inadequate to furnish even the groundwork and elements of a respectable education. I have heard it stated, on the authority of one of his schoolfellows, that the only book in their school was a dictionary,* which belonged to the master, who gave out the words from it to be spelt by the boys. I have likewise been told by one who lived in Salem at the time, that the master of this school, an Irishman, by the name of Ford, a person of violent and passionate temper, gave young Bowditch, when he was about five or six years old, a very difficult sum in arithmetic to perform. His scholar went to his desk, and soon afterwards brought up his slate with the question solved. The master, surprised at the suddenness of his return, asked him who had been doing the sum for him; and on his answering "Nobody -I did it myself," he gave him a severe chastisement for lying, not believing it possible that he could, of himself, without any assistance, perform so difficult a question. It is believed that he did not afterwards have the grace to ask the pardon of his quick-witted pupil. )

It was highly honorable to him, that although he had not himself enjoyed the benefits of a liberal or learned education, he felt the importance and acknowledged the value of it; and accordingly gave to his children the best which the country afforded, and took a deep in

* Speaking of the dictionary, it may be worth stating that Dr. Bowditch had upwards of a hundred dictionaries, of different kinds, in his library.

terest, and, for many years, an efficient agency in the concerns of its principal University.*

But the advantages of school, such as they were, he was obliged to forego at the early age of ten years, "his poverty and not his will consenting," that he might go into his father's shop and help to support the family. He was soon, however, transferred as an apprentice to a ship-chandler, in whose shop he continued until he went to sea, first as a clerk, afterwards as supercargo, and finally as master and supercargo jointly. It was whilst he was in the ship-chandler's shop that he first manifested that strong bent, or what is commonly called an original genius, for mathematical pursuits. Every moment that he could snatch from the counter, was given to the slate. An old gentleman, who used frequently to visit the shop, said to his wife, one day, on returning home, "I never go into that shop but I see that boy ciphering and figuring away on his slate, as if his very life depended upon it; and if he goes on at this rate, as he has begun, I should not at all wonder if, at last, in the course of time, he should get to be an almanac-maker!"—this being, in his view, the summit of mathematical attainment.

From his earliest years, indeed, he seems to have had an ardent love of reading, and he has been heard to say that, even when quite young, he read through a

* Dr. Bowditch was elected a Fellow of the Corporation of Harvard College in 1826, and held that place at the time of his death.

whole Encyclopedia, from beginning to end, without omitting a single article.*

He sailed on his first voyage, on the 11th of January, 1795, at the age of twenty-two, in the capacity of captain's clerk, on board the ship Henry, of Salem, owned by Elias Hasket Derby, Esq., and commanded by Captain Henry Prince, who still lives to glory in the fame of his clerk.† Captain John Gibaut, with whom young Bowditch had been engaged the year before in taking a survey of the town of Salem,‡ had previously been appointed to the command of the ship, and had invited his friend to accompany him as clerk. He consented; but in consequence of some misunderstanding subsequently springing up between the owner of the ship and Captain Gibaut, he relinquished the command, and of course his agreement with his friend was at an end. Mr. Derby, however, on the appointment of Capt. Prince, said to him, "Do you know young Bowditch ?" "Yes, very well." "How should you like to have him go in the ship with you?" "I should like it above all

Since the last page was struck off, I have ascertained that after he left the ship-chandlery, kept by Messrs. Ropes & Hodges, he was for some time a clerk in the grocery store of Samuel C. Ward, at which time he was able to calculate the eclipses of the moon, and most of the phenomena recorded in the almanacs of that day.

+ Captain Prince was present when this discourse was repeated in the First Church in Salem, on the afternoon of the same day that it was delivered at Church Green, in Boston.

Captain Gibaut used to say, that he depended entirely upon his young friend for taking the angles.

things," said the captain. He accordingly went on board as clerk, although his name was entered on the shipping-papers as second mate. The ship sailed for the Isle of Bourbon, and returned home after an absence of exactly one year.

His second voyage was made as supercargo, on board the ship Astræa, of Salem, belonging to the same owner, and commanded by the same captain. The vessel sailed to Lisbon, touched at Madeira, and then proceeded to Manilla, and arrived at Salem in May 1797.

At Madeira, the captain and supercargo were very politely received by Mr. Pintard, the American consul there, to whose house the ship was consigned, and were frequently invited to dine with his family. Mrs. Pintard had heard from another American shipmaster that the young supercargo was "a great calculator," and she felt a curiosity to test his capacities. Accordingly, she said to him one day at dinner, "Mr. Bowditch, I have a question which I should like to have you answer. Some years since," naming the time, "I received a legacy in Ireland. The money was there invested, and remained some time on interest; the amount was subsequently remitted to England, where the interest likewise accumulated; and lately the whole amount has been remitted to me here. What sum ought I to receive?" She of course mentioned the precise dates of the several remittances, as she went along. Young Bowditch lay down his knife and fork, said it was a

little difficult, on account of the difference of currency and the number of the remittances; but squeezing the tips of his fingers, he said, in about two minutes, "The sum you should receive is £843 15s. 6d." 'Well, Mr. clerk," said Mrs. Pintard to the head clerk of the house, an elderly person, who was esteemed a very skilful accountant, "you have been figuring it out for me on paper; has he got it right?" "Yes, Madam," said the clerk, taking his long calculation out of his pocket, "he has got it exactly. And I venture to say, that there is not another man on the island that can do it in two hours."

In August, 1798, he went in the same ship with Capt. Prince, on his third voyage, to Cadiz, thence to the Mediterranean, loaded at Alicant, and arrived at Salem in 1799.

On the voyage from Cadiz to Alicant, they were chased by a French privateer, and having a strong armament of nineteen guns, they prepared for action. The post assigned to Bowditch was the cabin, and his duty was to hand the powder upon deck. In the midst of the preparations for the engagement, Captain Prince had a curiosity to look into the cabin, and see whether all things were going on right there; and, to his astonishment, he found Bowditch calmly sitting at the table, with his slate and pencil, and figuring away, as usual. The thing was so ludicrous, that Captain Prince burst out a laughing, and said, "Well, Mr. Bowditch, can you be making your will now?"