In early life, as he assured the writer, he had a strong passion for the sea, and, had he consulted his inclination only, he would have entered the American navy. But, influenced by his father and other members of the family, he became a student of Harvard University. Here he was exposed to one of those difficulties which College, faculties put in the way of students by their mismanagement, and Dana, like his father, was rusticated. Returning to Harvard, he was compelled to suspend his studies by an affection of the eyes, finally graduating in 1837. In the mean time, for a remedy, recalling his early love of the sea, he resolved to rough it on a Pacific voyage as a sailor, although he had, of course, every facility for ordinary travel. He accordingly shipped before the mast as a seaman on the brig " Pilgrim," of Boston, for a voyage round Cape Horn to the western coast of North America. During the cruise Dana performed with cheerfulness and spirit the duties of a common sailor, which he has charmingly described in his well-known work, "Two Years Before the Mast." The manuscript was sent, in 1839, by the elder Dana to Bryant, who offered it to various New York publishers, and at last, although he said it was as good as "Robinson Crusoe," sold it to the Harpers for $250. The work was issued in the following year. It was immediately successful, passing through numerous editions, being reprinted in England, where the Board of admiralty adopted it for distribution in the navy, and translated into several continental languages.

This personal narrative of a sailor's life at sea is probably the most truthful and accurate work of its character ever published. " In reading it," says Mr. Whipple, "anybody can see it is more than an ordinary record of a voyage, for there runs through the simple and lucid narrative an element of beauty and power which gives it the charm of romance." The work was republished in 1869, with an additional chapter giving an account of a second visit to California, and some of the persons and vessels mentioned in the original edition. Mr. Dana studied law under Judge Story, and was admitted to the bar of Massachusetts in 1840, speedily attaining eminence as an advocate. In 1841 he published a work on sea-usages and laws, under the title of "The Seaman's Friend," which has been reprinted in England as the "Seaman's Manual," and in 1859 an account of a vacation trip, entitled "To Cuba and Back" (Boston).

He occasionally contributed to the "North American Review," the "Law Register," and the " American Law Review," and he prepared biographical sketches of his kinsmen, Professor Edward Channing and Washington Allston. During the years 1859-'60 Mr. Dana made a tour round the world. Six years later, by request of the family of the late Henry Wheaton, he engaged in the preparation of a new edition of Wheaton's "International Law" (Boston, 1866), bringing up that standard work from 1848, when Mr. Wheaton died, to the time of the publication of the revised book. This task, which in many respects Mr. Dana performed successfully, entailed upon him much subsequent trouble. Some of his original annotations were regarded with particular favor, and his note on the neutrality laws of the United States and Great Britain was translated, by order of our government, to be used by the arbitrators in 1872.

In 1866 Mr. Dana received the degree of LL. D. from Harvard College, and he lectured on international law in the Cambridge law-school in 1866-'7. He ran against General Butler in the Essex district in 1868, and was defeated. This act on his part also led to subsequent annoyance. In March 1876, General Grant nominated Mr. Dana minister to England as successor to General Schenck. At first there was no thought of any opposition, and the public with peculiar favor regarded it, but personal and private feelings soon began to exercise their influence. Great opposition to his confirmation arose chiefly through the exertions of General Butler, who had not forgotten Mr. Dana's canvass against him as a candidate for congress, and of William Beach Lawrence, who charged that Mr. Dana had pirated the notes of his edition of " Wheaton's International Law" it is unnecessary to review the dreary details of this literary controversy.

Mr. Dana complained that the charges against him were made ex parte before the senate committee, while he was denied any opportunity of defense. The nomination General Grant utterly refused to withdraw. The result was that it was rejected by a vote of thirty-one to seventeen. The controversy continued to rage even after the rejection, and attracted some notice abroad, several London journals characterizing the affair as "a paltry intrigue." It is sufficient to say that if Mr. Dana erred in the matter, he did so unintentionally. He undoubtedly felt the indignity as deeply as it would be possible for any man to feel it, and if he unwittingly did Mr. Lawrence any wrong, he paid the penalty. In 1878 Mr. Dana went abroad for the purpose of pursuing his studies of international law, his intention being to publish an exhaustive work on that subject. He spent much time in Paris, and near the close of 1881 visited Rome. He joined a merry Christmas party of American friends, was taken ill the following day, and died of pneumonia, 7 January 1882.