134 The A)nerican Geoloyist. September, i«95 
eighteen labor more (iiligently than he did in this amateur ef- 
fort. A still more improving disei])line was developed from 
this. In making- his calculations he made much use of Blunt's 
Nautical Almanac, which was a reprint from the highest En- 
glish authority. Beneath the opening page for every month 
appeared this sentence, "Ten dollars will be paid on the dis- 
covery of an error in the figures." This led to an examina- 
tion and to the discovery of many errors, which were com- 
municated to Mr. Blunt, who took no notice of them. He then 
sent the list to the American Monthly Magazine. This excited 
Mr. Blunt's indignation and he endeavored to evade the force 
of the errors by representing that they occurred only in that 
part of the tables used by astronomers and not in that used by 
seamen, andcharged Hitchcock with shanu'ful neglect in not 
examining this more practical portion. The answer to this 
reproach was the discovery of twenty errors of such magni- 
tude in the navigation tables as to lead to disaster if depend- 
ence were placed upon them. Further calculations led to the 
discovery of eighty errors in all in four or five of these alma- 
nacs, and to an apology from the editor. One can see that 
rigid accuracy was indispensable for the discovery of these 
errors with corresponding application. The discipline thus 
obtained was the same in kind with that of a college course, 
which through a failure of health he was not able to acquire. 
Other discipline and a knowledge of the classics w^as acquired 
by holding the principalship of Deerfield Academy for four 
years. He learned much of English b}^ taking an active part 
in a village debating society. During these years he wrote 
some poetry, particularly a tragedy, entitled the "Downfall of 
Bonaparte," which was both published and acted with great 
success before, his neighbors and friends. 
The decade from 1810 to 1820 was an active one in theologi- 
cal thought in New England, it being the time of the Unita- 
rian controversy. Young Hitchcock had sided with the Uni- 
tarians at first, but on further reflection became satisfied that 
the truth lay on the orthodox side, and was induced to devote 
himself to the ministry. He fitted himself for this office in 
the theological department of Yale College and was settled as 
pastor of the Congregational church of Conway, Massachu- 
setts, from 1821 to 1825. 
