Worcester daily spy., 1860-06-20
1QlOttestcr 0aljp SpD.


In Memory of Theodore Parker.
i"e iie'us oi IheodoFe Parker IN Boston
those connected with his society and cougre-
gation-held uonnrial p,,o,i,,,, l,st c,,,,,1,,.
!, ,bo u,s;,. tau '1''''J'
-A'' i''''ieiiSV "uuieHee was
present Ihe Boston Atlas and Bee gives a
full account Of it. from which we take what
follows Among the most strou.rlv ,,,orl,o,I
at.:-. ' "eN
.'"' a., ,e,iS'i0' u 'iie iat1 Mt Farker was
loVe of howers Ihls extended almost to a
passion. Accordingly, the altar at which no
was wont tn praaob ,yos.,,o,, l,.r,iI,. ,.,,a-,,1
ii, a..
-" 0'e' III '''e ioiih Vi "Icaths' Doquets,
&C In 'front.' OF the altar was suspended
cross composed Oh white flowers and ever
green. On each side were numerous wreaths
OF yarlegated flowers, the rarcst and most
beautiful OF the season; and upon the top at
each wing were boquets large in size and
placed IN vases. Upon the velvet side OF the
Blbie was the favorlte OF Mr.. Parker-the lily
CT the valley, an humble but handsome flower.
ne "hoie uesK was radiant with these floral
tributes, while the fragrance they exhaed was
@hiy surpassed by their surprisingly regal
hues'
, There were addresses bv C. NJ. Ellis Eso.
Ralph Waldo Emerson and WorJou ph;Il;,1.
W. ~ ,.--, p''
wy -'1'' 14N'e' 'o'' "u"less'
RALPH WALDO EMERsoN's ADDRESS.
AT tile death OF a good and admirable per-
son, we meet to console and animate each
other by the recollection Of his virtues l
have the feeling that every mans biography is
at his own expense. He furnishes not only
the facts but the report. mean that all bl-
ography Is autobiography Ii is only what he
tells Ut himself that comes to be known and
Delved. In Plutarch's lives OF Alexander and
Perlcles you have the secret whispers of their
confidence to their lovers and trusty friends.
For it was each report Of this kind that inn
pressed those TO whom it was told in a manner
to secure Its being told everywhere to the best
TO those who speak with authority to their
own times and therefore to ours For the
political rule is coSmlcal rule, that if a man is
not strong in his own district he is not good
candidate elsewhere.
He whose voice will not be heard ere again,
could well afford to tell his experience they
were all honorable to him, and were part of
the history of the civil and religious liberty of
his times. Theodore Parker was a son of the
soil, charged with the energy of New Eng.
| nd, stong, eager, inquisitve of knowledge,
of a diligence that never tired, upright, OF
naughty independence, yet of the gentest of
companions; a man of study, fit for man of the
world with decided opinions and plenty OF
power to state them rapidly pushing his stu.
dies SO far as to leave few men qualified to sit
as critics. He elected his part Of duty, or ac-
cepted nobly that assigned him in his rare
constitution. Wonderful acquisition of know
lege, that heard all and welcomed all that
came, by seeing its bearing. Such was the
largeness of his reception OF acts and his skill
to employ them, that it looked as if he were
some president of council to whom score of
Il. L. =
his information would have been excessive,
but for the noble use he made o it ever in the
interest of humanity. He had strong under
standing, logical method, love for facts, a
rapid eye for their historic relations, and Il
skill Of stripping them OF traditional lustres.
He had sprightly fancy and often amused
himself with throwing his meaning into petty
apologies; yet we can hardly ascribe to his
mind the poetic element, though his scholar
ship had made him reader and quoter of
verses. A little more feeling Of the poetic sig
nlhcance OF the facts would have disqualified
him for some OF his severer Offices to his gen.
Grafton. The old religions have chalm for
most minds which 1t is little uncanny to dis
turb. lis sometimes aqueston, shall we not
leave them to decay without rude shocks |
remember that found some harshness i'll his
treatment both OF Greek and Hebrew antiqui
ty and Sympathized with the pain of many
good people in his auditory, whilst | acquitted
him, OF course, OF any wish TO be f1lppant
He comes at time when TO the irresistible
march OF opinion the forms still retained by
the most advanced sects showed loose and
lifeless, and he, with something less of affec
tionate attachment to the Old, or with more
vigorous logic, rejected them. Ills objected
to him that he scattered too many illusions.
Perhaps more gracetulness would have been
graceful but 1t is vain to charge him with
perverting the opinions OF the new generation.
The opinions OF men are organic. Simply,
those came to him who found themselves eX.
pressed by him. And had they not met this
enlightened mind, in which they beheld their
own opinions combined with zeal in every
cause of love and humanity, they would have
suspected their opinions ana suppressed them,
and so sunk INTO melancholy or mah9nity-a
feeling OF loneliness ana hostility to what was
reckoned respectable lis PLAIN to me that
he has achieved historic immortality here !;
that he has so woven himself IN these few
years into the history OF Boston, that he can
never be lett out OF your annals 1t viii not
be in the acts OF city councils; nor OF obsequl-
GUS mayors; nor, III the state mouse, the pro-
clamations OF governors, with their failing ylr-
tue-taling them at critical moments-that
the coming generations Will study what really
betel, but in the PLAIN lessons OF Theodore
Parker in this Music Hall, IN tanenll Hall, or
i'll legislative committee rooms, that the true
temper and authentic record OF these days
will be read. The next generation will care
little for the chances OF elections that govern
governors now, 1t will care little for fine gen
tlemen who behaved shabbily, but it will read
very intelligently in his rough story, fortified
with exact anecdotes, precise with names and
dates, what part was taken by each actor
..
who threw himself into the cause Of humani-
ty. and came to the rescue of civilization at n
hard ninch and vvho blocked its course