WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 355 



was a Representative from Worcester in the Legislature of the State, 

 and from 1844 to 1848 was Judge of Probate for the county of 

 Worcester. 



In 1853 he was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of 

 Massachusetts. He held this office for six years with distinction, and 

 then resigned it, and, coming to reside in the neighborhood of Boston, 

 began, as a member of. the bar in that city, a long, honorable, and 

 profitable career, which ended only with his death. 



During this period he was for one term, from 1861 to 1863, a mem- 

 ber of the national House of Representatives. In 1868 he was nomi- 

 nated by the Governor to the office of Chief Justice of the Supreme 

 Judicial Court, to succeed Judge Bigelow ; but a strong opposition, on 

 political grounds, prevented his confirmation by the Council. He was 

 also invited to a chair at the Law School of Harvard University ; 

 but while he did not accept this position, he consented to deliver lec- 

 tures at this School, and also at that of the institution in Boston. 



He died at his summer place, in Beverly, Mass., Sept. 27, 1878, at 

 the age of sixty-five. 



Judge Thomas was a man who would have been distinguished in 

 any community. He is worthy of special commemoration upon the 

 records of this Academy, as one of the few men of his profession who 

 have combined devotion to their calling, and success in it, with the love 

 and study of philosophy and literature. What is not so rare, but is 

 rarer than it should be, they were combined also with the preserva- 

 tion of the ardent affections and the wholesome instincts and tastes of 

 a generous nature. 



ASSOCIATE FELLOWS. 



WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 



The death of William Ccllen Bryant removed from the list 

 of our associate members one of the most eminent names in the annals 

 of American literature. The familiar phrase of Tacitus has rarely been 

 applied with more justice than it may be to Mr. Bryant: "Felix nou 

 vitae tantum claritate, sed etiam opportunitate mortis." For he died, 

 not only full of years and full of honors, but before age had wasted 

 his faculties or diminished his powers of service. He had lived long 

 enough to enjoy his own fame, and to be assured that his name would 



