Hing 
Life ani Character of Nathaniel Bowditch. 43 
and placid countenance dispelled all gloom, and his cheerful com- 
posure robbed death of all its bitterness and anguish. He exem- 
plified in his own case the sentiment so ae cle “ 
the Persian poet, which he loved to repeat :— ) 
* On parent knees, a naked, new-born child, 
_ Weeping thou sat’st, whilst all around thee smiled ae 
’ Bo live, that, sistking in thy last, long sleep, $e 
Calm ou may’st smile, when all around th 
fie did ck Bh EBA BSE ak gloomy. 
On one occasion he said, “I feel no gloom within me; why 
should you wear it on your faces?’ And then he called for Bry- 
ant’s Poems, and desired them to read his favorite piece, “The 
Old Man’s Funeral.” | 
“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 ae 8 done, 
Serenely to his final rest has passe 
And then he went on and commented on the remaining lines of 
the poem , pointing out those which he thought were descriptive 
of himself and modestly disclaiming others that were commend- 
atory, as not belonging to him; but which all impartial persons 
would unite in saying were singularly applicable to his character. 
On the morning of his death, when his sight was very dim, 
and his voice was almost gone, he called his children around his 
bedside, and arranging them in the order of age, pointed to and 
addressed each by name, and aaa You see I can distinguish 
his I t words. After 
wa Sas tenn to Seliisper, in a ‘scarcely audible tone, the words 
“ pretty, pleasant, beautiful.” ‘But it cannot be known, whether 
he was thinking of his own situation as pleasant, in being thus 
surrounded ‘at such a time by those he loved, or whether he 
“snatched a fearful joy” in a glimpse of the spiritual world. 
Soon after this, he quietly breathed away his soul, and departed. 
“ And the end of that man was peace.” Such a death alone 
was to complete such a life, and crown and seal such a 
character. He died on Friday, the 16th day of March, having 
nearly completed his 65th year. 
