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MEMOIR 
 
 WILLIAM H. Y. HACKETT, 
 
 FRANK W. HACKETT 
 
 WITH SELECTIONS FROM HIS WRITINGS. 
 
 Pri'tiatElg Printcti. 
 
 PORTS M O U T H 
 1879. 
 
No 
 
 . JIL 
 
 FRANKLIN PRESS: 
 
 RAND, AVERY, AND COMPANY, 
 
 BOSTON. 
 
"It is what a man has been, not where he has been, that 
 really interests and instructs us. It is the history of his mind 
 and heart, and not a chronicle of the accidents that befell him, 
 that produces good." 
 
 So ^\TOte the subject of these memorial pages in introducing 
 to his readers the sketch of his venerable friend Halliburton. 
 Such is the conviction that has guided the present writer in his 
 attempt to fulfil the self-imposed and filial task of preparing this 
 record of a long, happy, and eminently useful life. 
 
 Portsmouth, September, 1S79. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 I. Memoir i 
 
 II. Obituary Sketches : — 
 
 1. By Rev. James De Normandie .... 87 
 
 2. By John Scribner Jenness, Esq. ... 90 
 
 III, Proceedings of the Bar and Court : — 
 
 1. Remarks of Hon. William W. Stickney. . 99 
 
 2. Remarks of Hon. Albert R. Hatch . . 100 
 
 3. Remarks of J. S. H. Frink, Esq. . . . 102 
 
 4. Remarks of Hon. Isaac W. Smith . . -103 
 
 IV. Selections from Mr. Hackett's Writings : — 
 
 1. The Life and Character of John Jay . . 109 
 
 2. The Necessity of Individuality in Character 126 
 
 3. Success in Life 130 
 
 4. Remarks on presenting Resolutions of the 
 
 Rockingham Bar upon the Death of John 
 
 Porter, Esq 147 
 
 Index of Names 153 
 
I. 
 
 MEMOIR. 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 William Henry Young Hackett departed this 
 life at his residence in Portsmouth, New Hamp- 
 shire, a httle past four o'clock in the afternoon 
 of Friday, August ninth, in the year eighteen 
 hundred and seventy-eight. Born in Gihnanton, 
 New Hampshire, September twenty-fourth, in the 
 year eio-hteen hundred, he lacked but a month 
 and a half of having completed his seventy-eighth 
 year. 
 
 Mr. Hackett was the eldest of six sons and 
 three daughters, children of Allen and Mary 
 (Young) Hackett of Gilmanton. The others 
 were Jeremiah Mason ; Nancy Young ; Hiram 
 Stephen ; Mary Jane (wife of Andrew Dyer 
 Leighton), living at Belmont, formerly a part 
 of Gilmanton ; Eliza Ann (wife of Jeremiah Carl- 
 ton Hackett), living at Boston, Massachusetts; 
 George Washington ; Charles Alfred, living at 
 the homestead at Belmont ; and Luther Allen. 
 
 There is little reason to doubt that Mr. Hackett 
 came of an English ancestry. Traces of the 
 
2 Memoir. 
 
 name are found in Massachusetts and New 
 Hampshire soon after their first settlement ; but 
 who were the individuals that bore it, or from 
 what precise locality they had come, must for the 
 present be left to conjecture ; the most plausible 
 theory being, that they emigrated directly from 
 the mother country somewhere about the year 
 1630. Lower thinks the Anglo-Saxon " Racket" 
 (for the / final was not doubled till the present 
 century) a corruption of " Harcourt ; " while 
 another writer ingeniously derives it from some 
 signal act of valor in the field with sword or 
 battle-axe. However this may be, we know that 
 the non-prefixed surname " Hacket " appears on 
 the Hundred Rolls of Battle Abbey (1273), and 
 is not unfrequently to be met with in English 
 annals of a still earlier period. An ancient branch 
 of the family in Scotland, that in later times have 
 achieved military distinction, spell their name 
 " Halket," though retaining the pronunciation of 
 " Hacket." Keating, in his " History of Ireland," 
 enumerates certain families " of the best English 
 stock," who crossed into Ireland in the reign of 
 Henry II. (1175), and among them the Hackets. 
 Here they acquired large estates ; and many of 
 their descendants are to-day prominent citizens of 
 Dublin and its neighborhood. Their presence 
 accounts for the name of Hackettstown, in the 
 county of Carlow, not far from the Irish capital. 
 
 It is hardly to be claimed that any single indi- 
 vidual has rendered the name illustrious, unless 
 
Memoir. 3 
 
 indeed we are bound to except John Hacket, 
 Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry from 1661 to 
 1670. This eminent prelate, a descendant of the 
 Scotch Halkets, was born at London in 1592, and 
 educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. During 
 his ministrations as bishop he expended no less 
 than twenty thousand pounds of his own private 
 fortune in rebuilding Lichfield Cathedral, where 
 his remains lie under an imposing monument. 
 He was noted for the gentleness and purity of his 
 character ; and his fervid piety, eloquence, and 
 zeal have kept his memory green in the church. 
 Passages from his sermons, still preserved, attest 
 his power in the pulpit ; while his " Life of Arch- 
 bishop Williams " entitles him to honorable rank 
 as a biographer. 
 
 Mr. Froude, in his second volume of "The His- 
 tory of England," quotes the official letters of Sir 
 John Hacket, the English ambassador at Brussels 
 (1533) in the reign of Henry VIIL It may 
 likewise be mentioned, in passing, that Sir Cuth- 
 bert Hacket was Lord Mayor of London in 1626, 
 and that Sir Thomas Hacket was Lord Mayor of 
 Dublin in 1687. Thomas Hacket, an English 
 scholar, had translated " The Amadis of Gaul " 
 previous to 1588; and a third Thomas Hacket 
 (an Englishman) was Bishop of Down from 1672 
 to 1693. David Hacket filled the see of Ossory 
 (the oldest of the Irish bishoprics) from 1460 to 
 1478 ; and a person of the same name is said to 
 have been the architect of the Monastery of Ba- 
 
4 Memoir. 
 
 talha in Portugal, some time in the fifteenth cen- 
 tury. Well-nigh five hundred years ago (1384) 
 Peter Hacket was consecrated Bishop of Cashel." 
 Like many sons of New England who have 
 lived useful and successful lives, the subject of 
 this memoir came of a race of plain, substantial 
 farmers. His earliest ancestor now known bore 
 the family name of William, and for the latter 
 part of his life made his home at Salisbury in 
 Massachusetts, near the mouth of the Merri- 
 mack. He was by occupation a mariner, and 
 appears to have been a man of superior talent 
 and energy. Upon the first leaf of the Salisbury 
 town records is an entrv that registers the mar- 
 riage of William Hacket to Sarah Barnard, Jan- 
 uary 31, 1667. There is good reason for believ- 
 ing this ancestor to have been identical with the 
 " Will Hacket," who, as the Dover records tell 
 us, had a grant in 1656 " touching Bellemie's 
 bank freshet," and who was taxed at Cocheco 
 the year following. He soon after sold his land 
 to Thomas Hanson, and removed to Exeter, dis- 
 tant from Salisbury but ten or twelve miles in- 
 
 ' The allusion to Marian Hacket of Wincot (Warwickshire), in the 
 Induction to the Taming of the Shrew (Sc. IV.), shows that this surname 
 was not unfamiliar in the neighborhood of Stratford-upon-Avon in Shak- 
 speare's day. Sir Charles Hacket, an officer of the estates, who aided in 
 the capture of Montrose (1650), lives under a ban in the popular ballad 
 of the Gallant Grahams : — 
 
 " Then woe to Strachan and Hacket baith, 
 And Leslie ill death may thou dee ; 
 For ye have betrayed the gallant Grahams, 
 Who aye were true to Majestic." 
 
Memoir. 5 
 
 land, "Will Hacket " took the oath of allegiance 
 at Exeter in 1667, and was rated there in the 
 province lists in 1681 and 1682. Savage, who 
 thinks the two may have been the same person, 
 suggests that perhaps he came originally from 
 Lynn, where was Jabez in 1644, who removed 
 thence to Taunton. 
 
 John, the second child of William and Sarah, 
 was born at Amesbury in 1669 ; all the other 
 children at Salisbury. Of the numerous descend- 
 ants of this couple living at Salisbury during the 
 succeeding century and a half, a large proportion 
 were farmers ; some followed the sea ; while a few 
 were shipwrights, who gained much repute as 
 master-builders. Year after year hardly a town 
 meeting assembled that the voters did not call a 
 William, a John, or a Richard Hackett to a post 
 of official duty; and yet such are the mutations of 
 time, that for the last half-century not a solitary 
 individual of the name appears to have been left 
 there to preserve the memory of his forefathers. 
 
 It was the fortune of William Hackett, while 
 in command of the sloop " Indeavor," hailing 
 from the port of " Salsbury, in the county of 
 Norfolk, in New England," to act a conspicuous 
 part in certain proceedings which have come 
 down to us as the first recorded jury trial in the 
 province of New Jersey. This was in May, 167 1. 
 Governor Carteret, it seems, had insisted that pay- 
 ment of duties at the custom-house in New York, 
 by vessels entering Sandy Hook, gave no right to 
 
6 Memoir. 
 
 trade in New Jersey, but that license therefor 
 should be taken out at the custom-house in 
 Elizabeth Town. Captain Hackett, not entertain- 
 ing that view of provincial sovereignty, undertook 
 to trade on the Jersey side, after having paid the 
 duties at New York only, whereupon the gov- 
 ernor seized his vessel, and summoned a jury to 
 try the offender upon a charge of illegal trading. 
 The captain conducted his own defence, and is 
 said to have presented with much ability fourteen 
 grounds for acquittal, — enough, one would con- 
 ceive, to bewilder an ordinary jury. That body, 
 " after a 2d and 3d going forth," came in and de- 
 clared that "the matter Committed to them is of 
 too great waight for them," and were discharged. 
 A second jury, however, suited the governor's 
 purpose better ; for they promptly found Captain 
 Hackett guilty, and his sloop was declared for- 
 feited.' 
 
 What effect this untoward event had upon the 
 further pursuit of his calling does not appear : 
 perhaps he retired to his farm at Salisbury, for 
 the records show that he was the possessor of a 
 good estate there. He died at Salisbury, March 
 
 6, 1713- 
 
 The children of William and Sarah Hackett 
 were Sarah, John, Ephraim, William, Judah, Eben- 
 ezer, and Katharine. From Judah was descended 
 the late Dr. Horatio Balch Hackett, the distin- 
 guished biblical scholar and writer. Ebenezer, 
 
 ' III. E. J. Records, 75; Hatfield's History of Elizabeth, 135. 
 
Memoir. 7 
 
 born October 17, 1687, married Hannah, daughter 
 of Jarves Ring, and had tweh^e children, the old- 
 est son, Ephraim, having been born at Salisbury, 
 October 3, 171 1. 
 
 At the age of twenty- three Ephraim Hackett 
 married Dorothy, daughter of Stillson Allen of 
 Salisbury, and great-grand-daughter of Mr. Wil- 
 liam Allen, a leading man at the settlement of the 
 town in 1638. It must have been early in 1749 
 that Ephraim Hackett, with his wife and a family 
 of young children, made his w^ay up the valley of 
 the Merrimack to Canterbury, New Hampshire. 
 This frontier town was then little better than a 
 wilderness ; for, though a settlement had been 
 begun under the charter two and twenty years 
 before, constant exposure to attack from Indians 
 had greatly retarded its growth. The new-comer 
 was a man of resources, and doubtless proved a 
 welcome addition to the little band of pioneers. 
 He secured an extensive tract of land not far 
 from the spot selected for the new meeting- 
 house, and at once showed himself fitted to lead 
 in town and parish matters. His townsmen fre- 
 quently called on him to act as moderator or 
 selectman ; and the still more honorable distinc- 
 tion was conferred upon him of being chosen 
 one of a committee to convey to the new min- 
 ister an invitation, adopted by unanimous vote in 
 town-meeting, to come and share their privations. 
 The homestead where Ephraim Hackett lived to 
 a hearty old age formed a part of what is now 
 
8 Memoir. 
 
 the fine farm of Captain David Morrill. In a 
 beautiful field that slopes gently to the south and 
 west, one can trace upon the sward the faint out- 
 lines of the well, long ago filled up ; and hard by 
 is the site where, within the memory of one or 
 two yet living, the ruins of the cellar remained 
 visible till early in the present century. A spring 
 of clear water still offers its refreshing draught ; 
 while a superb view of the surrounding country 
 excites sympathy with the taste of him who chose 
 this spot whereon to found a home. 
 
 The children of Ephraim and Dorothy were 
 Ezra', Hezekiah, Ezra', Jeremiah, Betty, Mary, 
 Ephraim', Miriam, Ephraim", Dorothy, Allen, 
 Charles, and Ebenezer, the last six of whom were 
 born in Canterbury. Jeremiah was a farmer like 
 his neighbors, and lived next the homestead, upon 
 what was afterwards known as the Patrick Farm, 
 from the fact that the land passed into the hands 
 of the Rev. Mr. Patrick. Tradition recounts that 
 Jeremiah Hackett first saw the maiden who be- 
 came his wife (Polly Robinson) at the meeting- 
 house on a Sunday. Attracted by her comeliness, 
 he followed her home, ascertained her name, and 
 in due time pressed his suit. She brought him 
 five sons and as many daughters ; viz,, Sarah, 
 Bradbury, Jeremiah, Allen, Daniel, Polly, Asa, 
 Betsey, Susan, and Patty, all of whom were born 
 in Canterbury. He died in the prime of life, in 
 the summer of 1797. 
 
 Allen Hackett, the father of the subject of this 
 
Memoir. 9 
 
 memoir, was born upon the Patrick Farm, in 
 Canterbury, July 15, 1777. He was a handsome 
 youth, full of animal spirits, and excelled, it is 
 said, in dancing. When grown to man's estate, 
 he was sedate and disfnified in manner, and re- 
 served in the presence of strangers. He was of 
 striking personal appearance ; for his frame was 
 powerful and well-proportioned, and he stood 
 over six feet in height. His complexion was 
 florid, features large and regular, and such as be- 
 tokened intellectual strength. Good natural parts 
 he had improved by an academical education ; 
 and his conversation stamped him as the supe- 
 rior of many around him. W ith no opportimity 
 to profit by travel, he was indebted to his love 
 of reading for a store of varied and useful in- 
 formation. Political literature he keenly relished ; 
 and the weekly newspaper from Concord had 
 not a reader more assiduous. Constant in his 
 attendance at primary meetings and conventions, 
 he did much to shape their action ; and his repu- 
 tation for political sagacity made him the oracle of 
 the community where he lived : indeed, Mr. Allen 
 Hackett wielded no slight influence in the coun- 
 sels of his party throughout all that quarter of 
 the State. An ardent Federalist and Whig, his 
 friends year after year found themselves in a 
 minority, which might perhaps have extinguished 
 hope anywhere else than in New Hampshire ; but 
 he was not an aspirant for office, though he liked 
 the stir of a campaign, and the glow of political 
 
lo Memoir. 
 
 discussion. The life, however, of this sturdy New 
 England farmer was uneventful. Honorable in 
 his dealings, and loyal in his friendships, he was 
 justly esteemed alike for his private worth and 
 public spirit by all who knew him ; and when he 
 died, in 1848, his children mourned the loss of a 
 prudent and affectionate parent. 
 
 Gilmanton Academy, now one of the oldest 
 institutions of learning in New Hampshire, was 
 established in 1797. At its opening term Allen 
 Hackett entered as a student from the adjoining 
 town of Canterbury ; and Mary Young of Gil- 
 manton, then a girl of seventeen, was seeking 
 an education at the same source. The good peo- 
 ple of that day conceived it a high compliment 
 when they said of a young lady that she was as 
 handsome as Polly Young. To charms of person 
 happily were added a quick intelligence, a cheer- 
 ful disposition, and a kindness of heart that knew 
 no bounds ; and it was rare good fortune in Allen 
 Hackett to win so estimable a woman for a wife. 
 Endowed with a memory retentive and accurate, 
 Mrs. Hackett readily assimilated what she had 
 gathered from books, and, in spite of the family 
 cares that early marriage invited, she managed to 
 keep herself well informed of what was going 
 on in the religious, literary, and political world. 
 While improving every opportunity to cultivate 
 her mind, she neglected no duty of wife or mother, 
 and bestowed upon her children the wealth of a 
 warm and affectionate nature ; nor, in minister- 
 
Memoir. 1 1 
 
 ing to their health and comfort, did she fail to 
 inculcate the precepts of religion. Between Mr. 
 Hackett and his mother a relation of peculiar 
 tenderness existed that appreciably moulded his 
 character, and to a ereat deoree insured his sue- 
 cess in after-life. In January, 1854, this woman of 
 blessed memory passed away at the age of seventy- 
 three. 
 
 Mr. Hackett's maternal grandfather, Joseph 
 Young, was one of the earliest settlers of Gilman- 
 ton, and for many years a leading and influential 
 citizen of that town. He married Anna Folsom 
 at his native town of Exeter in 1771, and lived 
 there till 1779, when, in company with- the Fol- 
 soms and Gilmans, he made the journey on horse- 
 back to the hills of Gilmanton. Here he engaged 
 actively in business enterprises, and accumulated 
 what the country people of that day accounted a 
 handsome fortune. Mr. Young represented the 
 town for nine terms in the General Court, served 
 eleven years as a selectman, and was a ruling 
 elder in the church. He had two daughters, — 
 Polly, the mother of Mr. Hackett ; and Nancy, 
 who died soon after her marriage. His only son, 
 William Henry, is said to have been a young man 
 of amiable disposition and of more than ordinary 
 promise. After having completed his education 
 at Phillips Academy, Exeter, he established him- 
 self as a trader at Gilmanton, where, after four 
 years of successful business, he suddenly died in 
 1797. It was in memory of her only brother that 
 
1 2 Memoir. 
 
 Mrs. Hackett gave to her son the name of William 
 Henry Young. 
 
 Allen Hackett, having learned his trade at Con- 
 cord, started in life as a tanner, occupying for the 
 purpose a lot adjoining the academy grounds at 
 "The Corner," for so the Gilmanton people desig- 
 nated their chief village. At the edge of the tan- 
 yard, just back from the road, stood his dwelling- 
 house, — a plain structure of one story, still to be 
 seen as the traveller from Gilmanton Iron Works 
 descends the hill into the village. Here William 
 Henry Young Hackett was born, September 24, 
 1800. 
 
 When the child was about a year old, his father 
 determined to sell the tannery, and apply himself 
 to farming. Accordingly he removed his family 
 to the W. R. Gale Farm (so called), distant five 
 miles from the Corner, and a mile and a half from 
 what is now Factory Village. If not robust, the 
 boy was healthy, and throve in the pure, bracing 
 air of the Gilmanton hills. The eight years that 
 followed saw four other children added to the 
 household ; and, as family cares multiplied, the 
 mother, when compelled for short seasons to ab- 
 sent herself from her little ones, did not hesitate 
 to intrust them to the vigfilant care of her eldest. 
 A trivial incident is preserved of William Henry's 
 childhood, associated with the memorable eclipse 
 of the sun in June, 1806. This phenomenon 
 lasted from ten in the morning- till half an hour 
 after noon, the total obscuration continuing up- 
 
Memoir. 1 3 
 
 wards of four minutes. Fowls went to roost, 
 stars of the first mao^nitude could be discerned, 
 and an appearance of twilight spread over the 
 horizon. For a while the boy of five years viewed 
 in silence the sublime scene ; then, as the dark- 
 ness began slowly to recede, he exclaimed, " It's 
 the shortest night that ever I saw, mother." 
 
 In 1809 Allen Hackett bettered his condition 
 by purchasing a piece of land next the Governor 
 Badger Estate, on the road from the Corner to 
 Factory Village, — a lot, it may be remarked, 
 upon which the first child was born in Gilmanton. 
 Mrs. Hackett having been presented by her father 
 with a house and a valuable tract on the opposite 
 side of the road, the family was removed thither. 
 Subsequently Mr. Allen Hackett built upon his 
 lot a more commodious dwelling-house, which 
 with its improvements is to-day occupied by his 
 only surviving son, Charles A. Hackett, Esq. 
 The part of the town, it should be explained, 
 embracing the site of this farm, was set ofi" as 
 Upper Gilmanton in 1859, — a name that ten 
 years later was changed to Belmont. 
 
 Here the youth worked upon the farm, rode the 
 horse to mill ; in short, performed all the ordinary 
 duties that fall to the lot of the eldest son of a 
 farmer's family. In the winter months he at- 
 tended the little district school, not far off. 
 Though industrious and obedient, he cannot be 
 said to have taken kindly to any species of farm 
 labor : indeed, his father is credited with saying. 
 
14 Memoir. 
 
 " William Henry will clear up brush, and burn the 
 heaps, — the only mark of a good farmer I ever 
 knew him to have." Playmates were few, and he 
 appears to have inclined but little to out-of-door 
 sports. From childhood he had evinced an in- 
 tense love of reading ;. and it was in books that he 
 found his chief pleasure, often devouring them by 
 candle-light after a day's work in the field. His 
 mother guided his taste as best she might, and 
 encouraged the ambition he had early manifested 
 to devote himself, upon growing up, to some pur- 
 suit more intellectual than farming as then prac- 
 tised. 
 
 At the age of twelve his parents permitted him 
 to attend the academy ; and he used to walk daily 
 two miles each way over a hilly road, carrying his 
 books under his arm, meanwhile helping his father 
 in farm-work at spare hours. In New England 
 sixty or seventy years ago school-books were 
 neither so common nor so cheap, it must be re- 
 membered, as they now are. To purchase a geog- 
 raphy and atlas, this young scholar went into the 
 woods with an axe, and, cutting- a cord of wood, 
 hauled it to the Corner, where, for two dollars, he 
 unloaded and delivered it at the purchaser's door. 
 Says Judge Ira A. Eastman, who, though his jun- 
 ior at the academy, remembers the circumstance, 
 " I do not think he did this from necessity (be- 
 cause his father was a man of considerable means 
 for those days), but from an ambitious and most 
 commendable desire not to bring upon his father 
 
Memoir. 1 5 
 
 any more charges than he could help. In those 
 times the feeling and disposition of young men, 
 farmers' sons, generally, was to help forward the 
 interests of parents and the household, and to pay 
 all their own expenses when it could possibly be 
 done." 
 
 At this date nearly a hundred pupils of various 
 ages, about equally divided between the sexes, 
 attended the academy at Gilmanton. The repu- 
 tation of the school depended entirely upon the 
 capacity and experience of the single preceptor 
 who happened to be in charge. Fortunately for 
 our young friend, during his entire course of eight 
 years he continued under the instruction of Mr. 
 Andrew Mack, a Dartmouth graduate, who was a 
 gentleman of much aptitude for teaching, and of 
 scholarly and refined instincts. Asa McFarland, 
 Esq., of Concord, a fellow-student, says of Mr. 
 Hackett: " I was a boarder in the family of Dea- 
 con Joseph French, and sat at the same table with 
 Mr. Mack, the principal : I remember particularly 
 the commendation Mr. Mack bestowed upon him 
 for his perseverance in acquiring useful knowl- 
 edge." He showed proficiency alike in the clas- 
 sics and mathematics, and was especially fond of 
 English composition. With a view of gaining 
 ease, if not elegance, in style, he applied himself 
 to a critical study of the best authors : yet it is to 
 be feared that the inexperienced youth was left to 
 grope his way along this path with very slender 
 assistance ; for in that day little or no attention 
 
1 6 Memoir. 
 
 was paid, even in our colleges, to the art of writ- 
 ing good English, — still less could be expected 
 at this country academy. Blair's Rhetoric, it is 
 true, was put into the hands of pupils for a text- 
 book, and they were told to acquaint themselves 
 with the pages of "The Spectator " as a model of 
 style ; but the use of plain Anglo-Saxon, and a 
 familiarity with natural and unaffected forms of 
 expression, if acquired at all, were not due to 
 teaching. It is a subject of regret that one, the 
 current of whose thought runs so clearlv, was 
 denied in his youth the benefit of a rigid train- 
 ing" in this direction. 
 
 Brilliant in no single branch of study, but an 
 apt scholar in all, he of course felt the spur of 
 ambition. The facility with which he maintained 
 hiofh rank among" his classmates warrants the 
 belief that honorable distinction would have 
 marked his career at college. But to go to col- 
 lege was out of the question : his father lacked 
 means to send him, and there was nowhere to 
 look for assistance. The disappointment must 
 have been hard to bear ; yet no one ever heard 
 Mr. Hackett indulge in the expression of those 
 vain regrets not uncommon with men of con- 
 scious ability who have been compelled to forego 
 the full advantag"es of a liberal education. 
 
 Society at Gilmanton, though limited in point 
 of numbers, compared favorably with that of many 
 larger towns. Judge Nathan Crosby of Lowell, 
 who at this date knew it well, observes: "The 
 
Memoir. 17 
 
 place was quite distinguished for its social culture 
 and amenities. The Moodys, Beans, Badgers, 
 Coggswells, Frenches, Greeleys, and Eastmans 
 were for those days people of marked character 
 for intelligence, wealth, and refinement." The 
 presence of these families could not fail to elevate 
 the standard both of scholarship and deportment 
 at an institution designed for their sons and 
 daughters, and engrossing so large a share of the 
 life of the village. Prompted by an affectionate 
 nature, Mr. Hackett attached himself to certain 
 of his school-fellows with a warmth and fidelity 
 that led to friendships lifelong in duration, — of 
 whom may be mentioned the names of Charles 
 H. Peaslee, John A. Burleigh, Dixi Crosby and 
 his brother Alpheus, Ira A. Eastman, and Asa 
 McFarland. 
 
 To defray the expenses of his education he 
 resorted to school-keeping, an occupation con- 
 genial to his tastes, and in which he achieved a 
 eratifvinpf success. His first venture of conse- 
 quence was at North Barnstead, when he was only 
 eighteen ; and, upon returning home after three 
 months' absence, he paid over his entire salary, 
 thirty dollars, to his father. Nearly half a century 
 later, on the occasion of deliverino- a memorial 
 address in the old Smith meeting-house at Gil- 
 manton, he recalled this circumstance in language 
 nearly as follows: "I remember distinctly how 
 happy and light-hearted I felt as I passed this 
 church just at dusk, and looked up at these same 
 
1 8 Memoir. 
 
 windows through which the hght is streaming 
 to-day. In the years that have since passed, I 
 have been paid for my services somewhat more 
 Hberally ; but certainly no fee that I have received 
 in my profession, however large, ever gave me 
 the feeling of glad independence I experienced 
 that evening, as I went home with thirty dollars in 
 my pocket, the remuneration for three months of 
 faithful labor." He also kept school acceptably 
 for several terms at Gilmanton Corner.' 
 
 Mr. Hackett had early conceived the purpose 
 of dedicating himself to the law. " I should 
 never," he years after wrote, " have quitted farm- 
 ing (which I regard as the happiest occupation for 
 those suited to it), if I had not felt that I must 
 be a lawyer or nobody." Stephen Moody, Esq., 
 a graduate of Harvard College, and for many 
 years solicitor for the county of Strafford, was 
 then the only lawyer in active practice at Gilman- 
 ton Corner. This gentleman took a kindly inter- 
 est in the aspirations of his young townsman, at 
 whose disposal he placed his small law library. 
 Mr. Hackett, before leaving the academy, had 
 thus begun to read systematically text-books of 
 the law, although his name was never formally 
 entered in Mr. Moody's office as a student. At 
 the age of tw^enty he went to the little village of 
 Sanbornton Square, about nine miles from home, 
 
 ^ It was when a schoolmaster that he became expert in what is now 
 one of the lost arts ; namely, making a pen from a goose-quill. All his 
 life he wrote with no other than a quill-pen. 
 
Memoir. 1 9 
 
 to read law with Matthew Perkins, Esq., a gentle- 
 man of respectable legal attainments, who treated 
 him with great kindness and generosity. Here 
 he devoted a year and a half to study, receiving 
 board and lodging in the family of his preceptor 
 in return for such service as he could render in 
 the routine of office practice. From the first, 
 however, he had kept steadily in view the inten- 
 tion of completing his law studies in the town 
 where he was to make his future home. 
 
 The bar of Rockingham County at that period 
 held out to a young lawyer attractions not easily 
 resisted ; for, notwithstanding her entry upon 
 a mercantile decline, Portsmouth still offered a 
 promising field for professional success. Daniel 
 Webster had but recently removed to Boston ; 
 Levi Woodbury, though upon the bench, kept his 
 office open for students, of whom one was des- 
 tined to become President of the United States. 
 That great master of the common law was there, 
 — Jeremiah Mason, the head of the bar of New 
 England, who had honored Portsmouth for a quar- 
 ter of a century with his residence. Ichabod 
 Bardett, Edward Cutts, and N. A. Haven, Jr., 
 not to mention others of less distinction, enjoyed 
 there a large and lucrative practice ; while at 
 Exeter, the other shire-town of the county, lived 
 the brilliant George Sullivan. Mr. Mason and 
 Mr. Bartlett were in the habit of trying causes to 
 the jury upon the circuit as opposing counsel, — 
 a circumstance that suffices to denote what rank 
 
20 Memoir. 
 
 the latter maintained at the bar. Still it deserves 
 further to be said of Ichabod Bartlett, that his 
 adroit handling of witnesses, and consummate 
 tact in getting a case well laid open to the jury, 
 had, not less than his eloquence, given him a 
 wide and exalted reputation, — talents by the 
 display of which he was soon to win upon the 
 floor of Congress the title of " The Randolph of 
 the North." The court of Strafford County was 
 accustomed to hold one or more terms a year at 
 Gilmanton for the trial of jury causes, and here 
 our young candidate for professional honors had 
 listened with admiration to the famous Mr. Bart- 
 lett. In spite of grave doubts entertained by his 
 grandfather Young as to the wisdom of going so 
 far away to live, Mr. Hackett ventured to apply to 
 this distino-uished advocate for leave to enter his 
 office as a student, and to his great joy received 
 a favorable response. 
 
 The month of April, 1822, found him ready to 
 leave his home. With her own hands his mother 
 had made a new homespun suit, which, together 
 with a change of clothes in a bundle, and three 
 dollars in money, comprised his outfit. His father 
 took him in a wasfon over the familiar road to the 
 Corner, and to the top of a steep hill beyond. 
 Here they parted company ; for it was the son's 
 own choice to accomplish on foot the forty miles 
 that remained. By nightfall the traveller had 
 reached North wood, where he met a hearty 
 welcome at the house of Mrs. Eben Coe, whom 
 
Memoir. 21 
 
 he had known at Gllmanton. and whose husband 
 carried on an extensive business as a country 
 trader. It happened that one of Mr. Coe's 
 clerks, u^hose home was at Portsmouth, had 
 arranged to drive thither the next day ; and Mr. 
 Hackett did not dechne the offer of a convey- 
 ance. Upon reaching theif journey's end the 
 youthful stranger alighted at the Farmers' Hotel, 
 on Pleasant Street (where the custom-house now 
 stands), and bade adieu to his companion, — the 
 only person whose acquaintance he could claim 
 in all the town, 
 
 Mr. Bartlett's law offices were at the corner 
 of Bow and Fore Streets, " up stairs," as the 
 directory (published by Wibird Penhallow in 
 1821, "a new thing in this place") informs us, 
 with a quaint precision. Francis O. J. Smith was 
 already there as a student : he subsequently prac- 
 tised law at Portland, was three times a repre- 
 sentative in Congress from Maine, and later in 
 life became largely interested in telegraphs. Mr. 
 Hackett now entered upon a course of advanced 
 study, and took charge of nearly all the office 
 practice. His biographical sketch of Brewster 
 makes a passing allusion to this first year at 
 Portsmouth. " It was the fashion," he observes, 
 " for apprentices, as well as law-students, to work 
 evenings. It was my practice, upon leaving Mr. 
 Bartlett's office toward ten o'clock on P'riday even- 
 inofs, to eo into the journal office, and make a 
 friendly call upon Mr. Brewster, see him ' work 
 
22 Memoir. 
 
 off,' as he called it, the inside of the Journal, and 
 ascertain if any article which he or I had written 
 had passed the editorial ordeal." From the same 
 source we learn that the following young gentle- 
 men (nearly all of them college graduates, and 
 sons of w^ealthy parents) were studying law at 
 other offices in the town: with Mason, — his 
 son, George W. Mason, Lory Odell, John Elwyn, 
 Charles W. Cutter, Samuel P. Long, Hampden 
 Cutts, Thomas Currier, and William A. Walker ; 
 with Woodbury, — Franklin Pierce, John Thomp- 
 son, and Joseph W.White; with Haven, — Alfred 
 W. Haven; with Cutts, — J. Trask Woodbury; 
 and wdth Claggett, — Jonas Cutting. 
 
 Upon the fees earned in petty office-business, 
 added to something got by teaching private pupils 
 at odd hours, he contrived to live respectably, and 
 to keep out of debt. With the approach of win- 
 ter, however, he deemed it prudent to resume 
 school-keeping, and accordingly returned to Gil- 
 manton. When he came back to Portsmouth in 
 the spring, it was to find new duties and respon- 
 sibilities awaiting him consequent upon Mr. Bart- 
 lett's election to Congress ; and he entered gladly 
 with fresh energies upon this wider field of exer- 
 tion. 
 
 The 2ist of May, 1823, marked the completion 
 of two centuries since David Thompson planted 
 at the seaside, upon what is now Odiorne's Point, 
 Portsmouth, the first settlement of New Hamp- 
 shire. The recurrence of the day was celebrated 
 
Memoir. 23 
 
 in a style and with a zeal befitting so interesting 
 an historical event. N. A. Haven, Jr., was the 
 orator, and Oliver W. B. Peabody of Exeter, the 
 poet of the day. A brilliant ball in the evening, 
 attended by nearly four hundred persons, where 
 grandsire and grand-daughter danced In the same 
 set, closed the festivities of an occasion long to 
 be remembered in the annals of the town. Of 
 those who took part in the commemoration, two 
 hundred and forty-five ladies and gentlemen in- 
 scribed their names (and, with few exceptions, 
 their ages) upon a parchment roll which re- 
 mained till a recent day in good preservation. 
 Among the signatures were those of Jeremiah 
 Mason, Daniel Webster, Joseph Story, and John 
 G. Palfrey. Mr. Hackett was one of the young- 
 est present ; and fifty years later he acted as the 
 chairman of a committee to summon the surviv- 
 ors, then numbering about two score, to partici- 
 pate in the spirited celebration of July 4th, 1873. 
 An institution of kindred date with these com- 
 memorative exercises, and the outgrowth of a 
 sentiment then fully awakened, is the New Hamp- 
 shire Historical Society, a meeting for whose or- 
 ganization was held at Portsmouth on the 20th 
 of May, 1823. Though Mr. Hackett did not be- 
 come a member of the society till twelve years 
 later, he happened to be present at this initial 
 meeting, — a circumstance to which he fitly alluded 
 upon the observance of the semi-centennial anni- 
 versary, at Concord in 1873, when there was liv- 
 
24 Memoir. 
 
 ing but one of the thirty-one original members. 
 This association had no warmer friend than Mr. 
 Hackett, whose earnest and unceasing efforts in 
 promoting the objects of its creation did much to 
 enlarge the sphere of its usefulness, and to place 
 it upon the sure footing which it now maintains. 
 He was chosen vice-president in i860, and served 
 as president from 1861 to 1866. Amos Hadley, 
 Esq., recording secretary', writes as follows of his 
 attendance at the annual meeting in 1878 : " He 
 was called to the chair in the absence of the 
 president, and presided with that urbane dignity 
 and singular readiness which ever distinguished 
 him in the chair of deliberative bodies. He 
 wore his years so youthfully even, that no one 
 of us in that large meeting had the remotest 
 thought that it woulci be the last attendance of 
 one who had been for years so prompt and con- 
 stant in his presence, and so true and wise in act 
 and counsel tending to promote the welfare of 
 the society." 
 
 About the time that Mr. Hackett made Ports- 
 mouth his home, the condition of the public 
 schools of the town had become a subject of well- 
 founded complaint ; for frequent changes in the 
 office of instructor had resulted in nothino; but 
 laxity of discipline and general inefficiency. The 
 school committee, composed of the best citizens, 
 emphatically condemned the policy of doling out 
 a meagre compensation : they insisted that sala- 
 ries should be offered larQ^e enough to induce a 
 
Memoir. 25 
 
 teacher fit for the office to remain in it perma- 
 nently. At this juncture a vacancy occurred in 
 the mastership of the high school, and Mr. Hack- 
 ett consented to assume that position for a brief 
 season, devoting his evenings meanwhile to the 
 law. His administration restored perfect order, 
 and the scholars made rapid progress in their 
 studies : in fact, such general satisfaction at- 
 tended his method of instruction, that upon the 
 eve of his retirement, after three months' service, 
 the committee earnestly desired him to consider 
 the situation a permanent one at an annual salary 
 of six hundred dollars. This flattering offer he 
 gratefully but firmly declined. When his good 
 friends in the country heard of it, they were sorely 
 exercised, and did not hesitate to predict that he 
 had made the mistake of a lifetime. 
 
 But his interest in the cause of education by 
 no means ceased when he laid aside the duties of 
 teacher. For some years he continued to perform 
 more than his fair share of labor upon the school 
 committee ; and to the close of his life he mani- 
 fested a personal solicitude in the success of the 
 public schools of a higher grade. When the class 
 of 1873, at their graduation, instituted the Ports- 
 mouth High School Association of the Alumni, 
 they came to Mr. Hackett, and asked him to 
 accept the presidency, which he gladly did. A 
 day or two only before the confinement of his last 
 illness, he exerted himself to be present at the 
 annual gathering, in order not to disappoint his 
 
26 Memoir. 
 
 young friends. In such harmony were his spirits 
 with the occasion, that no one could have sus- 
 pected his being, in truth, far from well. Con- 
 tenting himself with a single word of remark, 
 he felicitated the association upon its prosperous 
 condition, and added, with wonted good-humor, 
 " I congratulate you also that you have a presi- 
 dent who can make a very short speech on a very 
 hot night." ' 
 
 In 1824 the State Senate chose Mr. Hackett 
 their assistant clerk, and re-elected him the suc- 
 ceeding year. He also served one term as clerk 
 of the Senate, in 1828. The late George S. Hil- 
 lard, to whose most competent hand was intrusted 
 the preparation of a memoir of Jeremiah Mason, 
 acknowledged his indebtedness to Mr. Hackett 
 for many interesting reminiscences, and among 
 them the following : The House had, in Novem- 
 ber, 1824, expressed their choice of Mr. Mason as 
 
 ^ A pleasing incident of the celebration in 1873 ought to find place 
 here : the Portsmouth High School has long had no more dutiful or 
 affectionate son among her graduates than James T. Fields, who has made 
 her the recipient of many a substantial favor. The presiding officer had 
 introduced the poet of the day as "James T. Fields, Esquire, of Ports- 
 mouth, temporarily sojourning at Boston." That gentleman began to read 
 some admirable verses, but had not proceeded far, when, suddenly turn- 
 ing to the president, he said amid applause, — 
 
 " Fm conning my Virgil. That's cool — 
 
 My Virgil ? 'Twas yours, my good friend. 
 The copy you studied at school, 
 And afterwards kept it to lend." 
 
 The next clay Mr. Hackett took from his library the well-worn copy 
 of Virgil Delphini, and sent it as a present to Mr. Fields, — an act which 
 elicited a warm and graceful letter of thanks. 
 
Memoir. 27 
 
 United States senator ; and the Senate, after 
 several ballotings, elected William Plumer, Jr., 
 who was at that time a member of Congress. 
 Mr. Hackett bore to the House the message 
 that the Honorable Senate had concurred in pass- 
 ing the House resolution, after striking out the 
 words " Jeremiah Mason " and inserting " William 
 Plumer, Jr.," making the formal announcement 
 by addressing the speaker. As he turned to go 
 back to the Senate chamber, Mr. Mason, who was 
 standing before the fire in a corner of the Repre- 
 sentatives' hall, said with a smile, " Good-morn- 
 ing, Mr. Hackett : you propose, I see, a trifling 
 amendment." 
 
 He was admitted to the bar in the month of 
 January, 1826, upon motion of N. A. Haven, Jr., 
 who soon afterward invited him to form a law 
 partnership, — a proposal he was only too happy 
 to accept. The intellectual resources, elegant 
 scholarship, and catholic tastes, that distinguished 
 this amiable man, would have enriched with pre- 
 cious advantages an association of a purely busi- 
 ness character ; but Mr. Hackett, besides looking 
 to him as an exemplar of what was best and high- 
 est in the profession, had already experienced the 
 inestimable worth of his personal friendship. This 
 privileged relation, however, was destined to be 
 transitory indeed ; for it pleased God to remove 
 Mr. Haven in June of that year, at the early age 
 of thirty-six. No event at Portsmouth has ever 
 moved the entire community to such profound 
 
28 Memoir. 
 
 and sincere grief, — and justly; for the death of 
 such a man was a great public loss. The memory 
 of Nathaniel Appleton Haven, Jr., is transmitted 
 to this generation by a published volume of his 
 writings, prefaced with a memoir from the pen of 
 his friend and classmate, the late George Ticknor. 
 Mr. Hackett, for the remainder of his life, a period 
 of fifty-two years, continued at the bar without an 
 associate in business. 
 
 This brief connection, however, had enhanced 
 the reputation of the surviving partner ; and his 
 practice took on a steady growth. Yet the labor 
 he exacted of himself did not debar him from the 
 enjoyments of society, of which he was very fond. 
 He was married on the 21st of December, 1826, 
 by Rev. Dr. Parker of the South Parish, to Olive, 
 second daughter of Joseph Warren and Hannah 
 (Nutter) Pickering.' His father-in-law was a 
 lineal descendant of John Pickering, who came 
 from England to Massachusetts, and thence, in 
 1636, to Portsmouth, where he was a prominent 
 citizen and the owner of a large tract of land at 
 the south part of the town, known as " Picker- 
 ing's Neck." The young couple at once began 
 housekeeping at the dwelling-house on Congress 
 Street, near Islington, where they lived in un- 
 
 I Their children were William Henry, a lawyer of Portsmouth ; Mari- 
 anna, wife of Robert Cutts Pierce of Portsmouth ; Frank Warren, a law- 
 yer of Portsmouth and Washington, D.C. ; and Ellen Louisa, wife of Eben 
 Morgan Stoddard of Ledyard, Conn. Clara Coues (1832) and Charles 
 Parker (1S34) died in early infancy. — See New England Historical 
 AND Genealogical Register for January, 1879. 
 
Memoir. 29 
 
 broken contentment, and witnessed the changes 
 around them of more than half a century. So 
 strong was the attachment Mr. Hackett conceived 
 for this spot, that he never could be induced to 
 remove from it. He enlarged and improved the 
 house to accommodate his family ; but the old 
 place retained its familiar features, and was to him 
 always " home." It may be added here that Mr. 
 Hackett was a member of the church of the South 
 (Unitarian) Parish since 1826, and occupied the 
 same pew for upwards of fifty years. 
 
 Portsmouth in that day was noted for its social 
 attractions ; and he was at no loss to find acquaint- 
 ances of his own age, congenial to his tastes. 
 "About the year 1820," to quote from his me- 
 moir of Halliburton, " several young men started 
 the plan of forming a forensic club. It met once 
 a week, and was well sustained for several years. 
 At each meeting an essay was read : some ques- 
 tion which had been previously proposed was then 
 discussed in writing by a member upon each side. 
 The subject was afterwards opened to general dis- 
 cussion ; and, being remarked upon by the presi- 
 dent, the question was determined by a vote of the 
 club. The meetings were open to the friends of 
 the members, and were generally well attended." 
 Upon the re-organization of this club in 1826, 
 Mr. Hackett served as director and secretary, 
 and afterwards became president.' Visitors were 
 
 ^ The following are the names of officers and members of the Forensic 
 Club as they appear at the date of the re-organizatiou in 1826: Andrew 
 
30 Memoir. 
 
 attracted in large numbers to the "Forensic" 
 hall in the Academy, till it came to rival the assem- 
 bly rooms as a fashionable place of resort. The 
 papers read were of more than ordinary merit ; 
 and, to judge from certain records kept by Mr. 
 Hackett in a neat and regular hand, the debates 
 must have been animated and profitable. No 
 doubt the young lawyers, like those of the famous 
 "Robin Hood" debating society, regarded this 
 forum as an excellent trainine-school for future 
 contests at the bar. 
 
 During the early part of Mr. Hackett's profes- 
 sional career, Portsmouth exhibited considerable 
 commercial activity, notwithstanding her fortunes 
 as a seaport were already upon the wane. The 
 railroad system, which subsequently diverted trade 
 into new channels, had as yet no existence ; and 
 trains of teams were still to be seen making the 
 journey from the interior to tide-water at Ports- 
 mouth, or slowly returning, laden with West India 
 goods and other supplies. It was not the custom 
 to pay cash for purchases ; the merchant taking 
 from the country trader his notes of hand, which 
 in many instances found their way into suit for 
 collection. Inasmuch as a debtor's property was 
 
 Halliburton, /V^j/V/i'///; Charles W. Cutter, Vice-President ; William H. Y. 
 Hackett, Secretary and Treasurer. These three gentlemen, with Hamp- 
 den Cutts and Orange Clark, constituted the Board of Directors. The 
 remaining members were : Ebenezer Wheelwright, Eben L. Childs, Wil- 
 liam L. Pickering, Thomas A. Adams, Edward Rundlet, Addison Brown, 
 Calvin B. Magoun, Silas Durkee, Charles W. Chauncey, Joseph W. 
 White, Rufus Claggett, Tobias H. Miller, Samuel E. Cones, Charles B. 
 Goodrich, Baron Stow, Ichabod Bartlett, Samuel P. Long, Lory Odell. 
 
Menioi}\ 3 1 
 
 liable to be attached upon mesne process, and as 
 the judgment secured by the earliest attachment 
 was first satisfied in full, it followed that the 
 sliofhtest rumor of failing circumstances was the 
 signal for creditors to vie with each other in 
 gaining priority in the service of the writ, — an 
 advantage calling for vigilance and enterprise on 
 the part of an attorne\-, and leading sometimes, 
 it must be confessed, to " sharp practice." The 
 following anecdote illustrates how a young prac- 
 titioner once bore himself in an emergency of 
 this sort. 
 
 We have already narrated, that, when Mr. 
 Hackett left his home to seek his fortune, he 
 passed a night upon the road at the house of Mr. 
 Eben Coe of Northwood. As he was taking leave 
 the next morning, Mrs. Coe said jocosely, " You're 
 going to be a lawyer. Now, remember, if any of 
 my husband's notes come into your office, you 
 won't sue them without letting him know before- 
 hand." Mr. Coe's credit, it ought to be explained, 
 stood as high as that of any business-man in the 
 State. Some five years later, when the hard times 
 caused frequent failures, and long after this inci- 
 dent had faded from memory, a client one day 
 called upon Mr. Hackett to bring suit forthwith 
 upon several notes, among which there happened 
 to be one bearing the signature of Mr. Coe. 
 Having filled out the wTits, Mr. Hackett left his 
 office, and was upon the point of putting the 
 papers into the hands of the sheriff, when the 
 
32 Memoir. 
 
 parting- remark of Mrs. Coe flashed across him. 
 Four hundred dollars were involved, and his in- 
 structions were peremptory. Losing not a mo- 
 ment, he took a horse and chaise, and set out 
 with the officer for Northwood. On arrival, he 
 left his companion at the tavern, and went alone 
 to Mr. Coe's house. That gentleman was absent 
 from town ; but Mrs. Coe, upon learning the oc- 
 casion of the visit, represented that an attachment 
 would inevitably bring down upon her husband 
 demands from all his creditors, and ruin him ; 
 whereas, with a little forbearance, she felt sure 
 every dollar would be paid. The young man had 
 to act promptly, A brief pause, — and he had de- 
 cided what course to pursue. Assuring Mrs. Coe 
 that her husband should suffer no harm, he bade 
 her good-day, and returned with the officer to 
 Portsmouth. When the bank opened the next 
 morning he drew out the amount of his deposit, — 
 all the money he had in the world. This was one- 
 half of what the note called for. Writing his own 
 promissory note for the other half, he was enabled, 
 by the friendly indorsement of Isaac Waldron, 
 president of the Portsmouth Bank, to take to his 
 office four hundred dollars in bank-bills. As he 
 had anticipated, the client soon came in, when a 
 colloquy ensued nearly as follows : — 
 
 Client. — Well, squire, have you secured my 
 note ? 
 
 Mr. Hackctt. — Yes, oh, yes ! 
 
Memoir. 33 
 
 Client. — What have you got it on to ? 
 
 Mr. H. {taking from his desk a roil of hank- 
 bills). — This is what I've got it on to. 
 
 Client {astonisJied). — Why, what does this 
 mean ? If I'd supposed he was that kind of a 
 man, I wouldn't have sued him. 
 
 Mr. H. — You or anybody else ought to be 
 ashamed to sue a man hke Mr. Coe, when you 
 coukl get your money by calhng for it. 
 
 Client. — That's so, squire : I am ashamed. I'm 
 sorry tor it. 
 
 Mr. Hackett then told him it was no more than 
 right that he should pay the expenses, which he 
 was glad enough to do ; and he went his way, 
 grateful to his counsel, and full of kindly impulses 
 toward his late debtor. Within forty-eight hours 
 Mr. Coe made his appearance, pale and agitated. 
 His first words were, " Mr. Hackett, have you 
 sued me ? " — " Oh, no ! " was the cheering reply. 
 " I'm all right, then," added the other, opening 
 his wallet: "I've got the money here; but, if 
 you'd sued me, 'twould have started ever)'body 
 else, and " — With this he laid down a sum far 
 exceeding the debt, and begged Mr. Hackett to 
 help himself to a liberal fee. The young lawyer, 
 however, took pleasure in refusing to let him bear 
 any expense whatever : " for that," said he proudly, 
 " I shamed out of my client." 
 
 There is a class of worthy citizens who view 
 with apprehension what they conceive to be a 
 degeneracy in the tone of the political press of 
 
34 Memoir. 
 
 to-day. They deplore the fact that officials in 
 high station are vilified with a recklessness and 
 persistency (as they assume) heretofore un- 
 equalled ; and they dread lest this torrent of 
 abuse may drive decent men out of politics alto- 
 gether. It would allay their fears, however, to 
 bring to light, from the files of party journals 
 half a century old, specimens of the devices, the 
 flaming head-lines, daggers, and coffins to which 
 newspapers of that day resorted for the purpose 
 of stigmatizing their political opponents ; and 
 they would find candidates surviving the most 
 bitter attacks made upon their personal character, 
 and apparently not much the worse therefor. 
 Noble slanderers lived before Thersites. 
 
 These reflections come into mind upon looking 
 over an extended report of what was, for its day, 
 in New Hampshire, a famous libel suit, — Upham 
 vs. Barton and Hill. The Whigs in 1830 had 
 nominated General Timothy Upham of Ports- 
 mouth as their candidate for o-overnor, — an able 
 and trusted leader, who for some years had credit- 
 ably filled the office of collector of the port. In 
 the heat of the campaign " The New Hampshire 
 Patriot," the organ of the Democracy at the State 
 capital, charged the Whig nominee with the crime, 
 of smuggling. General Upham promptly retained 
 Mr. Hackett to brincj a suit for defamation 
 against the publishers, — the name of one of 
 whom, Isaac Hill, yet survives in the traditions of 
 political warfare in New England. Though the 
 
Memoir. 35 
 
 accusation was proved at the trial to have been 
 niahciously false, it was impossible to reach a ver- 
 dict, the juries at two successive terms failing to 
 agree. Of course, the counsel respectively rep- 
 resented opposite political parties : for General 
 Upham appeared Messrs. Mason, Cutts, Bartlett, 
 and Hackett ; for the defendants, Messrs, Sullivan 
 (then attorney-general), Cushman, and Claggett. 
 It may be added in this relation that " The 
 Patriot " took frequent opportunity to assail Mr. 
 Bartlett and his former student (now rising into 
 prominence as a Whig leader), invariably intro- 
 ducing to its readers the names of "I. Bartlett" 
 and " W. H. Y. Hackett " as " Personal Pronoun 
 Bartlett" and "Alphabet Hackett," — a conceit 
 as harmless as at this distance of time it appears 
 amusing. 
 
 Another interesting reminiscence of his fifty- 
 two years at the bar is the Bradbury Cilley will 
 case, tried at Exeter in October, 1833, before 
 Chief Justice Joel Parker, by an array of eminent 
 counsel, of whom Mr. Hackett had long been the 
 last survivor. The trial, which was an appeal to 
 the jury from the decree of the probate court sus- 
 taining the will, lasted more than a week, during 
 which upwards of a hundred witnesses were ex- 
 amined ; and the parish meeting-house, tempora- 
 rily converted into a court-room, was crowded 
 with those in attendance, many of whom were 
 ladies. For the appellants appeared Messrs, 
 Hackett, Sullivan, and Mason ; for the appellees, 
 
2,6 Memoir. 
 
 Messrs. Bell, Ciitts, Atherton, and Webster. Mr. 
 Mason addressed the jury for four hours, while 
 Mr. Webster consumed about six hours ; and both 
 efforts were masterly displays of forensic elo- 
 quence. The jury found for the appellees. Mr. 
 Hackett used to relate the following incident of 
 this trial : being junior counsel, he read the 
 pleadings at the opening ; and as he descended 
 from the platform to return to one of the pews 
 in front, an elderly member of the bar, then re- 
 tired from practice, motioned to him with some 
 concern in his countenance. Mr. Hackett, as he 
 leaned ov-er to hear what was to come, could 
 scarcely conceal his amusement at the monition, 
 " I am afraid, sir, that Mr. Mason is not aware 
 what a ereat mistake he is makinor to undertake 
 this case at his time of life." (Mr. Mason was just 
 sixty- five.) 
 
 Mr. Hackett as counsel for one of the banks 
 in the town became much interested in the sub- 
 ject of banking. As early as July, 1827, he en- 
 tered the board of directors of the Piscataqua 
 Bank, and served continuously as a director for 
 the rest of his life, — a period of fifty-one years, 
 outliving every one of fifty-nine gentlemen who 
 were at that date officers of banks in Portsmouth. 
 In January, 1845, ^ipoi^ the organization of the 
 Piscataqua Exchange Bank, he became . its presi- 
 dent, and held that office till Aueiist, 186^, when 
 the charter expired. He was an earnest promoter 
 of the national bank system, and frequently com- 
 
Memoir. 37 
 
 munlcated with his friend Secretary Chase, in 
 person and by correspondence, upon the details 
 of the project. While the act creating these 
 institutions was pending in Congress, he made 
 arrangements to organize a national bank at Ports- 
 mouth, and awaited for their completion the news 
 of its passage. He at once assumed, and retained 
 through life, the presidency of the First National 
 Bank of Portsmouth, which claims the honor of 
 being the first national bank organized in the 
 country.' At the date of his death he was senior 
 trustee of the Portsmouth Savings Bank,^ — one 
 of the oldest institutions of the kind in the Union ; 
 and president of the Piscataqua Savings Bank, 
 chartered largely by his efforts, which went into 
 operation in April, 1878. His continuous term 
 of service as president of a discount bank doubt- 
 less exceeded that of any similar official in the 
 .United States. 
 
 He permitted nothing, however, to interfere 
 witji the regular and uniform despatch of business ; 
 
 ' Samuel Lord, Esq., was cashier of the old Piscataqua Bank when 
 Mr. Hackett became a director of that institution ; and he held a similar 
 office in each of the succeeding banks till his death, in 187 1. To the finan- 
 cial wisdom of this courteous gentleman much of the success of these 
 more than usually prosperous corporations is justly due, and especially to 
 the circumstance that the two friends were ever harmonious in thought 
 and action. 
 
 ^ The Portsmouth Savings Bank began business in 1823, and on the 
 17th December of that year a deposit of j5 20 was made, which is still 
 undisturbed, and which amounted, July i, 1879, to the sum of $536.86. 
 Almost from the beginning Mr. Hackett was its solicitor. In 1S69 he con- 
 tributed an interesting article thereon to Keyes' History of Savings Banks, 
 Vol. I. page 201. 
 
38 Memoir. 
 
 and his practice, as may be imagined, grew exten- 
 sive and varied, both in the State and Federal 
 courts, and before committees of the Legislature. 
 In his early years the bulk of litigation, as al- 
 ready intimated, was of a commercial character, a 
 fair share of which fell to him. At a later period 
 the investment of capital in railroads and manu- 
 factories, together with the creation of trusts, 
 introduced new subjects of legal investigation 
 and controversy, in dealing with which his acumen 
 and practical good sense were of great value to 
 his clients. Few causes involving property to 
 any considerable amount have been litigated in 
 that part of New Hampshire during the last half- 
 century, in which he had not been retained of 
 counsel. He was admitted to the bar of the 
 Supreme Court of the United States, December 
 13, 1 86 1, on motion of Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, 
 and successfully argued one or two important 
 causes before that tribunal. 
 
 The leisure moments of the life we are ik)w 
 contemplating found nowhere so constant and 
 congenial employment as within the walls of the 
 Portsmouth Athenseum, — an institution that owed 
 its origin to a need, early felt in the town, of a 
 substantial library for general reading. The act 
 of incorporation limits the number of shareholders 
 to one hundred : Mr. Hackett's membership dates 
 from 1826, when ten years had converted the ex- 
 periment into an assured success. A rigid, criti- 
 cal taste has uniformly governed the choice of 
 
Memoir. 39 
 
 books, resulting- in the present collection of four- 
 teen thousand volumes unrivalled, it is believed, 
 in quality by any general library of similar extent 
 in the United States. The Athenaeum buildingf 
 looked south upon the Parade, or public square 
 of the town ; and a spacious, old-fashioned apart- 
 ment in the second story accommodated the libra- 
 ry. The visitor, if need were, could rely upon the 
 kindly aid of the late John Elwyn, an erudite 
 scholar who spent the greater part of his life 
 among these books (many of which were gifts 
 from him), and to whom was accredited not only 
 a familiarity with the precise location of every 
 volume upon the shelves, but an exhaustive 
 knowledge of its contents. Till within a few 
 years (when a furnace was introduced, and other 
 changes effected), the reading-room on the 
 ground-floor presented of a winter afternoon or 
 evening the picture of comfort, in the wood-fire 
 that blazed upon the hearth, the arm-chairs that 
 stood invitingly in semicircle, and the roomy stalls 
 on either side the door as you entered, like those 
 of a London coffee-house. Sir William Pepperell 
 of Louisburg celebrity, and a trio of British 
 admirals, rich in blue and scarlet, — Sir Peter 
 Warren, Sir Charles Knowles, and Sir Richard 
 Spry, all ruftied and belaced, and grasping sword 
 or official spy-glass, — these, and other worthies 
 of a bygone period, looked majestically down from 
 the canvas in antique frames begrimed with years. 
 Files of newspapers lay aslant on high red desks. 
 
40 Memoir. 
 
 — staid and sober journals, such as "The National 
 Intelligencer," " The Philadelphia North Ameri- 
 can," " The New York Courier and Enquirer," 
 and " The Boston Daily Advertiser." And, as if 
 they had strayed from some counting-room down 
 by the wharves, there were long-legged stools, 
 designed for the convenience of those who took 
 their time to possess themselves of the current 
 news and the editorial wisdom of the day. In 
 this stronghold of conservatism one might almost 
 gauge the popularity of each sheet by inspection 
 of the hollows worn away in the floor in front. 
 
 It was the custom of the prominent business 
 and professional men of the town, with a sprin- 
 kling of retired sea-captains, at the close of the 
 business day to drop into the Athenaeum for a 
 social chat. Here local public opinion crystallized, 
 and events both domestic and foreign came up 
 for intelligent and temperate discussion. Here 
 minds of diverse training and habits of thought 
 got the benefit of mutual attrition, the scholar 
 coming down from the library to compare his 
 views with that of the man of affairs ; and conver- 
 sation took on the character of an interchanee of 
 ideas, never degenerating into mere idle gossip. 
 Mr. Hackett could nearly always be counted upon 
 to form one of this company ; and what with his 
 apt stories, his sensible comment, and his flashes 
 of wit, few surpassed him in' fine social qualities, 
 while no one contributed more to the general 
 enjoyment. One by one these gentlemen of 
 
Memoir. 4 1 
 
 the old school passed away till he found himself 
 almost the last survivor. 
 
 Mr. Hackett never abandoned the practice, 
 begun by him when a law student, of writing for 
 the press. At frequent intervals, during more 
 than fifty years, his ready pen, sometimes for 
 weeks in succession, enriched the columns of 
 "The Portsmouth Journal" with thoughtful and 
 timely articles that appeared as leading editorials ; 
 and this, too, when the field had not yet come 
 to be occupied everywhere by the overshadowing 
 presence of the metropolitan newspaper. In 1842 
 he testified the interest he felt in the temperance 
 cause by assuming, in company with a few other 
 gentlemen, the editorship of "The Washingto- 
 nian," — a sprightly sheet, the representative at 
 Portsmouth of a class of publications that had 
 sprung into existence all over the country in 
 advocacy of moral suasion. At this post of duty, 
 which required such occasional contributions only 
 as his leisure could conveniently supply, he re- 
 mained for about two years. It is characteristic 
 of the man, that writino- as he did while a moral 
 crusade was at its height, and in a seaport town 
 where the evils of intemperance presented their 
 grossest features, he never once suffered his ear- 
 nestness to betray him into the use of language 
 in the least degree harsh or denunciatory. 
 
 In 1847, at the request of the family of the late 
 Andrew Halliburton of Portsmouth, he prepared 
 a memoir to accompany a collection, privately 
 
42 Memoir. 
 
 printed, of that g-entleman's essays. By profes- 
 sion a bank cashier, Mr. HalHbiirton was a man 
 of considerable mental vigor, of fine literary taste, 
 and of simple habits. The writer, having to deal 
 with a life devoid of incident, ventures to make 
 his sketch almost exclusively a critical analysis of 
 character, and proceeds, with a confidence begot- 
 ten of the closest intimacy, to lay bare the work- 
 ings of Mr. Halliburton's mind, to wei^h his 
 
 O ' <_> 
 
 motives, and formulate his rules of conduct. 
 And it must be admitted that in the performance 
 of this delicate task he has achieved remarkable 
 success ; though, as one reads, the impression 
 deepens that the author is here unconsciously 
 revealing much of his own character under the 
 guise of that of his friend. 
 
 Credit is likewise due him for an interesting 
 and valuable biographical sketch of the late 
 Charles W. Brewster, to whom those who love 
 the olden time are grateful for two delightful 
 volumes of antiquarian reminiscences, entitled 
 " Rambles about Portsmouth." This sketch, pre- 
 pared soon after Mr. Brewster's decease, will be 
 found prefixed to the second series of the " Ram- 
 bles," published in 1869. With a free yet dis- 
 criminating hand Mr. Hackett brings out the 
 features of his lifelong friend so strikingly, that 
 every future reader of these volumes may feel 
 himself at once on the footing of farhiliar ac- 
 quaintance with their genial and modest author. 
 There is pleasure in the thought that one who 
 
Memoir. 43 
 
 has so industriously peopled the canvas with 
 noteworthy personages of the past two centuries 
 is himself depicted by a master not less skilled 
 in the art. 
 
 It was his fortune to furnish, year after year, 
 obituary and quasi-biographical notices of friends 
 or townsmen ; and perhaps no individual of prom- 
 inence in Portsmouth has passed away during 
 the last forty years, that Mr. Hackett has not 
 sketched the events of his life, and presented 
 a kindly but just estimate of his character. To 
 mark through a long stretch of years the growth 
 and development of character, and to keep vivid 
 in memory a record of his contemporaries, was a 
 habit in the indulgence of which he found pecul- 
 iar pleasure. The last personal friend for whom 
 he performed the sad office of a parting tribute 
 was Charles B. Goodrich, of Boston, formerly of 
 Portsmouth. They were about the same age, 
 had practised law together under similar circum- 
 stances ; and Mr. Goodrich's death, which he 
 keenly felt, preceded his own by a little more 
 than two months. 
 
 To assign a date to Mr. Hackett's entry into 
 the field of politics is to go back almost to the 
 beginning of his law practice. In no State of 
 the Union have the people engaged in fiercer 
 political struggles year after year than in New 
 Hampshire. The election for State officers is 
 now held biennially in November; but previous 
 to 1878 (when the change took effect under an 
 
44 Memoir. 
 
 amendment to the constitution) every March wit- 
 nessed the culmination of a lonof and excitino- 
 campaign, to whose resuk at the polls — since it 
 was the first verdict pronounced by the people 
 upon the winter session of Congress — there was 
 attached a national significance. It is not strange 
 that the lawyers, almost to a man, were drawn 
 into the contest as leaders of their respective par- 
 ties ; and Mr. Hackett proved no exception to 
 the rule. From 1828, when he enlisted in the 
 young men's movement to support John Ouincy 
 Adams, down to the last year of his life, his name 
 was foremost at Portsmouth as a Whig, and after- 
 wards as a Republican leader. He was an effi- 
 cient stump-speaker ; and his party friends counted 
 upon him in each recurring campaign to preside 
 at meetings, or to make one or more political 
 addresses in Portsmouth, or in the neighboring 
 towns. He rarely (if ever) omitted to attend a 
 caucus, and it is believed that there is no single 
 instance of his having failed to deposit a vote 
 upon the day of election. Any one at all familiar 
 with the history of New Hampshire politics for 
 the last fifty years will associate as party leaders 
 in Rockingham County the names of Ichabod 
 Goodwin and \V. H. Y. Hackett. Beginning in 
 1852, when a change from town to city organiza- 
 tion brought Governor Goodwin and himself into 
 the same ward, these devoted friends, as regularly 
 as the day of election came around, — State, Fed- 
 eral, or Municipal, — went to the polls in company, 
 
Memoir. 45 
 
 and deposited their votes. Thus for twenty-six 
 years did they testify in what esteem they held 
 the right of suffrage. 
 
 The Whigs held their convention in 1838, to 
 nominate a candidate for State senator for the 
 Portsmouth district, at the little farming town of 
 Hampton F'alls, upon the anniversary of the birth- 
 dav of Washinorton, and made it the occasion of 
 a laree and enthusiastic mass meetinor. After the 
 convention had disposed of its business, a pro- 
 cession formed, and moved with music to the 
 meetine-house, where an oration was delivered 
 by Mr. Hackett upon the political duties of the 
 hour. Hampton Falls is proud of having been 
 the birthplace and residence of Meshach Weare, 
 chief justice of New Hampshire in 1777, the last 
 president, and in 1784 her first governor under 
 the constitution, " No eulogy," said the speaker, 
 " can better describe the rare merits of Meshach 
 Weare, or bestow^ upon them higher praise, than 
 the simple statement, that, for nearly half a cen- 
 tury, he was in all the offices of highest trust in 
 the State ; that he resigned that of chief magis- 
 trate, and that he died a poor man." Mr. Hack- 
 ett addressed himself mainly to a survey of the 
 personal qualities requisite to the proper dis- 
 charge of public duties, — a line of thought where- 
 in he displayed a clear conception of the theory 
 of our republican form of government, and a 
 familiarity with its practical workings. This ef- 
 fort, which bore the marks of mature reflection, 
 
46 Memoir. 
 
 added not a little to his reputation as a sound 
 reasoner and an able and conservative political 
 leader. 
 
 The town of Portsmouth was a Democratic 
 stronghold. The Whigs often complimented Mr. 
 Hackett by supporting him for the Legislature, 
 until at last, in 1850, they succeeded in electing 
 him and Ichabod Goodwin as representatives. 
 He was a member of the House also in 185 i and 
 1852, as well as in 1857 and i860. After serving 
 two terms in the Senate, he was returned to the 
 lower branch in 1867, 1868, and 1869. When he 
 first entered public life as a representative, impor- 
 tant and growing railroad interests in the State 
 specially demanded careful and far-sighted legis- 
 lation ; and he was fitly assigned to the Commit- 
 tee on Railroads, of which he afterwards rose to 
 be chairman. Later he served in two Legisla- 
 tures as chairman of the Judiciary, which practi- 
 cally gave him the leadership of the House. 
 
 In the public councils he inclined to conserva- 
 tism. To an observer from without the State, the 
 popular branch of the New Hampshire Legisla- 
 ture has always appeared unduly large ; for, until 
 a recent reduction of about seventy-five, it has, of 
 late years, contained an average of three hundred 
 and fifty members ; and one House actually had 
 three hundred and ninety-nine sitting members. 
 There were, on the other hand, but twelve sena- 
 tors, now increased to twenty-four. While a high 
 degree of intelligence and practical good sense is 
 
Memoir. 47 
 
 sure to characterize each successive body of the 
 representatives (some towns wisely sending for 
 repeated terms their strongest and best trained 
 men), still it cannot be disguised that a delibera- 
 tive body so large as to be unwieldy incurs a con- 
 stant risk of legislating crudely and indiscreetly. 
 Amid so many, there exists little sense of personal 
 responsibility, except that here and there a mem- 
 ber feels called upon the more vigilantly to stand 
 guard against the passage of bills imperfectly 
 understood, and perhaps detrimental to the public 
 interests. To such an individual this duty pre- 
 sents itself more imperatively when he discovers 
 that a Senate feeble in numbers cannot in some 
 emergencies be relied upon to withstand what 
 is apt to be interpreted as the popular vote of the 
 House. Here Mr. Hackett rendered the State a 
 signal service. He sat near the speaker ; and no 
 member was more constant or punctual in attend- 
 ance. So lonof as the current of business was 
 taking the right direction, he had no desire of 
 appearing to control it : at those critical mo- 
 ments only when a salutary measure seemed 
 likely to fail, or a mischievous one to be passed, 
 did he feel it his duty to interpose. He perfectly 
 understood the temper of the House; was brief, 
 plain, and direct of speech; and he rarely failed 
 to carry his point. As a law-maker he was not 
 conservative enough to refuse to venture into 
 new or untried paths ; for he hastened to advo- 
 cate measures that marked real progress in public 
 
48 Memoir. 
 
 opinion ; but empirical legislation went elsewhere 
 for a friend. In fullest sympathy with the habits 
 and modes of thought of New Hampshire peo- 
 ple, he determined instinctively what was best 
 suited to their wants as well as to their tastes. 
 Nor did he neglect to consult their material pros- 
 perity. As an instance of his forethought, it de- ' 
 serves to be recorded that he it was who first 
 urged upon public attention the importance of 
 securing a complete survey of the undeveloped 
 water-power of the State : he was also the author 
 of the measure, approved in 1868, exempting 
 from taxation for the term of ten years the capital 
 of any railroad thereafter constructed in New 
 Hampshire. 
 
 In 1861 he was chosen to the Senate by a hand- 
 some majority. Of the labors imposed upon the 
 legislative branch of the government by the fast 
 multiplying necessities of war, he met and per- 
 formed his full share. Whole-souled in his devo- 
 tion to the cause of the Union, he was foremost 
 in upholding the vigorous action of the Execu- 
 tive. When a bill to aid in the defence of the 
 country by raising troops came under discussion 
 in July, and a Democratic senator had, in a long 
 and elaborate speech, denounced the measure 
 as unconstitutional, Mr. Hackett uttered the sen- 
 timents of a vast majority of the people of 
 New Hampshire without distinction of party, in 
 a vehement and logical reply. The following 
 language appears prophetic, read as it now is in 
 the light of history : — 
 
Memoir. 49 
 
 "This rebellion is to be crushed, and the Union preserved. 
 The senator is probably correct in believing that the govern- 
 ment will be stronger after it has subdued the rebellion than 
 ever before. Every true man must wish it to be strong enough 
 to be able to fulfil its duties. Terrible as this crisis is, it was 
 as inevitable as the American Revolution, and will in its results 
 be as full of blessings. In the end, the rebels will find their 
 level, and the loyal men will enjoy a lasting peace under a gov- 
 ernment of their own making." 
 
 Throughout the struggle Mr. Hackett was far 
 more sanguine than his friends of our ultimate 
 success. In his unwavering support of the gov- 
 ernment he did not content himself simply with 
 assuming his proper share of the public burden. 
 " Let each of us," were his stirrinof words at a 
 great war meeting, " perform the first duty he 
 meets. Do something for your country, and you 
 will love it the better for what it may cost you." 
 Suffice it to say that he met manfully the sacri- 
 fices which those of advanced )ears were called 
 upon to sustain. 
 
 Re-elected in 1862, he was chosen president of 
 the Senate. The session was busy and pro- 
 tracted, for serious work had to be done. " We 
 cannot forget," said he upon taking the chair, " I 
 am sure we shall not neglect, the duty which in 
 this crisis of our country we owe to our National 
 Government, whose power we have felt only in 
 the blessinofs it has conferred." Mr. Hackett dis- 
 plaved a rare capacity for presiding over delib- 
 erative bodies ; he not only readily despatched 
 business, but brought to the chair a suavity and 
 
50 Memoir. 
 
 dignity that were at once agreeable and impres- 
 sive. When the customary resokitions of thanks 
 were offered at the close of the session, it was ap- 
 parent, from the remarks that accompanied them, 
 that his brother senators meant something beyond 
 what formal ceremony dictated. He responded 
 in the following language of genuine feeling : — 
 
 Senators, — I offer you my grateful thanks for this proof 
 that you have appreciated my efforts to justify your partiaHty in 
 placing me in this position. The commendations which sena- 
 tors have been pleased to bestow upon my attempts to fulfil my 
 duties are to me as agreeable as they were unexpected. They 
 have taken me so entirely by surprise, that I am unprepared, in 
 language suited either to the occasion or to my own feelings, to 
 express the emotions they have excited. I shall carry from this 
 chamber recollections, never to be effaced, of the kindness 
 and courtesy which through the whole session each senator 
 has extended to me. 
 
 I have been a gratified witness of the assiduity and ability 
 with which you and each of you have performed the honorable 
 trust which has been confided to you. Your deliberations have 
 been as harmonious as those of honest and independent men 
 ought to be, and you have faithfully done what was needful to 
 guard the rights, and equalize the burdens, of a frugal people. 
 
 I had looked forward to this session with solicitude. The 
 defence of the institutions of our country had occasioned, and 
 was occasioning, the sacrifice of precious lives, and was impos- 
 ing burdens upon a population unaccustomed to heavy taxa- 
 tion. My solicitude was for the sacrifice and not for the result. 
 He who reflects that the theatre of this struggle is the North 
 American Continent and the question involved is. What prin- 
 ciples shall shape its destiny? cannot long doubt what will be 
 the issue. This result is prefigured by the significant fact that, 
 when officers who had been elevated to positions of privi- 
 lege and power betrayed and attempted to overthrow that 
 
Memoir. 5 1 
 
 country which had honored and trusted them, no sailor or sol- 
 dier was found to desert his flag. New Hampshire has done, 
 and will continue to do, her full share in putting down this 
 rebellion against the principles which peopled and prospered 
 this country, — a rebellion which is favored at home and abroad 
 only by those who claim more, or are content with less, than a 
 government of equal laws ought to confer. 
 
 I cannot find words with which to thank you for your kind- 
 ness ; but at this moment of our parting allow me to express 
 the earnest hope, that, upon reaching your homes, you may find 
 those who will welcome your coming in the enjoyment of 
 health and happiness. 
 
 The name of William H. Y. Hackett as a can- 
 didate for elector headed the Whig ticket for 
 president in 1852 ; likewise the Republican ticket 
 in 1864, when he cast an electoral vote for the 
 re-election of Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Hackett was a 
 delegate to the Republican national convention 
 at Philadelphia, in 1872, that re-nominated Presi- 
 dent Grant, and was vice-president of the con- 
 vention from New Hampshire. In his capacity 
 as one of the oldest delegates present, Mr. Hack- 
 ett called to order the convention that met at 
 Concord in December, 1876, to revise the State 
 constitution, and was made temporary chairman. 
 Most unexpectedly to himself, upon an informal 
 ballot for president, he receiv^ed no fewer than 
 one hundred and twelve votes : had he been 
 honored with an election to that office, the com- 
 pliment could hardly have proved more gratify- 
 ing. The convention proposed no radical changes. 
 Though attentive to the proceedings, Mr. Hack- 
 
5 2 Memoir. 
 
 ett did not take conspicuous part in the debates ; 
 but his counsel was freely sought by his fellow- 
 delegates, who yielded to his judgment and expe- 
 rience the tribute of their unfeigned respect. 
 
 One feature that heretofore has distinguished 
 the career of lawyers in a new and growing 
 country like ours, from that of their brethren 
 across the water, is the readiness with which they 
 have applied themselves to the encouragement 
 and advocacy of large business enterprises that 
 promise to develop the resources of the commu- 
 nity where they are undertaken, Mr. Hackett 
 was a man of sound and sagacious business 
 views ; and he did not hesitate to identify him- 
 self with every well-conceived project of a public 
 character that gave reasonable assurance of fu- 
 ture advantage to the citizens of Portsmouth. 
 He had much to do with the opening of railroad 
 communication with Boston in 1841, and there- 
 after was for a long series of years a director of 
 the Eastern Railroad in New Hampshire, as well 
 as the legal counsel of that corporation. With 
 some modification, the same may be said of his 
 relations to the Portland, Saco, and Portsmouth 
 Railroad.' 
 
 He foresaw the importance of building a line 
 
 I At the annual meeting, June 2, 1879, the directors said, in their re- 
 port to the stockholders, " We miss from our annual gathering to-day one 
 who has been identified with the interests of the Portland, Saco, and Ports- 
 mouth Railroad from its earliest days, and to whose wise counsels and 
 faithful services we are largely indebted for the present value and good 
 condition of the property. Your directors think it only fitting that they 
 
Memoir. 53 
 
 of railroad from the seaboard to the White Moun- 
 tain region ; was one of the projectors of the 
 Portsmouth, Great Falls, and Conway Railroad ; 
 and a corporator mentioned in the charter which 
 he was instrumental in obtaining. He was a 
 director, and subsequently president, of this rail- 
 road. Mention need not be made here of sev- 
 eral other corporations with which he was con- 
 nected, further than to specify two, not however 
 of a business character. At his decease he held 
 the office of president of the South Parish Sun- 
 day School Association ; and was trustee, as well 
 as treasurer, of the Rice Public Library of Kittery, 
 in Maine, just across the Piscataqua from Ports- 
 mouth. 
 
 In recognition of his attainments at the bar, 
 and his literary tastes, Dartmouth College, in 
 1858, conferred upon him the degree of Master 
 of Arts. The following year he declined an ap- 
 pointment to the bench of the .Supreme Judicial 
 Court, convinced that he ought not to surrender 
 his practice for the salary of a justice, notwith- 
 standing that the bar and his friends generally 
 agreed that the honor had properly sought him. 
 Among the kind commendations of the press 
 which the situation evoked, an article in " The 
 Democratic Standard," a strong partisan organ, 
 
 sliould record the name of the Honoral)lc William TI. Y. Hackett as one 
 whose memory should be honored by us for his faithful and efficient ser- 
 vices on the board, no less than it has been by his fellow-citizens of the 
 State of New Hampshire, as one of her noblest sons and most distin- 
 guished counsellors." 
 
54 Memoir. 
 
 published at Concord, became the subject of the 
 following incident One afternoon, as Mr. Hack- 
 ett came into the Athenaeum, Judge Odell play- 
 fully congratulated him upon his appointment to 
 the vacant judgeship. He replied that it was the 
 first he had heard of it, when the judge, taking 
 up "The Standard," read aloud the complimen- 
 tary reference to Mr. Hackett in connection with 
 the office. 
 
 Mr. Hackett. — This is only a newspaper nom- 
 ination. 
 
 yudge Odell. — True ; but you can take no 
 exception to the terms in which it is made. 
 
 Mr. Hackett. — Precisely : there's nothing in it 
 upon which I can go to the Supreme Court. 
 
 No one essayed more zealously than he to 
 foster at the bar a sentiment of brotherhood. 
 The New Hampshire Bar Association, incorpo- 
 rated in 1873, chose him their first president, — 
 an office vacated by his death. In 1876, at his 
 suggestion, the association appointed a commit- 
 tee of one member from each county (of which 
 he was made chairman) , to collect materials for 
 sketches of members of the New Hampshire 
 bar from the earliest dates. His death, it is to 
 be feared, closes the only source from which 
 much of this valuable information could have 
 been derived. 
 
 On the evening of the twenty-first of Decem- 
 ber, 1876, Mr. and Mrs. Hackett celebrated in a 
 quiet but hospitable manner the fiftieth anni- 
 
Memoir. 
 
 ^D 
 
 versary of their wedding-day. Friends brought 
 sincere congratulations, and it was a subject of 
 universal remark that the bride and groom of 
 the golden wedding looked as if they had but 
 just reached the prime of life. A physician, who 
 enjoyed the reputation of having laid up a hand- 
 some competence, rallied the happy couple on 
 their showing no signs of age. " Pray tell us, Mr. 
 Hackett," said he, " how you two manage to keep 
 so young." — " Pretty much as you've managed to 
 be well off," was the ready reply: "the fact is, 
 Mrs. Hackett and myself have kept about as clear 
 of the doctors as you have of the lawyers." 
 
 His interest in the welfare of Portsmouth by 
 no means confined itself to her material pros- 
 perity ; but every sensibly conceived project — 
 whether a reading-room to interest those who 
 otherwise would idle away their evenings at the 
 street corner, or some plan of embellishing the 
 town, and making it more attractive to stran- 
 gers, or the celebration of a holiday — was sure 
 to receive the sanction of his hearty support. It 
 was natural, therefore, that at public meetings 
 his townsmen generally looked to him to preside. 
 He w^as fond of the drama, and believed a judi- 
 ciously managed theatre to be a blessing to the 
 community. The chief local event of the winter 
 preceding his death was the opening of a hand- 
 some and well-appointed Music Hall, designed 
 for theatrical and other entertainments ; and he 
 took pleasure in pronouncing a brief address at 
 
56 Memoir. 
 
 its dedication. The following extract exemplifies 
 at once the liberality and kindliness of his senti- 
 ments : — 
 
 "This building is a credit as well as a convenience to our 
 city. A community is known, to some extent, by the character 
 and place of its amusements. This hall will exert a refining 
 influence upon those who occupy it. It will serv^e, to some 
 extent, as the place of our social re-unions ; for we cannot 
 come together in a well-arranged and well-ordered place of 
 amusement, without quickening our interest, and deepening our 
 sympathy with each other ; we cannot in company and sym- 
 pathy enjoy music and the drama, — those recreations which 
 enliven, sweeten, and lengthen life, — without increasing our 
 interest in and our respect for each other." 
 
 Of the subject of this memoir it may not be 
 said that he ever formally retired from active 
 practice : few lawyers do, who have grown gray 
 in the profession, preserving their health and 
 vigor unimpaired. He found happiness in the 
 daily service of his clients ; yet, not unmindful of 
 the impatience with which juniors of the profes- 
 sion are wont to regard the old and successful 
 leader who will not loose his hold upon practice, 
 he sought at the proper time to convert a contin- 
 uance at the bar into the source rather of quiet 
 enjoyment than of extended labor or of special 
 profit. One or two important suits engaged his 
 attention, in which he could hardly avoid being 
 of counsel ; and consultations for advice were 
 not infrequent ; but the burden and heat of the 
 day were over. He had outlived nearly every 
 
Memoir. 57 
 
 associate at the bar of his young-er days, and was 
 now called to mourn the loss of his friend Daniel 
 M. Christie of Dover, his senior by a few years, — 
 a lawyer of rugged force and marvellous industry. 
 In January, 1877, he writes: " I do not intend to 
 try any more jury cases. I have just come from 
 the court-house, where"! made a speech upon the 
 death of Mr. Christie, and was followed by Mr. 
 Hatch. The chief justice replied," 
 
 Latterly the bank had occupied much of his 
 thoughts, and he experienced an increased meas- 
 ure of satisfaction in the success that had attend- 
 ed its management. He had lived long enough 
 also to witness gratifying signs of the healthful 
 growth of the new savings bank, the plan of 
 whose organization was mainly his, and whose 
 line of policy he had carefully marked out. Of 
 dishonesty in places of trust he writes (April, 
 1878): "Another defalcation. ... It looks as if 
 a certain percentage of men could not come in 
 contact with, and have under their control, the 
 money of other people, without stealing it. It 
 is with reo-ard to stealinof as with all wrongf ; it 
 beofins with little irresfularities, and ends in dis- 
 traction. I always take off my hat to a man who 
 prefers to wear an old coat rather than be in 
 debt." 
 
 These latter days were cloudless and serene: 
 indeed, it had been ordained that, to the close of 
 a lone life, the trials and afflictions which it is 
 the common lot of man to encounter should visit 
 
58 Memoir. 
 
 him in their gentlest form. * In the language of 
 Izaak Walton : " His aspect was cheerful, and 
 such as gave a silent testimony of a clear, know- 
 ing soul, and of a conscience at peace with itself." 
 Possessed of a good estate, the fruit of diligence 
 and reasonable self-denial, Mr. Hackett was to all 
 appearance free from the burdens of age. Peace 
 and contentment sat at his fireside. Though 
 almost every associate of his early manhood had 
 passed away, the circle of his immediate family 
 remained unbroken, and his declining years 
 lacked nought of " honor, love, obedience, troops 
 of friends." No one thought to speak of him as 
 old. His complexion was clear, inclining to 
 florid ; his hair (which was of remarkable fine- 
 ness) had scarcely begun to take on a faint tinge 
 of gray ; his carriage was erect, step elastic ; his 
 eye not dim, nor was his natural force abated. 
 
 Excellent as was his general health, Mr. Hack- 
 ett from the age of thirty-one had been an acute 
 sufferer from the " hay fever," whose annual re- 
 currence he looked for about the twenty-third of 
 August, and which disappeared only at the coming 
 of the first black frost. So inflexible, however, was 
 his attachment to home, that he chose year after 
 year to endure this distressing complaint rather 
 than obtain relief by living for the season at the 
 White Mountains, distant a brief journey from 
 Portsmouth.' In the summer of 1877, upon re- 
 
 ^ Mr. Hackett furnished Dr. Morrill Wyman, of Cambridge, with 
 valuable material of which that distinguished physician availed himself 
 
Memoir. 59 
 
 covering from a mild attack of gastric fever, he 
 yielded to his physician's advice, and betook him- 
 self, at the first approach of the enemy, to Beth- 
 lehem, New Hampshire, where he sojourned in 
 perfect security in the company of agreeable peo- 
 ple, many of them exiled like himself not unpleas- 
 antly from home. 
 
 Change of air and scene, besides warding off 
 the annual malady referred to, seemed at first to 
 have imparted vigor ; but before the winter closed 
 there were ominous siofns of failing strenofth. He 
 said nothing of his condition, however, and kept 
 up his daily occupation as usual, at the office and 
 the bank. It now appears that there must have 
 existed some organic affection of the heart. On 
 the evening of Sunda)', the seventh of July, he 
 felt severe pains ; the ensuing Wednesday a chill 
 prostrated him, that might have proved fatal but 
 for timely and skilful medical aid. Upon the 
 return of consciousness the patient was most 
 alarmingly weak. Day after day, with wonderful 
 persistence, nature held out against the inroad 
 made by this attack ; and his physicians, upon 
 consultation, expressed strong hopes of a final 
 recovery. But at last it became evident that the 
 system could no longer take nourishment. 
 
 On the morning of the ninth of August a change 
 for the worse took place, and by noon he had 
 begun to sink rapidly. He perfectly realized that 
 
 in the preparation of a monograpli on autumnal catarrh (hay fever), pub- 
 lished in 1S72, — a work that at once took rank as of the highest authority. 
 
6o Memoir. 
 
 the end was drawlnor near, and said, in a voice 
 feeble but tranquil, " I had thought perhaps I 
 might be spared a little longer." Already he had 
 given a few directions, and now asked that each 
 member of his family should come to his bedside. 
 Peacefully he bade farewell to each in turn, coun- 
 selling his children to live together in harmony. 
 Upon his only grandson, Wallace, he bestowed 
 the parting injunction : " Do no discredit to the 
 name." As life ebbed slowly away, he whispered 
 something so faintly that all that mortal ear could 
 catch was the word "quiet; " then laying his head 
 over upon his hand, as a little child would fall 
 asleep, — he passed from earth to heaven. 
 
 The funeral from the church of the South 
 (Unitarian) Parish was impressive, but, as he 
 could have wished it, simple. The pall-bearers 
 were Ichabod Goodwin, John Stavers, William L. 
 Dwight, and Edward P. Kimball. He sleeps in 
 the beautiful South Cemetery, where, upon a gen- 
 tle eminence that commands a view of the noble 
 river and of the ocean beyond, a plain stone bears 
 an inscription only of his name and the date of 
 his birth and death. 
 
 A PREDOMINANT feature of the life whose out- 
 lines have been thus imperfectly sketched is its 
 uniform success. By this it is not meant alone 
 that in a worldly point of view Mr. Hackett 
 steadily prospered, but that he w^as successful in 
 the larger and higher sense of having employed 
 
Memoir. 6i 
 
 to their best advantaofe the talents intrusted to 
 his keeping. He seems early to have learned the 
 lesson, that to be happy one must make himself 
 useful; and that he is most useful who most faith- 
 fully adheres to settled rules of conduct based 
 upon a due appreciation of his powers. W'ith 
 him the duties of life were indeed more than life. 
 
 His aims were high ; yet he was no visionary. 
 Warm and impulsive as were his affections, it is 
 surprising to note under what steady control he 
 kept his judgment. Thus striving to compass 
 nothing that lay beyond the reach of his best 
 endeavor, he avoided those failures that form so 
 melancholy a chapter in most men's lives, and, 
 with scarce an interruption, enjoyed that favor of 
 fortune called by the world good luck, but which 
 is after all little else than the almost sure reward 
 of self-denial and patient industry. Success was 
 no doubt due in the main to qualities developed 
 by the severe yet invigorating discipline of early 
 privation ; and it is to be hoped that these condi- 
 tions of robust manhood, happily prevalent in the 
 country life of New England half a century or 
 more ago, will not wholly have disappeared in 
 the radical changes that have of late aftected 
 her population. 
 
 Though it was by his own unaided exertions 
 that the subject of this memoir achieved position 
 and influence, his bearing towards others was tree 
 from a certain pride of opinion and that air of 
 intolerance not unfrequenth' observable in what 
 
62 Memoir. 
 
 are termed self-made men. For himself, he soug-ht 
 content in the regular employment of his facul- 
 ties ; if he ever betrayed impatience with the 
 method of living that another had adopted, it was 
 with that of the professed idler. Yet he knew the 
 world too well to commit the error of accounting- 
 the actively industrious as alone useful : believing 
 that he who has 
 
 " A mind 
 That hungers and suppHes it, and who seeks 
 A social, not a dissipated life. 
 Has business," 
 
 he welcomed with a fine sense of their actual 
 value the presence of gentlemen of leisure. 
 
 He was engaged, as we have seen, in the active 
 practice of law for more than fifty-two years, — a 
 term longer than that of any predecessor at the 
 Rockingham bar. Loyal to his profession, it 
 greatly pleased him that both his sons had freely 
 chosen to adopt it as their own, as well as that 
 his lengthening days permitted him to see an 
 only grandson advanced in his studies at the Law 
 School in Cambridge. It is just, therefore, that 
 an estimate of his character should be made to 
 rest chiefly upon his rank and attainments as a 
 lawyer. 
 
 About the time of his coming forward in the 
 profession, the "case lawyer" was disappearing; 
 for, so long as the reports continued to aggregate 
 few in number, it had not unreasonably been 
 expected of the well-equipped practitioner that 
 
Memoir. 63 
 
 he had famiharized himself with all the leading 
 decisions, so as readily to cite each case from 
 memory. Though Mr. Hackett could rely to an 
 extraordinary degree upon his memory, he had 
 early schooled himself to retain a legal principle 
 as distinct from and without much regard to the 
 case in which the court had laid it down. The 
 law libraries of his student days were small in 
 extent, and scanty facilities were granted to pur- 
 sue a subject far in any one direction : at a later 
 period, Mr. Hackett showed little disposition to 
 surround himself with many legal treatises, or to 
 keep abreast of the reports. Yet he was by no 
 means neglectful of his readinor. It is true he did 
 not encumber his memory with a mass of undi- 
 gested law : at the same time, no well-considered 
 case precisely in point was likely to be omitted 
 from his brief. While he may not be styled a 
 learned lawyer, he was firmly grounded in tlie 
 common law, comprehended aKva)'s " the reason 
 of the rule," retained a correct knowledge of de- 
 cided points, and was quick to apply legal princi- 
 ples to a new condition of things. With him law 
 was eminently a practical science ; for he studied, 
 alone with the rulines of the courts, human na- 
 ture and the ever-varying relations of society. 
 The regions he explored were those likely to be 
 travelled in the ordinary course of business, and 
 he seldom deviated into those researches which 
 chiefly attract the curious and the speculative. 
 He pursued a legal doctrine to its results as 
 
64 Memoir. 
 
 tested by the experience of every-day life, and 
 so was forward to discover defects and the need 
 of legal reform. The old common law system of 
 pleading and practice still exists in New Hamp- 
 shire, but it never made Mr. Hackett technical : 
 on the contrary, his preferences leaned to equity 
 jurisprudence, and he labored long and studiously 
 in the ranks of those (and they were few) who 
 succeeded at last in bringing chancery practice 
 into favor at the bar of a State jealous of innova- 
 tion. As Choate once felicitously said of equity, 
 in commenting upon a similar trait in a brother 
 lawyer : " To such a mind, and such tastes as 
 his, its comparative freedom from technicalities, 
 its regulated discretion, and its efforts to accom- 
 plish exact justice and effectual relief, possessed 
 a charm, and had a value, far beyond that of the 
 more artificial science, whose incompleteness and 
 rigidity it supplies and ameliorates." 
 
 Though he reached a conclusion by rapid pro- 
 cesses, he never decided in haste, or upon 
 impulse. It was his wont to turn a question 
 over In his mind before looking at the books, 
 and he often felt instinctively what at least the 
 law ought to be. This habit of reasoning for 
 himself before calling in the aid of the later 
 authorities intensified his tenacity of opinion to 
 a degree, that in more than one instance the 
 views of the court unanimously expressed failed 
 to shake his conviction. It once happened, where 
 a decision surprised and greatly disappointed him. 
 
Memoir. 65 
 
 that the case did not appear in the next volume 
 of reports, nor was it ever reported. One day 
 rallying the chief justice, who had pronounced 
 the opinion, Mr. Hackett expressed his readiness 
 to make a bargain with the court, — the reporter 
 should print his argument side by side with their 
 opinion, and he would be more than content. 
 
 The earliest reported cause in which he appears 
 of counsel was determined in 1827;' and from 
 that time till his death (at which date the court 
 were holding one of his cases under advisement), 
 the fifty-three volumes of the New Hampshire 
 Reports, together with the decisions of the Circuit 
 and the Supreme Court of the United States, 
 testify with what ability and with what fair meas- 
 ure of success he addressed the bench. As a 
 speaker to the court Mr. Hackett was clear, logi- 
 cal, and earnest ; he possessed to a good degree 
 that first requisite of success at the bar, — the 
 power of statement ; he arranged his argument 
 methodically, concentrating his efforts upon the 
 few important points in controversy, and rea- 
 soned closely with some fertility of illustration, 
 but withoift the least display of learning. He 
 was dignified and sober in address ; yet a strong 
 sense of humor would not infrequently assert 
 itself in the line both of his spoken and written 
 argument, as witness these closing remarks in 
 behalf of the defendants, in an important railroad 
 suit : — 
 
 ^ Odioine vs. Seave)', 4 New Ilampshiie Reports, 53. 
 
66 Memoir. 
 
 " With one-twentieth of one side and no part of the 
 other side properly before it ; with the alleged official delin- 
 quents, the funds and corporate organization, which are the 
 real subjects of controversy, and the instruments by and 
 through which redress is to be afforded, out of their territorial 
 jurisdiction, — this court is expected to afford a remedy, not 
 against either persons or property in this State, but by one 
 comprehensive decree consequent upon a full examination of 
 the whole matter, to adjust all the disputes and differences now 
 pending between the Eastern Railroad in New Hampshire and 
 the Eastern Railroad in Massachusetts, and such disputes as 
 these complainants by their bill have put in issue. Great as 
 will be the labor of the court if it shall attemj^t to perform this 
 complicated duty, it will be less than that of the counsel who 
 undertake to find the authorities which impose it." ^ 
 
 Immediately upon coming to the bar he gained 
 reputation as a jury lawyer. Quick to accommo- 
 date himself to the shifting phases of a trial, fair 
 yet firm in his treatment of witnesses, animated 
 and persuasive in argument, and prompt to aid 
 the court by a lucid exposition of what he con- 
 ceived to be the law, there were few counsel at 
 any bar to whom a client could intrust his rights 
 with a better assured sense of complete protection. 
 He identified himself with his client to the extent 
 of manifesting a warm personal interest in the 
 struggle. By no means litigious, he seldom came 
 to trial until after he had exhausted all reasonable 
 means of settlement ; but the contest once begun, 
 he fought as if inspired with the sentiment, not 
 
 ^ March vs. Eastern Railroad ComiJany, 40 New Hamjishiie Re- 
 ports, 563. 
 
Memoir. 67 
 
 only that he was right, but that his opponents 
 were unutterably and hopelessly wrong. In ad- 
 dressing the jury he was neither colloquial nor 
 declamatory, but fluent, earnest, and self-pos- 
 sessed ; sometimes indeed a nervous tremor just 
 perceptible served rather to fix the attention of 
 the hearer than to distract it : late in life he con- 
 fessed that he had never gone into a jury trial 
 without dreading it. Rarely, if at all, did he refer 
 to the copious notes taken of the testimony ; but 
 he marshalled the facts from memory, pressing 
 with great force upon the jury every circumstance 
 that could possibly tell in favor of his client. Nor 
 did he proceed far before showing how unre- 
 servedly were his feelings enlisted ; for dissimu- 
 lation or sophistry was utterly foreign to his 
 nature. He may have lacked some of the arts 
 and graces of the forensic orator ; the " marrow 
 of persuasion " may not always have been at his 
 command : but for skill in adapting language to 
 the intellio^ence of the twelve men before him, 
 for the determined vigor that drove home and 
 clinched his arofument. and for the tone of can- 
 dor that marked every utterance, Mr. Hackett 
 deserves to be remembered as an advocate who 
 upon occasion rose to the height of true elo- 
 quence. The progress of the trial was almost 
 sure to be enlivened by some flash of wit from 
 him, especially if provoked by an attack from the 
 other side. These happy repartees for the most 
 part exist now only in tradition. The following 
 
68 Memoir. 
 
 anecdotes, however, show that his zest for fun 
 was that of a true lawyer : — 
 
 Upon opening a case brought in behalf of 
 a landlord against a delinquent tenant named 
 Parent, Mr. Hackett remarked gravely that his 
 client had reached the conclusion that it was high 
 time for the defendant to change his name or his 
 habits ; and, inasmuch as he saw little prospect of 
 his doing either, nothing had been left but to 
 begin a suit. 
 
 In the examination of a witness he was sud- 
 denly checked by the opposing counsel, who, 
 stating his objection to the interrogatory, varied 
 slightly its phraseology ; whereupon Mr. Hackett 
 exclaimed, with a significant glance at the jury : 
 " Oh, no ! I wouldn't hazard the verdict I expect 
 these gentlemen to give me — by asking tJiat 
 question." 
 
 A brother lawyer having occasion to allude to 
 the rather sudden disappearance of a witness who 
 had been the captain of a merchant-vessel, re- 
 marked that he had " gone off in a tangent." 
 Mr. Hackett {sot to voce): "Took a sea cant, I 
 presume." 
 
 He was once trying a case before a judge who 
 from time to time durinof the argument to the 
 jury kept tipping back his chair at various angles 
 in an attempt to find a more comfortable position. 
 The experiments finally culminated in so extraor- 
 dinary an attitude, that the seat of justice shot 
 over backwards, and his Honor of a sudden dis- 
 
Memoir. 69 
 
 appeared. Luckily no harm resulted, though it 
 required some minutes for the bar and others 
 present to recover that gravity of demeanor which 
 the judicial presence, rectus in curia, is calculated 
 to inspire. Mr. Hackett, before resuming his 
 address to the jury, politely bowed to the resusci- 
 tated justice, and said, " If your Honor please, 
 fortunately for my client it appears that it is not 
 his counsel's argument, but the court, that has 
 broken down." 
 
 An unusually full bar were awaiting the ter- 
 mination of a trial that had been tediously pro- 
 longed. Mr. Hackett, to while away the time, 
 took a sheet of paper, and scribbled the following 
 lines, which approvingly went the rounds : — 
 
 " James Bell talked a spell ; 
 Ditto — Daniel Christie ; 
 Joel Parker's getting darker, — 
 And Woods' growing misty." ^ 
 
 He could not wholly avoid criminal practice, 
 
 ' Another bit of verse-making, though not of a legal character, is 
 worth appending here. A citizen, who in some circles was no great 
 favorite, had married a Miss Mann, and some years afterward, upon her 
 death, took a second wife of the name of Moore. Just after each mar- 
 riage respectively, Mr. Hackett wrote a verse as follows : — 
 
 I. 
 Poor A-B-C — the women hated 
 
 (Or so the scandal ran:) 
 With them he never could have mated, 
 
 And so he took a Man(n). 
 
 II. 
 The Man(n) at length departed. 
 
 And left him sad and sore — 
 Alone and broken-heart::d. 
 
 Until he tojk one Mo(u)re. 
 
yo Memoir. 
 
 though it was not at all to his taste. He was 
 once employed to defend a sailor who, after gen- 
 erously patronizing the bar of a certain drinking- 
 saloon, had taken occasion to quarrel with the 
 proprietor, borrowing a bottle from the counter 
 wherewith to carry on the fray. The latter was 
 severely punished, and came into court with his 
 head bruised in a style somewhat approximating 
 to that picture of ruin required to be set forth in 
 a common law indictment for assault and battery. 
 All that counsel could hope to do was to secure, 
 under a plea of guilty, as light a sentence as 
 possible ; and Mr. Hackett urged in his behalf 
 that the prisoner had acted under the influence 
 of liquor, — and poor liquor at that. " But, sir," 
 said the Court, inclining to look upon this plea 
 with little favor, " we are to consider the aggra- 
 vated character of the offence. Your client admits 
 he assaulted this man with a bottle." — "Yes, 
 your Honor," quickly interposed the counsel, 
 " we admit all that ; but I beg you to remember 
 that this man first assaulted my client with its 
 contents." The Court conceded the point to be 
 well taken, and Jack got the benefit of it in miti- 
 gation. 
 
 An honest old farmer, who had sat on the jury 
 that brought in a verdict in favor of one of Mr. 
 Hackett's clients, fell to talking, a year or two 
 afterward, with Mr. Hackett, evidently thinking it 
 necessary to proffer a word of explanation. " The 
 fact is, squire," said he, " we shouldn't ha' been 
 
Memoir. 7 1 
 
 so long a-givin' of you that case, but somehow or 
 other there happened to be a couple of men on 
 there who didn't know you at all : well, the rest 
 of us, we just told 'em what kind of a man we 
 knowed Squire Hackett to be ; and we kind o' 
 insisted upon it that we could depend 'xactly on 
 what you said ; — and so after that, you see, we 
 all come round together." 
 
 He had no professional jealousy, but wished 
 well of all his brethren. A most engaging trait 
 of Mr. Hackett's character was his deep-seated 
 affection and frankness ; it was simply impos- 
 sible for him to be thrown into daily contact with 
 his associates at the bar, without becoming firmly 
 attached to all who were worthy of his friendly 
 adherence. As he came into court in the morn- 
 ing with the green bag that lawyers are accus- 
 tomed to carry, no shake of the hand was more 
 hearty or salutation more cordial than his. To 
 the younger members of the bar he was kind 
 and considerate, and some of his warmest friends 
 became such in that relation. Perhaps no better 
 illustration of this fact can be adduced than the 
 following extract (which presents to some extent 
 an epitome of his character as a practitioner) 
 from a letter recently written by one of his former 
 students, now a highly successful lawyer of Bos- 
 ton, — Stillman B. Allen, Esq.: — 
 
 " I was a student in Mr. Hackett's office for nearly two years, 
 and I remember him as a faithful instructor, and from that time 
 until his death as an honored and dear friend. 
 
72 Memoir. 
 
 " He was a student all his life. He did not base his opinions 
 or arguments simply upon the decisions of other men, but went 
 deeper, and read the reports of home and foreign courts, with a 
 view to learn the meaning and reasons for the decisions made ; 
 and from these he thought out and framed his own belief and 
 arguments. He refused to try causes in the justice of which he 
 did not personally believe, and though sometimes misled, or 
 mistaken in the facts, his causes were always presented with an 
 honesty of purpose and a confidence which won the attention 
 and respect of the courts and judges before whom he appeared. 
 
 " Although an untiring worker, and more successful pecun- 
 iarily than any of his associates at the bar, he did not look 
 upon his profession simply as a means of earning money, but 
 as his place for doing good in the world. He always discour- 
 aged litigation, in many instances brought angry and contending 
 parties to a settlement of their difficulties, and was the means 
 of renewing many broken friendships. 
 
 " He was largely impressed with the equity and justice of 
 matters intrusted to him, and I cannot remember an instance 
 where he undertook to enforce or defend a case because it 
 could be legally done, unless he also believed it to be just and 
 right. Of course, he lost some clients by undertaking to de- 
 cide the justice of their claims in advance of the courts ; but 
 his known integrity brought him many more. When he imder- 
 took a suit, his chent knew that he believed it to be just, and 
 went hopefully into the contest. 
 
 " He believed in men, and, while not easily or often deceived, 
 he trusted them. His cross-examination of witnesses was never 
 made with the view to confuse an honest man, but only to bring 
 the truth fully to light. He was at all times courteous to younger 
 members of the profession, and never took advantage of their 
 want of knowledge of the rules of practice, but was ready to 
 help them over such difficulties, and to try their cases on their 
 merits." . . . 
 
Memoir. 73 
 
 Says a gentleman who once practised law by his 
 side : — 
 
 " A noble trait in his character was his freedom from the 
 spirit that prompts, and his abstinence from the practice of, 
 detraction. I saw him daily for several years, and frequently in 
 later years, and not seldom was I admitted to what may be re- 
 garded as the confidences of unrestrained intercourse ; but at 
 no time did I ever hear from him any thing that savored of per- 
 sonal criticism of any individual in Portsmouth or elsewhere, in 
 regard to private character. Public men, or the acts of public 
 men, he commended or condemned when he thought the occa- 
 sion demanded ; but I do not remember to have heard him 
 impugn the motives of any public man or of any private man 
 or woman. When he could not approve, he was silent. Of 
 course, to this must be excepted such occasions in the dis- 
 charge of his professional duties as required him to call atten- 
 tion to facts sworn to in court, or te just inferences from such 
 testimony." 
 
 Upon the whole, it may be emphatically said of 
 Mr. Hackett, that he attained that full measure 
 of usefulness in his day and generation which is 
 vouchsafed to the able and upright lawyer. For 
 more than half a century, with singleness of pur- 
 pose, he served his fellow-townsmen as counsel- 
 lor, advocate, and friend, living a life " adorned by 
 consistent principles, and filled up in the dis- 
 charge of virtuous duty." 
 
 To banking Mr. Hackett had given his best 
 thought ; and the uniform prosperity of the corpo- 
 rations under his charge attests the soundness of 
 his judgment upon financial subjects. Thrown at 
 an early age upon his own resources for a liveli- 
 hood, he recognized the paramount duty of laying 
 
74 Memoir. 
 
 betimes the foundation of at least a moderate for- 
 tune. He made no haste to be rich, and studi- 
 ously avoided every form of speculation ; for he 
 set a higher value upon the discipline that insures 
 the slow but steady accumulation of wealth than 
 upon the possession of wealth itself. He saw 
 that as a general rule they are of little use or 
 influence in a community, who arrive at middle 
 age untrained in habits of prudence and self- 
 denial, — habits needful equally to build up a for- 
 tune, or to take care of it, whether earned or 
 inherited. He used to say that it was the duty 
 of a lawyer to live frugally, and by making none 
 but legitimate and safe investments, to keep his 
 mind free from disquiet about money matters : 
 thus only could his clients reap the benefit of 
 what they had a right to expect, — the full vigor 
 of his intellectual powers, fresh and elastic. 
 Observation taught him likewise with what rap- 
 idity and enormous power interest accumulates, 
 — a lesson that, strange to say, few seem to learn. 
 Little by little he came to understand the science 
 of investing money, not only as a means of im- 
 proving private fortune, but in its wider influence 
 upon the community at large, and upon the na- 
 tional credit He was consulted by many in vari- 
 ous walks of life, seeking advice what to do with 
 their savings, whom he encouraged by his kindly 
 manner, and to whom he freely accorded the 
 benefit of his long experience : indeed, he took 
 special pains to induce working men and women 
 
Memoir. 75 
 
 of slender means to lay by something as a deposit 
 in the savings bank. It is safe to say that seldom 
 has a single individual in any community done 
 more by example, by private counsel, and by 
 public lecture, to impress upon young people the 
 principles of economy and of sober living. 
 
 A word or two only as to Mr. Hackett's connec- 
 tion with politics. That a gentleman of acknowl- 
 edged ability, who for years acceptably served his 
 party, and who, in both branches of the Legisla- 
 ture, evinced such aptitude for the conduct of the 
 public business, was not advanced to some post 
 of yet higher distinction, may occasion surprise 
 to those who did not know him well. In explana- 
 tion it is to be remarked that, although public 
 service was not distasteful to him, Mr. Hackett 
 was far from being a politician. Political leader- 
 ship, to be sure, was accorded him ; but a poli- 
 tician in the sense of seeking to promote the 
 interests of this or that set of men, least of all his 
 own advancement, he never was. He detested 
 selfishness in politics as much as anywhere else. 
 Whatever may be thought in these later days of 
 the rule that the office should seek the man, he 
 acted upon it rigidly ; indeed, it is by no means 
 certain that he did not err in being over modest. 
 Upon more than one occasion, friends inspired 
 with a purpose of bringing his name forward as a 
 candidate for the chief magistracy, viewed regret- 
 fully his determination to take no step whatever 
 in furtherance of their efforts. And yet he was 
 
76 Memoir. 
 
 well fitted to wear such honors : besides, a orow- 
 ing public sentiment in that section of the State 
 had associated his name with the office as the 
 choice of the party. As for a seat in Congress, 
 his love of home and of a quiet life, to say noth- 
 ing of his reluctance to break up his law practice, 
 set at rest ambition in that direction. To each 
 public office that he filled it may be said that he 
 had been literally called ; and he performed its 
 duties free from a thought of making it the step- 
 ping-stone to something beyond. At each post 
 he was animated with the same sentiment that 
 prompted him to consent, at an age well beyond 
 the allotted threescore and ten, to serve for an 
 annual term as an alderman of the city of Ports- 
 mouth, — an office exacting in its requirements, 
 and to which there was attached no compensa- 
 tion, save the reflection that in assuming this 
 burden he was rendering a service to his fellow- 
 townsmen, which perhaps (such then was the 
 peculiar posture of affairs) no other individual 
 could so well have done. The record of his pub- 
 lic life taken as a whole satisfied, we may be sure, 
 his reasonable aspirations. In declining to enter 
 upon a wider field of action, he exhibited the 
 same practical wisdom elsewhere so fruitful in 
 happy results, and escaped those vexations and 
 disappointments which are so often the price of 
 political distinction. 
 
 Of his love of reading it seems hardly possible 
 to speak in terms of exaggeration ; for a good 
 
Memoir. 77 
 
 book was his constant and cherished companion. 
 Biography was his chosen study ; and years of 
 dihgent appHcation had famiharized him not only 
 with the hves of distinofuished men, but with their 
 pubhshed letters and ana. His excellent memory 
 enabled him to preserve ever afterward a distinct 
 impression of the character of each individual in 
 turn ; so that the estimate he had formed of the 
 relative claims of gfreat men to our admiration and 
 esteem was far more just and exact than could 
 be expected of the ordinary reader, in whose 
 mind the pages of to-day secure a lodgement 
 only at the price of effacing much, if not quite 
 all, that has just preceded them. Poetry and 
 novels lost none of their charms upon him ; 
 Goldsmith being his favorite poet, and of prose 
 writers, Scott. He seemed never tired of prais- 
 ing Lockhart's " Life of Sir Walter : " indeed, he 
 greatly admired the Scotch character, and had all 
 the intimacy of such acquaintance with Edinburgh 
 and its associations as can be obtained from 
 books. His reading was almost exclusively con- 
 fined to English literature ; and he took a lively 
 interest in the current publications of the day, 
 rarely permitting himself to miss a single number 
 of the foreign reviews. Of our own political his- 
 tory it is perhaps unnecessary to add that he had 
 thoughtfully examined nearly every volume of con- 
 sequence in that department to which he could 
 gain access. 
 
 Though not an anticjuary, he recognized the 
 
7 8 Memoir. 
 
 fine flavor of an authentic bit of early history or 
 biography ; and in the range of local tradition his 
 memory had treasured up a rich fund of incident 
 and anecdote. Of late years he was frequently 
 applied to for information about people who were 
 passing off the stage half a century ago ; and he 
 could recall a name, or verify a date, from mem- 
 ory with apparent ease. His bright, clever say- 
 ings went the rounds of the bar ; and he proved 
 no exception to the rule that lawyers as a profes- 
 sion are good story-tellers. When Mr. Hackett 
 related an anecdote (and he always had a perti- 
 nent one ready) his good humor and happy mode 
 of expression insured a treat to the listener ; and, 
 while his conversation on any subject was inter- 
 esting and instructive, it was specially entertain- 
 ing whenever he indulged in personal reminis- 
 cences. With w4iat felicity he drew upon this 
 store of local anecdote to illustrate a point, the 
 reader may infer from the following extract, 
 which is the opening paragraph of a disqui- 
 sition upon what turns out to be rather a dry 
 subject : — 
 
 " At our last meeting a friend requested me to write upon 
 the dangers of radicalism. Some years ago an embarrassed 
 debtor applied to one of our money-lenders for a loan of a few 
 hundred dollars, as he expressed it, 'to pay his debts with.' By 
 way of seconding his application he added, ' I knew you were a 
 careful man : so I have got Dr. Goddard to write the note, and 
 I have signed it, and every thing is correct.' The other quickly 
 replied, ' It would have suited my purpose better if you had 
 written the note, and Dr. (ioddard signed it.' Had I furnished 
 
Memoir. 79 
 
 tlie theme, and my friend written the essay, it would have been 
 better for the association, though it might not have been ([uite 
 so well for radicalism." 
 
 We have seen that, hke many a man In the 
 full tide of professional success, Mr. Hackett 
 managed to find time to employ himself in con- 
 genial tasks outside the routine of his daily work. 
 He had a strong natural taste for letters, and had 
 opportunity offered for its cultivation, it is not 
 unlikely he would have left behind something of 
 enduring value. What his industrious pen accom- 
 plished does not, however, fairly invite criticism, 
 simply because he cannot be said to have entered 
 the lists as a writer : he turned his hand to com- 
 pose an essay, an editorial, or a brief memorial 
 sketch, only by way of diversion, or because of 
 a passing demand with which he felt impelled to 
 comply. For the most part, he wrote imperson- 
 ally, or for a limited circle of friends : in the 
 only instances where he assumed the responsibil- 
 ity of avowed authorship the results were highly 
 creditable. Whatever may be said of the merits 
 or defects of his style, there can be no question 
 that he exhibited rare capacity as a writer of mem- 
 oirs. His observation was keen, searching, and 
 accurate : as in reading biography he discerned 
 between the lines the law of success or failure, so 
 in contact day after day with his fellow-men he 
 quietly outlined the true proportions of this or 
 that person's character, reviewing the past, or an- 
 
8o Memoir. 
 
 ticipating with almost unerring vision his future 
 career. "His power of perception and apprecia- 
 tion of men's character," says a gentleman of some 
 repute in literary circles, " deserves to be strongly 
 
 stated. Take, for instance, his notice of . I 
 
 doubt if there was much in common between 
 
 Mr. and himself; yet the sketch shows a 
 
 delicate analysis not at all common, and shows 
 also a judgment quite independent and above 
 
 the local feeling ; for Mr. was laughed at 
 
 by most, and misunderstood by all, in Ports- 
 mouth." 
 
 The art of letter-writing was not unknown to 
 him of whom we are speaking ; for he had learned 
 to employ his pen before the system of fast mails 
 and cheap postage had begun to rob correspond- 
 ence of its distinctive features. Familiar letters, 
 penned without suspicion of their ever falling be- 
 neath the eye of the public, reveal at times some- 
 what of the writer's actual self, for which we may 
 look elsewhere in vain. Since it was in no wise 
 irksome to him to write private letters, Mr. Hack- 
 ett wrote a great many ; but few, however, are 
 now preserved. As a fair specimen, the following 
 extract is appended, from a letter which he ad- 
 dressed many years ago to one of his sons, who 
 had just been sent away from home to school at 
 the aee of fifteen : — 
 
 " I am glad to learn that you are in good spirits, and enjoy 
 your school. It must be much easier to learn your lessons in a 
 
Memoir. 8 1 
 
 school where you are pleasantly situated than if it were other- 
 wise. ... In regard to going to church I wish you to go to 
 such place as suits you best. 
 
 " I am desirous, of course, that you should make good prog- 
 ress ; but I do not wish you to make any extraordinary exertions, 
 or to study too hard. I want you to enjoy being at school, and 
 to walk, play, and read, as well as study. Take abundant time 
 for exercise — health is of more importance than study. In 
 addition to the play-ground, walking is not only pleasant, but 
 healthful. If you can find an older and better informed young 
 man than yourself, you will find walking in such company an 
 interesting and important part of education. A great deal can 
 be learned from a well-informed and pure-minded young com- 
 panion in walks. One of the reasons why so-called educated 
 people are really ignorant is because they study books, and 
 study nothing else. When they take their post of duty, they 
 gain neither fortune nor fame, because they do not know how 
 to be useful. 
 
 " A young man, for instance, is to be a lawyer. He, of 
 course, should not practise law until he has studied it, nor 
 should he study it until he has finished his preliminary educa- 
 tion. Still, all moral questions bearing on the rights and duties 
 of man have a direct connection with that profession, and the 
 careful consideration and discussion of those questions are edu- 
 cating him for his future occupation. So of the passions and 
 principles which influence and control men : these a young 
 student should see, observe, and consider. So of the causes 
 which tend to the production and accumulation of property in 
 individuals and communities, — those habits which strengthen 
 and weaken the mental and moral powers : these, and subjects 
 like these, tend as directly to educate and fit a young man to 
 meet the labors and duties of life as mathematics, or Latin, or 
 Cireek. 
 
 " Besides, I am very anxious that you should cultivate the 
 habit of declaiming. Do not do it as a drudgery, but learn to 
 like it and to seek occasions to indulge the liking. Carefully 
 analyze the sources of failure and success ; avoid the one, and 
 
82 Memoir. 
 
 cultivate the other. Take pahis with the manner, and correct 
 faults. 
 
 " Besides, at least once in a week write some essay. Let it 
 be short, but composed of well-considered sentences. Be care- 
 ful to cultivate an easy and graceful style. I think the ' Spec- 
 tator ' should be within reach ; so that you could read one 
 of Addison's or Steele's papers just before you begin to 
 write. The best method which occurs to me of writing an 
 essay is, once in a week, to write a letter to some one of your 
 acquaintances, and after a few lines about yourself, and the 
 school, etc., to write upon some theme. Do it deliberately, 
 and not upon the jump, as I write you now, amidst chatter- 
 ing and interruptions. In this way you will find in a short 
 time that you can with ease write, speak, or converse on many 
 subjects. 
 
 " Another thing worthy of consideration ; and that is. care to 
 improve in conversation. I do not mean always talking by rule, 
 but that the scope of conversation should be wide, with some 
 care that there should be point in the thought, and correctness, 
 and, when attainable, elegance in the expression. In doing this 
 the freshness and really extemporaneous character of conversa- 
 tion must be preserved. 
 
 " But more than enough of this. I only make suggestions, 
 leaving your good sense to be your guide." . . . 
 
 In person Mr. Hackett stood erect, and lacked 
 but little of six feet in heiofht. His frame was 
 well built, inclining somewhat in later years to 
 portliness. His features were open, strong, and 
 regular : his Roman nose and firm chin might 
 have given him a stern expression, had it not 
 been for the large, pleasure-beaming eyes, or the 
 gold-bowed glasses that he frequently wore when 
 out of doors, and that lent an expression of be- 
 nignity to his countenance. The engraving that 
 
Memoir. '^2) 
 
 accompanies this volume is from a photograph 
 taken at about the age of seventy, and may be 
 relied upon as a faithful likeness ; from this pho- 
 tograph also Tenney has painted two excellent 
 portraits, one of which hangs in the Senate 
 chamber of the State-house at Concord. 
 
 But these pages have already far transgressed 
 their assiofned limits, and must be brought to a 
 close. There is no need to summarize the traits 
 of Mr. Hackett's character : he had nothing to 
 conceal, and what he was is plainly to be read, as 
 is the lesson of his life. " Although far removed 
 from my native place," writes an honored judge 
 of an United States court, " I have never failed 
 constantly to know of and to honor his unsullied 
 purity, patriotism, generosity, and noble deeds. 
 His was not only a life of eminent usefulness to 
 his fellow-rnen and to his country, but it was 
 adorned with all those noblest qualities to w^hich 
 we turn with just pride, and which endeared him 
 most to those who knew him best. Proud of 
 havinof been numbered amono- his friends, I 
 w^ould pay to his memory the tribute of my pro- 
 found veneration, and earnest, sincere, and deep- 
 seated affection." 
 
 Does this seem the language of studied eulo- 
 gy ? The youth struggling for an education has 
 never forgotten the hand reached out to befriend 
 him, or the words of kindly cheer spoken by a 
 voice now hushed forever. As a great English 
 
84 Memoir. 
 
 novelist, but lately entered into rest, said of his 
 still greater brother : "I thought of this when 
 I looked down into his grave after he was 
 laid there ; for I looked down into it over 
 the shoulder of a boy to whom he had been 
 kind." 
 
II. 
 OBITUARY SKETCHES. 
 
OBITUARY SKETCHES. 
 
 The following obituary, wliich appeared in "The 
 Portsmouth Daily Chronicle," upon the morning after 
 his death, was written by his pastor, Rev. James De 
 Normandie : — 
 
 The apprehensions which our whole community has felt for 
 some time, that the illness of this distinguished citizen might 
 prove fatal, grew only stronger when it was announced on Fri- 
 day that his disease had assumed a more serious aspect. He 
 sank rapidly but peacefully away, and died about four o'clock 
 in the afternoon. 
 
 William Henry Young Hackett was born in Gilmanton, in 
 this State, September 24th, 1800. He received his early educa- 
 tion at Gilmanton Academy, then an institution of some note, 
 and read law, — iirst with Matthew Perkins of Sanbornton 
 Square, afterwards with Ichabod Bartlett of this city, — and 
 began the practice of law here in January, 1826. On the 
 2ist of December following, Mr. Hackett married Miss Olive 
 Pickering, second daughter of the late Joseph W. Pickering, 
 and immediately after occupied the house, No. 8;^ Congress 
 Street, which has been his home to the present time. Many of 
 our citizens will recall the happy celebration of the golden wed- 
 ding, not quite two years since, when the coujile, venerable but 
 still unbroken by the experiences and cares of half a century, 
 stood in the room consecrated by so many home associations, 
 while children and children's children came to bring: their offer- 
 
88 Obituary Sketches. 
 
 ings, and the house was thronged with the few who could go 
 back over the whole period, and the "many who were friends of 
 later years. 
 
 Soon after coming to the bar, Mr. Hackett was elected a 
 director of the Piscataqua Bank, — an office he held until he 
 became president ; and this latter position he retained until the 
 affairs of the bank were closed. He was then elected president 
 of the Piscataqua Exchange Bank, and held that office for 
 twenty years. In the winter of 1863, being in Washington as 
 counsel in an important suit m the United States Supreme 
 Court, Hon. Salmon P. Chase, then secretary of the treasury, 
 requested him, upon his return to Portsmouth, to establish a 
 national bank. He did so, and this was the first national bank 
 of this city, and also of the country ; he became its president, 
 and was at the time of his death. 
 
 Mr. Hackett was also president of the Piscataqua Savings 
 Bank, recently organized, the oldest trustee of the Portsmouth 
 Savings Bank, and a director in the Portland, Saco, and Ports- 
 mouth Railroad. He has frequently represented the city in 
 the Legislature, has been president of the New Hampshire 
 Senate, was a member of the recent convention for revising 
 the State constitution, and the oldest practising lawyer of the 
 Rockingham bar. 
 
 Mr. Hackett had an easy and pleasant manner of speaking, 
 which made him the first choice as a presiding officer upon all 
 public occasions ; and for many years no one has had kinder 
 or more just and acceptable words of eulogy for associates who 
 have earlier been called away. His reading and studies have 
 been directed in the line of historical and biographical research, 
 and his conversation abounded in interesting reminiscences of 
 many who long ago were prominent in the business and politics 
 of New England, and especially of New Hampshire. 
 
 While Mr. Hackett must be greatly missed by our active 
 community, nowhere can his loss be more felt than in the 
 South Parish of this city, where his constancy, his punctuality, 
 his careful attention, and his unswerving loyalty to his succes- 
 sive pastors, have made him always a prominent and cherished 
 
Obituary Sketches. 89 
 
 member. When, as a young man, he came to Portsmouth, and 
 was not quite decided which church he should attend, he heard 
 one day in a company the preaching of Dr. Parker so severely 
 criticised for the emphasis it laid upon a true life rather than a 
 correct creed, that he thought to himself he should hke to hear 
 this clergyman preach who was so greatly denounced. The 
 next Sunday he went to Dr. Parker's church, and from that 
 time until his death, unless out of town or seriously ill, was 
 hardly once absent from his accustomed seat. 
 
 For an unusually long life he has been an example of indus- 
 try, diligence, fidelity, temperance, success in all public duties 
 and private relationships ; of uniform kindness and regularity ; 
 of unostentatious hospitality; of one who attained wealth, posi- 
 tion, influence, not by a fortunate turn of speculation, but by 
 persevering toil, — a representative of a generation fast passing 
 away, which held that steady application to a chosen pursuit 
 was a characteristic of all true manhood and all useful living. 
 
 It is long since we have been called upon to notice the 
 decease of one so widely and well known in our community, or 
 whose death will be felt in so many circles, — one more justly 
 honored or more worthily regretted ; and of what this loss is to 
 that quiet home circle we may not speak. It is greater to us 
 all, because of that activity of life which has given no impres- 
 sion of the inroads or feebleness of old age. In undecayed 
 vigor of mind he asked for his children and his children's chil- 
 dren, and with calmness and confidence spoke a parting word 
 to each one. We may be grateful for what this long life has 
 brought with it, and that, before increasing infirmities and dis- 
 abilities came, which would have kept him from chosen activi- 
 ties and been to him a constant weariness, he has been gathered 
 to his people. 
 
 There were few friends at Portsmouth to whom the 
 subject of this memoir had been longer or more closely 
 attached than the late Honorable Richard Jenness, at 
 whose death in 1872, Mr. Hackett, through the columns 
 of "The Portsmouth Journal," paid a warm but just trib- 
 
90 Obituary Sketches. 
 
 Lite to a character remarkable for breadth of observation 
 and for indomitable energy. It was left to the son, 
 John Scribner Jenness, Esq.,^ of New York City, grate- 
 fully to requite this service by contributing to the same 
 newspaper, of date August 17th, 1878, the following 
 sketch : — 
 
 There is a deep sense of loss in our community. In the 
 decease of the Honorable William Henry Young Hackett, it is 
 everywhere felt that a good and useful citizen has been taken 
 away, a strong prop has been displaced, an ancient and stable 
 reliance removed forever. What a large part, we now reflect, 
 has been filled by our late distinguished citizen among our 
 people ! what various duties has he honorably discharged ! 
 what a noble and profitable example has he afforded of uniform 
 kindliness and courtesy, and of an unsullied probity, during the 
 whole career of a long life ! As we meditate, the true figure of 
 our departed friend rises on the memory to attract our esteem, 
 aad to arouse an honest pride, even while it deepens our heart- 
 felt regrets. 
 
 The deceased was born at Gilmanton, in the first year of 
 the present century, — a rugged, sterile township, where little 
 could be raised beyond that sturdy crop of energy and enter- 
 prise which has everywhere enriched the sons of New Hamp- 
 shire. The young man, having received a good education at 
 Gilmanton Academy, early developed a taste for the profession 
 of the law. While a student, he happened to attend the trial 
 of a cause at Gilmanton, in which our former townsman, Hon. 
 Ichabod Bartlett, was one of the counsel ; and he was so deeply 
 impressed by the adroitness, wit, and eloquence of that distin- 
 guished advocate, that he resolved to follow him to Portsmouth, 
 and seek admittance to his office. With a very slender purse, 
 the young man crossed the country, partly on foot, and reached 
 Portsmouth in April, 1822. He was received as a student into 
 Bartlett's olifice, eking out his scanty means during his novitiate 
 
 I Mr. John Scribner Jenness died August loth, 1879, at " The Wentworth," Newcastle, 
 New Hampshire, while these sheets were passing through the press. 
 
Obituary Sketches. 91 
 
 by keeping a school, and was admitted to the bar in January, 
 1826. In December of that year he married Miss OHve Pick- 
 ering, second daughter of the late Joseph W. Pickering, Esq., 
 and took up his residence at the dwelling-house on Congress 
 Street, where he lived until his death. Two years ago the 
 venerable couple, surrounded by an unbroken family, celebrated 
 their golden wedding in the same rooms where they had held 
 their nuptial festivities. 
 
 When the "young aspirant entered the bar, he found in the 
 profession an array of men of very superior talents. Jeremiah 
 Mason was there, and Levi Woodbury, Frank Pierce, Ichabod 
 Bartlett, Nathaniel A. Haven, Jr., Edward Cutts, and several 
 others, who adorned the high ranks of their profession. To 
 compete with such men as these was indeed an arduous task. 
 But the elastic spirits and tireless energy of the Gilmanton youth 
 never failed him in the struggle ; and it was but a short time 
 before he acquired a substantial practice, which continued to 
 increase upon him so long as his other avocations gave him 
 leisure to accept it. 
 
 Mr. Hackett's mind was essentially prompt and alert ; his 
 perceptions were unusually acute ; he had a quick discernment 
 of human character, an experienced knowledge of affairs, a 
 common-sense sagacity, which at the trial of causes he more 
 confidently relied on, perhaps, than on the profound study of 
 cases and precedents. He was a ready, fluent speaker, who 
 knew how to state his case clearly and to present it to the best 
 advantage. An ambitious young man thus fully ecjuipped could 
 hardly fail to gain prominence, even among those great intel- 
 lects of his contemporaries. 
 
 His practice during the half-century he was at the bar was 
 very multifarious, embracing cases at common law and equity, 
 at nisi prius and in banco, in probate and in admiralty, in the 
 State and in the Federal courts. Many of these cases involved 
 large interests : indeed, we may add that very few cases of 
 importance have arisen for many years in our community, in 
 which his name as counsel does not appear upon the one side 
 or the other. He did not, however, regard a lawsuit as a sort 
 
92 Obituary Sketches. 
 
 of intellectual entertainment, though such had been the idea of 
 the preceding generation : he regarded it and treated it as a 
 mere business matter. His design always was to assert or pro- 
 tect the real interests of his client, without seeking occasion in 
 the courts for the vain display of oratory ; and his clients had 
 reason to be thankful to him in the general success which 
 crowned his efforts in their behalf. 
 
 Mr. Hackett early entered public life. Even before his 
 admission to the bar, he had ser\'ed, in 1824-25, as clerk of 
 the State Senate. In 1828 he was an active member of the 
 Young Men's party, which supported the Adams administra- 
 tion against the thickening assaults of " Old Hickory." But, 
 as is well known, the Whig party were utterly routed in that 
 great contest, and for the ensuing twenty years the State fell 
 into the hands of the Democracy. At length, the old issues 
 having died out, the Whigs began to regain the ascendency. 
 In 1850, and for a number of years afterwards, Mr. Hackett 
 represented Portsmouth in the Legislature. In 1861 he served 
 as State senator from the First District, and the following year 
 (1862) he was chosen president of the Senate. He proved an 
 excellent presiding officer, and secured the entire confidence 
 of that body, without distinction of party. He was an earnest 
 supporter of the government during the great Rebellion. In a 
 speech made in the Senate July 20th, 1 861, he declared emphati- 
 cally, "This Rebellion is to be crushed, and the Union pre- 
 sened. The government will be stronger after it has subdued 
 the Rebellion than ever before. Terrible as this crisis is, it was 
 as inevitable as the American Revolution, and will in its results 
 be as full of blessings." With these sentiments he did all in 
 his power, both in the halls of legislation and in the rostrum of 
 public assemblies, to stimulate the people, and strengthen the 
 hands of government, for the vigorous prosecution of the war. 
 
 Our limited space hardly permits us even to enumerate the 
 various town and city offices he from time to time accepted, 
 or the party conventions he attended, or the party commit- 
 tees he constantly served upon. But though his services to his 
 party were unremitting, yet he was never a bitter partisan. 
 
Obituary Sketches, 93 
 
 His friendly temper was not soured by party differences. 
 There was really no narrow bigotry in his well-balanced mind. 
 His politics were naturally cautious and conservative, and as 
 he acquired a large estate in the community that tone of mind 
 deepened. But, though his political convictions were strong, 
 he never knew how to hate heartily an opponent ; and in 
 return his opponents, while they deplored what they consid- 
 ered his errors of opinion, always respected his honesty. 
 
 Amid these public services and the cares of a large law prac- 
 tice, our lamented townsman found time to pursue those lite- 
 rary studies for which he had a keen relish. In belles-lettres^ 
 particularly in memoirs, biographies, historical reminiscences, 
 and the like, his reading was extensive. Such books, for in- 
 stance, as Boswell's "Johnson," or Campbell's "Lives of the 
 Lord Chancellors " and " Chief Justices," were great favorites 
 with him, and in this kind of writing his own pen was very feli- 
 citous. As it was his fate to survive nearly all the friends of his 
 youth, he was called upon as one by one fell away to write 
 their memoirs and obituary notices. In executing this friendly 
 duty he displayed a particular excellence. His biographical 
 sketch, for instance, of Charles W. Brewster, printed among the 
 " Rambles about Portsmouth," is a fine specimen of his literary 
 skill. His memoir of Andrew Halliburton, prefixed to a collec- 
 tion of that gentleman's Essays, is a model in that kind of com- 
 position. Clear and epigrammatic in style, with well-chosen 
 language and a pleasing cadence of structure, the piece dis- 
 plays much nice discrimination of character, and abounds in 
 just and judicious reflections. Another fair specimen of his 
 writing may be found in his sketch of John Jay, published in 
 "The American Whig Review," 1845. Numerous were the 
 literary clubs and educational institutions of which he was a 
 member ; but we can only refer here to his connection with the 
 New Hampshire Historical Society, of which he became a mem- 
 ber as early as 1835, vice-president in i860, and president from 
 1861 to 1866, and for which he always felt a warm interest. 
 In recognition of his literary services and acquirements, the 
 degree of A.M. was conferred on him by Dartmouth College. 
 
94 Obituary Sketches. 
 
 It was the business of banking, however, which chiefly en- 
 grossed his attention during the later years of his hfe. Chosen 
 into the direction of the Piscataqua PJank in 1827, he remained 
 closely attached to that institution and its successors,— the Pis- 
 cataqua Exchange and the First National, — until his death. For 
 many years he had been president of these corporations, as well 
 as of the Piscataqua Savings Bank, and a trustee of the Ports- 
 mouth Savings Bank. In the management of monetary insti- 
 tutions he was always successful. The rapidity and accuracy 
 of his intuitions here found full scope, and they were amply 
 rewarded. A considerable portion of his ample estate arose 
 from his skill and prudence in the management of these 
 moneyed corporations. 
 
 Among his many other important business employments we 
 will only mention his presidency of the Portsmouth, Great Falls, 
 and Conway Railroad, and his directorship in the Eastern Rail- 
 road in New Hampshire, and in the Portland, Saco, and Ports- 
 mouth Railroad. 
 
 Mr. Hackett's life, we perceive, was a very full and busy one ; 
 but, nevertheless, he found time for the interests of moraUty 
 and religion. For some years of his life he was corresponding 
 secretary of the Peace Society. Shortly after his arrival in 
 Portsmouth he attached himself warmly to the South Parish 
 Church, then under the ministrations of Dr. Parker, and he 
 continued one of its most active and efficient members during 
 the remainder of his life. The venom of religious bigotry and 
 fanaticism never poisoned his nature ; but his .views on this 
 great subject were broad and liberal. Creeds and platforms 
 were to him of little or no value. His practical wisdom re- 
 garded only the fruits of professed religion as evidence of its 
 sincerity and value. 
 
 In his daily intercourse with his fellow-men he was always 
 cheerful and courteous, and, though his feelings were' naturally 
 impulsive, it was rarely that he gave way to the display of pas- 
 sion. His mind was indeed in nearly all respects evenly 
 balanced, and stopped far short of excess in any part of his life 
 or character. A devoted husband, a kind father, a faithful 
 
Obituary Sketches. 95 
 
 friend, a useful and honorable citizen, how many are there to 
 lament his loss ! how many to profit by his example ! His 
 long life was a good one, and a serviceable one in many various 
 ways. In his last sickness, as he recalled the passages of his 
 life, he was borne up by the consciousness that he had won an 
 honorable place among his fellow-men ; and one of the last 
 sentences he uttered was to his grandson : " Do no discredit to 
 the name." 
 
 kx. the beautiful funeral service performed over the body by 
 his friend, the Reverend James De Normandie, a noble Arabic 
 hymn was read, entitled " He who died at Azan," a verse of 
 which we quote, as being so expressive of our departed friend's 
 assurance of the immortality of the soul : — 
 
 " While the man whom ye call dead, 
 In unspoken bliss, instead, 
 Lives, and loves you ; lost, 'tis true. 
 By such light as shines for you ; 
 But in the light ye cannot see 
 Of unfulfilled felicity, — 
 In enlarging paradise. 
 Lives a life that never dies." 
 
III. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS OF THE BAR 
 AND COURT. 
 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE BAR 
 AND COURT. 
 
 At the October trial term, 1878, of the Supreme 
 Court, held at Portsmouth (the Honorable Isaac W. 
 Smith, Justice), the members of the Rockingham bar 
 came together to take appropriate notice of Mr. Hackett's 
 decease. The meeting was held on the 23d of Novem- 
 ber ; and the following resolutions were unanimously 
 adopted : — 
 
 Resolved^ That the Rockingham County Bar regard the decease 
 of the Honorable William H. Y. Hackett as an irreparable loss, 
 alike to an extensive circle of devoted friends, to society at large, 
 and to the Bar of which he was so long an honored and leading 
 member. 
 
 Resolved, That while we point with just pride to the profes- 
 sional position of the deceased, we shall ever recur with still 
 greater satisfaction to the personal qualities which endeared him 
 to us, as a companion, a friend, and a brother. 
 
 Hon. William W. Stickney of Exeter, president of the 
 bar, reported the resolutions to the Court as follows : — 
 
 May rr plel-vse your Honor, — At a meeting of the members 
 of the bar of the county of Rockingham, held immediately after 
 the adjournment of the Court this forenoon, resolutions were 
 passed in relation to the death of our late brother, William H. 
 V. Hackett, who recently died at his residence in Portsmouth, 
 
loo Proceedings of tJie 
 
 and I was requested to announce his death, and present the 
 resokitions, to the Court. 
 
 Mr. Hackett was long a prominent member of the bar in this 
 county, having been admitted in the year 1826. I came to this 
 county in 1827, and he was then in practice in Portsmouth. 
 During this long period Mr. Hackett was engaged in the 
 active duties of his profession, and enjoyed in an eminent 
 degree the confidence of the commijnity where he lived. In 
 the practice of his profession he was distinguished for his atten- 
 tion and fidelity to the business intrusted to him, for his good 
 sense and sound judgment in the management of his cases, 
 and above all for his integrity of character. During his long 
 practice no charge or suspicion was ever made or entertained 
 against his honesty or fair dealing : he was earnest and ener- 
 getic in his efforts to maintain the rights and interests of his 
 clients ; but no dishonorable or improper means were ever 
 resorted to by him. In all the relations of life he maintained a 
 high position, and his many social and estimable qualities 
 endeared him to all who became acquainted with him. He 
 was largely employed, and stood high as a business man ; and 
 many important trusts involving large amounts were committed 
 to him, all of which were discharged with an ability and fidelity 
 seldom equalled. 
 
 I now present these resolutions to the Court, and ask that 
 they may be entered upon the records of the Court. 
 
 Hon. Albert R. Hatch said : — 
 
 May it please your Honor, — In rising to second the request 
 of the president of the bar, that you will direct the resolutions 
 we have adopted to be entered upon the records of the Court, 
 I feel that I am unable to add any thing to what has been 
 by him said so well, so truly, and so eloquently. 
 
 During the whole of my professional life, and for a period 
 of nearly forty years, Mr. Hackett was my neighbor, and we 
 were constantly engaged in the practice of the law before the 
 same tribunals. I knew in him an upright and able lawyer, an 
 
Bar and Court. i o i 
 
 agreeable companion, and a kind and constant friend. Cir- 
 cumstances caused us to be almost continually employed upon 
 opposite sides of a large part of the litigation in this vicinity ; 
 yet though I have had ample cause to respect and fear his 
 learning, his acuteness, and his eloquence, there dwells in my 
 memory no occurrence which tended to diminish my regard 
 for him as a courteous opponent and an upright and honorable 
 man. If in the zeal of advocacy, or under the smart of disap- 
 pointment, any unconsidered or unkind expressions had been 
 uttered, such was his generous nature, that the recollection of 
 the offence was never cherished for a moment, or interrupted 
 the friendly relation that has ever subsisted between us. 
 
 Mr. Hackett was a man of great natural ability and of won- 
 derful quickness of perception, to which he added an extensive 
 knowledge of the law ; and his large business was constantly 
 conducted with unvarying fidelity to his clients, and most con- 
 stant and persistent regard for their interests. If he had any 
 fault, it was that the keenness of his apprehension and the readi- 
 ness ^f his judgment led him sometimes to rely upon his con- 
 ception of what the law ought to be, rather than to anticipate 
 the slower conclusions of the tribunal he addressed. But 
 he was a successful man, his part was well maintained ; and 
 his honors and prosperity were well deserved, and modestly 
 borne. 
 
 In view of the certain limits which the wisdom of the Creator 
 has imposed upon human life, we may not now be permitted to 
 express more than our natural regret that a life so well filled, a 
 career so long and so honorable, has come to its appointed 
 termination. Yet I admit that it is with deep sorrow that I 
 take final leave of a friend with whom I have so long associated. 
 He was almost the last survivor of the members of this bar who 
 were living when I was called to take part in its active practice. 
 We who now stand before your Honor will be indeed fortu- 
 nate, if at the end, whenever it shall come, we can compare 
 our course with his, and look back to lives as well spent, duties 
 as well performecf, and be followed by respect and regret as 
 well deserved. 
 
I02 Proceedings of the 
 
 John S. H. Frink, Esq., said he desired to add a word 
 to what had already been said ; not because ceremony 
 or public expectation demanded it, but as a tribute to 
 one whom he had loved and respected for many years. 
 Said Mr. Frink : — 
 
 Some of the kindest words of commendation which encour- 
 aged me at the commencement of my professional life came 
 from the lips now cold and silenf ; and mine was no exceptional 
 C9,se. Mr. Hackett always exhibited the same uniform gener- 
 osity and kindness towards the younger members of the pro- 
 fession. He always had a kind word of praise for what was 
 well done, and a generous word of apology for what was ill 
 done, by a younger brother. He seemed never to forget his 
 earlier struggles or his later successes. Few, indeed, in our 
 profession, have attained the same success as he. Pecuniary 
 reward, public honors, and, more than all, the esteem and love 
 of his felloiw-citizens, waited upon him. 
 
 His fortune was substantial, but well deserved ; his hoMiors 
 were numerous, but apparently unsought ; while he had in 
 great abundance that which he seemed more highly to prize 
 than all other gifts, — the commendation of those whom he 
 met in the daily walks of life. 
 
 It may be asked, whether as a lawyer he deserved all these 
 favors of fortune, which so often escape the most learned and 
 brilliant. I think he did. There have been at our bar, during 
 my day, more accurate and learned lawyers than he, perhaps, — 
 and more logical and irresistible reasoners, but none more faith- 
 ful to the interests committed to them, and but few more happy 
 or fortunate in their presentation. 
 
 In the court-room he never abandoned his client's cause so 
 long as a ray of hope for his success remained. Many private 
 trusts were confided to him. I never heard of any abuse of 
 the confidence reposed in him in these matters. His adminis- 
 tration of this important branch of his practice was necessarily 
 secret and confidential ; yet it could hardly b^ possible that he 
 should have been chosen as the custodian of so many large 
 
Bar and Court. 103 
 
 estates if he liad mal-administered them. We all know with 
 what care he fostered the corporate interests committed to him : 
 these prosperous institutions to-day attest his vigilance and 
 prudence. 
 
 It never seemed to me that Mr. Hackett sought political 
 honors, yet such as were tendered him he accepted willingly, 
 lliey were often repeated, but not various. In every public 
 position, however, to which he was called, he was an acknowl- 
 edged leader. The secret of Mr. Hackett's success was, that 
 he was a man of many abilities, and if he was not foremost in 
 all, he certainly was not inferior in any. In the department of 
 literature, outside the narrow limit of the law, he was a man 
 of unusual taste, and more than considerable erudition. His 
 fancy inclined him largely to biographical researches, and I 
 know of no one leading so active and busy a life as he who 
 acquired greater knowledge in this department. He was a 
 facile and graceful writer, and some of his biographical essays 
 were models of good taste and excellence. 
 
 As a companion Mr. Hackett was incomparable. He was 
 accessible, familiar, and communicative, and never morose or 
 ill-natured. It had been his privilege to know intimately the 
 majestic ^^'ebster, the exact Mason, the learned Woodbury, and 
 the brilliant Bartlett. With a rare felicity of speech and fund 
 of humor, he would entertain you by the hour with reminis- 
 cences of these and other distinguished men whom he had 
 known during his long and active career. I know of no man 
 with whom I have ever spent a pleasanter hour than with Mr. 
 Hackett. 
 
 Mr. Hackett lived to a ripe old age. He was " busy in these 
 scenes to the very last plaudit." With him has passed away a 
 man in every sense valuable to the community in which he 
 lived. 
 
 His Honor Judge Smith responded as follows : — 
 
 Gentlemen OF the Bar ok R()Ckin(;ham Countv, — 1 am in 
 full sympathy with the sentiments contained in the resolutions 
 and addresses presented upon this occasion. Seldom is the 
 
I04 Proceedings of the 
 
 bar of any county in our State called to mourn the death of 
 three of its members following so soon one after another. I 
 last saw our deceased friend during the closing hours of the 
 last term of this Court, when he in behalf of his brethren pre- 
 sented to the Court their resolutions upon the recent decease 
 of Mr. Small. How little any of us then thought we should 
 so soon be called to pay the same tribute of respect to his 
 memory ! 
 
 With Mr. Hackett I was well acquainted during the whole 
 of my professional life. He was noted for his industry and for 
 his fidelity to the cause of his clients ; and his opinions were 
 generally correct and reliable. Towards his brethren in the 
 profession he was affable and courteous, and he commanded 
 the respect of those who knew him best. 
 
 In his death we all feel that his city and the State, as well as 
 the legal profession, have lost a prominent and valued citizen 
 and lawyer. His ability, his integrity and industry in the dis- 
 charge of the duties of private life, as well as when clothed with 
 the responsibilities of office or in the practice of the law, gained 
 for him the respect of this whole community. He was not a 
 man who encouraged strife and litigation, but rather encouraged 
 the settlement and adjustment of differences between men : he, 
 in fact, helped preserve the peace of this community for fifty 
 years. 
 
 He was permitted more than to reach the prescribed limit 
 of threescore years and ten, yet his eye had hardly become 
 dimmed, or his hand tremulous with age ; while almost to the 
 last his mind shone with the accustomed clearness and strength 
 of the mature years of manhood. 
 
 His character seemed to possess a well-balanced soundness 
 and fulness. He was, so far as I could judge, methodical and 
 careful in his business ; cautious, yet decided when the time 
 for action came. He was affable and courteous in his speech 
 and intercourse with others, reticent as to his own counsels, 
 and truthful in action as well as in word. 
 
 The estimate placed upon his services as a public officer was 
 best shown by the repeated calls made ui)on him by his fellow- 
 
Bar and Court. 105 
 
 citizens to represent them in the councils of the city and State. 
 Not often does it fall to the lot of any one to occupy a seat in 
 both l)ranches of the Legislature so frequently and so accep- 
 tably as he did. It may truly be said of him that he was a safe 
 and successful legislator, and neglected nothing in the discharge 
 of his duties. He formed his opinions from careful study and 
 mature reflection upon the general principles which underlie 
 our free institutions. 
 
 Into his bereaved home, and the relations he there sustained, 
 we will not enter. Sufficient it is to say that those who knew 
 him best loved and respected him most. By all who knew our 
 deceased brother will his memory be cherished while memory 
 shall last. 
 
 The resolutions presented will be entered at large upon the 
 records of the Court, agreeably to the request of the Bar. 
 
IV. 
 
 SELECTIONS 
 FROM MR. HACKETT'S WRITINGS. 
 
THE LIFE AND CHARACTER 0¥ 
 JOHN JAY.' 
 
 The American Revolution gave birth to a nation without a 
 national government. A people exhilarated by successful re- 
 sistance to lawful authority were called upon to become a law 
 unto themselves, while both the glory and poverty incident to 
 war conspired to distract them. When the war and its excite- 
 ment had passed away, leaving no perceptible fruits but desola- 
 tion and debt ; when, with a country convulsed by the jealousies 
 of great men, and discontent scattered broadcast among the 
 people, the attempt was made to form a national government, 
 — a crisis impended more fearful than that involved in the 
 Declaration of Independence or in any of the battles which 
 followed. Even to-day one trembles as he reads the record 
 of the events which followed, though knowing how they termi- 
 nated. 
 
 When a people whose only bond of union was sympathy 
 flowing from a community of suffering, and resistance to oppres- 
 sion, voluntarily adopted a form of government milking them 
 one nation, and combining liberty with security ; when the dis- 
 
 I Reprinted, in a condensed form, from The American Whig Review, July, 1845. 
 This sketch and the papers that follow it are presented, not because they are thought to 
 possess special l.terary merit, but because to a degree more than is common they bring 
 before us the form and lineaments of their author; are impressed with his personality. He 
 never gave them the benefit of his revision; and wherever the liberty has been taken of 
 changing the text, a scrupulous care has been exercised to preserve the thought in its 
 integrity. 
 
iio Life and Character of yohn yay. 
 
 contented avoided anarchy, and the ambitious yielded up their 
 schemes of individual power, finding a remedy in peaceful sub- 
 mission to authority, — the crowning glory of the Revolution 
 was consummated. As "he who ruleth his own spirit is greater 
 than he who taketh a city," so was the adoption of the Federal 
 Constitution a greater event than the repowned Declaration of 
 Rights, or the victory which terminated the contest. 
 
 The country will ultimately take this view of the subject, and 
 learn to venerate those extraordinary men who gave direction 
 to public opinion, subdued local and individual jealousies, and 
 from the chaos of jarring elements formed and established a 
 government. 
 
 When great men are estimated by what they do for others, 
 rather than what they accomplish for themselves, his country 
 will have advanced to the standard, and will appreciate the 
 character, of John Jay. When our country learns to consider 
 duties as well as rights, and discovers, as it will, that internal 
 passions need to be guarded against more than enemies from 
 without ; when it learns to bear and rightly to [mprove the 
 trials of prosperity, — Mr. Jay will enjoy a popularity, not bois- 
 terous, but quiet, like the current of his life, and deep, like 
 the principles that guided it. When the world seeks a model 
 to live by, rather than a hero to worship, and intellectual self- 
 ishness shall give place to public spirit ; when statesman and 
 Christian shall have become synonymous terms, — then will tliis 
 country be grateful for the example as well as the services of 
 John Jay. 
 
 It does not lie within the range of our plan to consider the 
 political opinions, but simply to narrate some incidents in the 
 life, and sketch a few traits in the character, of this eminent 
 man. John Jay was born in the city of New York on the 12th 
 of December, 1745. His ancestors were protestants, and had 
 been prominent enough to attract the persecuting spirit of 
 popery, and firm enough to abandon country rather than reli- 
 gion. His grandfather, xA.ugustus Jay, a native of France, came 
 to this country in the latter part of the seventeenth century. 
 Just before -he emigrated he had made a voyage to Africa, 
 
Life and Character of yohn Jay. 1 1 1 
 
 during which absence his father was compelled, on account 
 of religious persecution, to abandon his property in France, 
 and seek shelter in England. When Augustus Jay reached 
 France, and learned the fate of his father, he had the good 
 fortune to find a ship, upon which he embarked, bound to 
 Charleston, South Carolina. On reaching this country he 
 settled at New York, where, in 1697, he married Miss Bayard, 
 one of whose ancestors, a Protestant professor of theology at 
 Paris, in the reign of Louis XIII., had been driven from France 
 by the Jesuit persecutions. Peter Jay, the son of Augustus 
 and the father of John, married in 1725 Miss Van Cortlandt, 
 whose ancestors had fled from similar persecution in Bohemia. 
 The infatuation of the times forced to this country many good 
 men of whom the Old World was not worthy, and whom the 
 New so much needed. They brought with them principles, 
 dearer for the sufferings they had occasioned, to which our in- 
 stitutions trace their origin. Such were the ancestors of John 
 Jay, and this slender sketch of them furnishes the key to his 
 own character. 
 
 Mr. Jay graduated at Columbia College in 1764, and at 
 once entered upon the study of the law in the city of New 
 York. He was admitted to the bar in 1768, and almost imme- 
 diately acquired an extensive and lucrative practice. He soon 
 formed a partnership with Robert R. Livingston (afterwards 
 chancellor) ; but the connection continued only for a short 
 time. In 1774 he married the daughter of William Livingston, 
 governor of New Jersey. In May of that year, upon the 
 receipt of the news of the passage of the Boston Port Bill, 
 the citizens of New York held a meeting, at which Mr. Jay was 
 chosen one of a committee to correspond upon the subject 
 with the sister colonies. This committee was the first organ- 
 ized body in the New York Colony chosen to oppose those 
 measures of the mother country which resulted in the Revo- 
 lution. 
 
 In July following, Mr. Jay was elected a member of the Con- 
 tinental Congress, and wrote the address of that body to the 
 people of Great Britain. For nearly four years he was either a 
 
1 1 2 Life and Character of yoJin yay. 
 
 member of the Congress, or occupied a prominent station in his 
 native State, exchanging one ofifice for the other as the pubHc 
 exigency required. In 1778 he became a member of the New- 
 York convention to frame a State constitution, and made the 
 draught which was adopted. Immediately thereafter he ac- 
 cepted the appointment of chief justice ; and Livingston, his 
 former partner, that of chancellor of the State. During this 
 period Mr. Jay was a prominent member of the Committee of 
 Safety, — a body which exercised undefined and nearly uncon- 
 trolled executive functions. Towards the end of this year, 
 again having been elected to the Congress, he resigned the 
 office of chief justice, although the governor had attempted to 
 persuade him to retain both positions. Not long afterward 
 Congress made him its president. To the Governor of New 
 York, who wrote him, requesting a recall of his resignation of 
 the ofifice of chief justice, Mr. Jay replied, adhering to his 
 resolution, as follows : " The Legislature may, perhaps, in con- 
 sequence of this step, be induced to keep me in Congress. 
 On this head I must inform you that the situation of my father's 
 family is such that I cannot reconcile it to my idea of filial 
 duty to be absent from them, unless my brother should be so 
 circumstanced as to pay them the necessary attention." At the 
 same time he wrote to his brother : " I am now to inform you 
 that I have resigned the ofifice of chief justice, and if the State 
 should incline to keep me here, I shall consent to stay, provided 
 either you or James will undertake to attend constantly to our 
 good old father and his unfortunate family : otherwise I shall at 
 all events return for that purpose. Make up your mind on this 
 matter : if you cannot pay the necessary attention, prevent my 
 election, and let me know your intention by the first oppor- 
 tunity." Arrangements were made which rendered this sacri- 
 fice unnecessary, and he remained president of Congress. This 
 determination, however, more unequivocably attests his real 
 greatness than all the appointments to ofifice he ever received. 
 An aspiring politician would have looked upon infirm and un- 
 fortunate parents as clogs on his hasty feet, and upon home as 
 the last theatre for the exhibition of a lofty character. 
 
Life and Character of yolin yay. 1 13 
 
 No man ever filled high and varied trusts, or passed through 
 exciting and trying scenes, with more loyalty to principle than 
 did John Jay. Acting always from an opinion well considered 
 and firmly fixed, his life has no inconsistencies to show. Though 
 an early and constant friend of the Revolution, he exerted him- 
 self to moderate the resentment of the people towards those 
 who had taken up arms against the colonies, and to meliorate 
 the condition of such as were suffering imprisonment. One 
 instance of this is so characteristic, and in such contrast with 
 the times, that it well deserves mention. A New York gentle- 
 man who had accepted a royal commission found himself, by 
 the casualties of war, made prisoner, and confined in the jail at 
 Hartford. During his imprisonment Mr. Jay wrote him as 
 follows : " How far your situation may be comfortable and easy, 
 I know not. It is my wish, and shall be my endeavor, that it 
 be as much so as may be consistent with the interest of that 
 great cause to which I have devoted every thing I hold dear in 
 this world. I have taken the liberty of requesting Mr. Samuel 
 Browne immediately to advance you one hundred dollars on 
 my account." No man more fully met the claims of country ; 
 but he recognized no duties in patriotism inconsistent with the 
 demands of Christianity. 
 
 In September, 1779, Mr. Jay was appointed minister pleni- 
 potentiary to Spain, and during his stay in that country was 
 made one of the commissioners to negotiate peace with Great 
 Britain. Upon his arrival at Paris, — where, at the end of five 
 years, he signed the definitive treaty of peace, — he found but 
 one other commissioner (Dr. Franklin) on the ground. As 
 soon as the negotiations had opened Jay discovered that the 
 American commissioners, in order to preserve their country's 
 dignity and independence, would have to meet England not 
 only without the aid, but in opposition to the influence, of 
 France ; that it had become his duty to resist intrigues on the 
 part of the French court, and to disobey the instructions of 
 Congress. This he did, although Franklin opposed it ; while 
 Mr. Adams upon his arrival concurred in the course that Jay 
 had adopted, and Franklin ultimately gave it his sanction. In 
 
114 J-tf^ ^^^ Character of yohn yay. 
 
 this trying emergency, Jay's directness and honesty were more 
 than a match for the arts of diplomacy. The courts of France 
 and Spain were unprepared to resist a negotiator who frankly 
 avowed his object, and set to work by direct means to reach it. 
 Only a pure man would have taken this bold step : no mere 
 politician could thus have secured the blessings of peace, with- 
 out planting the seeds of future irritation and war. 
 
 Having accomplished the object of his appointment, Mr. Jay 
 returned from Europe, in 1784, to find that Congress, notwith- 
 standing he had disobeyed their instructions, had appointed 
 him secretary of foreign affairs, — an office corresponding to 
 that of the present secretary of state. This sufficiently indi- 
 cates how Congress regarded the propriety of his conduct 
 abroad. He accepted the position, although at this time so- 
 licited to become governor of New York. 
 
 In this new situation he soon felt the inefficiency of the 
 Confederation, and he was led to open a correspondence with 
 Washington and other leading men, upon the subject of form- 
 ing a national government. The convention followed which 
 framed the Constitution ; but Mr. Jay's attendance upon Con- 
 gress as secretary of foreign affairs prevented him from being 
 a delegate. As soon as the Constitution was proposed to the 
 people, a contest began, more important, and more doubtful in 
 issue, as we have said, than even the war of the Revolution 
 itself. Mr. Jay's continuous and efficient efforts to secure its 
 adoption were felt in every State. His association with Hamil- 
 ton and Madison, in writing " The Federalist," and the influ- 
 ence of those essays, are well knovvTi ; but, in addition to his 
 labors in behalf of the whole country, Mr. Jay and a few otliers 
 were specially relied upon to bring into line the important State 
 of New York. The exertions necessary to this result may be 
 inferred from the fact, that when delegates were elected eleven 
 favored, while forty-six opposed, its adoption. Of the former 
 were Hamilton and Jay ; and New York finally adopted the 
 Constitution by a majority of three. 
 
 Encountering the prejudices of those who feared that it con- 
 fided too much in the people, and those who thought too much 
 
Life and Character of John Jay. 1 1 5 
 
 discretion was given to the government ; of those who deemed 
 it more important that they should be great than that their 
 country should be happy ; and of those who conceived freedom 
 and security as in some degree incompatible, — the adoption 
 of the Federal Constitution is the most wonderful event in our 
 history. Mr. Jay's agency in producing this event is alone suf- 
 ficient to establish his claims to the affectionate respect and 
 exalted estimation of his countrymen. Greatness largely lies in 
 understanding truth and duty, and in a rigid adherence thereto ; 
 and the same traits of character which prompted Mr. Jay's 
 devotion to duty gave him confidence in his fellow-men, 
 through which he put trust in a federate Republican govern- 
 ment, — not a confidence which deifies man's passions, but 
 which, in spite of them, sees in him an image of the Deity. Mr. 
 Jay used to remark, that if men would never forget that the 
 world is under the guidance of a Providence that errs not, it 
 would save much useless anxiety, and prevent a great many 
 mistakes. This trust was the foundation of his faith and suc- 
 cess. Free from fear or doubt, whether during the struggles of 
 the Revolution, the difficulties in negotiating peace, the con- 
 flicts over the Constitution, or the controversy to which his 
 treaty with England gave rise, he never for a moment distrusted 
 the result. 
 
 Washington, upon his election as President under the Fed- 
 eral Constitution, requested Mr. Jay to select such a situation 
 in the General Government as he might prefer, — an offer which 
 could have been made to no other man in the country, and 
 which indicates the estimate that a keen discerner of character 
 placed upon Jay. He accepted that of chief justice of the 
 United States as the post rather of duty than of honor. In 
 this office he effected much in allaying opposition to the Con- 
 stitution, and infusing among the people a confidence in the 
 new system of government. Upon the circuits he was every- 
 where received with demonstrations of respect and confidence. 
 When he came to Portsmouth to hold his first court, the citi- 
 zens gave him a public entry into the town, and upon his 
 departure accompanied him some distance on his way. 
 
1 1 6 Life and Character of yohii yay. 
 
 Jay now held the second ofifice in grade and importance 
 under the government : its tenure was for life, and its emolu- 
 ments could not be diminished ; yet when those in whom he 
 had confidence thought a check should be given the rising 
 opposition in New York to the general government, and that 
 this could be done by electing him governor, he at once con- 
 sented to become a candidate. He was elected by the people ; 
 but the canvassers and the Legislature withheld from him the 
 office. This action produced an excitement which endangered 
 the peace of the State. Jay interposed, and told his supporters 
 to yield to the constituted authorities : he admonished them 
 not to violate by any irregular proceedings the principles they 
 professed to support, but in asserting their rights to distinguish 
 themselves no less for temper and moderation than for con- 
 stancy and zeal. This line of conduct, so natural in a good 
 man, while it calmed the excitement, deepened the affection 
 for him in the State. He retained the office of chief justice. 
 
 Although in moderate circumstances, he was at the expense 
 of keeping at school six indigent boys of Rye, the town where 
 he had been brought up. This act of benevolence, unknown 
 even to his family, was only revealed by letters found among 
 his papers after his death, from a clergyman who had acted as 
 his almoner. Another anecdote illustrates in him the vigilance 
 of the magistrate and the kindness of the man. While he was 
 governor, a blacksmith in his neighborhood had erected a 
 house and shop upon the highway, so as to obstruct the public 
 travel. Jay applied to him, saying that official duty would not 
 allow him to let such a breach of the law pass unnoticed, and 
 requesting him to remove the encumbrance. The blacksmith 
 said he could not, for he had no land. Jay offered to give him 
 an acre of land, or fifty dollars to buy land with. This pro- 
 posal failing, Jay directed the appropriate law-officer to prose- 
 cute the blacksmith, and repeated his offer in the delinquent's 
 behalf. When the Court compelled a removal of the incum- 
 brance, Jay gave him the land to enable him to obey the order. 
 
 In 1 794, in consequence of European wars, and depredations 
 of Great Britain upon our commerce, all were expecting (and 
 
Life mid Character of yohn fay. 1 1 7 
 
 many desiring) a declaration of war against that country, and 
 our alliance with rexolutionary France. In this the most try- 
 ing exigency of li^ administration, Washington determined, in 
 opposition to the wishes of a large portion, if not a majority, of 
 the people, to keep his country out of the strife that was con- 
 vulsing Europe. About this time a session of the Supreme 
 Court called the chief justice to Philadelphia, then the seat of 
 government. From the early days of the Revolution, Jay had 
 been the confidential friend and adviser of Washington. The 
 President now requested him to undertake a special mission to 
 England. This to Jay was an unwelcome invitation ; and he 
 resisted it, until he saw that to decline would be to disregard 
 the demands of duty. Writing to Mrs. Jay at this time, he 
 says, " There is here a serious determination to send me to 
 England, if possible to avert a war. The object is so interest- 
 ing to our country, and the combination of circumstances such, 
 that I find myself in a dilemma between personal considerations 
 and pubhc ones." Further on, in the same letter, he remarks, 
 " This appointment is not of my seeking : on the contrary, I 
 regard it as a measure not to be desired, but to be submitted 
 to. If it should please (iod to make me instrumental to the 
 continuance of peace, and in preventing the effusion of blood, 
 and other evils and miseries incident to war, we shall both have 
 reason to rejoice. Whatever may be the event, the endeavor 
 will be virtuous, and consecjuently consolatory. Let us repose 
 unlimited trusf in our Maker ; it is our business to adore and 
 to obey." 
 
 It were a sufficient eulogy of any man to say that for such a 
 mission he was nominated by Washington, opposed by Aaron 
 Burr ; that he saved his country from the devastation of war, 
 and secured her commercial prosperity. He retained, it will be 
 remembered, the office of chief justice during this period : for 
 this reason he refused to accept any compensation as minister. 
 Jay had never so reluctantly accepted an appointment ; but 
 persuaded that he had secured the permanent interests of his 
 country, and had anticipated the ultimate judgment of the 
 people, he entered upon the new trusts which awaited him on 
 his return, with no fears for the fi^te of his recent labors.' 
 
1 1 8 Life and Character of John Jay. 
 
 Lord Grenville, the British minister whom Mr. Jay met in 
 the negotiation, conceived for him a high esteem ; and the 
 subsequent correspondence between them exhibits the gratifi- 
 cation they both derived from their joint agency in preserving 
 to their respective countries the blessings of peace. Conscious 
 that each had served his country and the cause of humanity, 
 they could well bear the censure which they did not deserve. 
 With the United States at peace and in security, the clamorous 
 imputations upon Jay that reached him from every quarter 
 seemed to calm rather than disturb him. We trust that when- 
 ever ambitious and short-sighted demagogues seek by aggra- 
 vating popular prejudice to plunge a nation into war, there will 
 again be found, in our own and other countries, strong and 
 wise men to avert so great an evil. 
 
 Mr. Jay returned from Europe in the spring of 1795. Two 
 days before he landed, he was declared elected governor of 
 New York. The people, anxious to redress the outrage inflicted 
 upon the State by disregarding on a former occasion their 
 clearly expressed voice in his favor, had now given him a large 
 majority of their suffrages. His arrival in New York was wel- 
 comed by an immense concourse of people and by the ringing 
 of bells. He resigned the office of chief justice to accept that 
 of governor. Although his predecessor of opposite pohtics had 
 controlled the appointing power for many years, and although 
 party feeling ran higher at the beginning of his administration 
 than at any previous time in the history of the ^tate, Jay, dur- 
 ing his six years as governor, never once removed an officer for 
 political reasons. So entirely in the spirit of the Constitution 
 did he administer the office, that no effective opposition could 
 be made to him, and he enjoyed a popular, rather than a party, 
 support. The only act which seems to have excited much 
 censure was his proclamation recommending " to his fellow- 
 citizens throughout the State to unite in public thanksgiving to 
 that Being through whose Providence the ravages of the yellow 
 fever had been stayed." Upon his suggestion, the rigors of the 
 penal code were softened, and the system adopted of employ- 
 ing convicts in industrial pursuits. 
 
Life and Character of yolin Jay. 1 19 
 
 Jay had no fellowship with that expediency which allows a 
 real wrong in order to avert a probable evil. Several incidents 
 in his administration exhibit him in this light, only one of which 
 we have space to relate. During the progress of the presiden- 
 tial canvass in 1800, Jay was known to be one of those who 
 distrusted the party opposing the re-election of President 
 Adams. The election had proceeded so far as to indicate a 
 probability that the State of New York would hold the balance 
 of power. The existing Legislature sympathized in opinion 
 with Governor Jay ; but it was regarded as uncertain whether 
 the next, upon which in the ordinary mode of procedure the 
 choice of electors of President would devolve, might not favor 
 the opponent of Mr. Adams. In this state of things the gov- 
 ernor was appealed to, by prominent men of his party, to con- 
 vene the existing Legislature for the purpose of securing the 
 appointment of electors favorable to Mr. Adams, as the only 
 means (so they said, and no doubt thought) of preserving the 
 Constitution. A distinguished gentleman wrote to him, urging 
 a compliance with this rec[uest. After Jay's death, this letter 
 was found among his papers, with the following memorandum 
 in his handwriting : '' Proposing a measure for party purposes 
 which 1 think it would not become me to adopt." 
 
 Through life Jay was the uncompromising opponent of 
 slavery. In his early years he was president of a manumission 
 society, — a circumstance used by his opponents when he was 
 a candidate for governor. Slavery at that time existed in New 
 York, and for several years his annual messages urged its aboli- 
 tion. Through his influence an act for this purpose was pro- 
 posed in successive Legislatures, until at last, in 1799, upon a 
 fourth attempt, it passed both branches by decisive majorities. 
 No measure of his administration had a more marked and 
 favorable effect upon the morals, happiness, and prosperity, of 
 the State. 
 
 In the latter part of the year 1800, towards the close of 
 Governor Jay's administration, Chief Justice Ellsworth resigned ; 
 and Mr. Jay was again appointed chief justice of the United 
 States. President Adams, in a letter urging him to accept this 
 
I20 Life mid Chai^acter of John Jciy. 
 
 appointment, remarked that he had no permission from Mr. 
 Jay to nominate him to this office ; but that it appeared to Mr. 
 Adams, that Providence had thrown in his way an opportunity, 
 not only of marking to the pubHc the spot where, in his opinion, 
 the greatest mass of worth remained collected in one indi- 
 vidual, but of furnishing his country with the best security its 
 inhabitants afforded against the increasing dissolution of morals. 
 Upon another occasion Mr. Adams writes, " I have often said 
 that when my confidence in Mr. Jay shall cease, I must give 
 up the cause of confidence, and renounce it with all men." 
 
 Mr. Jay was now fifty-five years of age. He had never 
 once sought office ; yet for twenty-seven years, without a day's 
 interruption, he had held some important public trust. Solicited 
 to accept a re-election as governor, and to be re-appointed to 
 the second office in the nation, we find him hesitating, not as 
 to which was the better position, but whether consistently with 
 the claims of the public he could retire to private life. This 
 question he examined as carefully, and endeavored to meet as 
 impartially, as if it had been a judicial one. After mature 
 deliberation he decided that duty did not require him to accept 
 the office of chief justice. It was afterwards, as is well known, 
 conferred upon the late Chief Justice Marshall of Virginia. He 
 also declined re-election as governor, and retired in 1801 to 
 private life, carrying with him reflections such as have rarely 
 sweetened the retirement of the world's great men. 
 
 It is evident, from the manner in which he filled them, that 
 Mr. Jay accepted public trusts as a duty. That he looked upon 
 office in no other light is evident, too, from the fact that in 
 the prime of life he declined most important and honorable 
 trusts. He relinciuished public employment, after a service of 
 more than a quarter of a century, as pure as when he took it. 
 His retirement astonished those who did not understand the 
 motives which had always governed him. From the exciting 
 scenes in which he had been a prominent, successful, and hon- 
 ored actor, he withdrew to a country residence at Bedford, 
 about fifty miles from the city of New York, and three miles 
 from the post-road, where the mail then passed but once a 
 
Life and Character of John Jay. 1 2 1 
 
 week. To a friend inquiring what could Mr. Jay do in such a 
 place, he replied that he had a long and busy life to look back 
 upon, and an eternity to look forward to. 
 
 How different the retirement which Jay sought from that to 
 which Bonaparte was forced soon afterward ! He who in his 
 youth resolutely determined that " ideas of filial duty " should 
 govern his conduct, whatever became of ambition, found about 
 him in the decline of life the same sense of filial duty exempli- 
 fied in his children. The ripened fruits of a well-spent life sur- 
 rounded him. There were no unfinished plans of ambition to 
 regret, no wreck of selfish purposes to mar the retrospect ; nor 
 did neglected duties, abused powers, or betrayed confidence, 
 arise before him to cloud his serene view of the future. Bona- 
 parte, on the contrary, while ruler over half of Europe, was as 
 effectually exiled from those sympathies, affections, and duties, 
 which make up the deep course of life, and constitute its hap- 
 piness, — as when confined upon a solitary rock in the ocean. 
 
 Mr. Jay now divided his time between agricultural pursuits, 
 his books, and his friends. Though no longer in public life, 
 he had not retired from usefulness. He connected himself 
 with several agricultural societies, ser\^ed as president of that in 
 his own county, and was zealous in introducing among the 
 people the various improvements in farming. He also took 
 great interest in the prosperity of the Episcopal Church, and for 
 many years was president of the American Bible Society. He 
 continued to keep up a correspondence with distinguished men 
 both of this country and of Europe. His letters, disdaining the 
 selfish, and appealing to the lofty in human life, exhibit the 
 power of truth and the beauty of simplicity, together with an 
 unshaken faith in Christianity. 
 
 The attractive trait in Jay's character is the constant ascend- 
 ency of duty over self-interest. He christianized pohtics and 
 diplomacy. His country he loved too well, and served too 
 truly, to seek any thing for her by artifice. In public station, 
 the bearing which a line of policy might have upon his personal 
 prosperity he never once considered. As president of the 
 society to manumit slaves, of the American Bible Society, or 
 
122 Life and Character of yohn yay. 
 
 of Congress, upon the bench, at a foreign court, and at his 
 own fireside, he was ahvays the same man. There were in his 
 nature none of the attractions or the foibles of brilHancy ; 
 nothing striking, indeed, except its completeness and purity. 
 He was free from the breaks and fragmentary aspects of what 
 the world has agreed to call genius ; free from the faults and 
 contradictions of ambitious impulses ; free even from the parti- 
 san zeal for his country which would sustain her with equal 
 efforts, whether right or wrong. 
 
 Jay was wanting in many of those accessory aids which 
 often facilitate the 'elevation of great men. He was never " a 
 man of party." In the common acceptation of the word, he 
 had no ambition, nor had he enthusiasm. His power lay en- 
 tirely in the soundness of his principles and the even tenor of 
 his life. He trusted to the judgment of the people, and devel- 
 oped in the public mind the trait itself to which he appealed. 
 He lived and dressed plainly. He was unaffectedly diffident. 
 His opinions were maintained with a modesty and mildness that 
 gave a discerning opponent little hope of overcoming or alter- 
 ing them. He spent no money in ostentation, but gave much 
 in charity. His habits and purposes of life were simple : the 
 simplicity of wisdom, indeed, saved hini from becoming the 
 dupe of designing men. He put little reliance in professions of 
 patriotism, and used to remark in justification, that he himself 
 had been reproached for lukewarmness in the cause of Ameri- 
 can Independence by men, who in the hour of trial had de- 
 serted their country, and sought the protection of her enemies. 
 Though naturally irritable, he had by careful training acquired 
 a self-control rarely equalled. Distrustful of demagogues, he 
 was accustomed to say that, from Absalom down, there had 
 never been an honest one. He enjoyed the society of his chil- 
 dren and of guests, but was not a great talker. Of the part he 
 had borne in public affairs he rarely spoke, and never in the 
 company of strangers. 
 
 ■ Jay has frequently, in the public mind, been associated and 
 compared with Hamilton. This has happened perhaps be- 
 cause there was no one else with whom to compare Mr. Jay, 
 
Life and Character of yoJin Jay. 123 
 
 except him who had no equal. In their characters are points 
 of contrast, as well as resemblance. They were alike in ardent 
 love of country, no less than in the purity and success with 
 which they served it ; alike in the confidence they enjoyed and 
 the detraction they encountered ; alike in their views of the 
 Constitution, and their efforts to secure its adoption ; alike in 
 their support of Washington, and in sharing his trust ; alike, 
 moreover, in their opinions as to the administrative policy of the 
 government. They were too much alike to be jealous of each 
 other, or to be wanting in mutual appreciation and respect. 
 Hamilton had the more intellectual. Jay, the more moral power. 
 To be a statesman was the object of Hamilton's life : it was an 
 incident in the life of Jay. Hamilton could see at a glance 
 how a nation was to be governed : Jay could show through a 
 lifetime how a man ought lo govern himself. Hamilton lost 
 his life in an attempt to vindicate a fame which he deemed 
 necessary to his country : Jay would have distrusted the value 
 of an influence that required such support. Hamilton saw and 
 dreaded the dangers to which our government would be ex- 
 posed from the passions of the people : Jay trusted to the 
 meliorating influences of Christianity, — hoped where Hamilton 
 feared. The government, both in structure and policy, exhibits 
 the traces of Hamilton's genius : our diplomacy and our judi- 
 ciary retain the impress of the purity and power of Jay. 
 
 There is much in the character of the times in which they 
 lived, and in the common objects they sought, which tends to 
 associate these two great men together in the public mind. 
 But Jay resembled Washington more than he resembled Hamil- 
 ton. In an eminent degree Hamilton possessed those traits 
 which we usually find in great generals and statesmen, — traits 
 suited to develop and marshal the physical energies and re- 
 sources of a nation. He, better than any one of his contem- 
 poraries, could bring order out of confusion, power out of 
 weakness. How he would have succeeded at the head of the 
 Revolutionary army, when the object was to conquer more by 
 endurance than by concentrated efforts, must be left to conjec- 
 ture. Jay understood and appreciated the moral energies and 
 
1 24 Life and Character of JoJin yay. 
 
 capabilities of the people. He knew that a feeble nation or gov- 
 ernment were strong if they were right. He knew that to bring 
 men together into communities or nations did not authorize or 
 enable them to repeal or modify the laws of their moral nature ; 
 that a wrong was none the less such because committed in the 
 name of millions ; and that, as nations have no hereafter and 
 thus no punishment in another world, retribution must surely 
 follow their inicjuities in this. He cared, therefore, more for 
 the purity of the people than for the power of the government. 
 The comparison is introduced, not to depreciate the charac- 
 ter of Hamilton, but to illustrate that of Jay. Washington and 
 Jay alike understood, and attempted to give effect to, the prin- 
 ciple of the Revolution. They knew that this principle, if fully 
 developed, would ultimately make power and right the same 
 thing ; that government had no rights but in its duties, po^er 
 no security except in its rectitude. When the moral of the 
 Revolution is worked out, the character of Hamilton will ap- 
 pear like a splendid fragment of some gigantic structure ; that 
 of Jay as an edifice less imposing, but perfect in its proportions. 
 
 In 1826 the Fourth of July, being the fiftieth anniversary of 
 American Independence, was more generally celebrated than 
 usual. A committee of the corporation of the city of New York 
 had addressed a letter to Mr. Jay (then more than eighty years 
 of age), recognizing his high claim to the respect and gratitude 
 of the country, and requesting his presence at the celebration. 
 In his letter declining the invitation on account of age and 
 increasing infirmities, he said, " I cannot forbear to embrace 
 the opportunity offered by the present occasion to express my 
 earnest hope that the peace, happiness, and prosperity enjoyed 
 by our beloved country, may induce those who direct her 
 national councils to recommend a general and public return of 
 praise and thanksgiving to Him from whose goodness these 
 blessings descend. The most effectual means of securing the 
 continuance of our civil and religious liberties is always to 
 remember with reverence and gratitude the source from which 
 they flow." 
 
Life and Character of yohn jFay. 125 
 
 Unable in 1828, by reason of his years, to attend the annual 
 meeting of the American Bible Society, and acting upon the 
 principle that it was not right for him to retain an ofifice 
 the duties of which he could not well perform, he resigned 
 the presidency, and accompanied his resignation with a liberal 
 donation to the society. 
 
 Upon the fourteenth of May, 1829, he had retired to bed in 
 his usual health, but in the course of the night was seized with 
 palsy. He lingered until the seventeenth, when he died, in the 
 eighty-fourth year of his age, and twenty-eight years after his 
 retirement from public life. 
 
 He had outlived his enemies, if such he could have had ; 
 and there was nothing to jar the feeling of respect for his char- 
 acter which pervaded the country. It was said of him in an 
 address soon after his death : "A halo of veneration seemed 
 to encircle him, as one belonging to another world, though 
 lingering among us. When the tidings of his death came to 
 us, they were received through the nation, not with sorrow 
 or mourning, but with solemn awe, like that with which we 
 read the mysterious passage of ancient Scripture, 'And Enoch 
 walked with God, and he zaas not; for God took him.' " 
 
THE 
 
 NECESSITY OF INDIVIDUALITY 
 IN CHARACTER. 
 
 ... By individuality in character and conduct, I do not 
 mean an eccentric disregard of public opinion, a factious and 
 futile opposition which chafes under restraint, but that personal 
 freedom which follows public sentiment only to the limit of its 
 rightful demands. Some have thought that public opinion is 
 more powerful here than elsewhere, because popular majorities 
 control the affairs of government. Be this as it may, I presume 
 it will not be denied that there is with us a tendency to less 
 individuality than in some other countries. Strangely enough, it 
 happens that here, where the people govern, a man sometimes 
 is not allowed to govern himself; that an unseen but every- 
 where operating power shapes for him opinions, and compels 
 his seeming acquiescence upon questions political, religious, 
 social, or economical, which perhaps he has never examined, 
 or to which he is far from giving actual assent ; that an outward 
 pressure is strong enough to forbid the exercise of his indi- 
 vidual judgment ; that, while claiming to be a free people, we 
 habitually deny the free expression of individual opinion, or the 
 development of individual tastes ; that in a word we are to a 
 large extent educated by public opinion, and are expected to 
 obey it. Yet those very men and women whose lives have been 
 partial or total failures share in creating public opinion : it is 
 made up of the average morals and manners of the world. 
 
 A great practical difficulty in maintaining an independent 
 individuality of character is found in the influence of society, 
 which forms for us our habits before we are aware of them. 
 
Individuality in Character. 127 
 
 There is no hope of breaking the general influence of fashion. 
 Could we only go out of the fashions of the clay, and view 
 them independently of the influences and associations that 
 make them a part of ourselves, — hke the servant-girl, dressed 
 in her finery, and riding in her master's coach, who said her 
 happiness would be complete could she only stand upon the 
 pavement, and see how she looked riding by, — could we but 
 see ourselves as we are viewed by unperverted eyes, there might 
 be hope of reformation. Till then, however, fashion, extrava- 
 gance, and dissipation will well-nigh always prove irresistible : 
 a portion only of society will attain independence of character, 
 — and enjoy prosperity without being injured by it. 
 
 It is easy enough in most things to meet the requirements 
 of public opinion ; its pressure no doubt brings the conduct of 
 many up to a higher and better point than it would otherwise 
 reach ; but it tends, at the same time, to prevent one from rising 
 above it. In numerous instances it is quite as unfashionable, 
 quite as damaging, to be in advance, as to be in the rear, of 
 the times. Fashion costs more than taxes, punishes more than 
 courts of justice, kills more than war, is more powerful than 
 government. It is a despotism which no power can control, no 
 extravagance bankrupt, no absurdity weaken. Pass a law de- 
 signed to improve the morals of our people, and all the officers 
 of the law cannot execute it : let Fashion promulgate a decree 
 deforming the person, impairing the health, and in\olving an 
 enormous expense, — all the officers of the government, all the 
 ridicule of the wits, and the denunciations of press and pulpit, 
 would not impede its execution a single day. 
 
 Would we form characters higher and better than the aver- 
 age, the motive power of our lives must spring from higher and 
 better sources than the prevailing fashions. Every great reform 
 has originated with those who have first lifted themselves above 
 the folHes and abuses of the day ; and he who seeks to accom- 
 plish much must be, as to the wrong influences of society, a life- 
 long reformer. Not that he is to mount the platform and exhort 
 the multitude, but that he must do what is harder, — live day 
 after day by a rule of conduct which sets at nought mere human 
 fashions. 
 
128 Individuality in Character. 
 
 ... If the passion for heaping up riches is stronger here 
 than in any other country, tiiat pubUc sentiment is to some 
 degree responsible which makes money a principal means of 
 social distinction. Every man or woman who pays respect to 
 wealth without reference to character, is accessory to the grow- 
 ing evils which the indulgence of this passion inflicts. Would 
 that public opinion were as discriminating in its appreciation of 
 the worth of money, without character, as the following incident 
 shows a gentleman in Philadelphia to have been. It seems that 
 a man in that city, who for years acted upon the theory that 
 money, however acquired, could purchase happiness and public 
 consideration as merchandise in the market, had managed, by 
 various processes which dwarfed or destroyed every manly trait 
 of his character, to get together a considerable estate. Not 
 long ago he was walking down one of the principal streets, with 
 an air that plainly indicated it was not his habit to undervalue 
 his own importance, when an admirer pointed him out to a 
 bystander, with the remark : " That man, sir, is worth three 
 hundred thousand dollars." — " So I understand," was the quiet 
 reply, "and that is all he is worth." 
 
 Society, of course, will continue to overrate money, and to 
 undervalue character ; but those who would not remain poor, 
 yet cannot acquire wealth at such a price as this, must build up 
 for themselves an independent individuality of character. The 
 attainment of a fortune by proper discipline may, indeed, be 
 pronounced an imperative duty. I never knew but two edu- 
 cated men who maintained that it was a duty to live destitute 
 of property. One was a clergyman, who had the reputation of 
 constantly preaching against worldliness and the accumulation 
 of property, as a sin. When he died, it was found that he held 
 mortgages on half his parish. The other was a lawyer. He 
 comforted a widow, from whom he had taken the last dollar her 
 husband had left her, by saying that it was a blessing to have 
 nothing in this world to keep her thoughts from the next. 
 
 . . . When a man makes an estate in this country, and makes 
 nothing else, his failure is of no great public importance, except 
 as his example demoralizes those who are not strong enough 
 
in Character. 129 
 
 to resist it. His influence stimulates a love of money and of 
 extravagant expenditure, unsettles habits of quiet and successful 
 industry, and often induces, through the power of fashion, many 
 of less means to sacrifice real comfort and independence for 
 a foolish and heartless display. Against such influences, so 
 powerful and so pervading, all who would lead a true life must 
 firmly set themselves, until they have formed and fixed an inde- 
 pendent character. One method of accomplishing this object 
 is to start now with some noble purpose in view ; it may be 
 to make comfortable a parent, a child, or dependent ; it may 
 be the effort of a wife or mother to reclaim a husband or son 
 from vicious habits ; it may be to gain a reputation which one's 
 children may respect (one of the most powerful incentives 
 to a well-ordered life) ; or, indeed, it may be any thing that 
 brings us into unison with that law which has enacted that hap- 
 piness can be found only in rightly discharged duty. . . . 
 
SUCCESS IN LIFE. 
 
 1870. 
 
 The lecture I am about to read to you was prepared at the 
 request of the Mercantile Library Association of Portsmouth, 
 and delivered before them, several years ago. This association 
 was composed of merchants' clerks, mechanics' apprentices, 
 young mechanics and traders, and generally of young men 
 just starting, or preparing to start, in business. It was written 
 at a period of great extravagance, and my purpose was to re- 
 mind those who were forming their characters for life, that suc- 
 cess or failure is not accidental, but the result of an observance 
 or violation of a uniform law ; that if a man would be well, he 
 must obey the laws of health ; if respected, he must conform 
 to the laws which develop and establish character ; if independ- 
 ent, he must observe those laws which control the accumula- 
 tion and preservation of property ; and that both property and 
 character are subject to the same law, — that of accumulation. 
 By this, I meant that a year's income, saved and properly in- 
 vested, would become capital to work for its owner the follow- 
 ing year, just as the growth of good habits will, which form his 
 character. My object was to show my young friends, not how 
 to do some great thing, but how, by a succession of what is too 
 often regarded as little things, to build up a character and an 
 estate. 
 
 I offer you a few desultory remarks upon the causes which 
 contribute to success or failure in what should be the purpose 
 of life, with such admonitions and encouragements as my own 
 observation may have suggested. 
 
Success ill Life. 131 
 
 And, in the first place, what is success? It is not wealth 
 alone ; for sometimes rich men are only great failures. It is 
 not power alone ; for that not unfrequently ruins its possessor. 
 It is not social position ; for that is often obtained without 
 merit, or lost without fault. Success in life is the harmonious 
 development and mature growth of a manly character, the 
 fruits of which are independence, influence, and position. 
 Being what we were designed to be, and doing what we ought 
 to do, — this is success. 
 
 It has often been said that we profit little by the experience 
 of others, — a remark which, to be true, means that it is one 
 thing to have a principle explained to us, and quite another to 
 regulate our lives by it. Very much the same idea is contained 
 in the proverb, that purchased experience is the best, provided 
 it be not bought too dearly. Both sayings proceed upon the 
 difference between theory and practice. A lawyer may read 
 abstract principles of law, yet not know how to try a case to 
 the jury ; or a physician may study the causes of disease and 
 its remedy, and yet know not how to cure his patient. It is 
 one thing for a young merchant to understand political econo- 
 my and the laws of trade, and quite a different thing for him to 
 make a fortune ; or, for a mechanic to comprehend natural 
 philosophy, and quite a different thing to apply it to practical 
 results. \\'e may frequently hear men explain the reasons of 
 their failure or success, without avoiding the one, or securing 
 the other. The real difificuky in profiting by the experience of 
 others is, that, whatever may be our theory, it is our passions 
 that are apt to sway us when we come to act. To those who 
 are starting in life, it becomes a momentous question, whether 
 impulse or fixed principles shall shape their conduct, and form 
 their characters. 
 
 The law of success is as universal and as irresistible as that 
 which holds the planets in their orbits. There is no miracle, 
 no good luck, no chance ; but whether merchant, professional 
 man, or laborer, each individual succeeds just in proportion as 
 he learns and obeys this law. Nor will it be suspended or 
 modified that we may succeed where others have failed. In 
 
132 Success in Life. 
 
 this country, inasmuch as the people have the control of the 
 law-making power, we sometimes fall into the delusion of think- 
 ing that we can alter principles ; but the law we are now con- 
 sidering, no legislative authority has made, or can repeal. To 
 know, love, and obey it, is happiness and success. He who 
 cannot for future good control present impulse, who gratifies 
 present inclination at the expense of future peace, and whose 
 life is shaped by passion, instead of principle, will surely fail. 
 So, too, will he fail, either in the means or end, who aims to 
 succeed by the injury of others. 
 
 But it is not strange that this law should be unknown, neg- 
 lected, and disregarded. How full is this world of beauty, 
 how full of noble men and women ! and yet how many people 
 go through life seeing no beauty around them ! how many live 
 among those of the highest and best character, yet know noth- 
 ing of them ! When such people are blind to what Providence 
 has thus provided for their happiness, see not beauty and 
 grandeur in the character of the noble men and women who 
 surround them, how can they comprehend an unseen law? 
 How can a sordid, ignorant man be brought to feel that God's 
 plan of making him happy is better than that suggested by his 
 own passions ? 
 
 It does not lie within the range of my plan to undertake to 
 define or explain this law, except by illustrations showing its 
 power. My purpose is to refer to some only of those causes 
 which I have observed contribute to success or failure in what 
 should be the object of life. 
 
 The world really wants, and is ready to pay, those men who 
 can and will serve it ; and will pay them just what their services 
 are worth, — no more. Whatever the law-makers may under- 
 take to do with regard to the laws of labor, men cannot receive 
 what they do not earn. Every sound plan involves the inquiry, 
 not what is most agreeable to you, but how best can you serve 
 the public. You cannot rightfully draw more from the commu- 
 nity than you give to it, any more than you can draw from the 
 bank a larger amount than you have deposited. 
 
 The foundation of success, indeed of all rational enjoyment, 
 
Success hi Life. 133 
 
 is work regulated by duty. It is the law of our nature tliat we 
 should find our happiness in the fulfilment of our duties, and 
 no success can be attained otherwise. Duty is only another 
 name for the means of happiness. We should early learn to 
 love what we hav'e to do, and go about our occupation, as to 
 our assigned post of duty, deriving our enjoyment from the 
 consciousness that we are honestly and honorably employed. 
 What if our task be severe? if we go to it in the morning, con- 
 scious that we are at peace with the world, that we have 
 wronged no one, that our plans are in harmony with the laws 
 of nature and the will of God, we shall find an enjoyment 
 which the idler, the seeker after pleasure, and he who wastes 
 the earnings of others, can never know. Do we bring from it 
 a wearied body and aching limbs, they are but preparations for 
 " tired Nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep." Rightly regarded, 
 then, a life of labor is not a life of drudgery, but a season of 
 discipline, needed to preserve our health, develop and mature 
 our powers, and to give us the feeling that we are doing some- 
 thing to carry forward the great interests of society, — needed, 
 in a word, to make us happy. 
 
 We often repine at that discipline which saves us, and seek 
 that ease which would ruin us. Some men are so constituted, 
 that prosperity makes them arrogant and frivolous, rather than 
 thankful and modest. Others who succeed, and have devel- 
 oped estimable characters, are unable to tell how much what 
 they call their misfortunes have aided, or their good luck has 
 obstructed them. Were we given the power of ascertaining 
 exactly the agency which has occasioned what of success or 
 failure may have varied the lives of any given number of indi- 
 viduals, I believe many would be surprised to find how much 
 the so-called obstacles had strengthened, and the so-called 
 helps weakened them. Where another is allowed to bear our 
 burdens, we lose the strength which meeting them, and carrying 
 them from day to day, would have given us ; and our ability to 
 compete with others in the practical affairs of life is correspond- 
 ingly reduced. When we come to be as ready to do our duty 
 as we are to claim our rights, we shall have started upon the 
 true road to success. 
 
134 Success in Life. 
 
 It is no uncommon thing to see a young man toiling to aid a 
 mother, or sister, or a family ; practising self-denial that those 
 who are dear to him may live in comfort. Some people look 
 upon such a young man as unfortunate, — so fettered, that he 
 cannot succeed in life. It were much better to imitate than to 
 pity him. True, he works hard and denies himself indulgences ; 
 but he is so training himself that, when he comes to the serious 
 work of life, he will outstrip those who have never encountered 
 burdens such as these, or, if they have, who lacked the courage 
 to make the attempt to bear them. Have no fear for the suc- 
 cess of a young man who is manly enough to do what he ought. 
 Reserve your solicitude for him who is called the child of for- 
 tune. Watch him who has had much done for him, and see 
 what he does for himself. 
 
 The repugnance to lal)or which so frequently causes failure 
 is due not more to indolence than to an ignorance of the fact 
 that labor is really a blessing, and that it is as much a source of 
 enjoyment as of wealth. How should a young man untrained 
 to work discover blessings in a life of that toil which he sees so 
 many attempting to avoid? He sees men laboring to obtain 
 the means of exemption from labor, instead of seeking enjoy- 
 ment in the daily work and routine of life : why should he not 
 act upon the delusion that, if he can get money without work, 
 he secures happiness by avoiding toil? Many a young man has 
 advanced some way on the journey of life before discovering 
 that no one enjoys the real blessings of wealth and position 
 without toiling for and earning them. Few greater obstacles 
 lie in the road to success than the belief that work is an evil, or 
 that it ought to be avoided. There is a satisfaction in the reflec- 
 tion that a day's work has been honestly and faithfully done, 
 which the idler never knows. Multiply such a day's work by a 
 lifetime, the product is independence and happiness. It is the 
 misfortune of many that they get half way through life before 
 they realize that their great need is something to do, somebody 
 to work for, some occupation, which, while it fulfils their duty 
 to society, gratifies their affections by benefiting those who are 
 dear to them. It is not uncommon to hear expressions of sur- 
 
Success in Life. 135 
 
 prise, that a man of sufificient means to live in comfort without 
 work should continue in those habits of industry by which he 
 has earned his independence. He has learned, what others 
 ought to learn, that his best enjoyment is found in applying 
 himself to useful occupation, and that there is no greater de- 
 lusion than supposing that happiness will begin only when one 
 has saved enough to live without work. 
 
 Notwithstanding there are so many dissipated men and idlers 
 in our cities, so many who spend their money before they earn 
 it, and that extravagance is so widespread, yet the improving 
 civilization of our country is bringing us more and more to 
 appreciate the dignity and blessings of labor. Nowhere else 
 are its rewards so sure and so high, or the working-man in all 
 departments so much respected. 
 
 We are in the habit of regarding England as a rich country, 
 and so she is, — rich in her past accumulations ; but wealth is 
 accumulating faster in this country than in F^ngland, because 
 here lal)or is free, but crippled there. They appear in Great 
 Britain to be trying the experiment to determine how few may 
 hold the wealth of the kingdom, and still preserve peace and 
 order. Here opportunity and inducement are held out to 
 all alike to gain an independence. Although there are many 
 marked and honorable exceptions, yet most of the English 
 gentry, and those who live upon inherited wealth, use their 
 means so as to lessen what would otherwise increase the prod- 
 uct of labor. Having little to do but to spend money, and 
 waste time, they often anticipate their incomes in those ex- 
 penditures which minister to personal gratification, and tend 
 to diminish the common stock of wealth. It costs England 
 enormously to support her wealthy classes. The system of 
 entailed estates not only withholds many men from productive 
 pursuits, but inclines them to divert considerable portions of 
 the labor of others from those channels of industry where it 
 might add to the wealth and comfort of all. Nay more, this 
 very policy, by placing the few al)ove labor and the many below 
 hope, im[)airs the energies, and lessens the growth, of the whole 
 nation. 
 
136 Success in Life. 
 
 We had very much the same system in this country until 
 slavery was abolished. If the increased productive capacity 
 of labor consequent upon the abolition of slavery c^uld take 
 the shape of a sinking-fund in money, it would pay the national 
 debt, principal and interest, long before the present race of 
 croakers will have died out. The result of the war has been to 
 elevate the dignity of labor, and increase its power. Although 
 we have a national debt so large, that even now many timid 
 men believe it will not be paid, people of means and character 
 are coming to our shores in numbers sufficient to populate a 
 State every year. Even England, who caused it to be pro- 
 claimed that our Union must be dissolved, because she would 
 not loan us a dollar to preserve it, sent us this last year nearly a 
 thousand Englishmen a week to help us pay the expense, and 
 share in the blessings resulting from the war. 
 
 I have invited your attention to the practical working of 
 the different systems of labor in this country and in England, 
 because nations illustrate the truth, as well as individuals, that 
 success is regulated by an unswerving law. Free labor is 
 the blessing and safeguard of nations as of individuals. The 
 people are quiet and prosperous where labor is free, just as 
 we rarely find an industrious man to be a bad man. Being 
 engaged in applying abstract principles to practical results, his 
 habits grow into the observance of laws ; while, with few excep- 
 tions, it is the idle and the dissipated who commit crimes. Nor 
 is it easy to find an honest, hard-working man, in any walk of 
 life, who is unhappy. In my experience and observation, which 
 have been somewhat long, if not extensive, I have rarely come 
 across an honest workingman who was wanting in enjo3"ment. 
 From the nature of things, it must be that he who has nothing 
 to do finds little to enjoy. Only a low and sensual gratification 
 springs from the union of wealth and indolence. The employ- 
 ment of our powers, and the fulfilment of our duties, I cannot 
 too often repeat, in that work which is as needful for our enjoy- 
 ment as for our subsistence, alone bring us the happiness suited 
 to rational and accountable beings. 
 
 An indispensable requisite to success is a well-digested plan 
 
Success in Life. 137 
 
 of life, always kept iir view, and perseveringly followed. Such a 
 plan will be simple, if true. However feeble a man may appear 
 to be, he is as strong as the principle he lives by. A succession 
 of comparatively unimportant, and at first unobserved, acts and 
 incidents, persevered in while another, neglects them, gradually 
 builds up a high character. They gain, like money at compound 
 interest. Make your plan, and adhere to it. Review the results 
 of each day ; see whither you are tending, and what sort of a 
 future the present is preparing for you. To-day's work, re- 
 member, and not to-day's dreams, is making your future. We 
 notice a great difference in the positions of men whom we daily 
 meet ; but it rarely occurs to us to seek out the cause. Could 
 we read the record of their lives, we should discover less diver- 
 sity in their natural endowments than in the plans which they 
 have adopted, or the habits they have contracted. Learning, 
 property, position, the ability to succeed in the world by making 
 yourself useful or necessary to it, all are attained by the same 
 process. To a superficial observer, there is likely to be little 
 difference in the careers of two young men who slart together 
 with like capacities, like opportunities, and like occupations, 
 one of whom indulges in small, unnecessary expenses, and 
 slight deviations from the true line, while the other upon prin- 
 ciple avoids them. But follow out this trifling difference, and 
 you will find one at last possessed of property, influence, and 
 reputation ; the other, not. The diversity in habits has pro- 
 duced characters widely dissimilar, each with its inevitable 
 result of success or failure. 
 
 Habits of punctuality will accomplish great things in a life- 
 time. Never shrink from, but gladly meet as it arises, each 
 valid claim upon your attention. When I came to the bar, 
 often after a hard day's work have I walked a considerable 
 distance in order to pay over to a client a small sum of money 
 I had collected. This to him, perhaps, was of no importance ; 
 but to me the habit of performing at once a professional duty 
 became of great value. 
 
 I need hardly say that there can be no success without integ- 
 rity, — not a conventional integrity which keeps within the law, 
 
138 Success in Life. 
 
 but an integrity of the heart, which inquires not what may, but 
 what ought to be done. The young man who does not feel 
 that integrity is indispensable to success, that truth and purity 
 alone will stand, and that rightly discharged duty is the only 
 thing which in the end can satisfy him, will surely fail. 
 
 Quick and generous sympathy with the interests of society 
 helps a man to succeed. The true minister, doctor, or lawyer 
 looks upon his profession as the post of duty. He ought not 
 to be indifferent to his compensation ; but he does not deserve 
 it, he is unfit to be trusted with the souls, the hves, or the rights, 
 of the public, if he be not more intent upon doing well his 
 work than upon his pay. So of every calling. Act upon the 
 unfaltering conviction that you cannot help yourself, except as 
 you serve the public, and you have taken a direct step towards 
 success. And by all means keep alive, and nourish into vigorous 
 activity, a sympathy with the cause of humanity. Thousands 
 are starving, literally starving, for the want of that nourishment 
 which grows out of a kindly sympathy with their neighbors and 
 townsmen. 
 
 Make your home in a community where an educated clergy- 
 man of scholarly habits and refined taste is settled and cheer- 
 fully sustained. Next to the influence of the home in which 
 you have been reared will be that of such a man upon your 
 character and success. And be as punctual in your attendance 
 upon his preaching as (if you are to be a man) you will be in 
 paying your part of his salary. He may not suffer if you don't 
 help him ; hwl you will. 
 
 Many failures are attributable to a lack of education or train- 
 ing. By this I do not mean that education alone which we 
 obtain as schoolboys, but a training and discipline gained in the 
 school of practical life, a worldly wisdom which comes of a rigid 
 adherence to self-imposed rules. It is a matter of every-day 
 observation that men may be full of learning, and yet have no 
 education that fits them for the practical duties of life. 
 
 Early marriage conduces largely to success, lliis is a step 
 which few of you are likely to neglect ; yet many, especially in 
 our large cities, make a failure of life by postponing marriage 
 
Success in Life. 139 
 
 until they shall have made an estate. This is as unwise as for 
 a man to postpone his enjoyment of life until he shall have 
 made money enough to live without work. Most young men 
 need a wife to aid them in making an estate, to check the 
 growth of selfishness, and to enlarge the range of their sympa- 
 thies. The very process by which a youthful couple attain to 
 an estate and a social position is the source of happiness, is 
 in itself success : it gives character to their lives, and exerts a 
 healthful influence upon their children and the community. The 
 stability and wealth of New England, and the influence she 
 has exercised upon the whole country, is to a great extent 
 attributable to the usage, that so long prevailed, of young people 
 with little or no means uniting to make a home, and earn a 
 position, — a usage which we cannot afford to give up, but 
 which we are losing, I fear, as wealth and love of show 
 increase. 
 
 The choice of an employment, always important, sometimes 
 becomes a decisive step in life. Though we are fast getting 
 rid of the delusion, yet even now too many choose an occu- 
 pation more with a view to its supposed respectability than 
 because of their fitness for it. They soon learn that it is what 
 a man is, and not his calling, which gives him his real posi- 
 tion. And then, too, we meet with young men who believe 
 success is to be won by genius, and they grow discouraged 
 because they feel no such power. They should understand that 
 what is termed genius not unfrequently is but a discernment 
 and energy which enable one to work diligently in the right 
 direction. They want will and perseverance : having, however, 
 no determined purpose, they fall into vacillating habits, and 
 accomplish little or nothing. We find them engaged, not in 
 meeting the duties of to-day, but in an attempt at correcting 
 the mistakes, or atoning for the neglect, of yesterday. Indeed, 
 there are those who labor like a water-wheel whose turning is 
 retarded by back-water, — men who fail because their efforts are 
 not in the right direction. . . . 
 
 If we would succeed, we must not stand hesitating till we are 
 told to do some great thing, but begin now. and do the first 
 
140 Success in Life. 
 
 thing that offers, however small, as it ought to be done. Do 
 not begin with a conviction that it is necessary you should be 
 rich. The source of many a failure is to be found in the delu- 
 sive idea that a large estate is a necessity, and that it may be 
 made in a hurry. I do not undervalue the advantages of 
 wealth ; but I insist upon your forming the habits which may 
 acquire it. An estate suddenly got by what is called a lucky 
 speculation is by no means an unmixed good. The possession 
 of property, I cannot too often repeat, that comes as an inci- 
 dent to an industrious life, is well enough \ but it is not worth 
 half so much as that discipline and well-ordered conduct of 
 life which is necessary to obtain it. Do not forget, that as a 
 general rule wealth, to be a blessing, should be the result of 
 a life of regulated industry. I advise you, then, to be content 
 with what you can honestly earn, and to take good care of it. 
 
 The accumulation of a fortune, so far from being a success, 
 is a failure when the process dwarfs the man, or hardens the 
 heart. When we respect a wealthy man, it is not for his estate, 
 but for the power and self-control which have accumulated it, 
 and for the rightful manner in which he is using it. 
 
 We should better succeed in the real object of life were we 
 to learn rather to enjoy what we have than to repine for what 
 we have not. About fifty years ago Mr. G., then one of the 
 richest men in New England, embarked perhaps the fifteenth 
 part of his estate in manufacturing enterprises which for some 
 years turned out to be losing ventures, simply because men (as 
 is often the case in business) engaged in them without special 
 training. The sum of Mr. G.'s losses may possibly have 
 amounted to a year's income, — a result which greatly dis- 
 tressed him. Now, it is easy for us to see that it was folly in an 
 old man, as he was, to be so troubled at the loss of a small part 
 of his estate ; yet this is no uncommon case. The event so 
 preyed upon his mind, that he spent a long time in making out 
 a careful interest account with the investment, showing a loss of 
 a hundred and ten thousand dollars, and sent it with a doleful 
 letter to his friend and correspondent, Robert Pulserford, a Lon- 
 don banker. This gentleman spent half a day in an examina- 
 
Success in Life. 141 
 
 tion of the account, and then wrote a reply as follows (I had 
 the anecdote from the clerk, who saw the letter written, and 
 who, as clerk, copied it in the London banker's office) : — 
 
 London, February 8, 1827. 
 Dear G., — I have attentively examined your letter, and detailed ac- 
 count of your losses in the manufacturing business. My advice to you is, 
 to think of what you have, and not of what you have lost. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 R. PULSERFORD. 
 
 Now there are not a few, who, while perceiving that this was 
 good advice to Mr. G., will themselves fail to profit by it. Mr. 
 G. was a very estimable gentleman ; but he overrated the value 
 of money. I have related this incident to illustrate what I 
 mean by saying that one may make an estate without securing 
 success. An anxiety to accumulate money may render the 
 successful accomplishment of that object in effect a failure. 
 
 Another incident, which occurred a few years earlier, will 
 show you what I intend you shall understand by the power of 
 character. Not that I would for a moment intimate that 
 character and fortune were not united in Mr. G. : they were. 
 But my object now is to impress upon you by illustration, that 
 as one may possess an estate which brings him more anxiety 
 than comfort, so another may have a commanding character, 
 and achieve success, without an estate. 
 
 In 1809, when there was more wood and less money in the 
 vicinity of Cambridge than at the present day, a farmer in 
 straitened circumstances, who lived about six miles from the 
 colleges, had a son who early manifested a strong desire to be 
 educated at Harvard. The father, at the proper time, arranged 
 to pay his son's expenses by cutting and hauling wood for the 
 college. One day, the son, as he was coming with his class 
 from the recitation-room, discovered his father at work, throw- 
 ing off a load of wood. " Come, boys," said he, " follow me, 
 and I'll introduce you to the best father in the Common- 
 wealth ; " and the class forthwith followed him in a body. 
 "This, classmates," continued the student proudly, "is my 
 
142 Success in Life. 
 
 father, who does this work so that I can have the same advan- 
 tages as you." The class shook hands with the honest farmer, 
 and, after helping him unload his wood, they made him come 
 and dine with them. After dinner, they escorted him to his 
 sled, and, as he started on his way home, the class gave him 
 three hearty cheers. 
 
 Now, there is nothing remarkable in a New England farmer 
 working hard to give his son a good education. Many a father 
 has in this way made a hero of himself, and opened to his son 
 the road to success. But it is interesting to note that a whole 
 class of college-boys at once recognized the claims of a noble 
 man to their enthusiastic admiration. Such a reception and 
 escort they would not have given to a merely wealthy parent 
 coming in his coach to pay his son's college-bills. 
 • Young men at the outset of their work often grow impatient 
 to obtain the control of capital : seeing that money is an 
 element of power, they naturally suppose that had they the 
 means, they could surely command success. No doubt some 
 young men have been retarded by the lack of means which 
 they were fitted to employ to advantage ; but others have been 
 injured by being permitted to control money before they have 
 been trained to its use. As a general proposition, capital can- 
 not long be kept from him who knows how to use it, nor long 
 held by him who lacks this knowledge. 
 
 Nor should I omit to point out a cause of failure in the mis- 
 take young business-men fall into, when they suppose that in 
 the outset a high social position is necessary to success ; or 
 that such position can be purchased by borrowed money ; or 
 that any standing worth the having in society can be reached 
 without earning it. It must be owing to the accumulation of 
 wealth, and the increased expense of living, that so many 
 young business-men not only postpone too long the establish- 
 ment of a home of their own, but begin housekeeping upon a 
 scale which endangers their ultimate success. Here and there 
 are to be seen a couple, who, in imitation of the old New 
 England fashion, are content in a frugal manner to begin life, 
 with the determination of earning a fortune before they set 
 
Success in Life. 143 
 
 about spending it, and to make themselves worthy of a social 
 position before they claim it. Such a sight commands the 
 respect of thoughtful and sensible men. 
 
 My young friends, be too proud and too honest to tell a 
 falsehood by your manner of living. Live within your means, 
 and you will secure a respect which another's money can never 
 procure for you. 
 
 Economy, hateful as the word sounds in some ears, and 
 unfashionable as it is in some quarters, is absolutely necessary 
 to success. Economy is a duty, though a great many disregard 
 it. Money is not to be hoarded ; but, when used, it should 
 leave some token, even if momentary, that it has been judi- 
 ciously expended. But it must not go for any purposes that 
 do not advance the great plan of life. A young business-man 
 can spare neither the capital nor the working-force necessary 
 for sideway indulgences. 
 
 I hardly know how to account for the fact that the world 
 judges with so much more severity the man who saves money 
 than the spendthrift or the swindler ; that it forgives so much 
 more readily one who has stolen by a breach of trust a hundred 
 thousand dollars of other people's money than him, who, by 
 cheating himself out of the pleasures and comforts of life, has 
 managed to lay up that sum. The latter's only offence is, that 
 he has not wasted a portion of the world's labor on his own 
 selfish gratification. Let me relate an anecdote which illus- 
 trates what a miser, detestable as may be his habits, can accom- 
 plish by persistent adherence to a principle. 
 
 In one of the smaller cities of France, towards the close of 
 the last century, there died at an advanced age, leaving a large 
 estate, a man who for more than fifty years had been known 
 and despised as a miser. For a long period the city had suf- 
 fered from the lack of good water. During his youth the in- 
 convenience had become so great, that the citizens held public 
 meetings, with a view to the city's taking measures, in its cor- 
 porate capacity, for bringing water from a lake about a dozen 
 miles distant. After much discussion, an estimate was had of 
 the expense ; but it proved so large, that the people reluctantly 
 
144 Success in Life. 
 
 concluded to abandon the enteq^rise as impossible for them to 
 undertake. While serving his apprenticeship at blacksmithing, 
 he had attended the meetings, and grown much interested in 
 the subject. When the city had abandoned the project, it 
 occurred to him that he himself might furnish the means of 
 constructing the aqueduct. By degrees this idea took posses- 
 sion of his mind, and soon after he became of age he deter- 
 mined to accomplish this undertaking. Giving up his purpose 
 of marrying, he devoted his life to this single object. He 
 worked diligently, lived upon a few cents a day, and put his 
 earnings at interest. To make his plan effective, he applied 
 himself early to money-letting, and learned how to make good 
 investments. By improved workmanship, and diligence in his 
 trade, spending nothing, but adding to his means at high rates 
 of interest, the blacksmith gained in wealth, and long before 
 he was called old, but not till after he was called a miser, he 
 became the richest man in the city. As years and money 
 increased, he grew more and more penurious ; and yet, though 
 he lived and dressed so meanly as to be avoided and despised, 
 he appeared always cheerful and happy. He died alone, in an 
 unfurnished hovel, at nearly the age of ninety years, leaving an 
 immense estate. His will set forth the object of his life of 
 accumulation and self-denial, — to furnish every inhabitant of 
 the city with an abundant supply of good water free of expense. 
 His property, which was ample for the purpose, he had vested 
 in trustees charged with the duty of bringing in the distant and 
 long-coveted lake to his native city, and keeping the works in 
 repair, free of cost to the citizens. 
 
 When the people gave up this enterprise as too expensive 
 for their united means, had this half-educated blacksmith an- 
 nounced to them his purpose of accomplishing what they dared 
 not undertake, who would have heeded him? How many of 
 those who sneered at the miser while working out his great 
 plan, and happy in his employment, had any conception of the 
 force of that principle, an adherence to which was giving that 
 ignorant and insignificant man a power greater than that of the 
 whole city? 
 
Success in Life. 145 
 
 A few years ago, Mr. K., an able and successful lawyer, died 
 at Concord, at an advanced age, leaving what is considered in 
 New Hampshire a large fortune. After making a moderate 
 provision for his relatives, he gave the bulk of his property, 
 amounting to about two hundred thousand dollars, to the New 
 Hampshire Asylum for the Insane. Always economical, he 
 had for the last forty years been penurious, denying himself 
 many of what are esteemed the comforts of life. In other 
 respects he was a learned, cultivated, and exemplary man. 
 He gave up his practice at the bar before reaching middle age, 
 and, by perseveringly acting upon a carefully-considered plan, 
 he succeeded in accumulating his handsome estate. I doubt if 
 any swindler now in the State Prison has been so censured for 
 his crime as was Mr. K., in his lifetime, for the self-denial which 
 enabled him to devote two hundred thousand dollars to a most 
 worthy charity. 
 
 I have told you what these men accomplished, not to com- 
 mend the conduct of either as deserving imitation, but to show 
 what power there is in a plan of life persistently carried out. 
 
 x'\ habit which often exerts a greater influence upon success 
 than is generally supposed is cheerfulness, or looking upon the 
 bright side of life ; and charity, or, more accurately speaking, 
 justice, which sees the good points of people quicker and more 
 clearly than it discovers their faults. Why is it that we, where 
 so many of our days are happy and prosperous, are more prone 
 to repine at what we suffer than to be grateful for what we 
 enjoy? Why is it, when there is so much that is good in those 
 about us, and their faults are so few, that we have a keen eye 
 for their defects alone? This is not only unjust to others, but 
 injurious to ourselves. The view is not true either of the world, 
 or of those whom we meet from day to day ; and false opinions 
 always obstruct success. Besides, life's enjoyments are largely 
 made up of a succession of what appear to be unimportant 
 incidents. If, in our intercourse with the world, we have a 
 quicker eye for the faults than for the excellences of those 
 whom we are constantly meeting, we not only hazard our suc- 
 cess, but greatly abridge our happiness. 
 
146 Success in Life. 
 
 Finally, success largely depends upon our heeding that law, 
 as well applicable to what we call secular affairs as to spiritual 
 growth, announced in the saying of Jesus, " He that findeth his 
 life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for my sake shall 
 find it;" which means that the sordid will fail, while he who 
 to the selfish appears to be throwing away the enjoyments of 
 life in meeting and fulfilling his duties shall, whatever may 
 seem the sacrifice, find life's highest happiness. 
 
 I felt that I could not better attain the object you had in 
 inviting me to address you, than by reminding you that the 
 danger of the day is in a growing aversion to work and a love 
 of extravagance. For this reason I have attempted to impress 
 on the minds of those just entering upon the duties of life the 
 truth that there is a law of success and failure as universal as 
 that of gravitation. And, in your efforts to discover and li\'e by 
 this law, — 
 
 " . . May you better reck the rede 
 Than ever did th' adviser." 
 
REMARKS 
 
 ON PRESENTING RESOLUTIONS OF THE ROCK- 
 INGHAM BAR, UPON THE DEATH OF 
 JOHN PORTER, ESQUIRE/ 
 
 May it please your Honor, — In the rapid flight of time we 
 have reached the period for the convening of this court. The 
 preHminaries have been gone through with, and the business of 
 the term has been commenced ; yet we miss the venerable 
 form and the measured step of the president of this bar. Who 
 among us can recollect a time or term when he did not asso- 
 ciate our distinguished brother and his presence with the Rock- 
 ingham courts? 
 
 Mr. John Porter, with one exception the oldest counsellor of 
 the bar, died suddenly, at his residence in Derry, on the fourth 
 of December last. During the day, and up to within a few 
 minutes of his death, he was engaged in his usual professional 
 avocations, thus beautifully ending a long and well-spent life 
 without decay of mind, or pain of body, and fulfilling his well- 
 known wish, not to outlive his usefulness. 
 
 He was born in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, on the twenty- 
 sixth of February, 1776, — a few months before the promulga- 
 tion of the Declaration of Independence. His father soon after 
 removed to Lebanon in this State. Mr. Porter graduated at 
 Dartmouth College in 1803, and studied his profession with the 
 late Aaron Hutchinson ; and more than half a century ago set- 
 
 ' Mr. Hackelt presented these resolutions in behalf of the Bar, February 24th, 1858, 
 at the trial term of the Supreme Judicial Court held at Exeter, the Honorable Samuel 
 Dana Bell (afterward chief justice) upon the bench. This instance of the felicity with 
 which he performed a not infrequent duly is selected, not only because of the esteem in 
 which the Bar held their venerable president, but for the circumstance that the speaker 
 mentions the names of early contemporaries in the profession, who had at that date passed 
 away. 
 
148 Remarks on the Death of 
 
 tied in Derry, where he continued to reside, uninterruptedly 
 engaged, with marked ability and success, in the practice of the 
 law until his death. He soon acquired, and ever afterwards 
 held, a high rank at the bar at a time when it contained lawyers 
 who would have conferred distinction upon any bar in this or 
 in any other country. His fidelity, patience, and industry, his 
 learning and high-bred courtesy, his effective preparation for 
 the duties of court, and his quiet waiting on its routine, are 
 known to all who are acquainted with the administration of 
 justice in this county. 
 
 Not only was he for many years among the first at the bar in 
 this county and this State, but for many sessions he was among 
 the first and soundest of our legislators. The town in which 
 he resided often conferred honor upon itself and the State by 
 electing him to the House of Representatives. A cjuarter of a 
 century ago the State secured his services, in conjunction with 
 those of other distinguished jurists, in the revision of our stat- 
 utes. It would be difficult to name one who, during the last 
 half-century, had so frequently occupied a seat in the popular 
 branch of our State government, or who had exerted a greater 
 or better influence in giving shape to our statutes, and character 
 to our general legislation. Neither at the bar nor in the Legis- 
 lature did he seek opportunities for mere display ; l)ut in both 
 positions he was always found equal to what the occasion de- 
 manded. 
 
 The last time I heard him address the court he delivered in 
 this room his beautiful and appropriate speech upon the life 
 and character of our late brother Tilton. The bar had delayed 
 offering to the court the resolutions which they had adopted, 
 with a view to Mr. Porter's participating in the proceedings. 
 When he arrived in town he readily undertook the part assigned 
 to him, and some who hear me will recollect how admirably he 
 performed it. 
 
 With what fearful rapidity such occasions as these are suc- 
 ceeding each other ! Where now are the men who gave charac- 
 ter to the Rockingham bar when your Honor and myself were 
 admitted to it? Mason, Smith, Sullivan, Bartlett, Woodbury, 
 
yohn Porter, Esq. 149 
 
 Cutts, Haven, French, Butler, Plumer, Cushman, Tilton, Thorn? 
 — all gone ; and now Porter, after a long and honored life, is 
 added to the list. 
 
 It is fitting that such occasions as this should be marked at 
 least by a momentary cessation of those contests incident to 
 the profession in which we are spending our lives ; that we 
 should call to mind our brethren who have gone before us ; 
 and, if their eminence is beyond our reach, that we should 
 resolve the more sedulously to imitate their virtues, and en- 
 deavor to realize the rapidity with which we are hurrying after 
 them. 
 
INDEX OF NAMES. 
 
INDEX OF NAMES. 
 
 Adams, 30, 44, 92, 113, 119, 120. 
 Addison, 82. 
 Allen, 7, 71. 
 Appleton, 28. 
 Atherton, 36. 
 
 Badger, 13, 17. 
 
 Balch, 6. 
 
 Barnard, 4. 
 
 Bartlett, 19, 20, 21, 22, 30, 35, 87, 
 
 90, 9 r, 103, 1 48. 
 Barton, 34. 
 Bayard, in. 
 Bean, 17. 
 Bell, 36, 69, 147. 
 Bellemie, 4 
 Blair, 16. 
 Bonaparte, 121. 
 Boswell, 93. 
 Bradbury, 8, 35. 
 Brewster, 21, 42, 93. 
 Brown, 30. 
 Browne, 113. 
 Burleigh, 17. 
 Burr, 117. 
 Butler, 149. 
 
 Campbell, 93. 
 Carlton, i. 
 Carteret, 5. 
 Chase, 37, 88. 
 
 Chaunccy, 30. 
 Childs, 30. 
 Choate, 64. 
 Christie, 57, 69. 
 Cilley, 35. 
 Claggett, 22, 30, 35. 
 Clark, 30. 
 
 Coe, 20, 21, 31, 32, 33. 
 Coggswell, 17. 
 Coues, 28, 30. 
 Crosby, 16, 17. 
 Currier, 22. 
 Cushman, 35, 149. 
 Cutter, 22, 30. 
 Cutting, 22. 
 
 Cutts, 19, 22, 28, 30, 35, 36, 91, 
 149. 
 
 Dana, 147. 
 
 De Normandie, 87, 95. 
 
 Durkee, 30. 
 
 Dwight, 60. 
 
 Dyer, i. 
 
 Eastman, 14, 17. 
 Ellsworth, 119. 
 Elwyn, 22, 39. 
 
 Fields, 26. 
 Folsom, II. 
 Franklin, 113. 
 
154 
 
 Index of Names. 
 
 French, 15, 17, 149. 
 Frink, 102. 
 Froude, 3. 
 
 Gale, 12. 
 Oilman, 11. 
 Goddard, 78. 
 Goldsmith, 77. 
 Goodrich, 30, 43. 
 Goodwin, 44, ^6, 60. 
 Graham, 4. 
 Grant, 51. 
 Greeley, 17. 
 Grenville, i iS. 
 
 HACKErT : — 
 Allen, I, S, 9, 10, 12, 13. 
 Asa, 8. 
 Betsey, 8. 
 Betty, 8. 
 Bradbury, 8. 
 Clara Coues, 28. 
 Charles, 4, 8. 
 Charles Alfred, i, 13. 
 Charles Parker, 28. 
 Cuthbert, 3. 
 Daniel, 8. 
 David, 3. 
 Dorothy, 7, 8. 
 Ebenezer, 6, 8. 
 Eliza Ann, i. 
 Ellen Louisa, 28. 
 Ephraim, 6, 7, 8. 
 Ezra, 8. 
 
 Frank Warren, 28. 
 George Washington, i. 
 Hannah, 6. 
 Hezekiah, 8. 
 Hiram Stephen, i. 
 Horatio Balch, 6. 
 Jabez, 5. 
 Jeremiah, 8. 
 Jeremiah Carlton, i. 
 Jeremiah Mason, i. 
 John, 3, 5, 6. 
 
 Hackett : — 
 
 Judah, 6. 
 
 Katharine, 6. 
 
 I.uther Allen, i. 
 
 Marian, 4. 
 
 Marianna, 28. 
 
 Mary, 8, 10. 
 
 Mary Jane, i. 
 
 Mary Young, i, 10. 
 
 Miriam, 8. 
 
 Nancy Young, i. 
 
 Patty, 8. 
 
 Peter, 4. 
 
 Polly, 8. 
 
 Richard, 5. 
 
 Sarah, 4, 5, 6, 8. 
 
 Susan, 8. 
 
 Thomas, 3. 
 
 Wallace, 60. 
 
 Will, 4, 5. 
 
 William, 4, 5, 6. 
 
 William Henry, 28. 
 Hadley, 24. 
 
 Halliburton, 29, 30, 41, 42, 93. 
 Halket, 2, 3. 
 
 Hamilton, 114, 122, 123, 124. 
 Hanson, 4. 
 Harcourt, 2. 
 Hatch, 57, 100. 
 Hatfield, 6. 
 
 Haven, 19, 22, 23, 27, 28, 91, 149. 
 Hill, 34. 
 Hillard, 26. 
 Hutchinson, 147. 
 
 Jarves, 7. 
 Jay, 93, 109. 
 Jenness, 89, 90. 
 Johnson, 93. 
 
 Keating, 2. 
 Keyes, 37. 
 Kimball, 60. 
 Knowles, 39. 
 
Index of Names. 
 
 155 
 
 'Leighton, i. 
 Leslie, 4. 
 Lincoln, 51. 
 Livingston, rii, 112. 
 Lockhart, 77. 
 Long, 22, 30. 
 Lord, ZT- 
 Lower, 2. 
 
 McFarland, 15, 17. 
 
 Mack, 15. 
 
 Madison, 114. 
 
 Magoun, 30. 
 
 Mann, 69. 
 
 March, 66. 
 
 Marshall, 120. 
 
 Mason, i, 19, 22, 23, 26, 27, 35, 36, 
 
 91, 103, 148. 
 Miller, 30. 
 Moody, 17, 18. 
 Moore, 69. 
 Montrose, 4. 
 Morgan, 28. 
 Morrill, 8, 58. 
 
 Nutter, 28. 
 
 Odell, 22, 30, 54. 
 Odiorne, 22, 65. 
 
 Palfrey, 23. 
 
 Patrick, 8, 9. 
 
 Parent, 68. 
 
 Parker, 28, 35, 69, 89, 94. 
 
 Peabody, 23. 
 
 Peaslee, 17. 
 
 Penhallow, 21. 
 
 Pepperell, 39. 
 
 Perkins, 19, 87. 
 
 Phillips, II. 
 
 Pickering, 28, 30, 87, 91. 
 
 Pierce, 22, 28, 91. 
 
 Plumer, 27, 149. 
 
 Porter, 147. 
 
 Pulserford, 140, 141. 
 
 Randolph, 20. 
 Rice, 53. 
 Ring, 7. 
 Robinson, 8. 
 Rundlet, 30. 
 
 Savage, 5. 
 
 Scott, 77. 
 
 Scribner, 90. 
 
 Seavey, 65. 
 
 Shakspeare, 4. 
 
 Small, 104. 
 
 Smith, 17, 21, 99, 103, 148. 
 
 Spry, 39- 
 
 Stanton, 38. 
 
 Stavers, 60. 
 
 Steele, 82. 
 
 Stickney, 99. 
 
 Stillman, 71. 
 
 Stillson, 7. 
 
 Stoddard, 28. 
 
 Story, 23. 
 
 Stow, 30. 
 
 Strachan, 4. 
 
 Sullivan, 19, 35, 148. 
 
 Tenney, 83. 
 Thom, 149. 
 Thompson, 22. 
 Ticknor, 28. 
 Tilton, 148, 149. 
 Trask, 22. 
 
 Upham, 34, 35. 
 
 Van Cortlandt, iii. 
 
 Waldron, 32. 
 
 "Walker, 22. 
 
 Walton, 58. 
 
 Warren, 28, 39. 
 
 Washington, i, 45, 114, 115, 117, 
 
 123, 124. 
 Weare, 45. 
 Webster, 19, 23, 36, 103. 
 
156 
 
 Index of Names. 
 
 Wentworth, 90. 
 Wheelwright, 30. 
 White, 22, 30. 
 Wibird, 21. 
 Williams, 3. 
 
 Woodbury, 19, 22, 91, 103, 14S. 
 Woods, 69. 
 Wyman, 58. 
 
 Young, I, ID, II, 12, 20.