tmrmtig a 
 
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 Division 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 DANIEL C. OILMAN. 
 


 LIFE AND WRITINGS 
 
 V**"jW* '. *"*' '* 
 
 OF 
 *t * * > "* * 
 
 ^ * * **" * f * 
 
 EBENEZER PORTER MASON; 
 
 .. INTERSPERSED WITH 
 
 HINTS TO PARENTS AND INSTRUCTORS - 
 
 ON THE 
 
 TRAINING AND EDUCATION 
 
 OF A 
 
 CHILD OF GENIUS. 
 
 BY DENISON OLMSTED, 
 
 M 
 
 PBOFZSSOR OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY AND ASTRONOMY IN YALE COLLEGE. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 DAYTON & NEWMAN, 199 BROADWAY. 
 1842. 
 

 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1842, by 
 
 DENISON OLMSTED, 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut. 
 
 Stereotyped by 
 
 RICHARD C. VALENTINE, 
 45 Gold-street, New York. 
 
 Printed by 
 
 GEORGE W. WOOD & CO., 
 45 Gold-street, New York. 
 

 :J*$8 ''* 
 
 STn tftr Sows of 
 
 THIS TRIBUTE 
 
 TO THE MEMORY OF ONE OF THE MOST GIFTED OF THEIfc NUMBER, 
 IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED. 
 
PREFACE. ^1 
 
 IT appears to have been the practice of British 
 writers much more than of our own, to give extended 
 biographies of their youth who, in the morning of life, 
 exhibited extraordinary talents, and gave promise of 
 the. highest excellence, but sunk prematurely into the 
 grave. They have tlius not only paid a suitable hom- 
 age to genius, but have secured to their country the 
 honor of which a nation may well be emulous, that 
 of giving birth to the fairest specimens of the race. 
 They have in this way rescued from oblivion, and 
 placed on the records of fame, their " Admirable" 
 Crichtons, their Henry Kirke Whites, their James Hay 
 Beatties, and their Thomas Spencers. 
 
 The writer of the present memoir has been con- 
 stantly influenced by the feeling, that a similar tribute 
 to the extraordinary youth whom it commemorates, 
 was due alike to his own memory, to the place of his 
 education, and to his country. To one who does not 
 sympathize with this feeling, some of the letters insert- 
 ed may possibly appear too little remarkable to merit 
 publication ; but he will find, on closer scrutiny, that 
 each passage serves some valuable end, in exhibiting 
 the development of intellect, the lofty aim, the kind af- 
 
 1* 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 fections, the filial piety, or the struggles with sickness 
 and penury, which marked the progress of our young 
 friend from the cradle to the grave. The same reason, 
 it is hoped, will be deemed a sufficient apology for ex- 
 posing to public view (with the consent of the relatives) 
 matters of family history, which otherwise would have 
 been held too sacred for any eye but that of friendship 
 or kindred. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 FROM HIS BIRTH UNTIL HE WAS THIRTEEN TEARS OLD. 
 
 Introductory observations- Birth and parentage Extraordinary 
 developments of his infancy and childhood Early passion 
 for books and philosophical experiments Rapid progress in 
 knowledge Residence at Nantucket Incident that awakened 
 his zeal for astronomy Farewell to Nantucket . .9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FROM THE AGE OF THIRTEEN UNTIL HE ENTERED COLLEGE. 
 
 Goes to Ellington school Early poetical effusions Love of nat- 
 ural scenery His comparison of Demosthenes and Cicero 
 Returns to Nantucket, and becomes assistant teacher Con- 
 tinues to write poetry Development of mechanical genius 
 Removal to Collinsville. 51 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FRESHMAN YEAR AT COLLEGE. 
 
 Enters Yale College Indications of superior mathematical pow- 
 ers Taste for astronomy First impressions of college-life 
 commencement of telescopic observations Symptoms of con- 
 sumptionSolutions of " Prize Problems" Rapid progress in 
 practical astronomy * .74 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SOPHOMORE YEAR. 
 
 Visits his father at Goshen Love of Nature Makes a reflecting 
 telescope Observations with Holcomb's telescope Observa- 
 tions on the solar spots Extreme accuracy and beauty of his 
 astronomical drawings Grateful disposition. JS ^ . 87 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 JUNIOR YEAR. 
 
 Vacation scenes Returns to college Commences a second 
 large telescope Calculation and observation of a lunar eclipse 
 Observation of the meteoric shower of November Priva- 
 tions incurred for his favorite objects Literary labors Fail- 
 ure of his pecuniary resources Simple habits of living Pros- 
 pect of losing his education. . . 98 
 

 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SENIOR TEAR. 
 
 Passes the fall vacation in completing a large telescope Obser- 
 vations on a great eclipse of the Sun Picture representing 
 him asleep over his calculations Resolves to devote his life to 
 astronomy Estimate of Senior year Superior perform ance of 
 .his telescope Smith's great telescope Devotes himself to 
 chemical experiments Visit to Litchfield county Plans for 
 his course of life Resumes writing poetry" Night Musings" 
 " Rosebud" Variety of his literary and social engagements 
 desponding season of the college student. . . 109 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 LIFE OF A RESIDENT GRADUATE. 
 
 Commences his researches on the Nebulae Description of these 
 objects His visit to Philadelphia and delighted intercourse 
 with men of science Plan of extensive observations for de- 
 termining the longitude Commences his Treatise on Practi- 
 cal Astronomy Straitened pecuniary circumstances Sim- 
 ple habits of living Intensity and variety of his labors Senti- 
 mental reveries. . . . . . .. ^. . . 140 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 LIFE OF A RESIDENT GRADUATE. 
 
 Alarming state of his health Various plans for employment 
 Portraiture of his feelings Aversion to flattery Account of 
 
 his friend . Declines an invitation to Roseneath High 
 
 aims and resolutions Opinion respecting the Zodiacal Light 
 Progress of his treatise on Practical Astronomy Visit to New 
 York Intense interest in astronomy Indifference to all other 
 attractions of the metropolis Proffered situation at Western 
 Reserve College Scheme for the restoration of his health. 165 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 EXPEDITION TO MAINE WITH THE 'BOUNDARY COMMISSION.' 
 
 Motives that induced him to join the boundary expedition Hurried 
 preparations Excessive labors Journey Adventures. 192 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CONCLUDING SCENES. 
 
 Return from the northeastern boundary Low state of health 
 Visit to New Haven Last pages of his Practical Astronomy 
 Journey to Virginia Rapid decline Death Character. 202 
 
 APPENDIX . . ... . . . . 235 
 
LIFE, ETC. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 FROM HIS BIRTH UNTIL HE WAS THIRTEEN YEARS OLD. 
 
 Introductory observations Birth and parentage Extraordinary 
 developments of his infancy and childhood Early passion 
 for books and philosophical experiments Rapid progress in 
 knowledge Residence at Nantucket Incident that awakened 
 his zeal for astronomy Farewell to Nantucket. 
 
 THE young astronomer whose interesting but tran- 
 sient life I propose to commemorate, adds another 
 mournful example to the catalogue, already too nume- 
 rous, of those who have died in early youth, consumed 
 by the fires of their own genius. Like Henry Kirke 
 White and John Urquart, he possessed a physical 
 frame of the most delicate mould, which proved unable 
 to sustain the constant and intense action of a mind 
 burning with enthusiasm, and stimulated by the loftiest 
 aspirations. It is melancholy to reflect, that the exqui- 
 site mechanism of such a system, is at once the con- 
 comitant of superior minds, and the harbinger of an 
 early tomb. 
 
 I acknowledge that I regarded young Mason, while 
 living, with a fondness and admiration which may 
 seem too great for the impartial biographer ; and the 
 perusal of his letters and various writings since his de- 
 
10 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 cease, has added strength to these emotions; but 
 should the picture which these alone present to my 
 own mind of a character eminently beautiful, formed 
 as it was of a union, in the finest proportions, of intel- 
 lect, imagination, and genius, with the greatest delicacy 
 of feeling and sweetness of temper, should the pic- 
 ture gradually unfold itself before the mind of the 
 reader as it has to my own, I feel assured that he will 
 share with me both my love and admiration. 
 
 The numerous friends of young Mason, both the 
 associates of his early years and his cotemporaries in 
 college, retain so strong an interest in him, and cherish 
 so high an admiration of his genius, that they call for a 
 full recital of his history. They desire to know what 
 were the first dawnings of his mind what presages 
 his infant developments afforded of great talents and 
 especially, by what steps he was led to acquire, so 
 rapidly, the rare but exalted powers which unite to 
 form the great astronomer. Nor will an analysis of 
 his intellectual powers, or an exposition of the methods 
 by which they were developed, alone satisfy their 
 wishes. Their admiration is exceeded by their affec- 
 tion for his memory, and they are inquisitive to know 
 all that related to his personal welfare, and all that in- 
 dicated the attributes of the heart as well as the endow- 
 ments of the mind. 
 
 The papers furnished me by his friends, added to my 
 own intimate acquaintance with him at the most inter- 
 esting period of his life, supply ample documents for 
 such a biography. I have before me the following 
 materials. First, a letter from his Rev. father, giving 
 an account of his infancy and childhood ; secondly, a 
 longer narrative of his early years, furnished by his 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 11 
 
 aunt, Mrs. Harriet B. Turner, who, on the decease of 
 his mother, which happened when he was only five 
 years old, assumed, and ever after sustained, a relation 
 to him truly maternal ; thirdly, the reminiscences of 
 Mr. G. H. Hollister, who was his intimate friend and 
 confidant from early life; fourthly, a full recital from 
 Mr. Hamilton L. Smith, his chief astronomical assist- 
 ant and coadjutor ; and finally, a large portion of his 
 correspondence, and nearly all the productions of his pen. 
 
 It will be a leading object of this Memoir, to deline- 
 ate the proper course to be pursued in the management 
 and education, physical and mental, of a child of extra- 
 ordinary genius ; where, as is often the case, the union 
 of a mind of intense activity with a heart of extreme 
 sensibility, and a physical constitution of the frailest 
 texture, calls for the most skilful training, or else the 
 bud withers and dies before its blossoms are fully ex- 
 panded. 
 
 EBENEZER PORTER MASON was born at Washington, 
 a retired village in Litchfield county, Connecticut, 
 December 7th, 1819. His father, Rev. Stephen Mason, 
 was pastor of the Congregational church in that town. 
 No part of New England is more distinguished than 
 this for its romantic scenery and rural quiet, and for 
 the stern virtues and primitive manners of its inhab- 
 itants. A wild and broken country, diversified by high 
 hills and deep valleys, by cultivated farms scattered 
 among dark forests, and abounding with clear streams 
 and bright waterfalls, with "rural sights and rural 
 sounds," was that which gave him his first impressions 
 of nature. Although he removed from this place at an 
 early age, yet its peculiar features left their impress on 
 his mind, and had no small influence in forming his 
 
12 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 taste. We shall see hereafter with what delight and 
 enthusiasm he revisited these scenes of his childhood. 
 
 I have recently been favored with a communication 
 from the Rev. Mr. Mason, (who now resides at Mar- 
 shall, in the state of Michigan,) giving a few particulars 
 of the earliest indications of his son's turn of mind, in 
 which it is interesting to discern traces of those extra- 
 ordinary powers of observation, which afterwards con- 
 stituted so distinguished an attribute of his genius. " In 
 the early periods of his infancy, (says his father,) he 
 showed a remarkable propensity to inspect, with great 
 closeness and minuteness of observation, whatever 
 things were presented to him, or came in any way to 
 his hands, especially such things as were constructed 
 with mechanical ingenuity and skill. I have seen 
 him, while a little creeper on the carpet, before he 
 could walk, amusing himself with an examination of 
 colors, textures, and configurations, and seemingly to 
 find exquisite delight in the graceful coils of a hair, and 
 in the variety of changes which his little fingers could 
 effect in its appearance. He was evidently delighted 
 with such delineations as were true to nature, such as 
 pictures of men, children, and animals ; and when the 
 pencil was given him for amusement, he very soon ex- 
 hibited a passion for drawing." 
 
 His mother also, in a letter now before me addressed 
 to her sister, thus describes the rapid development of 
 his infant faculties. "Porter is now two years old. 
 He tries to repeat every thing he hears, and with much 
 success. Books are his chief amusement. His play- 
 things are an old prayer-book and some picture-books, 
 and he is constantly importuning me to tell him the 
 names of this and that letter of the alphabet, and in 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 13 
 
 this way he has learned many of his letters." He 
 would not rest until he had obtained a full explanation 
 of all the cuts in his picture-books, and he would begin 
 at the first and rehearse with accuracy the various par- 
 ticulars respecting each in order, until he had com- 
 pleted the whole. " Whatever he does (says his 
 mother) is done well" a trait which was most dis- 
 tinctly exhibited through life. Again his mother 
 writes : " Porter is now three years old, and is as fond 
 of his book as ever. If we were attentive in instruct- 
 ing him, he would make great progress ; but we do 
 not desire his rapid advancement," a judicious pre- 
 caution where great precocity appears in early child- 
 hood, especially when it is connected, as is often the 
 case, with a frail and feeble bodily constitution. 
 
 " He had but just passed the third year of his age, 
 when he lost his excellent mother, who had already 
 made a successful beginning in the discipline of his 
 mind and heart. At that age he showed great consci- 
 entiousness, love for truth, aversion to whatever he con- 
 sidered wrong, and a firm adherence to whatever he 
 thought right, even when pressed with temptation to 
 the contrary course. Prior to his mother's death, he 
 always seemed most happy when sitting at her feet re- 
 ceiving instruction directly from her lips, or in some 
 other mode which she had devised for his entertain- 
 ment. The letters of the alphabet formed distinctly 
 with her pen, both in large and small characters, were 
 given him as playthings, and he was required to select 
 and hand to her the particular letter she called for. 
 In this way of delightful pastime to himself, he became, 
 in a very short time, perfectly well acquainted with 
 every letter, in every position in which it could.be pre- 
 
 2 
 
14 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 sented to his eye, and very soon learned to form com- 
 binations of letters into short words. About this time, 
 a little book containing simple words and sentences, 
 with pictorial representations of various animals and 
 things, instead of their names, was procured, which 
 took the place of his alphabetical cards, and was no 
 less amusing to him. In a few days he could spell 
 every word, and read every sentence of his little book, 
 with great ease and accuracy. Thus he proceeded 
 from reading one little volume to another that came (un- 
 der parental supervision) to his hand, until he could 
 read the Bible, with remarkable fluency and propriety, 
 before he had ever seen a common spelling-book, and 
 before he had reached the age of four years. It was 
 the aim of his parents to instruct him in such things 
 only as he was capable of understanding clearly, and 
 they permitted him to advance no further in any study 
 than was compatible with a thorough understanding of 
 it, and no other mode of study was ever satisfactory to 
 himself." 
 
 I have thought the foregoing particulars respecting 
 the early training to which the mind of this child was 
 subjected, worthy of being recited, not only as evincing 
 the precocity of his intellectual powers, but as afford- 
 ing judicious hints to parents for the culture of the in- 
 fant mind. Seldom do parents, when they discover in 
 the first dawnings of the mind of a child rays of ex- 
 traordinary brightness, wait so patiently for the day to 
 unfold. 
 
 Young Mason early imbibed a fondness for the pen. 
 His aunt speaks of a letter received from him when he 
 was only five years old ; but the earliest of his letters in 
 my possession was written when he was seven. The 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 15 
 
 language is that of a child, and I venture to copy it 
 here, not so much as evincing extraordinary powers of 
 mind, as for the traces it affords of the taste of the 
 writer at this age, and of the early formation of habits 
 of minute accuracy in mechanical execution, which is 
 more remarkable in this performance than the compo- 
 sition. Not only is the spelling correct, but the punc- 
 tuation is, for the most part, accurate enough for the 
 press ; and capital letters are used with exact propriety. 
 An attention to all the niceties of mechanical execution 
 was ever afterwards characteristic of Mason's writings, 
 even in the most familiar letter. 
 
 To Mrs. Harriet B. Turner. 
 
 Washington, April 8, 1826. 
 
 MY DEAR AUNT- 
 
 I thought you would be glad to hear from me, and 
 as I have been learning to write, I thought I would 
 write you a letter. A part of the winter I went to Mr. 
 Saunders's school and studied Latin. I have read the 
 books which you brought me last summer, and I like 
 " Jack Halyard" best. I like " Evenings in New Eng- 
 land" very well, and " Kings of England" nearly as 
 well as Jack Halyard. Burr* sends his love to you, 
 and we both wish to see you. B. likes " Poetic Tales," 
 and " Robert and William," the best of all his books. 
 Burr and I play with our bows and arrows, our hoops 
 and our balls, and I should like to be old enough to 
 have a kite. Please give my best love to my cousins 
 in Richmond. 
 
 Your affectionate nephew, 
 
 EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 
 
 * His younger brother, David Burr Mason. 
 
16 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 Had it been the express object of his parents, from 
 his infancy, to train him for the studies of Natural Phi- 
 losophy and Astronomy, I know not how they could 
 better have employed him, at this age, than in exercises 
 with " bows and arrows, hoops, balls, and kites," ex- 
 ercises which clearly constitute a branch of Experi- 
 mental Philosophy. It was not until after I had devoted 
 many years to the studies of Chemistry and Mechani- 
 cal Philosophy, that I became fully sensible that I was, 
 in my professional pursuits, only extending inquiries and 
 experiments with respect to the properties of bodies, 
 and the laws of motion, which had constituted the very 
 pastimes of my childhood. Casting an eye back upon 
 the amusements which Nature has provided for infan- 
 cy and childhood, I perceived that the greater part of 
 them are actual observations and experiments in Chem- 
 istry and Natural Philosophy. With the taper which 
 first fixes the gaze of the infant eye, the child com- 
 mences his observations on heat and light, and longs to 
 test their properties by the sense of touch as well as 
 of sight. With throwing from him whatever play- 
 thing his nurse puts into his hand, he begins his obser- 
 vations in Mechanics, and pursues them successively, 
 as he advances in age, studying the laws of projectiles 
 and of rotary motion in the arrow and the hoop, of 
 hydrostatics in the dam and the water-wheel, and pneu- 
 matics in the wind-mill and the kite. The delight which 
 Providence has connected with these exercises, serves 
 the two-fold purpose of filling what would otherwise 
 be a joyless and sterile period of life, with transport 
 and glee, and at the same time stimulating the uncon- 
 scious votary to the acquisition of that knowledge of 
 the powers and properties of natural substances, and 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 17 
 
 natural agents, which is essential to his sustenance, his 
 safety, and his well-being. Most of the feats of young 
 children, when they can for a moment escape the vigi- 
 lant eye of the nurse, and play with fire or water, in 
 short, most that goes under the odious name of mis- 
 chief, I have learned seriously to regard as merely ex- 
 periments in Chemistry and Natural Philosophy, per- 
 formed in obedience to the irresistible promptings of 
 Nature herself, for the ultimate purpose of initiating all 
 her children in her laws, so far as is essential to the'ir 
 safety and happiness. This object being gained, the love 
 of such exercises declines ; but here the philosopher 
 begins, and prosecutes the same inquiries still further, 
 and by the same methods of experiment and observa- 
 tion. Could we, in later life, interrogate Nature with 
 half the assiduity and enthusiasm with which, in infan- 
 cy and childhood, we commenced the same process, 
 we should speedily extract from her every secret of 
 her bosom. 
 
 Had the subject of this memoir retained his fondness 
 for the healthful and invigorating sports indicated in 
 his letter, they would probably have had the usual ef- 
 fect in strengthening a physical constitution naturally 
 frail, and which peculiarly needed invigoration, in or- 
 der to bear the workings of a mind of such unusual 
 activity. But he unhappily exchanged, to a great de- 
 gree, pastimes of this class for mechanical contrivances 
 and sedentary games, especially chess, a game which 
 he learned in early life, and in which he acquired, it is 
 said, great skill. 
 
 A letter before me, written to his cousin when he 
 was eight years old, mentions that he was reading the 
 " Wonders of the World," a book well fitted to cherish 
 
 2* 
 
18 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 his love of Nature. By means of Sunday School Li- 
 braries, children have been for some years past fur- 
 nished with books far better suited than those formerly 
 in use, to the improvement of their moral and religious 
 characters ; but parents and instructors do not appear 
 to be sensible of the great importance of this subject 
 in relation to their intellectual powers. A juvenile 
 work on the " Wonders of Nature," or a book of trav- 
 els, or a captivating story, which a child of genius reads, 
 not unfrequently determines his taste, and fixes the bias 
 of his mind forever afterwards. An incident that hks 
 deeply touched the heart of a child, has often been 
 known to impart its coloring to all his future destiny. 
 The parents and guardians of young Mason were fully 
 apprised of the importance of this subject, and permit- 
 ted no books to be thrown in his way but such as were 
 well fitted to train his mind to sound knowledge, and 
 his heart to virtue. 
 
 When this interesting child was five years of age, 
 his father became connected with Miss Phoebe Tall- 
 madge, daughter of John Tallmadge, Esq., of Warren, 
 Con., a lady of refined manners, unusual intelligence, and 
 ardent piety. She at once discovered the value of the 
 diamond committed to her care, and until the age of 
 seven, and in after years when he was under his father's 
 roof, she was of invaluable service to him, especially 
 in correcting many small eccentricities of character 
 into which a mind like his was prone to fall, and pre- 
 paring him to meet with the common trials, and dis- 
 charge the common duties, which are the allotment of 
 man. And -he always through life regarded her with 
 the warmest affection, and felt the highest respect for 
 her wisdom, prudence, and firmness. 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 19 
 
 From the time he was eight years old his education 
 was much under the direction of his aunt, Mrs. Turner, 
 whose maternal interest for him was repaid by an af- 
 fection truly filial. The " Reminiscences" with which 
 she has kindly favored me, and the large pile of letters 
 in my possession addressed to her, will from this period 
 constitute a great share of the materials of his biogra- 
 
 " My residence (says Mrs. T.) during the earlier pe- 
 riods of his childhood was in North Carolina, and I did 
 not see him after the death of his mother until Septem- 
 ber, 1827, when I brought him with me to Richmond. 
 On our journey from New Haven, I was surprised to 
 discover the most intense curiosity excited in his mind 
 by the steam-engine in the boat. My apprehensions 
 were strongly awakened for his safety, as it seemed 
 impossible to withdraw him from the inspection of the 
 machinery, and from following the captain through all 
 parts of the boat, to solicit explanations. These inqui- 
 ries he never relinquished until he had gained a thor- 
 ough knowledge of every part of the engine. On 
 reaching home, he took of his own accord some books 
 on Natural Philosophy, and with the aid of the dia- 
 grams and further inspection of an engine, he was soon 
 able to draw all parts of the machinery, and explain 
 their construction, so that on our return to the north, 
 in his tenth year, he had it in his power to amuse the 
 captain with his drawings and explanations." 
 
 In a letter written to his aunt while she was from 
 home, the previous year, he mentions as having found 
 in a neighboring library "several 'very interesting 
 books, such as Stewart on the Steam Engine, and 
 Wood on Railroads." 
 
20 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 Mrs. T. proceeds : " I took him to the toyshops in 
 Broadway (New York) with the view of watching the 
 effect on his mind. He looked around with great ap- 
 parent indifference. Even when I pointed out some 
 of the toys, he was entirely unmoved until he espied 
 a few books. He then approached me timidly and 
 asked ' if he might read them ?' I answered, No, my 
 dear, look about you and see if you cannot find some- 
 thing that is curious to gratify you. In a short time 
 he discovered some miniature philosophical instruments, 
 and was at once deeply interested. The only toy he 
 brought along with him was a small printing-press, 
 with which he printed his own poetry. 
 
 " As soon as we arrived at Richmond, he became a 
 member of our school for young ladies, and engaged 
 in the various studies that occupied them. In Arith- 
 metic he surpassed them all, being perfectly master of 
 every thing contained in Colburn's Arithmetic when 
 eight years old. Even then, few persons equalled him 
 in the .facility with which he made his calculations, 
 especially in fractions. In the elementary books of 
 Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and Astronomy, he 
 took the lead. The globes were his playthings, and 
 exercises on them 'constituted his favorite amusement. 
 He would seat himself on the carpet near them, and 
 ask questions until he had exhausted either the patience 
 or the capacity of his instructors. There was nothing 
 at that early age which transported him so much as 
 lessons on the stars. I began with showing him a sin- 
 gle constellation on the globe, and then pointing out 
 the same in the sky, until he became familiar with all 
 the leading constellations. He was also much de- 
 lighted with a set of astronomical transparencies in 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 21 
 
 our possession. He used at that time to recite with 
 deep feeling Bryant's ' Song of the Stars,' and other 
 poems of that description. During his boyhood, he 
 was in the habit of committing to memory a verse of 
 some author while dressing in the morning, and thus 
 secured to himself a fund of entertainment for those 
 who loved him, and for those only. He always showed 
 an instinctive dread of every thing like display. This 
 trait, I believe, was strikingly manifest to all who knew 
 him during his life. I have seen his friends deeply in- 
 terested and affected by his recital of the * Death of 
 Absalom,' by Willis, at nine years of age. The ten- 
 derness and pathos of his voice, and his appropriate 
 and discriminating intonation, surprised us. He learn- 
 ed at that period to love the poetry of Wordsworth, 
 and was almost the only one I could find in my daily 
 intercourse who discovered his beauties, and partici- 
 pated in my admiration of that poet. The Latin Gram- 
 mar was the only study that oppressed his spirits ; and 
 we resolved to lay it by and to allow his taste to guide 
 him, our great anxiety being to lessen the mental ac- 
 tion if possible, and to call forth the physical. The 
 gratification he derived from the acquisition of know- 
 ledge, occupied his spirit so intensely that the principle 
 of emulation, the usual stimulus presented to young 
 minds, made no impression upon him, although he de- 
 lighted in the approbation of his friends. He was per- 
 fectly satisfied to remain in his little chair by my side, 
 while engaged in recitations with his class, instead of 
 taking his station at the head, to which he was gener- 
 ally entitled. We used every precaution to avoid 
 giving him the idea that there was any thing uncom- 
 mon in his natural powers, or in his attainments, de- 
 
22 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 siring that the beauty of humility should not be tar- 
 nished, lest the gem which was daily appearing more 
 precious, should be robbed of its lustre." 
 
 It was fortunate for our young friend, that his early 
 education was committed to those who knew so well 
 how to appreciate the gifted powers of his mind, with- 
 out neglecting, or even sacrificing, the best affections 
 of the heart. The vanity of parents and friends not 
 unfrequently imparts its own deformities to a child of 
 genius, and supplants the lovely simplicity of nature 
 with pride, arrogance, and self-conceit. The fruits of 
 this happy training of the child, were conspicuous in 
 the youth, which was characterized by a remarkable 
 degree of modest simplicity. He always appeared to 
 me to be governed far more by the love of success in 
 difficult undertakings, than by the spirit of emulation. 
 
 A letter to his younger brother, written at this period, 
 indicates the state of his mind, and the facility of com- 
 position he had acquired at the age of nine years. The 
 language and the punctuation scarcely require the least 
 correction. 
 
 To David Burr Mason. 
 
 Richmond, April 14, 1828. 
 
 MY DEAR BROTHER 
 
 Your last letter to me I liked very much. As I 
 wrote to Father last, I must write to you this time, but 
 I write to all the family as well as to you. 
 
 Aunt Turner has made a waste piece of ground into 
 a garden, and planted a great many flower seeds in it. 
 A great hail-storm came the other day, but did not in- 
 jure any of the plants. She has given each of the 
 boarders a bed to take care of, but she says she ex- 
 pects me to be her principal gardener, because that will 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 23 
 
 strengthen my constitution. I have been to see a 
 Panorama called the Conflagration of Moscow. *It 
 was really splendid. The lamps were all put out and 
 the curtain drawn up. We could then see in the dis- 
 tance a long line of fire spreading gradually. Close to 
 us were several towns, representing the Kremlin of the 
 Czar, which reflected the light of the fire, and seemed 
 nearly red hot. The inhabitants of Moscow were seen 
 evacuating the city, moving along with their baggage, 
 and hurrying to leave the awful scene. Further off 
 was seen Buonaparte's army moving along. The towers 
 were all on the sides of the Panorama, except one, 
 which was in the middle, and from "each side of this 
 tower was something like a wall spreading out ; but I 
 think it was part of the palace. At the same time 
 drums were beating, bells ringing, trumpets blowing, 
 with several other kinds of soldiers' music. We could 
 see the incendiaries passing along to and fro with their 
 torches, among the inhabitants who were evacuating 
 the city. They were employed by the Emperor of 
 Russia to burn the city, so that Buonaparte could not 
 take it. The moon was represented beautifully, and 
 seemed to twinkle from the clouds of smoke which 
 were rising. All on a sudden the inhabitants began to 
 run, and the incendiaries to move very swiftly. Then 
 we could hear the musketry which was shot off by 
 Buonaparte's army. Suddenly I saw a smoke rising 
 behind one of those towers, and flames burst out, which 
 was owing to the explosion of a mine of gunpowder 
 extending under the wall. This was done by order 
 of the Governor of Moscow, at the time when Buona- 
 parte's army was nearest to the mine. The fire spread 
 along the wall, and destroyed it, until it reached the 
 
24 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 tower. There it stopped a little while, but it ascended 
 soon and the tower tumbled down. The fire then con- 
 tinued to flow up the wall on the other side of the 
 tower ; but the curtain was let down before it stopped. 
 I think a good deal of it must be owing to phosphorus, 
 especially the slow spreading of the distant flames. 
 
 The inventor of this Panorama was Maelzel. He 
 also exhibited several Automata. The first one was a 
 Bass Fiddler. He had a fiddle between his legs, and 
 as- a man played on the piano forte, the little fiddler 
 followed him through every note, but he did not make 
 any sound. The next ones were the Speaking Figures. 
 One of them said " Papa" by lifting up one arm, and 
 " Mamma" by lifting up the other. The next was a boy, 
 which said " Holloo" " Holloo." The last was a rope- 
 dancer. He stood on his head on the rope and kicked 
 with one leg, then extended one arm, and then the 
 other, with a variety of other feats. This was all done 
 by machinery. 
 
 Another man named Pratt exhibited a picture called 
 the " Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah." The 
 room was darkened and we saw at a distance magnifi- 
 cent houses, temples, and palaces, blazing, and fire com- 
 ing down from heaven upon them. I could see through 
 the flames the tower of Babel standing on a hill. There 
 was also a river running with a bridge over it. Near 
 us were two peaks with a road between them leading 
 up to very high mountains. Lot and his two daugh- 
 ters were seen in the road just going to disappear be- 
 hind one of the peaks, and Lot's wife was at the bot- 
 tom of the hill turned to a pillar of salt, looking back 
 to Sodom. There was a Volcano represented also. 
 It seemed as if mountains were piled upon each other. 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 25 
 
 As to-morrow is the usual time for recreation, we are 
 going into the country to have a little holiday, for I 
 like the country very much. I am now studying 
 Chemistry, French, English Grammar, Arithmetic, and 
 Composition. I am reading Telemachus and Scott's 
 Recueil in French. Give my love to Father and Mo- 
 ther and sister, and all my friends. 
 
 Your affectionate brother, 
 
 EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 
 
 The foregoing description shows that our interesting 
 child had already acquired that most essential element 
 of education, habits of fixed attention. In this picture- 
 loving and sight-seeing age, the minds of children are 
 stimulated by a restless desire of novelty. Every book 
 placed in their hands must be filled with pictures. 
 One of these is scarcely seen before the next is called 
 for, and when the whole are thus hastily reviewed the 
 interest in the book is over, and it is of little further 
 use to anybody. Nor is this superficial habit of atten- 
 tion confined to children, but characterizes a large por- 
 tion of the reading public. Crowding our elementary 
 books, especially school books, with pictures, is, in my 
 judgment, one of the most conspicuous errors of the 
 present age on the subject of education ; but the method 
 of using such pictorial representations is also extremely 
 injudicious, as its tendency is to produce the most su- 
 perficial habits of mind. I know of no better way of 
 counteracting this evil than that pursued in the case of 
 young Mason. He was taught from his infancy to 
 learn all that was indicated by one picture before pro- 
 ceeding to another. With his eye fastened on the suc- 
 cessive objects represented by any cut, he was told the. 
 
 3 
 
26 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 story of each, and afterwards called on to recite all the 
 particulars comprehended in the picture. By this pro- 
 cess, a restless and idle curiosity was prevented, fixed 
 habits of attention were formed, the powers of obser- 
 vation improved, the memory strengthened, and the 
 mind rapidly stored with knowledge. The habit of 
 dwelling upon the individualities of every object sub- 
 mitted to his inspection, inspired by such judicious 
 training in infancy, accompanied him ever afterwards, 
 and its fruits are discernible in the account which he 
 gave of the show in the preceding letter. It is, by the 
 way, a most excellent method of initiating children 
 into the art of composition, to let them write out a full 
 description of sights which have greatly interested 
 their feelings. How much superior are themes like 
 these to the abstract subjects frequently prescribed to 
 them in their earliest attempts at composing! In the 
 vexatious and discouraging effort to say any thing to 
 the purpose on such a topic, they acquire an uncon- 
 querable dislike to this essential department of educa- 
 tion. 
 
 But along with his powers of observation, young 
 Mason was cultivating that delicacy of hand which is 
 so useful and necessary to the practical astronomer. I 
 have in my possession a specimen of his penmanship 
 written at this period, and transmitted to his father. 
 It seems to have been a transcript of a copperplate en- 
 graving of some teacher of penmanship, exhibiting no 
 less than seven different styles of handwriting, includ- 
 ing German, Italian, and other ornamental hands. 
 The copy is so finished that I was in doubt until after a 
 close examination whether it was done with the pen, or 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 27 
 
 was in fact a copperplate engraving. The passage 
 written is as follows : 
 
 CHILDHOOD. 
 
 " Now take the germ and make it 
 A bud of moral beauty. Let the dews 
 Of knowledge, and the light of virtue, wake it 
 In richest fragrance, and in softest hues ; 
 For virtue leaves its sweets wherever tasted, 
 And scattered truth is never, never wasted." 
 
 'My anxiety for him (says Mrs. Turner) was in- 
 creased at this period, by his habit of resorting to his 
 book as soon as the school exercises were over, instead 
 of engaging in athletic sports, often to the neglect of 
 the summons to his meals unless personally sought for. 
 The books which furnished those attractions, were such 
 works as the Library of Useful Knowledge, and trea- 
 tises on Natural Philosophy. 
 
 " In one of our excursions to the country after he was 
 nine years old, I told him it was my wish that the 
 books should all remain at home, and not fill the car- 
 riage pockets as usual. I was desirous that he should 
 observe more of what was passing around him. and en- 
 joy the amusements of the country. But he was so 
 importunate for leave to take one number of the Library 
 of Useful Knowledge, that I consented. I frequently 
 pointed out to him passing objects, but found his atten- 
 tion wholly absorbed by the book. I asked him to let 
 me see what furnished him with so much entertain- 
 ment, and found it to be Bacon's Novum Organum. I 
 entreated him to lay it aside, believing that he could 
 not understand it. He assured me that he did, and was 
 
*>. 
 
 28 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 deeply interested in it. The visit furnished him with 
 little gratification, as the library of our friends was 
 kept locked, on the supposition that such a child could 
 have no use for books but to injure them. His only 
 resource for amusement, was to copy with his pencil 
 some of the beautiful groups of flowers from the car- 
 pet, some of which are now lying by me, touching me- 
 mentos of the activity and ingenuity of his spirit. 
 
 "In the summer of 1828, he accompanied me to the 
 mountains of Virginia, and was deeply wrought on by 
 the sublimity of mountain scenery. His sensibility to 
 the beauties of nature was extreme. The earliest of 
 his poetry in my possession is on the * Rising Sun/ and 
 the latest is an expression of his rapturous emotions on 
 contemplating the stars. Many hearts became inter- 
 ested in him during this journey, and many cords of 
 love were touched which never ceased to vibrate for 
 him. We passed a few days with President Gushing, 
 at Hampden Sydney College. He was so strongly 
 attracted by the attention and curiosity manifested by 
 one so young, that he allowed him the gratification of 
 attending his lectures, and took great pains to show 
 him the apparatus, and to explain its uses. He was 
 almost wild with delight, and when about to leave 
 them, he entreated me to allow him to remain a few- 
 days, at the earnest solicitation of the family. Finding 
 we were obliged to proceed, the tears fell abundantly 
 the only time I ever saw him unable to yield cheerfully 
 to the wishes of those who had the care of him. A 
 young friend who was with us, appealed to his con- 
 stancy of affection for her, and expressed her sorrow 
 that he should wish to forsake her. He said his affec- 
 tion for her was unabated, but he could not bear the 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 29 
 
 thought of leaving that apparatus. While spending a 
 few days with the Rev. Dr. Rice, at the Union Theo- 
 logical Seminary, that good man wisely remarked, 
 ' You have nothing to do for that boy but to attend to 
 his physical education he will do every thing else for 
 himself.'" 
 
 Although his father, the Rev. Mr. Mason, was denied 
 the privilege of daily cherishing and guiding, by paternal 
 care and counsels, the expanding faculties of his child, 
 yet by his letters he lent his aid to those who were the 
 immediate guardians of his son. The following letter 
 was received soon after the party returned from their 
 visit to the mountains. It is addressed in part to the 
 Rev. Mr. Turner, and in part to his child. 
 
 Washington, Sept. 24, 1828. 
 
 MY DEAR BROTHER 
 
 When this reaches you may it find you all returned 
 in safety and in health to your own dear home, ren- 
 dered more pleasant to you in consequence of the toils, 
 the cares, the pleasures, and the various incidents of 
 your late journey. Perhaps what you have witnessed 
 and experienced will lead you, in the calm retirement 
 of home, to profitable thoughts on the " journey of life," 
 and to sweet anticipations of a " heavenly home." If 
 all the little journeys we make to visit distant friends, 
 or for the improvement of our health, or on errands of 
 business, tend to our better preparation for "that rest 
 which remaineth for the people of God," and to make 
 on our minds an abiding impression that we are " stran- 
 gers and pilgrims on the earth," how great will be the 
 pleasure and profit of them in the end ! I hope your 
 late journey will prove to have been a profitable as 
 
 3* 
 
30 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 well as pleasing one to the young travellers of your 
 company, as well as to their experienced guardians. I 
 hope soon to read a description of the tour, at least 
 some parts of it, from Porter's pen, accompanied with 
 the more impartial and just one from yours or sister 
 Harriet's. 
 
 " How is my dear boy ? I am sometimes impatient 
 to see his sober yet happy face before the expiration 
 of another year ; but, all things considered, I am re- 
 conciled to his absence while he is blessed with health, 
 and feel that I have great cause of thankfulness to 
 God for his kind providence respecting him. 
 
 " My DEAR SON 
 
 "If you think of your father as often, and with as much 
 love, as he thinks of you, I am sure this letter from my 
 own hand will make your heart glad. It makes me 
 and your dear mother, and your brother and sister all 
 happy, to receive your letters, when you write them 
 neatly, and tell us what you are doing, where you go, 
 and what you see that interests you. We hope that 
 you have had a very happy vacation ; that you have 
 been gratified and benefited by the journey ; that you 
 have returned in health, and with a contented, thankful 
 heart ; and that you are now resolved to show your 
 gratitude to your kind uncle and aunt, by good behavior. 
 Let every thing in respect to your lessons, errands, 
 work, or amusements, be always done just as they 
 wish. And when you know what they would have 
 you do, don't wait till they tell you of it, but give them 
 the pleasure of seeing that it is already done, and save 
 them the needless trouble of giving you particular di- 
 rections repeatedly. Always think, yourself, what you 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 31 
 
 should do, without asking one unnecessary question, or 
 waiting to be told. Thus, by being obedient, kind, and 
 attentive to them, you will please your parents at home, 
 and will, I hope, please your great Father in heaven. 
 
 " All the members of our family unite in much love 
 with your affectionate father, 
 
 STEPHEN MASON." 
 
 This letter was soon answered by the dutiful child 
 as follows ; and I transcribe the more trivial as well as 
 the more important incidents, because it is not unpleas- 
 ant to see something of the appropriate traits of child- 
 hood, mingling with thoughts and feelings that were far 
 above his years. 
 
 To the Rev. Stephen Mason. 
 
 " Richmond, Oct. 7, 1828. 
 
 " MY DEAR FATHER 
 
 " I received your letter yesterday, and your wishes 
 shall be fulfilled, by giving you a description of our 
 journey to Bedford, where uncle Turner's mother 
 lived. When we arrived at the house of Mrs. H., a 
 friend of uncle Turner's, I found two boys, W. and L., 
 and we all amused ourselves with stopping the water 
 in the stream near the house. We stopped at the 
 Theological Seminary, and Dr. Rice promised me that 
 he would take me to President Cushing's College to see 
 the laboratory." 
 
 [After detailing the particulars of the first introduc- 
 tion to his new cousins, the relatives of his uncle, he adds:] 
 
 " They were very kind to me, and I became so much 
 attached to them that it distressed me exceedingly to 
 part with them. I read a great many books as we 
 
32 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 were riding, aunt T. and myself being alone in the car- 
 riage. When we returned to Col. C/s, we staid sev- 
 eral weeks, and I learned to ride on horseback, and 
 was very happy there. From thence we went to 
 Prince Edward, and visited Dr. Rice and President 
 Gushing. They took me to the college, and I saw some 
 experiments on magnetism. There was a great mag- 
 net, a teetotum spinning on the bottom of it, and 
 another teetotum spinning on the bottom of the first 
 one, and a ball on the bottom of the second teetotum, 
 and another ball on the bottom of that. I saw all the 
 models of the mechanical powers, and some mercury, 
 and an air-pump, and an electrical machine, with which 
 I was electrified. I saw the different kinds of thermom- 
 eters, and an orrery, which, by turning the handle, 
 would make the Moon go round the Earth, and the 
 Earth, Venus, and Mercury go round the Sun ; but 
 there were no other planets. I saw iodine become a 
 violet gas, and I saw the voltaic battery, but it was not 
 in action. The next day I saw the solar microscope. 
 The shutters were closed, and the president first placed 
 a mirror outside the window to reflect the sun's rays 
 in a horizontal line, and then showed us all the focuses 
 by the dust flying through the rays. Then the things 
 to be magnified were put in first, a louse, the hairs on 
 its leg looked as big as a finger ; then a fly's leg, the 
 hairs of which looked as big as my wrist, and the 
 pores of wood looked as big as my head ; then a live 
 fly was put in, but he walked so near the focus that he was 
 burnt. Some days after that I went to the Commence- 
 ment. I thought the valedictory address was best. 
 
 " Day before yesterday, I went down to Mrs. Young's, 
 where I amused myself with drawing. In the eve- 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 33 
 
 ning I read a book on Natural Philosophy, and next 
 morning I returned home. To-day school begins, and 
 I will endeavor to profit by your advice, and commence 
 my studies with renewed energy, for I have had a great 
 deal of amusement during the vacation. 
 
 " Your affectionate son, 
 
 E. P. MASON." 
 
 In the same sheet Mrs. Turner writes: "Often on 
 my journey did I wish you were present to partake of 
 the pleasure I derived, merely from witnessing the un- 
 mingled delight which the kindness of friends, and the 
 varied scenes through which we passed, furnished to 
 the happy spirit of our little boy. He has made a great 
 many friends who I am sure will never forget him, and 
 many tears have been shed by him at the separation. 
 He entered with as much eagerness into out-of-door 
 amusements as I could wish, but notwithstanding this, 
 he read all the books I took along with me in the car- 
 riage. He reads the book of Nature more understand- 
 ingly and feelingly than any young mind I ever saw ; 
 and his temperament is so exquisitely delicate, that I 
 fear there is much suffering in store for him in this cold- 
 hearted world. I was constantly watching the effect 
 of the attention he engrossed wherever he went, appre- 
 hending it might lessen his modest simplicity, and excite 
 in him vanity and self-conceit. I witnessed, however, 
 no such effect, but merely a kindling of his affection, 
 and an anxiety to stay with every friend who request- 
 ed it. 
 
 " We visited Dr. Rice at the Theological Seminary in 
 Prince Edward. The Doctor manifested an interest in 
 the child at first from regard to his mother ; but when 
 

 34 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 he became acquainted with him, he expressed an un- 
 usual solicitude for him. I had a long conversation 
 with this excellent man, respecting the course which 
 ought to be pursued in the education of our dear boy. 
 He said to me, ' His physical education is what you 
 have to pay special attention to, in order to furnish a 
 frame vigorous enough to sustain the powers of thought 
 and intense curiosity for knowledge which he exhibits.' 
 On one occasion his heart was almost broken. Doctor 
 Rice took him to the college. In the Philosophical 
 Chamber, President Gushing was performing experi- 
 ments preparatory to the general examination. It 
 seemed to astonish them all that the little boy should 
 understand them so well, and should be so delighted. 
 The President took him home with him, and went with 
 him to the Philosophical Chamber every day we staid. 
 He and Dr. R. both urged me to leave him with them 
 until my return from Col. C.'s, where I was to stay ten 
 days until Commencement ; but I knew that his mind 
 would be occupied incessantly, either at the college or 
 in the President's study, and my object was to secure 
 to him as much bodily activity as possible. I there- 
 fore reluctantly took him back with me, though it 
 grieved him very much. The French language is to 
 be his principal study this winter, under a Parisian 
 master. I shall endeavor to keep all story books out 
 of his way, that the time which he devotes to seden- 
 tary pursuits shall be study and not mere entertainment, 
 and have a large portion left for active exercise." 
 
 His affectionate and attentive aunt continued to 
 watch over her interesting charge with maternal in- 
 terest and fidelity, but unhappily found it impossible to 
 withdraw him from his darling books into the field of 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 35 
 
 active sports, although she was fully aware of their 
 importance to so delicate a constitution. In the Remi- 
 niscences with which she has kindly furnished me, she 
 proceeds with his early history as follows : 
 
 " We returned to the North in August, 1829, and he 
 took with him a complete set of maps, which he had 
 copied from the school Atlas, and a book of his Com- 
 positions which I suppose must be still in his father's 
 possession.* The method adopted in writing these was, 
 after hearing a story read, to take a slate and express 
 in his own language his recollections of it. I was of- 
 ten surprised at the result of those efforts, and regret 
 exceedingly that they have passed out of my hands." 
 
 The method of teaching composition thus practised 
 with young Mason, cannot be too strongly recommend- 
 ed. It is difficult, but not impossible, to cultivate in 
 children a love of the pen. The mode which I have 
 found most successful, is first to teach the young pupil 
 how to take notes. He takes his pencil and a strip of 
 paper, and writes a few catch-words, or brief expressions 
 that serve merely as memoranda, by the aid of which 
 he afterwards writes out in full all he can remember 
 of what he heard. Let him write but little at first. 
 He will gradually learn to take more copious notes, 
 and to be more judicious in the choice of the expres- 
 sions he records ; and these materials he will learn 
 more and more to expand, until he acquires the power 
 of writing out from memory the greater part of any 
 discourse he has heard. I have known lads of twelve 
 
 * I learn from the Rev. Mr. Mason that nearly all the papers 
 of his son, and most of his letters to him, have been irretrieva- 
 bly lost, in his numerous removals. By this means one impor- 
 tant resource for this memoir has been cut off. 
 
36 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 and fourteen years of age derive great benefit from at- 
 tending in this manner a course of popular lectures, 
 especially on Chemistry a science whose simple but 
 novel truths, accompanied by experiments that usually 
 are extremely interesting to children, render it pecu- 
 liarly suited to such a purpose. A similar practice 
 may be very advantageously applied to sermons, and 
 serves to occupy the young hearer agreeably, and to 
 prevent those roving habits of mind, and that habitual 
 inattention, which are equally unfavorable to intellec- 
 tual and spiritual improvement. But we recur to the 
 interesting recital of Mrs. Turner. 
 
 " The passion for Astronomy kindled in these open- 
 ing hours never declined, but was lighted by every 
 beam of intelligence his eager spirit could catch. We 
 had no stellar maps at that time except two, which I 
 had copied from an English work on Astronomy. Dr. 
 Rice, discovering his intense thirst for this science, 
 made us a present of a work entitled " Wonders of the 
 Heavens," in which were maps of the constellations 
 with plates exhibiting telescopic views of the moon, 
 which gratified him exceedingly. Burritt's maps were 
 not seen by him until after he was twelve years old. 
 They were seized by him with the greatest avidity, 
 and were almost constantly his evening companions, 
 until he was fully in possession of every thing they 
 contained." 
 
 During the winter of 1829, Mrs. T. was a severe 
 sufferer under the effects of a fall, which for a time de- 
 prived her of the use of her limbs. In her beloved 
 child she found a sweet solace. " His tenderness and 
 solicitude (she observes) surpassed any thing I ever 
 witnessed. His intelligence and loveliness contributed 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 37 
 
 to diminish the acuteness of my sufferings, by furnish- 
 ing the most interesting occupation for my mind. He 
 had less of human frailty in his temper and disposition 
 than any child that has fallen under my observation, in 
 my long experience of the care of young persons. His 
 tenderness of conscience, and consideration for the 
 feelings of others, were never surpassed." 
 
 His father also writes, in a letter received since the 
 death of his son : "From his very infancy he manifested 
 an uncommon tenderness of conscience, greater than 
 what I have witnessed in any other person, insomuch 
 that I was almost persuaded that he was a subject of 
 divine grace when a very young child. Before he was 
 one year old, he had learned to practice cheerful sub- 
 mission to the will of his parents, and never since have 
 I known him show the least resistance or opposition to 
 parental authority. In reflecting upon his life, I can 
 think of nothing which would absolutely disprove his 
 having been sanctified from his birth, save the general 
 fact, that he seemed more interested and engrossed 
 with other subjects, particularly with the pursuits of 
 science, than with religion." The aspect which the 
 character of young Mason presented to the watchful 
 eye of his aunt at this period, was recorded by her in 
 the following lines. 
 
 " A boy ! yet in his eye you trace 
 
 The thoughtfulness of riper years ; 
 
 And tales are in that serious face 
 
 Of feelings early steeped in tears ; 
 
 And in that tranquil gaze, 
 
 There lingers many a thought unsaid, 
 
 Shadows of other days, 
 
 Whose hours with forms of beauty came and fled. 
 
 4 
 
38 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 And sometimes it is even so ; 
 
 The spirit ripens in the germ ; 
 
 The new-sealed fountains overflow, 
 
 The bright wings tremble in the worm, 
 
 The soul detects some passing token, 
 
 Some emblem of a brighter world, 
 
 And with its shell of clay unbroken, 
 
 Its shining pinions are unfurled ; 
 
 And like a blessed dream, 
 
 Phantoms apparelled from the sky, 
 
 Athwart its vision gleam, 
 
 As if the light of heaven had touched its gifted eye." 
 
 But it was not to the partial eye of kindred alone, 
 that the early childhood of Mason appeared to develop 
 extraordinary mental endowments, and to afford prog- 
 nostics of future greatness. I have been favored with 
 a communication from a gentleman, Mr. G. H. Hollis- 
 ter, who knew him as a companion and playmate in 
 the days of infancy, and after an interval of a few 
 years, renewed at college an intimacy which lasted 
 during the remainder of his life. Mr. Hollister gives 
 the following account of Mason up to the period when 
 he was eight years old. 
 
 " All who have any recollections of Mason's early 
 childhood, agree in the testimony that he was a boy of 
 an original, and somewhat singular turn of mind. His 
 faculties were developed so early, as to make his ac- 
 quirements the object of considerable notice in his na- 
 tive town, before he had reached the age when other 
 boys are beginning to learn their alphabet. Whenever 
 the anxious mothers of Washington appealed to the 
 emulation or pride of their backward sons and daugh- 
 ters, little Porter Mason was always presented to their 
 minds as an example of excellence most worthy of their 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 39 
 
 imitation. As soon as he had learned the first rudi- 
 ments of the English language, he seemed to lose all 
 taste for the sports which had before amused him, and 
 gave himself up, almost exclusively, to the pursuit of 
 knowledge. It is related of him that when he went, 
 for a visit, with a company of other children, to the 
 house of a neighbor, he seldom remained long with the 
 group, but sought the first opportunity to hide himself 
 in a private chamber, or to steal away to some shady 
 nook of the garden, to be alone with a favorite book ; 
 so that when the hour arrived for tea, the young de- 
 serter was rarely to be found without diligent search. 
 This habit of retirement, added to a gravity of coun- 
 tenance, not often to be met with in one of his years, 
 gave him, among his little circle of companions, the title 
 of 'Minister' a title which pleased him so much that 
 he gave a large portion of his time to reading upon re- 
 ligious subjects, with a view to qualify himself for the 
 clerical profession, long before he was able to under- 
 stand the importance or sacredness of the office. He 
 used humorously to say, ' he had already taken orders, 
 and expounded the doctrines of the church to every 
 peach-tree and currant-bush on his father's premises.' 
 These discourses to the vegetable kingdom were reci- 
 ted in the most clerical tone, and enforced with a va- 
 riety of gestures suitable to the capacities of his ima- 
 ginary audience. 
 
 " His schoolboy days \vere characterized by the same 
 love of solitude and study. The old elm is still stand- 
 ing upon the village green, under the shade of which 
 he used to spend the quiet summer noondays, with his 
 eye fixed on some ancient history, or tale of fiction, 
 regardless of the mirth of the girls and boys who were 
 
40 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 sporting around him. In school hours, if a hard prob- 
 lem was to be solved, or an intricate lesson explained, 
 any thick-headed or idle boy knew well that Porter 
 was able and willing to furnish him an easy solution of 
 all his difficulties. During his residence in Washington, 
 he devoured, with an eagerness that could never be 
 satisfied, every thing of a literary character, both in 
 prose and verse, that fell in his way. He was also 
 singularly studious to collect oral information from all 
 who were willing to communicate it. This led him to 
 relish the society of adults rather than of those of his 
 own age. I remember well that in the sabbath-school 
 class, he always contrived to station hiniself next to the 
 teacher, where he would sit with his eyes fixed upon 
 ' the boy who was reciting. This he did both to prompt 
 the scholar if he should happen to fail in his answer, 
 and also to question the teacher upon whatever ap- 
 peared to him unexplained or obscure. He could re- 
 peat more verses of Scripture than any boy in the class, 
 and was so ready to quote a passage when it was 
 wanted, that we had little need of a Bible to search for 
 references." 
 
 Of his interest in the study of the Scriptures, his 
 father gives the following account: " When at home he 
 was a member of my Bible Class, and although younger 
 than most of the members, he never failed to be present 
 at the meetings, and to show that he had gained a 
 thorough knowledge of the lessons. The clearness 
 and strength of his intellectual faculties, were no less 
 perceptible in his biblical than in his mathematical in- 
 vestigations. I may truly say, that from a child he 
 has known the Scriptures that his mind has been 
 familiar with the evidences of Christianity that he 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 41 
 
 never appeared to entertain a doubt of the truth and 
 divine inspiration of the Scriptures." 
 
 In the year 1829. Rev. Mr. Mason removed from 
 Washington to Nantucket, where he became pastor of 
 a Congregational church. For some time previous to 
 this, the state of the family had been unsettled and un- 
 happy, and Mrs. Turner, to whose charge the interesting 
 child had been committed, had recently been sorely 
 afflicted by the consequences of a severe fall, to which 
 allusion has already been made. 
 
 I have before me a letter written at this time by Mr. 
 Mason to Mr. and Mrs. Turner, from which I may be 
 excused for making a few extracts, as they illustrate 
 the views entertained at that period of the subject of 
 this memoir. 
 
 After a few introductory remarks, the letter proceeds : 
 " I have hoped that our dear children might somehow 
 derive spiritual good from the late sufferings of their 
 parents and guardians. Should our trials render us 
 more spiritual and heavenly-minded, should they ren- 
 der us more faithful in our duty as parents and teachers, 
 more prayerful, solicitous, and laborious for the salva- 
 tion of our dear children, the end will prove them to 
 have been great blessings in disguise. My anxiety for 
 Porter has, I think, never been so great as in the last 
 three months. Not that I consider him in peculiar 
 danger of losing his soul from the influence of worldly 
 temptations ; though I have fears that his eager pursuit 
 of knowledge, or rather that his love of literary and 
 scientific pursuits, will prevent his giving due attention 
 to the claims of religion, and his having a deep and 
 habitual sense of its importance. I cannot but fear 
 that he is in danger of making his intellectual improve- 
 
 4* 
 
42 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 ment, rather than his preparation for heaven, a primary 
 object. When I consider his age, and his uncommon 
 maturity of mind, I feel that he is capable of under- 
 standing his character as a sinner, and his obligations 
 to the Saviour ; and that no instruction or influence is 
 at present so important to him as that, which directly 
 tends to convince him of sin and to bring him to Christ. 
 I feel the more on this subject, when admonished, as I 
 often am, that he is an extraordinary child, and that he 
 may be taken from us by death at an early period of 
 life. Mrs. D. said to me, when we were last in New 
 Haven, ' You must not expect that your little son will 
 live long/ I remember also the solicitude and fervent 
 prayers of his departed mother for him. O how often 
 did she present him at the throne of grace, and like 
 Hannah, devote him to God ! When I think of these 
 things, I am anxiously hoping that evidences of experi- 
 mental religion will appear in him ere long. And I 
 do most earnestly pray that since it is the will of God, 
 in his holy providence, that he should be under your 
 immediate care and instruction, you may. have wisdom 
 and grace to direct you in the use of such means, as 
 God will bless to the sanctification of this dear child." 
 It is much to be regretted that the letters of the son 
 to the father, with a few exceptions, have been lost, so 
 that we are unable to say how far his feelings respond- 
 ed to the yearnings of parental love in respect to his 
 immortal interests. All that we can learn, however, 
 either from his own writings, or from the testimony of 
 others, is evincive of a most filial and dutiful spirit. 
 The religious impressions early enforced by the fer- 
 vent prayers and earnest counsels of his parents, we 
 have reason to believe were never obliterated from his 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 43 
 
 mind. The apprehension that great precocity of the 
 intellectual faculties is the prognostic of an early tomb, 
 is probably but too well founded. It is indeed a source 
 of needless anxiety to some parents, whose partial eye 
 detects in the ordinary development of the faculties of 
 a child, which, when attentively watched, always ap- 
 pear surprisingly rapid, marks of extraordinary powers 
 when there is nothing very uncommon. In the case 
 before us, however, there was no room for self-decep- 
 tion, since the signs of such precocity were unequivo- 
 cal, while the uncommon delicacy and frailty of the 
 physical system with which they were united, afforded 
 peculiar cause for alarm. 
 
 When Mr. Mason found himself pleasantly settled at 
 Nantucket, he once more assembled his beloved family 
 around him, and Porter among the rest. He had come 
 by sea from Richmond to New York, and found his 
 way thence to his father's new home. His first letter 
 from Nantucket is addressed to Mrs. Turner, dated 
 July llth, 1830. 
 
 " MY DEAR AUNT 
 
 " I have so many things to tell you, that I hardly know 
 where to begin. I had a very pleasant passage, and I 
 can say that I was not sick at all on the voyage. I in- 
 tended to go from New York on Friday evening, when 
 I could have company ; but that very day, at dinner, I 
 heard that there was a sloop going to Nantucket next 
 morning, the very one which father and our family 
 went in. I resolved to go in it, but it was now four 
 o'clock in the afternoon and it was to sail at five. I 
 had to pack up very quick and go on board. I arrived 
 here Sunday afternoon after a passage of about two 
 
44 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 days. All Sunday there was a brisk wind against us. 
 When I came to the wharf, I was surprised to see so 
 large a city. It is nearly as large as Richmond, and 
 the population is between seven and eight thousand. 
 The place is called Nantucket. The houses are nearly 
 all of wood, and are painted any way, white one side, 
 red another, green another, or some such way, and 
 they are for the most part covered all over with shin- 
 gles. They have walks on the top to get a view of 
 the sea. 
 
 " There are some trees on the island. In the town 
 they are about as thick as on Shocco Hill in Rich- 
 mond ; but in the country there are not any except a 
 small grove for the cattle to find shelter from the 
 storms. The soil is sandy, but when I rode out of 
 town the grass was so green, and all was so pleasant, 
 that I never thought of the want of trees and fences. 
 There are a great many more ships and vessels here 
 than in Richmond, most of which are engaged in the 
 whale fishery. When I came into port they were so 
 thick that our sloop could hardly enter. There have 
 been several launches here since I arrived, one of which 
 I went to see ; but as they could not prepare it till 
 several hours afterwards, I returned. There is but 
 one steamboat here at present, called the Marco Boz- 
 zaris, which runs twice a week between here and New 
 Bedford. 
 
 " D. and I entered Coffin-school Monday June 28th. 
 It is a large school, and a great many boys are idle and 
 vicious. Nine of them were whipped yesterday after- 
 noon. I now study Caesar, Arithmetic, Reading, and v 
 Writing. 
 
 " Our house is large, and there are rooms in the base- 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 45 
 
 rnent story, in one of which D. and I have chisels and 
 other tools, with which we make ships, hen-coops, &c. 
 L. has a baby-house up stairs in her room in which are 
 about six babies, which she instructs. D. and I are 
 both well, and Father and Mother are about half as 
 well as we are. We have a hired servant named 
 Martha. Her parents reside in a part of the town 
 called New Guinea, where the blacks live, and they 
 are a very merry set of people ; and now when I wish 
 myself in Guinea I can easily get there." 
 
 The reader must not forget that it is the letter of a 
 little boy, ten years old, that he is perusing ; but while 
 the style is simple and artless as became the age of the 
 writer, the amount of information it contains respecting 
 his new residence, his studies and employments, and the 
 situation of his family, is as great as could well be con- 
 tained in so small a compass. Conciseness and sim- 
 plicity of style were indeed qualities which always 
 characterized his writings. 
 
 His uncle, the Rev. Mr. Turner, used occasionally 
 to indulge his humor with him, amusing himself with 
 the sprightly repartees which his pleasantry would 
 elicit. His young friend was fond of receiving such 
 letters from his uncle, and always replied to them in a 
 humorous though respectful tone. I subjoin a few ex- 
 tracts as illustrative of this element of young Mason's 
 character. 
 
 To the Rev. J. H. Turner. 
 
 " Nantucket, Sep. 25, 1830. 
 
 " MY DEAR UNCLE 
 
 " I received your letter of September 2d, and derived 
 much amusement from it. As for Nantucket, so far 
 
46 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 from being the "jumping off place," it lies exactly over 
 the centre of. the earth. 
 
 " I went to Siasconset a few weeks ago, a small town 
 on the northeastern part of Nantucket. On the beach 
 the sea rolls very high. It is eight or nine miles from 
 town, composed of fishermen's houses, mostly white- 
 washed, where the fishermen stay in the fishing season. 
 A few of the wealthy people have handsome gardens 
 and cottages there, where they reside in the summer 
 season. People here are very fond of puddings : they 
 make blackberry puddings, whortleberry puddings, and 
 puddings of nearly every thing they can be made of, in- 
 cluding corn-puddings which they manufacture out of 
 green corn, and I like them much. 
 
 " I hope I shall not forget my obligation to you in your 
 old age. My house (if I have one) and all its comforts 
 must be shared with you, and my bed also. I have not 
 caught a whale yet, but the first one I catch shall be 
 sent you. 
 
 " Your affectionate nephew, 
 
 E. P. MASON." 
 
 To Mrs. H. B. Turner. 
 
 " Nantucket, June 3d, 1831. 
 
 " MY DEAR AUNT 
 
 "I received your letter yesterday, and am much 
 pleased to hear that you are better. I am now in the 
 first class in school, and study Latin, Greek, Algebra, 
 Geometry, Natural Philosophy, History, Rhetoric, 
 Reading and Writing. I have given up French this 
 quarter, because I could not get along with that and 
 my other studies. I got the first medal, or highest re- 
 ward of merit, last quarter. Our Sabbath School has 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON'. 47 
 
 about one hundred scholars, and a pretty good library. 
 A while ago I was librarian, and now I am teacher. 
 When Father went to New York, he bought a paint- 
 box for me, and I can now paint as much as I please. 
 
 " We have lately obtained Peter Parley's Tales about 
 the Sea Peter Parley's Tales about Islands and his 
 Tales about the Sun, Moon, and Stars. But as I have 
 lessons to get evening and morning, and take some ex- 
 ercise, I have not much time for reading books. I still 
 have the same establishment down cellar as before for 
 building ships, &c. only I have not so much time as for- 
 merly to work at it. I wish very much I had thoge 
 numbers of the Library of Useful Knowledge. I could 
 make some of the things described in them, especially 
 those in the number on Mechanics, since I have an 
 assortment of tools. 
 
 "Your affectionate nephew, 
 
 E. P. MASON." 
 
 Our young Scholar had now reached the age of 
 twelve years, and was living in an atmosphere almost 
 purely intellectual. The variety and elevated character 
 of his studies in school, with a standing far raised above 
 all competition books suited to his taste to absorb lit- 
 tle intervals of time out of school and mechanical 
 structures in which he delighted for his pastime ; occu- 
 pation so incessant but so congenial to his taste, secured 
 to this period of his life an overflowing of unmingled 
 happiness scarcely known to him before or afterwards. 
 
 While in this school, he one day surprised the head 
 master by an unexpected indication of mathematical 
 powers. A scholar of a higher class, went through a 
 demonstration, and was approved as correct. Mason 
 
48 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 had not attended to this branch of mathematics, but sat 
 near apparently pursuing his own studies. But his atten- 
 tion was arrested by an error in the demonstration, and 
 addressing the preceptor in a slow, measured, precise 
 tone to which he was addicted in childhood, " Is that- 
 right ?" said he. " Right ! (answered the preceptor) 
 why not?" Mason took up the demonstration and 
 went through with it, and proved that the conclusion 
 was entirely different from that obtained by the other 
 boy. The preceptor, on meeting Mason's father, ex- 
 pressed a strong conviction of the high mathematical 
 powers of his pupil. 
 
 About this time the Rev. Mr. Mason received a visit 
 from his brother-in-law, the Rev. J. Marsh, who wore 
 a pair of concave glasses. Perceiving that young Ma- 
 son was also near-sighted, he put his spectacles on him, 
 and the family were greatly amused at his manifesta- 
 tions of surprise and delight, as he looked abroad on 
 nature and saw with a distinctness and beauty before 
 unknown to him, the houses, the trees, the birds, and 
 people walking in the streets. In the evening Mr. 
 Marsh took him abroad, and let him look through the 
 glasses at the heavenly bodies. He was filled with 
 ecstacy and amazement. It was the first time he had 
 ever distinctly seen a star or the firmament in its glory. 
 From this period. he was furnished with a pair of spec- 
 tacles, and never afterwards dispensed with the use of 
 them. In one of the last conversations I had with him, 
 only three weeks before his death, in reply to my in- 
 quiry " what first turned his attention to the study of 
 astronomy ?" he referred to the incident here related 
 by Rev. Mr. Marsh, and spoke with enthusiasm of the 
 new and more exalted views which he thus obtained 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 49 
 
 of the charms of nature. Being sent on an errand in 
 the evening, he remained out till a late hour gazing on 
 the stary heavens with equal delight and astonishment. 
 
 The satisfaction which his father enjoyed in being 
 able to superintend his education and to witness his 
 extraordinary proficiency, is expressed in a postscript 
 to the foregoing letter. "Our merciful God (he ob- 
 serves) lays us under great obligations to be thankful. 
 We have many blessings above what we enjoyed at 
 Washington, particularly one which I value highly 
 that of educating my children in higher branches than 
 were taught there. P. is making steady advances in 
 his studies, and is the admiration of his teachers and of 
 many others." 
 
 Mason remained at this period only about two years 
 at Nantucket, but this time seems to have passed very 
 pleasantly and profitably. " He always (says Mr. Hoi- 
 lister) spoke of Nantucket with enthusiasm, as the spot 
 where his mind had developed itself with the greatest 
 rapidity. This he attributed more to the situation of 
 the place than to any other cause. ' The peculiar 
 habits of the islanders, (he said) living as it were in a 
 little world of their own, the sun rising out of the wa- 
 ter, and the stars reflected upon its surface in the eve- 
 ning, made an impression upon my mind that I could 
 never forget. If ever I was any thing of a poet, it was 
 there.' It was here that he wrote many of his literary 
 fragments, some of which, considering the extreme 
 youth of the author, have much merit. There is 
 little doubt that this situation was highly favorable 
 to the growth of his mind ; and it is not improbable 
 that it tended much to increase that admiration of the 
 heavenly bodies, which grew at length to be the mas- 
 
50 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 ter-passion of his soul. When the eye is confined to a 
 narrow spot of earth, it naturally turns upward to the 
 sky ; and the star that shone on the crest of the wave 
 must have made a more durable impression on his 
 mind, and inspired him with a deeper reverence of the 
 wonders of nature, than the same luminary could have 
 done as it shone through the maples that shaded the 
 place of his nativity." 
 
 The emotions with which Mason finally bid adieu to 
 Nantucket, in 1835, were expressed in the following 
 lines : 
 
 FAREWELL TO NANTUCKET. 
 
 " Thou art a barren spot of earth, 
 
 A lonely island of the sea, 
 
 And though thou'rt not my place of birth, 
 
 Thou'st been a welcome home to me. 
 
 And now, when I must leave thy shore, 
 
 I cannot go without a tear, 
 
 To think I cannot see thee more, 
 
 Nor tread thy fields to memory dear. 
 
 'Tis not alone thy soil I love, 
 
 But heave a sad and sorrowing heart, 
 
 That when from thee I far remove, 
 
 From dearest friends I too must part. 
 
 I go to distant, milder lands, 
 
 But in my bosom cherish still, 
 
 The fond remembrance of my friends 
 
 Thou sea-girt island, Fare thee well !" 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 51 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FROM THE AGE OF THIRTEEN UNTIL HE ENTERED COLLEGE. 
 
 Goes to Ellington school Early poetical effusions Love of nat- 
 ural scenery His comparison of Demosthenes and Cicero 
 Returns to Nantucket, and becomes assistant teacher Con- 
 tinues to write poetry Development of mechanical genius 
 Removal to Collinsville. 
 
 In the autumn of 1832, the Rev. Mr. Mason deter- 
 mined on sending his son to Ellington school, a new in- 
 stitution for preparing boys for college, situated a few 
 miles east of Hartford, in a delightful country village. 
 Under the able superintendence of Judge Hall, assisted 
 by competent teachers, this school had acquired a high 
 reputation, and was therefore selected by the friends 
 of young Mason as a place peculiarly favorable for 
 developing and maturing his uncommon faculties. He 
 had already made considerable proficiency in Latin, 
 Greek, French, and mathematics, and was far advanced 
 in his preparation for college ; but he was still too 
 young, by two years, to enter Yale, the lowest limit being 
 fourteen for the freshman class of this institution. His 
 friends, however, were desirous of obtaining for him 
 more finished instruction, and more personal attention, 
 than could be obtained in so large and promiscuous a 
 school as that of Nantucket. He prosecuted his studies 
 at Ellington with great zeal, under accurate instructors, 
 but I have been able to obtain but few memoranda of 
 
52 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 this period. Of the compositions written at this time, 
 those preserved are chiefly poetical. From early 
 childhood he had been accustomed to write fugitive 
 pieces of poetry, but he seems to have regarded none 
 of them as worth preserving, since in a book now be- 
 fore me, in which he transcribed his poetical effusions, 
 the earliest inserted is a translation of the opening lines 
 of the second book of Virgil's Eneid. It is dated, 
 Nantucket, April 6, 1832. During the latter part of 
 his college life, he began to copy such of his poems as 
 he wished to preserve, into a book, arranging them, with 
 their respective dates, in the order in which they were 
 written. He left it unfinished, having transcribed the 
 series no further than to April 3d, 1833, the spring be- 
 fore he entered college. The handwriting in which 
 these productions of his early muse are penned, deserves 
 attention, as indicative of his mechanical ingenuity. It 
 is executed in a great variety of styles of ornamental 
 penmanship, all of which are exceedingly elegant. 
 Since men of genius are as frequently characterized by 
 negligence as by excellence in their handwriting, and 
 since superior penmanship, although a desirable accom- 
 plishment, is not always the associate of superior intel- 
 lectual endowments, I should not lay so much stress 
 upon this talent in the case of my young friend, were 
 it not that it afforded the first indication of that remark- 
 able delicacy of hand, which afterwards formed so es- 
 sential an element in his qualifications for a great 
 practical astronomer. 
 
 In the early poetry of Mason, I am unable to dis- 
 cover many traits of the original poet, which are to be 
 sought for rather in the combination and turn of thought 
 than in harmony of versification. He was in fact 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 53 
 
 much more a being of intellect than of imagination, and 
 was fitted by nature to shine in the investigations of 
 truth rather than in the creations of fiction. There 
 has often been traced a connection between mechani- 
 cal genius and a certain kind of poetical talent, which 
 exhibits itself more in the happy structure of the verse, 
 than in original combinations of ideas, or in new poetic 
 imagery. The phrenologist would refer the power not 
 to ideality, or the faculty of creating or perceiving 
 beauty, but to constructiveness, or the power of devising 
 and executing mechanical combinations. In this class 
 of poets we find men whose fame has rested almost 
 solely upon their mechanical inventions, or experi- 
 mental inquiries into nature, but on reading their biog- 
 raphy we unexpectedly find them to have been no in- 
 considerable poets. Sir Humphry Davy, the most 
 inventive and ingenious of all the experimental philoso- 
 phers of Great Britain, stands perhaps at the head of 
 this class, and wrote poems distinguished for their easy 
 versification ; and Mr. Watt, whose name is so inti- 
 mately associated with all that is valuable in the steam- 
 engine, was at least an ardent lover of poetry. 
 
 That the poetry of Mason was to be referred chiefly 
 to his mechanical genius, has appeared evident to me 
 not only from its intrinsic qualities, but also from the 
 greater success he met with in his earlier attempts in 
 translations than in original compositions, and especially 
 in the structure of acrostics, where his ingenuity found 
 an appropriate exercise. A large portion of all the 
 pieces he has collected in the book before referred to 
 are of the latter description. He was also much gifted, 
 it is said, in extemporaneous rhyming. 
 
 Indeed, it was in vain that his friends, pleased as they 
 5* 
 
54 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 were with the smooth verses of the schoolboy, endeav- 
 ored to persuade him that he was a poet. He estima- 
 ted his poetical genius so low, that most that he wrote 
 was only at the ardent solicitations of friendship, and 
 he is believed never to have afforded a single specimen 
 of this talent in his college exercises. Few of his fel- 
 low students knew, until near the close of his college 
 life, that he ever attempted poetry. 
 
 But if we fail to find in the juvenile productions of 
 his muse, marks of that inspiration which characterized 
 the wonderful effusions of Lucretia and Margaret Da- 
 vidson at the same age, yet we sl^ll discover proofs of 
 good taste, of a knowledge and power of language 
 much above his years, and of great ingenuity. The 
 earliest specimen of his poetry in my possession is a 
 translation of the story of the " Wooden Horse," in 
 the second book of the Eneid. It was begun at Nan- 
 tucket in April, 1832, and finished at Ellington the 
 following year, having apparently constituted several 
 distinct school exercises. It will be borne in rnind that 
 he was still under fourteen years of age. 
 
 THE GRECIAN HORSE. 
 
 " Broken by wars, by powerful fates repelled, 
 For many years from conquering Troy withheld, 
 The Grecian leaders, by Minerva's art, 
 Construct a horse, complete in every part ; 
 Of bended fir its lofty sides they make, 
 And then pretend to Greece their course to take ; 
 But in its gloomy walls and horrid side, 
 A band of armed men by stealth they hide. 
 
 There is an island, Tenedos, in sight, 
 Well known to fame, and rich in power and might, 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 55 
 
 Whilst Priam over Phrygia held his sway, 
 But now unsafe for ships, a faithless bay. 
 Here, having sailed from Troy, the Grecians land, 
 And hide their forces on the sea-washed sand. 
 We think them gone to seek their native shore, 
 And Troy is buried in long grief no more ; 
 The gates are opened wide ; the Trojans throng 
 To see the camps that threatened Troy so long. 
 Here was Achilles and the Grecian bands, 
 And here the army lay upon the sands : 
 The gift of Pallas draws their gazing eyes, 
 And all admire and wonder at its size. 
 And from Thymoetes first this counsel falls, 
 To place the lofty horse within the walls, 
 Either through treachery or base design, 
 Or so decreed the fates and powers divine. 
 But Capys, joined with those of better rnind, 
 Suspecting Grecian craft, and fraud designed, 
 Exhorts to plunge it in the rolling waves, 
 Or to explore its sides and secret caves, 
 Or with fierce flames the pile to sweep along ; 
 But various wishes sway the uncertain throng. 
 
 Now first of all Laocoon descends 
 From the high tower a thronging train attends ; 
 Far off he cries aloud, O wretched men ! 
 Will you this foolish madness still retain ? 
 Or think you that the treacherous Greeks have gone ? 
 Can e'er their gifts want guile ? Is thus Ulysses known ? 
 The Greeks are hidden in this massive pile, 
 Or it is built to hide some crafty wile : 
 Perchance to spy our city, and rush down, 
 From that superior height, upon the town. 
 
56 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 Whate'er it is, e'en gifts from Greeks I fear. 
 Having thus said, he hurled his whizzing spear. 
 With headlong force, deep in the curving wood 
 Of the grim horse that high above them stood. 
 Fixed fast it stuck, and with a hollow moan, 
 The hidden sides and secret caverns groan : 
 And if the cruel fates, and our rash mind, 
 And blind temerity, had not combined, 
 Thou, native Troy ! thy glory shouldst retain, 
 And Priam's lofty towers should still remain." 
 
 After passing one session at Ellington, he returned to 
 Nantucket to spend his spring vacation. The journey 
 through a verdant and blooming country, arrayed in the 
 beauties of spring, seems to have charmed him, and 
 the description of it given to Mrs. Turner, in a letter 
 written soon after his return to Ellington, evinces how 
 early he had imbibed a love of nature. " In returning 
 to Ellington, (says he,) we sailed up the Connecticut, 
 and were two or three days on the way, having had 
 little wind most of the time, so that we had a very good 
 opportunity of viewing its scenery. Its beautiful foliage, 
 which, at this season of the year was very luxuriant, 
 was peculiarly pleasing to me, because I had lived for 
 two or three years back where no trees grow ; and 
 when I came to Ellington, every thing had changed for 
 the better since I left it. The trees were all in blos- 
 som, and every thing was so green." 
 
 Among his papers are preserved a series of" compo- 
 sitions," written at Ellington school. For a lad of four- 
 teen, they are remarkable productions, exhibiting much 
 accurate thought, a pure and just taste, and a style at 
 once simple and vigorous. A predominance of Saxon 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 57 
 
 English is observable in all his writings, whether earlier 
 or later. The following is the second of the series : 
 
 A COMPARISON OF DEMOSTHENES AND CICERO. 
 
 " In the circumstances of these two orators, who are 
 universally allowed to be the greatest that have ever 
 existed, there is a striking similarity. They flourished, 
 severally, in the two greatest republics of the ancient 
 world, Rome and Greece, and both appeared at the 
 most eventful periods of their respective countries. 
 Greece, and especially Athens, had arrived at the ut- 
 most height of prosperity and power, and was even on 
 the verge of destruction, when Demosthenes foresaw 
 his country's danger, and exerted his utmost powers to 
 preserve it from Philip's treacherous and crafty designs. 
 But his efforts were exerted in vain ; for his eloquence, 
 although it had power to arouse his countrymen to cry 
 out, ' Let us march against Philip, let us conquer or 
 die,' still could not save them from his machinations. 
 Cicero, too, was reserved for a time when his mighty 
 eloquence should exert itself against the plots of the 
 traitors and parricides of his country. Cicero, as well 
 as Demosthenes, flourished at a time when Rome had 
 acquired her greatest power, and held her wide sway 
 over half the known world ; and he, too, lived to see 
 his native land under the dominion of a tyrant. 
 
 " The eloquence of each of these great orators, was 
 most powerful and excellent ; but it showed itself, in 
 the two cases, in an entirely different manner, and was 
 wholly opposite in its character. What a contrast does 
 the vehemence, conciseness, and strength of Demos- 
 thenes form with the diffuse and flowery style of the 
 
58 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 Roman orator ! The motives of Demosthenes also seem 
 to be purer, and more disinterested. The noble and ar- 
 dent devotion to his country which appears in his con- 
 duct, strikes us with admiration ; but, in the orations of 
 Cicero, we are often dissatisfied, not to say disgusted, 
 with the egotism and self-flattery in which he frequently 
 indulges. But this may perhaps be attributed to the 
 manners of the higher orders of the Romans of that age. 
 They seldom failed to give themselves, on every occa- 
 sion, all the honor of any great action, which they might 
 have achieved. 
 
 " It is probable that the eminence of each of these ora- 
 tors is, in part at least, to be ascribed to the peculiar 
 taste of the times in which they severally lived. If 
 Cicero had addressed the assemblies of the Athenians, 
 and Demosthenes had taken the place of Cicero in the 
 Roman Forum, I doubt whether either would have ef- 
 fected much by his eloquence, or risen high above the 
 rank of common orators. Nothing could have been 
 more effectual than the fire and vehemence of Demos- 
 thenes, to arouse the passions of such a mixed and fickle 
 multitude as the lower orders of the Athenians then 
 were ; but it would have ill-suited a tribunal of Roman 
 judges, who, to convince their sound judgments and 
 firm minds, required such an orator as Cicero, who 
 brought forward, at first, self-evident and indisputable 
 arguments as the foundations of his plea, and then 
 gradually drew other arguments from these, in accord- 
 ance with the established principles of logic, until he 
 arrived at a conclusion which no arguments could shake. 
 The difference between them is, that Demosthenes 
 moved the passions of his hearers, but Cicero appealed 
 to their judgments and convinced their understandings. 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 59 
 
 If Cicero had lived among the Athenians, he could not 
 well have convinced their reason, because they had lit- 
 tle or no reason to convince, whereas Demosthenes, on 
 the other hand, would have found it difficult to influence 
 the Roman Senate, consisting, as it did, of men who 
 would not suffer their passions to overcome their judg- 
 ment. It is a little remarkable, that, although both of 
 these orators displayed such noble patriotism in arous- 
 ing their countrymen to maintain their liberties inviolate, 
 yet neither of them tested his zeal for his. country by 
 fighting for her. Demosthenes fixed an indelible stain 
 on his character by his base flight at Cheronea, and 
 Cicero, though he never disgraced himself thus, used no 
 other weapons against Cataline and his accomplices 
 than those of speech, but delegated to his colleague, An- 
 thony, the command of the army against the conspirators. 
 " Cicero had the advantage over Demosthenes in his 
 power of varying his style of speaking. The orations 
 of Demosthenes were always stern and harsh, and cut- 
 tingly satirical against Philip ; but Cicero could at one 
 time make his style easy and flowing, and full of flat- 
 tery, when he spoke in the presence of Caesar ; but his 
 satire is nearly equal to that of Demosthenes when he 
 speaks against the traitors of his country. For exam- 
 ple, what a difference in style can be perceived between 
 his oration for the poet Archias, and his philippics 
 against Anthony and Cataline ! On the whole, I think 
 the merits of these two orators nearly equal, and entitle 
 them to the same niche in the temple of fame." 
 
 In March, 1833, Mason finished the review of the 
 Eneid, and executed, with much spirit and taste, the 
 following translation : 
 

 60 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 THE DEATH OF TURNUS. 
 
 " Meanwhile Eneas, watching close his foe, 
 Lifts high his spear, to Turnus boding woe, 
 And hurls it from afar. The weapon sped, 
 Nor could the flight of swift-shot rocks exceed, 
 Or thunderbolts of Jove. The fatal spear 
 Like blackening tempest flew, with ruin dire, 
 Pierced through his armor and his seven-fold shield, 
 And then transfixed his thigh. Now forced to yield, 
 With bended knee to earth great Turnus falls, 
 And groans are heard from the Rutulian walls ; 
 The mountains wail with sorrow at the wound, 
 And all the groves with Turnus' fate resound. 
 Now low and prostrate, with beseeching eyes, 
 And stretching forth his hand at length he cries, 
 ' Tis death I have deserved, and now await, 
 Use thy good fortune triumph in my fate ; 
 But if thou carest for a parent's tears, 
 If thou didst e'er regard thy father's years, 
 
 pity Daunus, spare my aged sire. 
 
 Or if my death thou seek'st with burning ire, 
 My lifeless body to my friends restore ; 
 
 1 own thee victor, and confess thy power. 
 My fall the Ausonians see ; to thee I give 
 My spouse Lacinia ; only let me live.' 
 
 In deep suspense stands great Eneas now, 
 Restrains his fury, and withholds the blow, 
 The words of Turnus move his inmost breast, 
 His bosom is with swelling sorrow pressed. 
 At length unto his searching eyes appear, 
 The belt and girdle worn by Pallas dear, 
 Whom Turnus conquered on the martial plain, 
 And wore these fatal trophies of the slain. 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 61 
 
 He fired with anger at the well-known sight. 
 Thus fiercely spoke while rage his words indite. 
 ' And dost thou hope my just revenge to shun, 
 Clad in the spoils of my adopted son ? 
 But Pallas, Pallas, gives this fatal blow, 
 And sends thy spirit to the realms below/ 
 Thus having said, he gave the deadly wound ; 
 Forth flows the purple stream upon the ground. 
 Now o'er his limbs a deadly chill is spread, 
 His scornful spirit sinks among the dead." 
 
 Were there less poetical excellence in these transla- 
 tions than we can safely accord to them, we should 
 still regard the exercise itself, of translating Latin or 
 Greek poetry into English verse, as highly useful to the 
 schoolboy. It makes him scan with closer attention 
 the exact shade of thought in the original ; it makes him 
 more sensible of the beauties of his author, improves 
 his taste, and refines his language. Many of these ad- 
 vantages are secured to the learner even where the 
 performance is, like the foregoing, rather a paraphrase 
 than a strict translation. I have never learned the 
 reason why this practice, so common in the old Eng- 
 lish schools, is so generally discontinued at the present 
 day. 
 
 In November, 1833, Mason again returned to Elling- 
 ton, after a vacation spent chiefly in Litchfield and its 
 vicinity. He made a short visit to Washington, the 
 place of his nativity, and seems to have been charmed 
 with the reminiscences of his infant years. In a letter 
 to Mrs. Turner, he says, " It was delightful to see the 
 well-known places of my earliest days. These lines 
 often occurred to me 
 
 6 
 
62 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood 
 When fond recollection presents them to view !' 
 
 I went to my father's house, and wandered all over the 
 woods I used to play in, and I picked several apples 
 from a tree that father planted for me before I went to 
 the South. You wish me to send you some poetry. 
 I have none worth sending." 
 
 In obedience, however, to his aunt's wishes, he an- 
 nexes an acrostic on a female friend ; but he evidently 
 set a low value on his poetical talents, for he adds, " I 
 suspect that what little genius I ever had for poetry 
 has nearly forsaken me ; besides, I have very little time 
 for it." Indeed, it is evident that his love of mathe- 
 matical problems, in the solution of which he took great 
 delight, began to predominate over every other exer- 
 cise of his faculties, although he continued to write 
 acrostics to oblige his friends. 
 
 In a letter to Mrs. Turner, dated Feb. 26, 1834, he 
 writes thus : " I learned from S. that you intended to 
 send me a bundle with some cloth, and that you would 
 enclose * Salathiel' and a letter ; and as you promised 
 last term to send * Salathiel' speedily, I supposed it was 
 coming at last sure enough. But a day or two ago the 
 expected box came, and in it were found the cloth, and 
 sundry other things. Now, to be sure, aunt, I cannot 
 blame you at all, but I must confess I felt considerably 
 disappointed at not finding either Salathiel or the let- 
 ter. As to the Library of Useful Knowledge, which 
 I have wished for so long, I suppose I must wait for 
 this at least till I get into college, if not much longer."* 
 
 * Of all the books to which Mason had access in his child- 
 hood, no one seems to have engrossed so much of his affections 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 63 
 
 I thank you very much for the cloth, as it is much need- 
 ed. I should have been almost ashamed to go to Hart- 
 ford next vacation in such clothes as I have." An ac- 
 count which he had a short time before rendered to 
 his aunt of the state of his wardrobe shows that his 
 supply of clothing was exceedingly scanty, owing to 
 the limited means of his father ; but still he expresses 
 a cheerful acquiescence in his narrow accommodations, 
 and ever afterwards preferred extreme simplicity in his 
 apparel. The letter proceeds : " You asked me to send 
 you some poetry. I have no poetry, but I have writ- 
 ten a parcel of rhymes, a sample of which I send you, 
 hoping that they may at least have the honor of being 
 consigned to the flames by your hand. 
 
 THE ITALIAN'S SONG TO HIS LOVER. 
 
 " The moonlight is glimmering far down the broad lake, 
 And her silvery radiance streams o'er the wave, 
 Then come, my fair lady, my pleasure partake, 
 And sail over with me to yonder bright cave ; 
 For there pearls and gay sea-shells lie thick on the strand, 
 Which the billows wash up on the glittering sand ; 
 With them, O my loved one, thy hair will I deck, 
 Thy raven-black tresses and beautiful neck. 
 
 as the Library of Useful Knowledge. The numbers he read were 
 chiefly those on scientific subjects, and, in fact, constituted his 
 first introduction to accurate scientific and philosophical investi- 
 gation. If they did not create his taste for such subjects, they at 
 least were the means of its first development. Nor does he form 
 a solitary example of the kind. Several other instances have 
 come under my observation, where distinguished scholars have 
 testified that their first taste for scientific pursuits was inspired by 
 reading the Library of Useful Knowledge. 
 
64 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 Now, now the swift boat glides away from the shore, 
 And the glittering water-drops fall from the oar, 
 Fast, fast the dim bank is receding from sight, 
 While the lamps from yon city diffuse their faint light ; 
 And the sounds of soft music fall on the rapt ear, 
 Sweet as though they were warbled from far distant 
 
 sphere, 
 
 Or seraphs were singing amidst the dim air 
 To watch o'er thee, my angel, and keep thee from fear. 
 Now they swell on the breeze, 'tis the sound of the horn, 
 How enchanting a strain o'er the waters is borne ! 
 But see ! the red tempest frowns dark from the south, 
 The volcano's dun fires dart fierce from its mouth ; 
 Then home let us haste ere the whirlwind shall rave, 
 And the deep shall o'erwhelm us beneath the green wave." 
 
 The straitened pecuniary circumstances of the Rev. 
 Mr. Mason, made it inconvenient for him any long- 
 er to support his son abroad. Our young friend, there- 
 fore, returned to Nantucket in the spring of 1834, and 
 re-entered the school there in the capacity of assistant 
 teacher. 
 
 To Mrs. Turner. 
 
 "Nantucket, Sept. 1834. 
 
 " MY DEAR AUNT 
 
 "I am now busily engaged during the day in the school, 
 and like the employment pretty well, though I had ra- 
 ther be a scholar than a teacher. I have begun a 
 course of History, and have finished the first volume 
 of Hume, writing a compendium of all I read. 
 
 " I have written no poetry since I left Ellington, ex- 
 cept an acrostic for a man who wished one for his wife, 
 and a few others at the request of friends. As Nan- 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 65 
 
 tucket is so destitute of fountains and running waters, 
 I can find here no Castalian spring for the accommoda- 
 tion of the Muses. If, however, I shall be so lucky as 
 to find one, I will write an acrostic for you by next let- 
 ter. To tell the truth, I don't think Nantucket ever has 
 or ever will produce a Milton, nor indeed a Percival, 
 except it be a Quaker of that name in town, who keeps 
 a candy shop, and whose only Castalian fountains are 
 his bottles of lemon syrup. 
 
 " A week or two ago, we had an exhibition, in which 
 I had five parts to act. We had been preparing for it 
 by evening exercises in declamation, having some time 
 before formed a ' Ciceronian Speaking Society* among 
 ourselves, principally for this very purpose. The ex- 
 hibition consisted of a few single pieces, but for the most 
 part of dramas and dialogues, and occupied two eve- 
 nings, on each of which we had a select audience of 
 about three hundred, who appeared to be extremely 
 well satisfied with the performances." 
 
 Among his recreations at this period, a favorite one 
 was the construction and working of a small printing- 
 press, where he printed his poems and other composi- 
 tions. I have before me a proof-sheet taken off from 
 this press, which is executed with correctness and good 
 taste as far as could be done with old types. It is a 
 specimen of one of his acrostics. 
 
 THE SUMMER EVENING. 
 
 " Entranced by those harmonious sounds upborne, 
 Light murmurs stealing on the cool night breeze, 
 In rapt suspense I hear the mellow horn, 
 Zephyrs the while their music breathe till morn. 
 
 6* 
 
66 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 And sounds of festive mirth float o'er the trees. 
 Just rising is the moon whose form we hail. 
 Enrobed in light majestic, beauteous, pure, 
 Now she o'ertops the trees ; her beams so pale 
 Kindle with silver light the lovely vale, 
 So late in darkness and in gloom obscure. 
 
 To such a scene our minds will oft return, 
 Oft when bleak winter spreads his icy chain, 
 Binding with ruthless hand and visage stern 
 Each tree and shrub ; then memory seems to mourn, 
 Yearning for summer skies and moons again." 
 
 On leaving Ellington, Mason had most earnestly de- 
 sired to visit his friends at Richmond ; but his father 
 thought it not best, and he acquiesced in the most duti- 
 ful spirit. Towards the close of the year, an express 
 invitation from Mrs. Turner to come and assist her in 
 her school, led him to look again with longing eyes to- 
 wards this home of his childhood. The state of his 
 feelings will be seen by the following letter. 
 
 To Mrs. Turner. 
 
 " Nantucket, Dec. 25, 1834. 
 
 " MY DEAR AUNT 
 
 " I received your letter of the 5th instant, last Satur- 
 day, but have delayed answering it until now, that fa- 
 ther might have time to consider your proposal. Fa- 
 ther, I believe, intends that I shall not go to Virginia 
 this winter, as the passage by land is too expensive and 
 too long to travel alone, and the navigation is bad and 
 unpleasant, and unsafe at this season of the year ; but 
 as he expects to fill up the sheet, he will say more on 
 this subject in his own letter. As for myself, I should 
 like the plan very much, as it would be far more agree- 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 67 
 
 able to me to do all I can to help you, than to assist one 
 to whom I stand under less obligations, and for other 
 reasons which it would be superfluous to mention. But 
 if, on the whole, it is best that the plan should be given 
 up, at least for the winter, I am willing to acquiesce. 
 Perhaps next spring, a more favorable time will occur 
 for the journey ; or I might, I suppose, go from here to 
 New- York, and thence to Richmond, by the packet 
 lines, which run between the two places, in which case 
 the expense would be but little. However, I do not 
 know that it would be best at present. As the year 
 has almost closed, I will send you, as a new year's gift, 
 the acrostic which you say I had promised before. 
 
 AN ACROSTIC. 
 
 Heaven's wintry canopy covers our sphere, 
 And the four sister seasons have circled the year ; 
 Returns cold December, with snows and with storms, 
 Repelling his efforts, the glowing fire warms. 
 I love thee bleak winter ! for with thee has come, 
 Each fireside enjoyment and pleasure of home. 
 Then Christmas and New Year with gladness invite, 
 Bright smiles for good wishes and mutual delight ; 
 'Twill not be unvalued, with many a friend, 
 Upon this glad day my good wishes to send. 
 Remote though I may be by distance of place, 
 No seas can restrain from the heart's warm embrace. 
 Each member of our happy circle, sincere, 
 Renews the kind wish for a Happy New Year." 
 
 From Rev. Mr. Mason's letter appended to the fore- 
 going, we may infer that he deemed it important that 
 his son should remain at home, that he might receive 
 from parental guidance such assistance as he seemed 
 
68 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 to him to require, " before he could possess the great 
 desideratum, a well-balanced mind." 
 
 His interest in the stars was manifested, at this pe- 
 riod, by the following lines on the Pleiades, which ap- 
 pear to me to constitute one of the best of his early 
 poetical effusions. 
 
 AN ENIGMA. 
 
 " 'Twas on creation's radiant morn, 
 
 We sisters to existence sprung, 
 
 When darkness fled and light was born, 
 
 And chaos far away was flung. 
 
 And when the glorious work was done, 
 The sons of Heaven, with new delight, 
 Join with us in the choral song, 
 And in the hymn of praise unite. 
 
 And if our number you would know, 
 Go count the days that passed before 
 Creation's six-fold work below, 
 And rest that followed it, was o'er. 
 
 We've seen the mightiest empires fall, 
 We've seen all human grandeur fade, 
 But ah ! the change that withers all 
 On us his powerful hand hath laid. 
 
 For since our bright harmonious choir, 
 Have seen the dawning light of day, 
 One of our number is no more, 
 The loveliest one hath passed away. 
 
 Yet we expect the time will come, 
 When our loved one we shall regain, 
 And still we hope to welcome home, 
 The long lost wanderer again." 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 69 
 
 His collection of juvenile poems, copied and arranged 
 in a book as before mentioned, ends with a piece much 
 more elaborate than the rest, and in a style quite un- 
 like the others. It indicates an improvement corres- 
 ponding to his advancement in years and mental culti- 
 vation. 
 
 THE CONVENTION OF THE FISHES. 
 
 " The Spring, soft-breathing Spring, had loosed 
 
 The icy bonds of New York coast, 
 
 And joyous in the sunny beam 
 
 Of May to flow, the waters gleam 
 
 With radiance as they gaily ride, 
 
 Or round Manhattan island glide. 
 
 The finny tenants of the main, 
 
 Now mingle in the wave again, 
 
 Old friends from every quarter meet, 
 
 From ocean, stream, and rivulet, 
 
 Disporting in the silver flood, 
 
 Or seeking where to find their food. 
 
 Some from the Sound's capacious mouth, 
 
 And some from the dark heaving South, 
 
 Where ocean billows inward pour, 
 
 And dash with never-ceasing roar : 
 
 Some from majestic Hudson came, 
 
 Others from dark Passaic's stream, 
 
 And every- rill that skirts the wave, 
 
 Some tribute to the assembly gave, 
 
 And here and there, around the bay, 
 
 The different groups reclining lay. 
 
 "Near where Columbia's banner waves, 
 Bright o'er the rolling surge which laves 
 
70 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 The Battery's base, and loftily 
 Its glittering unfurled star-gems fly, 
 One party many a fathom lay 
 Beneath the radiant light of day. 
 A sparry cave these rovers found, 
 With sea-shells thickly scattered round. 
 But whence did they receive their light ? 
 Or met they in the gloom of night ? 
 O no, the phosphorescent shells 
 Stood thickly round as sentinels : 
 They hung from every branch above, 
 Of crystal spar or coral grove : 
 So many ocean lamps there shone, 
 The cave was bright as the sun at noon. 
 
 " It was a wide and ample hall, 
 Of coral was its snow-white wall, 
 And twining sea- weed decked its side, 
 Through which the roving fishes glide : 
 It seemed that fairy fingers wrought 
 In ocean bed so fair a grot, 
 And sea-nymphs their rich treasures brought. 
 
 " Now mutual greetings pass around, 
 As some old friend by chance is found, 
 They all the kindly joy partake, 
 With each to exchange the hearty shake. 
 We'll leave them to their social chat, 
 To talk of this and then of that, 
 The near approach of one to mark 
 Ah 'tis an old friend, brave Sir Shark, 
 Who poising o'er the throng beneath 
 With courtly smile and well-brushed teeth, 
 Begins * You all have heard my name, 
 As from dark Afric's coast I came, 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 71 
 
 Where sporting on the tainted wave, 
 
 I feed upon the negro slave, 
 
 That in some crowded vessel's wake, 
 
 The desperate plunge has dared to take 
 
 Headlong beneath the briny surge, 
 
 To free him from the oppressor's scourge. 
 
 Now one thing is against my wish 
 
 But who comes here ? The pilot-fish 
 
 What news bring you? Come, Sir, explain' 
 
 * Why, hark, Ladies and Gentlemen,' 
 Said he, ' I come direct, full sail, 
 From his high majesty, King Whale. 
 He's sorry to be so delayed, 
 
 But he is mightily afraid 
 
 He cannot through the Narrows pass 
 
 Because of his unwieldy mass. 
 
 'Twas for that reason that I told him, 
 
 That New York bay could scarcely hold him.' 
 
 ' Well, how's his Highness' health ?' said one. 
 
 * While one day basking in the sun, 
 A rascal whaler from Nantucket 
 Happened to see his back and struck it, 
 And ever since he's had no lack 
 
 Of pains rheumatic in his back ; 
 And last year coasting Norway's shore, 
 He heard too near the Maelstrom's roar, 
 And found himself fast wheeling round, 
 Towards the eddying gulf profound ; 
 But as he circled still more near, 
 And almost overcome by fear, 
 Struggling his utmost to get free, 
 At last escaped to calmer sea, 
 
2 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 And vowed he never more would roam 
 So far from his dear native home.' 
 
 The porpoise now came tumbling in, 
 With each old friend to shake a fin. 
 Says he, i I am extremely sorry 
 To frighten you by such a hurry, 
 But really an animal 
 I know not by what name to call, 
 Is coming to us from the ocean' 
 Up jumps the cod ' I make a motion 
 To send one that is not apt to loiter, 
 The flying-fish, to reconnoitre.' 
 
 * Agreed' then swiftly through the water, 
 On either side he cleaves the wave, 
 
 And leaves the bright illumined cave. 
 
 * Who can he be ?' exclaimed the shad, 
 ' I fear he comes on errand bad.' 
 
 * It may be,' said the Mackerel, 
 
 ' Another message from King Whale.' 
 The Salmon rose ; * I think,' said he, 
 
 * Some steamboat from the southern sea 
 Has scared our porpoise half to death, 
 And put his worship out of breath.' 
 Just then the flying-fish came back, 
 
 As if a shark was in his track. 
 
 ' Fly, fly,' cried he, in wild dismay, 
 
 * The great Sea-Serpent's in the bay, 
 And rushing on so fast he comes, 
 The water all around him foams.' 
 
 ' Stay,' said the dolphin, ' not so fast, 
 He's distant half a mile at least. 
 In order good let us adjourn. 
 In Autumn we will all return, 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 73 
 
 To meet each other here again' 
 He ceased ; he saw he spoke in vain, 
 For half were gone ; he followed too, 
 And soon regained his sea of blue. 
 The serpent came, but found them fled, 
 And back to ocean wave he sped." 
 
 A "Farewell to Nantucket," already noticed, (see 
 page 50,) concluded his lucubrations at this favorite 
 residence. The Rev. Mr. Mason's labors at Nantuck- 
 et were more arduous than he could sustain, and he 
 was dismissed from his people with much uncertainty 
 hanging over him and his family, not only in respect to 
 their future prospects, but even as to their immediate 
 support. Not long afterwards he obtained a tempora- 
 ry settlement at Collinsville, a pleasant manufacturing 
 village on Farmington River, and to this place removed 
 his family. Porter spent the ensuing summer with his 
 friends in Richmond. 
 
 7 
 
J 
 
 74 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FRESHMAN YEAR AT COLLEGE. 
 
 Enters Yale College Indications of superior mathematical pow- 
 ers Taste for astronomy First impressions of college-life 
 commencement of telescopic observations Symptoms of con- 
 sumption Solutions of " Prize Problems" Rapid progress in 
 practical astronomy. 
 
 AT the commencement at Yale College in August, 
 1835, young Mason presented himself for examination 
 as a candidate for the Freshman class. I well remem- 
 ber his appearance at that time, and the impression he 
 made on me. He was now in his seventeenth year, 
 but his figure, complexion, and whole air, were those 
 of a child of fourteen, being slender in person, com- 
 plexion pale, voice soft, and whole appearance very 
 juvenile. I was immediately struck with the superior- 
 ity of his mathematical powers and attainments, from 
 the full and luminous explanations he gave of the prin- 
 ciples of arithmetical rules, and from the ready and 
 correct solutions he furnished of problems. I was un- 
 commonly impressed with his adroitness in extracting 
 roots, and in explaining the reason of each step of the 
 process. Even in extracting the cube root, he required 
 no figuring, but soon after a case was proposed, he 
 gave the answer by a process purely mental. I re- 
 member mentioning to the gentleman associated with 
 me in the examination, that that boy was, or would 
 make, a first-rate mathematician ! 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 75 
 
 The first notice I had of his taste for astronomy, was 
 one evening when a small party of students of the se- 
 nior class, met under my direction to look for Halley's 
 comet, with a small telescope. It had already been 
 seen in the large college telescope, (which had afforded 
 to Professor Loomis and myself the first view that was 
 obtained of that remarkable body on this side the 
 Atlantic,) but the object was now to find it by the aid 
 of a small refractor. Mason obtained permission to be 
 present, and excited much notice by his familiarity with 
 the stars. 
 
 His first impressions of college-life may be learned 
 from the following letter : 
 
 To Mrs. H. B. Turner. 
 
 "Yale College, Nov. 17, 1835. 
 
 " MY dkAR AUNT 
 
 " Your letter of the 15th reached me to-day. I was 
 very much gratified to receive it, and, as in duty bound, 
 acknowledge myself justly subject to its censure. If 
 the hurry, and whirl, and bustle of first entering college, 
 and becoming initiated into its various duties, and get- 
 ting accustomed to its everlasting round and regular 
 routine, had not taken off my thoughts much more than 
 they ought to have done from my Richmond friends, 
 you would have had a letter from me before now. But 
 time passes here at college on his swiftest wings ; days 
 are like hours, and it seems hardly a week since I en- 
 tered. Without calculating by the rules of arithmetic 
 the time that has passed, I acknowledge it is time to 
 turn off a few sheets to those who take so kind an in- 
 terest in my welfare ; but when I take the almanac, 
 "and count up the number of weeks that have passed, 
 
76 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 I am almost loth to write at all, for shame that I have 
 neglected you so long. To philosophize a little, I can 
 account for this rapid flight of time only on this princi- 
 ple, that we distinguish one day from another only by 
 their variety, and by the different occurrences which 
 happen on different days. But when each day furnishes 
 the same routine, with nothing to distinguish it from 
 other days, the whole seem fewer and compressed into 
 a shorter space." 
 
 After giving a detailed account of his studies and 
 describing his various college adventures, he adds : 
 
 " Astronomy is still a favorite study with me. I have 
 a telescope now in my room. It is the property of a 
 classmate of mine, named Smith, and I have the free 
 use of it. The telescope at Judge C.'s was a mere 
 shadow to this. Through that, Jupiter appeared but 
 little bigger than a point ; through this it appearalmost 
 as large as the full moon. The belts on his surface are 
 easily distinguished, as well as his moons, their eclipses, 
 their shadows on his surface, &c. Every time I make 
 observations upon him, I set down, on a small card, Ju- 
 piter and his satellites, according to their respective 
 places and magnitudes, and prick them through like 
 those cards in Urania's Mirror. Also I mark the place 
 of Jupiter with regard to the surrounding stars so as to 
 trace his path through the heavens.* I have been look- 
 ing for Juno, which, in common with the Asteroids, re- 
 quires a much better telescope than I have ever had be- 
 fore to distinguish it from a star by its disk, but I have not 
 
 * These cards, now in my possession, are most beautifully 
 executed. 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 77 
 
 yet found it, owing to its being now so near the horizon. 
 If I chose to sit up late enough for her to rise higher, 
 I suppose I could see her. The planet Herschel also, 
 which appears in the evening, I have been looking for, 
 and hope soon to find. All the other planets are so 
 near the Sun, that they can be seen only in the morn- 
 ing, just before the Sun rises, a position which is very 
 unfavorable for observation. Saturn, indeed, is suffi- 
 ciently in advance of the Sun to be seen ; and when I 
 can muster resolution enough to get up some cold, 
 clear morning, I hope to see him. In two or three 
 months, the times of the planets' rising will accommo- 
 date themselves better to my times of setting. 
 
 " This telescope is very powerful* when applied to 
 the stars. The double star, Castor in Gemini, which 
 you know requires telescopes of a high power to sepa- 
 rate it, seen through this telescope, presents two stars 
 very close together, one red and the other green. The 
 Nebula in Orion, also, as seen through it, presents a 
 singular mass of light, interspersed with stars here and 
 there, one of which is sextuple, a very remarkable star. 
 I have been able to count four only of these ; the other 
 two can be seen only in the clearest nights, and most 
 favorable positions. 
 
 " Nov. 19. Since writing the above, I have been fa- 
 vored with a most magnificent exhibition, which exceed- 
 ed in grandeur any thing I have ever witnessed. Soon 
 after twilight there was a very fine Aurora Borealis, 
 very splendid and uncommon. A broad band of light 
 stretched over the heavens from east to west. All 
 
 * He speaks in reference to such instruments as he had used 
 before. 
 
 7* 
 
78 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 south of the band was darkness, all north of it was il- 
 luminated, though not so bright as the dividing band. 
 But this was scarcely worth looking at in comparison 
 with what followed. I was out last night showing Ju- 
 piter's belts, &c. to one of the students, and had set 
 down my observations and was just going to put up the 
 telescope, (it was about ten minutes of eleven,) when 
 suddenly a deep red glow appeared in the east, directly 
 under Jupiter. We ran out into the open space : it 
 spread rapidly, and in a few minutes the whole horizon 
 from the east by way of the north, clear round to the 
 west, was lighted up with brilliant white, driving, as it 
 were, a broad band of red before it upward towards 
 the zenith. I gave the alarm, ('Heads out,') and it 
 spread very rapidly, and in less than ten minutes, half 
 the college were out on the open space, viewing the 
 grand and magnificent exhibition. However, I will 
 not attempt to describe it, as I suppose you will see the 
 descriptions in the papers, and perhaps you have seen 
 it yourself. I doubt very much, however, if it was seen 
 in such grandeur at the South as it was here. In the 
 zenith it glowed with intensely deep red, but as it pro- 
 ceeded further south it grew white. 
 
 " I had the good fortune to see Saturn this morning, 
 with his ring and some of his satellites, two or three 
 of them, but he was much too near the horizon to be 
 well seen. I have much more to tell you about college 
 affairs and the debating societies, two of which I have 
 joined. I am also reading the Life of Newton. As 
 to the * flute,' I hardly think I have sufficient taste for 
 music to warrant the expense." He concludes this 
 long letter by various inquiries after his Richmond 
 friends. 
 
^ 
 
 EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 79 
 
 We have here an account of Mason's first entrance 
 upon astronomical observations, and clearly recognize 
 the kindlings of that zeal which from this time burned 
 with an intensity constantly increasing until it consumed 
 life itself. Instead of the transient and superficial 
 views which most persons are satisfied to take, when 
 they first have access to a large telescope, we see him 
 exploring at once all the phenomena of Jupiter his 
 belts his moons, with their eclipses and the shadows 
 they cast on their primaries. With great delicacy he 
 marks the exact position of each body observed, and, 
 if it has motions, delineates the precise path among the 
 stars. The more hidden objects of astronomy are 
 immediately sought for, as the Asteroids, Double 
 Stars, and Nebulae ; and we find only a day or two 
 intervening before his resolution served him to rise in 
 a cold morning, before day, to enjoy the luxurious view 
 of the system of Saturn. This was the beginning of 
 a course of night watchings which speedily terminated 
 his earthly career. 
 
 The Aurora Borealis, which he describes with so 
 much enthusiasm, was one of the most splendid that 
 occurred during the remarkable visitation of this phe- 
 nomenon, which commenced with August, 1827, and has 
 not yet perhaps entirely ceased. The period when 
 Mason entered the field of observation, was a favored 
 one in respect to those magnificent exhibitions which 
 are not common to every age, but return only after long 
 intervals, are repeated for a few years, (as from twelve 
 to twenty,) and then disappear again for many years. 
 Such displays of the Aurora Borealis as we have wit- 
 nessed for a few years past, had not been seen before 
 since the period of the old French and the Revolution- 
 
80 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 ary war, when, as we are informed by very aged 
 people, similar exhibitions were witnessed.* 
 
 In this letter, also, Mason first makes mention of his 
 classmate, Mr. Hamilton L. Smith, who had loaned 
 him the large telescope with which he was making his 
 astronomical observations. Mr. Smith had imbibed a 
 strong interest in the construction and use of telescopes 
 before he came to college, and soon after he became a 
 * member of the institution, he purchased one of Hoi- 
 comb's reflectors, which was the telescope above men- 
 tioned. From the time of their first acquaintance 
 Smith and Mason formed an attachment, which, nour- 
 ished by congenial tastes, and strengthened by a kin- 
 dred enthusiasm, grew into the closest intimacy. Mr. 
 Smith still survives, and affords promise of much ex- 
 cellence in this exalted pursuit. He has favored me 
 with his " Reminiscences" of Mason, which I shall 
 transcribe in his own words. 
 
 " The first year of my residence at college, I boarded 
 in Commons. Mason sat directly opposite to me, at 
 the same table. One evening, at tea, I was conversing 
 on the subject of astronomy with a classmate who sat 
 near me, and invited him to come up to my room, and 
 look at the moon, then in quadrature, (the most favor- 
 able position for seeing its mountains and valleys,) 
 through a new telescope I had just received. This 
 was the six feet reflector purchased of Mr. Holcomb. 
 At the mention of * telescope,' I saw Mason bend and 
 listen eagerly. He then modestly requested permission 
 to come to my room and see it. This is the first time 
 
 * See various accounts of the Aurora Borealisby the writer of 
 this Memoir, and others, in the American Journal of Science. 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 81 
 
 we had ever spoken to each other beyond the civilities 
 of the table. I then asked him if he had ever looked 
 through a telescope. He said he had not, but had seen 
 a large spy-glass, mounted upon a stand, which would 
 show Jupiter's moons. Thus commenced an intimacy 
 which lasted till his death. As the place where I 
 roomed was not well fitted for telescopic observations, 
 since we were obliged to carry the instrument into the 
 street, where we were much annoyed by spectators, 
 Mason took it to his room, (81 N. M.,) and as soon as 
 it became still and sufficiently dark, we used to place it 
 upon the platform over the portico of the chapel, where 
 we were completely removed from observation and in- 
 trusion. Here we commenced observations on the 
 easier Double Stars, not accomplishing any thing, how- 
 ever, of much consequence. Through the politeness 
 of Doctor Taylor, the window of whose room looked 
 out upon the platform, we were allowed to place the 
 telescope in his closet, after using it, and thus were 
 completely at liberty to observe without molesta- 
 tion." 
 
 In the winter vacation of January, 1836, 
 to Collinsville to his father's, and seems to have gained 
 much vigor by the healthful exercises of the country. 
 When he returned to college, he represents the kind of 
 life as highly agreeable, and appears to have been as 
 happy as he could be, deprived as he was of his beloved 
 telescope, which Smith had carried home with him, to 
 New London, and did not bring back again until spring. 
 This was fortunate for Mason, for soon after the com- 
 mencement of the term, he was seized with a severe 
 cold attended with symptoms of those pulmonary affec- 
 tions which at last proved fatal to him. Had he re- 
 
82 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 sumed his nocturnal observations at this time, the peri- 
 od of his labors would probably have been abridged. 
 
 To Mrs. H. B. Turner. 
 
 "Yale College, Feb. 2d, 1836. 
 " DEAR AUNT 
 
 " Your letter of the 24th reached me a week or ten 
 days ago, and grateful was I to receive so large a share 
 of that time and attention which can so ill be spared 
 from your school and other duties. If in addition to 
 the pressure of these, you have to go to your school in 
 such walking as we have here, I can sympathize with 
 you, for New Haven is well-nigh flooded. Two weeks 
 since, the weather changed from severe cold to quite 
 mild, and has continued so ever since, and it is now one 
 continual thaw. You may imagine what are the con- 
 sequences of the weather and walking, upon the stu- 
 dents. Immediately after the change, I took a severe 
 cold in my head, which soon descended to my lungs 
 and became very troublesome, and confined me to my 
 room ar some time." 
 
 re here decided indications of those pulmonary 
 tendencies which developed themselves so fully after- 
 wards. That season of the year, when a thaw suc- 
 ceeds to dry cold weather is the most trying of any to 
 those who are predisposed to affections of the lungs. 
 The extreme humidity of the atmosphere, and the sickly 
 rays of a warm sun, while the feet are immersed in cold 
 snow-water, present a combination of circumstances 
 the most unfavorable to invalids of this class, and every 
 year they seal the fate of numbers of both sexes. It is es- 
 sential to such persons, during these periods, to remain 
 within doors as much as possible, in a room kept dry 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 83 
 
 and warm by a stove ; and if they are compelled to go 
 abroad, they should use every precaution to keep their 
 persons dry, especially the feet. 
 
 Mrs. Turner, aware of the predisposition of her ne- 
 phew to pulmonary affections, was importunate with 
 him to adopt salutary rules for the preservation of his 
 health. But on this point he seems, for one usually so 
 amiable and so obedient to the wishes of his friends and 
 guardians, to have been unaccountably perverse. In 
 the present letter he expresses himself on this point as 
 follows : " As to your queries, or rather, kind solicitude 
 about my colds, you and I always took different sides 
 on the subject. I always was for consulting the feelings 
 entirely, and paying but little regard to the exposure ; 
 and thus, during the whole winter, until last week, 
 though I have been out in very cold nights till late, 
 with cold feet, and often had them wet, and let them 
 remain so without drying them, I never experienced 
 the slightest inconvenience. But these last two or three 
 weeks, I have not been able to star-gaze, and I took 
 more precautions than usual, and yet I caught the first 
 cold I have had this winter. This seems to favor my 
 side. I do not pretend to say that I caught cold in 
 consequence of taking precautions, but only that free- 
 dom from colds does not depend upon them. Now I 
 can almost imagine I hear you say, 'Ah well ! the child 
 will not listen to reason ; it is of no use to argue with 
 him/" These notions that his danger of pulmonary 
 affections was not increased by any exposures he might 
 encounter of cold or wet, or night-air, he carried with 
 him to the last. 
 
 On the 13th of March he writes again to his aunt, 
 representing himself as intensely occupied in his studies, 
 
84 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 being engaged at that time, in addition to his usual les- 
 sons, with the solution of the " Prize Problems." These 
 are a collection of difficult Algebraic problems, proposed 
 to competitors of the Freshman class, intended to test 
 very fully their mathematical powers as well as their ac- 
 quaintance with the science of Algebra in particular. 
 Similar problems, in the more advanced branches of 
 Mathematics, are at the same time proposed to the So- 
 phomore class. Mason delighted in exercises of this 
 kind, and soon finished his solutions. The problems 
 were twelve in number, some of them of the more diffi- 
 cult class ; but they were solved with great elegance, 
 and many of them by several different methods. He also 
 solved, as he informed me, some if not all the problems 
 proposed to the Sophomore class ; for although they 
 related to branches of mathematics which he had not 
 yet studied, still he ascertained what principles were 
 required for their solution, looked up these principles, 
 and applied them to the various conditions. His father 
 speaks of his having contracted in early childhood a 
 great fondness for solving arithmetical problems, and 
 few persons with whom I have been acquainted, have 
 evinced a greater facility or ingenuity in such exercises. 
 
 His solutions of the "Freshmen Problems" were re- 
 warded with the first premium, which he shared, how- 
 ever, with his classmate Eldridge, a youth of much 
 genius and intellectual superiority, who descended to 
 the grave before him. 
 
 But a talent for the abstractions of mathematics was 
 only one among his various endowments. The Spring 
 vacation which followed, carried him into the country 
 again, and revived his enthusiasm for the beauties of 
 natural scenery. Nor was he less delighted on his re- 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 85 
 
 turn to college with the combined charms of Nature 
 and art which this city affords peculiarly at that season 
 of the year. All who have been educated at Yale Col- 
 lege, will ever remember the charming appearance of 
 the place on their return after the Spring vacation about 
 the first of June. Of this feeling our young friend par- 
 ticipated in a high degree. " New Haven (says he in 
 a letter written at this time to Mrs. Turner) is a perfect 
 picture of loveliness at this season of the year. Espe- 
 cially around the college, the air is loaded with fragrance 
 from the beautiful trees and flowering shrubs with 
 which the city is filled. Some one has remarked, 'that 
 any one who can walk under the trees of the college 
 grounds in a bright moonlight evening in June, without 
 feeling the spirit of poetry stirring within him, is no fa- 
 vorite of the Muses/ " 
 
 After the Senior's examination in July, as this class 
 retires from college a few weeks before commence- 
 ment, each of the three lower classes is elevated one 
 degree in college rank. At this period the Freshman 
 feels much exultation at the idea of rising to the dignity 
 of Sophomore, and escaping from that humiliation 
 which formerly, much more than at present, was sup- 
 posed to belong to the condition of Freshman. These 
 feelings Mason describes in a letter to Mrs. T., dated 
 July 30, 1836. 
 
 " Since the Seniors left, we have been dignified with 
 the exalted title of ' Sophomores,' which, however, we 
 pretend not to esteem as any great honor, as we have 
 been accustomed, heretofore, to consider it as degrading 
 to be so entitled, as long as the name applied to another 
 class, with whom we, of course, waged interminable 
 war. But now, by some secret, inexplicable charm, 
 
 8 
 
86 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 the name, as we approach it, begins to unfold new 
 beauties ; and, on a closer view, we find it disrobed of 
 that unpleasant exterior which we so disliked and ridi- 
 culed, on entering these classic halls." 
 
 In the same letter he shows that he had resumed his 
 astronomical studies with more than his wonted en- 
 thusiasm. " I am now entering (says he) on a wider 
 field of astronomical research than ever before. With 
 such advantages as I now have, equal to any in 
 America, I may soon expect to prove the late Lunar 
 Hoax* a reality, and revive the terrors of the fabled 
 man, or rather men in the moon. Already Saturn's 
 ring, and the dull round of phenomena that our system 
 can afford, are becoming too commonplace. Already, 
 spots on the Sun, eclipses of Jupiter's satellites, and 
 their shadows cast on his disk, and occultations of stars 
 by the Moon, are thrown aside, and I am in full 
 chase after Nebulae and Double Stars. In short, I am 
 exploring the furthest limits of the universe. And 
 when I think that I have the full use of these advan- 
 tages when and as long as I please, I laugh to think 
 how I used to long to look through Mr. Ritchie's tele- 
 scope, and others that are mere toys in the comparison." 
 
 * Alluding to the noted hoax which had a little while before 
 been published in New York, respecting certain discoveries in 
 the Moon, said to have been made by Sir John Herschel at the 
 Cape of Good Hope. 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 87 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SOPHOMORE YEAR. 
 
 Visits his father at Goshen Love of Nature Makes a reflecting 
 telescope Observations with Holcomb's telescope Observa- 
 tions on the solar spots Extreme accuracy and beauty of his 
 astronomical drawings Grateful disposition. 
 
 THE Rev. Mr. Mason, after leaving Nantucket, had 
 labored a few months at Collins ville, but had at this 
 period recently taken the pastoral charge of a small 
 parish in the town of Goshen, near Northampton. In 
 the fall vacation of 1836, young Mason went to this 
 place to visit his friends. He found them perched on an 
 eminence in full view of Mount Holyoke. In his ap- 
 proach to this place, his love of natural scenery was 
 peculiarly gratified. " I was delighted (says he) with 
 the beautiful ride along the banks of the Connecticut, 
 especially when I first came in view of the cloud-capt 
 Holyoke. I never saw a mountain-peak shrouded in 
 clouds before, and was very much gratified. In 
 point of scenery I like Northampton better than New 
 Haven. Goshen has a very high situation, as high as 
 the top of Mount Holyoke. We can stand on our door 
 step in a clear morning, and see Northampton down 
 the valley, and the silver line of the Connecticut, and 
 Mount Holyoke." 
 
 In this romantic and healthful spot he spent his vaca- 
 tion most pleasantly ; but still some symptoms of his 
 pulmonary tendencies developed themselves here, suffi- 
 
88 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 cient to excite the apprehensions of his affectionate and 
 watchful aunt, Mrs. Turner, who had seen him on a 
 visit she paid to his father's at this period. To her ten- 
 der inquiries and urgent solicitations on this subject, 
 betraying anxieties which events have since but too well 
 justified, he replied with his usual air of carelessness 
 about his health, and in a style far less dutiful and re- 
 spectful than he was wont to address to one whom he 
 regarded with filial affection and reverence. 
 
 His reply to his aunt's kind inquiries into the state of 
 his wardrobe, evinces but little concern on that subject, 
 his taste respecting dress being extremely simple, and 
 his apparel restricted to the lowest standard of respecta- 
 bility, partly from his unwillingness to tax his friends, 
 and partly from his desire to appropriate the sums that 
 he might save from such expenditures to astronomical 
 purposes. He tells his aunt, " that he has no cloak, but 
 adds that his old surtout, although the sleeves had be- 
 come rather short and a little the worse for wear, was 
 fully competent to keep off the attacks of old Boreas. 
 But as his friends had said something about giving him 
 a watch, he wishes to convert all their bounty into that 
 channel, in order that he might have an accurate time- 
 piece for celestial observations." 
 
 The conclusion of this letter shows how far removed 
 it was from his imagination that his letters would ever 
 be deemed worthy of the public eye. " I hope (says 
 he) that you do not show my letters to any one, least 
 of all, this. Let the flames have their just tribute, and 
 offer this on Vulcan's altars." 
 
 Among the exercises of the Freshman class, translations 
 from the Latin hold a conspicuous place. Among his pa- 
 pers is a neat file, embracing, probably, all that he ever 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 89 
 
 wrote. They are done with much taste in respect both 
 to style and mechanical execution. 
 
 We learn from his friend Smith that soon after Ma- 
 son had been informed of the progress he had already 
 made in making a small telescope, he entered -into the 
 subject with great enthusiasm. Guided by Mudge's 
 Treatise on Making Speculums for Telescopes, they 
 procured the raw materials, obtained a mould, and did 
 their casting in their anthracite stove, protracting their 
 labors to a late hour of the night, after the lessons of the 
 day were completed. Re-melting their first compound 
 and pouring it into the mould, they were so fortunate 
 as to procure an excellent cast. In about a week, by 
 employing every moment of time they could get, and la- 
 boring alternately, they succeeded in making their tools, 
 and in grinding down the rough casting. They next 
 procured a hone, cemented it to a block of wood, and 
 turned it to a proper shape to fit the guages, and with 
 this commenced giving their speculum the requisite 
 figure. " At length (says Mr. Smith) the momentous 
 time arrived for the polishing. With a degree of 
 trouble and caution we often laughed at afterwards, 
 we formed the polisher of pitch, and set it aside to 
 cool. We were obliged to work chiefly by night, as 
 our college duties required our unremitted efforts during 
 the day. After a hasty supper, therefore, we com- 
 menced the labor of polishing. The polishing powder 
 used was the red oxide of iron, and so cautious had 
 we been, that we had sent to New York with directions 
 to procure the finest article at any expense, and we 
 were fortunate in obtaining it. I scarcely need say 
 that we afterwards prepared it for ourselves, and finally 
 laid it aside for putty, or the combined oxides of tin and 
 
 8* 
 
90 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 lead. As the figure of the pitch polisher had altered 
 somewhat in casting, we commenced polishing the 
 metal in the centre first. We worked alternately* 
 from six to ten o'clock, and although the speculum 
 was in part brilliantly polished, it was still almost one 
 fourth of an inch from the edge. This we carefully 
 watched, often measuring it to see how fast we were 
 gaining upon it. Mason and my brother, while I 
 wrought, were stationed on each side of the polisher, 
 all ready, when it became dry and stuck, to breathe 
 upon it and moisten it. About eleven o'clock Mason 
 and my brother retired, and at twelve I broke off, the 
 speculum being now nearly completed. We had 
 already provided a sheet-iron tube, and also an excel- 
 lent plane mirror. A day or two sufficed to adjust our 
 speculum and mirror, (to give the instrument the form 
 of a Newtonian,) and its performance on land objects 
 encouraged us, but the first night after we were prepared 
 was cloudy. Mason passed the night with me, the 
 earlier part of which (after getting our lessons) was 
 spent in adjusting our eye-pieces and getting all ready 
 for observations. Before daylight Mason and my 
 brother were up. Jupiter was rising in the east, and 
 the full moon shining brightly in the west. I shall 
 never forget the joy with which my brother ran into 
 the room and told me to get up immediately. I was 
 soon with them in front of the house. They had the 
 telescope mounted on a chair, and pointed at Jupiter. 
 It showed the planet beautifully. His disk was sharply 
 
 * A brother of Mr. Smith, equally enthusiastic with his brother 
 in his passion for astronomy, was of the party. He died the 
 ensuing winter. 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 91 
 
 defined, and the belts were black and distinct. Indeed 
 this first mirror I have always considered as one of the 
 best I ever saw. Next night we viewed the double 
 star Castor, 5 Lyrse, &c. We could afterwards de- 
 tect the companion of Polaris, /x 2 Draconis, 11 Monoce- 
 rontis, and s Bootis. 
 
 " This first telescope belonged to me, but we soon af- 
 terwards constructed one for Mason, all working at it 
 in the same manner. This was mounted as an Her- 
 schelian, and the two instruments were so nearly equal 
 that no difference could be detected. 
 
 "Soon after the incidents I have just mentioned, I pur- 
 chased of Holcomb a larger telescope, viz. 7$ feet focus, 
 and 6i inches aperture. This was one of the best tel- 
 escopes I ever saw, and with it we commenced ob- 
 serving the second term of Sophomore year, gradually 
 advancing from the easy Double Stars to the most dif- 
 ficult of Herschel's catalogue." 
 
 This was the instrument of which Mason gave so 
 enthusiastic an account in his letter to Mrs. Turner, al- 
 ready given. (See page 76.) From that letter it ap- 
 pears that he had made numerous and delicate obser- 
 vations with it even before the end of his Freshman 
 year ; and no doubt his taste for the delicate and intri- 
 cate researches of practical astronomy was greatly fos- 
 tered by the command of so excellent an instrument. 
 Indeed, the great obligation under which Mr. Holcomb 
 has laid students of astronomy in this country suggests 
 the propriety of introducing some account of his labors 
 in this place. 
 
 This ingenious artist has made a great num- 
 ber of similar telescopes since, a few of which have 
 been on a much larger scale than this. Mr. Hoi- 
 
92 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 comb's telescopes may safely be pronounced the best 
 that were ever made for the price. For one hun- 
 dred dollars, he furnishes an instrument which affords 
 striking views of the moon and planets, and is adequate 
 to all the purposes of our higher academies, or gram- 
 mar-schools ; while for four hundred dollars he supplies 
 one, which gives magnificent views of the heavens, in- 
 cluding the more intricate phenomena of the stars, and 
 suited every way to the wants of our colleges and 
 universities. Although self-taught, and little conver- 
 sant with telescopes of even the humblest kind, until he 
 made more powerful ones for himself, Mr. Holcornb 
 has carried the manufacture to such a degree of perfec- 
 tion that there is now little occasion to send to Europe 
 for telescopes. The astonishing cheapness of his in- 
 struments, also, compared with those of equal quality 
 imported from Europe, puts it in the power of many 
 literary institutions, and even of individuals, to possess 
 themselves of this interesting and noble instrument, who 
 have heretofore considered it beyond their reach. In 
 short, the introduction of Holcomb's telescopes consti- 
 tutes an era in astronomical science on this side of the 
 Atlantic. 
 
 I have been favored with a letter from Mr. Holcomb, 
 giving, at my request, a brief account of the rise and 
 progress of his establishment, which, by permission, I 
 will insert in the Appendix. (See Appendix, Article 
 
 i.) 
 
 As my professional labors are devoted chiefly to the 
 Senior and Junior classes, I had known but little of 
 Mason up to the period of the second term of his So- 
 phomore year. But an incident led to my forming a 
 more intimate acquaintance with him, inspiring me, as 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 93 
 
 it did, with a high idea of his talents for astronomical 
 research. 
 
 In March, 1837, a remarkable cluster of spots ap- 
 peared on the disk of the Sun ; and being prevented, by 
 an imperfect state of health, from making telescopic 
 observations on them, I suggested to young Mason, 
 soon after their appearance on the Sun's limb, to ex- 
 amine them daily, as they moved across the solar disk, 
 and to keep an accurate journal of his observations from 
 day to day, accompanied by drawings, exhibiting the 
 changes of form, magnitude, and the like, which they 
 should exhibit. Soon after the spots had crossed the 
 Sun's disk and passed off at the other limb, Mason 
 brought me his " Journal of Observations on the Solar 
 Spots of March, 1837," accompanied by a magnificent 
 drawing, which, for beauty of penmanship and extreme 
 finish in the delineation of the minutest changes of fig- 
 ure or dimensions in the spots, has never been surpass- 
 ed by any astronomical drawings with the pen, which 
 I have ever seen. It was done on a large sheet, and 
 exhibited seven views of the clusters, as they varied 
 their appearance from day to day. On the same sheet 
 was delineated a representation of the Sun's disk, with 
 the places occupied successively by the spots. He made, 
 with his own hands, a neat frame of wood, and, in this 
 finished state, he brought it to me along with the copy 
 of his Journal. 
 
 I was not more pleased with the beauty of the draw- 
 ings than astonished on perusing the manuscript, to re- 
 cognise in one so young such powers both of observation 
 and philosophical reflection. The child-like simplicity 
 of his air, and indeed of his form and features, which still 
 savored much more of the child than of the man, were 
 
94 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 in striking contrast with the delicacy of his observations, 
 and the profundity of his reflections. Astronomers 
 will be interested in this earliest production of his pen, 
 and they will require no apology for its insertion, entire, 
 in the Appendix. (See Appendix, Article II.) The 
 original drawings are deposited among the astronomical 
 apparatus of Yale College. 
 
 I was so well pleased and satisfied with these obser- 
 vations, that I cherished the idea of accumulating, by 
 his assistance, what appears to be a desideratum in as- 
 tronomy, a large mass of accurate observations on the 
 solar spots; and I offered him some inducements to 
 engage in this enterprise. He expressed a strong in- 
 terest in the subject, but declined the proposal on the 
 ground that he could not spare the time from his regu- 
 lar studies. I then suggested that he should not descend 
 to all that minuteness of detail, which characterized his 
 present observations, but only give the principal features 
 of the changes occurring from day to day. He said he 
 had set out on that plan in this case, but found it im- 
 possible to satisfy himself short of the highest degree 
 of exactness of which the case was susceptible ; and he 
 could not observe or draw in any other way. 
 
 The account which Mr. Smith gives of the astrono- 
 mical labors of Mason, in connection with himself and 
 his brother from the second term of Sophomore year 
 onward, not only evinces the highest degree of enthusi- 
 asm, but surprises us with the rapid progress our young 
 friends made in ascending the scale of observations, 
 until they reached the most difficult class known to 
 astronomers. The details of these, as kindly commu- 
 nicated by Mr. Smith, would prove in the highest de- 
 gree interesting to the practical astronomer, especially 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 95 
 
 
 
 to one just entering with similar ardor upon this allur- 
 ing pursuit ; but they are too technical to be interesting 
 or even intelligible to the general reader. 
 
 Mason passed the spring vacation of 1837 with his 
 friends at Richmond, to whose affectionate attentions 
 he afterwards looked back with the most grateful feel- 
 ings. Some who are placed in a state of dependence 
 upon the bounty of relations and friends, lose the deli- 
 cate sense of obligation which such favors are suited to 
 awaken ; but the liveliest gratitude towards all who 
 had ever done this beloved youth the least favors, ac- 
 companied him to his dying hour. After his return 
 to college, he addressed to his aunt the following 
 letter : 
 
 To Mrs. Harriet B. Turner. 
 
 "Yale College, July 15, 1837. 
 " DEAR AUNT 
 
 " Aunt J. has returned ; I saw her last night for the 
 first time, and she told me, among other news, that you 
 said you had not had a line from me since I left Rich- 
 mond. I could hardly believe it at first, but as she as- 
 sured me it was so, I determined to sit down immedi- 
 ately, and remove the opinion of my ingratitude which 
 you must have formed from supposing that I would 
 have so long neglected you. For I assure you I felt 
 unhappy enough last night, as aunt J. had said that you 
 thought very hardly of it, and that you were very un- 
 well when she left you. I hope you do not think that 
 I could purposely neglect my best friends, although I 
 know I am occasionally forgetful about writing to them. 
 But for six or eight weeks ! I could not be so remiss in 
 my duty to you. I certainly wrote to you about two 
 
96 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 weeks, possibly three, after I left Richmond, and put 
 the letter into the office. I can hardly believe you 
 have forgotten it; yet as that is possible, I would say, 
 that it contained a brief account of my journey home, 
 and of my obtaining a new and pleasanter room, in the 
 fourth story, together with some abstruse speculations 
 upon the corresponding effects which elevation in the 
 atmosphere produces on elevation of mind, and indeed 
 in proving such effect to have taken place in regard to 
 my own mind, by a copy of verses, written at the 
 height of thirty-five feet above the ground, and ninety 
 feet above the level of the sea; which proof of elevation 
 of mind I requested you to transfer to Miss H. as the 
 promised 'Part 2d' of a former and more trashy pro- 
 duction from the pen of the same gifted author. 
 
 "And while I am now at the confessional, I wish to 
 own to you, that I do not think I acted towards you, 
 when I was last in Richmond, in all respects as I ought 
 to have done. There were many little instances of ap- 
 parent disregard of your feelings, I am afraid ; for I 
 once perceived some emotion on your part, which, 
 though at the time I thought it proceeded from an over- 
 wrought sensibility, when I reflect upon it, I think with 
 pain was no more than was natural, and to be expected 
 at any appearance of ingratitude from one you had al- 
 ways so kindly and so tenderly cherished. I would 
 not for the world have you feel that I am ungrateful for 
 all your kindness. I wished, indeed, to avoid the for- 
 mal visits to which your position in society subjects 
 you, which have no charms for me. I would gladly, 
 if I could, have passed my time in your society alone, 
 in reading to you, or in walking into the country, all 
 the time you could spare me ; not that I now think I 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 97 
 
 had a good excuse for withholding myself so much 
 from your society. The thought of it has cost me 
 many a bitter reflection since, and I feel as if a load 
 were taken off my spirits, in acknowledging my fault, 
 and in a promise to consult the wishes of my friends 
 more hereafter on any similar occasion. 
 
 " It is late, and I am not well. I have a good deal 
 more to say, but bidding you ' good-night/ I remain 
 " Your affectionate nephew, 
 
 E. P. MASON. 
 
 " An overflowing cup of love and fraternal affection 
 for Mr. C." 
 
 9 
 
98 EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 JUNIOR YEAR. 
 
 Vacation scenes Returns to college Commences a second 
 large telescope Calculation and observation of a lunar eclipse 
 Observation of the meteoric shower of November Priva- 
 tions incurred for his favorite objects Literary labors Fail- 
 ure of his pecuniary resources Simple habits of living Pros- 
 pect of losing his education. 
 
 THE fall vacation, commencing his Junior year, Ma- 
 son passed at Northampton with his parents, and took 
 many delightful rambles over Mount Holyoke, and 
 other charming eminences with which that place is 
 signally endowed. These excursions, with the invig- 
 orating mountain air, and a temporary respite from that 
 mental toil by day and night which he had endured so 
 long, together with the affectionate intercourse of his 
 family friends, proved exceedingly beneficial to his 
 health, and inspired his friends with the hope that his 
 opening manhood would develop signs of a more vigor- 
 ous constitution, and of a longer life than they had dared 
 to anticipate. The unsettled state of his father, and his 
 inability to provide fully for the expenses of his son, 
 would have arrested young Mason at this point of his 
 education, had not several kind relatives and friends 
 contributed their generous offerings. These, however, 
 he received as loans, which he earnestly hoped to be 
 able to repay with his first earnings when his education 
 was completed. 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 99 
 
 In a letter to Mrs. Turner written soon after his return 
 to college, he says, " My telescope is about finished, 
 and I have some idea of selling it, if possible, and by 
 the avails of it, constructing a much larger one ; and 
 yet I have a sort of affection for this first product of 
 long toil and skill, that would make me regret parting 
 with it. I am a little in a hurry just at this time begin- 
 ning of the term lessons hard great eclipse of the 
 Moon on Friday next have calculated and projected 
 it am fitting up my telescope for observing it, and 
 regulating the college transit instrument by a series of 
 observations, for obtaining the time accurately." 
 
 During the preceding summer my pupils in astrono- 
 my, consisting of a select number from the Junior class, 
 had calculated and projected the eclipse of the Moon, 
 which Mason speaks of, but I did not know at the time 
 that he accompanied us in the calculation, as the So- 
 phomore class, to which he belonged, had not yet at- 
 tended to the requisite preliminary studies. His cal- 
 culation, however, was not inferior in accuracy to any, 
 and his projection was very neat, although, on my in- 
 quiring " if he had a good set of mathematical drawing 
 instruments," he replied, " that he had nothing better 
 than a two foot rule, and an old pair of brass com- 
 passes." In a number of the college magazine, the 
 " Yale Literary," published soon after the eclipse, is a 
 report of the observations made on it by Mason and his 
 friends Smith and Stoddard, who were associated with 
 him. Considering the early years and inexperience of 
 the observers, the observations were very creditable to 
 them ; and it were desirable that this organ of the 
 students of Yale College, which, from its commence- 
 ment in February, 1836, to the present time, has been 
 
100 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 issued in monthly numbers, and been sustained in 
 a manner that has done credit to the writers and to the 
 college, should present more frequent evidence than it 
 has done of a scientific as well as literary taste in the 
 Institution. 
 
 A few of the students who were more particularly 
 interested in the study of astronomy, were selected to 
 aid me in watching the heavens for several nights 
 about the 13th of November, the anniversary of the 
 great meteoric shower of November, 1833. In 1837, 
 Mason was one of this number, and entered into the 
 observations with his usual zeal. Although, on this 
 occasion, our labor and loss of rest were not rewarded 
 with any brilliant exhibition of shooting stars, yet Ma- 
 son saw enough to satisfy him of the reality of an ex- 
 traordinary display of them on the morning of the 13th. 
 In a letter to his aunt written two days after, he says, 
 " It was cold work, but the appearance of an unusual 
 number of meteors was fully proved." On several 
 other occasions he had witnessed the same exhibition in 
 November and August, and never afterwards expressed 
 the least doubt of the fact that such an extraordinary 
 descent of meteors, radiating uniformly in each case, 
 from a fixed point in the heavens, is witnessed at those 
 periods. He was the first, so far as I know, to observe 
 the phenomenon, with due attention, through the tele- 
 scope, and not long before his death he communicated 
 the result of these observations to his friend Mr. S. C. 
 Walker, of Philadelphia, who has published them in 
 connection with an able article of his own " On Shooting 
 Stars," in the American Philosophical Transactions for 
 1841. (Appendix, Art. IV.) In order to avail himself 
 of a platform covering the portico of the college chapel, 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 101 
 
 and accessible from the third story of the building, for 
 telescopic observations, Mason had sought and obtained 
 a room in the same story, in its position and accommo- 
 dations more ineligible, perhaps, than any one in all the 
 college buildings. In a letter to Mrs. Turner, he gives 
 the following account of his location. " If you want to 
 picture to yourself an agreeable situation, just form an 
 image of mine ; softly body it forth with warm fancy's 
 rapturous touch. Imprimis, a room occupied before 
 me by a notoriously dissipated fellow, as likewise a to- 
 bacco chewer of the first order, sheet-iron stove con- 
 sequently nearly rusted through, and floor delightfully 
 variegated. Secondly, prospect from it the bricks of 
 North College, with the view of the washroom win- 
 dows of three students, all at the comfortable distance 
 of eight feet, both buildings rising high above so as 
 to exclude all but a narrow line of sky room conse- 
 quently as dark and shady as any grotto of the nymphs 
 or muses. Thirdly, chimney of such construction that 
 the stove has no draught, employing me an hour every 
 morning in kindling a fire, which can be effected only 
 by keeping all the windows raised during the process 
 of burning about eight or a dozen newspapers, and 
 blowing the rest of the time at the charcoal I mistake 
 not every morning every fourth morning, I should 
 have said, for I look around and live upon my friends 
 the rest of the time. Thus, in winter, light is to be ob- 
 tained close at the window, and warmth close by the 
 fire an indubitable proof that light and heat are not 
 inseparable. In summer, however, when the sun shines 
 hot upon the opposite bricks of North College, heat 
 but not light is afforded in such quantities, as to make 
 it hot enough for a New Zealander. I want to write 
 
 9* 
 
102 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 more, but I am sitting at 7 o'clock in the morning in 
 my cold room, without a fire, which I have not the 
 courage to attempt to kindle." 
 
 I well remember visiting this cell while occupied by 
 Mason, and never saw a college-room look more cheer- 
 less. Nearly half of it was occupied by his telescope, 
 which by the aid of his neighbors he was accustomed 
 to carry out on the platform on favorable nights for ob- 
 servation. He had limited himself to an extremely 
 scanty supply of furniture, and had not incurred the 
 trouble and expense of scouring off the unseemly pic- 
 tures which his predecessor had inscribed on the walls 
 with chalk and charcoal, nor, indeed, but partially re- 
 moved from the floor the other " reliquiae" to which he 
 alludes in his letter. As he insisted upon remaining in 
 the room, because no other which he could obtain 
 would be so favorable for his astronomical researches, 
 the college joiner was soon put in requisition, and such 
 changes made in the room as rendered it more tolerable. 
 
 Near the close of the year 1837, I commenced 
 printing a third edition of my Introduction to Natural 
 Philosophy, bestowing upon it a careful revision, and 
 endeavoring by a faithful correction of the proof-sheets 
 to secure the greatest attainable accuracy in the typo- 
 graphy. I had, however, but just commenced the work 
 when a serious illness confined me to my room for 
 several weeks. Mason had signified to me at different 
 times his desire of such literary labor as he could per- 
 form without prejudice to his studies, and I now pro- 
 posed to him to aid me in carrying my work through 
 the press. The proof-sheets came out slowly ; I read 
 them first while lying in my bed, and after obtaining a 
 second proof, Mason took them, carefully noted any re- 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 103 
 
 maining typographical errors, reviewed the demonstra- 
 tions, and repeated the solutions of the problems. 
 Very few errors of the press escaped his vigilant eye, 
 and he suggested some valuable improvements in the 
 solutions and demonstrations. I found, however, that 
 his spirits were, at this period, unusually depressed, and 
 a severe cough had returned, to which he had for some 
 years been occasionally subject. His delicacy in troub- 
 ling others with his personal trials rendered it difficult 
 for me to ascertain the cause of his depression, and I 
 never understood it fully, until I have now learned 
 from the following letter that by the misfortunes of a 
 friend on whom he had relied for pecuniary aid, he was 
 suddenly brought to contemplate the necessity of leav- 
 ing college, and perhaps of abandoning his education. 
 
 To Mrs. Harriet B. Turner. 
 
 "Yale College, March 1, 1838. 
 " DEAR AUNT 
 
 "I was exceedingly grieved on reading your letter to 
 hear of the reverses of those who have ever given me 
 the kindest assistance, and still more so that uncle B.'s 
 misfortunes have had a serious effect upon his health. 
 I have been prevented for some days by a confinement 
 resulting from a severe cold upon the lungs, from wri- 
 ting to you, which I should otherwise have done imme- 
 diately. I have, however, nearly recovered, but am 
 still confined to my room. Such a sudden change as 
 has taken place, knowing uncle B.'s prudence and cau- 
 tion, I could hardly have anticipated ; and I can only 
 hope that your fears and expectations may prove in 
 part groundless. As far as this change regards my- 
 self, I am not very greatly concerned ; for what is past 
 
104 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 I can never be too grateful ; for what is to come, as far 
 as I know at present, I am to depend upon myself 
 mainly. My plans for the future will rely much on 
 my father's advice, and to him I shall write immedi- 
 ately ; but for my own part, I should decide to remain 
 at college if possible. In the first place, you have very 
 little conception of the loss I sustain by leaving my 
 class at so late a period of the course. My father 
 knows not much about it, but my friends in college 
 would, I know, all tell me that it was best for me to 
 remain, if I could. If I stay away a year, I enter ano- 
 ther class, under every disadvantage, without any pre- 
 vious standing to rest upon, while the requisite time -is 
 not afforded to gain a standing. 
 
 "Although it is rather hard to be burdened with 
 debt at the end of one's college course, yet I esteem it 
 far preferable to leaving at this time. The college 
 bills I think I can dispense with paying, under bonds to 
 pay them from my first earnings after leaving college. 
 I can borrow too, to some extent, under the same obli- 
 gation. I can earn somewhat during my course to pay 
 for such things as require immediate payment. I am 
 now engaged in assisting Professor Olmsted in revising 
 his Philosophy for the press, for which I receive very 
 good compensation for the time I employ upon it, and 
 which will continue for some time. I had devoted 
 these earnings to my favorite pursuits, but, of course, 
 can think of that no longer. Thus, I think I can man- 
 age, with occasional aid from my father, to make my 
 way through college without being reduced to the ne- 
 cessity of leaving, for necessity I should consider it, and 
 a severe one. I have little doubt that my father's views 
 would coincide with mine. For your kind offers, it 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 105 
 
 would be too formal to say merely that I thank you 
 you know what I would say, without freezing my feel- 
 ings by transferring them to paper. 
 
 " Your affectionate nephew, 
 
 E. P. MASON. 
 
 " P. S. I assure you it is no fun to be sick in college. 
 I have not had my last two meals brought me at all 
 the classmate upon whom I depended for them is sick 
 himself, and no one in this entry to whom I can speak 
 belongs to the_club." 
 
 His next letter to his aunt affords a very distinct pic- 
 ture of his situation at this time, feeble in health, strait- 
 ened in his pecuniary means, and uncertain which way 
 to look for aid. 
 
 To Mrs. H. B. Turner. 
 
 "Yale College, March, 1838. 
 " DEAR AUNT 
 
 " Spring has fairly set in with us ; the birds are al- 
 ready warbling at the first retreat of the snow would 
 that it could retrieve the misfortunes of friends as readi- 
 ly as it does the ravages of winter. 
 
 " I received your letter this morning, and saw by it 
 that you had not yet received mine. I could have wished 
 you had, for you must have thought me guilty of pro- 
 crastination indeed, to have delayed in a matter of so 
 much importance. I had at the time a severe cold up- 
 on the lungs, coughed very much, and for several days 
 after was confined to my room entirely. My headache 
 and dizziness would not allow me to write or think 
 clearly, otherwise I should certainly have allowed no 
 delay. I have now nearly recovered from all its effects, 
 and shall be taught more caution for the future." 
 
106 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 He proceeds next to comply with his aunt's request, 
 by giving her a detailed statement of his debts and ne- 
 cessary expenditures, from which it appears that his 
 habits of living were of the simplest possible kind, and 
 the amount of his expenses less than one half the ordi- 
 nary average. He then adds : " I hope you will not be 
 concerned about my welfare, as there is no danger that 
 I shall not push ahead in some way or other, by loan, 
 negotiated by either my father or myself. I prefer 
 leaving my debts until I am through college, to lessen- 
 ing them by waiting in the hall,* or keeping a recita- 
 tion room ; not from pride, but because these hindrances 
 would interfere with my studies. I am afraid that in 
 transmitting to me so great a draft, you have robbed 
 yourself of what you need for your own convenience, 
 and in such case I should only feel the heavier at heart 
 for your kindness." 
 
 His appearance on the stage at the Junior exhibition, 
 when he spoke an oration, was juvenile, but his pale 
 complexion, and slender figure, contrasted with the 
 justness and energy of his thoughts, rendered him pe- 
 culiarly interesting. His cheerful air concealed the 
 troubles and embarrassments of his situation, and few 
 understood that his heart almost failed him at the 
 thought, that this happy occasion would probably close 
 his connection with college. Friends who had hitherto 
 contributed to his support, had met with reverses which 
 compelled them to withdraw further aid ; and his fa- 
 ther found his salary, imperfectly paid as it was, so in- 
 adequate to his support, as not only to leave him nothing 
 
 * Indigent students were formerly accustomed to attend the 
 tables, and received their board for such service. 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 107 
 
 for his son, but to force upon him the necessity of an 
 immediate removal to the West, and all his resources 
 were put in requisition to defray the expenses of the 
 undertaking. A few days, therefore, after young Ma- 
 son had returned home to pass the spring vacation, I 
 received a letter from his father, describing his situation, 
 lamenting his inability to furnish to his son the least aid, 
 and expressing the painful conviction, that he must now 
 be cut short in his education, and retire with him upon 
 a farm in Michigan. Several gentlemen of the faculty, 
 when they became acquainted with these circumstances, 
 engaged to loan the sums necessary to complete his ed- 
 ucation, and on this expectation he returned to college 
 at the opening of the succeeding term. A generous 
 benefactor, however, an intimate friend of his early 
 years, rendered it unnecessary for Mason to avail him- 
 self of the aid thus proffered him. 
 
 The feelings with which he passed through these 
 trials, as described in his next letter to Mrs. T., evince 
 the most dutiful spirit to his father, for whose sake, 
 should his services be necessary to him on reaching his 
 new destination, he was ready to forego all the pleas- 
 ures and advantages he anticipated in the pursuit of 
 knowledge ; or, if permitted to complete his college 
 course, he expressed the utmost confidence, that he 
 should soon reimburse those kind friends who had lent 
 him their aid. Respecting his uncle, who had formerly 
 assisted him, but was now suffering under accumulated 
 misfortunes and bodily illness, he says : " I want uncle 
 B. to know that I am amply supplied with the means 
 of continuing in college, and if my health holds good, 
 have very favorable prospects before me. Tell him 
 that I should be extremely sorry if I thought that any 
 
108 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 part of his anxiety and mental trouble, arose from the 
 necessary discontinuance of his kind assistance to me. 
 For myself, I feel that I am, as it were, my own man, 
 and fully able by this time to take care of myself ; and 
 I sincerely hope that no needless anxiety for those whom 
 he has hitherto so kindly cherished and supported, will 
 add one drop to the cup of bitterness that is already 
 too full." 
 
 The various engagements, infirmities, "anxieties, and 
 embarrassments which had pressed upon Mason during 
 the preceding term, had unavoidably withdrawn his 
 attention from astronomy ; but at the beginning of the 
 summer of Junior year, on the first return of that peace 
 of mind so grateful to his feelings, he flew again to his 
 favorite amusements, and prosecuted with new energy 
 and delight his observations on the double stars. At 
 this time he commenced his correspondence with Mr. 
 Hoi comb, on the performance of his telescopes compar- 
 ed with the ten feet Refractor of Dollond, belong- 
 ing to Yale College. His letters prove that his zeal, if 
 subdued for a time, was not extinguished, but was easily 
 rekindled. They would be perused with great interest 
 by the young adventurer in the same delightful field of 
 observation, but are too technical for the general reader. 
 He does not seem, however, to have recovered a per- 
 fect state of health, as he confesses to hi1lunt, although 
 he refrains from any mention of his nocturnal studies, 
 knowing what cautions and rebukes such an intimation 
 would elicit. The death of his uncle, David Burr, Esq., 
 of Richmond, who had been one of his greatest bene- 
 factors, happened near this time, and called forth his ten- 
 derest expressions of sympathy, affection, and gratitude. 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 109 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SENIOR YEAR. 
 
 Passes the fall vacation in completing a large telescope Obser- 
 vations on a great eclipse of the Sun Picture representing 
 him asleep over his calculations Resolves to devote his life to 
 astronomy Estimate of Senior year Superior performance of 
 his telescope Smith's great telescope Devotes himself to 
 chemical experiments Visit to Litchfield county Plans for 
 his course of life Resumes writing poetry " Night Musings" 
 " Rosebud" Variety of his literary and social engagements 
 desponding season of the college student. 
 
 TOWARDS the close of the summer term, Mason's 
 astronomical zeal was quickened by the anticipated 
 pleasure of making observations on the great eclipse 
 of the Sun of September 18th, 1838. With this object 
 in view, he remained at college during two thirds of the 
 fall vacation, devoting his days to mechanical employ- 
 ments connected with the completion of a new telescope, 
 and his preparation for observing the eclipses, and his 
 nights to observations on the stars. In these delightful 
 recreations, so consonant to his taste and genius, he 
 was accompanied by his friend Smith. The free use 
 of the shop of an ingenious mechanic, with any assist- 
 ance they might require occasionally from the proprie- 
 tor, made the day pass most pleasantly, while a clear 
 autumnal sky by night, with the use of a large telescope, 
 furnished a still higher repast for the evening. They 
 had regulated the clock by the transit instrument, and 
 Mason had fixed to his telescope a double image mi- 
 
 10 
 
110 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 crometer which belonged to the college, and thus every 
 thing was in readiness for the great eclipse. On the 
 preceding day he embraced a private opportunity to 
 write a few lines to Mrs. Turner "few they must 
 be at present (says he) in spite of my desire to write 
 more. Our vacation of six weeks is more than three 
 fourths gone, and I have been hard at work as a me- 
 chanic all the time, and have recruited much in health 
 and spirits." After a few hasty inquiries, he adds : " I 
 have scarcely a moment's time to devote to this letter ; 
 to-morrow an eclipse of the Sun occurs, the last of the 
 great series we have had for some years past, nearly 
 annular here, if not quite so. I have been during the 
 whole vacation building a telescope, of between seven 
 and eight feet focal length, and nearly six inches diame- 
 ter,. and fitted with the means of making the most ac- 
 curate measures of this eclipse, and of taking a great 
 number of measurements during its whole progress. 
 I ought to have a full week more time previous to the 
 eclipse to get my apparatus in the best state of prepa- 
 ration ; but as there is no putting off the eclipse, I must 
 do what I can to be prepared to-morrow. You may 
 easily imagine that at such a crisis, time does not go 
 hunting after occupation : in fact, I have a full week's 
 work to get over in some way or other before to-morrow, 
 all of it almost requiring sunshine, or starlight, whereas 
 it has been cloudy three or four days, and promises 
 very fair to be so still. Should it be overcast to-mor- 
 row, I shall be saved a deal of trouble and after-calcu- 
 lation ; should it be clear, you will no doubt be gratified 
 to know of my success." 
 
 On the day of the eclipse, I reached home from a 
 distant journey, about noon, and found our young astro- 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. Ill 
 
 nomers agitated between hope and fear, hope verging 
 on ecstacy in anticipation of the approaching spectacle, 
 and fear lest the clouds which, with some signs of 
 breaking away, still covered the sky should continue, 
 while only an hour or two remained before the eclipse 
 would come on. I encouraged them and cheered them 
 on, upon the principle that " Fortune favors the brave," 
 and just before the expected moment, the clouds all 
 melted .away, and left a glorious scene for the astron- 
 omer. The results of these observations were pub- 
 lished in the American Journal of Science. 
 
 I have in my possession an interesting pencil-sketch 
 of Mason, taken by his fellow-laborer Smith. They 
 were together in the observatory till a late hour of the 
 evening, taking observations in preparation for the ap- 
 proaching eclipse. Mason is seated, and with his pen- 
 cil is reducing his observations on right ascensions. 
 But overcome by excessive watchings, he drops to 
 sleep ; and his ingenious and more wakeful companion 
 amused himself by sketching the whole scene, present- 
 ing the picture of a child, (as he appeared,) sitting by 
 a large telescope, with a pile of astronomical papers 
 on the table, but the young astronomer sunk into the 
 arms of Morpheus. The contrast between the exalted 
 pursuits indicated by the drapery, and the extreme ju- 
 venility of the astronomer, is strikingly enhanced by 
 the attitude of the figure. 
 
 Mason was now fairly in love with Practical Astron- 
 omy ; and having acquired already the difficult art of 
 making observations of refined accuracy, he began to 
 pant after the loftiest heights of astronomy, and to think 
 of nothing less than devoting his life to it. The efforts 
 of the Hon. John Quincy Adams to create a national 
 
112 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 observatory had caught his eye, and his soul was fired 
 at the prospect of obtaining at least some humble place 
 in this American Uraniberg. He first intimates such a 
 purpose to Mrs. Turner in a letter dated Oct. 8th, the 
 first addressed to her after entering his Senior year. 
 
 " I suppose (says he) the Solar Eclipse of Sept. 
 18th, was visible and annular with 'you. I almost en- 
 vied your situation at the time, for it is the last eclipse 
 of such magnitude we may see for many years. Here 
 the eclipse was not quite annular. I made some very 
 satisfactory observations upon it. During the last va- 
 cation I remained at college, I had expected to make a 
 short pedestrian excursion into Litchfield county, but 
 finally gave it up. I was employed most of the time 
 in the construction of a new telescope, which I was for- 
 tunate enough to get into a state of sufficient advance- 
 ment to observe the eclipse. I had attached to it a very 
 excellent micrometer made in London, which fell into 
 my hands a year ago, and with which I was able 
 to make very good observations on the progress of 
 the eclipse." 
 
 After enumerating the studies of the year on which 
 he had entered, he adds : " After all, the fancied ease 
 of Senior year consists only in this, that one can get 
 through it with much less study than the preceding year 
 if he chooses; but he must be very diligent if he intends 
 to profit much by it. What my prospects in life are, I 
 at present know not, nor do I wish to know. I look 
 forward with strong, and by this time almost unalter- 
 able desires to a line of pursuit, which I know, in this 
 country while the demand for what is practical, and 
 moreover of immediate and obvious utility only exists, 
 must meet with little encouragement. Had I not the 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 113 
 
 consciousness that in the pursuit of my objects I could 
 bear any adversity or frowns of fortune rather than re- 
 linquish them, the discouraging nature of the prospect 
 might shake my constancy, and gradually change the 
 current of my inclinations ; but I think that while many 
 of my views of the future, ^and castles in the air, will 
 hereafter appear extremely foolish, the great objects of 
 my choice I shall not and cannot forsake. But specu- 
 lations on what is to come hereafter are premature, and 
 had better be kept to one's self." 
 
 By inspecting a file of compositions now before me, 
 I find that those written at this period, indicate that the 
 drift of his mind was towards some high and exalted 
 pursuit for life, and we cannot doubt what pursuit it 
 was that he had in his eye. He began to estimate the 
 value of different motives that excite the human powers, 
 and plainly gives the preference to the love of posthu- 
 mous fame, over the desire of present applause. The 
 love of praise he considers a corrupting and debasing 
 motive when indulged beyond one's true desert, and 
 cherished for its own sake, as the miser loves his gold 
 and seeks for more, without reference to any benefits 
 which either himself or others will derive from it. 
 While he acknowledges the implied inconsistency of 
 seeking a reward which we can never actually possess, 
 yet there appears to him something noble in the very 
 pursuit, something characteristic of a higher degree of 
 moral dignity than the love of present but temporary 
 praise. 
 
 The following essay may be taken as a fair speci- 
 men of his manner of writing on such themes as are 
 commonly suggested to the student. 
 
 10* 
 
114 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 
 ON THE INFLUENCE EXERTED UPON THE CHARACTER BY 
 THE CONTEMPLATION OF GREAT OBJECTS. 
 
 "There is in the human mind an innate admiration of 
 the grand and sublime ; a ; feeling kindred to all that is 
 great and noble in the natural and moral world. The 
 exercise of this feeling is no transient emotion, dying as 
 soon as the cause that called it into action has ceased ; 
 but it leaves its impress on the mind, deepened by 
 every renewal of the sentiment, and ripened by habitual 
 association, until it is thoroughly inwoven into the very 
 character. 
 
 " The influence of this principle lies, in the moral and 
 intellectual energy with which it clothes the mind in the 
 exercise of its noblest faculties. Man is no passive 
 being, but one that exults in power, physical and intel- 
 lectual, in action untiring and eternal. The very 
 contemplation of great objects inspires the desire of 
 their attainment. Long meditation of the profound 
 mysteries of nature prompts to efforts for their in- 
 vestigation. It was the steady direction of the mind 
 of Columbus to the one great subject to which he had con- 
 secrated all his powers ; it was the dwelling of thought 
 and imagination on the bright offspring of his own fer- 
 vid conception, which, through long years of neglect 
 and derision, with indomitable strength of purpose, 
 could launch him on an untried ocean nay, more, could 
 brave the malice and heartless ingratitude of man. 
 
 " For the full apprehension of the sublime, either in 
 the natural or the moral world, refinement and cultivation 
 of mind are essential requisites. The thunders of Ni- 
 agara meet with no response in the breast of the rude 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 115 
 
 and illiterate peasant ; the grandeur of the firmament is 
 not reflected from his soul. 
 
 " The scholar who loves to dwell on high and noble 
 objects will seldom feel the pride of intellect, or indulge 
 in self-complacency at his own fancied mental superi- 
 ority. Conceit is the fault of those who look but half- 
 way up the steep of knowledge. He whose earnest 
 gaze is directed upward to her highest temple, is in no 
 danger of looking backward self-satisfied with what he 
 has already surmounted. In proportion as the soul 
 burns with the true celestial fire, it is conscious of its 
 own inferiority, and is endowed with that unassuming 
 spirit of meek inquiry, which characterizes the genuine 
 philosopher, the true interpreter of nature. While the 
 tide of passion is subdued by its influence, reason is 
 exalted to her rightful supremacy ; the mind is contin- 
 ually urged forward in that career of progressive im- 
 provement, which is the brightest feature of its immor- 
 tality ; in its aspirations after excellence, it strives to 
 assimilate itself to a higher order of beings, to burst the 
 shackles which confine the reason and intellect to the 
 narrow sphere of human knowledge, and with Milton 
 to expatiate in worlds of its own creation. If to this 
 tends all that we here know of greatness, how must the 
 perception of the infinite in space and duration, and in 
 sublimity of moral grandeur, elevate and dignify the 
 mental powers ! With what extended resources, what 
 almost omnipotent power, must the gift of all knowl- 
 edge, the ability to search out every cause, to trace 
 every relation which subsists in the physical and men- 
 tal universe, invest man, the future heir of this noble 
 heritage ! Who can set limits to the progress of the 
 human mind ? Man has already extended over the 
 
116 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 universe the sceptre of his power. He has weighed in 
 a balance the mighty globe on which he treads ; has 
 realized the mad wish of the prince of Macedon, in ac- 
 tually extending his conquests to other worlds ; he has 
 carried forth the line, and fathomed space ; has investi- 
 gated the hidden laws and movements of matter at dis- 
 tances at which even thought, the mighty traverser of 
 space, shrinks back in despair. Who can deny that 
 this same irrepressible emanation of the soul may, at 
 some future period, go forth to other worlds, and reveal 
 the laws of mind, and the mysterious conditions of be- 
 ing that prevail in those far-off isles in the abyss of 
 space, to which we are bound by the sympathy of kin- 
 dred existence? Whether or not such powers are 
 delegated to the human mind in this state of existence, 
 we may leave it to future generations to unfold, assured 
 that all, except what belongs to Omniscience alone, is 
 man's birthright, which he is destined fully and com- 
 pletely to inherit." 
 
 To descant on themes like the foregoing, was conso- 
 nant with the great purpose of life which our young 
 astronomer was beginning to cherish ; and we shall 
 henceforth find him pursuing it with a singleness and 
 devotion unequalled in one so young, until his spirit 
 " burst the shackles that confined it within this narrow 
 sphere," to expatiate in that world where it " can search 
 out every cause, and trace every relation which sub- 
 sists in the physical and mental universe." 
 
 The next letter to Mrs. Turner has appeared to me 
 one of peculiar interest, evincing the delicate feelings 
 of the heart as well as the successful culture and rapid 
 growth of the understanding: 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 117 
 
 To Mrs. II B. Turner. 
 
 "Yale College, Nov. 7, 1838. 
 " DEAR AUNT 
 
 " I received your letter and the accompanying check 
 late last Saturday evening. I am extremely thankful 
 for your kindness, although sometimes I think my friends 
 are almost too kind, and are more in danger of permit- 
 ting themselves than me to suffer. I did not expect, 
 when at the beginning of the year I determined to re- 
 main through Senior year, to go through without 
 many sacrifices ; and great economy in my wardrobe 
 was indispensable. By your kindness, I am now fur- 
 nished with the means of putting it in good condition. 
 Aunt J., too, has been kind enough to aid me very much 
 in my clothing, both by repairing and purchasing, so 
 that I shall not long be without a good supply of cloth- 
 ing for the winter. 
 
 " I find that Senior year is not, after all, that fancied 
 time of leisure that it is supposed to be. The time is 
 so split asunder by the numerous lectures, that the in- 
 tervals are not much more than sufficient to learn the 
 lessons as they ought to be learned, although it is much 
 easier to evade thorough study than in the other three 
 years, on account of their nature. 
 
 " I sent you, a short time ago, a notice of the eclipse 
 of this year as observed here, in a leaf of Silliman's 
 Journal of Science. The telescope there spoken of, is 
 a new one that I was building during the last vacation. 
 It is a very fine one, and I wish very much you could 
 see it, and look through it. I have seen with it the di- 
 vision in Saturn's ring, which is an object too delicate 
 to be seen by any but the finest and most perfect even 
 of large telescopes. My fellow-laborer in these pur- 
 
118 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 suits, Mr. Smith, has been engaged, during the past 
 summer in the construction of one on a very large 
 scale, which exhibits objects that require much light, 
 such as Nebulae, and faint double stars, most splendidly. 
 It is probably equal in point of light to any thing in 
 the country. 
 
 " I cannot make this letter as long as usual, or as I 
 could wish, as my time is at present very much occu- 
 pied in every possible way so many lectures during 
 the day, and at night I am engaged in exhibiting to the 
 class the heavenly bodies through the college telescope. 
 Professor Olmsted being prevented from doing so by 
 his present state of health, has offered to give me a 
 compensation for acting as his proxy in the case. The 
 13th of November, too, is coming in two or three days, 
 on which some return of the great shower of '33 is 
 expected, and my hands are full of that, the Professor 
 relying on me to get up and organize a sufficient com- 
 pany in our class, and train them by learning the Stars 
 and Constellations, in order to give due honor to his me- 
 teoric majesty, if he is pleased to favor us with another 
 anniversary. So with all love to uncle T. and my 
 cousins and friends, I must thus early bid you good-bye. 
 " Your affectionate nephew, 
 
 E. P. MASON." 
 
 I was at this period suffering severely from an illness 
 which prevented exposures by night, and I found it not 
 less agreeable to my class in astronomy than convenient 
 to myself, to put the large college telescope under the 
 direction of Mason, to exhibit to them telescopic views 
 of the Moon, Planets, and other celestial objects. But 
 lest it may not seem to have been consistent with that 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 119 
 
 paternal kindness and watchfulness, which it became 
 me to exercise over my interesting young friend, to tax 
 him with additional labors, when overburdened already 
 with tasks too severe for his feeble frame, I beg leave 
 to say, that he assured me, and I had good reason to 
 believe, that these services to which I invited him were 
 less severe and involved less of exposure to health, than 
 those which he would have otherwise prosecuted for 
 himself; while he felt himself greatly obliged and. re- 
 lieved by the small earnings which he was thus enabled 
 to acquire. I ma^fc frankly aver that, both on this occa- 
 sion and ever afterwards, none of his friends was more 
 assiduous than myself, in expostulating with him for 
 tasking himself with labors, and encountering night ex- 
 posures, so dangerous to his frail constitution and tender 
 age. 
 
 Of Smith's great telescope mentioned in the preceding 
 letter, a more particular account will be given in an ex- 
 tract from his paper on the Nebula?, to be inserted in 
 the Appendix. It was at the time the largest telescope 
 ever constructed on this side of the Atlantic. Although 
 rudely mounted, it afforded well-defined and magnifi- 
 cent views of the Moon and Planets, while its abundant 
 light rendered it peculiarly excellent for such dim ob- 
 jects as the fainter Double Stars, and the Nebulae. It will 
 be long remembered at Yale, as an extraordinary pro- 
 duction, for two or three young men to achieve during 
 the short intervals enjoyed by the college student. Nor 
 indeed can such an enterprise be safely recommended 
 to any one hereafter, lest he should sacrifice to it either 
 his education or his life. As soon as the nights became 
 too cold for star-gazing, the indefatigable spirit of Ma- 
 son found another way of access to the mysteries of 
 
120 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 Nature, which, for a while, he pursued with an ardor 
 almost equal to that with which he had explored the 
 starry heavens. Near the close of this year (1838) he 
 commenced attending Professor Silliman's lectures on 
 Chemistry, to which he not only gave a deep and inter- 
 ested attention, but immediately entered the field of ex- 
 perimental inquiry for himself. To this he alludes in 
 the following letter. He also refers to an application 
 which he had made to an early and intimate friend for 
 pecuniary aid, an appeal which was promptly and gen- 
 erously met. This application he intended to conceal 
 from his aunt, but her truly maternal vigilance had de- 
 tected it ; and, although such timely aid might have 
 rendered her own efforts less needed, yet nothing could 
 repress the overflowing expressions of her aifection for 
 him. But such was the delicacy of his feelings, that he 
 woujd not have ventured upon this application had he 
 not seen, as he thought, the way now opening before 
 him to reimburse in a short time the advances of his 
 friend. 
 
 To Mrs. Turner. 
 
 "Yale College, April 17, 1839. 
 " DEAR AUNT ^ 
 
 "I received yours of the 13th ult. no longer ago 
 than last Saturday, and Mr. C.'s letter coming the 
 same day with money enclosed, I was of course, 
 obliged to answer it first. Add to this, that our ex- 
 amination has just commenced and I have been in the 
 full hurry of preparation for it. The hundred dollar 
 bill that you gave Mr. C. to send to me came safely, 
 and I see by your letter that you have found out my 
 application to him for assistance, which I had hoped 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 121 
 
 you would not, at least until after I had graduated. 
 I trust that you will be under no fear that Mr. C. will 
 not soon receive his money in return. I shall have 
 immediate employment as ,soon as I am at leisure, 
 either in New Haven or in Michigan, and as profitable 
 as can be expected. I may be in more doubt to choose 
 than difficulty to obtain. Mr. C. wrote to me a little 
 about the clerkship which you mentioned, and remark- 
 ed that he thought the kind of employment which it 
 would require, would be very tasteless to me, in which 
 I perfectly agree with him ; and my engagements here 
 would not allow me in any case to take the place, even 
 if he were at liberty to offer it to me/ * 
 
 " My intention was, before I received your letter, to 
 spend the vacation with my friends in Litchfield coun- 
 ty ; and, much as I wish to vist Richmond this spring, 
 and see you and uncle T. in your new place, and Mr. 
 C. in his old one, I think you will agree with me, when 
 you hear my reasons, that I ought not to change my 
 former intention. My father's parents in Litchfield, 
 my grandmother in Warren, my father's brothers and 
 friends in Litchfield and South Farms, and my old ac- 
 quaintances in Washington, I have not visited since I 
 entered college, although so near ; and I should be 
 extremely reluctant to have this last opportunity of 
 visiting them while I am in college, go by without imr 
 proving it. I know, from messages I have had from 
 them, that they must even now feel slighted at the lit- 
 tle attention I have paid them, and I fear I should de- 
 serve their coldness, if I should seem to show it much 
 longer on my part. My father wished me to spend 
 one vacation there at least before I leave college, pro- 
 bably for the same reasons that I wish it. Again, I 
 
 11 
 
122 LIFE AND WRITINGS OP 
 
 shall have abundant occasion in walking from one 
 part of Litchfield county to another, to gain that exer- 
 cise, and gather that strength which I shall so much 
 need for the coming summer, for the want of which 
 last summer I ran down to as low an ebb of health as I 
 ever hope to again, commencing in the spring. I have 
 no signs of another such descent this spring, and I hope 
 to have none. Now in Richmond, I certainly should 
 do but little in the way of vigorous exercise, and with- 
 out it I should have little energy to prepare myself for 
 the ensuing Commencement, or to resist disease. More- 
 over, I hope, i circumstances permit, not to decline, 
 but merely to defe*r the visit until Commencement ; then, 
 in the fall vacation, to pass a few weeks with you, 
 when I can enjoy the visit without any uncomfortable 
 recollections of duty neglected elsewhere. Believe me, 
 it is no absence of inclination or desire to see you, that 
 induces me to forego your pressing invitation. The 
 loss of a dear and mutual friend and father, has by 
 its common affliction only endeared the living to one 
 another, and reminded them, that the time for mutual 
 intercourse and sympathy is short. 
 
 " I have paid but little attention to astronomical ob- 
 servation this winter, but my substituted hobby would, 
 except so far as you have yourself taken some interest 
 in it, please you no better. You would readily see, 
 were you in my room, what science it is that has 
 crowded out its brother, in yon utensil, which whilom 
 was an inglorious wash-tub, but which is now elevated 
 by the addition of a few shelves to the dignity of a 
 pneumatic trough ; and in the glorious array of re- 
 ceivers and retorts that share with it the corner of my 
 anti-chamber, which, perchance, to an unitiated or a 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 123 
 
 malicious eye, might appear to be nought but cheap 
 tumblers and fourpenny flasks, elongated by cork and 
 tube ; and in the other paraphernalia of the science that 
 are heaped up there, which, erst employed in the igno- 
 ble uses of domestic life, have emerged from obscurity 
 and been consecrated to the exalted purposes of chem- 
 istry. Yet has this very humble apparatus conjured 
 up the worst spirits to indulge in fierce strife, and ex- 
 ercise their warring propensities ; some of the most 
 refractory of them, as sulphuretted hydrogen, chlorine, 
 and the like, by no means to the satisfaction of my 
 olfactories and lungs, organs it were devoutly to be 
 wished the chemist could dispense with altogether. 
 An explosion or two, moreover, (shudder not, dear 
 aunt, nor give me a world of good advice in your next, 
 for ended is my chemical career,) that did not the harm 
 which the temerity that occasioned them warranted, 
 have wonderfully exalted my confidence in my own 
 abilities, and, of course, my enthusiasm for the science 
 in general, although no longer lavishing itself in direct 
 experiment. 
 
 " To all friends who love me, my warmest affection 
 in return. 
 
 " Your affectionate nephew, 
 
 E. P. MASON." 
 
 Agreeably to the intention expressed in the forego- 
 ing letter, Mason, as soon as the spring vacation ar- 
 rived, took his staff in his hand, and set out on foot on 
 a pilgrimage to Litchfield county, to visit the scenes 
 of his nativity, and the friends of his childhood. In 
 some of these peregrinations, he was accompanied by 
 his friend Hollister, who embraced this opportunity to 
 
124 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 renew an acquaintance with him, which, falling as they 
 had into different classes in college, had not been very 
 intimate for several years. Mr. H. thus describes his 
 appearance at that time. " The first opportunity that 
 presented itself to me of renewing my acquaintance 
 with Mason, was in the spring vacation of 1839, when 
 he visited Washington to see again faces once familiar 
 to him, and to renew those associations which formed 
 some of the brightest links in the chain of his existence. 
 I have never been more happily disappointed than in 
 discovering and correcting the mistaken opinion I had 
 formed of his character. I had looked for the philoso- 
 pher the man of theories and calculations and found 
 only the child "of nature, with an intellect clear and 
 strong enough to pry into her deepest works, and a 
 soul to feel their beauty. He showed a taste of the 
 most refined order, and feelings of the nicest texture, 
 while his simplicity, and I may say meekness of heart, 
 lent a peculiar charm to his whole conversation. He 
 no longer appeared formal in his manners, but passed 
 from one theme to another with a rapidity that could 
 be prompted only by a fancy most vivid and flexible. 
 As we rambled over the hills, and through the forests, 
 that helped to make up so much of the picture of his life, 
 he seemed to fling aside, for the moment, his severer 
 studies, and abandon himself to the luxury of dreaming 
 over again the visions of his boyhood. 
 
 "He delighted to linger about the house where he was 
 born, and to stroll through the garden and orchard ; 
 and he pointed out to me, with much emotion, the very 
 room where his own mother first told him of the way to 
 Jieaven. * Almost the first thing I can remember,' he 
 observed, ' is the smile with which she swung me back- 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 125 
 
 ward and forward upon her foot, and the kiss with 
 which she bade me good-night !' The love that he 
 cherished for this amiable parent was one of the strong- 
 est ties that bound him to the past. His native village 
 needed no other hold upon the affections, while it con- 
 tained the ashes of one so dear to his remembrance. 
 He was often heard to say, that if he cherished any 
 one feeling more than another, it was that her spirit 
 still hovered around him to keep him from temptation 
 by day, and to watch over his pillow by night. I re- 
 member well his first visit to her grave. It was al- 
 most evening, and the sun was just disappearing from 
 the hill-tops. He stood a moment by the monument, 
 and then reclining against the mound that was heaped 
 above her, he dropped his head upon his breast, and 
 wept with the sorrow and simplicity of a child. It was 
 the grave of his mother ; of that mother who first 
 soothed his rest, from whose lips he had learned to lisp 
 the first accents of an infant's prayer. How little did 
 we think, as he bent over her tomb, that he, too, in the 
 short space of a year and a half, was to sleep with 
 slumbers unbroken as hers !" 
 
 These interesting and romantic incidents, mingling 
 with the sweet recollections of childhood ; the delight- 
 ful intercourse enjoyed with his kindred and earliest 
 friends ; and the invigorating mountain airs and wild 
 scenes of his native village, both strengthened his out- 
 ward frame, and afforded a continual feast to his soul. 
 Indeed, the occasion so wrought upon his affections, 
 that fountains long sealed were again opened, and he 
 poured forth his feelings in beautiful poetical effusions. 
 A few of these I shall present to the reader ; others, 
 and especially such as were written at the request of 
 
 11* 
 
126 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 his female friends, including several acrostics, are gen- 
 erally of too confidential a nature for the public eye. 
 
 ON REVISITING THE SCENES OF MY CHILDHOOD. 
 
 " At last I tread once more the wonted haunts, 
 Where woke my infancy to life and light ; 
 Each everlasting hill its outline slants, 
 As recollection imaged to my sight, 
 And time flows back ; and my stirred bosom pants 
 Once more with early boyhood to unite, 
 And feel its careless breath go lightly forth, 
 And hear the echoes mock its sounds of mirth. 
 
 " On each remembered spot the dizzy flight 
 Of by-gone years is ruthlessly engraven ; 
 And this is life ! still onward in despite 
 Of human power, perchance of that of heaven ; 
 Like a raised wave before the tempest's might, 
 It may not breast the power by which 'tis driven, 
 But still borne surely to the fatal shore, 
 To break, and fall, and perish in its roar. 
 
 " Is life no more ? Oh ! never yet where dwelt 
 The image of the Almighty, hath the breath 
 Of Time's defied and fruitless power been felt: 
 All else shall quail before the blast of death ; 
 The sun shall be as blood ; the earth shall melt ; 
 But the immortal soul shall tread beneath 
 Her disembodied might the chain of Time, 
 That dare not so near God's own glory climb." 
 
 Soon after Mason's return to college to spend the 
 last term of Senior year, he addressed the following 
 letter to his valued friend at Richmond. 
 
<^fe If 
 
 EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 127 
 
 
 
 To WtZZwzm 5. Chittenden, Esq. 
 
 "Yale College, June 29, 1839. 
 " DEAR BROTHER 
 
 " I have come to the sage conclusion that I ought to 
 write to you a letter about this time, to inform you that 
 I am alive and in good health, and am neither expelled, 
 suspended, dismissed, nor have suffered from any other 
 of those little accidents that are apt to befall academical 
 students. I give myself, of course, vast credit for my 
 prudence and sagacity, in escaping the rocks and 
 quicksands hinted at a line or two above, and in pilot- 
 ing myself thus far in comparative safety. Moreover, 
 the haven of the voyage is now in sight, at the short 
 distance of seven weeks off; and unless, as Mrs. He- 
 mans says, ' the sailor dies in sight of the green shore,' 
 why I suppose I shall anchor in safety. This is truly 
 a splendid comparison for my purpose, to talk of the 
 port in sight, and anchoring, when I am rather emerg- 
 ing from a quiet river, as it were, upon the wide sea of 
 life ; but we students seldom think of that, till we find 
 ourselves fairly out, and tossing among the waves, and 
 wrestling with the billows. 
 
 " I have little else to do now but to write an oration 
 for Commencement, do a little something to keep myself 
 in funds, and a little something else to keep myself in 
 health, till the close of summer ; I hope then to come 
 down and see my friends in Richmond, if circumstances 
 permit, and then, for aught I know, I am for the * Far 
 West' a drop in its wide waters. It is a strange 
 thing this being thrown upon the world the unceas- 
 ing struggle of an immortal mind to purvey for the 
 body, to find 'what it shall eat, and what it shall drink, 
 and wherewithal it shall be clothed,' while it has in 
 
128 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 view, all the time, an immense field of nobler pursuit 
 and higher action that it can scarcely enter, confined 
 as it is to these baser occupations. 
 
 ' It is godlike to unloose 
 The spirit, and forget yourself in thought, 
 Bending a pinion for the deeper sky ; 
 And, in the very fetters of your flesh, *.,.; 
 Mating with the pure essences of heaven!' 
 
 " But oh ! it is most earthly to come back from such a 
 flight, and find the pockets empty, and the outer man 
 failing through neglect. Ought these things to be so ? 
 Doubtless they ought, for so it is ordered ; and had I 
 time or patience to philosophize a little deeper, I might 
 discover the wise purpose of all this. But now with 
 the fetters of high anticipations clinging to me, I have 
 scarce patience to ask what wise purpose, in the provi- 
 dence of the world, is answered by my being thus 
 prisoned and chained down, like a caged bird, from 
 whither my soul pines to wander. It is but an item 
 after all that I shall throw into the mighty flame of am- 
 bition that is burning in the far west ; and to the world 
 at large it matters little whether my span of life is con- 
 sumed in the addition of dollars and cents, or whether 
 my * thoughts were wings to bear me o'er creation ;' 
 and the world's end is to be answered and not mine. 
 I feel like an over-wrought novel reader, half sick of 
 life's stern reality in short, * I've ta'en to the misan- 
 thropic vein, I think they ca' it.' 
 
 " The foregoing is a fair specimen, I believe, of the 
 dreams and fantasies of a youth about to enter life, a 
 sort of would-be philosophy ; and yet, foolish though it 
 be, it had its source in the feelings. I should not, how- 
 ever, have been betrayed into it, did I not believe, 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 129 
 
 from some of your expressions, that you had once, if not 
 now, feelings, in some sort, like my own, at least suffi- 
 ciently so for sympathy, though perhaps of such depth 
 and intensity, that instead of sympathizing, you may 
 scorn mine as fantastical day-dreaming, and I shall do 
 the same myself to-morrow. 
 
 " With regard to money matters I shall be as brief as 
 possible, for the train of thought in which I have just 
 indulged, does not dispose me to feel kindly towards the 
 discussion of that theme. I shall have business enough 
 in assisting Professor Olmsted in the preparation of his 
 Astronomy? to furnish me with the means of liquidating 
 all expenses for some time. Besides which, I had the 
 offer of fifteen dollars for the calculation of an alma- 
 nac, which will, I presume, cost me one day's hard 
 labor, and perhaps two at the most. I therefore accepted 
 the offer, although I shuddered at the monotony of the 
 undertaking. Other minor sources of revenue I may 
 depend upon. On the whole, as far as I can cast a pro- 
 phetic glance, I shall need no further remittance, at 
 least at present. Should I at all stand in need of a 
 small one, however, I will write and inform you. 
 
 " I have spent a very pleasant vacation in Litchfield 
 county travelled nearly all over it, and could scarce 
 find a corner so obscure as to be entirely destitute of 
 friends and relations. Among other achievements, I 
 perpetrated a good deal of poetry in the albums around, 
 which, were any of it worth sending you, I would do 
 so according to promise. I will send you, however, 
 to redeem a promise, a piece of mine in the last Yale 
 Literary Magazine, entitled ' Night Musings.' The 
 periodical is entirely sustained by students of Yale Col- 
 lege. There is also a piece in the same magazine, 
 
130 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 * Death of Saul and Jonathan,' written by a friend of 
 mine, the first editor of the magazine, which I wish 
 you would read. Give me your opinion of both of 
 them, especially without fear or favor towards mine, 
 for I am not so in love with praise, or so like the 
 who is it ? the Abbe in Gil Bias, that I cannot bear 
 friendly criticism, or so experienced in composition as 
 not to need it ; besides, I claim that I ought to receive 
 candid and severe criticism from you, as being your 
 protege in poetry. If I have ambition about it, it is not 
 that this piece should be pronounced good, whether it 
 is so or not, but rather that I may be able to do better 
 through consciousness of my defects at first. There- 
 fore, spare not, if you chance to have leisure, to give 
 me the benefit of your experience in this matter. The 
 idea of the other piece I spoke of, was taken by the 
 writer from the beautiful style of poetry of David's la- 
 ment over Saul and Jonathan in the first chapter of 
 
 Second of Samuel. The name of the author is , 
 
 of the Junior class. He has a great deal of natural 
 poetry about him, and I think will become ere long dis- 
 tinguished in that line. I have at least sufficient poeti- 
 cal taste about me to acknowledge his superiority. 
 Though not eccentric outwardly, the deeper traits of 
 his character are strange, and not marked with the 
 stereotype of common life. He has a peculiar sim- 
 plicity of feeling and expression, which perhaps you 
 may notice in his piece ; and withal that intensity of 
 feeling in the bright as well as in the dark shades, which 
 gives poets, and which gave Byron above all poets, that 
 strength and power that can hardly result but from the 
 actual experience of the same feelings, and in the same 
 intenseness with which they are portrayed. Oh ! will 
 

 EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 131 
 
 you be so good as to hand to aunt T. the number of the 
 magazine I send you, when you have done with it, as 
 I dare say she would like to see a piece of mine in 
 print. I suppose she believes that I haven't a thought 
 in life but what is in some way or other bounded by 
 sides or surfaces, straight lines or planes. 
 
 " I am now in much better health than I have been, 
 for the greater part of my time in college. The cough 
 I had last year, and which threatened fairly to run 
 me down to the lowest ebb, I have no trace of this 
 year. I exercise much more than I was wont, having 
 more time, and having learned its necessity by experi- 
 ence. I hope to hear from you very soon, though if 
 pressed with business so as to render writing inconve- 
 nient to you, I hope not to hear from you very soon. 
 " Your affectionate brother, 
 
 E. P. MASON." 
 
 The piece of poetry alluded to in the foregoing let- 
 ter, was written soon after his return from his excursion 
 in Litchfield county, where he seems to have caught a 
 new and lofty inspiration from nature. Both this and the 
 following piece seem to me worthy of our best poets. 
 
 NIGHT MUSINGS. 
 
 " The fevered glow of parting day, 
 That flushed so late the brow of heaven, 
 To marble paleness fades away 
 Before the cool of youngest even ; 
 'Twas flushed like mortal brow, when roll 
 The storms of passion o'er the soul : 
 'Tis faded, like that brow when thought 
 From eve a kindred calm hath caught. 
 
132 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 " Swift over twilight's lovely face, 
 
 Those changing hues each other chase; 
 
 Trembles from snowy depths afar 
 
 The dawning of her earliest star, 
 
 And glows the crescent's subtle horn, 
 
 From the expiring sunset born 
 
 A gem upon her mantle worn, 
 
 And binding night to day, 
 
 Where evening hangs on day's retreat, 
 
 Where bounds of light and darkness meet, 
 
 And each, on heaven's azure sheet, 
 
 In the other fades away. 
 
 " Wan Night upon her vesture's waste, 
 With pen of fire that bow hath traced,* 
 But coloring of darker beams, 
 As of the sunless hue of dreams, 
 Hath fully bodied forth that sphere 
 The brighter crescent but begun, 
 And bound beside the bright form there 
 A quenched and rayless one, 
 The living with the dead, 
 The present with the past ; 
 The spirit's vital essence, wed 
 To the cold clay in which 'tis cast. 
 Well were it did the spirit's light, 
 Like that orb struggling from its night, 
 As surely on its destined way, 
 Wax brighter to the perfect day. 
 
 * On the " Twilight Bow," see Professor Morse, in American 
 Journal of Science, xxxviii. p. 389. 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 133 
 
 " Deeper hath swelled the evening shade, 
 
 And mingled wooded hill and glade, 
 
 And raven-pinioned Night, 
 
 In sable mantle dight, 
 
 Arousing from her orient deep, 
 
 Rides lowering up the darkened steep, 
 
 While Heaven's numerous pageantry 
 
 Light onward her triumphal course, 
 
 Those watch-fires, fed unceasingly 
 
 From light's own holy source. 
 
 Down, down the welkin's slanted side, 
 
 Her robe of shade descends ; 
 
 On the last ebb of even-tide 
 
 To earth it slowly bends. 
 
 " Beneath her solemn temple roof, 
 
 Night walks in lone supremacy, 
 
 And darkness weaves his braided woof 
 
 To deck yon boundless canopy. 
 
 Ye stars ! that strew his funeral veil, 
 
 Ye are no fleeting, changeful race ; 
 
 What are ye then ? beyond the pale 
 
 Of Death's cold reign and stern embrace ? 
 
 Are ye immortal ? do ye share 
 
 The deathless nature of the soul ? 
 
 Though not the past, the future heir 
 
 Of life beyond Time's vain control ? 
 
 If not unfading, yet are ye 
 
 Most fadeless of the things that be, 
 
 And nearest immortality. 
 
 " Brightly ye burn on heaven's brow ; 
 Ye shot as bright a ray as now, 
 12 
 
134 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 When mirrored on the unruffled wave 
 That whelmed earth's millions to one grave ; 
 And ye shall yet burn still the same, 
 When blends with yours that mighty flame, 
 That shall whelm earth in darker gloom 
 Than cloud o'er Eden's primal bloom. 
 From storm, and cloud, and meteor's glare, 
 And the azure-curtained day, 
 That fills with light the dazzling air 
 Soon as they pass in haste away, 
 Ye dart again your changeless ray ; 
 Shall ye not thus forever beam ? 
 Must ye too pass, as doth a dream ? 
 Can ye fear change, or death, or blight, 
 Isles of the blessed ! on your sea of might ? 
 
 " We may not pierce with curious eye 
 
 The mist that shrouds your destiny, 
 
 Your present might your home the abyss ; 
 
 Oh ! 'tis enough to gaze on this ! 
 
 To feel that in the eye's embrace 
 
 Lies an infinity of space ; 
 
 That vision hath no term, no bound, 
 
 To hem its endless circle round, 
 
 But that with which it may converse 
 
 Is boundless as the universe. 
 
 " It is a joy as wild and deep 
 As ever thrilled in pulse and eye, 
 In the lone hour of mortal sleep, 
 To look upon your majesty, 
 With you your solemn vigils keep, 
 As your vast depths before me lie. 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 135 
 
 And when the star-mailed giant* 
 
 A blaze of glory sheds, 
 
 And high in heaven defiant 
 
 His lion mantle spreads, 
 
 To watch his mighty form uprear, 
 
 As, spurning earth with foot of air, 
 
 He mounts upon the whirling sphere, 
 
 And walks in solemn silence there ; 
 
 To watch him in his slow decline, 
 
 Until to Ocean's hall restored, 
 
 He bathe him in the welcome brine, 
 
 And the wave sheathe his burning sword." 
 
 Mason had now got into quite a poetical mood, for 
 under the same date he writes a letter to Mrs. Turner, 
 communicating another effusion, which, although short, 
 seems to me to indicate much of the true spirit of 
 poetry. 
 
 To Mrs. H. B. Turner. 
 
 " Yale College, June 29, 1839. 
 " DEAR AUNT 
 
 " Well, aunt, I have but just a week more of confine- 
 ment to college duties, except preparation for Com- 
 mencement, and then farewell to Old Yale ! Think 
 not that I bid it farewell in a tone of pleasure or 
 triumph, as emancipated from its thrall ; no, rather in 
 sadness that I must leave halls endeared by time and 
 the mutual intercourse of friends and brothers. A truce 
 however to this desponding vein. 
 
 " You think, perhaps, that it is next to impossible for 
 me to abandon, for a moment, the contemplation of 
 
 * Orion. 
 
136 LIFE AND. WRITINGS OF 
 
 mathematics and the stars ; and that, even if by some 
 strange chance, I happen to write poetry, it must be 
 about the stars of course. I will therefore send you a 
 trifle of mine far enough from all this. The origin of 
 it was in an evening call, when myself and two young 
 ladies, one of them a poetess, pulled up our chairs 
 around a vase of water on the table, in which a poor 
 rose-bud had drooped and drowned, with the express 
 purpose of jointly commemorating its hapless fate. 
 Though achieving nothing myself at the time, I wrote 
 off the following next morning : 
 
 TO A ROSEBUD, 
 
 DYING IN THE VASE WHITHER IT HAD BEEN TRANSPLANTED. 
 
 Why droops so mournfully thy head, pale flower ? 
 Why hangs thy green tress on the water's brink ? 
 Not now thou bendest with the grateful shower, 
 Whose drops once wooed thy thirsty leaves to drink 
 Life from their coolness ; No ! no freshness now 
 Blooms on thy fading leaf, and bud of snow. 
 
 'Tis not the dews of night are heavy on thee, 
 Starring thy cup with rainbow loveliness ; 
 Nor yet the bee, so oft that hung upon thee, 
 Till bent thy blossom to his gentle kiss ; 
 No ! thou art stricken ne'er to rise anew 
 To glad the bee, or drink the morning dew. 
 
 A rude hand plucked thee from thy native bower ; 
 No longer thou by thy loved breeze art fanned, 
 And thou art pining for thy home, sweet flower, 
 As pines a captive for a distant land ; 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 137 
 
 And therefore droops thy head so mournfully, 
 Thy life was broken with thy parent tree. 
 
 And was it woman's hand that did thee wrong ? 
 Was it frail woman that so rudely broke 
 The frailer thing, whose tenderness had wrung 
 From sterner man remittance of the stroke ? 
 Tell not the tale, ye flowers ! that could not save 
 Your hapless sister from her cruel grave. 
 
 " I intended the pathetic when I wrote these lines, but 
 did not succeed as I intended, which is, I believe, not 
 unfrequent with myself, as well as with people in gen- 
 eral. I have a great desire to come and see you 
 again, and anticipate a visit in the fall with much 
 pleasure. I have a thousand things to say to you, that 
 can't be said in a letter they freeze in the slow pro- 
 cess of oozing off at the end of my pen. 
 
 " Your affectionate nephew, 
 
 E. P. MASON." 
 
 The next letter to his aunt was written July 7th, 
 just after he had finished his oration for Commence- 
 ment, and is in his sprightliest mood. The earlier 
 part, however, is taken up with intelligence respecting 
 his father and family, who were now quietly settled in 
 Michigan. The mention he makes of them always in- 
 dicates the most affectionate disposition, but the par- 
 ticulars are usually so personal and confidential that I 
 have been obliged to omit them in copying his letters. 
 He next proceeds to vindicate himself against an opin- 
 ion which he supposed his aunt to entertain, that he 
 was wholly immersed in his studies and seldom fre- 
 
 12* 
 
138 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 quented society. " I passed (says he) my winter va- 
 cation here as usual ; not, as you suppose in* your let- 
 ter, entirely immersed in the college walls, but much 
 of it in society. As it is not difficult to see that you 
 are under the impression that I am a sort of Diogenes 
 in a tub, as far as regards domestic and social feelings, 
 I state this fact as evidence that I plead not guilty. 
 Last vacation I spent no less than six evenings of the 
 fortnight in visiting my friends in town, and the eleven 
 successive evenings previous to vacation, Sunday eve- 
 nings excepted, were spent by me in the same manner, 
 and three of them at social parties until half-past eleven 
 o'clock. Add to this, that when a senior in college 
 perpetrates such enormities as this, he is usually con- 
 sidered as pretty far gone as to scholarship. Indeed, 
 I should consider myself so, if the course I have de- 
 scribed were to become habitual ; but I trust my plea 
 has been sufficient to convince you, that I am in no 
 particular danger at present of being buried alive. As 
 to my reading, I look over the English poets occasion- 
 ally; I am reading Milton's Comus, Sampson Agonistes, 
 Christmas Hymn, &c., just now ; and as to prose, my 
 appetite devours indiscriminately Milton's Prose Works, 
 Hutton's Logarithms, the Pickwick Club, the Memoirs 
 of the Astronomical Society, Oliver Twist, and the 
 Temperance Documents. 
 
 " I have attended a good deal to chemistry this year, 
 and have let loose in my room nearly all the primitive 
 agents of nature, solid and gaseous ; and my neighbors 
 have become so accustomed to my operations, that 
 were I fairly blown up, those in the rooms adjoining 
 would think it was only * E. P.' performing an experi- 
 ment. (' E. P.' is my college nickname ; nobody thinks 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 139 
 
 of calling me Mason.) Pneumatic cisterns and gun- 
 barrels begin to add their charms to globes and tele- 
 scopes." 
 
 The looked-for day of Commencement at length 
 came, and Mason performed his part well on the public 
 stage in an oration " on a Comparison of Ancient and 
 Modern Literature." % The composition of his speech 
 was good, and abounded with just thoughts on the 
 distinctive characteristics of ancient and modern learn- 
 ing ; but his elocution, although interesting, was neither 
 so brilliant nor so energetic as to arrest peculiar atten- 
 tion. 
 
 Now came a season well known to many a graduate, 
 when, as soon as the excitement of Commencement is 
 over, he awakes to the reality that he is now without 
 an object, and unsettled as to his course of life. The 
 props upon which he has hitherto leaned, now suddenly 
 seem to fall, and he is startled to find himself resting on 
 his own untried powers. The difficulty of choosing a 
 profession, the necessity of immediate employment with 
 no prospects open before him, and the difficulty of decid- 
 ing between conflicting motives, harass and debilitate 
 his mind, and sometimes cloud it with gloom and de- 
 spondency. 
 
 Although Mason had begun to feel something of 
 these " horrors," yet several advantageous offers of Em- 
 ployment encouraged his hopes, and left little room 
 for despondency ; still he was perplexed between dif- 
 ferent alternatives, and at length concluded to defer 
 any decision until he had complied with the kind solici- 
 tation of his Richmond friends, to pay them a visit, and 
 to take with them an excursion to the healthy moun- 
 tain region of Western Virginia. 
 
140 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 LIFE OF A RESIDENT GRADUATE. 
 
 Commences his researches on the Nebulae Description of these 
 objects His visit to Philadelphia and delighted intercourse 
 with men of science Plan of extensive observations for de- 
 termining the longitude Commences his Treatise on Practi- 
 cal Astronomy Straitened pecuniary circumstances Sim- 
 ple habits of living Intensity and variety of his labors Senti- 
 mental reveries. 
 
 IN the correspondence of the summer of 1839, there 
 appears so much of poetry, and so little of astronomy? 
 that it might be inferred that he had lost his taste for 
 those pursuits,- or that it had been superseded by his 
 more recent passion for chemical experiments. So 
 far, however, is this from being the fact, that this 
 summer, especially the few weeks that intervened be- 
 tween the Seniors' examination, which took place early 
 in July, and Commencement, which occurred about the 
 twentieth of August, was the most productive of any 
 portion of his life of valuable astronomical observa- 
 tions, since it was during this period that he made 
 thdfee fine researches on the Nebulae, which probably 
 constitute his highest achievement, forming as they 
 did the basis of his elaborate " Observations on Neb- 
 ulae," published in the Transactions of the American 
 Philosophical Society for 1840. Mason had no sooner 
 obtained the use of a large telescope, than he speedily 
 exhausted all the more common and superficial objects, 
 as the telescopic views of the moon, spots on the sun, 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 141 
 
 and aspects of the planets ; and early in his sophomore 
 year, he was, as he expressed it, " on the full chase 
 after double stars and nebulae." These are among the 
 most recondite of all the researches of the practical 
 astronomer, and require the most refined powers and 
 instruments of observation. Smith had by this time 
 so far completed his great telescope, as to afford an 
 excellent instrument for observing those objects which 
 required a superior light, as is the case with double 
 stars and nebula ; and these two youthful astronomers 
 were no sooner released from the college shackles, 
 than they devoted themselves with extraordinary in- 
 dustry and enthusiasm to these captivating researches. 
 
 Those who are not conversant with the recent pro- 
 gress of astronomical discovery, may require to be more 
 particularly informed respecting these bodies, (the ne- 
 bulse) before they can understand or appreciate the 
 labors of our young astronomer in this new field of 
 research. 
 
 When we look upon the starry heavens in a clear 
 night, we may discern, here and there, groups of stars 
 forming small clusters, scarcely distinguishable from 
 one another by the naked eye. The most conspicuous 
 of these groups, and the best known, is the cluster call- 
 ed the Pleiades, or Seven Stars. Similar clusters, grow- 
 ing more and more obscure, are seen in the head 'of 
 Orion, in the Sword-handle of Perseus, near Cassio- 
 peia's Chair, and in Cancer. The last, which is called 
 the " Bee Hive," appears to the naked eye like a comet ; 
 but when viewed by a telescope, even of moderate 
 powers, the dimness vanishes, and in its place we are 
 presented with a brilliant and beautiful assemblage of 
 small stars. The Galaxy, or milky-way, is composed, 
 * " 
 
142 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 to a great extent, of collections of these small luminaries, 
 whose blended light affords to the unassisted eye no 
 distinct image ; but when viewed with the telescope, 
 myriads of brilliant points, or small stars, expand over 
 the field, to the surprise and admiration of the beholder. 
 On ranging over the firmament with a good telescope, 
 the eye is every now and then arrested by one of these 
 nebulae, some of which are readily resolved into stars, 
 but others retain their dim and cloudy appearance. 
 These, however, when viewed with telescopes of higher 
 powers, in some instances, give up their nebulous ap- 
 pearance, and are seen to consist of innumerable small 
 stars ; while, in other instances, they constantly retain 
 their nebulous character under the highest powers of 
 the telescope hitherto applied to them. Various con- 
 siderations have led astronomers to the belief that many 
 of these formations do not in fact consist of stars, but 
 of shining matter existing in a widely diffused state, 
 and not formed, like the stars, into suns. 
 
 The first astronomer who entered fully this fairy-land 
 of astronomy was Sir William Herschel. The great 
 telescopes in his possession, particularly his forty feet 
 telescope, enabled him to see objects whose light is too 
 feeble to be visible to instruments of inferior power. 
 Of these remarkable formations, many of them lying, 
 apparently, at the remotest bounds of the universe, Sir 
 Wm. Herschel discovered and described more than 
 two thousand. Their extent is, in many instances, 
 prodigious, and their forms are very various ; some ex- 
 hibit much regularity of structure, being globular, ellip- 
 tical, or of some other geometrical figure, while others 
 are of the most fantastic forms imaginable. The pre- 
 sent Sir John Herschel has prosecuted with great zeal 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 143 
 
 and ability the researches of his father in this interest- 
 ing and curious department of astronomy, and by his 
 residence at the Cape of Good Hope, has added to the 
 catalogue many fine nebulae of the southern hemi- 
 sphere before unknown to astronomers. 
 
 It was into this new and inviting field that Mason 
 entered, with an enthusiasm equalled only by his ex- 
 traordinary combination of powers adapted to such 
 labors. 
 
 The following letter to his friend and astronomical 
 associate, Mr. Smith, then in Ohio, enables us to follow 
 him in his southern tour, undertaken immediately after 
 receiving his degree. 
 
 To Mr. Hamilton L. Smith. 
 
 "Yale College, (fct. 10, 1839. 
 " DEAR FRIEND 
 
 " Our firm is very suddenly dissolved, or rather sepa- 
 rated, and its members are widely sundered ; first, S. 
 and next yourself, and I feel quite alone among the 
 college instruments. However, I have no room or time 
 for pathos ; had I, I should doubtless make you weep 
 over days departed. But I will not give you pain 
 merely to show my power. 
 
 " I must first report progress on the nebulae business ; 
 and to do so, will proceed historically. I left town, 
 you will recollect, for the South the Monday succeed- 
 ing Commencement, and I passed four weeks there with 
 my friends very pleasantly. On my return, I availed 
 myself of a letter of introduction which Professor Sil- 
 liman had given me, for John Vaughan, Esq., and which 
 immediately introduced me very favorably to the sci- 
 entifique of Philadelphia. Mr. Vaughan, after introdu- 
 
144 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 ab_~ t 
 
 cing me personally to Mr. Walker, and afterwards by 
 letter to Mr. Nulty, and showing me round the Library, 
 left me in charge of Mr. Walker. I soon became ac- 
 quainted with him, and he insisted on my taking lodg- 
 ings in the same house with his. My room was next 
 to his, and I spent the greater part of my time with him. 
 The duties of his office (in the Fire Insurance Co.) al- 
 low him intervals of leisure, which he can very con- 
 veniently employ in calculating occultations, or in 
 reducing his observations. I went over Bessel's for- 
 mulae for occultations with him at his office desk. Af- 
 ter two o'clock he is at leisure for the remainder of the 
 day and evening. Mr. Walker and Mr. Vaughan in- 
 vited me to a conversational meeting of the Franklin 
 Institute, where I had an opportunity of conversing 
 with many*of their men of science. Also the next 
 evening Mr. Walker accompanied me to a conversa- 
 tional meeting of the American Philosophical Society, 
 where I conversed with almost everybody, Professor 
 
 H , Doctor H , Doctor P , and many others ; 
 
 in short, I was a little famous, having taken my draw- 
 ings of Nebulae with me for the purpose of consulting 
 Piazza's catalogue, and the Histoire Celeste, in case I 
 should find them there, for stars not found in our cata- 
 logue. Mr. Walker being much at my room, I had 
 occasion to show them to him ; and HerschePs Nebulae, 
 in the Philosophical Transactions, being at his room, he 
 could easily compare them. He insisted on carrying 
 them down to the Philosophical Society where we went, 
 and showed them to most there interested in astronomy. 
 In the course of the evening, Mr. Walker, in behalf of 
 the committee of publication, requested me to contri- 
 bute my paper to the American Philosophical Transac- 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 145 
 
 tions, promising to be at any requisite expense for such 
 plates and engravings as I might wish. I repHed that the 
 paper had been offered to Professor Silliman, for the 
 American Journal of Science, and therefore was not at 
 my disposal, but said I would confer with Professor S. 
 about it. On my return, I mentioned the matter to Mr. 
 S. ; told him that I had no preference for the Ameri- 
 can Philosophical Transactions, other than for reasons 
 connected with the peculiar nature of the paper I had 
 drawn up, namely, that it was intended not so much 
 for popular reading, as for those who had paid especial 
 attention to such subjects ; that the Transactions, being 
 forwarded to most of the European scientific societies, 
 the paper would sooner meet the eyes of those for 
 whom it was principally intended ; that the chief value of 
 the paper being its permanence, as affording means for 
 accurate comparison of nebulae hundreds of years 
 hence, such Transactions were a better vehicle than a 
 more popular publication. Professor Silliman readily 
 assented to the proposed arrangement. 
 
 " I spent four or five days in Philadelphia very pleas- 
 antly. I observed the occupation of the Pleiades by 
 the moon with Mr. Walker, in the observatory. There 
 were four immersions and as many emersions. I had 
 a complete series of the whole the rest missed several. 
 Mr. Walker missed two of the immersions, through his 
 politeness in furnishing me with the best telescope. 
 We agreed, however, in the times of our remaining 
 six, within five-tenths of a second, and sometimes with- 
 in one-tenth ; which, as we observed in silence, and 
 set down our results separately, was a very exact coin- 
 cidence, and greatly increased our confidence in each 
 other's accuracy. The other observers strayed from the 
 
 13 
 
146 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 mean often by two or three seconds, and sometimes 
 much more. Mr. W. reduces his transit observations, 
 and all his observations, in the best style, by equations of 
 condition and balance of errors. He is extensively ac- 
 qyiainted with Schumaker's Astronomische Nachrichten, 
 and translated much of it for me from the German, espe- 
 cially Professor Bessel's papers on occultations. I have 
 made arrangements for observing occultations in con- 
 cert with him and his corps, for the determination of our 
 difference of longitude. In passing through New York, 
 I saw Mr. Blunt, with whom I conversed on the same 
 subject, and engaged him to observe occultations to 
 ascertain the difference of longitude between New York 
 and New Haven. I proposed to send him an an- 
 nouncement of all observable occultations in advance. 
 Accordingly, I have calculated all the occultations for 
 this month for New Haven and New York, approxi- 
 mately, and sent Mr. Blunt the time of immersion and 
 emersion to the nearest minute, and the angle from the 
 vertex at which the star immerges and emerges. Of 
 course guided by this list, the observer can operate 
 with far less trouble to himself. I also engaged in 
 the same business Mr. Wolf, the optician, and sent him 
 down the same list of occultations. He is quite enthu- 
 siastic. I also conferred with Mr. Blunt about sending 
 to New Haven some first-rate chronometers which he 
 is daily expecting, for the purpose of determining the 
 difference of longitude between New York and New 
 Haven. I think, moreover, it will be worth while to 
 try the method of determining longitude by means of 
 shooting stars, which plan I spoke of to Mr. Walker, 
 but he did not think it practicable, on account of the 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 147 
 
 distance between Philadelphia and New Haven. New 
 York now forms a midway station, between which and 
 New Haven, on the one hand, and Philadelphia, on the 
 other, I think the same meteors can be seen. Mr. 
 Blunt showed me in manuscript the late determination 
 of the difference of longitude between New York and 
 Greenwich, by chronometers, carried back and forth 
 by the British Queen (steamer) from London to the 
 Brooklyn observatory of Mr. Blunt. By carrying 
 chronometers also from Brooklyn to New Haven, we 
 shall have an unbroken chain of chronometric observa- 
 tions with Greenwich, consisting of only two links. I 
 saw some fine transit instruments in boxes at Blunt's ; 
 also an altitude and azimuth instrument, very beautiful. 
 I saw them graduating instruments there in style. 
 
 " I returned to New Haven last Tuesday, the first 
 of October. I have succeeded in measuring differ- 
 ences of right ascension and declination very accurately 
 with the college micrometer, though I have haa many 
 difficulties to contend with, from the imperfections of 
 the observatory, and the want of nice adjustment in the 
 instruments. I hastened from Philadelphia, as I knew 
 I should have but a few days on the nebulae in Sagitta- 
 rius before the moon would interrupt me, and after the 
 moon was gone, they would not be seen again till next 
 year. I have therefore observed diligently every clear 
 night, that is, six out of nine nights since I arrived ; 
 but the nebula3 set very early in the evening, and give 
 me little time. By ' diligently observing/ I mean bend- 
 ing all my force on them every moment they are above 
 the horizon in the evening. I have thus obtained be- 
 tween 200 and 300 good measures of differences of 
 
148 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 right ascension, and upwards of 150 differences of de- 
 clination.* 
 
 " On projecting the brighter stars in the Trifid by 
 their right ascensions and declinations, as thus deter- 
 mined, I find that, by pricking them off on one of my 
 drawings, the places, as determined by the eye, do not 
 often differ on the paper from the accurate places by 
 more than one-thirtieth of an inch, or less than one 
 second of time. 
 
 " I have no room to say a great many things I would 
 like to say about my visit to Philadelphia, my present 
 observations, and other matters. I am now rooming 
 in Professor O.'s college room, immediately under the 
 observatory, and am engaged in writing for him. I 
 can readily go up to the observatory at any time of 
 night. I shall soon get up every morning for any 
 number of mornings to work on the large nebulas. 
 " Your sincere friend, 
 
 E. P. MASON." 
 
 From this long letter I have transcribed more par- 
 ticulars, perhaps, than will be interesting to the general 
 reader ; but they serve to exhibit in a clear and striking 
 light, how completely he was thus early absorbed in 
 the most recondite and refined labors of astronomy. 
 
 * " I have no room to detail my methods, but will give you an 
 idea of their accuracy by a specimen taken at random from last 
 night's observations. Here is a list of all the measures of one 
 star in right ascension, No. 7, Trifid. +9".0+8.6+8.8+8.3+8.5+ 
 9.O4-8.8 ; mean +8.71. Here are the evening's measures on the 
 next star, a very faint one ; -t-18.0+18.2+17.7+18.3+18.2+18.0 
 +17.8+18.1+18.5 ; mean 18'.09. The + refers to my zero star 
 in the nebula Trifid, which I can compare with others seen by 
 moonlight.' 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 149 
 
 His visit to Philadelphia and New York had delighted 
 him exceedingly, opening to him, as it did, a personal 
 acquaintance and correspondence with several kindred 
 minds, and affording new facilities for gaining access to 
 the labors and discoveries of distinguished astronomers 
 at home and abroad. He was in a state of high exult- 
 ation as he returned to college to enter upon labors, 
 which the extent and severity may be judged of from 
 the foregoing letter. 
 
 Having published an elementary work on astronomy 
 for the use of college students, (" Introduction to Astron- 
 omy,") there remained to complete my plan a concise 
 treatise on Practical Astronomy, intended to comprise 
 an account of the mode of adjusting and using astro- 
 nomical instruments, and the requisite tables for calcu- 
 lating eclipses and other astronomical phenomena. 
 As one means of enabling Mason to continue at college, 
 I had proposed to him to assist me in preparing this 
 treatise, especially the tables. This, with the avails of 
 a few private pupils, whose recitations he heard, pro- 
 mised to defray his expenses, which, adapted as they 
 were to the simplest habits of living, were unusually 
 small. Without any inconvenience to myself, I was 
 enabled to reduce them also by affording him a part of 
 my own college room, which I occupied but a small part 
 of the time. The situation of this near the college obser- 
 vatory was very convenient for prosecuting his obser- 
 vations, as he intimates in the preceding letter. Partly 
 from the disposition to furnish him literary employment, 
 and partly from a growing conviction of his peculiar 
 qualifications to prepare the proposed article on Practi- 
 cal Astronomy, I laid off, from time to time, more and 
 more of the work for him to perform, until at length, I 
 13* 
 
150 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 arranged with him to prepare the entire treatise, and 
 publish it as his own under the title of " Supplement to 
 Olmsted's Astronomy." Although it was both my ex- 
 pectation and his own, that he would make this the 
 leading object of his labors until it was completed, yet 
 his passion for observations, and the necessary occupa- 
 tion of his time in reducing them, and in finishing his 
 article on the nebulae, which he was now getting ready 
 for the American Philosophical Society, greatly re- 
 tarded the progress of that undertaking. For the op- 
 portunity of accomplishing a work so near his heart, 
 and prosecuting studies for which he now cherished a 
 passionate fondness, he voluntarily conformed his habits 
 of living to the most straitened form, and declined several 
 lucrative offers of situations as an instructor in remote 
 parts of the Union. Although, to discharge some pecu- 
 niary obligations he had incurred to friends, he earnestly 
 hoped for some such situation " by and by," yet " for 
 the present" he must complete this paper on the nebulas. 
 Notwithstanding the absorbing nature of these occu- 
 pations, our young astronomer appears, at this period, 
 to have fallen occasionally into a sentimental mood bor- 
 dering on melancholy. To a young female friend he 
 writes as follows : " You, perhaps, may ask, what are 
 my present pursuits and engagements ? They are truly 
 many and multifarious. I seem to myself a sort of 
 Atlas, with a world of business on my shoulders, prob- 
 ably because, having been very lazy all my life before, 
 the pressure of necessity makes me appear in my own 
 view the more energetic. College life has passed 
 away like a dream, like a tale that is told. I bade it a 
 long and last farewell in the presence of many wit- 
 nesses, and turned me to comparative solitude. Then 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 151 
 
 arose opening life, ambition, love, honor, future hope, 
 and the brief race of man on earth ; they passed in sol- 
 emn review before me, and I said, * All is vanity.' 
 Poetry, before the goddess of my admiration, I slighted, 
 and her shrine I forsook. I cast sentiment to the winds. 
 Science looked with pitying eye on my waywardness, 
 and wooed me to be her adopted son, and I hailed 
 her, Mother ! I devoted myself to the abstruse sciences ; 
 I dwelt with Archimedes, and rose with Newton on the 
 bold wings of induction, until the paltry earth where I 
 was born scarce seemed native to me in the far dim 
 distance. I returned to find the world cold and drear, 
 and to walk beneath night, and familiar starlight. I 
 sought to explore the difficult field of Analysis, and to 
 gather to myself those aids by which the mind of man 
 may dare to weigh and measure the universe, and 
 there arose all around * cycle on epicycle, orb in orb !' 
 
 " This latter figure of speech you may interpret as 
 referring to huge piles of sheets stretching around my 
 table in upward progression, like the seats of an am- 
 phitheatre, and covered with multitudes of the Arabic 
 figures, in the midst of which this growing sheet, dedi- 
 cated to yourself, finds as little sympathy as the Italian 
 minstrel girl in the rude halls of the north, (vide Mrs. 
 Hemans,) while sundry mathematical treatises rise far 
 up in the background, towering above their neighbors, 
 like distant mountains, snow-clad, ' clear, but oh ! how 
 cold !' 
 
 " I have been through life as one in sleep, and 
 
 * A change has come o'er the spirit of my dream.' 
 
 I said before that I had cast feeling aside, as a vain 
 bauble, a useless coin that will not pass current in the 
 
152 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 % 
 
 world I am to live in, and have let a cold philosophy 
 usurp its throne ; 
 
 'Fancy hath perished by an early doom, 
 So ravishing once, with her laughing eye, 
 And Wit sleeps sound on her sister's tomb, 
 While her torch lies quenched and broken nigh.' 
 
 " You may consider me, therefore, in the light of a 
 quiet, mathematical, unassuming resident graduate. 
 The lofty airs wherewith I was wont to wrap about 
 myself my Senior toga, and look down, Caesar-like, on 
 the little men and women beneath me, are all passed by. 
 ' A change came o'er the spirit of my dream,' and I 
 was motherless, and half an orphan. I need not say I 
 wept, and felt too, albeit I had cast all feeling aside in 
 stoical contempt : and I forsook the world awhile, and 
 dwelt within myself, and with my deceased mother ; 
 and when time, that wears away all things, had soothed, 
 with a rough hand, the bitterness of such a loss, I 
 looked forth with a less buoyant spirit, and more sober 
 gaze upon created things, and learned wise lessons of 
 human frailty and uncertainty, and became again the 
 philosopher." 
 
 The foregoing letter was truly an interlude, for no- 
 thing was more foreign to the nature of his pursuits at 
 this time, than writing sentimental letters. The follow- 
 ing epistle addressed to, his friend Smith, is more con- 
 sonant to his taste at this period. 
 
 "Yale College, Dec. 18, 1839. ) 
 Half past 11 o'clock. 
 "DEAR FRIEND 
 
 " Having spent the evening in the observatory, and 
 being fairly frozen up there, and compelled to desist, I 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 153 
 
 naturally thought of you during the progress of thaw- 
 ing out, and wondered whether you were enjoying the 
 same delightful privilege of star-gazers. Thinking of 
 you soon brought me to the sage conclusion, that it 
 was high time for me to write to you, if I wished to 
 know any thing of your progress in the erection of 
 your telescope, and its use. So that being defrauded, 
 as it were, of my anticipated ' night of it,' by the cold, 
 I fill up the proposed time of observation in as much of 
 an astronomical way as I can. In doing so, I proceed 
 on nearly the same plan that was adopted by ' our 
 company' the other evening when the Pleiades were to 
 be occulted. It was cloudy, to be sure, but, not to be 
 disappointed, we obtained a map of the Pleiades, and 
 cut out a paper moon to push along over it ; so we or- 
 ganized our corps, Mr. Bradley counting seconds, Mr. 
 Haile looking through a paper tube, while I mystically 
 carried the moon along in her path through the hea- 
 vens. We were rightly served for our joking ; for the 
 clouds clearing off very suddenly, while there were yet 
 two or three emersions to be observed, we had enough 
 to do to be prepared for them. 
 
 " Mr. Hinman is now at work upon the plates of the 
 nebulae, though I have scarcely yet finished my meas- 
 ures ; the weather has been extremely unfavorable 
 during the whole fall vacation, so that I have made 
 but slow progress. I have been troubled too, of late, 
 by the freezing of my breath on the micrometer-head, 
 which sometimes stops it entirely.* In such case, turn- 
 
 * The place where Mason made his observations, miscalled an 
 " observatory," was a room in the tower of the old college chapel, 
 having no fire, and peculiarly exposed to cold in winter. 
 
154 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 ing it heedlessly might injure the screw irreparably. 
 I have once or twice fairly frozen my fingers, so that I 
 consider myself quite courageous. 
 
 " I am sorry you did not leave with me so much of 
 a journal of observations that I might have made * co- 
 pious extracts' from it, that is, taken the whole of it. 
 I find scattered notices on different pieces of paper of 
 almost all our observations, and a sufficiency on the 
 three we observed particularly, to make out something 
 respectable. If you had kept a good journal it would 
 have come into fine play ; as it is, I can but record 
 such notices of your observations as I put down at the 
 time, and as I can fill up from recollection. The pa- 
 per has been more trouble to me in the way of redu- 
 cing observations than in actual observation, and I wish 
 it were through with. 
 
 " I have been this fall actively engaged in observing 
 all visible occultations. I compute them beforehand, 
 and Mr. Bradley and Mr. Haile are always ready to 
 lend a hand. Mr. Bradley is very accurate in obser- 
 vation. For example, in the five cases of instantane- 
 ous immersion on the dark limb which we observed 
 together, we set down our results in silence, and on 
 comparing we found only one of the five differ by as 
 much as the fifteen-hundredth part of a second, and all 
 the rest were within one-tenth of a second. The last 
 observations agreed to the twentieth of a second ; 
 so that we now confidently reckon in all such pheno- 
 mena of being within one-fifth of a second of each 
 other. Most of these occultations will be available for 
 the longitude. 
 
 I have been measuring the angles of position of some 
 of the binary stars. My angles of position, night be- 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 155 
 
 fore last, on gamma Leonis, show a regular progression 
 of that star, and its exact amount. Indeed, from all 
 the means I have of judging, I believe my measures 
 are much more accurate, and accord better among 
 themselves than some of the later ones of Herschel and 
 South, and will, I believe, serve for a new determina- 
 tion of the orbits. I have tried w Leonis once or twice 
 without success, but do not mean to give it up." 
 
 The letter concludes with some account of his astro- 
 nomical dress, a description of which is also contained 
 in the following letter to Mrs. Turner. 
 
 " Yale College, Dec. 26, 1839. 
 " DEAR AUNT 
 
 " I fear I am growing recreant to all sense of duty 
 and affection. I let a month or two pass, without a 
 word of kindness and remembrance for friends, of all 
 friends the kindest and most indulgent to my way- 
 wardness ; and when a letter of solicitude comes re- 
 buking my selfishness by its kindness, forsooth, two or 
 three weeks more must elapse, before I can find time 
 to answer it. To this same Time I am at present the 
 veriest slave ; affection, and every other goodly plant 
 of my nature can find as little root in the hard soil of 
 urgent ' business/ as the flowers of the east in the sun- 
 burnt pavements of Broadway ; and though I would 
 not willingly let the fair exotics die, I cheat myself into 
 the delusive hope that I shall cherish them better next 
 year. 
 
 " I was very sure my father had written to you, or 
 I should ere now have communicated the sad tidings 
 of the death of my dear mother. It was very unex- 
 pected to me ; for I did not know that she was se- 
 
156 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 riously ill until I heard of her death. I have been so 
 little at home, that I did not regard the turns of ill- 
 ness to which she was subject, as of so dangerous a 
 character as I probably ought to have done. It is but 
 a melancholy pleasure to relate to you such circum- 
 stances of her last illness as I am acquainted with. 
 She had been the subject of severe sickness, the latter 
 part of summer, and had nearly recovered, when some 
 slight exposure brought on a relapse about the middle 
 of September. About the 25th, she sunk rapidly and 
 was thought to be dying ; yet by great efforts in the 
 application of various remedies her pulse was recalled ; 
 but in vain. She expired peacefully on the evening 
 of the 29th of September. My father writes very dis- 
 piritedly. He feels himself left alone to bear the 
 weight of years, and feels deeply the loss of my mother. 
 By his last letter, I am grieved to learn that his health 
 is not good, and the rheumatism confines him much, so 
 that he is unable either to preach or work. These 
 misfortunes have not been without their effect on my 
 spirits, although not naturally subject to continued de- 
 pression from the influence of external circumstances. 
 I reproach myself with too little duty and kindness to- 
 wards my departed mother, and I can now make but 
 poor amends by showing a truer sense of love and duty 
 towards rny surviving parent, and, by devotion to his 
 interest, making his old age sweet with the experience 
 of filial gratitude. Would that his health were within 
 a son's gift. 
 
 " That your own health, dear aunt, is so well spared 
 amidst all your labor and anxiety, is now to me a 
 source of the highest pleasure ; and though I could 
 well wish your burden lightened, yet while I hear so 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 157 
 
 favorably of your health, I think more lightly of the 
 other ills that flesh is heir to. The important subject 
 of a cloak, which, next to myself, seems to occupy 
 nearly all the anxieties of Roseneath,* shall now be 
 attended to in due form. Although not possessed of a 
 substantial cloak, I have a most excellent great-coat of 
 pilot cloth, which is cold-proof. Moreover, for noctur- 
 nal observations, I have a panoply it would much amuse 
 you to see. The head-piece consists of comfortables 
 sewed together, so that head, neck, and breast are 
 completely and thickly covered, leaving only the eyes 
 and nose visible, and rendering a hat or cap unneces- 
 sary. Then, an enormous thick pair of woollen socks, 
 lined with cotton-batting within, to guard my feet. I 
 add the precaution of washing my feet and wiping them 
 dry, and putting on fresh stockings for an observing 
 night, and also of wearing very thick-soled shoes. In 
 short, when in complete uniform and on parade, I defy 
 any one to withstand the cold with more perfect sang 
 froid than myself. I have not tried a temperature 
 lower than seven degrees as yet, at least for any great 
 length of time, but at seven degrees I can feel perfectly 
 comfortable and warm for two or three hours. I 
 would except my nose and hands, which threaten to 
 freeze occasionally. I am thus particular to set your 
 fears at rest on this point. I have no doubt that a 
 glance at me in my regimentals, would fully satisfy 
 you of providence and foresight, unless, indeed, you 
 should unfortunately mistake me for a Russian ambas- 
 sador, which is quite probable. 
 
 For myself, I am yet, and shall be for some time to 
 
 * The residence of Mrs. Turner, near Richmond. 
 14 
 
158 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 come, with Professor Olmsted, having many other du- 
 ties and means of earning money besides my immedi- 
 ate occupation. I am in very little danger of want of 
 employment, although I shall probably ere long leave 
 New Haven in pursuit of it. I had intended to remain 
 in New Haven through the year, but have lately 
 changed some of my plans, and given up the immedi- 
 ate prosecution of my favorite object. I shall, how- 
 ever, have soon done enough in the scientific way to be 
 of considerable service to myself, if to nobody else. 
 Cousin M., according to promise, is to have the full 
 light and heat of all the luminaries wherewith I may 
 garnish the firmament of science hereafter ; and al- 
 though they may be but faint and dim stars, half lost 
 among brighter constellations, she has a keen eye for 
 the faintest stars of even, and as quick and kind a one 
 for these. I doubt not she will be the first to recog- 
 nize their light if they shall attempt to shine. 
 
 " I am studying German : expect to be able to read 
 Goethe soon, and the Astronomische Nachrichten.* It 
 would amuse you to know how I find time for it. 
 Every hour is so fully occupied that I have found no 
 room to crowd it in ; I therefore have carried the ne- 
 cessary books down to my boarding-place, and when 
 breakfast or dinner is delayed a few minutes, I seize the 
 moment to acquire a new verb, or to read a sentence. 
 The broken scraps of time will give me after a while 
 a tolerable knowledge of the German. 
 
 " I walk every day, from eleven to one, with Profes- 
 sor Larned, who is a fellow-boarder with me. The 
 depth of the snow, (about twenty inches,) and the in- 
 
 * The leading astronomical journal of Germany. 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 159 
 
 tense cold, have dampened our zeal but little, and when 
 the roads to East and West Rock are blocked up by 
 drifts, we go down to the steamboats and the end of 
 Long Wharf. But I must bid you good-night. 
 " From your affectionate nephew, 
 
 E. P. MASON." 
 
 The labors of Mason were now truly astonishing. 
 Composing, by daily tasks, his Supplement to my 
 Astronomy calculating and observing all the current 
 occultations, and reducing his observations in order to 
 render them available for the longitude taking ac- 
 curate micrometrical measures of all the minute parts 
 of the nebulas he was describing writing his elaborate 
 article on this subject for the American Philosophical 
 Transactions, which occupies about fifty printed pages, 
 4to learning the German language in order that he 
 might be able to peruse the astronomical journals and 
 other German works on this science and carrying on 
 an extensive and voluminous correspondence with sev- 
 eral astronomers and private friends ; these together 
 form an amount of intellectual labor, in view of which 
 we cease to wonder that his frail nature sunk under 
 the accumulated load. The question, indeed, may 
 reasonably be asked, why did not his friends, especially 
 myself, who had peculiar opportunities both to observe 
 and avert the fatal danger into which he was thought- 
 lessly precipitating himself, why did we not warn him 
 of his fate, and endeavor to rescue so extraordinary 
 and interesting a youth from an untimely grave ? We 
 reply that his friends, so far as they were aware of his 
 danger, did not forget their duty to him. His faithful 
 and affectionate aunt constantly urged and entreated 
 
160 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 him to forbear ; other female friends of the college 
 families expressed to him their apprehensions ; and I 
 had many serious conversations with him, using all the 
 persuasions in my power to induce him to remit the se- 
 verity of his application, and to avoid such extreme 
 exposures io the night air. But it appears that none of 
 his friends (not even myself, although he lived in my 
 college room) were fully aware of the extent of his la- 
 bors and exposures. He concealed them from our 
 view ; nor had I any adequate conception of the havoc 
 he was making of himself, until I learned it from the 
 papers now before me. 
 
 In answer to my inquiries respecting his habits of 
 exposure by night, his friend and coadjutor, Mr. H. L. 
 Smith, remarks, alluding to the time when he was a 
 member of college : " I think he was rather careless ; 
 many a night have we sat up together and observed 
 without due precaution to health. You are aware that 
 the nights upon which we have the most copious fall 
 of dew, are the finest for astronomical observation. 
 Such nights were, therefore, always selected by us for 
 observation, and not suffered to pass by on any account. 
 Yet these nights are the worst for exposure. We 
 have watched our nebula from dusk until three or 
 four o'clock, following it up over the meridian until it 
 was too low to be observed. Mason seldom wore 
 any thing more than a light cloak, even on the coldest 
 winter nights ; and although we were accustomed to 
 keep a fire in the retiring-room, scarcely could its com- 
 forts and a lunch force him away from the telescope." 
 
 Under date of February 27, 1840, Mason writes thus 
 to Mrs. Turner : 
 
 " I cordially repent of having written to you such a 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 161 
 
 doleful epistle as was probably my last, and sincerely 
 regret that it has pained you. You must forgive my 
 carelessness of your feelings, and the undue considera- 
 tion of my own. You wish to be informed of my pur- 
 suits and prospects. I am still with Professor Olmsted, 
 partly writing for him, and partly studying on my own 
 account. I receive as much as I can expect, while I 
 devote so much of my time to private pursuits. 
 
 " I have not found my fellow-beings more selfish, or 
 faithless, or flinty, than I expected to find them, and I 
 have found some with warm hearts ; and I am accus- 
 tomed to believe that friendship, in many cases at least, 
 is something more than a name. I have found no 
 promises fail me ; and as I rely somewhat more upon 
 my own resources than upon the promises of others, I 
 am not likely to die of disappointed hope if they should 
 in future prove worthless and faithless. Furthermore, 
 I find a sufficient support in New Haven, and am very 
 unwilling that you should strangely conceive that I am 
 in distress for any matters connected with my present 
 support, or immediate prospects ; still more, that you 
 should aim to deprive me in part of stimulus to exer- 
 tion by sending on money for which I shall be none the 
 richer two years hence. Yet, at the same time, I feel 
 deeply the intended kindness. 
 
 " Whatever slight misanthropic symptoms may have 
 appeared in my case, they have been engendered 
 within myself, and have not arisen from any coldness 
 or neglect on the part of others. I have nowhere 
 placed confidence and been betrayed ; nowhere cher- 
 ished anticipations that were delusive. My weakness 
 has rather arisen from a dissatisfaction with the wise 
 order of things ; a wish for existence in a world where 
 
 14* 
 
162 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 the objects of human toil may be somewhat nobler than 
 they are here ; where custom does not impede the af- 
 fections of the heart, and throw a cold formality over 
 the intercourse of society. Yet this was not it ; these 
 were but foolish day-dreams. I have prospects of 
 fame and distinction as fair as I can wish or expect. 
 But they please me less than they did six months ago. 
 It seems to me but a poor recompense for the strife, the 
 tossing to and fro, the harassing of life with objects of 
 ambition and fame, to be rewarded after death with the 
 empty coldness with which men are wont to pronounce 
 the names of their predecessors, who have made some 
 little figure in the world, if indeed they ever happen 
 luckily to have a name and being in the memory of the 
 future. I doubt whether I have been wise to meditate 
 on the text, " All is vanity," so soon, and whether it 
 were not better to find it out by successive experiences 
 later in life. Perhaps this moody season of self-con- 
 templation has bestowed on me two advantages ; an 
 early conviction, that the motives which generally ac- 
 tuate men are scarcely worth much consideration or 
 esteem, and that the only sure anchor of the spirit is 
 religious principle ; and further, a belief that with this 
 stay for my foot, I should care as little for the troubles 
 which untoward circumstances, baffled hopes, homeless 
 love, or the world's coldness, might bring upon me, as 
 a man possessed of an ordinary stock of sensibility can 
 care. At least, at present, I fancy I could school my- 
 self to a hearty contempt of them generally, however 
 they might immediately affect me with a passing pang. 
 But the world is before me. I must be up and doing 
 while the day lasts. I have thought much, reflected 
 much ; and, more deeply read in the philosophy of life 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 163 
 
 than I should have been had I not struggled with its 
 adversities, I rise from my dreams with the vigor of 
 morning, yet with the soberness of one that has seen 
 the evening. You will not hear of my tamely sinking 
 down to sluggishness or inactive discontent. 
 
 " I am initiating into the deeper mysteries of astron- 
 omy a young gentleman of this city who exhibits the 
 utmost enthusiasm in the subject, giving much of the 
 time he can redeem from the hours of business to these 
 studies a most valuable coadjutor with me in the de- 
 tails of observation. If he perseveres, I fully intend, 
 when director of our future " National Observatory," to 
 continue him as my principal assistant. My telescopes 
 are in a somewhat disjunctive state, and my time can- 
 not be advantageously employed in refitting them under 
 the pressure of my present pursuits. For my own part, 
 I do not need them, while I have the full use of the 
 large college telescope." 
 
 In this letter, as in many others, his materials accu- 
 mulated so much beyond his expectations, that after 
 arriving at the end of the sheet he turned back and in- 
 terlined the whole, and filled up every nook and corner 
 of the paper except what was absolutely necessary for 
 folding. Although what he says on the subject of be- 
 ing " Director of the National Observatory" was in- 
 tended to be ironical, yet it probably had a latent 
 meaning in his mind. About this period, Ex-President 
 Adams was calling the attention of the nation to the 
 importance of such an institution ; and as chairman of 
 the committee appointed by Congress on the " Smith- 
 sonian benefit," a legacy of about half a million of dol- 
 lars left to the United States by Mr. Smithson, an Eng- 
 lish gentleman, for the express purpose of promoting 
 
164 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 the cause of human knowledge, he made very able 
 and strenuous though unsuccessful efforts to have this 
 noble fund applied to the purpose of erecting and sus- 
 taining a national observatory. Among the youthful 
 breasts that beat with the hope of occupying a niche in 
 this proud temple, probably none palpitated with so fer- 
 vent an emotion as Mason's. The prospect of obtain- 
 ing even some humble place at first, with the chance of 
 rising as he should have opportunity to make his con- 
 scious merits better known, would have raised his 
 spirits to ecstacy. Among the many useful objects 
 proposed by the creation of an observatory on a scale 
 worthy of our nation, probably the venerable and 
 learned chairman of the committee did not, himself, 
 fully appreciate this, that he was awakening new aspi- 
 rations in many an ingenuous youth that longed to en- 
 ter this new and most alluring field for scientific dis- 
 tinction. 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 165 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 LIFE OF A RESIDENT GRADUATE. 
 
 Alarming state of his health Various plans for employment 
 Portraiture of his feelings Aversion to flattery Account of 
 
 his friend . Declines an invitation to Roseneath High 
 
 aims and resolutions Opinion respecting the Zodiacal Light 
 Progress of his treatise on Practical Astronomy Visit to New 
 York Intense interest in astronomy Indifference to all other 
 attractions of the metropolis Proffered situation at Western 
 Reserve College Scheme for the restoration of his health. 
 
 IN the letter from which the foregoing extracts are 
 made, Mason alludes to a temporary illness under which 
 he was laboring, which made it necessary to intermit 
 his studies for a short time and take up quarters at his 
 boarding-house, to avail himself of the tender nursing 
 and care of his hostess. The fact was, that, as the spring 
 opened, many symptoms of declining health began to 
 develop themselves ; his face was pallid and wan, and 
 disfigured with marks of an extremely bad state of the 
 digestive functions, and he complained of almost insup- 
 portable weakness. At this period I found him one 
 afternoon lying on his bed, a thing so unusual as to ex- 
 cite my immediate attention. He complained of feeling 
 very ill, but rose from his bed and staggered into the 
 room which we occupied as a study. He was faint 
 and dizzy, and requested support to keep him from fall- 
 ing ; yet he could not without difficulty be persuaded 
 to suspend his studies even for a few days, and it was 
 
166 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 only after urgent advice and entreaty on my part that 
 he was induced to take the respite alluded to in his 
 letter. 
 
 Mason was now beginning to feel sensible of the pre- 
 carious and threatening state of his health, and to con- 
 template some means of support which would be more 
 conducive to its re-establishment. At this time he 
 writes thus to his father at Marshall, Michigan : 
 
 To the Rev. Stephen Mason. 
 
 "Yale College, March 16, 1840. 
 " DEAR FATHER 
 
 " The long letter from the family, filled with kindness, 
 came to hand last week. It seems as if the chances of 
 life were destined to keep us asunder in person, though 
 not in heart, for some time longer. I could wish, above 
 almost every thing else, to have a few weeks' leisure 
 from business and study once more at what 1 could call 
 home. It would be folly, however, in the present state 
 of our family finances, to think of such a thing except 
 as a far-off prospect of pleasant anticipation. I hope, 
 dear father, that your health is rapidly gaining, and 
 that your rheumatic complaints are fleeing before the 
 face of the spring that has so warmly and early opened 
 upon us. 
 
 " I have some thoughts of going as a teacher to Vir- 
 ginia, in the neighborhood of my Richmond friends. 
 Nothing definite as yet, and it is not very likely I shall 
 go. I am still very hard at work in New Haven more 
 for fame than money as yet. I find frequent cause to 
 wish that my constitution was of a stronger and hardier 
 mould, and have sometimes speculated on the improve- 
 ment which might be made in it by a year's farming in 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 167 
 
 Michigan. I keep in pretty good health by constant 
 and regular exercise, but have frequent hints from within 
 that my digestive organs are not competent to any ex- 
 traordinary efforts. On this account I cannot do as 
 much as I would. Again, I am somewhat discouraged, 
 by finding that the execution of my plans occupies far 
 more time than was allowed for in the original rapid 
 conception of them ; and that eminence is of slower 
 attainment, than an eye unaccustomed to measure the 
 intervening obstacles at first supposed. The same mis- 
 judgment occurred to me, that in the natural world is 
 apt to befall one who is climbing a mountain, and sees 
 not the numerous steeps and declivities which rise and 
 fall between him and the summit, that hangs so invi- 
 tingly near. My most exclusive attention has hitherto 
 been bent upon studies which, especially in early life, 
 are apt to be of less avail in money than in scientific 
 distinction, and I could well sacrifice all I can expect 
 of the latter for the former, while the family and your- 
 self are in so much need of it. On this account, I see 
 at present no better way of accomplishing the object 
 which is of common interest to us, than by turning my 
 attention to teaching, in which department I believe you 
 think I am not likely to be a Lancaster, or a Pestallozi. 
 But enough of this for the present ; I do not know what 
 a few years may bring to pass, perhaps weal, per- 
 haps W T O. 
 
 " I am exceedingly gratified to hear from you that 
 sister L. takes such a zealous and affectionate interest 
 in her father's comfort and the welfare of the family. 
 Nor am I indifferent to the change which she says has 
 taken place in her feelings of late ; for although not of 
 the spirit I should be, yet I can feel no otherwise than 
 
168 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 thankful if any of my friends or dearest relations choose 
 the good part ; and I have at least looked into the in- 
 trinsic worth of things so far as to be extremely dis- 
 satisfied with any other motives which can prompt me 
 to exertion, such as ambition, or the desire of gain. 
 It seems to me that the labor, care, strife, and the har- 
 assing of life with objects of fame or ambition, are but 
 poorly repaid by the empty coldness with which men 
 are wont to pronounce the names of their predecessors, 
 who have made all this stir, if indeed they happen 
 luckily to have a name and being in the memory of the 
 future. 
 
 " I must leave a little space for D. and L., whose sig- 
 nature's in the last letter are to me the more precious, 
 because I have not seen them for some time before. 
 So with every wish for the continued health and pros- 
 perity of the kindest and most affectionate of fathers. 
 I am 
 
 " Your affectionate son, 
 
 E. P. MASON." 
 
 The following letter to a female friend at Richmond, 
 exhibits the state of his feelings at this period : 
 
 " Yale College, March 21, 1840. 
 
 " COUSIN M , 
 
 " It is sweet, on the dusty road of life, occasionally 
 to meet with such a pure draught of friendship, such a 
 grateful ' cup o' kindness' as was your letter to me. If 
 1 could have answered it on the impulse of the moment, 
 I should have expressed nothing but unmingled pleasure 
 and warmth of feeling. But alas ! I have set up for 
 ' your philosopher/ and must cavil and reason as much, 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 
 
 
 
 and feel as little as I can. Thus, suppose Berzelius, or 
 any other most incorrigible chemist, on traversing an oasis 
 in a wide wilderness, to be presented by some fair dam- 
 sel the nymph of the fountain, if you please with a 
 draught of her crystal stream. The knight of the fur- 
 nace and crucible finds himself inexpressibly refreshed 
 by its coolness ; but, not having learned, in his labora- 
 tory, all the laws of etiquette, instead of thanking her 
 mythological divinity with decent courtesy, he is 
 prompted by his ruling passion to the request, that she 
 would allow him to analyze her precious waters, to as- 
 certain their mineral virtues, and to put them to the 
 torture of all the chemical agents with which his science 
 supplies him. So the after thought, in my case, is to 
 take up your letter in the style of a modern reviewer, 
 and furnish a running commentary on it. It strikes 
 me by the way, that the comparison or allegory above 
 imagined is, in the style of conception, equal to any 
 thing in ancient or modern literature. 
 
 " Your impressions concerning the variety and im- 
 portance of my occupations, and the value of every 
 moment of my time, are very correct. My letters, I 
 hope, have impressed my friends with a deep sense of 
 these momentous realities. I believe, on the receipt of 
 your present epistle, I appended to a letter just going 
 to the office, an additional clause expressive of the 
 enormous world of business that, Atlas-like, I have on 
 my shoulders, and calculated to deepen your previous 
 convictions. But if this belief has deterred you from 
 making demands on my valuable time,' I heartily re- 
 gret that any idle assumption of importance on my 
 part, should have deprived me of the opportunity of 
 having my time occupied at once so agreeably, and to 
 
 15 
 
170 
 
 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 so good purpose. For what can be more important, 
 my dear cousin to throw away this tiresome mock 
 heroic than to cherish those feelings, and to guard 
 that friendship, which sweetens toil and animates the 
 sinking spirits? I therefore do not make the writing of 
 a letter to my best friends a matter of a leisure hour, 
 or a passing recreation, but consider it of all my 'occu- 
 pations' the most important ; for nearly all besides this 
 are selfish, and therefore trivial, arid of little value to 
 me except so far as their results may please and gratify 
 those whose gratification, and whose interest in me, I 
 prize more than any careless or momentary approba- 
 tion from the so-called world. I am ill-satisfied with 
 the newspaper, business-style of an epistle, with which 
 an hour or two snatched from my studies would fur- 
 nish me ; but rather delight to sit down, and gradually 
 estrange myself awhile from books and mathematical 
 lore, till by-gone days come clustering freshly on my 
 memory, and I can leave the painful straining of the 
 mind at what it with difficulty comprehends, to enjoy the 
 unrestrained intercourse which long associations teach 
 it at once to understand and feel. Then I can write to 
 you as I would ; nor at such times am I apt to believe 
 that the highest flights of science in the firmament or 
 elsewhere, can inspire thoughts worth the simple kind 
 word with which one fellow-mortal can cheer another 
 on their common pilgrimage. Such a kind word was 
 your letter ; and need I entreat, that I may not be de- 
 barred from such a dear privilege by a stumbling-block, 
 which, to confess the truth, was of my own setting up? 
 " But further, my good cousin, I have to take you to 
 task for a certain few phrases of compliment on my in- 
 tellectual proficiency (not to burden them with a more 
 
' 
 
 EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 171 
 
 odious appellation) with which you were pleased inci- 
 dentally and needlessly to lengthen your letter. Now 
 I take it submissively, as a kind of practical instruction 
 in one branch of scfence of which you are my acknow- 
 ledged teacher and model. But you know that paying 
 compliments was always that very department of eti- 
 quette which I could least bear to be obliged either to 
 bestow or to receive, however I might be disposed to 
 perpetrate the thing occasionally, on the impulse of the 
 moment. So that it were prudent in you to initiate me 
 at first, when I am less obstinate ; especially, as were I 
 fairly taught in the use of this weapon, so dangerous to 
 humility and virtue however directed, my first lessons 
 might very possibly be in the way of retaliation on my 
 teacher. 
 
 " And is this the 'happy valley' you speak of, or is it 
 a dream of what we would have, rather than of what 
 is ? I hope with a trust bordering on certainty to enjoy 
 at some not distant date with you that love of nature 
 "which cannot but be inspired by scenes like those of 
 which you speak, and which, although I have heard of 
 them before, yet never with such a longing towards 
 them. But I cannot tell when we may so meet in the 
 future that future, cousin, upon which you look with 
 no loving eye. I will not ask why, but rather wish, 
 that no prospect may ever be brighter than that from 
 which, as yet too dimly seen, you turn away in doubt 
 and mistrust ; yet a doubt so slightly exposed to view, 
 that in the silent reproof of a single sentence, I feel 
 utterly ashamed of the part I have been acting, in pee- 
 vishly fretting at what is and must be, and giving my 
 friends the full benefit of such mental exercises. In- 
 stead thereof, I will fill all my future with hope, bright, 
 
172 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 undimmed hope, whether to dawn into reality or not, 
 provided you will do the same, and enforce precept by 
 example. For if the bright horizon of one like your- 
 self must be clouded, what could I expect from mine ? 
 
 " I will tell you more of the story of ' Churchill,' as 
 
 yoiyire pleased to name my friend , at some time 
 
 when matters shall be more fully developed. He has been 
 chosen poet of his class, and will deliver the usual val- 
 edictory at the middle of next term, when the Seniors 
 leave. He is very enthusiastic, and withal means to 
 give to his country whatever talent he possesses, and 
 not go wandering like some of our poets to Greece, or 
 back into the past, after heroes, and events, and charac- 
 ters which our own have eclipsed. He is now making 
 a little digression into astronomy. We have walked 
 much together for a day or two past, discussing in con- 
 versation the probable infinity of the universe, and 
 skirting its furthest visible boundaries, to gather strength 
 for the imagination to bear the thought of what is be- 
 yond. 
 
 " I am really glad of the new arrangement by which 
 Mr. C. makes his home with you. But wait the 
 blooming spring and ripe summer, and I know that 
 Roseneath,so beautifully peaceful with its sweet twilight 
 evenings you remember will make him resolve to 
 shake the dust of Main-street at once off his feet and his 
 heart. Give my most cordial love to him, and tell him I 
 have received his letter ; tell him that I am well satisfied as 
 the matter stands,* for the temptation of a residence near 
 to Richmond would have induced me perhaps to forego 
 
 * Alluding to an unsuccessful effort of Mason's to obtain a 
 family school near Richmond. 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 173 
 
 the prospects of better situations. I shall write to him 
 before long, and take this opportunity for the more in- 
 stant acknowledgment of his letter, and of my warm- 
 est thanks for his kindness.* 
 
 " I shall also write to aunt Turner soon, but have 
 spun out the thread of my discourse too long now to 
 cut it short, and begin anew. This simile is borrowed 
 from the domestic department, in order to suit feminine 
 associations, and I was going to say comprehension ; 
 but that would have been very uncomplimentary. It 
 also reminds me that your needle-book has been of very 
 great use to me. In spite of the contempt which I af- 
 fected towards it, before I was sure of its destination, it 
 now occupies the first place among the numerous spe- 
 cimens with which college students nearly every vaca- 
 tion stow their cabinets. This enviable supremacy it 
 would hold in virtue of its recommending itself to my 
 philosophical taste by its peculiar neatness, and by its 
 adaptation to its end, even did it-recall no thought of the 
 giver. 
 
 " My ' astronomical lecture' I have put off till I be- 
 lieve it must be put completely out of the letter. I 
 promise one next time, as dry and statistical as your 
 heart can desire. 
 
 " Your affectionate cousin, 
 
 E. P. MASON." 
 
 P 
 
 Tenderness for the feelings of his distant and beloved 
 relatives, conspired with his habitual resolution, to in- 
 
 * The gentleman here alluded to continued to give repeated 
 and substantial proofs of his friendship for Mr. Mason by the most 
 generous pecuniary aid. 
 
 15* 
 
174 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 duce him to pass over, with but slight allusion, his 
 present very infirm and threatening state of health. A 
 hollow consumptive cough, increasing from day to day, 
 betrayed another symptom of his approaching fate. 
 Still he kept up his astronomical labors and correspond- 
 ence, almost without remission, and nothing could con- 
 vince him that these alarming affections were any thing 
 more than an irritable state of a depraved digestion. In 
 addition to the progress of a fatal disease, another oc- 
 currence contributed at this time to depress his spirits. 
 The publishing committee of the American Philosophi- 
 cal Society, at whose request he had consented to 
 communicate to their Transactions his paper on the 
 nebula?, expressed dissatisfaction with the expenses in- 
 ctirred for the engravings, which were executed under 
 his own eye, with great skill and fidelity, by an accom- 
 plished engraver of New Haven, Mr. Hinman, but 
 which, in the opinion of some of the committee, might 
 have been done on terms more advantageous to the so- 
 ciety, in Philadelphia. The extreme care and nicety 
 with which Mr. Hinman had engraved the plates, oc- 
 cupied so much time that he could not afford them, on 
 the most reasonable calculation, at a less price than one 
 hundred and fifty dollars. This sum the committee 
 were unwilling to pay ; and the prospect of having the 
 whole or a large part of it to discharge himself, with 
 -resources inadequate to his daily expenses, distressed 
 Mason exceedingly. However, through the exertions 
 of his friend, Mr. S. C. Walker, (at whose instance this 
 paper was communicated to the Philosophical Society,) 
 the matter was finally adjusted to the satisfaction of the 
 parties. 
 
 A slight intimation of Mason's illness was enough to 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 175 
 
 awaken the maternal solicitude of his affectionate aunt, 
 and to occasion a repetition of her invitation to him to 
 come and recruit his enfeebled frame in the warm atmo- 
 sphere of friends to whom he was so dear. It is to be 
 lamented that he did not at once tear himself from 
 the severe and laborious studies in which he was inces- 
 santly occupied, and fly to a home where remission 
 from mental toil, and the kind offices of an affection 
 truly maternal, might have prolonged a life so valu- 
 able to science. The following letter will show his 
 situation and feelings at this time. 
 
 To Mrs. Harriet B. Turner. 
 
 "Yale College, April 20, 1840. 
 " DEAR AUNT 
 
 "I believe my last letter was to cousin M., and in the 
 due adjustment of the debt and credit side of my ac- 
 counts of correspondence, this one should be to you. 
 I owe you the warmest thanks for your kindness in of- 
 fering me a home at Roseneath, which I can only ex- 
 press in words, and thus by letter. I know full well 
 that there is no place on earth where I could more 
 realize that word * home,' (except my father's house,) 
 than at Roseneath ; and in the spring-tide of the year, 
 to escape from the solitary table and lamp to mingle 
 with friends tried of old, and in the most delightful of 
 places I have met with in my experience of nature's ar- 
 tificial beauty, would be sweet indeed, and w r ould 
 much relieve that weariness of study which a short va- 
 cation dispels. But I need now every fragment of 
 time that I can command, to accomplish the purposes 
 of the present year ; and duty, urging to promptitude 
 of action, will at present listen to no proposals from in- 
 
176 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 clination, to sport away the summer in recreation. I 
 do not know that I shall do much ; but it is very im- 
 portant for the sake of forming my habits of action for 
 years to come, (should they come to me,) that I should 
 do with diligence whatever I attempt. By this I mean, 
 not to sit down with intense application over wearing 
 studies, with mistaken views of economy of time ; but 
 to carry a spirit of promptitude and decision to such an 
 extent into my plans of study, exercise, and recreation 
 for this year, that they shall not fail me hereafter. If 
 I idle away my time now, it will be ominous of the fu- 
 ture. So, in spite of the kind assurance 'that there is 
 room enough for myself as well as Mr. C. at Roseneath,' 
 and although I already know that there would be ample 
 room for me in the hearts of yourself, and my other 
 dear friends, I shall be, for the present, compelled to 
 ask and claim a place only there. I can tell but little 
 that is definite about my plans for the year, except that 
 I have a prospect of sufficient employment. I shall 
 write more definitely from New York, where I shall be 
 two or three weeks hence. 
 
 " I have had no vacation since I was with you, and 
 cannot immediately make one for myself. Early in 
 June, however, I have engaged to take a pedestrian 
 tour of at least a fortnight's duration, with some of my 
 choicest friends, to extend up the Connecticut river, 
 embracing its glorious scenery, which will afford some 
 play for the spirits and fancy as well as the blood. 
 
 " It must be very pleasant to you that you are able 
 to give Mr. C. an asylum from the dust of the city, and 
 a taste of the genuine spring of rural life; and I there- 
 fore the more regret my inability to join you all, and 
 swell the circle. As Coleridge says, 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 177 
 
 ,My eyes make pictures when they are shut, 
 I see a garden, large and fair, 
 A cottage, and a little hut, 
 And me, and thee, and Mary, there.' " 
 
 This letter concludes with some information which 
 his aunt had requested, respecting the Zodiacal light. 
 In expressing his views respecting the physical nature 
 and constitution of this mysterious body, he favors the 
 idea that it is a portion of nebulous matter surrounding 
 the sun in a great ring, and is the residuum of the primi- 
 tive nebula, out of which, according to the celebrated, 
 but in my judgment, visionary hypothesis of La Place, 
 the whole solar system was formed. 
 
 The proposed visit to New York alluded to in this 
 letter, was for the purpose of superintending the stereo- 
 typing of his article on Practical Astronomy, which 
 was now nearly finished. When he began the compo- 
 sition of this article, the preceding autumn, it was ex- 
 pected to occupy him for a few weeks only ; but his 
 constant attention to the observation of all the current 
 astronomical phenomena, and the preparation of his 
 article on the nebulae, with an extensive correspond- 
 ence, had so retarded the progress of that treatise, that 
 on the first of May it was still unfinished. He supposed, 
 however, that he could easily finish it while the parts 
 already completed were in the process of stereotyping. 
 It was therefore agreed that he should go to New 
 York, and pass two or three weeks, which was deemed 
 a sufficient time for stereotyping his treatise. The 
 moderate labor required for this duty, and for the pre- 
 paration of the few remaining sheets, with the various 
 sources of novelty and interest in the metropolis, would, 
 it was supposed, be favorable to the renovation of his 
 
178 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 health and spirits, and at least serve the purpose of de- 
 taching him from the severe occupation which he could 
 not be persuaded to remit while at home. But what- 
 ever hopes I had indulged respecting the favorable ef- 
 fect of this excursion upon his health, and upon the 
 completion of a work in which I was personally inter- 
 ested, they were soon given up on my finding, that the 
 moment he set his foot in New York, he had renewed 
 and extended his acquaintance with several practical 
 astronomers, and soon after engaged with great alacrity 
 and zeal in nocturnal observations at the private obser- 
 vatory of Messrs. Blunt, at Brooklyn ; and had con- 
 certed with these gentlemen a plan for ascertaining, by 
 means of a set of chronometers recently received by 
 the steamer from England, the precise difference of 
 longitude between New York, and New Haven. The 
 nature of his employments during this short interval at 
 New York, may be learned more particularly from the 
 following letter. 
 
 To Mr. Hamilton L. Smith. 
 
 "Yale College, June 6, 1840. 
 " DEAR FRIEND 
 
 " Having an opportunity to send to you by private 
 conveyance, I will vouchsafe a few lines, albeit highly 
 indignant that you have not answered my letter. I 
 hope to hear from you very soon, for bethink yourself 
 how much I must needs wish to know what my old 
 classmate and partner in astronomy is doing, and 
 whereto he is turning his star-gazing propensities. 
 
 " I have been for three or four weeks past resident 
 in New York, engaged in stereotyping a work on 
 Practical Astronomy, which I will send out to you 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 179 
 
 shortly. While there, I had made arrangements for 
 coincident observations on meteors* with Messrs. 
 Herrick, Bradley, and Haile ; but this plan was in- 
 terrupted by the opportunity which was afforded me 
 by Messrs. Blunt of sending five chronometers up to 
 New Haven, the same sent out from Greenwich for the 
 third experiment on the longitude of New York. 
 They came and returned in the British Queen were 
 compared with the heavens for several nights in suc- 
 cession by Mr. Bradley in New Haven, and by myself 
 at the Brooklyn observatory. The observations I am 
 reducing collectively, and the result will be a very ac- 
 curate longitude of New Haven, compared directly 
 with Greenwich. The observations on meteors were 
 so far broken up by those necessary to determine the 
 errors and rates of the chronometers, as to be nearly 
 useless. 
 
 " While at New York, I saw a beautiful altitude and 
 azimuth instrument made by Troughton and Sims, be- 
 longing to Columbia College. Mr. SchaefFer, the libra- 
 rian, and myself, locked ourselves in the philosophical 
 chamber, and put it together for the first time since it 
 crossed the Atlantic. Reading microscopes were ad- 
 justed on the altitude and azimuth circles, by which 
 seconds were read off, and tenths estimated. The cir- 
 cle being clamped, we could agree in reading off any 
 angle within two or three tenths of a second/' 
 
 He proceeds to give his friend a particular descrip- 
 tion of Mr. Blunt's observatory at Brooklyn, which, 
 limited and imperfect as it was, was still superior to 
 
 * For the purposes of longitude. 
 
180 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 any he had hitherto enjoyed, and afforded a fascinating 
 but dangerous attraction for a large portion of his eve- 
 nings. Indeed, nothing could be more farcical than the 
 idea of " going to New York to recruit." Every moment 
 of his time by day, and late hours at night, exposed to 
 tj^e damp air, were engrossed by his master-passion, 
 except the small portion of time which he passed with 
 the stereotyper on the special business of his visit. 
 Meanwhile, through the delays of the artist, as Mason 
 thought, but on account of the incessant engagements 
 of Mason on the objects already mentioned, as the art- 
 ist thought, the stereotyping dragged slowly along, so 
 that at the end of the period assigned for its completion, 
 only a small part of the work was done. It is said that 
 the benevolent Howard, when he first visited Rome, 
 was so intent on his great object (the amelioration of 
 prisoners) that he never visited the Coliseum ; in like 
 manner, our young astronomer not only was proof 
 against the blandishments of pleasure, ministered as 
 they are in a large city, in the most enticing forms, but 
 seems actually to have seen nothing that excited his in- 
 terest or curiosity but the fellowship of a few kindred 
 minds, the delightful inspection of finely executed in- 
 struments, and the observation with them of the noc- 
 turnal heavens. 
 
 To his coadjutor at New Haven, Mr. Francis Brad- 
 ley, he writes in exultation at his unexpected facilities 
 for observation. " You had better observe moon-cul- 
 minations every night, that is clear, this week. I shall 
 do the same in all probability ; although, if I should not, 
 which is scarcely supposable, yours will be valuable on 
 the longitude of New Haven. I have a four or five 
 foot transit instrument with splendid adjustments and 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 181 
 
 circle altitude and azimuth instrument, &c., &c., and 
 the key of the observatory (Mr. Blunt's) at my control, 
 and he will send over chronometers, lamps, telescopes 
 every thing that can be wanted from the city. Mr. 
 Schaeffer, librarian of Columbia College, strongly in- 
 terests himself in procuring observers to assist me in next 
 week's labor. So never fear that active co-operation 
 will be wanting here." 
 
 In addition to all the engagements during this " re- 
 cruiting season" indicated in the preceding letters, he 
 incidentally mentioned in his letters to me numerous 
 others ; as experiments on polarization of light, which 
 he witnessed for the first time through the kindness of 
 Mr. Schaeifer the examination of the latest volumes 
 of the Philosophical and Astronomical Transactions, 
 which he had found in Mr. Blunt's library and letters 
 to numerous friends and astronomical correspondents. 
 It is not surprising, therefore, that when he returned to 
 New Haven, about the first of June, his appearance 
 was not improved. 
 
 The necessity of increasing his earnings, even for his 
 own support, now became imperious, and the further 
 desire of assisting his father, whose pecuniary circum- 
 stances were straitened, united to prompt Mr. Mason 
 to seek for more productive employment. His friends 
 who were near him, were ready to lend him their in- 
 fluence, and he was negotiating for a tutorship in a 
 highly respectable college at the West, for a professor- 
 ship in a college at the South, and he had some pros- 
 pects of a permanent situation in a northern university. 
 But with so many flattering prospects for the future, 
 none of these situations were immediately available ; 
 and his want of funds being urgent, he resorted to sev- 
 
 16 
 
'-!* 
 
 182 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 eral temporary expedients for present relief. He form- 
 ed a small class of students in practical astronomy, who 
 were to accompany him in the actual labors of the ob- 
 servatory, and he spent several hours daily in a Latin 
 school, in the capacity of assistant instructor. Some 
 of the "prospects" above alluded to disappointed him 
 in the result ; but there was still proffered to him a situa- 
 tion in Western Reserve College, where the inducement 
 arising from the society of Professor Loomis, whose 
 tastes and pursuits were so congenial to his own, and 
 the free use of the observatory lately erected at that 
 institution, rendered the place particularly attractive to 
 him. To this he alludes in the following letter to a 
 young female friend, then residing in a neighboring 
 state. 
 
 " Yale College, July 6, 184a 
 " FRIEND M . 
 
 " I shall allow you a much greater show of amiability 
 than most young ladies possess, for your kindness in 
 answering at all a letter so little calculated, by its 
 promptness and style, to please you. I had begun to 
 suppose that the pride so natural to your sex, had con- 
 strued into cause of mortal offence, a course of conduct 
 on my part, which, however severely you may censure 
 the wayward and unsocial disposition that led to it, I 
 pray you impute not to the slightest thought of neglect- 
 ing or offending you. I am but too much indebted for 
 the small share of social pleasure that I enjoy, to a 
 cherished intercourse with a few friends like yourself, 
 willingly to forego the gratification of exchanging 
 thoughts with you. 
 
 " I heard long ago of the death of Miss D. I was 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 183 
 
 then at the South. I knew most intimately the gentle- 
 man to whom she was engaged, one whom I loved 
 from a boy ; and calling brother then, have experienced 
 from him all the care, friendship, and aid, that an elder 
 brother could give. 
 
 " You ask me of your cousin, Miss M S . 
 
 My acquaintance with her is but that of a few and 
 short conversations, in the midst of company. Al- 
 though not quite so morose and sourly misanthropic as 
 when I last wrote to you, I have mingled but very lit- 
 tle with the female society of New Haven, and have 
 given many of my former acquaintances some reason 
 to complain of me, although I am all the while promis- 
 ing myself a gradual reform in this respect. So I must 
 judge of your friend by report, which in her case sings 
 nothing but praise. If she have the common share of 
 vanity so liberally awarded to the better part of crea- 
 tion, she may with reason express much* satisfaction 
 with New Haven, for there are few here, even among 
 her own sex, who would deny her a marked superiority 
 in female virtues and mental culture, no less than in the 
 accomplishments of fashionable life. But caution bids 
 me hold up the reins of my flattery, for who knows but 
 you might turn traitor, and bring me into trouble. I 
 speak but from hearsay, for it is utterly against my 
 principles to mouth so much compliment of my own 
 manufacture. 
 
 " I shall probably go to take a situation as tutor in 
 Western Reserve College in September, unless offers of 
 a permanent situation in a college further east should 
 be renewed to me ; and I believe I can make the road 
 such as to allow of my making you a short visit. And 
 I hope to see you with countenance as of old ; for though 
 
184 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 I know that sickness or disease can do little to injure 
 you, while it but points you to a brighter hope, yet I 
 have been much grieved at hearing that you had seri- 
 ously suffered from the attacks of a severe malady ; 
 and I sincerely trust that as your letter speaks of it as 
 a trial that is past, it will long continue so. 
 
 " I have spent some three or four weeks lately in 
 New York, employed in the process or operation of 
 becoming an author ; an experiment usually, whether 
 with or without reason, marvellously fostering to the 
 pride of intellect ; though the time has passed when 
 such a circumstance would have foolishly moved me. 
 For I look upon ambition as a motive very little wor- 
 thy of an immortal soul ; and indeed many of the other 
 motives to which mankind in general, and with them 
 doubtless myself, bow down. I do not now, and really 
 never did, ask shelter of any vain philosophy ; nor do I 
 care very much for, or appreciate highly, any other 
 stimulus of thought and action, than that which con- 
 siders a longer period than the swift frail moment for 
 which our earthly existence lasts. If you ask why, 
 valuing so lightly other objects of existence, I do not 
 at once devote myself to ends that I feel to be as noble 
 as others are worthless; I answer, that habits of acting 
 from selfishness, clinging for years, are wound around 
 me ; and although I often despise and hate them, it re- 
 quires a stronger effort than I have yet made to nerve 
 myself to the determination, that love to my Maker, his 
 eternal plan, and his cherished creation of beings, shall 
 help me in the long struggle against these fastened 
 habits. You will not take up the echo of a desperate 
 moralizer in application to this strain, for I owe to your 
 kindness this single thought of what I should be, and I 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 185 
 
 owe it to myself to assure you that my mind, at least, 
 is in love with virtue rather than philosophy. 
 ** Sincerely, as ever, your friend, 
 
 E. P. MASON." 
 
 Mason had therefore nearly concluded to accept the 
 offer from Western Reserve College, when the develop- 
 ment of new symptoms of consumption, an increasing 
 cough, great debility, and gradual emaciation, with pro- 
 fuse night sweats, admonished him of the necessity of 
 suspending all intellectual labor, and led him to recur 
 to an idea he had entertained several times before, of 
 spending a year or more on his father's farm in Michi- 
 gan. His final reply to Professor Loomis was as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 "Yale College, July 21, 1840. 
 
 " DEAR SIR 
 
 " I have finally concluded to decline the offer you 
 have made me, although, I can assure you, with much 
 reluctance. I find my health has been a little injured 
 by very close confinement the past year, especially dur- 
 ing the last spring. It has been a question with me 
 whether a single year snatched from my literary pur- 
 suits, and devoted entirely to the most active exercises, 
 as farming and hunting, would not benefit me in health 
 and constitution much more than would repay the sac- 
 rifice of time. Some symptoms of a pulmonary com- 
 plaint I have lately experienced decide me, and my 
 next year will be spent in Michigan, where my father 
 resides. Doctor K., whom I have consulted, thinks 
 that with time for continued and vigorous exercise, I 
 might go on safely with such literary duties as would 
 be required of me in a college like yours. But, per- 
 
 16* 
 
186 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 sisting in a sedentary course of life might, very proba- 
 bly, cause me in a year or two regret for my choice, 
 when too late ; while the present course will at all 
 events improve my health, (if it can be improved very 
 much,) and render me much fitter for active engage- 
 ment in scientific pursuits afterwards, and much more 
 capable of enduring mental labor. At the same time 
 that I have chosen thus, because I think it the safest 
 and wisest course, it has not been without much regret 
 at being compelled to relinquish the society and oppor- 
 tunities I had promised myself at your institution. If 
 I can possibly visit you on my way to Michigan, I will 
 do so. Yet I fear that a long stay at. Hudson -would 
 involve some risk of the contagion, which seems to have 
 rendered your once flourishing * bachelor's hall' empty 
 and deserted. I shall feel still more solicitous for Pro- 
 fessor S. when located at your college, as there seems 
 to be there a marvellous facility of losing one's personal 
 identity, and acquiring a certain duplicity of character, 
 which it doubtless requires much caution in a person 
 still retaining some singleness of heart, to avoid. 
 
 " I shall be anxious to see your forthcoming papers, 
 and thank you for your kindness in promising to send 
 me copies. You say you have several ' on the stocks,' 
 which I hope will be launched as rapidly and as suc- 
 cessfully as their predecessors. I have a number of 
 papers arranged and finished in mind, but requiring 
 much leisure to write them out. Mine, therefore, are 
 all on the stocks ; and as the workman must have his 
 vacation, they must remain there for a year or more. 
 " Very sincerely yours, 
 
 E. P. MASON." 
 
 " PROFESSOR LOOMIS." 
 
EBE\EZEil PORTEll MASON. 187 
 
 The pleasantry with which our young friend alludes 
 to a recent trtiange in the domestic relations of his cor- 
 respondent, is a specimen of the delightful cheerfulness 
 and buoyancy of spirits, which he maintained under all 
 his present sufferings and dark prospects a frame of 
 mind which he supported to the last. 
 
 On the same day he wrote to Mrs. Turner, stating 
 his feelings and his situation more fully ; betraying, in- 
 deed, a consciousness of the immediate necessity of 
 changing his habits of life, but still flattering himself 
 that his complaints were only the result of a derange- 
 ment of the digestive organs, and his pulmonary affec- 
 tion very slight, whereas symptoms of a fixed con- 
 sumption were now too palpable to be mistaken. 
 
 To Mrs. H. B. Turner. 
 
 "Yale College, July 21, 1840. 
 " DEAR AUNT 
 
 " For some cause or other, whenever I sit down to 
 write to you, I always turn egotist. Whether it is that 
 the strong interest you express in my plans, movements, 
 prospects, and feelings, leads me to satisfy you with a 
 full and particular account of my ow 7 n individual inter- 
 ests, or whether, becoming too conscious of the estima- 
 tion and affection cherished towards me at Roseneath, 
 I look upon myself as really deserving so much kind- 
 ness, and am foolishly exalted in my own eyes, I will 
 not try to decide. But you will find this letter, like 
 others, rambling on discursively concerning myself and 
 my prospects, with little heed to any thing else than 
 self. I forewarn you, that, although well on the road to 
 manhood, you are in great danger of spoiling me. I 
 think I should have been completely spoiled already, 
 
188 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 like an indulged child, and made thoroughly selfish, 
 through over kindness on your part, had it^lot been for 
 a most uncommon share of resolution, of native firm- 
 ness, of innate self-denial on my part, that has preserved 
 me from so great a misfortune. 
 
 " But, aunt, in trifling thus, I have almost forgotten 
 that you may be yet sick, and nervous, and in no mood 
 to relish this nonsensical railery, or may even think it 
 unkind. So I will betake myself to what 1 told you 
 the letter would doubtless consist of my own plans 
 and intentions. 
 
 " I told you in my last letter, that I had one or two 
 offers of collegiate offices. That of the University 
 
 of , which I requested should be considered as 
 
 confidential, is a failure. The trustees will not be 
 able, at least this year, to command the funds neces- 
 sary to found a new salary, as they had proposed to 
 do. The opportunity at Western Reserve College is a 
 fine one, and I have, until within a few days, thought 
 very favorably of it. I have, however, been for a 
 long while considering, whether a year or more, 
 snatched from literary pursuits, and given up to vigo- 
 rous exercise, and a hardy life of farming and hunting, 
 would not so much improve my health and amend my 
 constitution, as to be worth the sacrifice of time. Some 
 slight symptoms of a pulmonary complaint, (caused by 
 a previous disorder of the digestive organs,) which 
 have appeared of late, in consequence, probably, of too 
 great confinement to my table and pen for some 
 months past, have decided me. I have consulted Dr. 
 K., and ascertained pretty definitely the state of my 
 disorder. He thinks that I might go on safely with 
 literary pursuits, if, as at Hudson, but little confined, 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 189 
 
 and allowed plenty of vigorous and exhilarating exer- 
 cise ; but, at the same time, he would not be sure I 
 could do so. I am very certain that entire freedom 
 from the anxieties and confinement and business of 
 study, and the active exercise of a farmer, or hunter, 
 would be by far the safest course, and one the effect 
 of which on my health, could never cause me regret ; 
 whereas, I am not by any means confident that my 
 present mode of life would be very consistent with 
 sound health, without such an interval of respite. 
 
 " I have therefore decided, that if I can in any way 
 compass this plan for one year, or two-thirds of a year 
 ensuing, I will do it. I have not thus made up my 
 mind without many struggles against immediate inter- 
 ests and pecuniary prospects, (for I have done more 
 this year for fame than for profit.) I therefore had to 
 make this determination against strong inclinations, 
 and regardless of consequences. 
 
 " Now, if I can get through next year by any kind 
 of management, and I thereby acquire hardihood and 
 vigor of constitution, I know well that I shall accom- 
 plish more, with the same amount of effort, and act 
 with far more energy and spirit, than I possibly can 
 now. And if I should fail in this way to recover my 
 health, it will show that to have gone on as at present, 
 would have been next to madness. I would write 
 more, but I throw aside almost every thing now as far 
 as I can, for exercise, having been able to do this for 
 two or three weeks past. * I maun awa' to the hills.' 
 
 " Since writing the above, I have been spoken to 
 about taking a professorship of mathematics in the 
 
 college at , with a salary of one thousand dollars. 
 
 The President will be here next week, and I shall see 
 
190 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 and converse with him on the subject. Should the 
 situation be fully offered to me, it will be a great temp- 
 tation to abandon the resolution I have formed. I think 
 in that case I shall strongly endeavor to secure a half 
 year or a year's delay in preparation, before entering 
 on the duties of the professorship. At any rate, I shall 
 not take the offer unless I can command very great 
 leisure for exercise. It is w r orth considering, that with 
 a thousand dollars, I can avail myself of the more ex- 
 pensive as well as the common modes of exercise, at 
 the same time that I am paying off my debts, and 
 transmitting money home, for the relief of my father. 
 On the other hand, I have no means of accomplishing 
 my present plan, without calling on my friends for as- 
 sistance, which perhaps it will be inconvenient for 
 them to render. On this account, I have been greatly 
 in doubt, whether I ought to decide as I have done ; and 
 should not have done so, except from a firm conviction 
 of the wisdom of the choice. If I must ask my friends 
 for aid, I shall do it with the more confidence, because I 
 am now very well assured of obtaining good situations, 
 whenever my health will allow me to enter any one 
 of them ; for these three offers have been made me 
 apparently on account of reputation arising from works 
 and papers not yet fairly published, and I may reason- 
 ably expect, that their circulation for the ensuing year, 
 will so far increase my reputation, that on returning 
 to employment, I shall meet with at least as favorable 
 and frequent offers. My only apprehension of not be- 
 ing able to repay Mr. C. and two or three other smaller 
 debts, now is, the possibility of failure of health from 
 too close study. 
 
 " You will see from my present letter, that my plans 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 191 
 
 must be for .a week or more immature. My present 
 engagements are as follows. I continue in New Haven 
 nearly or quite until Commencement, that is, for about 
 three weeks longer. I shall then make a pedestrian 
 excursion into Rhode Island with a friend of mine who 
 resides there, and for three or four weeks shall do no- 
 thing but run about all day with gun or fish-pole, and 
 come home tired at night. I shall then close up all 
 unfinished ends of business as quickly as possible, and 
 set out for Michigan. Having now been confined a 
 year at New Haven, I am glad to embrace the first 
 opportunity to leave town and inhale the cool air, and 
 ramble over the long ranges of the New England hills. 
 My breast pains me, and I must leave off. 
 
 " Ever yours, 
 
 E. P. MASON." 
 
192 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 EXPEDITION TO MAINE WITH THE 'BOUNDARY COMMISSION.' 
 
 Motives that induced him to join the boundary expedition Hur- 
 ried preparations Excessive labors Journey Adventures. 
 
 AT the moment when the plan of our young friend 
 seemed to be finally and unalterably settled, a new and 
 sudden turn was given to it by a letter from William C. 
 Redfield, Esq., of New- York, well known for his inge- 
 nious investigations on the "Laws of Storms" and va- 
 rious other publications. Mr. R. had become acquaint- 
 ed with Mason, and regarded him with deep interest, 
 and therefore took great pleasure in opening to him an 
 enterprise which he knew would be extremely conso- 
 nant to his taste, and supposed might be favorable to 
 his health. Under date of August 3d, he writes to 
 him thus : " There is a commission organized by the 
 government of the United States for exploring the dis- 
 puted boundary between Maine and Canada, which is 
 to commence its labors immediately. Recollecting 
 your conversation on the subject of a sporting cam- 
 paign, it has occurred to me whether we cannot figure 
 out a place for you under the commission, if you should 
 think it desirable. The commissioners are Professor 
 Renwick, of this city, Capt. Talcott, U. S. Engineer, 
 and Professor Cleaveland, of Maine. They are to 
 meet at Portland, on the 7th instant, and will com- 
 mence their duties immediately. I have applied to 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 193 
 
 Professor Renwick on the subject, and find that he is 
 not authorized to appoint but two assistants, and that 
 he has already secured these. He desires, however, 
 that you should join the expedition, and says that if 
 you will meet the commissioners at Portland on the 
 7th, he will recommend your appointment. 
 
 "There will doubtless be'a good deal of observation 
 carried on under the commission, in connection with 
 the explorations, astronomical, barometrical, and geo- 
 desical." 
 
 Nothing could have come apparently more suited to 
 fulfil all his purposes, than this opening. The society 
 of the distinguished gentleman at the head of the com- 
 mission ; the opportunity of perfecting himself in geo- 
 desical operations ; the pleasure of pursuing, under a 
 new and practical form, his favorite astronomical ob- 
 servations ; these severally presented motives too at- 
 tractive to be resisted. He felt his strength return 
 in the contemplation of them. Moreover, this plan 
 seemed to possess the very elements of that which he 
 had before devised for the recovery of his health ; a 
 life in the woods, exposed to moderate hardships, in- 
 creasing as his strength improved " exhilarating exer- 
 cise" over wild mountains and through dark forests a 
 total change in his habits of living an escape from 
 the toils of the study and the pen ; such were the 
 visions which now presented themselves to his ardent 
 imagination. He was encouraged in these reveries by 
 a college friend, of the graduating class, who had once 
 himself been brought very low'by disorders very sim- 
 ilar to Mason's ; but betaking himself to the life of a 
 hunter in a new country, and passing a few months 
 roving over woods and mountains, " camping out by 
 
 17 
 
194 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 night," he had fully regained his health, and was now 
 among the most robust of his class. 
 
 It required therefore little delay to decide in favor of 
 a scheme which possessed so many attractions, and 
 promised such high advantages. The compensation, 
 also, annexed to this service would redeem him both 
 from present embarrassments and that state of depend- 
 ence on his friends, to which he had with the greatest 
 difficulty reconciled his feelings. 
 
 The " Treatise on Practical Astronomy," however, 
 was still unfinished ; and both the manuscript and ste- 
 reotyping were in such a state that no one could com- 
 plete it but himself. As it had already been delayed 
 much beyond expectation, and was wanted for imme- 
 diate use, in connection with my " Introduction to 
 Astronomy," I had a strong interest in having it finished. 
 Still, it was not proper that this matter should interpose 
 any obstacle in the way of a plan, which seemed to him 
 so fraught with advantages, especially to his health. I 
 entertained doubts, however, of his ability to undergo 
 the fatigue inseparable from such an expedition, pale, 
 emaciated, and feeble, as he was, with a deep-seated, 
 hollow cough, and pain in the breast ; but, on conver- 
 sing with his physician, he expressed a decided opinion 
 that the proposed excursion would not abridge but 
 would probably prolong his life, and might possibly re- 
 store his health. Under these circumstances, neither 
 friendship nor pecuniary interest permitted me to raise 
 any further objections. He accordingly addressed a 
 letter to Professor Ren wick, making application for the 
 place of assistant to the commission, and transmitting 
 to him such written testimonials from his scientific 
 friends here, as would tend to justify the commissioners 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 195 
 
 in conferring on him the appointment. This letter 
 reached Professor Renwick at Portland, and drew from 
 him an immediate reply, confirming the appointment, 
 and allowing Mason the interval to the 24th of the 
 same month to prepare himself for joining the party. 
 
 The young friend (Mr. S.) who had so strongly 
 recommended to Mason the " hunting life," as a means 
 of regaining his health, offered to join him in the expe- 
 dition, provided the commission would accept of his 
 services, and annex to them a very moderate compen- 
 sation. Mason was much elated at this, and immedi- 
 ately wrote to Professor Renwick as follows : 
 
 " I should be glad to recommend a young man of my 
 acquaintance, who graduates at this college next week, 
 as one who would doubtless render himself very valua- 
 ble to the party, if there is a situation suitable for him 
 at your disposal. A great taste for hunting led him to 
 the forests of the Alleghany range before he came to 
 college, where he acquired nearly all the instincts and 
 sagacity of the Indian in tracking the woods and living 
 in them. He is tolerably well acquainted with the 
 practice of common surveying ; but his most important 
 qualifications are, his knowledge of the woods and of 
 forest life and economy. His robust constitution and 
 habits of endurance, joined to his experience, would 
 render him an efficient adjunct to the party in threading 
 thick woodlands and morasses, in finding materials for 
 camp fires during heavy rains, and the like." 
 
 The wishes of Mason were gratified, and it afforded 
 much relief to the feelings of some of the friends of 
 our poor invalid, that he was to be accompanied by so 
 kind and useful an associate. 
 
 On the 24th of August, Mason set out for Portland, 
 
196 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 via New York. Having business in the city, I accom- 
 panied him thither. The fatigues incident to his hurried 
 preparation for the expedition left so strong an impress 
 upon his wan and emaciated figure, as to attract the 
 attention of strangers when he came on board the 
 steamboat ; and nothing would have seemed to them 
 more incongruous, than that this individual was just 
 starting to join a commission for exploring the Maine 
 boundary. To myself, indeed, it appeared almost 
 equally incongruous, and I would fain have dissuaded 
 him from the undertaking, had I not felt assured that 
 the effort would have been unavailing. I hoped, in- 
 deed, that the repose of the voyage to New York, short 
 as it was, with a change of scenery and objects, would 
 have afforded at least a temporary amelioration of his 
 exhausted appearance ; but we had no sooner got under 
 weigh, than he retired to a corner of the cabin, took 
 his writing materials out of his trunk, and spent nearly 
 the whole time of the voyage (six hours) in completing 
 some mathematical calculations in which he was en- 
 gaged. The importance of finishing these before he 
 left for the expedition, seemed to him urgent, but this 
 was probably not the only reason for his betaking him- 
 self to study ; to lose himself in studies so dear to him 
 was a refuge, though a delusive one, from pain and lan- 
 guor. 
 
 Mason took the evening boat for Providence, and 
 the next day wrote to me from Boston, apparently in 
 renovated spirits. "Although (says he) I felt pretty 
 wretched this morning, I feel now, after stirring about 
 a good deal, and meeting three of my classmates here, 
 quite another man. Mr. S has joined me, ready 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 197 
 
 with every thing but the promised rifle. I shall leave 
 for Portland this evening." 
 
 We next find him in New Brunswick, whence he 
 wrote to Mrs. Turner as follows. 
 
 " Woodstock, New Brunswick, Sept. 3, 1840. 
 " DEAR AUNT 
 
 " I fear I have but a few moments to write to you, un- 
 less I keep this letter until I reach the Great Falls, after 
 which we shall leave the inhabited world behind, and 
 shall see no man, or sign of man's existence, except 
 possibly a few Indians. To show you how strong a 
 necessity kept me from writing to you before leaving 
 New Haven, I need but mention, that I was under obli- 
 gation to finish my Practical Astronomy before my de- 
 parture, at the risk of much loss to myself and Profes- 
 sor Olmsted ; that my day of promised departure was the 
 24th of August ; and that to complete the copy for the 
 hands of the stereotyper in New York, I was obliged to 
 take the New York route to Boston, write copy on steam- 
 boat all the way down to New York city, and take 
 proofs on with me to Boston. Furthermore, I left my- 
 self but twelve hours to prepare for the campaign, ar- 
 range for sale of furniture, pack in boxes the numerous 
 books and chattels I should leave behind, and close up 
 all my bills and accounts in New Haven. Since my 
 departure, I have been so constantly travelling, and 
 laying in further stock of thick clothing, that I have 
 only had time to write to my father, who does not yet 
 know that I am on this cruise, or even that I have any 
 thoughts of giving up literary pursuits for a season. 
 
 " Now, aunt, I really feel grieved that you should 
 have so little confidence, as to believe me incapable of 
 
 17* 
 
198 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 taking thought for myself, or care for my health, and 
 that you should still continue to consider me the 
 same child that I was when with you from eight to ten 
 years of age. As far as love and affection are con- 
 cerned, I am willing that the child-like simplicity of 
 that time should remain ; but I was much chagrined 
 at your writing to Doctor K., although I deeply felt 
 the kindness and anxiety which prompted it. Do you 
 think I would take such decisive measures with regard 
 to the abandonment of study, and the pursuit of vigorous 
 health, without consulting a physician, and joining my 
 own experience of the nature of my constitution, and 
 the regimen and discipline it needed, with the advice 
 of those who could reason better than I could on the 
 information I gave them ? So far from it, before the 
 arrival of your letter, I had consulted Dr. K. twice, 
 and had laid my plans accordingly. As to the expe- 
 dition I am now upon, Dr. K. expressed himself to me 
 and to others as of opinion that it would prove favora- 
 ble to me. To show you how truly I have judged that 
 the slight cough I have had for some weeks, depends 
 mainly on the severe dyspepsia under which I have 
 suffered, and very little on any changes of weather or 
 exposure,! will give you a rough sketch of my health thus 
 far on my journey. I found on reaching Bangor, 
 Maine, that ordinary stage and railroad travelling did 
 not benefit me, but on the contrary I was rather worse. 
 Every evening after riding, I felt tired, indisposed to 
 action or motion of any kind, chilly, and disposed to 
 coil up in the corner of some sofa, and feel miserable 
 from the effects of indigestion, or else to go right to 
 bed; my cough, too, worse if any thing. So from 
 Bangor, instead of going one hundred and thirty miles 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 199 
 
 to Woodstock, my present night's location, on the St. 
 John's river, I determined to go forward with a slow 
 team of boats, by which means I could walk every day 
 as much as I chose, or could easily accomplish, and jolt 
 by wagon the rest. So for five days, I averaged thir- 
 teen or fourteen miles per day in walking ; and although 
 three or four times I got well wet, and kept w r et and damp 
 till we stopped for the night, yet at night I have found 
 myself in spirits, bright, wide awake, fully alive, warm, 
 less fatigued than before, and troubled much less with 
 dyspepsia, able to spend a half hour or so in writing 
 to father and yourself, instead of coiling myself away 
 to feel sick cough, too, better, in spite of so much ex- 
 posure it follows the changes of dyspepsia, and dys- 
 pepsia cannot live long in the woods we are going to 
 tramp over. So you see the effects of the first few 
 days of this kind of life. 
 
 " To-morrow we boat it up the St. John's camp at 
 nights in tents, and sleep in blankets. We go up to the 
 head waters of the St. John's, principally those of the 
 Aristook branch, and settle the location of the moun- 
 tains and highlands in that neighborhood. When the 
 snow beats us out, which will probably be not far from 
 the middle of October, we shall, I believe, drag some 
 of the boats over to a branch of the St. Lawrence, and 
 running down to Quebec, find conveyance from thence 
 to New York. During the winter we shall be engaged 
 at New York in reducing and calculating the observa- 
 tions made in the fall." 
 
 The remainder of the letter is occupied in details re- 
 specting sundry personal matters ; but the whole is in- 
 dicative of the exhilaration which often deludes the 
 
: .'1 
 
 200 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 victims of this fatal malady, by kindling in their hearts 
 a sudden flash of hope, which, for the moment, nerves 
 them with preternatural strength, and inspires them 
 with unwonted resolution. 
 
 Notwithstanding this long letter to his aunt, written 
 after the fatigues of the day, he had during the similar 
 intervals of several preceding days, written a letter to 
 his father three times as long, giving him a minute ac- 
 count of all his movements, including a faithful narra- 
 tive of all that had befallen him for the preceding 
 month. As much of it is the same with the matters 
 recited in the preceding pages, it will be unnecessary 
 to transcribe any thing more than an extract ; yet the 
 whole letter, which is now before me, is an extraordi- 
 nary production, written as it was by a poor exhausted 
 suffering youth, far from home and kindred, in moments 
 snatched from the time allotted to repose, after days of 
 weariness and pain. I hardly know which most to ad- 
 mire, the beauty and admirable correctness of the chi- 
 rography, or the dutiful spirit which it breathes, or the 
 wonderful resolution which supported the dear sufferer. 
 The letter opens with this beautiful tribute of filial af- 
 fection : 
 
 " In the first place, I must congratulate you, dear fa- 
 ther, on that happy change in your prospects by which 
 the comforts and happiness of domestic life are again se- 
 cured to you, and the care and attention which scarce any 
 but a wife can afford, are once more yours, whether in 
 sickness or in health. I rejoiced when I heard of it ; 
 for the picture of my father sick, in pain, despondent, 
 lonely, and dependent on the indeed assiduous, but yet 
 inexperienced attentions of a single daughter, pained 
 me. I have now no fear but that, with occasional hours 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 201 
 
 of sadness for the memory of one to whom both of us 
 owe a deep debt of gratitude and love, you will resume 
 your former cheerfulness, and hope in the future. As 
 to my own feelings, I shall not be ashamed but rather 
 proud to call any one mother, or any sisters, whom my 
 father chooses as wife and daughters ; and I assure you 
 I long not a little to reach home, and welcome by 
 these names my new friends." 
 
202 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CONCLUDING SCENES. 
 
 Return from the northeastern boundary Low state of health 
 Visit to New Haven Last pages of his Practical Astronomy 
 Journey to Virginia Rapid decline Death Character. 
 
 I HEARD no more from the dear youth until a letter 
 from him, dated at New York, October 29th, informed 
 me of his return to that city. He says : " I write im- 
 mediately, to let you know of my arrival. I had hoped to 
 give you this important information in person ; and in- 
 deed it would be much more pleasant to be able to sit 
 down with yourself and Mrs O., and tell my story at 
 an evening's leisure, than to give you notice of my re- 
 turn to the inhabited world in this way." 
 
 After explaining his arrangements for finishing the 
 " Practical Astronomy," which, during his absence, had 
 remained in the hands of the stereotyper, wanting but 
 a few pages of being completed, and mentioning that 
 he proposed to remain in New York and reduce the ob- 
 servations which he had made on the expedition, he 
 adds " If my health allows of the prosecution of such 
 employment, Professor Renwick intends to assign to me 
 the reduction of the astronomical observations of the 
 rest of the party. This will keep me in pay for some 
 time. 
 
 " My present health is far from favorable. I have 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 203 
 
 recovered flesh a very little. My dyspepsia has 
 changed its character very much, I cannot tell whether 
 for the better or the worse ; my cough is worse, has a 
 somewhat deeper hold, and needs the attentions of the 
 best physicians. But I am certain that I am far better 
 in health than if I had had no variation of pursuit or 
 occupation ; and after so long an acquaintance with 
 the mountains and woods, a little work with the pen is 
 now to me an agreeable change. 
 
 " I shall not confine myself very much, but shall find 
 business and acquaintance enough to give me an op- 
 portunity for much travelling over this extensive city. 
 Two or three weeks will decide whether this kind of 
 life will be favorable to my health, or whether I must 
 turn decided invalid, and go home, or to my southern 
 friends. 
 
 " Of the survey, I have too many other letters to 
 write to say much at present. My principal duty was 
 on a very high mountain, about thirty miles south of 
 our claimed northern boundary, upon the summit of 
 which I employed the principal instruments of the party 
 in astronomical and geodesical observations. Mr. S. 
 and a hired boatman were employed with me. We 
 rejoined the party at the head of Temisconata lake, 
 near the St. Lawrence. We came down from the 
 head waters of the St. John as far as Woodstock, and 
 thence by stage and steamboat routes. 
 
 "Assure Mrs. O. and the other members of your 
 family, of my earnest wish to visit them again, which 
 I hope to be able to do soon." 
 
 In accordance with this intimation, we tendered to 
 our suffering friend an urgent invitation to come and 
 
204 ^ LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 make his home with us, as long as would suit his incli- 
 nation or convenience. At the same time, in conformi- 
 ty with the convictions of my own mind, with respect to 
 the course that was indispensable to the preservation of 
 his valuable life, I advised him to hasten to his kind 
 friends in the milder climate of Virginia, who were en- 
 treating him to come ; and I urged him to suffer neither 
 his pecuniary interest, nor my own, so far as either was 
 involved in the completion of the " Practical Astrono- 
 my," to be placed, for a moment, in competition with 
 health and life. 
 
 Notwithstanding the apparent buoyancy of spirits 
 under which the foregoing letter was written, his phy- 
 sician in New York, although reluctant to extinguish 
 in his patient the last rays of hope, expressed to Mason's 
 friends a decided opinion that he could live but a short 
 time, a considerable portion of the lungs being already 
 consumed. Shortly after his return, also, a very de- 
 bilitating complaint reduced him suddenly many de- 
 grees lower in the scale. He still, however, continued 
 his mathematical calculations, and wrote long letters to 
 his friends, relating to them, with great minuteness, the 
 incidents of his expedition. But he was in a few days 
 admonished of the necessity of giving up all literary 
 efforts, with the exception of letter-writing, which he 
 kept up to the last. November 4th, he writes to Mrs. 
 Turner " I had hoped, on my return to New York, to 
 be able to employ a few hours a day in reducing my 
 observations on the survey, and to spend the rest of the 
 time in recreation and repose. My spirits, which were 
 at the lowest ebb before starting on the campaign, were 
 much recruited, and it seemed a sort of novelty to go 
 to pen and paper again. But although my stomach 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASOX. - 205 
 
 complaint (the foundation of my cough) seemed no 
 worse, my cough itself evidently had a deeper hold 
 than when I left. It was plain, however, that I was 
 very much better in every respect than I should have 
 been if I had remained at New Haven, for there my 
 incr^se of cough and loss of flesh was almost daily 
 perceptible. A day or two after arriving in New York, 
 I was attacked with a disorder which reduced me to 
 great exhaustion of body and mind. I am now getting 
 better of it, but it has so far developed the nature and 
 extent of my cough, that I think no more of an atten- 
 tion to business of any kind ; and after arranging my 
 papers so that others can reduce them, and settling 
 debts and other matters in New Haven, my literary 
 pursuits will be ended. I look then to home with long- 
 ing eyes. I have not seen my father for a long time. 
 He enjoined it upon me, if my health failed, to come to 
 my home, where were friends to watch over me, and 
 give me more to amuse and recreate my mind and body 
 than I could have anywhere else ; and would I had 
 yielded to his welcome long ago. When one is fairly 
 obliged to own the title of invalid, the very name of 
 home has more than a common charm in it. 
 
 " I shall try to write to cousin M soon, but I 
 
 cannot promise how soon, for at present all things are 
 quite uncertain. I know she will pardon me now. I 
 have not written to my father, and I do not know how 
 soon I shall be able to write. I have been a considera- 
 ble time writing this short letter, and I must stop, though 
 I wish to write more." 
 
 Two days after writing the foregoing letter, he ad- 
 dressed the following to his father, appearing, in the 
 
 18 
 
206 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 mean time, to have changed his purpose of going to 
 Michigan, in favor of Richmond. 
 
 " New York, November 6, 1840. 
 " DEAR FATHER 
 
 '* I have returned from the boundary expeditio^l and 
 hasten to write to you about it, and about myself. I 
 found the campaign romantic and pleasing, with scarce 
 any thing that could be called real hardship. We trav- 
 elled up towards the head waters of the St. John's, 
 forming a little fleet of batteaux and pirogues. I pre- 
 ferred to go with Professor R. in the birch canoe, and 
 I would you could have seen the admirable skill with 
 which our Indian piloted us over sunken ledges, or shot 
 up through the swift rapids among rocks and foam. 
 None slept more warmly or more soundly than we in 
 our tent, seven or more of us, with a roaring fire a few 
 feet in front of the open door. I was located finely 
 
 with Mr. S , on a high eminence called Green 
 
 Mountain, about thirty miles south of the northern 
 boundary ridge, and eleven hundred feet above the wa- 
 ters of that region. A hired boatman was stationed 
 with us to find wood, water, and other conveniences. 
 We built a snug cabin in a valley between the highest 
 peak and one of the elevations that rose nearly to the 
 summit of the highest. I had the two most valuable 
 instruments of the party, besides minor ones, one for 
 terrestrial observations, (a large German theodolite,) 
 which I stationed on the summit of the peak, which 
 rose very steep above us. With this I took azimuths 
 of the distant mountains, their altitudes and contour, 
 especially of the ranges belonging to the northern boun- 
 dary. The other instrument was for celestial observa- 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 207 
 
 tions, and was used close to the camp. These were 
 all day-observations on the sun and rnoon, except one 
 or two in the evening on stars. I afterwards went up 
 the Madawaska river, and stretched up for seventeen 
 miles that rough Atlantic-aping lake, the Temisconata, 
 to the head-quarters or rendezvous of the party. 
 
 " Our return was very pleasant, and I arrived in New 
 York a week ago. I had expected to go on and reduce 
 my observations in New York, and had already begun 
 at an office in Columbia College assigned to myself and 
 a gentleman to work with me, expecting to take it easi- 
 ly, and give myself much recreation and repose. But 
 a day or two after my arrival in New York, a severe 
 disorder exhausted my strength and increased my 
 cough temporarily. I am now nearly over it, but the 
 turn has so developed the nature and extent of my 
 cough, that after a few days spent in arranging and 
 modelling matters for others to work through, I shall 
 close entirely all literary pursuits, arid consent to think 
 myself for the present an invalid. 
 
 " In such case, the first place to which I look with 
 longing eyes is home, a name which has a charm to 
 every one brought down by sickness ; and I think of 
 my new mother, and the children that would amuse 
 me, and the kind nursing I should have if still more 
 deeply stricken. But, on the other hand, I know the 
 condition of the family, ill calculated to bear another 
 unprofitable addition to its members ; that, struggling 
 with difficulties as you all are, however great the earn- 
 estness with which you would welcome home a sick 
 son, your hands could ill be spared to minister to dis- 
 ease, and support an unserviceable member of the 
 family. I have thought, therefore, if aunt Turner was 
 
208 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 willing to receive me, that I should winter at Richmond, 
 and have written to her. I shall be sure there of good 
 nursing, and medical advice, and love, and attention. 
 Another reason, which above all others has made me 
 look towards home with strong desire, is the privilege 
 of enjoying your religious influence and counsel. 
 Write to me, father, frequently and seriously ; and let 
 sister L. write too. In my present state of inaction 
 and languor, it needs all that may rouse active and 
 strong attention in me, to give me even a faint impulse 
 towards what is right. 
 
 " I shall go South probably in two or three weeks. 
 
 Love to my mother and my new sisters. I hope they 
 
 are as happy as health and cheerfulness can make 
 
 them. Give brother D. and sister L. my warmest love. 
 
 " Your affectionate son, 
 
 E. P. MASON." 
 
 On the 15th of November, he acknowledges in grate- 
 ful terms the kind invitation of Mrs. Turner to Rich- 
 mond, and mentions to her his purpose of soon setting 
 his face towards his affectionate and faithful friends at 
 Roseneath. 
 
 A short time afterwards we received the interesting 
 youth at our house. He had come to pass a few days 
 with us, to arrange his affairs in New Haven, and to 
 correct a few proofs that remained of the Practical 
 Astronomy. The change in his appearance since he 
 left us in August, was not greater than we anticipated ; 
 but his whole aspect was that of the latter stages of the 
 consumption, attended with the usual sad train of ema- 
 ciation, ghastliness of feature, a hollow cough, and pro- 
 fuse expectoration. He met us with a smile, and with 
 
EBEXEZER PORTER MASON. 209 
 
 acheerfulness and simplicity of expression, little differing 
 from his habitual expression when in health. He re- 
 tained, also, unless when in a severe turn of coughing, 
 a lively susceptibility to all the objects of his former 
 interest, such as the conversation of those he loved, the 
 music of the piano, and any thing new in science, and 
 especially in astronomy. When, however, he was not 
 aroused by some interest of this kind, he sunk into a 
 dozing state, and seemed almost to lose the conscious- 
 ness of surrounding objects, though not asleep. He 
 had a few pages more to write to complete his Practi- 
 cal Astronomy, and would place his writing materials 
 before him, but gaze upon them for a long time with a 
 seeming incapacity for mental effort. Hence he for 
 the most part, during the day, deserted the study, and 
 transferred his pen and paper to the family room, 
 hoping to seize upon those intervals of renovated spir- 
 its, which occurred in the intercourse of the domestic 
 circle, to accomplish what he found it so difficult to do 
 when alone. A bright period, however, would, as he 
 affirmed, return to him late in the evening ; and despite 
 of all our remonstrances, he would occasionally recur 
 to his pen from ten o'clock till midnight. Everyday 
 witnessed, in the family circle, some proof or other of 
 his refined mechanical talent, though often displayed on 
 very common and unimportant objects. One of these 
 written and subscribed by him " as a token of remem- 
 brance to Mrs. O.," was the entire Lord's Prayer, occu- 
 pying only a little more than half a single line of com- 
 mon letter paper, and yet so perfect under the magnifier, 
 that every letter appears elegantly turned and the 
 whole pointed with the greatest neatness and accuracy. 
 One evening, while conversing with me in my study, 
 18* 
 
210 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 his intellect lighted up he seized his pen, took down 
 Baily's Astronomical Tables, and completed the calcu- 
 lation of an example in his article on longitude, at the 
 close of his Treatise. This being done, he added the 
 concluding paragraph, as follows: "We are now arrived 
 at the conclusion of our work, and with this partial 
 review of the terrestrial contrivances, and meis by 
 which astronomers have acquired their knowledge of 
 the celestial bodies, we shall turn, with increased pleas- 
 ure, to the consideration of the results of their labors, 
 which constitute the departments of descriptive and 
 physical astronomy. The student would regard, for 
 example, with none the less interest, the return of the 
 long-expected comet, and the exact verification of the 
 calculations of mathematicians, because he was ac- 
 quainted with the means by which the observer tracked 
 the body in its passage through the heavens, and with 
 his diminutive but refined apparatus, recorded uner- 
 ringly the data from which the physical astronomer 
 should predict, without hazard of failure, the exact po- 
 sitions which it should in future assume. Nor will an 
 eclipse be viewed with less pleasure and satisfaction, 
 after he has become able to foretell its time and aspect. 
 And all the data of astronomy in their immensity of 
 extent, its processes and magnificent conclusions, will 
 now seem to him far more stable and secure, for he has 
 derived confidence from penetrating to the very basis 
 of the science, from reviewing the delicate resources 
 of the observer in his instruments, and the processes 
 of observation, until he has arrived at valuable meas- 
 urements and primitive data. 
 
 " The observer, too, who has the means of deriving re- 
 sults of his own from the heavens, needs no stimulus to 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 211 
 
 prosecute a study, which few, who thoroughly engage in 
 it, will easily relinquish. Every failure of agreement 
 in his conclusions will but urge him patiently to solve 
 the difficulty ; every instance of success will inspire 
 him with fresh ardor and enterprise ; and he will find no 
 pursuit more constantly bearing him forward to what 
 lies beyond him, more absorbing in its prosecution, 
 more elevating to his mind, or impressing him with a 
 deeper sense of the power and wisdom of the Creator." 
 His paroxysms of coughing were now severe, espe- 
 cially at night, and it was hardly possible for those who 
 felt a deep interest and sympathy for him to sleep 
 quietly within hearing of his struggles. Yet he refused 
 any attendance by night ; and the serene and even 
 pleasant manner in which, after such a night, he would 
 respond to my inquiries on entering his chamber next 
 morning, astonished me. The evening of December 
 1st, after writing to Mrs. Turner a short letter, advi- 
 sing her of his intention of starting for Richmond next 
 morning, he began late in the evening packing his 
 trunk. I urged him to permit me to do it under his di- 
 rection ; but he declined, saying that he wished to ar- 
 range every article according to a definite rule of his, 
 so as to know where to lay his hand on it when 
 wanted. Too weak to stand long, he strewed his ef- 
 fects around his trunk, and seated himself on the floor 
 within reach of them all, and thus leisurely commenced 
 packing. At his earnest solicitation, I left him for the 
 night, but not without some anxiety for the result. To 
 my inquiries next morning, he replied, " that he had 
 had an excellent night, having treated himself with a 
 fine nap in his chair, which he found more refreshing 
 than in his bed, and less interrupted by coughing." It 
 
212 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 appeared that it was two o'clock before he retired, but 
 he congratulated himself on so good a night as prepa- 
 ratory to entering on his journey. 
 
 I accompanied him in a private carriage to the 
 steamboat, and on the way, under the full conviction 
 that it was the last interview I should have with him on 
 earth, I thought it most fitting that the time should be 
 occupied solely with the subject of religion. At differ- 
 ent times while he was with me, I had before endeavored 
 to lead his mind to this all-important subject. He was 
 always attentive and respectful, but never free to re- 
 veal the state of his feelings or his opinions so fully as 
 I desired. When he returned from New York in the 
 spring, he seemed more particularly interested with re- 
 ligious inquiries than I had ever known him before. 
 At the suggestion of a relative in New York, (the Rev. Mr. 
 Marsh,) at whose house he lodged, he had been reading 
 Butler's Analogy of Natural and Revealed Religion, a 
 work whose luminous views of truth, and conclusive- 
 ness of reasoning, were well adapted to his taste and 
 habits of investigation. He expressed a great par- 
 tiality for this work, had it constantly on his table 
 during the ensuing summer, and I believe carried it 
 with him on his boundary expedition. The Bible, too, 
 was generally on his table at this period, and 1 had rea- 
 son to believe that he studied it with attention. But 
 whenever I urged the importance of an immediate 
 surrender of himself, and consecration of his powers to 
 the service of his Maker, he was apt to reply that he 
 had determined to take up the subject in earnest when 
 such and such engagements, as his paper on the neb- 
 ulaB, or his treatise on Practical Astronomy, were com- 
 pleted. In this last interview, I reminded him that 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASOX. 213 
 
 these obstacles were now removed, and did not entirely 
 shun the painful duty of declaring to him my convic- 
 tion, that he had hut a short time to live. Desperate 
 as was his present condition, and unequivocal as were 
 the symptoms of the latter stages of the consumption, 
 yet it was evident that he did not view the termination 
 as very near, and that he even cherished some hopes 
 of a recovery, as he observed that he thought it an 
 " even chance" whether he should recover or not. 
 He assured me, however, that it was his intention to 
 seek earnestly and without delay for that preparation 
 for another world, which was needful for him in either 
 event, of life or death. He said he had sometimes ven- 
 tured to hope that he had become truly pious when a 
 child ; but that his coldness, not to say indifference on 
 the subject of religion, for much of the time since, had 
 shaken his confidence in the reality of such a change. 
 We reached the boat as he alighted from the carriage 
 he bade me an affectionate farewell, accompanied by his 
 usual smile, a pleasing expression to carry with me, as 
 the last recollection of a youth so justly endeared to me. 
 When he arrived in New York, although to appear- 
 ance wholly unfit to be abroad, yet he summoned that 
 extraordinary resolution with which he was gifted, visit- 
 ed the office of the stereotyper, in an upper loft, re- 
 viewed the last proofs of his Practical Astronomy, and 
 attended to some matters relative to the survey. His 
 relation and friend, Rev. Mr. Marsh, insisted on ac- 
 companying him on his journey southward ; but he 
 made light of such a proposition, feeling entire confi- 
 dence in his ability to perform the journey. Of his 
 progress to Philadelphia, we are informed in the fol- 
 lowing letter to Mrs. Turner. 
 
214 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 " Philadelphia, Tuesday, December 8th, 1840. 
 " DEAR AUNT 
 
 " I started from New Haven on Wednesday last, 
 (being detained by weather a day or two beyond ex- 
 pectation,) finished business with the survey, &c., in 
 two days, at New York, and started Saturday morning 
 for Philadelphia. Snow had fallen during the night, 
 and drifted, so that instead of reaching Philadelphia by 
 two o'clock, P. M., we were an hour or two each in 
 getting through some snow-banks, and reached the 
 Walnut-street wharf by ferry between six and seven. 
 The wind and drifting snow and cold, induced me to 
 push for the hotel near the ferry, where the accommo- 
 dations were tolerably good. The snow-storm and 
 drifting began again, continuing till Monday, and so I 
 remained there as dull as mortal could be. Monday 
 noon I changed my lodgings to the boarding-house of 
 Mr. Walker, my astronomical friend. It is only a 
 couple of squares from the Baltimore depot. Here I 
 am snugly bestowed in a room by the side of Mr. 
 Walker's, with a good fire, and the hostess, Mrs. A., 
 ready to show me every attention. Mr. W., too, is a 
 very excellent nurse, and understands what an invalid 
 wants. 
 
 " The snow, lying in deep drifts, troubles the Phila- 
 delphia travellers beyond all account nothing like it 
 since 1820. I was lucky in a passage from New York 
 of ten hours ; the next train was between twenty-four 
 and thirty six-hours ; and the last trains, all that have 
 attempted the passage, were by the latest news fast at 
 Bordentown. The last mail from Baltimore was, I be- 
 lieve, twenty-four ' hours getting through. Now for a 
 parenthesis On my way from New York I found the 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 215 
 
 * Bay Line' started from Baltimore at nine o'clock, A. M., 
 Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I therefore 
 made full calculation to go by the Wednesday's boat. 
 This would allow me Monday to see Mr. Walker and 
 attend to certain interests of mine here,* and this morn- 
 ing I was to have gone on to Baltimore. But I think 
 that the very strong probability of a trip of twenty-four 
 hours, through 120 miles, with all the inconveniences 
 of night travelling and confinement in one apartment 
 for that period, is to be avoided, as very imprudent. 
 The drifting is over we have still, sunshiny weather, 
 and as the worst drifts are only in particular places, as 
 in the deep cuts, the numerous hands and engines em- 
 ployed, will render it passable with speed and safety in 
 two days more, unless some very unfortunate snow 
 should intervene. On the other hand, I am made so 
 perfectly comfortable here far more so than I could 
 have expected and can so readily command whatever 
 is needful to me, that it furnishes a strong additional 
 reason for preferring to remain. I shall therefore, if 
 health and weather permit, go to Baltimore Thursday, 
 take the Bay boat Friday morning, and reach Richmond 
 three or four o'clock on Saturday, if they promise truly. 
 Very possibly there may be some delays, especially at 
 this season, in their bay and river passage. 
 
 " I have given you merely a description and notifi- 
 cation of my past and intended movements : I am too 
 poor for any higher literary effort. The snow does 
 not seem to bear very hard upon my lungs ; though, in 
 a cold air, I keep the lower part of my face well cover- 
 
 * Certain astronomical memoranda which he wished to confide 
 to Mr. Walker. 
 
216 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 & 
 
 ed, so as to breathe warm. I am very dull, and it is 
 growing late, so that I close here. Whatever length 
 of time the mail takes, it must reach Richmond before 
 I do. All love to cousin M. to uncle T. to your- 
 self and lastly, to aunt B. and my cousins. 
 " Your affectionate nephew, 
 
 E. P. MASON." 
 
 This is the last df a long series of letters to his aunt 
 Turner, commencing at the age of seven years, and 
 continued with little interruption to this time. 
 
 He wrote but one letter more, and that was address- 
 ed to myself, as follows : 
 
 "Richmond, December 19, 1840. 
 " DEAR FRIEND 
 
 " I have been absolutely required to rest for several 
 days since my arrival at Richmond, or I should have 
 written to you sooner. [After giving a narrative of 
 his tedious journey to Philadelphia, and the great kind- 
 ness of his friend Mr. Walker, while there, he proceeds :] 
 I hurried away from New York without doing any 
 thing to the * Preface.' My staying at different hotels, 
 want of accommodations, changes of diet, bad nights in 
 confined berths, &c., have considerably increased my 
 disorders. I have therefore done little but rest since 
 my arrival. Yesterday, I undertook to write to you, 
 but although the sheet lay on the table before me all 
 day, and all the evening, I did not muster nerve enough 
 to commence. I think, however, I am growing better, 
 and shall be able to send you the preface in four or five 
 days. If I fail upon it, why, you can write one, or the 
 treatise can go without. Mr. W. is at present no 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 217 
 
 scorner of meteors in general, and is bestowing great 
 attention on the August shower. After examining your 
 theory of orbits, he thinks much more favorably of it 
 than he did before. [He next makes very affectionate 
 mention of all the members of my family, sending par- 
 ticular greetings to each, and expresses the most grate- 
 ful feelings for such attentions as he received while 
 with us.] It may perhaps please you to mention that 
 on my arrival in Baltimore, after sitting in the bar-room 
 some twenty minutes, trying to find a little warmth at 
 the stove, the bar-keeper spoke to me from the midst of 
 twenty others, and said he thought I could find a parlor 
 up-stairs more comfortable. I did so, and with good 
 reason found it more comfortable ; for there was a first 
 class Olmsted-stove warming that room and the adjoin- 
 ing one in a very perfect manner. 
 
 " I seal this letter in rather a curious way, for the 
 edification of the young ladies, who will not, I think, be 
 able to guess how the color is laid on. 
 
 " With much respect and friendship for you, dear sir, 
 " I remain yours, 
 
 E. P. MASON." 
 . 
 
 I should deem some portions of the preceding letter 
 as of too little importance, or of too personal a nature, 
 to render it suitable for publication, were it not for the 
 belief that the near friends of this youngest martyr of 
 science, will be desirous of knowing every thing that 
 indicated the state of his mind and feelings in the last 
 written expression he ever gave to them. 
 
 In less than a week after the preceding letter was 
 received, it was succeeded by the following from his 
 most valued friend, W. B. Chittenden, Esq. 
 
 19 
 
218 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 ' ' V '* 
 
 " Richmond, 27th Dec., 1840, 
 " DEAR SIR 
 
 " The object of this letter is to announce to you the 
 death of your young friend, Ebenezer Porter Mason. 
 He arrived at the residence of his uncle (the Rev. J. 
 H. Turner,) near this city, on the 15th instant, much re- 
 duced, but maintaining so cheerful a tone, that it was 
 hoped that with proper medical treatment and assiduous 
 nursing, he might hold out for some months. But the 
 progress of his disease had been greater than any one 
 supposed. On the night of the 24th, there came on an 
 alarming prostration, although, as I understand, without 
 increase of pain, which continued until five o'clock on 
 the morning of the 26th, when he expired suddenly, 
 without convulsions, retaining his mental faculties un- 
 impaired to the last. From his known familiarity with 
 the truths of religion, his meditative turn of mind, the 
 conscientious purity of his life, and especially from the 
 expression of his views to his uncle on the day preced- 
 ing his death, his friends have the consolation to believe 
 that he was in a state of preparation for the change 
 which awaited him. We have just returned from com- 
 mitting his remains to the earth. 
 
 " I became acquainted with Mason when he was not 
 more than eight or nine years of age. His remarkable 
 precocity, and thirst for knowledge at that time, and 
 his devotion to study ever afterwards, induced me to 
 believe, that if his life should be spared, he would take 
 honorable rank among the philosophers of the age, and 
 contribute a respectable share to the advancement of 
 science. With such expectations, and strongly attach- 
 ed to him for his moral and social qualities, I cannot 
 but regret that he should pass away without some me- 
 
m 
 
 EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 219 
 
 morial other than the common one, * that he lived and 
 died.'" 
 
 Mr. Chittenden proceeds to urge a number of reasons 
 why I should prepare some notice of this extraordinary 
 youth, a suggestion which led me to undertake the 
 present memoir. 
 
 The foregoing letter was in a few days followed by 
 one from Mrs. Turner, communicating further interest- 
 ing particulars concerning the last hours of her nephew, 
 or (as she might almost say) her beloved child. 
 
 After alluding to the intensity of her own feelings at 
 the affliction, she adds " The dear sufferer arrived 
 here in a state of extreme exhaustion. Not having 
 formed a conception that he would undertake to travel 
 alone in so feeble a state, it was difficult for us to real- 
 ize for a day or two, that it was not in some degree 
 the result of fatigue and exposure. As soon as I re- 
 covered in some degree from the shock caused by see- 
 ing him such a wreck, my solicitude became intense to 
 discover his views and feelings with regard to his situa- 
 tion. You know he did not readily unfold his deepest 
 feelings ; and his tenderness for me was such, together 
 with the difficulty of exercising due control over my- 
 self, as to render the performance of the duty exceed- 
 ingly trying. Talking wearied him soon, and he often 
 fell asleep while engaged in conversation. 
 
 " A day or two after his arrival he said to me 
 * Aunt, it is gratifying to see my friends, as an expres- 
 sion of their kindness, but I am very desirous, and I 
 feel it to be of great importance to me, that I should be 
 much alone. I wish you would place here for my use, 
 Scott's Bible, Doddridge's Rise and Progress, and Al- 
 
220 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 leine's Alarm.' I remarked, My dear, you are very 
 weak and not able to read much ; here is your Bible, 
 where you know there is ample provision made for all 
 you need.' He said, ' I am sensible of that, and all I 
 can do is to cast myself at the footstool of Divine 
 mercy, and I trust I shall not be a cast-away.' I im- 
 mediately presented to his mind the case of the leper, 
 mentioned in the seventh chapter of the Second of 
 Kings, which he appeared fully to comprehend and to 
 feel. At another time, while reading to him the four- 
 teenth chapter of John, he took the words from me 
 and repeated them from memory. I remarked, ' I am 
 rejoiced, my dear, that this passage is so familiar to 
 you in this season of trial.' He said, ' I know it all, but 
 I want to feel it more ;' and when I asked, if these 
 chapters had fastened on his mind from Sunday school 
 instruction, he replied, * No, but from reading them so 
 much/ He seemed to take a deep interest in my 
 reading to him Mrs. Graham's ' Passage over Jordan/ 
 which you know is a collection of portions of Scripture 
 adapted to these solemn circumstances, with appropri- 
 ate remarks. 
 
 " In this manner his thoughts were occupied when 
 he was suddenly taken from us. In the evening of the 
 ninth day after his arrival, he was sitting, apparently as 
 well as usual, when he complained of a sudden pain in 
 his shoulder, which very soon extended across the 
 stomach, and produced great weakness. During the 
 next day he lay tranquil, without coughing much ; but 
 his patience and serenity were so remarkable through- 
 out his sickness, that I often entreated him to let me. 
 know what his sufferings were. He always insisted 
 that they were very slight ; but at this time, when in- 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 221 
 
 terrogated, he said, ' Only shortness of breath but I am 
 willing to suffer/ During the night he seemed to sleep 
 quietly, and we avoided speaking to him, except when 
 it was necessary to administer medicine. About five 
 o'clock in the morning, he requested to be raised from 
 the bed, and in making the effort, he expired without a 
 struggle or a groan. Blessed spirit ! admitted, I have 
 no doubt, to a mansion of rest ; escaped from sorrow^ 
 and from sin, to dwell in the unclouded beams of love 
 and holiness. 
 
 " The Rev. Mr. Pollock, our minister, requested that 
 his body might be conveyed to the church, (it being 
 the sabbath,) and the occasion made use of for the spe- 
 cial benefit of the young. An invitation to' them all was 
 given from the various pulpits in" the city in the morn- 
 ing, and a funeral discourse was preached by the Rev. 
 Mr. Pollock." 
 
 We have now accompanied this remarkable and in- 
 teresting youth from the cradle to the grave, a period 
 less than twenty-two years. It seems unnecessary to 
 enlarge upon his character, since the preceding pages 
 have already developed its leading attributes. The 
 impression made by his writings, is entirely in unison 
 with that left as the result of the greatest personal inti- 
 macy. It is that of a disposition artless, affectionate, 
 and benevolent ; of a heart fraught with noble and ex- 
 alted purposes, and strongly imbued by nature with the 
 love of truth ; and of intellectual capacities of the high- 
 est order and finest proportions. The peculiar assem- 
 blage of faculties requisite to form the great astrono- 
 mer, is seldom found united in the same individual, 
 comprising, as it does, so many of the higher attributes 
 
 19* 
 
222 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 of genius, a hand of exquisite delicacy to construct 
 and adjust an eye endued with extraordinary powers 
 of vision to observe an intellect the most profound to 
 follow out all the consequences of astronomical dis- 
 covery and that unconquerable enthusiasm which is 
 regardless of the loss of rest, of exposures by night, 
 and even of life itself. These qualities were severally 
 ^possessed by young Mason in an unusual degree ; but 
 it was their striking and harmonious union, which, 
 from the time I first discovered it, led me to recognize 
 in him the promise of one probably destined to enlarge 
 the boundaries of .astronomical science. Among great 
 astronomers, with whose peculiarities of genius we are 
 familiar, som'e have been distinguished for one of the 
 foregoing qualities, and some for another ; but few have 
 united them all. Tycho Brahe had great powers of ob- 
 servation, but he was an indifferent calculator, and he 
 failed altogether as a philosopher ; Kepler had un- 
 bounded invention, and indefatigable industry, and in- 
 vincible enthusiasm, but he was deficient in judgment 
 and the other characteristics of a well-balanced mind. 
 Galileo affords the finest example of the sound philoso- 
 pher and the practical astronomer united, the com- 
 bined product of originality to invent and construct the 
 instruments of observation, acuteness to observe, and lo- 
 gical powers to reason. I should only speak the decided 
 convictions of my mind, were I to express the opinion, 
 (however presumptuous it may seem,) that if Mason 
 had lived he would have resembled Galileo. It might 
 be equally safe to compare him, in some points, with 
 Sir William Herschel; having a mechanical turn equally 
 remarkable, a similar love for canvassing the rarest 
 objects among the heavenly bodies, and of sounding 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 223 
 
 the most profound depths of the universe ; while it 
 would not be claiming for him more than his due, to 
 ascribe to him mathematical powers more extraordi- 
 nary than were possessed by the great English astron- 
 omer. It ought to be remarked, that his paper on the 
 nebulae is the first considerable contribution to astron- 
 omy, in the way of original observation and discov- 
 ery, made on this side of the Atlantic ; and young as 
 he was at the time of his death, he was clearly enti- 
 tled to rank among the first astronomers of America. 
 
 It affords me great satisfaction to be able to fortify 
 opinions, which may seem so bold, by the authority of 
 the most competent judges. For this purpose I may be 
 pardoned for introducing extracts from the letters of 
 several valued and respected correspondents. 
 
 From Mr. G. H. Hollister, one of the earliest and 
 latest of Mason's most intimate friends, I have been fa- 
 vored with the following very just remarks upon his 
 character and genius : 
 
 " In the daily intercourse I had with Mason, during 
 the summer of 1840, I found new cause every day, in 
 his society, to set a higher estimate upon his worth. He 
 had all the qualities of mind and heart that are requisite 
 to constitute a faithful friend. Selfishness and envy 
 never tainted the atmosphere he breathed. So far from 
 considering the praise bestowed upon others as but so 
 much taken from himself, he could never lavish praise 
 enough upon his companions. He could find time to 
 speak of their virtues ; but he was too well convinced 
 of the importance of the work assigned him to do, to 
 waste the hours in noting the little faults and weak- 
 nesses of a fellow-creature. Sarcasm, indeed, was not 
 
224 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 a weapon that he ever attempted to wield. His fancy 
 played around its subject with a harmless facility, and he 
 was possessed of the happy art of making folly appear 
 ridiculous, without placing the perpetrator in an odious 
 light. If vanity had ever made an ingredient in his 
 character, he had banished it long before the period to 
 which I now refer. Nothing could displease him more 
 than flattery ; for he had studied himself with too close 
 a scrutiny to be turned aside by the hasty remarks of 
 others from the station that his better judgment had 
 awarded to him. It was an incense too mean to find 
 favor in the sight of one who had weighed all his pow- 
 ers in the balance of sober reason. Like every man of 
 lofty aim, he was never able to rest satisfied with past 
 attainments, but kept his eye always turned towards 
 the future, too little satisfied with the present growth 
 and stature of his faculties to cast a self-complacent 
 stare in the mirror of the passing scene. 
 
 " There was a confiding frankness in his nature that 
 made him" peculiarly dear to his friends, and he con- 
 stantly exhibited those amiable virtues, which endear 
 their possessor alike to the confidant of his bosom arid 
 to the social circle virtues which, rather than splendor 
 of talents, command the homage of the heart. 
 
 " In literature he had made very respectable attain- 
 ments : all the authors that are worthy the name of 
 ' English classics' he had perused with the utmost care, 
 and could embellish both his writings and his conversa- 
 tion with their most select passages. With a memory 
 so retentive as to suffer nothing to escape its grasp, and 
 a mind so thoroughly disciplined that it was always 
 ready for close application, he found time for every 
 thing without neglecting any thing. Poetry at first 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 225 
 
 made so strong an impression upon his fancy, that he 
 was inclined at one period to cast in his lot with the 
 sons of the Muses ; but in contemplating the wonderful 
 works of God, in their greatest amplitude, the poet was 
 at last merged in the philosopher. This strong imagi- 
 nation was indeed required to make out the full assem- 
 blage of those gifts that constitute the character of the 
 great astronomer ; for the book which he reads, is, after 
 all, the book of Nature, and neither diagrams nor cal- 
 culations can pour the full idea upon his mind. Even 
 science must have her poetry when she would measure 
 the works of God. 
 
 " During the spring and summer of 1840, Mason gave 
 much of his time to the contemplation and study of re- 
 ligious subjects. Disease, in the double shape of con- 
 sumption and dyspepsia, was already making the most 
 destructive ravages upon a constitution naturally slen- 
 der, and his earthly prospects began to be clouded and 
 dim. This led him to turn his thoughts within, and 
 examine well the motives that had actuated his busy 
 life. ' I have been wrong,' he exclaimed with earnest- 
 ness ; ' I should have met the subject before ; but I am 
 determined to seek till I find.' And from this hour he 
 did search, with a care and diligence truly surprising, 
 not only the Scriptures, but the works of some of the 
 most eminent theological writers, among which Bishop 
 Butler's Analogy was his favorite. This book he read 
 again and again, and wished in our evening walks to be 
 constantly conversing upon the sublime topics of which 
 it treats. The wonderful disposition of Providence in 
 causing us to pass through a state of trial, in order to 
 purify and exalt us for a better sphere, and the good- 
 ness of God manifested in the care he bestows on his 
 
226 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 children, exerted upon his mind a powerful influence. 
 It was solemn indeed to witness the painful struggle 
 between the fading yet flattering hopes of the invalid, 
 and the silent admonitions from within, that these must 
 all so soon be relinquished. To die without a name, 
 with all the schemes of life hidden in the grave, was a 
 bitter cup for a soul like his to drink ; but he at last 
 seemed to become reconciled to the order of Providence, 
 and said more than once, that if it was the will of Heav- 
 en, he could give up all his fond anticipations of know- 
 ledge and fame, and consent to be forgotten. 
 
 " The day before he started for the northeastern 
 boundary, he called at my room, apparently in much 
 better spirits than he had been for some time previous. 
 He tried to be cheerful as he spoke of the salutary in- 
 fluence of a northern climate upon his health. But it 
 was plain to be seen, that he, too, as well as others, had 
 his doubts whether his constitution could bear the se- 
 verity of the climate and the fatigues of the expedition. 
 Several of his friends had used every possible argument 
 to dissuade him from the undertaking ; but he was bent 
 upon the trial, and could not be prevailed on to relin- 
 quish it. ' I know,' he said, * it will either kill or cure 
 me, and perhaps the chances are against me ; but I 
 have made up my mind, and shall run the hazard.' The 
 next morning meeting him abroad, I remarked that he 
 was unusually pale, and walked with difficulty. He 
 told me that he had not slept more than two hours dur- 
 ing the night, and had spent the remainder in study and 
 preparation for his journey. His conversation was in- 
 terrupted by almost incessant coughing, and the hollow 
 voice with which he spoke the farewell benediction of 
 a friend, seemed like a voice from the sepulchre. He 
 
^ -" 
 EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 227 
 
 wrung my hand convulsively, dropped a tear, and went 
 his way. I never saw him more." 
 
 None of Mason's intimate friends had enjoyed better 
 opportunities of knowing him than Mr. Hamilton L. 
 Smith, who was not only a classmate, but was his constant 
 associate in all his astronomical pursuits while in college, 
 and a correspondent for the remainder of his life. In- 
 deed Mr. S. did much to inspire him with his passion for 
 the construction of telescopes and astronomical obser- 
 vation, being himself much distinguished in both these 
 respects, and having with his own hands, while in col- 
 lege, completed, with some aid from Messrs. Mason and 
 Bradley, the largest and finest telescope ever made in 
 the United States, at least up to that period. Mr. S. 
 has kindly furnished me with the following estimate of 
 Mason's genius and character : 
 
 " I have (says he) often thought Mason more like the 
 younger Herschel than like any other man; in mechani- 
 cal skill and practical dexterity, indeed, I think he must 
 have surpassed even that great astronomer, or at least 
 bid fair to excel him at some future day. His whole 
 mind, after having first imbibed the passion for astron- 
 omy, seemed intent upon this one subject, and every 
 auxiliary to the prosecution of his beloved science seem- 
 ed to be concentrated in his genius. The first time I 
 ever noticed his mechanical talent was during Sopho- 
 more year. While studying trigonometry, we construct- 
 ed a quadrant together. Mason divided it beautifully. 
 Indeed, every piece of work of his was done with the 
 greatest nicety. It always showed a beauty of finish, 
 the happiest adaptation of means to the end, a complete 
 harmony and correspondence of all the parts, which in- 
 dicated great mechanical genius. To this he added a 
 
228 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 steadiness of hand for drawing, and a delicacy and taste 
 in graphical execution, quite unsurpassed. Indeed, he 
 would have considered himself most negligent if, in 
 making a diagram, a single line was drawn a hair's 
 breadth out of its true direction, or crossed another line 
 anywhere but in the true point. I have often admired 
 the neatness of his outline drawings. It was his prac- 
 tice to make angles with his pen simply, estimate their 
 quantity by the eye, and then to measure them with 
 the protractor; and he scarcely ever failed to come ex- 
 tremely near the truth. When staying at my room, at 
 a late hour of the evening, I used to propose to him 
 questions in algebra, which he would solve in his head, 
 carrying through the most intricate parts without con- 
 fusion. 
 
 " As an observer, it will be long indeed before he can 
 be surpassed. Not the slightest wisp of nebulosity, or 
 the faintest elongation of a double star, could come into 
 the field of view without instant detection. His eye 
 was remarkably keen ; though short-sighted, he had the 
 most acute vision. 
 
 " As a Ikathematician, he excelled all with whom I 
 have been acquainted. There was a neatness in his 
 solution of problems, and a clearness in unfolding his 
 ideas, seldom found. When I last saw him, he had 
 made considerable progress in the study of the Differ- 
 ential and Integral Calculus, and appeared to have bet- 
 ter views of the nature and extent of this difficult 
 branch of mathematics than any one of those who 
 studied with him. I am inclined to think, however, 
 that he had the greatest fondness for pure geometrical 
 reasoning. 
 
 ' As a poet, he might have excelled, as he possessed 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 229 
 
 that vivid perception of the beautiful, that happy com- 
 mand of language, and, above all, that delicate sensi- 
 bility, which are true elements of the poet. His mind, 
 moreover, was well stored with beautiful imagery ; and 
 he had a familiar acquaintance with the best English 
 poets. Of delicate and unobtrusive manners, of care- 
 ful habits of thinking, of pure morals, and given to the 
 devout contemplation of nature, he was fitted rather 
 for the calm life of the philosopher, than for one of 
 the active professions. 
 
 " Among his comrades he was acknowledged by all 
 to be a wonder, as they saw with concern that the soul 
 was too noble for its earth-born tenement, and that, as 
 the fearful ravages of disease were consuming this, the 
 soul shone constantly with increasing lustre." 
 
 I am happy to add to the foregoing estimate of the 
 talents and character of the lamented Mason, the tes- 
 timony of so impartial and so competent a judge as 
 S. C. Walker, Esq., of Philadelphia, with whom, as 
 we have already seen, he had the happiness to form an 
 intimate acquaintance, and to whose kindness and en- 
 couragement he owed and felt the deepest obligations. 
 In a letter received from Mr. Walker soon after Ma- 
 son's death, he expresses himself as follows : 
 
 " In reviewing the brief career of our Mason we are 
 struck with his deep devotion to practical astronomy, 
 and with the mechanical skill and contrivance displayed 
 ih fitting up the most powerful optical instrument ever 
 used in this country. Not less remarkable are the tact 
 and discrimination employed by Mason and Smith in 
 the selection of the proper objects of their researches, 
 and the fertility of expedients resorted to by Mason to 
 convey to others the impressions derived from the con- 
 
 20 
 
230 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 templation of the heavens. His drawings of the tele- 
 scopic appearances of four remarkable nebulae, two of 
 them in part or altogether his own discoveries, are the 
 most complete works of the kind extant. 
 
 "In an interview with Mason in his short stay in 
 Philadelphia, while on his way to his final resting- 
 place in Virginia, he showed me a list of his measure- 
 ments of the positions and distances of several of the 
 binary systems, (as y Virginis, Castor, tf Coronas, &c.,) 
 and mentioned that a discussion of all the observations 
 published to the date of 1838, with his own of the 
 spring of 1840, on the graphic method of the younger 
 Herschel, had given him an ellipse of a period of 171 
 years for 7 Virginis ; and that the date of 1840.4 with 
 his elements, furnished an angle of position of 25. 5. I 
 have since received the astronomical ' Notices' from 
 Altona, and there find a similar value for the same date, 
 in the measurements of Struve at the great Pulkova 
 observatory, and of Kaisar at the Leyden observatory.* 
 In both these pursuits, the discovery of nebulas and the 
 computation of the orbits of double stars, our Mason 
 was, I believe, the first American whose efforts have 
 been crowned with success. With talents of the first 
 order with a perseverance that surmounted every ob- 
 stacle with a devotion to science not to be surpassed 
 the path to the highest attainments, both in theoretical 
 
 * " The first ellipses computed for this binary system by the 
 younger Herschel, about the year 1830, of 550 and 660 years, dif- 
 fer from recent observations nearly 20. The ephemeris of Mr. 
 Madler, of the Berlin observatory, computed in 1838, from his 
 ellipse with a period of 158 years, differs 8 from their present po- 
 sition." (Walker in Proceedings of the American Philosophical 
 Society for January, 1841.) 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 231 
 
 and practical astronomy, was open before him ; but his 
 course has been suddenly arrested, the hand of the de- 
 stroyer has been laid upon him, and all that remains 
 for us is his bright example, and the memory of his at- 
 tainments and discoveries, which should be held up to 
 the contemplation of the youth of all our universities, 
 and which will continue to be cherished by every lover 
 of the works of nature." 
 
 In a recent letter which I have had the pleasure to 
 receive from Mr. Walker, he observes : " I do not 
 know of any American who at the age of twenty-one, 
 had done so much for the advancement of science, and 
 made such attainments as Mason." No man in this 
 country, it is believed, is more competent to form a 
 judgment on this subject than this gentleman, being 
 himself an excellent astronomer. To him Mason, in 
 their last interview, committed some telescopic observa- 
 tions he had made on the meteors of August, 1839, and 
 Mr. Walker has inserted them in his able paper " On 
 the Periodical Meteors of August and November," pub- 
 lished in the American Philosophical Transactions. 
 (See Appendix, Art. III.) 
 
 The high opinion expressed by Mr. Walker of the 
 genius of our astronomer is in perfect accordance with 
 the views of him with which I have been favored by 
 Professor Renwick, Professor Loomis, Mr. Holcomb, 
 and Mr. Edmund E. Blunt, gentlemen well known as 
 among the most able judges of his merits which our 
 country affords. Mr. Walker, speaking of his Treatise 
 on Practical Astronomy, says, " it is a precious gem 
 for the practical astronomer," and Mr. Blunt pronoun- 
 ces it superior to any thing of the kind he has seen in 
 any language. I should not think it necessary to offer 
 
232 LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
 
 the testimony of men of science, in confirmation of the 
 exalted opinions I have ventured to express, of the pro- 
 mise this youth gave of standing among the first astron- 
 omers of the age, had not death cut him off before his 
 powers had received their full consummation, and 
 especially before he had had opportunity to make a 
 fair demonstration of them to the world. 
 
 The only young astronomer that occurs to me as re- 
 sembling him, both in the peculiarity of his genius and 
 in his early fate, was the English astronomer Horrox. 
 This remarkable youth was born in the early part of 
 the 17th century, and died at the age of twenty- three, 
 having apparently been consumed by a similar zeal. 
 He was the first successfully to predict, and the first 
 that ever actually witnessed, a transit of Venus. The 
 English astronomers still deplore his premature loss, as 
 having deprived astronomy of one of its brightest lu- 
 minaries. 
 
 The inquiry has of late often been made, " what 
 comparison did Mason bear, in intellectual powers, to 
 the late lamented Professor Fisher?" whose high endow- 
 ments of mind, as well as his melancholy fate, are held, 
 by all who knew him, in vivid remembrance.* Hav- 
 ing been a classmate of Professor Fisher, and after- 
 
 * Professor Alexander Metcalf Fisher was born at Franklin, 
 Mass., in 1794 ; graduated at Yale College in the class of 
 1813 ; was elected tutor in 1815, adjunct professor of mathemat- 
 ics and natural philosophy in 1817, and professor in 1819. In 
 April, 1822, he embarked at New York for Liverpool in the 
 packet-ship Albion, and was lost in the fatal shipwreck of that 
 packet on the coast of Ireland. (See Professor Kingsley's 
 "Eulogy," and a biographical sketch in the American Journal 
 of Science, Vol. V.) 
 
EBENEZER PORTER MASON. 233 
 
 wards associated with him as tutor, in the instruction 
 of the same class, and having maintained an intimate 
 correspondence with him to the time of his death, I 
 enjoyed favored and peculiar opportunities of observing 
 the development and exercise of his faculties ; and I 
 believe no one of his surviving friends regarded him 
 with higher admiration while living, or retains a deeper 
 respect for his memory. 
 
 The excellence of Fisher was that of pure intellect. 
 His greatness as a mathematician was the fruit of no 
 peculiar bias or genius for that particular field of know- 
 ledge, but it resulted naturally from the application of 
 a mind of remarkable strength and acuteness to a sub- 
 ject of the greatest difficulty. His grasp on every 
 other subject requiring the highest powers of the intel- 
 lect, was equally strong. The profoundest subjects of 
 human thought, such as transcend the powers of ordi- 
 nary minds, seemed only the natural and proper ali- 
 ment of a mind like his. Few, even of the most dis- 
 tinguished men whom I have had the happiness to 
 know intimately, have appeared to me to equal him in 
 strength of judgment ; an attribute which, in its highest 
 form, is the result of great power to discern the truth, 
 unwavering integrity to follow it, and an entire ex- 
 emption from every quality, such as prejudice, passion, 
 or enthusiasm, which can sway or enfeeble the de- 
 cisions of the intellect. Seldom have such quickness 
 of perception, and such soundness of judgment, been 
 united so fully in the same individual as they were in 
 this extraordinary man. 
 
 Fisher died at twenty-eight Mason at twenty- two. 
 It is impossible to say whether Mason, if he had lived 
 to the same age with Fisher, would have exhibited an 
 
 20* 
 
234 LIFE AND WRITINGS, ETC. 
 
 intellect as profound, and a judgment as strong ; but he 
 had, unquestionably, a much greater variety of powers, 
 uniting, as he did, in the finest proportions, the quali- 
 ties of the artist, the mathematician, and the poet. 
 This combination of faculties is exceedingly rare ; yet 
 each is important to form the great astronomer. In 
 Mason were found, at once, the eye endued with extra- 
 ordinary powers of vision, the hand of the skilful 
 artist, the imagination that soars after new worlds, and 
 powers of reflection of the highest order. Without at- 
 tempting further to draw nice distinctions between 
 forms of high and acknowledged excellence, we may 
 venture to predict that in the annals of Yale, Alexan- 
 der Metcalf Fisher and Ebenezer Porter Mason will 
 ever occupy a page among the most gifted of her sons. 
 
APPENDIX. 235 
 
 APPENDIX, 
 
 CONTAINING ASTRONOMICAL PAPERS AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 ARTICLE I. See page 92. 
 
 Mr. Amasa HolcomVs account of the rise and progress of his manu- 
 facture of Reflecting Telescopes. 
 
 Mr. HOLCOMB'S establishment was situated at Southwick, 
 Massachusetts,* not far from Goshen, where Mason's family 
 resided for several years. This gave him an opportunity of 
 paying several visits to Mr. Holcomb, whose acquaintance 
 he eagerly made, and with whom he carried on a frequent 
 correspondence respecting the mode of perfecting and using 
 telescopes. The correspondence commenced during his So- 
 phomore year, and opens with the following modest introduc- 
 tion : " Being a sort of enthusiast in all matters relating to 
 theoretical and practical astronomy, I trust you will not 
 think it improper that I write to you, (although I am almost 
 a stranger,) with the desire of corresponding with you as 
 much as your time and inclination may permit. There are 
 so few that pay much attention to these subjects, that the pri- 
 vilege of correspondence with one of your experience in these 
 pursuits, would afford me the liveliest satisfaction. Should 
 there be, however, already too many calls on your valuable 
 time, I hope you will not allow me to encroach upon it." 
 The remainder of the letter, and, indeed, the entire corres- 
 pondence, would doubtless be read with deep interest by the 
 young astronomer, commencing the same fascinating but diffi- 
 
 * It is now removed to Westfield, Massachusetts, 
 
236 APPENDIX. 
 
 cult pursuit ; but having swelled the memoir far beyond my 
 expectation, I am obliged to omit a large portion of Mason's 
 astronomical writings and correspondence. 
 
 At my request Mr. Holcomb has kindly furnished me an 
 account of his establishment, prefacing his remarks with a 
 high encomium upon the genius and attainments of Mason, 
 and uniting with many others in deploring his untimely loss. 
 
 " You ask me (says Mr. Holcomb) to communicate a few 
 of the leading facts relative to my manufacture of telescopes. 
 My first attempt at grinding and polishing lenses, was about 
 the year 1826. Having calls for a few levelling instruments, 
 and not being able readily to procure the small lenses for the 
 eye-pieces, I attempted to make them myself, and after a few 
 trials succeeded. I had made optics my study ten years be- 
 fore that, and of course knew how they were ground in Eu- 
 rope, but had no experience in practice. I had studied 
 astronomy and calculated eclipses as early as 1806, and 
 made observations on the great eclipse of the sun that year. 
 My success in grinding and polishing lenses, aroused me to 
 attempt making a telescope. My attention was however di- 
 rected to the construction of telescopes of the refracting kind. 
 I made some pretty long ones with a single object-glass, and 
 a few achromatics. But the extreme difficulty that I met 
 with in getting suitable glass, discouraged me from prosecu- 
 ting the manufacture of refractors, and turned my attention 
 to reflectors. I have succeeded so much better with these, 
 that I have abandoned the other kind altogether. My pro- 
 gress has been a long course of unremitting toil, attended 
 with increasing success. My patience during the first years 
 was severely taxed. I have worked week after week upon 
 a small reflector, hoping to make it perform better, when per- 
 haps for a whole week it would be growing worse. I do not, 
 however, meet with much difficulty now, so far as figure is 
 concerned. I believe the figure of my reflectors is as perfect 
 as any made in Europe, I have compared them with re- 
 
APPENDIX. 237 
 
 flectors actually polished by some of the best artists in Eu- 
 rope, and found mine, to say the least, not at all inferior to the 
 best of them ; and you will perhaps conclude, from what Mr. 
 Mason says in one of his letters, that the seven foot of my 
 construction showed objects that were seen with extreme dif- 
 ficulty by Sir J. Herschel, with his seven foot excellent achro- 
 matic. The great defect in large reflectors arises from the 
 tremors in the metal itself. No one but a practical observer 
 will understand this. A complete remedy perhaps is not to 
 be expected. To an enthusiasm like mine, but little encour- 
 agement to persevere is necessary, more than is found in the 
 attractions of the business itself. The hope of still further 
 success, of being able to see a little plainer, outweighs every 
 other consideration. I have seen on some favorable evenings 
 the following double stars completely separated, so as to 
 show a space between them 36 Andromedse, X Ophiuchi, 
 (x 2 Bootis. I have seen s Arietis double, but not perfectly 
 separated; it requires the finest European telescopes to deal 
 with these extremely difficult stars. My method of finishing 
 off my reflectors, or giving the final finish to the figure and 
 polish, is somewhat different from the European method. I 
 use the method by which I have succeeded best. I could not 
 convey an idea of the process so as to make it intelligible 
 without a very long description, and it would be of no use 
 except to the practical optician. 
 
 " When I commenced manufacturing telescopes, it was 
 only with a view to my own gratification, without the least 
 expectation of ever making it a business of profit. Some sci- 
 entific men have, however, taken an interest in my success, 
 and encouraged the sale. My telescopes are now in use in 
 almost every state in the Union, and some have been ordered 
 for foreign countries. I make them of any size required, but 
 my manufacture is principally confined to the four following 
 sizes and prices : the smallest size I make is 5 feet long, 4 
 inches aperture, with 4 eye-pieces, having powers from 40 to 
 
238 APPENDIX. 
 
 300 ; mounted on a tripod stand, braced after the European 
 manner price $100. These will show the belts of Jupiter, 
 the eclipses of his satellites, and such double stars as Cas- 
 tor, a Herculis, Aquarii, 4 and 5 s Lyrse. The next size 
 is 7 feet long, 6 inches aperture, with 5 eye-pieces, hav- 
 ing powers from 40 to 600 price 8250. With this size the 
 division of Saturn's ring has been seen well defined all round, 
 except that part behind the planet. The next size is 10 feet 
 long, 8 inches aperture, with 6 eye-pieces, having powers from 
 60 to 800 price $400. The largest size is 14 feet long, and 
 ten inches aperture, with 6 eye-pieces, having powers from 
 100 to 1000 price $600. The external work is plain, but 
 substantial. All these, except the smallest, are mounted on 
 a plan entirely my own. It is very simple ; but for conve- 
 nience and steadiness, I think it is not surpassed by any of 
 those which are far more expensive. I have one of each size 
 constantly on hand, so that I can furnish to any order with- 
 out delay." 
 
 ARTICLE II. See page 93. 
 
 Journal of Observations on a Cluster of Spots upon the Sun's Disc, 
 in the month of March, 1837. By E. P. Mason. 
 
 March 1st, 1837. A cluster of spots has appeared upon 
 the eastern limb of the Sun, which, from its extent at so 
 early a period of its passage, promises to be an interesting 
 object. I observe that there are bright ridges preceding at 
 some distance, as if to herald its approach. These ridges are 
 brighter than the body of the Sun, but narrow, and possess 
 some resemblance in texture to the vessels of a leaf. Ob- 
 served with a power of 80. 
 
 March 2nd. The cluster has undergone few changes. 
 It has expanded much, however, by its advance on the disc 
 of the Sun. Observed with 110. 
 
APPENDIX. 239 
 
 March 3rd. Two observations. Forenoon. The largest 
 spot in the cluster seems to have changed its relative place, 
 and moved further north, (downwards in an astronomical tele- 
 scope.) A spot or cluster of spots entering upon the disc of 
 the Sun, is always much distorted, and as, by the rotation 
 of the Sun, in opening the cluster more to our view, this dis- 
 tortion decreases, it causes an apparent change in the rela- 
 tive position of the spots in the cluster. This change, ari- 
 sing from such a cause, would be in exactly or very nearly 
 the opposite direction from that which is now manifest in the 
 position of the cluster with regard to itself, and argues an ac- 
 tual displacement, either of the larger spot or of the remain- 
 der of the cluster. 
 
 It is a very remarkable fact, that in this cluster, as in 
 others that I have observed, the shallows or penumbrse seem 
 almost without any exception to be principally on that side 
 of their respective spots, which is furthest from the centre 
 of the cluster, as if, in accordance with one of the many 
 theories which have been entertained on this subject, an 
 elastic gas or vapor issuing from the body of the Sun, 
 should spread out, and by breaking through the stratum of 
 superposed clouds in various places, should first form the 
 spots, and afterwards the shallows in a divergent direction 
 from the point of emission. 
 
 Fanciful as the idea may be, it strikes the mind of an ob- 
 server actually viewing this appearance with great force, and 
 it requires but feeble imaginative powers to refer all the va- 
 rieties of umbrae and penumbrae to some central source. 
 Power 180. 
 
 Afternoon. The change in the position of the larger spot 
 this morning, now seems to be almost as suddenly reversed. 
 Had I not remarked it so particularly in the forenoon, I 
 should believe that I had made an error in the drawing. A 
 motion in one direction so immediately reversed seems highly 
 improbable, and a more simple and natural explanation 
 
240 APPENDIX. 
 
 would be, that some constant cause, as a wind, had shifted 
 in one part of the cluster, before its effects began to be felt at 
 the other, and the lagging portion of the cluster had after- 
 wards gained its original relative position. Power used 110. 
 March 4th The cluster has so suddenly and entirely lost 
 its original form, that scarcely a trace of resemblance re- 
 mains ; indeed, it is difficult to believe it identical with that 
 observed yesterday. At the same time there is a manifest 
 tendency in the cluster to lie in one direction ; a parallelism 
 existing among the whole collection of umbrae and spots, like 
 that produced in iron filings by the magnet, or in clouds by 
 the action of the wind. Still further, the varieties of shade 
 here are not confined to two, the deep black spot and the 
 lighter umbra, but there is a wonderful diversity of depth of 
 shade, varying by almost imperceptible gradations from the 
 deepest black to the lightest imaginable tint. These three 
 circumstances, all remarkable, and unusual in themselves, 
 are still more so when combined in a single cluster, and at 
 the same view, and urge the conclusion, that the cause of 
 them all is a common one, and that the action of a single 
 power has caused this simultaneous change. Should these 
 appearances all vanish together, the supposition of a commu- 
 nity of origin will be confirmed. All the phenomena that 
 here present themselves, this unusual uniformity of posi- 
 tion and direction, the obliteration and change of , the clus- 
 ter to a great extent, and the diversity of tint both in the 
 spots and surrounding umbrae, would be easily explained on 
 the supposition that a sub-stratum or super-stratum of clouds 
 or vapor, urged in one direction throughout by such a force 
 as the wind, had swept over or under the cluster so as to 
 modify its appearance, hiding, at intervals, portions of the 
 opaque body of the Sun, as seen in the dark spots, producing 
 the appearance of parallelism among the different spots and 
 umbrae in the direction of the wind or other moving force, 
 and causing, by the consequent intermingling and combina- 
 
APPENDIX. , 241 
 
 lion of the effects of different strata, an almost infinite variety 
 of depth of shade. 
 
 In strong confirmation of this supposition it may be added, 
 that all the change in any one of the spots has been to di- 
 minish it, to cut it up, as it were, into strips, parallel to 
 each other, and to render the rest of it only an umbra sur- 
 rounding what is still left of the original spot. 
 
 Had any spot enlarged by the change, the fact would tend 
 against the opinion of a stratum of intervening clouds, for as 
 we should see of course only what is left through their inter- 
 stices, every change from such a source would be to diminish 
 the spots, and render them exactly as I have just described 
 their actual appearance. Powers used 110 and 180. 
 
 March 6th. The cluster to-day, although much more ex- 
 panded than before, may instantly be recognized as a whole, 
 and in its component parts, as the one of March 3rd. All 
 the distinguishing features of the cluster as noted yesterday, 
 have passed away. There is no apparent parallelism in any 
 one direction, no extraordinary differences of light and shade, 
 and no change from the appearances of March 3rd greater 
 than the ordinary changes of solar spots. That the spots, 
 which, according to the generally received theory of Her- 
 schel, are openings in a luminous atmosphere or stratum of 
 clouds spread over the Sun, should themselves one day un- 
 dergo an entire change in form and intensity of shade, and 
 the next return to their original appearance, is extremely im- 
 probable. It must, then, be highly probable, from this and 
 the other facts enumerated, that a stratum of clouds or some 
 other obstruction, lying in a single direction, and under the 
 action of a wind, or some other force in that direction, was 
 at the time of yesterday's observation interposed so as greatly 
 to modify the appearance of the cluster. 
 
 There is to-day in the larger spot, an appearance of cleav- 
 age, as if it were about to separate and form several. This 
 has occurred once or twice before, especially in one of the 
 
 21 
 
242 APPENDIX. 
 
 smaller spots on the forenoon of the 3rd inst., and still more 
 on the afternoon. It is extremely difficult to decide whether 
 there is a complete division of the spot already or not ; there 
 is a perpetual flickering or dancing motion in these clefts, 
 that renders it no easy task even to assign their location upon 
 the spot. This is probably owing to the effect of strong con- 
 trast between the dark spot, and the narrow bridge of light 
 over it ; which causes unsteadiness of vision, commonly 
 called swimming or dizziness of sight. I have tried the ef- 
 fect of looking at a similar spot drawn with India ink on 
 white paper, and find it nearly the same. 
 
 The fact that was stated with regard to this cluster at its 
 entrance upon the disc of the Sun, appears to be common to 
 others, that they are often preceded and followed at some 
 distance by bright ridges, and this principally or entirely 
 about the time of their entrance upon, or exit from the disc 
 of the Sun. Observed with a power of 180. 
 
 March 7th. The cluster has now passed the central 
 point of its passage. It has hitherto expanded rapidly, but is 
 now evidently upon the wane. This, however, as far as can 
 be judged, is owing entirely to the rotation of the Sun. 
 There is a singular appearance to-day in the large spot, and 
 one, which, though in a less degree, has been noticed before 
 in others. The outer side of the larger spot seems to radiate 
 innumerable little arms, that give it a shaggy and bristling 
 outline, in short, it has a very " noli me tangere" appear- 
 ance. 
 
 One little collection of small spots in the cluster, has 
 assumed great regularity of shape, and is disposed in three 
 parallel rows, of three in each row. This regularity is very 
 surprising, and seems at first quite perfect, but a little close 
 examination proves the contrary. All the spots upon the 
 following side of the cluster are of a lighter shade and 
 smaller than those upon the preceding side. They are not 
 of a jet black, as are the others, but of a much lighter hue. 
 
APPENDIX. 243 
 
 The appearance of the umbrae corresponds with that of the 
 spots ; those on the following side are uniformly of a lighter 
 cast ; and the line is so definite, that in two large spots, 
 which extend into the region of lighter shade, the intense 
 blackness of the Sun's dark body is immediately broken off, 
 and changes in the same spots to a much lighter shade. 
 Does not this tend to confirm the conjecture of March 3rd, 
 that in addition to the strata of clouds or luminous atmo- 
 sphere in which spots are usually seen, there are passing 
 clouds, or other obstruction, which are sometimes interposed 
 so as to cut off a direct view of the dark body of the Sun, 
 throughout a portion of the whole of a cluster? 
 
 There is now a cluster that is just entering upon the Sun's 
 disc, that presents an unusual aspect ; it consists of three 
 spots, all just lying on the edge of the sun, and all as yet 
 without umbrae ; but the space between each two is much 
 brighter than the general light of the Sun's disc, and is equal, 
 if not superior in brightness to the ridges mentioned in other 
 observations. The same power of 180 was used. 
 
 March 10th. Owing to the cloudiness of the weather, no 
 observations could be taken on the 8th and 9th ; the cluster 
 has in the interval undergone great changes, and is fast ap- 
 proaching the western limb of the Sun. Two of the princi- 
 pal spots, that have been separate hitherto, have united, and 
 many have disappeared altogether. 
 
 One large spot, that has now advanced far on the Sun's 
 eastern limb, appears to have quite a number of followers. 
 Several smaller spots have sprung up at intervals behind the 
 first, as it were, in its wake, for more than one third of the 
 diameter of the Sun. In clusters, more than once, trains of 
 spots have been noticed, extending for a considerable distance, 
 and often, with one umbra common to all. The power used 
 in observing was 110. 
 
 March llth. Two observations. Forenoon. The spot 
 has nearly reached the limb of the Sun, and is fast contract- 
 
244 APPENDIX. 
 
 ing in its dimensions. To-day I made the experiment of fix- 
 ing the eye upon a particular portion of the mottled surface 
 of the Sun, and observing whether or no any changes take 
 place during so short a period as the time of a single obser- 
 vation, but no change was apparent. It is exceedingly diffi- 
 cult to scrutinize any portion of the surface longer than the 
 eye can remain fixed upon it, for when the eye is withdrawn, 
 even a moment, for rest, the particular space under scrutiny 
 is lost, and cannot again be recovered. The power used 
 was 180. 
 
 Afternoon. The cluster is just hanging on the limb of the 
 Sun, and will soon disappear. But three dark spots can be 
 distinctly seen within it. The powers used were 80 and 110. 
 
 March 13th. The cluster has entirely left the Sun's 
 western limb. 
 
 ARTICLE III. See page 100. 
 
 Telescopic Observations on the Meteors of August, 1839. By E. P. 
 Mason. 
 
 From Mr. S. C. Walker's article " On the Periodical Meteors of August and 
 November," published in the American Phil. Trans., 1841. 
 
 " The telescopic appearance of the meteors of the 9th and 
 10th of August (says Mr. Walker) has been carefully de- 
 scribed by the late Mr. E. P. Mason. The opinion of that 
 nice observer and zealous astronomer is contained in a 
 manuscript not yet printed, and which is here offered to the 
 public, in compliance with a request of the author made to 
 me a few weeks before his decease." 
 
 The nights of the 9th and 10th of August are the even- 
 ings of the alleged recurrence of the August shower of me- 
 
APPENDIX. 245 
 
 teors. They fell in extraordinary numbers, and of very un- 
 common brilliancy, during both nights. I have never seen 
 or heard of any telescopic observations of these bodies, and 
 therefore take this occasion to offer my own on these evenings, 
 as the statement would be too brief for a separate article, and 
 I shall probably have no better opportunity of making it. 
 Although it has no relation to the subject of nebulse, which 
 I was then observing, (unless we suppose these bodies to be 
 remnants of an original nebulous structure of our own sys- 
 tem,) yet the subject of meteors is now attracting so much 
 attention in Europe, as to render the early publication of this 
 notice not unimportant. 
 
 During the four or five evenings in the vicinity of August 
 9th, between twenty and thirty meteors passed the field of 
 view. About twenty of these occurred on the 9th and 10th, 
 during which time I had the field almost constantly under 
 my eye, until three or four o'clock in the morning. Their 
 apparent brightness and velocity, as magnified by the whole 
 power of the telescope, were, on an average, about the 
 same, or rather less than that of those seen by the naked eye, 
 (which latter class, to avoid repetition of the phrase, I will 
 call ordinary meteors.) They were of a very sensible mag- 
 nitude, greater than that of ordinary meteors of the same ab- 
 solute brightness. On an average they were about one half 
 or one third the diameter of Jupiter, and none were as large as 
 that body. Their outline, however, was somewhat indefinite, 
 like a star out of focus. In short, if such objects as the 
 planetary nebulse H. IV. 16 and 18, (which, and others of 
 that class, had been observed a few evenings before,) could 
 pass a field of view between 30 and 40 of apparent diam- 
 eter in about s . 2 or s . 3, I conceive they would exhibit, in 
 every respect, all that could be gathered from so few of these 
 objects, during their brief interval of transit. One only of 
 the number appeared star-like, and of the twelfth magnitude. 
 
 21* 
 
246 APPENDIX. 
 
 Their directions were so various, that any attempt to form a 
 judgment of their general tendency was useless. 
 
 It is believed that these facts are not merely curious. We 
 are enabled to gather from them the same information concern- 
 ing the apparent remoteness of these telescopic meteors, that 
 we already have of the relative distance of telescopic stars to 
 those usually visible ; for the chances are very great against 
 the passage of a single ordinary meteor, during either night, 
 across the minute space of sky actually occupied by the field 
 of view. The appearance of so many of the telescopic kind 
 within this space, proved them to be vastly more numerous : 
 and they were proportionally fainter ; both because they were 
 invisible to the naked eye, and because the whole light of so 
 large a telescope was unable to magnify them into an equality 
 even with those seen by unassisted vision. Now in these two 
 particulars great increase of number, and proportionate fee- 
 bleness of individual light consists all our knowledge of what 
 remoteness to assign to the telescopic fixed stars, and still fur- 
 ther on, the crowded hosts of the milky way, upon the scale 
 of distance of which the nearest fixed star is the unit. The 
 testimony is even far stronger in the case of the telescopic 
 meteors ; for the proportionate minuteness of their actual un- 
 magnified velocity, confirms, in the highest degree, what seems 
 otherwise sufficiently evident, that we must allow them to 
 have been many times further off than those of ordinary oc- 
 currence. Why may we not gage the strata of meteors or 
 meteoric matter, at the time of an expected shower, with that 
 kind and degree of certainty, which attends Sir William 
 Herschel's gages of our sidereal system and milky way ? 
 
 Unless there is reason for a great difference between the 
 absolute velocities of the more distant and the nearer of these 
 bodies, the telescopic meteors which were seen on the above 
 evenings, could not have been much less than eighty times 
 as far above the earth as those seen by the naked eye, which 
 (according to the observations of Brandes and Benzenberg) 
 
APPENDIX. 247 
 
 probably darted most thickly at a height of fifty or sixty 
 miles. This latter quantity multiplied by eighty, or the 
 magnifying power of the telescope, indicates a probable ele- 
 vation of at least four thousand miles. At this vast height, 
 if the atmosphere exists at all, it must be in a state inconceiv- 
 ably rare, rivalling the supposed resisting medium in tenui- 
 ty. It will at once be seen, that telescopic observations of the 
 nature of those made with the fourteen feet reflector, have a 
 peculiar bearing on the cause of the ignition of meteors, and 
 perhaps on inquiries connected with the extent of the earth's 
 atmosphere, and with the resisting medium. If carried out 
 with energy, many of the misty theories concerning the na- 
 ture and constitution of meteors, will probably melt away, 
 and we may have at least the comfort of compelling specula- 
 tion to the effort of re-invention. A nebulous or gaseous 
 constitution seems to be indicated by the observations, as far 
 as they have a bearing on this point. I have seen (I believe 
 in the London Times) a communication from Sir James South, 
 the celebrated English astronomer, in which, after expressing 
 great gratification at the recurrence of the annual shower on 
 this same occasion, he remarks that he endeavored to bring 
 a hand telescope to bear upon the brightest of these objects, 
 as they successively flashed, but without success, although a 
 tolerably quick shot in this kind of observation. This is the 
 only attempt at telescopic examination of which I am aware. 
 
 ARTICLE IV. 
 
 An account of Mason's Paper on the Nebula, published in the 
 American Philosophical Transactions, 1840. 
 
 In the introductory paragraph, the author explains the 
 general object of his paper in the following terms : 
 
248 APPENDIX. 
 
 " Although a period of nearly fifty years has now elapsed, since 
 the researches of the elder Herschel exposed to us the wide dis- 
 tribution of nebulous matter through the universe, we are still al- 
 most as ignorant as ever of its nature and intention. The same 
 lapse of time that, among his extensive lists of double stars, has 
 revealed to us the revolution of sun around sun, and given us a 
 partial insight into the internal economy of those remote sidereal 
 systems, has been apparently insufficient to discover any changes 
 of a definite character in the nebulae, and thereby to inform us at 
 all of their past history, the form of their original creation, or their 
 future destiny. At the same time, the detection of such changes 
 is in the highest degree desirable, since no other sources of evi- 
 dence .can be safely relied upon in these inquiries. That the ef- 
 forts of astronomers have thus far ended, at best, in vague and 
 contradictory conjectures, is principally attributable to the great 
 difficulty of originally observing, and of describing to future ob- 
 servers, bodies so shapeless and indeterminate in their forms, 
 with the requisite precision. For, we cannot doubt, authorized 
 as we are to extend the laws of gravitation far into the recesses 
 of space, that these masses of diffused matter are actually under- 
 going vast revolutions in form and constitution. The main ob- 
 ject of this paper is to inquire how far that minute accuracy which 
 has achieved such signal discoveries in the allied department of 
 the double stars, maybe introduced into the observation of nebu- 
 lae, by modes of examination and description more peculiarly 
 adapted to this end than such as can be employed in general re- 
 views of the heavens. 
 
 " Our method consists not in an extensive review, but in con- 
 fining the attention to a few individuals ; upon these exercising 
 a long and minute scrutiny, during a succession of evenings ; 
 rendering even the slightest particulars of each nebula as precise 
 as repeated observation and comparison, with varied precautions, 
 can make them ; confirming each more doubtful and less legible 
 of its features by a repetition of suspicions, which are of weight in 
 proportion as they accumulate ; and, lastly, when practicable, 
 correcting by comparison of judgments of different persons at the 
 same time. 
 
 " Thus much for observation for rendering the idea of the ob- 
 ject as perfect as may be in the mind of the observer. For the 
 
APPENDIX. 249 
 
 more unimpaired communication of this idea or perception, the 
 theory of the process adopted is briefly, first, to form an accurate 
 chart of ali the stars capable of micrometrical measurement in and 
 around the nebula ; secondly, from these, as the greater land- 
 marks, to fill in with all the lesser stars, down to the minimum 
 visible by estimation, which, with care, need not fall far short of 
 ordinary measurement ; thirdly, on this as a foundation, to lay 
 down the nebula. The process, also, includes the adoption of a 
 method of representing nebulae, intended to remove the formida- 
 ble and acknowledged difficulties just named, and at the same time 
 to introduce a numerical precision in the manner of expressing 
 on paper their various features; thereby transmitting the best 
 impressions of observation with almost unimpaired fidelity, and 
 entailing only the necessary defects of original vision." 
 
 The method here mentioned by the author of delineating 
 the observations, is more particularly described in a subse- 
 quent paragraph of the article. It was one of Mason's in- 
 genious and happy devices for giving unexampled finish and 
 accuracy to astronomical drawings. In researches on such 
 faint and anomalous objects as nebulae, skill in drawing 
 is no less important than skill in observing ; otherwise, it is 
 both impossible for the observer to convey to others a just 
 notion of what he sees, and no accurate comparisons can be 
 instituted between observations made at different and distant 
 intervals, for the purpose of ascertaining whether any, and 
 what changes occur among these mysterious bodies. Hence 
 the remarkable acuteness of vision and delicacy of hand 
 which Mason possessed, were most happily employed in giv- 
 ing the highest degree of finish and precision to the drawings 
 which accompany the article under review, drawings which 
 Mr. Walker pronounces superior to any of the kind extant. 
 The method itself consists in first laying down a groundwork 
 of lines of equal brightness ; that is, running a curve through 
 all parts of the object where the brightness is one and the 
 same, (like isothermal lines, to denote equality of tempera- 
 ture,) and then to indicate degrees of brightness by the 
 
250 APPENDIX. 
 
 spaces between the contiguous curves. By these means the 
 Tnost delicate gradations of light and shade are exhibited 
 with numerical precision. The author proceeds : 
 
 " The observations presented in the following paper, are a por- 
 tion of a series undertaken in the summer of 1839. The tele- 
 scope employed was of the Herschelian construction, with an 
 aperture of twelve inches, and a focal length of fourteen feet. 
 Although much inferior in size and light to some of the gigantic 
 reflectors of the Herschels, it is yet entitled to some distinction as 
 the largest telescope on this side of the Atlantic.* The instrument 
 was first planned and begun in the summer of 1838, by my friend 
 and classmate, Mr. H. L. Smith. A tolerably good metal was cast 
 after several failures, and the speculum was finally polished near 
 the close of the summer. Mr. Smith and Mr. Bradley shared the 
 expenses attending the formation of the mirror and the erection of 
 the telescope, and divided between them the long labor of grind- 
 ing the speculum, and I united with them in the less tedious task 
 of giving the mirror its final polish and figure. An account of its 
 performance in some of our first rough trials of its figure, is fur- 
 nished in a note on the 174th page of the xxxvth volume of Sil- 
 liman's Journal. It has since been frequently and perseveringly 
 repolished by Messrs. Smith and Bradley ; but the test objects 
 mentioned in that note, have been about the limit of its separating 
 power. 
 
 " It was our intention at first to avail ourselves of the power 
 and light of this instrument, in a meridional review of a portion 
 of the double stars of the younger Herschel's catalogue. But a 
 short experience convinced us that its large surface was much 
 better adapted to observations on the fainter nebulas, than its 
 power of separation to the examination of close double stars. An 
 imperfection in the casting,f in spite of the most patient endeavors 
 in renewed and frequent polishing, seemed to vitiate a portion of 
 
 * Few of the English artists are willing to undertake the construction of 
 a reflector of more than nine inches aperture. O. 
 
 t It is exceedingly difficult to obtain a good casting of so large a speculum. 
 The metal in itself, is of a composition that presents obstacles of no ordinary 
 difficulty, while, from the comparative ignorance and unskilfulness of many 
 of our workmen in this department, those facilities are not afforded for over- 
 
APPENDIX. 251 
 
 ^fcj :^ 
 
 the speculum near it ; although it did not prevent a very perfect 
 definition of the disks of large stars, it was yet apt to throw 
 around them flitting rays and burrs of light, sometimes hiding 
 very close or faint companions. By a skilful application of dia- 
 phragms, these might be so far annihilated as to afford a good 
 separation of such stars as a Coronae, 5 Orionis, ^ Bootis, y Virgi- 
 nis, X Ophiuci, and others less than 1" in the distance ; but the 
 loss of light by this mode of proceeding was a serious inconveni- 
 ence. On objects as ill-defined as nebulae, however, the full light 
 of the telescope could be employed to the greatest advantage. It 
 was not long before a strict scrutiny revealed to us many particu- 
 lars concerning, the nebulae of the elder and younger Herschels, 
 which it was obvious they had not noticed, and in some instances 
 spaces of nebulous matter of great extent, connected with well- 
 known nebulas, but altogether overlooked by former observers. 
 These considerations decided the application of the instrumental 
 power we had obtained, to this interesting field of inquiry. 
 
 " The nebulas which are the subjects of the present paper are 
 1991, 2008, 2092 and 2093 of Sir J. F. W. Herschel's large cata- 
 logue. (Phil. Trans., 1833.) There are in reality but three, since 
 2092 and 2093, as will be shown in this paper, are but parts of 
 one very extensive nebula, united by a long irregular band of very 
 faint nebulous matter. These three nebulae are among the most 
 interesting objects in the heavens ; perhaps, with the exception of 
 nebula Orionis, and nebula Andromedae, the most so. The 'num- 
 ber of objects examined is small, in order that the utmost accura- 
 cy in the delineation of the peculiar features and minutiae of these 
 nebulae, attainable by protracted scrutiny, might be arrived at. 
 This must still be limited by the unavoidable errors of judgment 
 and the power of the telescope. It is hoped, however,'that by this 
 means something has been done to supply, in the examination of 
 these nebulae, the place of measurement in that of double stars, 
 and to put in our possession data by which future changes, if there 
 
 coming these obstacles, which scientific interest in Great Britain and the 
 older countries of Europe has conferred. For a telescope considerably less 
 in size, I have had more than fifty specula cast before I could obtain one 
 free from imperfections, and susceptible of a very excellent figure. In the 
 present case, the general figure of the speculum, except in the neighborhood 
 of the flaw I have spoken of, seemed to be excellent. 
 
**':' * '-* ~ <*:." 
 
 252 APPENDIX. 
 
 be any, can be recognised and detected in at least a few of these 
 wonderful sidereal systems. 
 
 " During the fall of 1839, I was enabled to avail myself of an 
 excellent micrometer, (adapted to Clark's ten foot achromatic of 
 Yale College,) for taking repeated measures in right ascension 
 and declination of so many stars in each nebula as would serve to 
 determine, within a very small quantity, the places of those which 
 were utterly too faint for any measurement. An abstract of these 
 measures is contained in this paper. By these means the places 
 of all the stars were brought to such a degree of exactness, that it 
 was thought expedient to throw them into the form of catalogues, 
 especially as a direct reference could thus be made to any parti- 
 cular star, and through it to any portion of each nebula, without 
 the necessity of encumbering the map with multitudes of letters 
 or numbers." 
 
 After this general statement, the writer proceeds to give 
 the details of his observations, for which we must refer to the 
 paper itself in the American Philosophical Transactions. An 
 examination of them will convince any one conversant with 
 these subjects, that none but one who combined all the quali- 
 ties requisite for an astronomer of the first class, could have 
 either made the observations, or have delineated them with 
 such consummate skill. We will only add, that the author 
 never enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing his article in print, 
 having died while it was in the progress of publication. 
 
 P I N I S . 
 


 

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