Francis Parkman 225 



he founded there the professorship of " Pulpit Elo- 

 quence and the Pastoral Care," familiarly known 

 as the Parkman Professorship. A pupil and friend 

 of Channing, he was noted among Unitarians for 

 a broadly tolerant disposition. His wealth of prac- 

 tical wisdom was enlivened by touches of mirth, 

 so that it was said that you could not "meet 

 Dr. Parkman in the street, and stop a minute to 

 exchange words with him, without carrying away 

 with you some phrase or turn of thought so exqui- 

 site in its mingled sagacity and humour that it 

 touched the inmost sense of the ludicrous, and 

 made the heart smile as well as the lips." Such 

 was the father of our historian. 



Mr. Parkman's mother was a descendant of 

 Rev. John Cotton, one of the most eminent of the 

 leaders in the great Puritan exodus of the seven- 

 teenth century. She was the daughter of Nathaniel 

 Hall, of Medford, member of a family which was 

 represented in the convention that framed the Con- 

 stitution of Massachusetts in 1780. Caroline Hall 

 was a lady of remarkable character, and many of her 

 fine qualities were noticeable in her distinguished 

 son. Of her the late Octavius Frothingham says : 

 " Humility, charity, truthfulness, were her prime 

 characteristics. Her conscience was firm and lofty, 

 though never austere. She had a strong sense of 



