Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 6.djvu/361

 CHANDLER EASTMAN POTTER.

��3 2 5

��ing shape to his career in after life. He was also delighted in listening to accounts of the Indians who dwelt along the banks of the Merrimack. He often scoured the plains in the vicinity to gather the bones, arrows, imple- ments, and other relics of the noble sons of the forest.

In 1835 he was chosen representa- tive to the legislature from Ports- mouth. On the Fourth of July of the same year he delivered an oration be- fore the citizens of Portsmouth. This oration, which was subsequently pub- lished, was a powerful and spirited de- fense of the doctrine that a govern- ment should be administered for the benefit of the whole people and not in the interest of a class or a favored few. He shou'ed with great force and clearness that the rights and liberties of the people may be wrested from them by the cunning and ambitious, if they fail in intelligence or cease to maintain the strictest vigilance. Dur- ing his residence in Portsmouth he commenced the study of the law in the office of Ichabod Bartlett, and subse- quently finished his course with Pierce & Fowler, at Concord.

In 1843 ne practiced law at East Concord. Although educated for the law, yet his tastes and early habits in- duced him to relinquish his profession and engage in literary and historical pursuits ; removing to Manchester, where he made his debut as editor, he became editor and proprietcr of the Manchester Damn-rat, and retained this position until 1S48. While in charge of this paper Col. Potter sup- ported the principles of the Demo- cratic party. As a political writer he exhibited a profound knowledge of the principles of government, and defend- ed his views with so much ability and spirit that his journal was regarded as one of the most influential in the state. Its columns were frequently enriched with able articles from his pen upon matters pertaming to science, particularly to natural history. He pub- lished many very valuable original arti- cles on the nature and habits of the wild

��beasts, birds, reptiles and fishes, of his native state. Articles on education and agriculture occupied a corner of his sheet. His original sketches, illus- trating the history of New Hampshire and her eminent sons, gave increased interest to his paper..

In June, 184S, he was appointed judge of the police court in Manches- ter, filling the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Hon. Samuel D. Bell. He served in this office during a period of seven years. As the head of this court he discharged his duties with marked ability and entire impar- tiality. Though a man of decided political opinions, it is the universal testimony of his political opponents, who had relations with him as a judge, that he held the scales of justice with an even hand, and never suffered his prejudices to influence his judgment in the slightest degree. Wherever truth would lead he dared to follow, and cared not if he shook the world with his opinions, if he scattered the clouds and let in the light. In 1850 one of the most remarkable cases in the annals of crime in the state of New Hampshire came before him for ex- amination. The hearing lasted up- ward of a month, and created intense excitement. Throughout this long and tedious examination, Judge Potter presided with acknowledged ability and fairness. We bear earnest and willing testimony to his high public and private virtues, to his distinguished ability and mature judgment, his man- ifest desire for the attainment of exact justice, and his untiring assiduity and fidelity in his labors. He did " with his might whatever his hands found to do." His dignified courtesy of man- ner, without distinction of person, and his readiness to subject himself rather than others, to inconvenience in the transaction of business, were uniform and unfailing.

His wit was unbounded, and flowed from him as naturally as his breath. Consequently he was the delight of the social circle, especially as his humor was governed by his amiability, so

�� �