently have spoken of different individuals; but there is one about whom little mention has been made, but of whose life I wish to give you a short account, as his character resembles very much that of Dr. Bowditch. His mind and heart were always regarded by the American mathematician with feelings of respect and love, such as he felt towards no other mathematician whose works he had studied. An equal of La Place, it seems not improper to mention him; and I know you will excuse the slight interruption in my story when you perceive how the noble nature of La Grange seems toharmonize with, and to illustrate, as it were, the life of Dr. Bowditch.

LIFE OF LA GRANGE.

HIS INTELLECT AND MODESTY.

LA GRANGE AND LA PLACE.

LA GRANGE AND BOWDITCH.

DEATH OF LA GRANGE.

Joseph Louis La Grange, one of the most famous geometricians of modern times, was born at Turin, January 25, 1736. He was one of eleven children of parents who became very poor, so that Joseph had in early life to gain his own subsistence. When young, he devoted himself to the classics, and read Latin constantly. At seventeen his taste for abstruse mathematics and geometry first showed itself; and from this period he continued studying by himself, without aid. In two years he had acquired a knowledge of all that was known upon the science, and began to correspond with the scientific men of other lands. In 1755 he sent to Euler, then the greatest mathematician in the world, and residing in Berlin, an answer to a problem proposed by Euler, ten years before, to the learned men of Europe, and which they had been unable to solve. He was appointed professor of mathematics at Turin, at the age of nineteen years, and soon afterwards originatedthe Academy of Sciences at that place. In their Memoirs he published papers in which he not merely criticised Euler and D’Alembert and others, but brought forward some very curious new views of science, discovered by himself. Europe soon resounded with his praises, and he was chosen member of all the learned societies. In 1766, he was called to the court of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, to take the place of Euler, who was summoned by the Emperor of Russia to St. Petersburg. Frederick wrote to him thus: “Come to my court, for it is right that the greatest mathematician in Europe should be near the greatest king.” He accepted the situation thus offered, and remained there until Frederick died; and soon afterwards he was invited by the French government to go to Paris. From this time, with slight interruptions, his fame continued to increase, and every one delighted to honor him; for his labors did honor to his adopted country. One of the most beautiful compliments, perhaps, ever paid to man, was the message sent by theFrench government to the old father of La Grange at Piedmont, when that country fell, by a revolution, under French influence. “Go,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs to his ambassador, “go to the venerable father of the illustrious La Grange, and say to him, that, after the events that have just taken place, the French government look to him as the first object of their interest.” The answer of the old man was touching: “This day is the happiest of my life, and my son is the cause of it!” And thrice blessed must be such a son, for he fills the last hours of his father’s life with peace. When Bonaparte came into power, new honors were showered upon him. But what was it that charmed Dr. Bowditch in the character of La Grange? It was the combination of a giant intellect with extreme modesty and simplicity, a sincere love of truth, and almost feminine affections. He was a pure being, whose intellect equalled La Place’s, but who at the same time was full of the utmost gentleness and strict justice. He was at Berlin during the earlier part of La Place’s career inParis. In after-life, the two were friends. Both were great geniuses; both were capable of the highest flights of thought, and of bringing down to the comprehension of mankind the vast and wise laws impressed by God on the system of the universe. La Place became interested in political life. La Grange stood aside, quiet and pleased with his own high thoughts. If his fellows wished him to take upon himself any public duties, he took them cheerfully, and as cheerfully resigned them. La Place courted honors; La Grange meekly received them. La Place sometimes assumed the fruits of other men’s labors to cover himself with their glory. In the heart of La Grange sat humility, justice, and philanthropic love. In fact, La Grange was full of the loftiest qualities and genius combined. La Place had the latter. His genius alone recommended him to the scientific men around him. Such were two men whose works Dr. Bowditch read with the greatest pleasure. He often spoke with great feeling of the noble traits in the character of La Grange. Thefeatures and form of the head of Dr. Bowditch resembled those of the great Italian. I have often thought that, as they were like each other in countenance, so their dispositions and fortunes in life were more nearly similar than is usual in this world. Both were born poor, and early had to seek subsistence for themselves. Each devoted himself early to the science of mathematics, and both became eminent in it. Love of truth and a longing for it were strong traits in both; order and regularity of life, and simplicity of food and regimen, belonged to them equally. Above all, a sincere reverence for goodness, for true modesty and delicate refinement, and a fine respect for the female sex, were strikingly manifest in both. Both were moderate in their desires, and both had the highest good of humanity at heart. Each sought for quiet and retirement from the turmoil of life in his “peaceful mathematics.” As the lives of both were beautiful, so was the serenity of their death scenes. La Grange was attacked near the end of March, 1813, by a severe fever,and the symptoms soon became alarming. He saw the danger he was in, but still preserved his serenity. “I am studying,” says he, “what is passing within me, as if I were now engaged in some great and rare experiment.” On the 8th of April, his friends Messrs. Lacépède, Monge, and Chaptal visited him, and in a long conversation which he entered into with them, he showed that his memory was still unclouded, and his intellect as bright as ever. He spoke to them of his actual condition, of his labors, of his success, of the tenor of his life, and expressed no regret at dying, except at the idea of being separated from his wife, whose kind attentions had been unremittingly bestowed upon him. He soon sank and died. Three days afterwards his body was deposited in the Pantheon, as it is called, the burial-place for the great men of France; and La Place and his friend Lacépède delivered their tributes of praise and admiration over his grave. So peaceful and calm was the death of Dr. Bowditch, whose life I have been trying to place before you.

MRS. BOWDITCH.

Dr. Bowditch’s health had been generally good, though he never was robust. In 1808 he was dangerously ill with a cough, and by the advice of a physician, he took a journey in an open chaise. He was driven towards Pawtucket and Providence, thence in a westerly direction through Hartford and New Haven to Albany, and back again across the interior of Massachusetts, as far as the fertile valley of the Connecticut River. Thence passing upwards, he crossed on the southern borders of Vermont and New Hampshire to Newburyport, and back to Salem. This journey restored him, and he never afterwards suffered much from cough, and generally enjoyed good health until his last illness.

In 1834 his wife died. His heart was borne down by the loss. She had been to him always a loving and a tender companion, faithful and true even to the minutest points. She had watched all his labors. She had urged him onward in the pursuit of science, by telling him that she would find the means of meeting any expense by her own economy in her care ofthe family. She had watched the progress of his greatest work, which, with his dying hands, he afterwards dedicated to her memory. She had listened with delight to all the praises that had come to him from his own countrymen and from foreign lands; and now, when he was full of honor and yet active in business, she was called to leave him. With her the real charm of life departed, and many sad hours would have been the consequence, if his sense of duty and devotion to science had not prevented them. He attended now more closely to active engagements. He always spoke of his wife with extreme fondness, and sometimes his tears would flow in spite, apparently, of his efforts to restrain them. There was a degree of sadness, however, which was perceptible only to his family, that settled upon Dr. Bowditch during the last four years of life, in consequence of this deprivation.

LAST ILLNESS.

FAREWELL TO FRIENDS.

LOVE FOR HIS CHILDREN.

In the latter part of the summer and early days of autumn of 1837, he began to feel that he was losing strength, and had occasionally pains of great severity. He continued toattend to the duties of his office, however, without yielding to his suffering. In January, 1838, he submitted to medical advice; but it was of no avail. He sank rapidly under a severe and torturing disease, which, for the last fortnight of life, deprived him of the power of eating or even of drinking anything, except a small quantity of wine and water. Until the last moment of his life, he was engaged in attending to the duties of the Life Office, and to the publication of his Commentary on the “Mécanique Céleste.” During this time, after he lost the power of visiting State Street, he used to walk into his library, and there sit down among his beloved books, and pass the hours in gentle conversation with his friends, of each one of whom he seemed anxious to take a last farewell. He received them daily, in succession, during the forenoon; and towards those whom he loved particularly he showed his tenderness by kissing them when they met and when they parted. His conversation with them was of the most pleasant kind. He told them of his prospects ofdeath, of his past life, and of his perfect calmness and reliance on God. He spoke to them of his love of moral worth. “Talents without goodness I care little for,” said he to one of them. With his children he was always inexpressibly affectionate. “Come, my dears,” said he, “I fear you will think me very foolish, but I cannot help telling you all how much I love you; for whenever any of you approach me, I feel as if I had a fountain of love, which gushes out upon you.” He spoke to them at the dead of the night, when he awoke, pleasant as a little child, yet with the bright, clear mind of a philosopher. He told them of his life, of his desire always to be innocent, to be active in every duty, and in the acquirement of knowledge, and then alluded to a motto that he had impressed upon his mind in early life, that a good man must have a happy death. On one of these occasions he said, “I feel now quiet and happy, and I think my life has been somewhat blameless.”

WORDS OF COMFORT.

It was noon, and all was quiet in his library. A bright ray of light streamed through thehalf-closed shutter. He was calm and free from pain. One of his children bade him good by for a time. Stretching out his hand and pointing to the sunlight, he said, “Good by, my son; the work is done; and if I knew I were to be gone when the sun sets in the west, I would say, ‘Thy will, O God, be done.’” Observing some around him weeping, while he was quiet, he quoted his favorite passage from Hafiz, one of the sweetest of the poets of Persia:—

“So live, that, sinking in thy last long sleep,Calm thou mayst smile while all around thee weep.”

“So live, that, sinking in thy last long sleep,Calm thou mayst smile while all around thee weep.”

“So live, that, sinking in thy last long sleep,

Calm thou mayst smile while all around thee weep.”

On another occasion, when one who was near him had a sad countenance, he told her to be cheerful; and then, taking Bryant’s Poems he read the four last verses of that exquisite little poem called “The Old Man’s Funeral.” It is so beautiful in itself, that I want you to read it; and perhaps you may like to see how he thought it applied to his own condition. I have placed in parentheses his remarks.

THE OLD MAN’S FUNERAL.

THE OLD MAN’S FUNERAL.I saw an aged man upon his bier;His hair was thin and white, and on his browA record of the cares of many a year—Cares that were ended and forgotten now.And there was sadness round, and faces bowed,And women’s tears fell fast, and children wailed aloud.Then rose another hoary man, and said,In faltering accents, to that weeping train,“Why mourn ye that our aged friend is dead?Ye are not sad to see the gathered grain,Nor when their mellow fruit the orchards cast,Nor when the yellow woods shake down the ripened mast.“Ye sigh not when the sun, his course fulfilled,His glorious course, rejoicing earth and sky,In the soft evening, when the winds are stilled,Sinks where his islands of refreshment lie,And leaves the smile of his departure spreadO’er the warm-colored heaven and ruddy mountain head.“Why weep ye then for him, who, having wonThe bound of man’s appointed years, at last,Life’s blessings all enjoyed, life’s labors done,Serenely to his final rest has passed? [I cannot agree to the next two lines.]While the soft memory of his virtues yetLingers like twilight hues when the bright sun is set.“His youth was innocent, [yes, I believe mine was innocent; not guilty, certainly,] his riper ageMarked with some act of goodness every day, [no, not every day—sometimes,]And watched by eyes that loved him, calm and sage, [O, yes, watched by eyes that loved him; and O, how calm, but I cannot add sage,]Faded his late declining years away.Cheerful he gave his being up, and wentTo share [he hopes] the holy rest that waits a life [he hopes] well spent.“That life was happy; every day he gaveThanks for the fair existence that was his; [yes, every morning, when I awoke and saw the beautiful sun rise, I thanked God that he had placed me in this beautiful world,]For a sick fancy made him not her slave,To mock him with her phantom miseries.No chronic tortures racked his aged limb,For luxury and sloth had nourished none for him. [Yes, that is all true.]“And I am glad that he has lived thus long,And glad that he has gone to his reward;Nor deem that kindly nature did him wrong,Softly to disengage the vital cord, [O, how softly, how sweetly, is the cord disengaging!]When his weak hand grew palsied, and his eyeDark with the mists of age, it was his time to die.” [Yes, it was his time to die; remember this; do not look sad or mournful; it is his time to die.]

THE OLD MAN’S FUNERAL.I saw an aged man upon his bier;His hair was thin and white, and on his browA record of the cares of many a year—Cares that were ended and forgotten now.And there was sadness round, and faces bowed,And women’s tears fell fast, and children wailed aloud.Then rose another hoary man, and said,In faltering accents, to that weeping train,“Why mourn ye that our aged friend is dead?Ye are not sad to see the gathered grain,Nor when their mellow fruit the orchards cast,Nor when the yellow woods shake down the ripened mast.“Ye sigh not when the sun, his course fulfilled,His glorious course, rejoicing earth and sky,In the soft evening, when the winds are stilled,Sinks where his islands of refreshment lie,And leaves the smile of his departure spreadO’er the warm-colored heaven and ruddy mountain head.“Why weep ye then for him, who, having wonThe bound of man’s appointed years, at last,Life’s blessings all enjoyed, life’s labors done,Serenely to his final rest has passed? [I cannot agree to the next two lines.]While the soft memory of his virtues yetLingers like twilight hues when the bright sun is set.“His youth was innocent, [yes, I believe mine was innocent; not guilty, certainly,] his riper ageMarked with some act of goodness every day, [no, not every day—sometimes,]And watched by eyes that loved him, calm and sage, [O, yes, watched by eyes that loved him; and O, how calm, but I cannot add sage,]Faded his late declining years away.Cheerful he gave his being up, and wentTo share [he hopes] the holy rest that waits a life [he hopes] well spent.“That life was happy; every day he gaveThanks for the fair existence that was his; [yes, every morning, when I awoke and saw the beautiful sun rise, I thanked God that he had placed me in this beautiful world,]For a sick fancy made him not her slave,To mock him with her phantom miseries.No chronic tortures racked his aged limb,For luxury and sloth had nourished none for him. [Yes, that is all true.]“And I am glad that he has lived thus long,And glad that he has gone to his reward;Nor deem that kindly nature did him wrong,Softly to disengage the vital cord, [O, how softly, how sweetly, is the cord disengaging!]When his weak hand grew palsied, and his eyeDark with the mists of age, it was his time to die.” [Yes, it was his time to die; remember this; do not look sad or mournful; it is his time to die.]

THE OLD MAN’S FUNERAL.

I saw an aged man upon his bier;His hair was thin and white, and on his browA record of the cares of many a year—Cares that were ended and forgotten now.And there was sadness round, and faces bowed,And women’s tears fell fast, and children wailed aloud.

I saw an aged man upon his bier;

His hair was thin and white, and on his brow

A record of the cares of many a year—

Cares that were ended and forgotten now.

And there was sadness round, and faces bowed,

And women’s tears fell fast, and children wailed aloud.

Then rose another hoary man, and said,In faltering accents, to that weeping train,“Why mourn ye that our aged friend is dead?Ye are not sad to see the gathered grain,Nor when their mellow fruit the orchards cast,Nor when the yellow woods shake down the ripened mast.

Then rose another hoary man, and said,

In faltering accents, to that weeping train,

“Why mourn ye that our aged friend is dead?

Ye are not sad to see the gathered grain,

Nor when their mellow fruit the orchards cast,

Nor when the yellow woods shake down the ripened mast.

“Ye sigh not when the sun, his course fulfilled,His glorious course, rejoicing earth and sky,In the soft evening, when the winds are stilled,Sinks where his islands of refreshment lie,And leaves the smile of his departure spreadO’er the warm-colored heaven and ruddy mountain head.

“Ye sigh not when the sun, his course fulfilled,

His glorious course, rejoicing earth and sky,

In the soft evening, when the winds are stilled,

Sinks where his islands of refreshment lie,

And leaves the smile of his departure spread

O’er the warm-colored heaven and ruddy mountain head.

“Why weep ye then for him, who, having wonThe bound of man’s appointed years, at last,Life’s blessings all enjoyed, life’s labors done,Serenely to his final rest has passed? [I cannot agree to the next two lines.]While the soft memory of his virtues yetLingers like twilight hues when the bright sun is set.

“Why weep ye then for him, who, having won

The bound of man’s appointed years, at last,

Life’s blessings all enjoyed, life’s labors done,

Serenely to his final rest has passed? [I cannot agree to the next two lines.]

While the soft memory of his virtues yet

Lingers like twilight hues when the bright sun is set.

“His youth was innocent, [yes, I believe mine was innocent; not guilty, certainly,] his riper ageMarked with some act of goodness every day, [no, not every day—sometimes,]And watched by eyes that loved him, calm and sage, [O, yes, watched by eyes that loved him; and O, how calm, but I cannot add sage,]Faded his late declining years away.Cheerful he gave his being up, and wentTo share [he hopes] the holy rest that waits a life [he hopes] well spent.

“His youth was innocent, [yes, I believe mine was innocent; not guilty, certainly,] his riper age

Marked with some act of goodness every day, [no, not every day—sometimes,]

And watched by eyes that loved him, calm and sage, [O, yes, watched by eyes that loved him; and O, how calm, but I cannot add sage,]

Faded his late declining years away.

Cheerful he gave his being up, and went

To share [he hopes] the holy rest that waits a life [he hopes] well spent.

“That life was happy; every day he gaveThanks for the fair existence that was his; [yes, every morning, when I awoke and saw the beautiful sun rise, I thanked God that he had placed me in this beautiful world,]For a sick fancy made him not her slave,To mock him with her phantom miseries.No chronic tortures racked his aged limb,For luxury and sloth had nourished none for him. [Yes, that is all true.]

“That life was happy; every day he gave

Thanks for the fair existence that was his; [yes, every morning, when I awoke and saw the beautiful sun rise, I thanked God that he had placed me in this beautiful world,]

For a sick fancy made him not her slave,

To mock him with her phantom miseries.

No chronic tortures racked his aged limb,

For luxury and sloth had nourished none for him. [Yes, that is all true.]

“And I am glad that he has lived thus long,And glad that he has gone to his reward;Nor deem that kindly nature did him wrong,Softly to disengage the vital cord, [O, how softly, how sweetly, is the cord disengaging!]When his weak hand grew palsied, and his eyeDark with the mists of age, it was his time to die.” [Yes, it was his time to die; remember this; do not look sad or mournful; it is his time to die.]

“And I am glad that he has lived thus long,

And glad that he has gone to his reward;

Nor deem that kindly nature did him wrong,

Softly to disengage the vital cord, [O, how softly, how sweetly, is the cord disengaging!]

When his weak hand grew palsied, and his eye

Dark with the mists of age, it was his time to die.” [Yes, it was his time to die; remember this; do not look sad or mournful; it is his time to die.]

LOVE OF FLOWERS AND MUSIC.

One of the pleasant effects of his illness was his new love for flowers. He had never shown any great pleasure in them during life, although a rose, or lily of the valley, was frequently in his vest during the summer. One day during his illness, Miss —— sent him a nosegay, in the centre of which was a white camellia japonica. “Ah! how beautiful!” he exclaimed; “tell her how much I am pleased; place them where I can see them. Tell her that the japonica is to me the emblem of her spotless heart.” Music, too, as it had been his delight in early life, now served to soothe his last hours. One evening, when surrounded by his family, and he was free from all pain, the door of the library was suddenly opened, and his favorite tune of Robin Adair was heard coming from some musical glasses in the entry. Its plaintiveness was always delightful to him: and after listening to it till it died away, he exclaimed, “O, how beautiful! I feel as if I should like to have the tune that I have loved in life prove my funeral dirge.”

HIS DEATH.

It was on the 15th of March, 1838, that, being too feeble to walk, he was drawn for the last time into the library. On the next day he was confined to the bed. On that day an incident took place which I cannot forbear to mention. He had called his daughter his Jessamine, and about twenty-four hours before his death she obtained for him that delicate white flower. He took it and kissed it many times. He then returned it with these words: “Take it, my love; it is beautiful; it is the queen of flowers. Let it be for you, forever, the emblem of truth and of purity. Let it be the Bowditch arms. Place it in your mother’s Bible, and by the side of La Place’s bust, and to-morrow, if I am alive, I will see it.”

In the evening he drew a little water into his parched mouth. “How delicious!” he murmured. “I have swallowed a drop from

‘Siloa’s brook, that flowedFast by the oracle of God.’”

‘Siloa’s brook, that flowedFast by the oracle of God.’”

‘Siloa’s brook, that flowed

Fast by the oracle of God.’”

On the morrow, 17th of March, 1838, he died. Had he lived nine days more, he wouldhave exactly completed his sixty-fifth year. On the next Sabbath he was laid quietly by the side of his wife Mary. Snow-flakes fell gently upon the coffin as it was carried into Trinity Church vaults.

There both the bodies remained until a few years since, when they were removed to Mount Auburn.

FOOTNOTES[1]You will know better, by and by, about the Revolutionary War. I will merely state now, that this war was between America and Great Britain, in order to free ourselves from the power of England. The reason why the British King had anything to do with America was this: Many years ago, a number of people came over from England, and settled in this country; and of course the small colony needed the aid of the government from which it originated. After a time the people here wanted to govern themselves, and they therefore went to battle about it, because England would not grant them all their wishes. This contest, which lasted for several years, was terminated by the United States becoming free from the power of Great Britain.[2]It is now in existence, and was kept in his library during his lifetime, and for many years afterwards. His library, at the time of his death, consisted of several thousand books, which, during his long life, he had collected. Yet, to my mind, the little Almanac is the most valuable book of the whole, because it was the first evidence he gave of his perseverance, and of the tendencies of his mind. It is now, with his other manuscripts, preserved in the Public Library of the City of Boston.The manuscripts and his whole library were given to the city when the opening of Devonshire Street, in continuation of Winthrop and Otis Place, required the removal of the house where they had been preserved from the time of Mr. Bowditch’s death.[3]This was the famous battle of the Nile. It won for Nelson the title of “Baron of the Nile.”[4]From Rev. Dr. Bentley’s manuscript Journal.[5]Dr. Bentley’s Journal, above cited.[6]This and similar acts committed by Great Britain were the prominent causes of the war between the United States and England in 1812.[7]An expression of which sailors make use when speaking of the captain of the vessel, and on this occasion overheard by Mr. Bowditch, as two sailors whispered one to another, as they passed him on the deck.[8]It is still (1869) used in the American, and often in the English marine service. The twenty-eighth edition was only recently published; about seventy-five thousand copies have been issued since the first edition was printed under the special direction of Mr. Bowditch.[9]Chief Justice Parsons, it is said, used to say that moment was one of the most exciting of his life; and he could not forbear throwing up his hat and joining in the shout with which the boys saluted the first returning light of the sun.[10]Since the first edition of this memoir, the whole subject of meteoric stones has been more thoroughly investigated by astronomers. Professor Loomis, of New Haven, says (Elements of Astronomy, 1869, page 209), “In the year 1833, shooting stars appeared in extraordinary numbers, on the morning of November 14. It was estimated that they fell at the rate of five hundred and seventy-five per minute. Most of these meteors moved in paths, which, if traced backward, would meet in a point near Gamma, in the constellation Leo. A similar exhibition took place on the 12th of November, 1799, and there are recorded ten other similar appearances at about the same period of the year.“There was a repetition of this remarkable display of meteors on the morning of November 14, 1866, when the number amounted to one hundred and twenty-six per minute; also November 14, 1867, when the number of meteors for a short time amounted to two hundred and twenty per minute; and November 14, 1868, the display was about equally remarkable.”Professor Loomis concludes that “these meteors belong to a system of bodies describing an elliptic orbit about the sun, and making a revolution in thirty-three years.”The Weston meteor, or aerolite, observed by Dr. Bowditch, is mentioned by Professor Loomis, as one of “great brilliancy.” “The entire weight of the fragments discovered was at least three hundred pounds.... The length of the visible path of this meteor exceeded one hundred miles. It moved about fifteen miles per second.”[11]A fifth was printed several years afterwards, on which Mr. Bowditch made some notes, and which he meant to have published, but death prevented him from so doing.[12]Since the first edition of this memoir, one of the most extraordinary results ever obtained in astronomy by the use of these same methods of investigation has been made known. Messrs. Leverrier, a French astronomer, and Adams of England, calculated very exactly the general characteristics and course of a planet, which, from the disturbances of the courses of other well-known planets, wassupposedto exist. In 1846, Leverrier requested a German astronomer to point his telescope, at a certain time, towards a certain part of the heavens, and there was the long-suspected planet, previously never seen! It was named Neptune. It is sixty times larger than our earth, and its orbit is nearly thirty times farther distant from the sun.[13]Within the last few years numerous other smaller bodies (asteroids) have been discovered—not less than eighty being now known.

[1]You will know better, by and by, about the Revolutionary War. I will merely state now, that this war was between America and Great Britain, in order to free ourselves from the power of England. The reason why the British King had anything to do with America was this: Many years ago, a number of people came over from England, and settled in this country; and of course the small colony needed the aid of the government from which it originated. After a time the people here wanted to govern themselves, and they therefore went to battle about it, because England would not grant them all their wishes. This contest, which lasted for several years, was terminated by the United States becoming free from the power of Great Britain.

[1]You will know better, by and by, about the Revolutionary War. I will merely state now, that this war was between America and Great Britain, in order to free ourselves from the power of England. The reason why the British King had anything to do with America was this: Many years ago, a number of people came over from England, and settled in this country; and of course the small colony needed the aid of the government from which it originated. After a time the people here wanted to govern themselves, and they therefore went to battle about it, because England would not grant them all their wishes. This contest, which lasted for several years, was terminated by the United States becoming free from the power of Great Britain.

[2]It is now in existence, and was kept in his library during his lifetime, and for many years afterwards. His library, at the time of his death, consisted of several thousand books, which, during his long life, he had collected. Yet, to my mind, the little Almanac is the most valuable book of the whole, because it was the first evidence he gave of his perseverance, and of the tendencies of his mind. It is now, with his other manuscripts, preserved in the Public Library of the City of Boston.The manuscripts and his whole library were given to the city when the opening of Devonshire Street, in continuation of Winthrop and Otis Place, required the removal of the house where they had been preserved from the time of Mr. Bowditch’s death.

[2]It is now in existence, and was kept in his library during his lifetime, and for many years afterwards. His library, at the time of his death, consisted of several thousand books, which, during his long life, he had collected. Yet, to my mind, the little Almanac is the most valuable book of the whole, because it was the first evidence he gave of his perseverance, and of the tendencies of his mind. It is now, with his other manuscripts, preserved in the Public Library of the City of Boston.

The manuscripts and his whole library were given to the city when the opening of Devonshire Street, in continuation of Winthrop and Otis Place, required the removal of the house where they had been preserved from the time of Mr. Bowditch’s death.

[3]This was the famous battle of the Nile. It won for Nelson the title of “Baron of the Nile.”

[3]This was the famous battle of the Nile. It won for Nelson the title of “Baron of the Nile.”

[4]From Rev. Dr. Bentley’s manuscript Journal.

[4]From Rev. Dr. Bentley’s manuscript Journal.

[5]Dr. Bentley’s Journal, above cited.

[5]Dr. Bentley’s Journal, above cited.

[6]This and similar acts committed by Great Britain were the prominent causes of the war between the United States and England in 1812.

[6]This and similar acts committed by Great Britain were the prominent causes of the war between the United States and England in 1812.

[7]An expression of which sailors make use when speaking of the captain of the vessel, and on this occasion overheard by Mr. Bowditch, as two sailors whispered one to another, as they passed him on the deck.

[7]An expression of which sailors make use when speaking of the captain of the vessel, and on this occasion overheard by Mr. Bowditch, as two sailors whispered one to another, as they passed him on the deck.

[8]It is still (1869) used in the American, and often in the English marine service. The twenty-eighth edition was only recently published; about seventy-five thousand copies have been issued since the first edition was printed under the special direction of Mr. Bowditch.

[8]It is still (1869) used in the American, and often in the English marine service. The twenty-eighth edition was only recently published; about seventy-five thousand copies have been issued since the first edition was printed under the special direction of Mr. Bowditch.

[9]Chief Justice Parsons, it is said, used to say that moment was one of the most exciting of his life; and he could not forbear throwing up his hat and joining in the shout with which the boys saluted the first returning light of the sun.

[9]Chief Justice Parsons, it is said, used to say that moment was one of the most exciting of his life; and he could not forbear throwing up his hat and joining in the shout with which the boys saluted the first returning light of the sun.

[10]Since the first edition of this memoir, the whole subject of meteoric stones has been more thoroughly investigated by astronomers. Professor Loomis, of New Haven, says (Elements of Astronomy, 1869, page 209), “In the year 1833, shooting stars appeared in extraordinary numbers, on the morning of November 14. It was estimated that they fell at the rate of five hundred and seventy-five per minute. Most of these meteors moved in paths, which, if traced backward, would meet in a point near Gamma, in the constellation Leo. A similar exhibition took place on the 12th of November, 1799, and there are recorded ten other similar appearances at about the same period of the year.“There was a repetition of this remarkable display of meteors on the morning of November 14, 1866, when the number amounted to one hundred and twenty-six per minute; also November 14, 1867, when the number of meteors for a short time amounted to two hundred and twenty per minute; and November 14, 1868, the display was about equally remarkable.”Professor Loomis concludes that “these meteors belong to a system of bodies describing an elliptic orbit about the sun, and making a revolution in thirty-three years.”The Weston meteor, or aerolite, observed by Dr. Bowditch, is mentioned by Professor Loomis, as one of “great brilliancy.” “The entire weight of the fragments discovered was at least three hundred pounds.... The length of the visible path of this meteor exceeded one hundred miles. It moved about fifteen miles per second.”

[10]Since the first edition of this memoir, the whole subject of meteoric stones has been more thoroughly investigated by astronomers. Professor Loomis, of New Haven, says (Elements of Astronomy, 1869, page 209), “In the year 1833, shooting stars appeared in extraordinary numbers, on the morning of November 14. It was estimated that they fell at the rate of five hundred and seventy-five per minute. Most of these meteors moved in paths, which, if traced backward, would meet in a point near Gamma, in the constellation Leo. A similar exhibition took place on the 12th of November, 1799, and there are recorded ten other similar appearances at about the same period of the year.

“There was a repetition of this remarkable display of meteors on the morning of November 14, 1866, when the number amounted to one hundred and twenty-six per minute; also November 14, 1867, when the number of meteors for a short time amounted to two hundred and twenty per minute; and November 14, 1868, the display was about equally remarkable.”

Professor Loomis concludes that “these meteors belong to a system of bodies describing an elliptic orbit about the sun, and making a revolution in thirty-three years.”

The Weston meteor, or aerolite, observed by Dr. Bowditch, is mentioned by Professor Loomis, as one of “great brilliancy.” “The entire weight of the fragments discovered was at least three hundred pounds.... The length of the visible path of this meteor exceeded one hundred miles. It moved about fifteen miles per second.”

[11]A fifth was printed several years afterwards, on which Mr. Bowditch made some notes, and which he meant to have published, but death prevented him from so doing.

[11]A fifth was printed several years afterwards, on which Mr. Bowditch made some notes, and which he meant to have published, but death prevented him from so doing.

[12]Since the first edition of this memoir, one of the most extraordinary results ever obtained in astronomy by the use of these same methods of investigation has been made known. Messrs. Leverrier, a French astronomer, and Adams of England, calculated very exactly the general characteristics and course of a planet, which, from the disturbances of the courses of other well-known planets, wassupposedto exist. In 1846, Leverrier requested a German astronomer to point his telescope, at a certain time, towards a certain part of the heavens, and there was the long-suspected planet, previously never seen! It was named Neptune. It is sixty times larger than our earth, and its orbit is nearly thirty times farther distant from the sun.

[12]Since the first edition of this memoir, one of the most extraordinary results ever obtained in astronomy by the use of these same methods of investigation has been made known. Messrs. Leverrier, a French astronomer, and Adams of England, calculated very exactly the general characteristics and course of a planet, which, from the disturbances of the courses of other well-known planets, wassupposedto exist. In 1846, Leverrier requested a German astronomer to point his telescope, at a certain time, towards a certain part of the heavens, and there was the long-suspected planet, previously never seen! It was named Neptune. It is sixty times larger than our earth, and its orbit is nearly thirty times farther distant from the sun.

[13]Within the last few years numerous other smaller bodies (asteroids) have been discovered—not less than eighty being now known.

[13]Within the last few years numerous other smaller bodies (asteroids) have been discovered—not less than eighty being now known.

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