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1890.] Reminiscences of Dr. John Park. 69 REMINISCENCES OE DR. JOHN PARK. BY EDWARD H. HALL. IN the Eeport of the Council of this Society, at the meeting held April 28, 1852, is a brief notice of Dr. John Park, member of the Society from 1831 to his death in 1852, and member of the Council from 1832 to 1843. The singular beauty and dignity of Dr. Park's character, together with his noteworthy services in the cause of early female educa- tion, have been thought by some who remember him, to demand a fuller notice of his life, before the last of his many pupils, or of his immediate family, should have passed from the stage. It is from the reminiscences of these fi-iends, and from a diary of Dr. Park's, kept punctili- ously for niany years, written with a clearness and ele- gance which put most of our modern penmanship to the blush, that the present paper is drawn. John Park, son of Andrew and Mary (Cochran) Park, was born, January 7, 1775, in the little town of Windham, N. H. He came of Scotch-Irish ancestry, who settled in Londonderry, N. H., bringing with them vivid recollections of the great siege of Londonderry in 1689, which were often recounted to eager listeners in the farmhouses of New Hampshire. "When Macaulay's History appeared, with its detailed and stirring accounts of this historic siege, the suf- ferings of the brave inhabitants, the attempts to relieve them, the breaking of the mighty boom which had been stretched across the river, and the arrival of vessels with food for the half-starved citizens, his narrative seemed but a repetition of the traditions so often heard from aged lips by the little children of the Windham homestead.
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1890.] Reminiscences of Dr. John Park. 69

REMINISCENCES OE DR. JOHN PARK.BY EDWARD H. HALL.

IN the Eeport of the Council of this Society, at the meetingheld April 28, 1852, is a brief notice of Dr. John Park,member of the Society from 1831 to his death in 1852, andmember of the Council from 1832 to 1843. The singularbeauty and dignity of Dr. Park's character, together withhis noteworthy services in the cause of early female educa-tion, have been thought by some who remember him, todemand a fuller notice of his life, before the last of hismany pupils, or of his immediate family, should havepassed from the stage. It is from the reminiscences ofthese fi-iends, and from a diary of Dr. Park's, kept punctili-ously for niany years, written with a clearness and ele-gance which put most of our modern penmanship to theblush, that the present paper is drawn.

John Park, son of Andrew and Mary (Cochran) Park,was born, January 7, 1775, in the little town of Windham,N. H. He came of Scotch-Irish ancestry, who settled inLondonderry, N. H., bringing with them vivid recollectionsof the great siege of Londonderry in 1689, which were oftenrecounted to eager listeners in the farmhouses of NewHampshire. "When Macaulay's History appeared, with itsdetailed and stirring accounts of this historic siege, the suf-ferings of the brave inhabitants, the attempts to relievethem, the breaking of the mighty boom which had beenstretched across the river, and the arrival of vessels withfood for the half-starved citizens, his narrative seemed buta repetition of the traditions so often heard from aged lipsby the little children of the Windham homestead.

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John Park, the oldest of seven children, was so smalland feeble in his childhood that he was considered of littleuse on the farm, and wiis, consequently, allowed to followhis bent and prepare for college. He had already .taughthimself to write with a whittled stick u])on birch-biirk ; andfortunately for him the clergyman of his native town. Rev.Simon Williams, living two miles away, was an enthusiasticclassical scholar, and delighted to find in those secludedplaces so apt a scholar. Under his instruction youngPark prepared for Dartmouth College, and at fourteen wasadmitted to the Junior class. On entering, his father wentwitli him to Hanover on horseback, the son, resplendent in acrimson waistcoat made from.his father's wedding-coat, rid-ing the colt at his side. The only incidents of his collegecareer which have come down to posterity were his exile toa pest-house on a neighboring mountain, to recover fromsmall-pox, and his appearing on the college stage inAddison's play of Cato, in which he took the part of Marciaso successfully that one of his rustic hearers fell in lovewith the charming maiden on the spot.

He graduated at sixteen, in the class of 1791, and betookhimself at once to teaching, being employed in this capacity, ,•first in Charlestown, Mass., then in Middleton, and finallyin Framingham, where he acted as preceptor of the Acad-emy in 1793 and 1794, At this time he was desirous ofentering the Ministry, but finding that he could not consci-entiously teach the Calvinistic doctrines in which he hadbeen reared, he began the study of medicine. In the mean-time, however, having become engaged to the daughter ofa neighboring clergyman, the Rev. Moses Adams of Acton,and being eager for an early settlement, he was persuadedto engage in a business venture in Norfolk, Va., whichpromised speedier success than his chosen profession. Buthis new occupation proved absolutely distasteful to him,and he turned to his books and studies again, finding afriend in a kind physician who encouraged him to persevere

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in his chosen pursuit and gave him counsel and aid. Hesought relief, too, in the companionship of a circle ofFrench officers then in Norfolk, three large ships havingbeen sent by the Eepublic to obtain provisions in Virginia,and being then blockaded by the English in the harbor.Having already begun the study of French while in Charles-town with a royalist emigrant, M. Nancrede, then tutor atHarvard College, Mr. Park availed himself eagerly of thisfresh opportunity to improve himself in conversation, and

• seems to have taken great delight in singing republicansongs with the gay and spirited Frenchmen. After a fewmonths in Norfolk, he seized an opportunity to visit theWest Indies, then the scene of active warfiire, took passagewith a Quaker captain, John Earle, of Newport, R. I., andlanded in Dominique, in April, 1795, just as those littleislands were in a fever of excitement over the action of theFrench Republic, granting to people of color the rights ofFrench citizens. " I met here," says Mr. Park in his diary,"emigrants who had fled from an insurrection of the blacksin Guadaloupe, poor wretches who had been reduced in onenight from the affluence of rich planters and merchants toabsolute penury. As in these revolutionary times they hadno direct communication with France, they beset me fornews from the naother country. I could sustain a tolerablyready conversation with them in French ; but once andagain was checked by these proud royalists, when I inad-vertently addressed them with a ' Oui citoyen,' the term Ihad been accustomed to use among my republican friendsat Norfolk. They shrugged their shoulders, and retorted,^Monsieur, Je ne suis pas citoyen,' as indignantly as if Ihad said, you rascal."

Leaving Doniinique in search of larger opportunities ofpractice, he spent a year in the French island of Martinique,where he obtained permission to attend the general hospitalin St. Pierre. Here the successful treatment of a severecase of yellow fever brought his professional services into

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instant demand, while he had occasion at the hospital, as hedeclares, " to see more surgical cases in one week than,would be possible in Massachusetts in a whole year."During an attack by the English fleet upon the neighboringisland of Santa Lucia, the wounded were brought in schoon-ers to the hospital of St. Pierre. The memory of thesecharming days in Martinique haunted his dreams even inhis old age, so greatly did the climate and scenery fasci-nate him, while the society of a few French and Englishfamilies made the time pass most agreeably. Duelling wasfrequent there, and as his journal shows, was resortedto on the most trivial and often quizzical occasions. Slav-ery was of course a familiar sight everywhere, and atone bf his boarding-places he was daily distressed by thecries of poor wretches, owned by a woman in a neighboringhouse, who were sutfering under the lash. Once as he waswatching a negro woman passing under his balcony with aboard fastened around her neck as punishment for someoffence, his indignation was aroused at seeing a white boythrow a handful of pepper into her fiice, and laugh at herscreams of helpless agony. These cases, however, he con-sidered exceptional, and speaks often in his diary of thejolly lives led by the West India negroes, whom he thought.better off, for the most part, than in their own country.The moral aspects of slavery had not then, of course, at-tracted serious attention.

The most interesting incident given in his diary in con-nection with Martinique, is the following: "The Britishgovernment, I believe, never rewarded the treachery ofBenedict Arnold by any honorable appointment ; but hewas in Martinique at this time, employed.by contract aspurveyor to the English troops stationed.in this island.Here, as in America, he was selfish, avaricious, and in hiscommercial dealings required looking after. I never heardhis natiie mentioned with respect. Whatever he might havebeen in early life, he was now soured in temper, and gen-

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erally quarrelled with every person with whom he had anybusiness transactions. Hë had purchased a quantity of flourfrom a Capt. Art of Philadelphia. As this gentleman wasstanding by Blakeley's store, and I by his side, the Generalrode up. He performs his movements on horseback, hav-ing lost a leg in the battle near Ticonderoga. A disagree-ment soon followed, as usual in his bargains ; loud wordsfollowed, when a group of English, French and Americansgathered to listen. At length the General shook his gold-headed cane at Capt. Art, and with an oath called him arascal. Art quietly replied, 'General, you may call me byany name you please, except traitor.' Arnold instantlywheeled his horse and rode ofl", while the bystanders, Eng-lish as well as Americans, burst into a loud laugh."

But Martinique, in spite of its attractions, proved toohealthy a place to detain the young physician long ; and onAug. 21, 1796, he set off with a friend who was startingon a pleasure-trip among the West India islands, to seek amore favorable settlement. After touching at the Danishcolonies of Santa Cruz, and St. Thomas, he finally estab-lished himself, Nov. 18, 1796, at Port au Prince in SanDomingo'. Here his excellent letters of introduction se-cured him a cordial reception from the English officers ofthe place, who surprised him, so soon after a long and bit-ter war, not only bj' their hospitality, but also by theirinterest in his country, and by their high praise ofWashington. At this place he received the appointmentof assistant surgeon at the hospitals, and in May, 1797,was put in charge of a ward by himself.- His superior offi-cer, though very formal, "not only giving his prescriptionsin Latin, but generally making his remarks on the state ofthe patients in the same language," showed the most grati-fying confidence in his young assistant ; but as an orderhad just been issued " that no officer belonging to the med-ical stafl' should have anything to do with private practice,"Mr. Park resigned his position, to devote himself to the

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much more lucrative service which offered itself in theharbor. Here he was kept busy for many months by theyellow-fever cases which broke out in the English trans-ports, many of which arrived in the harbor in filthy condi-tion and without surgeons. In 1798, as the fever declined,small-pox broke out violently in Port au Prince, its spreadand fatality being chiefly due, as he thought, to unskilfultreatment. The conimon people were prejudiced againstvaccination, but the patients whom he inoculated showedmild symptoms, and all recovered.

The year 1798 was a very eventful one in San Domingo,and Mr. Park remained there just long enough to witnesssome of its most exciting scenes. The negro leader,Toussaint Louverture, little known as yet to fame, hadlately been appointed by the French Directory commander-iti-chief of the army of San Domingo, and was at that timeengaged in maintaining his position against the "Britishforces who held the harbor and adjoining country of Portau Prince. "Our belligerent forces here," wrote Mr. Parkto a friend, "are in a somewhat extraordinary position;we are hemmed in by the brigands (thus the negroes arecalled who surround us) ; I can every day see their tri-col-orcd flags on two forts. 'The English are not desirous toextend their jurisdiction beyond what they now possessand can defend." "Port au Prince," he wrote, March 1,1798, " i s situated on a tract of rather flat ground risinggently, however, from the water. East of the town theland rises abruptly into mountains ; on top of one of theseridges, about eight miles distant, the English have a postcalled Fourmier, and not far frona it the brigands haveanother. There are frequent skirmishes of late betweenthe English convoys going up to supply their post withprovisions, and the negroes who conceal themselves in the

. woods and ravines along the road ; as the whole route upthe steep is in full view from Port au Prince, I have fre-quently seen the smoke and heard the report of the mus-

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kets ; have seen the red-coats hastening up and down, andthe glitter of their bright gun-barrels. General Sinicoearrives today, succeeding Gen. Forbes, owing to whosesupineness the French have lately appeared more activethan ever." On the 12th of August still another change ofcommanders was made. General Maitland succeeding Gen.Simcoe, and showing himself apparently still more energeticand active. " H e is incessantly on horsback," says Dr.Park's diary, " reconnoitering the positions about Port auPrince. Thc people are delighted with his spirited admin-istration, the merchants in particular. English, Frenchand Americans consider it a pledge of security, and of apermanent occupation of the place, at least until peace."These expectations, however, were at once strangely dis-pelled. From this point Dr. Park's diary becomes ex-tremely interesting ; but the limits of my paper forbid mygiving more than the briefest extracts :—

April 21st. This evening a few of us were walking outof town, when our attention was arrested by a bright fireon the top of the mountain to the east. We agreed it mustbe the block house on that eminence, occupied as an out-post by the English. While we were wondering how ithappened and apprehending some accident, a tremendousexplosion announced the destruction of the building. Onentering the city we found many had witnessed the catas-trophe, but no one knew any particulars. April 22nd.Astounding news ! the block house was blown up by order,and the garrison has come down. The whole place is incommotion. To the utter amazement and confusion of thetown, a patrol with a drum is parading the streets, and atevery corner a proclamation is read in French and Eqglishthat in precisely fifteen days Port au Prince will be evacu-ated by the English. An earthquake could not producegreater excitement ; consternation in every face. One weekago all was confidence, all felt sure of the protection of gov-ernment. Now, in a moment, as it were, all is dismay.23d and 24th. Proclamations issued repeatedly, enjoininggood order ; promising every possible assistance withoutdistinction of nation to all who should wish to leave the

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place. April 25th. A flag of truce was despatched to theblack general, Toussaint, at Genaives, offering to surrenderthe place to him (he has a rival at the south, a mulattochief, Rigaud,) on condition of a cessation of hostilitiesuntil all who chose could emigrate, and requiring an officialsolemn promise of protection to the lives and property ofthose who, from any motive, might think proper to stay.April 26th. Bustle, bustle I hurrying to and fro in everydirection. Many of the French, white, yellow, and someof the blacks, are selecting wjiat they will take with them,and hastening to the wharves. The sable republican but afew miles distant has returned his answer. Toussaint ac-cedes to General Maitland's propositions on condition thatall the forts in and about Port au Prince are left in theirpresent order.

April 27th. Another proclamation. The commander-in-chief, who has hitherto been cautious of pledging himselffor the conduct of Toussaint, now publishes tlie assuranceshe has received,.and his own firm belief that Toussaint willhonorably fulfil his engagements. This alters the face ofthings. Many who a few days ago were desiring to leave thetown and abandon everything, anticipating nothing but plun-der and murder, are now deciding to stay and risk the eventof a change of government. 28th. Embarcation, however,goes on briskly. Every vessel in port has been put in requi-sition by the Government, and vessels are hourly arrivingfor the purpose of transporting inhabitants and their effects.April 29th. Proclamations are continually soundingthrough the streets, giving instructions. Cavalry patrolthe town; noted aristocrats are anxious to get off; mer-chants are downcast on account of the sacrifices they mustmake; everybody in motion. I fall in with the Marquisde Rouverie, who fled from France in the early horrorsof the Revolution. I have been acquainted with him eversince my arrival. He was with La Fayette in our War ofIndependence, and has interested me with accounts of hiscampaigns. He wears his cross and rapier in the style ofthe ^^ancienne noblesse," but is very poor; he once bor-rowed a few dollars of me and has never been able to returnthem, but he is welcome to them, as he helped to fight ourbattles. The great mystery is, what has been the cause ofthis unexpected and seemingly inconsistent change of policy.Gen. Maitland appeared to be taking every measure with

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great zeal for maintaining possession. Why all at onceabandon ? The most plausible conjecture is that the Britishgovernment have found the expense of maintaining Port auPrince, with a large circle of defences, too disproportionedto any advantages derived from holding it ; that in orderto conceal their purposes from France, they had givenMaitland sealed orders, as is sometimes the case, not to beopened till a certain day ; that this date occurred about the20th, when he found his directions were to negotiate withToussaint aiid evacuate. April 30th. Notwithstandingthe tumult of the day, regulated, however, by a wonderfuldegree of system, the nights are perfectly quiet ; stillnessreigns, only broken by the changing of the guard, and oc-casional passing of the mounted patrol.

May 3rd. Things are verging to a close. A FrenchCommissary has arrived. At the first panic, it seemed asif the whole population wished to fly. The reliance ex-pressed by the Commander-in-chief on the fidelity ofToussaint, confirmed by the French Commissary, has sotranquillized the popular feeling that it is now supposedhalf at least will remain ; among others two wealthy Amer-ican houses.

To-day I receive my passport.May 7th. One pi'oclamation more. This enjoins upon

those who remain to shut every door, and not open one attheir peril till after sunrise to-morrow morning. I takeleave of the many friends from whom I am probablyseparating forever. The happy moment for my depart-ure has arrived, and I go on board the Merlin. May 8th.At two o'clock this morning Port Royal and all the mili-tary outposts were abandoned by the British troops, ex-cept a company sent to Fort Bisseton. The sun is up,the day is pleasant, but all the fleet remains quietly at an-chor. A gentle breeze has touched Port Royal, and as theflag unfolds, we behold the blue, white and red, the Repub-lican colors, seeming to exult in their new, proud elevation.Then we hear drums, and distinctly see the Republicantroops, pouring down the streets, black as a thunder cloud ;we observe them placing guards in'different parts of thetown. Some American boats went to the wharf this fore-noon for water, and a few gentlemen who had remainedreported that everything was conducted with the strictestorder. We are under command of the guns of Port Royal,

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but Toussaint keeps his word like "apreux chevalier." May9th. Soon after sunrise the signal gun is tired, the sailsare spread, and with á nioderate land breeze, the wholefleet, consisting of 136 sail, moves to the westward, not amast as large as a broomstick left in the harbor.

On May 10, these tragic scenes end with a little comedy,which the diarist evidently enjoys recording in full. '•'•May10. Creeping along. The fastest sailers have to wait forthe dullest; notwithstanding which precaution, one poorclump of a Dutch-built brig lagged so far astern that a row-boat of negroes slipped out from St. Mark's and took pos-session. The structure of Dutch vessels is peculiar, thestem and stern rounded much alike, so that these, ignorantfellows seemed not to know the one from the other. Witha spy-glass I clearly saw them towing her into harbor sternforemost."

On June 19, 1798, after an absence of three years andeight months, the traveller arrived at Newburyport, andhastened to rejoin his parents, and enter fairly upon theprofession for which his varied experiences had so emi-nently fitted him. Jan. 4, 1799, he presented himself forexi'imination before the Censors of the Massachusetts Medi-cal Society, in Concert Hall, Boston, and soon receivedfrom them his medical diploma. He established himself atonce in the little town of Amesbury, Mass., and was mar-ried, June 25, 1799, to Miss Louisa Adams, daughter ofthe Kev. Moses Adams, of Acton, Mass. In October of thesame year, he was oflered a commission as surgeon on theU. S. Ship Warren, Capt. Newman, which was about tosail for the West Indies, to protect the American commercefrom the depredations of French privateers. As he felthimself especially familiar with the duties'" of such an office,and as the physician's fees which he found customary inAmesbury (a shilling a mile) proved too small for the sup-port of his tamily. Dr. Park (as he was now entitled to bestyled) accepted the commission ; and on Dec. 25, 1799,

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just after the news of Washington's death reached NewEngland, he sailed again for the West Indies. The Amer-ican navy appears to have been in a very primitive condi-tion at this time. The officers of the Warren proved ill-bred find quarrelsome, the captain himself was vulgar andprofane, given to immoderate drinking, and far more inter-ested in prize-money and private speculations than in thedischarge of his special duties, and the fleet of Americanmerchantmen who entrusted themselves to. his protectionseemed to the surgeon, accustomed to the more skilfulhandling of British convoys, to be little safer than theywould have been by themselves. The only privateers whichthey actually encountered were from the English island ofNew Providence, vessels which, though nominally at peacewith, the United States, took it upon themselves to plunderAmerican traders at will. One of them was caught in theact of boarding an American schooner ; whereupon the cap-tain was told that if he touched an American vessel again,he would be blown to pieces. The privateer responded bysaying "we shall board every one we come across," andthen, as if to show the utmost possible contempt for theYankee oflicer, he sailed along after the Warren for a con-siderable distance, the drum and fife furiously playingYankee Doodle Dandy. . Tiring of this sort of work, andleaving American commerce to take care of itself, theCaptain suddenly started oif for the Gulf of Mexico, nomi-nally under ordei'S, but really on a speculation of his own.They reached Vera Cruz only to turn almost imniediatelybiujk again; the vessel was visited by yellow fever in itsmost aggravated form : and the surgeon was obliged tofight night and day, not only against the disease itself, butagainst the "pernicious laxity of discipline and want ofcleanliness in the whole economy of the ship." Out of onehundred and fifty officers and men, there were one hun-dred cases in six weeks, of which thirty-nine proved fatal." I t was no uncommon thing," says Dr. Park, " to see men

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one hour doing dnty on the yards, and the next hour rag-ing in delirium, or in violent convnlsions, or in an insensi-ble stupor." The captain himself finally fell a victim to thedisease, and the vessel returned to Boston, September, 1800,under the command of the first-lieutenant. It is character-istic of Dr. Park, that though profoundly distressed by thesufferings which he witnessed during this unfortunate voy-age, and though the companionship of the ill-manneredofiicers was utterly distasteful to him, he yet made no com-plaint whatever, but found delightful occupation in water-color sketching, in the study of navigation, in making him-self practically familiar with the structure and working ofthe ship, and in the daily comradeship of his favoiñte Horace,of Helvetius and Zimmerman, and of Addison, I )r. Johnson,and Pope, whom he pronounced " a very companionableset of gentlemen."

In a second trip of the Warren (begun Nov. 27, 1800),under a very different commander. Captain, afterwardsCommodore-, JamesBarron, "an experienced seaman, strictdisciplinarian and very gentlemanly officer," Dr. Parkvisited once more the island of Martinique, and otherscenes of his earlier West India experiences, and wasabsent until peace was arranged with France, arriving inBoston again June 30, 1801. The voyage was uneventful,his time being chieñy spent in reading, in visiting the vari-ous islands, and in playing duets with the captain. CaptainBarron, on the violin, the surgeon on the ñute. CaptainBarron was dangerously ill on the voyage, and was obligedto resign, being succeeded by Captain Talbot, son of Com-modore Talbot of the Constitution.

On resigning his commission as surgeon. Dr. Park wouldseem to have had a successful career open before him, asfew young physicians of twenty-six have gained a moreuseful or varied experience. Yet he was by no means atease in his calling. While carrying Capt. Barron throughhis serious illness in the West Indies^ Dr. Park wrote in

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his journal, under date of Feb. 27: "Pondering on themiserable anxiety I have always felt when in charge of apatient dangerously ill, and on what I am now suffering, itseems to me that if I cannot conquer this useless sympathy(and I see no prospect of that) it will be most for my com-fort, as soon as I can quit the navy, to relinquish the pro-fession, and try some other method of supporting myselfand family. Many persons can discharge the medical dutieswithout excited feelings ; I cannot." Acting on this im-pulse, and being also deeply interested in the political dis-cussions of the hour, and profoundly disturbed by thetriumphs of the Jeflersonian party, he was persuaded toestablish a semi-weekly paper in Newburyport, to which hesave the name of the Neio England Repertory. The firstnumber was issued July 6, 1803. In his Prospectus, theeditor announces that his paper is to be devoted to "im-portant subjects of Literature, Politics and Morality." Asto Politics he says : " The editor will be governed by suchfeelings and opinions as are to be supposed n|itural to anative American who never knew any government as hisown but that of the Federal Constitution." The paper waspublished on Wednesdays and Saturdays, at "$3.50 per an-num, exclusive of postage—first half-year payable in ad-vance." The paper had from the first the support of manyof the leading Federalists of eastern Massachusetts, andvery soon Dr. Park found it for his interest to remove hisbusiness to Boston. The 58th number was published inBoston, Feb. 3, 1804. It was issued from 71 State street,on Tuesdays and Fridays, at $4 per annum, six months pay-able in advance. The office was in the east end of the OldState House, with a balcony looking down State street. Inlooking through the columns of The Repertory one findshimself in the densest Federalist atmosphere ofthat tumult-uous epoch. He reads of "the tyrannical policy of LordJefferson." He is informed, with some display of italics, that"Mr. Jefferson went to Washington to attend Congress,

6

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on Sunday, left Washington for Monticello on Sunday, re-turned from Monticello to Washington on Sunday." Hefinds a table showing how ' ' John Adams was chosen Presi-dent at the previous election over Jefferson by the Freemenof the United States,"—Jefferson owing his election toslave representation. He reads that " universal suffragehas doomed every country to destruction which has everadopted it." He comes upon a little squib, just beforeCommencement Day, in which a certain Honestus is advised"not to attend Commencement, unless his nerves are betterstrung than usual, as the name of Washington might bementioned, and it would be difficult to get out throuo-h thecrowd." He will find, also, long and elaborate political es-says by Fisher Ames, and other of the well-known writers ofthe day ; vvill find many articles on moral and literarythemes, and many poems of the sentimental character ofthe times, printed with lavish use of capitals.

But this political episode of Dr. Park's career was brief.While engaged in the work, he threw his whole heart intoit, as before into his medical practice ; but with very muchthe same result. The eagerness of his early zeal soon gaveway to disgust at the heat and rancor of political contro-versy, and he was easily induced at last to listen to propos-als of quite another kind. In 1811, after seven years ofprosperous existence as a semi-weekly, the Repertory wassold to W. W. Clapp, and became in 1813, as the BostonDaily Advertiser, the first daily paper ever published inBoston. In 1814, jSiathan Hale purchased the whole estab-lishment and became both editor and publisher.

The new field into which Dr. Park entered when 36 yearsof age, and which became from that time his life-pursuit,was that of education. It is quite proper to call it his life-pursuit. When a boy, his eagerness for information andstudy had surprised the learned pastor who had drifted intothe pastoral regions of New Hampshire ; during his advent-urous voyages he had found constant consolation in his

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English and Latin classics ; while editor, the literary col-umns of his paper had been quite as near to his heart as thepolitical ; and now that an opportunity offered itself forbecoming a teacher, he soon recognized this as his realvocation.

The high position which Boston has always held in allmatters of culture is well known. Eighty years ago, how-ever, the education of girls had received very little seriousattention in Boston or elsewhere. Young Ladies' Schoolsalready existed; the first "Female Academy" known tofame was established in Medford in 1789, and was soonfollowed by others of the same kind ; but the teaching ofaccomplishments was the sole purpose, and had not gener-ally, if at all, given way to carefully-appointed courses ofstudy. Dr. Park's school seems to have been among thefirst efforts, if not the very first, in this direction. Accord-ing to his own words, written in 1837 : " Several gentlemenof Boston thought the time had come when it was but justto offer to young ladies the means of pursuing more diver-sified and elevated studies than had hitherto been embracedin their literary education." Upon this scheme he enteredwith enthusiasm. Beginning with a few scholars whose par-ents had suggested the experiment, his school, known atfirst as the "Boston Lyceum for Young Ladies," was soontilled to overflowing, and so continued throughout thetwenty years of its existence. Nearly all the names bywhich the commercial or literary Boston of those days wasknown to the world were represented sooner or later in thislittle school-room. The school was kept in his own house,during the first year on Bowdoin street, afterwards onMount Vernon street.

Dr. Park's changes of residence, though not connecteddirectly with his school aflairs, are interesting as indicatingthe flow of population in Boston at that time. Living firston Williams Coui-t (offWashington street), he moved after-wards to the then attractive region of Fort Hill, from which

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he was driven by northeast winds to the rustic seclusion ofChambers street, and the almost equally retired fields ofBowdoin and Mount Vernon (then Olive)' streets. Whenon Bowdoin street, the children watched the sailors fromthe Navy Yard as they pulled down the brick monumentsurmounted by an eagle which crowned the top of BeaconHill ; from the windows'of Mount Vernon street they lookedacross a cow-pasture and' over the ruins of "Cotton's Folly,"to see the cows wandering on the Common, and to tell theway of the wind by the Hollis-street vane. On one occasion,as their curious eyes were ranging the horizon with a tele-scope, they were horrified by seeing a ghastly row ofpirates, in white caps and heads on one side, hanging froma gallows on Boston Neck.

To return to the school. It is interesting to see how vividwas the impression, both of his instruction and of his per-sonality, upon the minds of his pupils, and how aflection-ate was the remembrance which they retained of him, intheir later years. Out of many tributes of this kind, I quotethe following passage from a letter written by one of hisscholars to another at the time of his death. ' After speak-ing of "the days we passed together under the benignantinfluence of this most paternal of teachers, for he was trulya school-father," the writer says : " Few persons have estab-lished such a wide circle of the purest and most interesting

1 Olive street was laid out iroiu Belknap street to Charles street about theyear 1803, reeeiviug a name to correspond with Chestnut,,\Valnut, Spruee andCedar streets, in the same neighborhood, 'i'he Boston Directory of 1813 givesthe niiiiie of Dr. Park, with the addition " Ladies' Academy, 5 Oiive street."in the Directories of 1818 and 1823, his residence is given as at "5 Mt. Vernon,"and in the list of streets we find : " Mt. Vernon : buiidiugs on the north side ofOlivo street." About the year 1800, Sumner street was laid out from the cornerof Park and Beacon streets, "round the ííe\y State House S. W. by BeaconHill." Sumner street and Olive street met, end to eDd, at Belknap street. In1823, according to Drake, the name of Olive street was ciianged to Sumnerstreet. In 1830, Dr. Park's residenee is given as on Sumner street, but therow of buildings in wbieh he lived was still called "Mount Vernon" ; andin 1833, after he had removed to Worcester, the entire street received itspresent name of Mount Vernon street.

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relations as Dr. Park. He was eminently fitted for theoffice of pioneer in the improved,.enlarged and refined sys-tem of education he conducted so long among us. But itwas our intercourse with him, more than the books, whichformed all whose minds were not by nature unsusceptibleto his general infiuence. With his taste for learning wehad perhaps little sympathy in the earlier school-days. Hewas a great reservoir of all the grammars and histories ofthe world ; and being the one having authority to exactstated efforts from girls whose propensity to 'giggle andmake giggle' was equal to Cowpér's, we were sometimesplaced in an antagonistic position. But when he indulgedus in listening to the story of La Roche, he placed himselfon our platform, and we enjoyed and wept together. Thisit was which sanctified arithmetic and the Latin Grammar."In the " Sequel to the Three Experiments of Living," puli-lished in 1837, the author, Mrs. George Lee, two of whosedaughters were in Dr. Park's school, writes: "Abouttwenty years ago, the first seminary in Boston was openedfor instructing young ladies in the higher branches of edu-cation. It was an experiment, and succeeded, because itwas founded on the wants of the time. A taste for litera-ture was cultivated, and a knowledge of languages taught.This seminary prepared the way for others ; and though thefounder of it has retired from his arduous labors to enjoy, inthe bosom of his family, the honorable competency he haswon, many a blessing goes with him."

Dr. Park's characteristics as a teacher, as described byhis pupils, were thoroughness, and a very contagiousenthusiasm. Deeply interested himself in the French,Italian and English literatures, he imparted the same pas-sion to his scholars ; while with abundance of maps, chartsand instruments, he gave great reality and vividness tostudies which had before that time been taught almost en-tirely by rote. Not encouraging menioriter recitations, norbelieving much in verbal memory, he yet insisted upon the

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greatest exactness. The course of study seems to havecovered the Latin, French and Italian hinguages, ancientand modern history, arithmetic, geometry, trigonometry,several branches of natural history, experimentally taught,and geography taught almost exclusively hy maps and byimaginary voyages around the world. More important thanall these, however, to his own mind, were the weeklythemes in English composition, which were also exercisesin handwriting, and with which was connected incidentallythe study of Blair's Rhetoric and Alison on Taste. Therewere also parsing exercises with the whole school once aweek. The only printed document which still bears wit-ness to Dr. Park's system of instruction, is a pamphlet en-titled "Outlines of Ancient History and Chronology," cov-ering the main historic and mythologie events of classictimes in compact and useful form for constant consultation.In teaching Latin, into which he introduced the continentalpronunciation of the letter a, he paid little attention at firstto Prosody ; but after meeting à certain Dr. Fisher, whobrought from England advanced ideas of classical instruc-tion. Dr. Park insisted upon' the careful scanning of Virgiland Horace, placing his young girls, for the time, quiteahead of their brothers in Harvard College in this impor-tant detail.

The books studied in Latin were Cœsar, Viri Romœ,Virgil, Sallust, Horace, Cicero's Offidis, Senectute andAmicitia, with some of the Catiline orations ; in French,Fénelon's Telemaque, and Florian's Tales (until these werefound quite too stupid), Voltaire, Eacine and one comedyof Moliere {Tartuffe); in Italian, Notti Romani, Metas-tasio, and afterwards Alfieri, with a little of Tasso. Dantewas never reached. German language or literature had noplace in Dr. Park's curriculum, as he shared in the preju-dice of the day against the German writers, whom he con-sidered far inferior to the Italian. His daughters, though'otherwise encouraged in the widest literary pursuit, were

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never allowed to study German. At first he had twoscholars in Greek ; but as this crowded the other studies toomuch, his ideas of thoroughness would not allow him to pro-ceed with it. He gave all instruction himself, except thattowards the close of his twenty years, a few classes recitedto his older daughter. The school had a costly equipmentnot only of foreign books, but also of instruments, such aselectrical machines, orreries, galvanic batteries, air-pumps,telescopes and microscopes, procured at great trouble fromEngland, France and Germany. The hours of the schoolwere from 9 o'clock to 1. According to a pleasant anecdotewhich has survived, throwing some light upon the spiritwhich prevailed in the school. Dr. Channing once remon-strated with Dr. Park for his use of medals, as fosteringjealousies and ill-feeling. "Yes," said Dr. Park, " I douse medals, and I find, also, that my finest scholars are mostintimate with each other." During this same period, thoughmusic was never taught in the school. Dr. Park gave muchtime to the flute and guitar, accompanying himself upon thelatter in French and Italian songs, which he sang with greatfeeling, and with an extremely sweet though not powerfulvoice. Those who remember him in Boston society, re-call his singing of "Does the Harp of Rosa slumber?""The Death of Sir Ralph Abercrombie," and other fa-miliar after-dinner melodies. He was fond of society,whether in New England or the West Indies ; fond, too,of dancing, and even of waltzing, which he had learnedin the Indies, but which he refused to practise except withhis daugliters. His home was always a delightful one, notonly for its charming hospitalities, but for the variety ofstrangers to be encountered there. The French and Italianconsuls (De Valnais and Manzoni) were in the habit ofbringing their fellow-countrymen, refugees often from for-eign tyranny, to this pleasant and cultivated" abode. SuchGerman exiles as Lieber and Folien are also rememberedas intimate guests.

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In 1831, after exactly twenty years of teaching, his un-interrupted labors, tirst as editor, then as teacher, began totell upon his constitution, producing frequent vertigo andother alarming symptoms', and warning him that his activedays were over. His doctor advised an entire change, notonly of occupation but also of scene, and urged him to seeksome country home where he might have a garden and out-of-door life to interest him. The result was that, after visit-ing various country towns, he finally found himself attractedby the natural beauties and intelligent society of Worcester,and retired there with his family, April 1, 1831, spendingin Worcester the remainder of his days. He lived at firstin a house situated on the rising ground corresponding withthat on which the building of the Antiquarian Societystands, which formerly gave picturesqueness to the southend of Main street, but which the necessities of trade,always scornful of beauty, have long ago obliterated. In1842, when his family had become reduced to himself andhis wife, he sold his estate and took board at the WorcesterHouse, at the foot of Elm street. In 1814, he had beenmarried for the second time (to Mrs. Agnes Major, anEnglish lady), and on moving to Worcester, his familyconsisted of Dr. and Mrs. Park and two daughters. On his62d birthday, January 7, 1837, Dr. Park resumed thedaily journal, which had been suspended through the entireperiod of his Boston life ; and from this time until his lastsickness his occupations, his reading and his thoughts areportrayed in their minutest detail. It is an exquisite pic-ture, revealing an old age of singular sweetness and dignity,of untiring intellectual activity and of the keenest domesticenjoyment. As compared with his previous experiences,his life in Worcester was absolutely uneventful ; aside froma small class of young ladies who came to him for a shortperiod, he undertook no regular occupation : but with hislibrary and garden at his command, a small but congenialsocial circle about him, and the political and religious ques-

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tions of the day to interest him, he was independent of theworld, and never murmured at the fate which had drivenhim from more exciting surroundings to this quiet retreat.

Dr. Park was always a passionate collector of rare books.In his earlier days, when dollars were scarce, he couldnever pass a book-auction unscathed, and had to rUn thegauntlet of his family's raillery, as he smuggled into thehouse his guilty purchases. His shelves showed many dif-ferent editions of his favorite Latin authors, especially ofHorace ; and his descendants to-day ornament their book-cases, even if they do not store their minds,with superb copiesof Virgil, Xenophon, Livy, Tacitus, Ovid, Pindar, in vellumbindings, with Dr. Park's exquisite lettering, more beauti-ful than printers' type, dpon the outside. His passion forHorace never failed him. Amid the distresses and discom-forts of. his West India voyages, Horace was constantly inhis hand; and in later days, when growing infirmitiesbrought restless nights, the Odes lay always at his bedside,to while away the wakeful hours. On leaving his ownhouse in Worcester, his library of about 3,000 books wasstored in Brinley Row ; and it was one of the sorrows ofhis old age when an unfortunate fire in the block destroyed,or seriously damaged, many of his .most valuable volumes.His books were for use, not show. Almost every page ofhis Worcester journal has a notice of some new work whichhe had read, and of which he often gives a thoughtful andcritical analysis. His reading was singularly catholic, con-sidering the preju!dices of the age, extending even to trans-lations of the German writers who were then coming intovogue ; but while he frankly admires the brilliancy andoriginality of such authors as Jean Paul, he can never quiteforgive German philosophy for dealing, as he expresses it,in "rhapsodical intimations rather than distinct sentiments."

In politics. Dr. Park remained a sturdy Federalist andWhig to the end of the chapter, deploring in no measuredterms, in later years, what seemed to him the steady

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growth of demagogueism. In his entry of November 8,1845, he says: "Worcester has been and is yet throngedwith political conventions preparatory to next Monday'selection. Whigs, Democrats, Natives and Abolitionists,all have their turn. I go to none of them, but stay at homeand mourn over the distracted state of the popular mind,and the low ebb of disinterested patriotism. The selfish dema-gogue is seen everywhere, the politician who wants noth-ing but his country's prosperity, — nowhere." His earlierpolitical zeal changed by slow degrees into that strong dis-taste for participancy in national or municipal afiairs, evenat the polls, whose prevalence among our cultivated classesis so ominous a symptom in American politics. As earlyas April 3, 1837, he writes : " I never take any part in ourmunicipal concerns, except occasionally to vote on an elec-tion day. I have no taste for such action, and that, in sucha government^ as ours, is probably a defect in character."A letter from his son, Hon. John C. Park, written just afterthe exciting' fall campaign of 1840 (the Harrison campaign),which Dr. Park transcribes in full, is interesting for itsallusion to an evil which has since gained such stupendousdimensions, but which even then, in its slighter forms, wasfilling generous minds with gloomy forebodings. "Hasthe spoils system," writes Mr. Park, " become a part of oursystem of government ; and will it not eventually destroyall honorable ambition ; lessen the desire of honest andhigh-minded men (I should say the willingness, not the de-sire) to become holders of office? Will it not eventuallythrow all office into the hands of the needy, vicious, irre-sponsible and wicked, and finally work out the destructionof true liberty ? In honest truth, the power I myself havebeen wielding (in the campaign) and wonderfully to myown astonishment, has led me to dread the worst. The in-sane thirst for office has broken out within three days likea mania ; and they regard poor me as a deceiver or a fiat,because I am not in an office fever." Notwithstanding all

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this, however. Dr. Park follows his country's varying desti-nies with the liveliest and most, intelligent interest, depre-cates the Mexican War as wicked and aggressive, and thegeneral democratic policy of the day as favoring the furtherextension of slave-territory, shares to the full the prevailingWhig hostility towards the Abolitionists, and denouncesheartily the first Free-Soil agitations which were makingsuch mournful headway, and whose final outcome he didnot live to see.

In religious matters. Dr. Park held a consistent attitudethroughout his life. From his youthful days, when heabandoned the Orthodox ministry because he could notaccept the prevailing dogmas, he retained a thoughtful in-terest in theological enquiries to the end. In Boston, heworshipped first at Church Green, under the successiveministrations of Dr. Kirkland, • Mr. Thatcher, Mr.Greenwood, and "Mr. Youiig; and afterwards followedMr. Greenwood to King's Chapel, though continuing toattend communion at Church Green. He was ahvays fond ,of the liturgical service of the Chapel, and never becamereconciled to the Congregational habit of public extempo-raneous prayer. In Worcester, he connected himselfwith the Second Parish, was a constant attendant at theSunday services, took vigorous part in occasional Sundayevening gatherings for religious discussions, and establishedthe most friendly personal intercourse with Dr. Bancroftand Dr. Hill. In his entry of October 31, 1841, he recordsthe fact: "this is the first day I have not attended churchfor more than ten and a half years." On being once re-quested to serve as deacon, he unequivocally refused, say-ing: " I am becoming tolerably grave to be sure, yet notquite enough so to wear the name of deacon." His interestin religion was largely a theological one. Its profounderthemes had constant attraction for him, and he was quite asfamiliar with the Biblical researches of the day as his cler-gymen themselves. On the appearance of Norton's "Gen-

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uineness of the Gospels" ih 1844, he accepted Norton's rev-olutionary views of the Jewish Scriptures as essentially whathe had himself reached on reading the Old Testament care-fully fifteen years before. In 1847, when 72 years of age,we find him studying Matthew's Gospel, with a view tocritically comparing it with Luke's. While a pronouncedHumanitarian in his belief, and as independent in his inter-pretations of the New Testament as of the Old, he had littlepatience with the religious mysticism which was creepinginto Unitarian pulpits fifty years ago, imported straight, ashe thought, from the German mystic philosophers whom hedetested. "Spare me transcendentalism," he says, "giveme something which can be distinctly comprehended, and Iam willing to study hard." He speaks, in 1838, of "Mr.Emerson's infidel sermon," alludes, in 1845, to "the Illumi-nati who scoff at the authority of the Gospels" ; praisesTheodore Parker for his eloquence, but complains that hissplendid visions offer no basis for the earnest thinker, butleave hiiii, where Socrates and Cicero left him, afloat, "uponthe same dark sea of speculatioti." Parker's preaching heepitomizes as asserting: " I have no higher authority thanmyself; every man was made to be his own Christ." Butwhile disavowing these pernicious tendencies, and declaringthat it was time for a line to be drawn between those who"believed the Gospels to be a revelation and those who didnot," he kept always an open mind, and was led beyond hisdenunciations into renewed investigations into the evidencesof Christianity. Writing in 1845, he declares theologicalstudies, notwithstanding his "good old classics," to be his"greatest pleasure."

Thus he passed his declining years. His home continuedto be the centre of his sweetest ahd purest delight, satisfy-ino- all the claims of a deeply affectionate nature ; his bookskept the intellectual Avorld continually open to him ; hispassion for music lent glow and color to his daily life ; hiscapacity for intense emotion gave vividness to his enjoy-

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ment of the present and his recollections of the past. Thislast-named quality, which perhaps gives a truer key to theinner man than any other single trait, is best illustrated bya chance remark of his own towards the end of his life, withwhich I will close this inadequate sketch. His son-in-law,in an. afternoon call, had questioned him as to his early life,and thus drawn out an account lasting two hours and a half,of his entire career. "The narrative was so exciting tomyself," he writes, "that before I was half through, mycheeks were burning as if in a paroxysm of fever. This,however, is always the case with me, when in conversationmy feelings are much engaged."

His last days passed calmly and happily, notwithstandingthe discomforts and sufferings of advancing years. Withina week of his death, he said to one of his family : "My lifewas never happier than now." Up to his 75th year, hishealth was good, and his out-of-door habits undisturbed ;but from that time a series of troubles, beginning with whatseemed to be neuralgia of the feet, brought increasing infir-mities, borne with beautiful patience ; until, March 4, 1852,his life came to a peaceful close.

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