Nat the Navigator. A Life of Nathaniel Bowditch. For Young Persons

by Henry I. Bowditch

FOOTNOTES

[1] You will know better, by and by, about the Revolutionary War. I will merely state now, that this war was between America and Great Britain, in order to free ourselves from the power of England. The reason why the British King had anything to do with America was this: Many years ago, a number of people came over from England, and settled in this country; and of course the small colony needed the aid of the government from which it originated. After a time the people here wanted to govern themselves, and they therefore went to battle about it, because England would not grant them all their wishes. This contest, which lasted for several years, was terminated by the United States becoming free from the power of Great Britain.

[2] It is now in existence, and was kept in his library during his lifetime, and for many years afterwards. His library, at the time of his death, consisted of several thousand books, which, during his long life, he had collected. Yet, to my mind, the little Almanac is the most valuable book of the whole, because it was the first evidence he gave of his perseverance, and of the tendencies of his mind. It is now, with his other manuscripts, preserved in the Public Library of the City of Boston.

The manuscripts and his whole library were given to the city when the opening of Devonshire Street, in continuation of Winthrop and Otis Place, required the removal of the house where they had been preserved from the time of Mr. Bowditch’s death.

[3] This was the famous battle of the Nile. It won for Nelson the title of “Baron of the Nile.”

[4] From Rev. Dr. Bentley’s manuscript Journal.

[5] Dr. Bentley’s Journal, above cited.

[6] This and similar acts committed by Great Britain were the prominent causes of the war between the United States and England in 1812.

[7] An expression of which sailors make use when speaking of the captain of the vessel, and on this occasion overheard by Mr. Bowditch, as two sailors whispered one to another, as they passed him on the deck.

[8] It is still (1869) used in the American, and often in the English marine service. The twenty-eighth edition was only recently published; about seventy-five thousand copies have been issued since the first edition was printed under the special direction of Mr. Bowditch.