2 Life and Character of Nathaniel Boivditch. 



might have good hick, and she good tidings from him, far off upon 

 the sea. I entered that house and two others in the vicinity, 

 and found three ancient women who knew her well, and remem- 

 bered her wonderful boy. I sat down by their firesides and lis- 

 tened with greedy ear to the story, which they gladly told me, of 

 that remarkable child, remarkable for his early goodness as well 

 as for his early greatness. Their words, uttered in the plain, 

 hearty English of the yeomanry of New England, I took down 

 from their lips, and now give them without any alteration or im- 

 provement whatever. 



The first one I interrogated said that '' Nat. was a likely, clever, 

 thoughtful boy. Learning came natural to him ; and his mother 

 used to say that he would make something or nothing." I asked 

 her whether she had ever heard what became of him. " O yes," 

 she replied, " he became a great man, and went to Boston, and 

 had a mighty deal of learning." "What kind of learning?" I 

 asked. "Why," she answered, "I believe he was a pilot, and 

 knew how to steer all the vessels." This evidently was her sim- 

 ple and confused idea of " The Practical Navigator." 



The second old lady stated that " Nat. went to school to her 

 aunt, in the revolutionary war, in the house where we were then 

 sitting, when he was about three years old, and that she took 

 mightily to him, and that he was the best scholar she ever had. 



