Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 5.djvu/246

 2i8 THE GRANITE MONTHLY.

he built a home and a mill. But except in the way of supervision, or recrea- tion, his farming and milling were done by otlier hands. His life-work was teaching the classics and higher English. He fitted not a few students for college, and imparted to a large number of both sexes an academic education. As late as 1S7S, a remnant of his latest pupils were living in Canterbury and vicinity. One remembered attending " when he had about sixty pupils, every one of which liked him as a teacher. His order was excellent and his expla- nations perfect ;" another, that " he was exceedingly fond of his books, and when indoors usually had one in hand."

He was a good citizen, a good neighbor, and kind to the poor. Social and hearty in spirit, he used hospitality without grudging. Among those of note in circumjacent towns with whom he held friendly intercourse, were Captain Ebenezer, father of Daniel Webster ; Colonel Timothy, father of General John A. Dix ; Matthew Thornton ; and the Starks, Kents, and Bartletts.

He did not make a public profession of religion, but without scepticism he received the orthodox view of Christianity, worshipped God in His sanctuary, took the Bible for his guide, studied it much, and imbued his inner and outer life with its spirit of truth and benevolence. In old age he was much occupied with religious themes, and he noted a variety of sharp points indicative of scorn for every form or garb of religion, the genuineness of which, was not corrob- orated by the Saviour's test, — a good man bringeth forth out of the good treasure of his heart that which is good. "Christians," he says, " must be hke Noah's Ark that was pitched within and without, — they must have a holy inside and a holy outside T In urging one of his children to "be always in the way of duty and leave the result to Providence," he adds, " these things I write to convince you of your absolute dependence upon the providence of God for all your enjoyments. For without His providence nothing falls out in the world, without His commission nothing stirs, without His blessing nothing prospers." One of his latest acts was to write for his children and posterity this final counsel and benediction : " Make the law of God your rule, religion your business, communion with God your daily employ, and as to soul and body, the glory of God your highest end and aim. I commend you to God and His providence and to the direction and guidance of His holy spirit ; and I pray that the angels of God may encamp around you and preserve you from all evil of every kind ; and that you may finally be received into the realms of light and love, where peace and rest shall forever dwell."

In 1878, the late Hon. W. P. Haines, of Maine, native of Canterbury, referred to his remembrance of the funeral of Master Parkinson as an extraordinary event in his childhood, — extraordinary for the number and character of those who came together from within and beyond the town to pay their last respects to the old teacher and Revolutionary patriot.

The Concord Patriot oi IwwQ 2>^ 1820, noticing his death, states that "in the army he made his literary acquirements eminently useful," and to the state- ment that " he spent many years in preparing youth for the highest attainments in literature " adds, " the benefit derived from his instruction in this town will be remembered by many and his memory cherished with deserved respect."

He had three sons and six daughters. His taste for scholarship and teach- ing have descended in different lines, but more prominently in that of his old- est son, Robert. He was a teacher in his young manhood. He was a great reader, and hke his father, " when in-doors usually had a book in hand," from which, in the evening he was wont to read aloud. He was familiar with English classics, in prose and poetry, thoroughly versed in national history, and intense in his affections for our republican institutions and their founders. In most of these respects he was worthily represented by his oldest son, the late

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