Page:History of Delaware County (1856).djvu/409

 DELAWARE COUNTY. 385 industry, perseverance and integrity, in elevating those who practise these severe but benign virtues. As a public speaker, Judge Parker is of superior excellence. His voice is melodious and well cultivated, his bearing is dig- nified, his language is fluent and well chosen, and his ideas are clear and abundant. In extemporaneous speaking, he has few equals in the State. Always ready to meet an occasion, his off-hand powers of addressing an. assemblage are remarka- ble. In circumstances where he might well have been at fault, surrounded with the loftiest and most dignified in the land, with celebrated statesmen and orators, we have known him called out without a moment's notice to address the company, and have witnessed the triumph of his eloquence. His speech at Dunkirk, at the celebration of the New York and Erie Railroad completion, with President Fillmore, Mr. Webster, Mr. Crittenden, and others of the Cabinet, a host of dignitaries and gentlemen from all parts of the State, around him, and his remarks at the Webster dinner, in Albany, in June last, and at the Litchfield celebration, exhibited conclu- sively his powers in this respect. In 1858, Judge Parker availed himself of an opportunity afforded him by a summer vacation, to make a hasty visit to Europe, in pursuit of the advantages to be derived from obser- vation, and the benefits of relaxation from mental labor. In a hurried term of a little over two months, he was enabled, by the modern facilities of travelling, to visit different parts of Great Britain and Ireland, and a large portion of Conti- nental Europe. Judge Parker was well received by the members of his profession, and as the guest of the Law Reform Association of England, at their annual dinner, Lord Broug- ham presiding, was called upon to explain the results of the recent law reforms made in this State, and particularly of the uniting of law and equity powers in the same tribunal. The favorable impression made by Judge Parker, secured to him 83