Life atid Character of Nathaniel Bowditch. 13 



of Ferdinand and Isabella,* the last book he read through, and 

 one for which he expressed the highest admiration, he remarked 

 that many of the incidents in it were quite familiar to him, he 

 having once read the great Avork of Mariana on the History of 

 Spain, in the original language, in the course of one of his voya- 

 ges. The French mathematician, Lacroix, acknowledged to a 

 young American, that he was indebted to Mr. Bowditch for com- 

 municating many errors in his works, which he had discovered 

 in these same long India voyages. . 



The extraordinary mathematical attainments of the young 

 sailor soon became known, and secured to him the notice of our 

 most distinguished men, — among others, that of the late Chief 

 Justice Parsons, himself an eminent mathematician, — and lilie- 

 wise the deserved, yet wholly unexpected, honors of the first lit- 

 erary institution in the land. In the summer of 1802, at the age 

 of twenty-nine, his ship lying wind-bound in Boston harbor, he 

 went out to Cambridge to attend the exercises of Commence- 

 ment Day ; and whilst standing in one of the aisles of the 

 church, as the President was announcing the honorary degrees 

 conferred that day, his attention was aroused by hearing his own 

 name called out as a Master of Arts. The annunciation came 

 upon him like a peal of thunder ; it took him wholly by sur- 

 prise. He has been heard to say that that was the proudest day 

 of his life ; and that of all the distinctions which he subsecjuently 

 received from numerous learned and scientific bodies, at home 

 and abroad,! (among which may be mentioned his election, in 



* By William H. Prescott, Esq. of Boston. This noble contribution to the 

 youthful literature of our country is, at the same time, one,of the most remarkable 

 instances, in literary history, of the triumph of genius over ditficulties and dis- 

 couragements. It seems almost incredible, that so extensive awork, demanding 

 the perusal of so many books, and the consultation of so many authorities, coutd 

 have been composed without the full and free use of the eyes. And yet it is a fact 

 known to me, that the author, although he wrote the book through with his own 

 hand, never saw the words while he was writing them. His work is a noble evi- 

 dence of his perseverance as well as of his learning and good taste, and reflects 

 honor upon himself as well as upon his country. 



t Dr. Bowditch was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and 

 Sciences, in 1799, and was its President from 1829 to the time of his death. He 

 was also a Fellow of the Royal Societies of Edinburgii and Dublin ; of the Astro- 

 nomical Society of London ; of the American Philosophical Societ)^ held at Phil- 

 adelphia ; of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences ; of the Literary 

 and Philosophical Society of New York ; Corresponding member of the Royal 

 Societies at Berlin, Palermo. &c. &c. &c. 



