He had
often expressed a desire in earlier life that, like Goethe and Channing,
he might not be deterred from labor by the prospect of immediate death.
Shortly before his decease he addressed to his congregation in Boston a
lengthy letter containing his experience as a minister. He now lies in
the little cemetery outside the walls of Florence; his tombstone, at his
own request, simply recording his name and the dates of his birth and
death. He bequeathed his library, containing over thirteen thousand
volumes, to the Free Library of Boston.
Our chief concern is with Mr. Parker as a theologian. He was a stranger
to moderation in every form. Having conceived certain skeptical views,
he knew no terms strong enough to condemn the whole evangelical scheme.
His chief defects of style are abruptness and occasional vulgarity,
which no man more regretted than their author in his calmer hours. But
there can be no apology for his dealing with serious subjects in that
vein of sarcasm which reminds us of the grossness of the coarser brood
of infidels.
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