test. He did not believe in the amnesty pro clamation, he condemned the Emancipation proclamation; but while he disapproved and condemned, he did not falter for an instant. The war must be sustained; the administra tion, even if not right in adopting some measures, must be supported; rebellion must be quelled; the Union must be pre served, at whatever risk or sacrifice. So he kept on and never wavered; peace must come; the seceding States must return and resume their friendly relations. Until all that was realized, not a single measure could be abandoned which would aid in accom plishing such desirable ends. If it cost the government the last dollar and the country the last man, the war must go on until hon orable peace was gained and the Republic saved. Thus argued this indomitable pa triot, and he worked as he talked. In 1868 the delegation in the presidential convention from New Jersey nominated him for President, and voted for him on every ballot. In 1871, although he had positively declined in 1866, at the termination of his first term as Governor, to be a candidate for any office, he was induced to accept a guber natorial nomination, and was elected. He retired at the close of his second term with the commendation of all parties as having been most successful in the discharge of the duties of his office. In 1875 Governor Bedb nominated him as Attorney-General, and the Senate did him the honor to confirm the nomination without the usual reference to a committee. He held this position for a few months only, and then resigned it to attend exclusively to his practice. In 1880 he was nominated and confirmed for Associate Jus tice. In 1887, at the expiration of his first term, he was again nominated to the office and again confirmed. In estimating Judge Parker as a jurist it must be remembered that his habits of life and thought had not been such as to equip him fully for the position to which he was elevated. His practice had been large, and he had acquired a great experience; but he
had been a public man, and had devoted a large part of his life to the public service and in a field of labor where his mind and thoughts had been otherwise directed than to the study of the science of law. Under such circumstances his intellect could not have had that ready grasp of abstruse legal principles so necessary in a judge who is called upon to decide on a moment's reflec tion during the hurry of a trial. But when Joel Parker became Justice, with his usual honesty of purpose he determined to under stand his duties, and knowing them to do his whole duty. A more painstaking, a more careful man never assumed the ermine. He was not a technical judge; while at the bar he had despised that narrow-minded manner of seeking victory in a cause by the elevation of trifles at the expense of honesty and jus tice. This habit of thought he carried into his discharge of duty as judge. What he sought was principle; the real question with which to grapple with him, both as lawyer and as judge, was : What is right? He was aided materially by his innate love of justice, by his nice perception of the delicate differ ences between right and wrong, by his strong common-sense, and his admirable judgment of human nature gained by his contact for so many years with all sorts and conditions of men. He was not a genius, he was not a brilliant man; but he had qualifications which in the long run made him a better judge than if he had more shining abilities. He was cool and dispassionate, calm and deliberate, pa tient and cautious. He was a good listener, except when fraud and chicanery were mani fest, and then he was impatient and restive. He had no patience with a litigious party, nor with one who hoped to succeed by techni calities, or who was prosecuting a suit from ill will or for purposes of revenge. His opin ions were carefully prepared, and were evi dently the result of investigation and study. In his circuit he was idolized, especially by the young members of the bar; kindly by nature, he was courteous to all; generous and frank, he was accessible to all who sought
