New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-05-06
NEW PUBLICAII TONS.
LIE OF CHIEF JUSTICE PARSONS.

PAsSoks. limo. Pr 40 TctnoT tIed.
Tie traditional tame II Chief Justice Parsons J..
kn,iisr to every ti.ssachusetts msn OF naiurc
grow H. although be has left bat few monuments
Of the genius aud lesInibg which gave bin such
brilliant aud widespread reputation among h's
Contemporaries. With rare intellectual activity,
be seemed Ia be- absolutely Indifferent to the "P-
ylause Of biz irIow+nen. The love Of Knowledge
for its own sake YVES the master passion ut MA
mind and il determined the form and c"lorDg If
Lis whole life He eIaibited no special pred'lec-
iion Tor any peculiar branch If research, but his
mind ranged wi,h keen aud comprehensive curl
esiiy, over the universal field Of Thought with the
exception, perhaps, of purely abstract metaphysi-
cal spec uaiOD, for which he 10 have eynccd
b., little aptitude or taste Mathematics, natural
philosophy, the Greek language, history theology,
BY turns, rngrossed bis attention, while he re-
sorted, with the uvidty of n scho"lb"y, to the
fictitious literature OF the day, for recreat" in the
intervals Of s,udious toll Even his unequaled
tninence among the jurs,s Of the country, was
due less TO professional ambition than 10 The rest
less energy Of his int'llect, hich allowed him no
sepo,r, but MS the consequence OF profound nves-
t,eaiion, and the attainment Of clearness and har-
pOny Of perception.
Although possessing sipgulsrly socisl DISPOSE
ii L-deEghting in communication with men of
sense and intelgeDce--fond Of anecdOte, narrative,
and repartee ~ well as Of dscussion-he had
longing TO meet the public gaze-no desire to hear
his name spoken Of among men--sDd seldom con
scented 10 leave the genial circle Of hs own hresde
for occasions Of promiscuous feslisity. Devoted
With intense interest 10 the political questions
which divided the community at that day he sell
dom attended political meeting, or made public
speech. and never wrote for the columns of the
newspapers His retired habits, however, were
not the fruit Of or shynessior his DISPOSE
ticn WIS always communicative and frankfurt
rather Of absorption in the pursuit of attract
i've study, which left him no inclination or leisure
for the enjoyment Of the usual pAstines of society
With this strong vein of individuality, which, if it
had not been tempered by MI extraordinary degree
Of comnon sense, would have approached the Dor
1crs Of the eccentric, he exerted su influence d
vide circle of men, TO which that Of few Of his co
trmporaries was in any way comparable. lie was
the great legal authority of his day with the best
thinkers both of the bench end the bar--ss polti
cal oracle be Welded an influence which is never
accorded TO the mere champions Of II party-whilc
in many If the most sbstruse and profound branches
of learning he won the admiration Of distinguished
TTt fci,Dis at home and abroad.
The career of such presents scanty ma |
terias for the construction of biography. AT |
this interval Of time, il is difficult ~ reproduce the
prestige with which he was surrounded in the
49,, az p.st m an there |
would be danger lest the opinion of cotempora-
ries fhcud prove to be illusion, and the splendid
fame O. their idol fade away upon examination
Not so with the subject of this memoir. The char
AFTER of Chief Justice Parsons loses nothing by
ensl,,s; the solidiiy Of his claims Ia the remeu'-
traucc of posterity is fully illustrated; the vg"r
CT his intellect and the purity OF his principles are
placed in MI equally strong light; and while the
sentiment Of filal picty gives certain tenderness
IA the narrative it has not been permitted tn tiate
tie i,nvar,ia,y or modcsiy of the biographcr
rh.,,hi,u. Parsons was born in b, field, at that
time small agricultural village in Essex County,
Mass. February "a, 1850 lie father was
minister of the parish, and brought up
large family on salary of two hundred AND
fifty dollars. educating three of his sons at
Harvard College, and always maintaining com
Portable aud hospitabc household. TheoPhilus
received his early education at DuInmcr Academy,
In BhGeld, aud was graduated Mt Harvard College
ct the axe Of nineteen. DuriOg has academic
course lewas n digent though rather desultcry
student especially fond OF mathematics, aud EXHIBIT
log extraordinary ueatness and precision IN the use
oi his pen Soon after leaving college in l769, he
tcean Ia teach school at Falmouth, now the City
OF Poilsnd, pursuing his legal studies at the same
tine, and was admitted to practice IN July, l11i.
After entering upon his profession, with great sue
CESS at Falmouth, the burning of that town 10y the
Ert,sh in 0ctober l775, com PEELED him toe ge his
POSITION, and he returned to by field, disappointed
sadGrpd and, indeed almost crushed by the
calamity. He soon recovered however, from the
blow aud. opening nm office in Newburyport found
himself, before the age Of thirty, with All estab
hshrd r.putat.on, and a large and successful prac
tice lie remained in that town until lct9, when,
Mt the age ot fifty, he removed 10 Boston Before
his removal be- was in the habit of praciciug IN
all the Nrw.En gland States, rs well IN all parts
Of Massachusetts aud sometimes, though not oi1en,
in Nrw-Yok and before the Supreme Court of the
United States.
Ills method of study was manl, by wriIng
During the early Peucd If his profession his man
uscripts amounted to several large volumes lie
t,,k topic after topic, and after thorough inves-
tiparion of the decisions, be made an abstract 1T
su tls pr,ucipl,s whlch belonged to II, aud ut al