New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-03-17
A BIOGRAPHICAL BATTLE.


been his remains if he had not arisen But Mr..
Choate undoubtedly expected to have bis life taken
after be left il; for It's the fate Of all great men to
be picked at ait by hungry bographers, who paclfy
their sppettes as soon after the lamented demise
as possible, and then provide for themselves annu-
ties by the exhibition of the skeleton. That there
should be jealousies in the distribution OF the net
proceeds of anybo6y's death is as natural as IT
would be to fnd company Of hyenas making
division of their game without regard to Christian
principles or Chesterfeldian good manners. When
DIR. johnson had given his yaledictory roar, how
many rushed forward to ear-msrk the body
Hawkins, Miss Reynolds, Boswell, Mrs.
Piozzi What a scrambling there was, what a
scene of anecdote.snatching How everybody
claimed to have been robbed by everybody else OF
priceless stories and of invaluable "reminiscences
II rained pamphlets, and the air was thick with re-
ordinations. That Dr. johnson did not walk
upon such provocatives, goes far to invaldate hls
own doctrine of ghosts; for with his good VIII, we
do not believe that Boswell would have been per-
United, upon a single occasion, again to get COM
fortaby drunk or the Thrae to forget her departed
brewer in the arms of her italian fiddler. Still,
there were reasonable excavations OF the bio
graphical mania then, and such are not wanting In
the case presently TO be considered. In these mat
tiers of life and death, the biographer who Is active
enough to be first in the market, will dispose
of dozen editions before those OF less
alacrity have finished their initial chapters.
The "reminiscences of ChOate put out by
Col. Edward G.. Parker have, among other mer-
its, that of novelty; and, although they have not
escaped censure in critical circles, they are enter
tanning. But Col. Parker is in trouble. He is
censured by The atlantic Monthly; he is cut up by
The London) Saturday Rerier; he is rebuked by
Mr.. Joseph Bell who has Mr. Choate's memory 10
his special keeping; and he is treated by The Boston
Courier very much as Capt. Lemuel CULVER was
by the first YaboOs whose acquaintance he had the
pain of making Unless Col. Parker-whO is not
of the army, but in the militia service OF Massa-
chusetts-shall make great deal OF money by the
sale of his publication, he will wish that ne had
fallen upon his own sword, before yenturing into
the battle of print. The "family" is dreadfGLy
angry. To speak individually, Mr.. Joseph Bell
is " Disguised" and has written special
epistle to The Courier informing the world
of that fact. Col. Parkers poor little
book is declared to be can outrage on the living
" and the dead" Col. Parker has already retorted
upon the family " and The Courier, and in time,
if they have not already done so, "the family "
and The Courier will retOrt upon Col. Parker With
reasonable economy of ample materials, we see
no reason for believing that this controversy will be
terminated during the lives of the parties, and it
may, being family matter as we'll as matter OF
money, be continued by their heirs, executors and
administrators. Meanwhile, the life of Mr.. Choate
appears 10 DO of propretorship as doubtful as
that of yucanized rubber out of the narrowing I'M
certainties of which Mr. Choate, when alive, made
a snug enough sum in the courts Only one thing
is certain. We are exhOrted to "wait and get the
best" to reserve our money and minds for the
genuine Family Biography, which is now in prepa-
ration; and TO exert as much shrewdness and eau
ton in possessing ourselves of the real article as if
we were purchasing the Macassar Oil or the Aro-
matte Schedsm Schnapps. We have had tOler.
able experience of advertising expedents in our
day, but we must confess that we have observed
nothing neater than this The DuellO of the Die
tionaries is child's play compared with it,
In the mean time, while suffering ourselves to be
entertained by Col. Parker's =" "reminiscences" we
await with impotence the Family Biography.
Everybody knows what a capital character man
always receives when his relatives write his life.
We anticipate nothing less than the pOrtiest of
folios, unspeakably dignifed from title-page to
30
herOical, of which the central figure will be Mr..
Choate, locking more like Jupiter AmmOn than
member of the Suffolk Bar. The Family is right.
Pray what does the world want of Mr.. Choate in
his shrt-sleeyesl of Mr.. ChOate laughing chatting,
cracking jokes of Mr.. Choate careless of money,
of appearances, and of his chirOgraphy of Mr..
Choate in bis character of human being, ford Of
the same food and drink which nourish and cheer
common creatures The real Family Choate will
be of incompatible altitude, with a voice like
Olympian thunder, and an eye of flame divine.
The eOquence of the real Family Choate will be
more than DemOstheneaD, Cicer0nian, Buxkean.
The law learning of the real Family ChOate will
surpass that of Pothier, EldOn, Story, and Shaw,
C. j., united. The classical learning of the real
Family Cheate will rival that of Person, Dacier,
Bentley and Parr. The piety of the real Family
Choate will be something aRproximating to the
apostolic. With every virtue, and without fault,
he will be placed in that Geographic Pantheon
which is SO ipexpressibly dsni6ed and so virtuousy
dull
Now, speaking simply for ourselves, and without
any wish to interfere with the Family arrangements,
we must say that we haze never found such biogra-