The memorial history of Boston : including Suffolk County, Massachusetts. 1630-1880, Vol. IV, Part 62

Author: Winsor, Justin, 1831-1897, ed; Jewett, C. F. (Clarence F.), publisher
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Boston : Osgood
Number of Pages: 760

USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The memorial history of Boston : including Suffolk County, Massachusetts. 1630-1880, Vol. IV > Part 62

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Trinity Church, the last and most conspicuous of the group of Back- Bay churches, occupies a more advantageous site than any other, allowing an irregular and picturesque disposition of the accessory chapel and cloisters. This building, a vigorous and striking example of the round-arched archi- tecture of the south of France, - not without a strong trace of Spanish influence, - is extremely interesting in many ways, but notably so from its grand central tower, at once the most massive and the most ornate archi- tectural feature in the city, but which, being on a scale suitable only to a cathedral, dwarfs every other feature of the composition; and not less notably from its elaborate system of interior decoration, - a system devised upon a scale hitherto unattempted in this country, and carried out with gratifying completeness and success.

I have found it impossible within the limits of a chapter to present more than an imperfect view of what has been accomplished thus far in Boston in the line of architectural design. Enough has perhaps been said to show - what indeed an hour's walk through the city streets would exhibit much more impressively - the extraordinary change which has taken place even within the last twenty years in the public and private architecture. In the position and standing of the architects themselves, the change has been not less marked. The resources of the profession on the side of education and training are now ample. A school of architecture has been for some dozen years maintained by the Institute of Technology, under the direction of Professor William R. Ware, in which the course of instruction, modelled as far as practicable upon that of the École des Beaux Arts, at Paris, has steadily and strongly furthered the growth of a severe taste in design, and has supplied the architects in active practice with a body of assistants well grounded in the principles of design, and with eye and hand trained to the appreciative use of the opportunities of office life. From such promising material are the ranks of architecture, year by year, recruited. Among so many active and well furnished minds, quickened by the stimulus of a gen- erous emulation, broadened and cultivated by foreign travel, supplied with abundant and fresh information of every architectural achievement at home and abroad, through the constant multiplication of photographs and build- ing journals, - one may hope, not unreasonably, that the future architecture of Boston is in safe hands.

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CHAPTER IX.

BOSTON AND SCIENCE.

BY JOSEPH LOVERING, LL.D.,

Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in Harvard University.

M ANY of the first settlers of Boston brought with them the science and culture of the Old World. But what was that science? Kepler indeed had announced his three laws, and died in the year in which Boston was founded. Galileo had made his discoveries and was ready to die. Bacon's great work had been published only ten years. Pascal and Torri- celli had not recognized and measured the weight of the atmosphere. The air-pump had not been invented. Newton was not born, and his discov- eries in astronomy and optics were not even in embryo. The scientific socie -- ties and academies of England, France, and Italy were not incorporated. The foundations had not been laid for the observatories of Greenwich and Paris. The true shape of the earth was not suspected. The sciences of electricity, magnetism, heat, and chemistry were in a distant future.

To show the condition of science in the earlier days, we give brief sketches of those engaged in the study of it: -

John Winthrop, son of the first governor of Massachusetts, was born in England in 1606 ; came to this country in 1633 and settled in Ipswich. His later history belongs to Connecticut, where he was governor in 1657, and from 1659 to 1676. On a visit to Boston in 1676 he was taken sick and died here. He was buried in the same tomb with his father, in the grounds of King's Chapel. He was skilled in chemistry and physics, such as they were then, and had the reputation of being one of the greatest natural philosophers of his age, - the equal of Boyle, Wilkins, or Oldenburg. He often revisited England, and maintained a correspondence with the chief scien- tific men of Europe. Had it not been for the concessions of Charles II., the best scientific men of England would have joined Winthrop and established here a " soci- ety for promoting natural knowledge." As it was, Winthrop was one of the founders of the Royal Society of London, which began its meetings in 1645 under the patron- . age of the king.1 He was its official correspondent in the West, supplying it with specimens of the productions of this country, and descriptions of them. - His son, Fitz John Winthrop, was born at Ipswich in 1638, and died in Boston in 1707. Although constantly occupied with public trusts (being governor of Connecticut from

1 [See Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc., June, 1878 .- ED.]

VOL. IV. - 62.

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THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.

1698 to 1707), he was accomplished in natural science and a member of the Royal Society.

John Josselyn made two voyages to New England, in 1638 and 1663 ; and was here in all about nine years. He published in 1674 an account of these voyages, which includes notices of the natural history of the country, dedicated to the Presi- dent and Fellows of the Royal Society of London. In 1672 he published a book called New England Rarities discovered : in Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Serpents, and Plants of that Country. He gives the latitude of Boston as 42° 30'; and the longi- tude as 315°. His books contain a curious medley of science and nonsense.1

The Rev. John Sherman was born in Dedham, England, in 1613. He was educated at old Cambridge, and emigrated to this country in 1634. For the last thirty years of his life. he was settled over the church at Watertown, where he died in 1685. He was twice married, and had twenty-six children. ' Dr. Mather 2 regarded him as " one of the greatest mathematicians that ever lived in this hemisphere of the world." The character of his astronomical calculations, of which he left many in manuscript, may be inferred from the fact that he published almanacs for several years (1650-61), to which were added pious reflections.

Charles Morton was born in England in 1626, and came to this country in 1685. He was settled as minister in Charlestown from 1686 to his death in 1698.3 He served Harvard College as a Fellow of the Corporation and Vice-President. He was eminent in mathematics, and his Compendium Physic, though existing only in manuscript, was copied by the students and studied. He brought with him the repu- tation of being a gifted teacher, and excited the jealousy of Harvard College by drawing private pupils to Charlestown. He was a contributor in 1675 to the Philo- sophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.

The Rev. Urian Oakes (1631-81) came with his parents to New England in 1634 ; graduated at Harvard College in 1649; was settled in Cambridge in 1671, and combined with his pastoral duties those of president from 1675 to 1681. In 1650 he calculated and published an almanac with the motto : " Parvum parva decent, sed inest sua gratia parva ; " 4 being, as Cotton Mather says, " a lad of small, as he never was of great, stature."

The Rev. Samuel Danforth, the third minister of Roxbury, was born in England in 1626 ; came to New England in 1634 ; graduated at Harvard College in 1643; was ordained in 1650 ; and died in 1674. He incorporated into the records of his church observations on the weather and prevalent diseases of different years and seasons, on violent storms of snow and rain, and on earthquakes and meteors. "Several of his astronomical composures," says Dr. Mather, " have seen the light of the sun." He published almanacs for the years 1646-49 ; in 1665, Astronomical Description of the Comet of 1664, with brief theological applications thereof ; and in the church records he has left various memoranda.5

- [Sce Vol. I. p. 19. - ED.]

2 Magnalia, i. 462.

8 [Sce Vol. II. 315 .- En.]

4 Magnalia, i. 97-8.

5 " Anno 1652, 9th day, 10th month. There appeared a comet in ye heaven in Orion, which continued its course towdo! zenith fr ye space of a fortnight, viz., till Mr. Cotton's death."

" 1664, Nov. 17. About this time there ap-

peared a comet in ye heavens. Ye first time I saw it, wch was y3 5th of 10th m, it appeared a little below the Crow's bill in Hydra, in ye Tro- pick of Capricorn or vy near to it. On ye IStla day it appeared in Canis major, 2 degrees be- low ye Tropick. On ye 19th day I observed it to passe o|v ye upper star in ye Hare's foot, about 2 degrees and 12 above ye Tropick. It continued till Feb. 4."

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BOSTON AND SCIENCE.

The following epitaph 1 commemorates his science : -

Non dubium, quin eó iverit, quo stellæ eunt Danforthus, qui stellis semper se associavit.

Increase Mather was born in Dorchester in 1639 ; graduated at Harvard Col- lege in 1656. He preached in the North Church, Boston, from 1661 to his death in 1723 ; and acted as president of Harvard College from 1685 to 1701. Of his vol- uminous publications only two have a place here, - namely, the Cometographia, and Heaven's Alarm to the World. These appeared on occasion of the blazing up of Newton's comet of 1680, and Halley's comet of 1682. The author had studied the literature of the subject ; but he sees in comets nothing but tokens of the displeasure of Heaven. The connection is easily proved ; as comets and calamities are both so frequent that there will always be a calamity for every comet, and a comet for every calamity.

Thomas Brattle was born in Boston in 1657, and graduated at Harvard College in 1676. He was chosen treasurer of the college in 1693, and held the office until he died in 1713. He was an eminent and generous merchant of Boston, with a taste for science, to which he devoted his leisure. He observed with a telescope the times of the beginning and end of the solar eclipse of June 12, 1694, when ten and a half cligits were covered by the moon. A comparison of his observations with those made in London placed Boston in the longitude of 4h 43™, or 70° 45' west of London. In the calculations required for this determination the latitude of Boston was assumed to be 42° 25'; and this was the received latitude until about 1785. When or by whom it was obtained is not known ; possibly by Mr. Brattle himself. Another eclipse of the sun was observed by him on Nov. 27, 1703 ; also two lunar eclipses, - one on Feb. 11, 1700, the other on Dec. 12, 1703.2 Science is also indebted to him for the earliest precise observation known to have been made on the variation of the magnetic needle, which he found to be, in 1708, about 9º west of north. This obser- vation proves that the needle, which in 1782 varied less than 7º from the true north, but which since that time has been moving westward until now it is more than 9º west of north, has returned to the position which it held about two hundred years before ; and, therefore, that the changes are periodical. Mr. Brattle's name is perpet- uated in one of the streets and churches [?] of Boston.3

Paul Dudley was born at Roxbury. in 1673; graduated at Harvard College in 1690 ; and died in 1751. He was raised to the Supreme Bench in 1718, and was · afterwards chief-justice. He was a member of the Royal Society of London, and published papers on the natural history of New England ; also on the weather and the great earthquake of Oct. 29, 1727.4

Tulley published at Cambridge an almanac for the years 1691-93.

John Winthrop, great-grandson of the first governor, and great-grandfather of the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, graduated at Harvard College in 1700. He spent the last part of his life in England, where he died in 1747. He became a conspic- uous member of the Royal Society, to which he presented six hundred specimens,5

" 1664, March II. Another comet appeared in ye East in ye constellation of Antinous."

1 Magnalia, i. p. 52. [See also Vol. I. pp. 408, 416. - ED.]

2 Philosophical Transactions (1704), vol. xxiv. p. 1630.

[See Vol. I. p. 580 .- ED.]

4 Philosophical Transactions, 1720-21, and No. 437 ; also vol. xl. p. 160. [See Vol. II. p. 351 .- ED.] .

5 For a description of them see American Journal, vol. xlvii. p. 282 (1844).

492

THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.

chiefly in the mineral kingdom, collected in this country, accompanied by descrip- tions, -" thereby showing your great skill in natural philosophy, and, at the same time, intimating to England the vast riches which lie hidden in the lap of her prin- cipal daughter." These words were used by Dr. Mortimer in dedicating to Winthrop the fortieth volume of the Philosophical Transactions, who also says : "The extraor- dinary knowledge you have in the deep mysteries of the most secret Hermetic Science will always make you esteemed and courted by good men." The library of Harvard College contains a copy of this volume, presented by " their very affectionate and most obedient humble servant, J. Winthrop."

Dr. Zabdiel Boylston came to this country and settled in 1635. His son, of the same name, was born in 1680; studied medicine with his father, and became an eminent physician in Boston. He is famous for having introduced into the country inoculation at the risk of his reputation and his life. He was led by his father to the study of natural history ; and collected the animals, insects, and plants of the New World and sent them to his correspondents in Europe. He and his father were mem- bers of the Royal Society of London. He died in 1766.1

The Rev. Thomas Prince was born in Sandwich in 1687, and graduated at Harvard College in 1707. From 1709 to 1717 he preached in England. He was ordained pastor of the Old South Church in 1718, where he remained until he died in 1758. His learning was extensive,2 but in science, at least, not profound. He published an account of the first aurora borealis seen in Boston.

Edward Holyoke was born in Boston in 1689. After graduating at Harvard Col- lege in 1705, he was librarian (1709-12), tutor (1712-16), and president from 1737 to the time of his death in 1769. In 1716 he was settled over a church in Marblehead. He was distinguished for his knowledge of mathematics and natural philosophy.

Nathan Prince, brother of Thomas, was born in Sandwich in 1698, and gradu- ated in 1718. He had the reputation of superior genius. In mathematics and natural philosophy he was said to have no equal in New England ; but nothing remains to sustain this high reputation. He died in 1748, in Ruatan, in the Bay of Honduras.

Thomas Robie was born in Boston in 1689, and graduated at Harvard College in 1 708. He was tutor, librarian, and Fellow of the college, and died in 1729. He published an account of a remarkable eclipse of the sun on Nov. 27, 1722 ; also, in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, papers on the Alkaline Salts and the Venom of the Spider (1720-24). The following extract from the diary of Presi- dent Leverett shows the estimation in which he was held : " It ought to be remem- bered that Mr. Robie was no small honor to Harvard College by his mathematical performances, and by his correspondence thereupon with Mr. Durham and other learned persons in those studies abroad."

In continuing this history it will be instructive to arrange the materials under a few general heads, - I. Mathematics and Astronomy. II. Physics and Chemistry. III. Natural History.

2 [See Vol. II. pp. 221, 426; and the chapter ter in the present volume. - ED.]

1 [See Vol. II. p. 557; and Dr. Green's chap-

on " Libraries," in the present volume. - ED.]

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BOSTON AND SCIENCE.

I. MATHEMATICS AND ASTRONOMY. - Some personal sketches fol- low : -

Thomas Clap was born in Scituate in 1703, and graduated at Harvard College in 1722. In 1826 he was ordained pastor of the church at Windsor, Conn. He was president of Yale College from 1740 to 1766, and died in 1767. President Stiles says that he studied mathematics in the higher branches, and was one of the first philoso- phers America had produced ; "that he was equalled by no man except the most learned Professor Winthrop." He published Conjectures upon the Nature and Motion of Mete- ors which are above the Atmosphere; and constructed in 1743 the first orrery made in this country. This orrery, which was placed in the library of the College, represented. on a large scale the orbits of the planets at their proper relative distances, with their inclination, eccentricity, and perihelia ; also their satellites, and part of the orbit of Halley's comet, which was expected to return in a few years. There was no system of wheels for moving the parts, but the bodies were put by the hand in their appropri- ate places for any given time.1

John Winthrop was born in Boston, Dec. 19, 1714 ; graduated at Cambridge in 1732 ; and was Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy from 1738 to his death, May 3, 1779. He was as zealous in the advancement of science as he was gifted in teaching. In mathematics and astronomy he had no equal in America, and his reputation was great in England and France. He received the degree of LL.D. from the University of Edinburgh, and was a member of the Royal Society of London. At home he was a member of the Governor's Council, as his father and grandfather had been before him. In the Revolution he was a stanch Patriot, and in company with Dexter and Bowdoin he was honored by the marked disapproval of the English Government. His learning and accomplishments, outside of his profession, elicited the admiration of Dr. Chauncy and President Stiles. Professor Winthrop was fortu- nate in living at a time when he could be a witness of three celestial occurrences of transcendent importance to the progress of astronomy ; namely, the first predicted return of Halley's comet in 1759, after an absence of seventy-seven years, and the transits of Venus across the sun in 1761 and 1769. In 1759 the accuracy of astro- nomical prediction was on its trial, and, months before the time of the expected visit, astronomers were at their posts and looking ; but they were all anticipated by a Saxon peasant who saw first the comet on Dec. 25, 1758. Winthrop saw it on April 3, 1759. This was the occasion of his two lectures on Comets, read in the College chapel and printed in 1759, and reprinted in 1811. These lectures are a valuable contribution to the literature of the subject. In 1766 he wrote an essay in Latin on Comets, which was communicated by Dr. Franklin to the Royal Society,2 and printed in London. He observed the comets of 1769 and 1770, - one remarkable for its brilliancy and the other for the disturbances which Jupiter inflicted upon its orbit, - and published an account of them in the Boston papers. Professor Winthrop's views of the nature of heat were greatly in advance of the science of his day.

In 1740 Professor Winthrop had observed a transit of Mercury over the sun. His observations were printed in London,3 and mentioned with favor in the Memoirs of the French Academy. These transits were valuable in correcting the orbit of Mercury, but they were not of vital significance for the measurement of the solar system. In

1 American Magazine, i. 202. See concerning Rittenhouse's orrery, p. 500.

2 Vol. Ivii. p. 132.

8 Transactions of the Royal Society,, vol. xlii.

494

THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.

John Winthrop 1

Cambridge 10 Deer 1763.

1761, and still better in 1769, opportunities were presented for doing a great work in astronomy, - opportunities which would not be repeated until 1874 and 1882, and which will not occur at all in the next century. Cambridge was fortunate in having a

1 [This engraving follows a photograph kindly furnished by Mr. Robert C. Winthrop, Jr., who has inscribed on the back of it: "Hon. John Winthrop, LL.D., F.R.S., for forty years pro- fessor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Harvard, member of the Executive Council of Mass., author of various astronomical treatises ;

a well known Revolutionary Patriot. Born, Dec. 19, 1714; died, May 3, 1779. He was also for some time Judge of Probate, librarian of Har- vard College, and one of the founders of the American Academy. He married, first, Rebecca, daughter of James Townsend and step-daughter of Rev. Charles Chauncy ; and, second, Hannah,

495

BOSTON AND SCIENCE.

man able and disposed to participate in an important scientific enterprise, the ultimate success of which depended upon the consenting efforts of many astronomers. The following extracts from the votes of the House of Representatives will show the inter- est inspired by his own enthusiasm.

On April 18, 1761, the Governor sent the following message : -

Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, - I have received a Letter from Professor Winthrop, wherein he offers his Service to go to Newfoundland to observe the Transit of Venus over the Sun on the Sixth Day of June next. You must know that this Phenomenon (which has been observed but once before since the Creation of the World) will, in all Probability, settle some Questions in Astronomy which may ultimately be very serviceable to Navigation. For which pur- pose those Powers that are interested in Navigation have thought it their business to send Mathe- maticians to different parts of the World to make Observations. And as the Comparisons of the Observations in the different Parts of the Earth will be the principal Means of making the Discov- eries useful, His Majesty has sent a Man-of-War, with Mathematicians to be stationed in different Parts of the East Indies, etc., and the French King and some other Powers have done the same. It happens that this Phenomenon is not to be seen in North America except the most Northern Parts, of which Newfoundland exhibits the best view; I cannot, therefore, excuse myself recom- mending to you to enable Mr. Winthrop to take a view from thence. The best and least expensive Method I can think of is this : that the Province Sloop, which a little before that Time will be obliged to be sent to Penobscot, may proceed from thence with the Professor to Newfoundland.

If you will signify your Approbation of this, I will order it; and I can assure you that we shall hereby serve the Cause of Science, and do credit to the Province.

COUNCIL CHAMBER, April 17, 1761.

FRA. BERNARD.

On Monday, April 20, it was voted-

" That his Excellency the Governor be humbly requested to direct Captain Saunders, Master of the Sloop in the Province Service, to wait on John Winthrop, Esq', Hollisian Professor of Mathe- matics and Philosophy at the College in Cambridge, and him in said sloop to attend and convey, with the Apparatus and other Necessaries, to the Northeast Part of Newfoundland, or to such Places as the Professor shall judge proper ; and when his Observations are compleated, and Mr. Winthrop shall direct it, that Captain Saunders attend on and convey Mr. Winthrop back to Boston."

Professor Winthrop embarked from Boston on May 9, taking with him the College instruments and two members of the Senior class ; and after a passage of thirteen days arrived at St. Johns. He says : "The reception I met with there was suitable to the consequence of my Commission and the dignity of my Employers." After some fatiguing and fruitless attempts, a convenient locality was selected on a com -. manding eminence, which was afterwards christened Venus Hill. Swarms of re- lentless insects had possession of the hill, and annoyed the new comers by day and night ; but in spite of them the clock and other instruments were put in work- ing order. "Thus prepared we waited for the critical hour, which proved favorable to our wishes." The transit had begun before sunrise in any part of America, except Labrador ; but on June 6 the sun rose at St. Johns at 4h 18m, and with Venus upon its disc, where the planet remained until 5h 6™. On his return Mr. Winthrop published an account of his voyage and his observations.

daughter of Thomas Fayerweather and widow and now at Newport. This portrait was for- of Parr Tolman. The latter was the well known merly loaned to Harvard College and hung in correspondent of Mrs. John Adams. Photo- Harvard Hall. It is in very bad order." See graphed in 1878 from the original portrait by also Perkins's Copley's Life and Paintings, p. 124, -a book which the Editor has found of con- stant service. - ED.] Copley, belonging to Professor Winthrop's great- grandson, Colonel John Winthrop of Louisiana,

496

THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.

In anticipation of the transit of June 3, 1769, Professor Winthrop read two lectures in the College chapel, which were published with this motto : Agite mortales ! et oculos in Spectaculum vertite, quod hujusque spectaverunt perpaucissimi, spectaturi iterum sunt nulli. It was the wish of the astronomer, Dr. Maskeline, that Mr. Winthrop should go to Lake Superior, where the beginning and end of this transit would be visible ; but his health prevented him, and he was obliged to content himself with seeing no more than other astronomers in the American Colonies, - namely, the beginning of the transit; as the sun set before the transit was over. Professor Winthrop also observed the transit of Mercury on Jan. 20, 1763.1

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The memorial history of Boston : including Suffolk County, Massachusetts. 1630-1880, Vol. IV, Part 62

Author: Winsor, Justin, 1831-1897, ed; Jewett, C. F. (Clarence F.), publisher Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Boston : Osgood Number of Pages: 760

Author: Winsor, Justin, 1831-1897, ed; Jewett, C. F. (Clarence F.), publisher
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Boston : Osgood
Number of Pages: 760