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 MEMORIAL 
 
 Fi 
 
 OF 
 
 THOMAS B. OSBORNE. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 
 
 [The following sketch was written by Rev. Lyman H. 
 
 Arwater, D. D., now Professor, at Princeton, N. J.] 
 
 I FIRST met the Hon. THOMAS BURR OSBORNE 
 on the annual Fast Day in Connecticut in the 
 spring of 1835. A fellow student of divinity, and 
 fellow Tutor also, in Yale College, who was then 
 supplying the pulpit of the First Congregational 
 Church in Fairfield, Conn., had procured me to 
 act as his substitute on that day. This was my 
 first introduction to that church as a whole, or to 
 any of itsmembers. The only gentlemen of the 
 congregation with whom I[ then became acquaint- 
 ed, were Judge OSBORNE and the Hon. ROGER 
 MINOTT SHERMAN. I was soon engaged to 
 preach for the people several Sabbaths. On the 
 29th of July following, I was ordained and in- 
 stalled pastor of that church, and continued such 
 
 till I removed to my present post in the autumn of 
 
4 
 
 1854—a period of between nineteen and twenty 
 years. Judge OSBORNE was my parishioner, a — 
 member of my church, and my intimate, confi- : 
 dential friend, during this whole period, until his 
 removal to New Haven, which occurred shortly 
 before my removal to Princeton. Since that time, 
 in my yearly visits to New Haven, I have invari- 
 ably met and freely communed with him. This 
 detail of matters personal to myself as well as to 
 him will be pardoned, as showing my means and 
 opportunities of knowing him. 
 
 Judge OSBORNE was gifted with an intellect of 
 high order. Superior by nature, it was invigor- 
 ated and enlarged by education; refined and 
 polished by assiduous culture. It was profound, 
 broad and discriminating. He was apt to be 
 not one-sided, eccentric, or extravagant, but well- 
 poised, sound and judicial. To use ‘a phrase 
 of which he was very fond, he was char- 
 acterized by great ‘“justness of mind.” Hence 
 he was known as a man of great good judgment 
 and sagacity, and was much resorted to as a wise 
 and safe counselor. In this line, more than as a 
 public advocate, he attained professional eminence. 
 
 These qualities of mind were brought prominently 
 
5 
 
 into play, and were specially developed in fur- 
 nishing himself for his professional duties. 
 
 They were, however, graced by the presence 
 of other gifts and accomplishments, less frequently 
 cultivated amid the dry forms and hard contests 
 of legal practice. He not only possessed admira- 
 ble judgment, strong memory and large acquis- 
 itive powers; he had a quick imagination, a refined 
 taste, a keen relish for and appreciation of beauty 
 in nature, art and literature. He loved elegant 
 letters, and kindled into enthusiasm over the 
 great utterances of the masters of thought and 
 expression. Hence he was especially attractive 
 in cultivated society, and in conversation with 
 men of literary taste and generous culture. 
 
 What added to his vivacity and brilliancy as a 
 converser was a rich vein of humor and wit, often | 
 running into outbursts of harmless but entertain- 
 ing drollery, with which his conversation was sure 
 to sparkle, whenever he talked at length and freely 
 with his friends. All this, combined with the cour- 
 teous manners and the genial spirit of the true 
 gentleman, made him a great favorite in general 
 society, no less than with his friends and his profes- 
 
 sional and political associates. His office and his 
 
™ 
 
 6 
 
 te 
 house were cherished resorts for myself during 
 the whole period of our mutual residence in Fair- 
 field, in times of languor and depression, or when, 
 for any reason, I felt the need of being quickened 
 and brightened by the interflow of heart and mind 
 with an intelligent, congenial and trusted friend. 
 Thus, I often gathered refreshment and inspira- | 
 tion for my work. 
 
 I should do violence to my own feelings in this 
 connection, were I to omit all reference to his wife, 
 ELIZABETH H., daughter of Ebenezer Dimon, Esq., 
 who died while yet in her prime, but who, during 
 life, was one of the most intelligent and accom- 
 plished christian ladies of her time. I refer to 
 her here, because, amid the other gifts which 
 adorned her, and every sphere and circle graced 
 with her presence, she was pre-eminent as a con- 
 verser. Few subjects arose on which she could 
 not shed light, and converse, nay, dzscourse, with 
 wonderful felicity and point; insomuch that there 
 are few of whom it could be so fitly said, she 
 “touched nothing which she did not adorn.” 
 
 I have heard her characterized by one well 
 competent to judge, as “another Hannah More.” 
 
 When she was called away, a void was made in 
 
7 
 
 the then celebrated circle of ladies’ society in 
 Fairfield which was irreparable. I could not 
 leave this part of my subject without this passing 
 reference (which no one will mistake for an 
 attempted full delineation of her character), to one 
 to whose high qualities Judge OSBORNE always 
 felt so deeply indebted, and who contributed so 
 much to render his home and fireside not only a 
 delight to himself, but a resource and a charm to 
 their numerous friends, and to society at large. 
 He himself, in turn, was a model of tenderness 
 and faithfulness as husband and father. 
 
 As already intimated, Judge OsBoRNE had those 
 traits of mind which made him a learned, able 
 and sound lawyer. He wasa thorough student, 
 well read in the law, a faithful and judicious 
 attorney and counselor. Having been early 
 made clerk of the courts of Fairfield county, and 
 then member of Congress, he was not much 
 trained to the public conduct and advocacy of 
 causes in the courts. Nor did his tastes incline 
 that way. Yet, in later life, while he did not 
 seek, he did not shrink from this sort of profes- 
 sional service, which he always performed well, so 
 
 that no case ever suffered in his hands. But it 
 
8 
 
 was mainly in office-business that he practiced his 
 profession. In respect to knowledge of the law, 
 advising clients, drawing instruments, he had few 
 equals and scarcely any superior. Judge R. M. 
 SHERMAN, who was long his friend and neighbor, 
 having scarcely a peer in his profession in his own 
 state, and (as one who became a member of Lin- 
 coln’s cabinet said to me in 1831), but one supe- 
 rior in New England,* repeatedly told me that he 
 would as fully trust Mr. OSBORNE’sS knowledge, 
 judgment and fidelity in matters of law, as any 
 lawyer’s he knew of. This estimate was corrobo- 
 rated by his elevation to the office of Judge, the 
 frequent resort of students of law to him as their 
 instructor during his residence in Fairfield, and 
 his final appointment to the Professorship of Law, 
 in Yale College, in which he so successfully and | 
 honorably ended his professional and public 
 career. 
 
 Judge OSBORNE always took a deep interest in 
 public affairs, whether pertaining to the church, 
 town, state or nation. Being an intelligent ob- 
 server of events, a correct judge of men, deeply 
 
 earnest in his convictions, conscientious in his | 
 
 * Hon, Daniel Webster. 
 
9 
 
 devotion to the public weal, he was justly re- 
 garded as one of the pillars of society. He so 
 commanded the confidence of his fellow citizens, 
 that, besides his judicial and legal offices, he was 
 repeatedly sent to the Legislature of his native 
 state, as Representative and Senator, and was also 
 elected and re-elected Representative in Congress. 
 These offices he filled with credit to himself, 
 advantage to his constituents and the country, 
 and with a continued growth in the public confi- 
 dence of the state and nation. Alike as a jurist 
 and legislator he was sagacious, broad, and thor- 
 oughly conscientious in his principles. 
 
 He was by nature a man of strong moral sensi- 
 bilities. He could not ignore or disregard the 
 moral element in whatever it concerned him to 
 do. He was not only faithful and true in the 
 various relations and offices of life; he had a 
 sacred regard to duty in his professional action. 
 
 Nor as a legislator would he espouse any meas- 
 ure which he believed hostile to the public wel- 
 fare, or tainted with moral corruption. On the 
 contrary, he supported with all his powers what 
 he deemed promotive of the public good, and 
 
 conducive to the triumph of truth, justice, tem- 
 a 
 
IO 
 
 perance, morality and freedom in this land, and 
 in all lands. 
 
 It remains only for me to say something of his 
 christian character. He made a profession of his 
 faith in Christ, and united with the church in 
 Fairfield in 1831, four years before I knew him. 
 He was decided and earnest in his christian con- 
 victions and sympathies at all times, as his friends 
 to whom he unbosomed his inner self knew full 
 well. Yet he was, until the last few years of his 
 life, very shrinking and undemonstrative as re- 
 spects the public expression of personal religious 
 experience. He rather manifested his piety by 
 the noiseless exhibition of a blameless life; the 
 faithful and punctilious discharge of its incum- 
 bent duties; the regular observance of divine 
 ordinances; unfailing attendance on divine wor- 
 ship on the morning and afternoon of each return- 
 ing Sabbath; a hearty and appreciative interest 
 in all the services, and in none more than those 
 most intensely devout and experimental, such 
 as the prayers and preaching of his former pastor 
 and friend, Dr. Nathaniel Hewit; and in his ardent 
 desire for the success of the institutions and minis- 
 
 ters of religion, and the spread and triumph of pure 
 
II 
 
 morality and christianity. He thought, at all 
 times, deeply on the great points of doctrinal and 
 practical theology. But the more he thought and 
 inquired, the more firmly he rested in the ancient 
 faith and order of the church of Connecticut in 
 which he had been born and reared. And at 
 length he came to feel that the quintessence of 
 all genuine theology is contained in the profes- 
 sion: “ This is a faithful saying and worthy of all 
 acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world 
 to save sinners of whom I am the chief.” 
 
 In his closing years, as he withdrew from active 
 occupations, religion more and more assumed the 
 complete possession and mastery of his soul, and 
 became more pronounced and emphatic in its out- 
 ward manifestations. Out of the abundance of 
 the heart the mouth spoke. As he neared eternity 
 he was more abundantly wrought upon by the 
 powers of the world to come. All things else 
 dwindled into comparative insignificance. His 
 great concern was to become ripe for heaven, and 
 to have others prepared for it. This was the 
 special message he desired to send to all; to have 
 resounded to them from his dying bed, his 
 
 funeral obsequies, his open grave, from which, 
 
[2 
 
 being dead he yet speaketh, saying, “‘ Defer not to 
 your last sickness or an uncertain future your 
 preparation for death and judgment. To-day if 
 ye will hear His voice harden not your heart. 
 Now is the accepted time; now is the day of 
 salvation.” 
 
 I thank God that I was privileged to commune 
 with him a few moments just before he quitted his 
 earthly tabernacle, and to take a last earthly fare- 
 well from him. The one thing on his mind, heart 
 and lips, was salvation through Christ, rejoicing — 
 in it himself, and beseeching others to seek it 
 without delay. He seemed “quite on the verge 
 of heaven,” and to be transfigured, as he looked 
 
 within the vail, into a holy harmony with it. 
 
13 
 
 [The following notice from the pen of Horace Day, Esq., ap- 
 peared in the Yournal & Courier, Sept. 3, 1869. | 
 
 DEATH OF JUDGE THOMAS B. OSBORNE. 
 
 Many of our citizens will learn with surprise and regret 
 that the illness of Judge OsBorne terminated yesterday morn- 
 ing in death. For several months past his health has been 
 infirm, but no serious apprehensions were entertained by his 
 family of a fatal termination till within the last fortnight, 
 although he himself expressed early in his sickness, the con- 
 viction that he should never recover. 
 
 He was born in the parish, now town, of Easton, in Fairfield 
 County, July 8th, 1798, graduated at Yale College in 1817, 
 studied law under the instruction of the late Seth P. Staples, 
 Esq., was admitted to the New Haven County Bar in 1820, 
 and the same year commenced the practice of law in Fairfield. 
 In addition to the practice of his profession, he held many 
 offices of trust in his native county. Hewas at various times 
 a Clerk of the County and Superior Courts, a Judge of Pro- 
 bate, a Representative and a Senator in the Legislature of the 
 State, a Judge of the Fairfield County Court, and twice a 
 member of Congress. He removed to New Haven in 1854, 
 and the subsequent year was appointed Professor of Law in 
 Yale College, the duties of which office he discharged till his 
 resignation in 1865. 
 
 This brief record of honorable trusts is, however, but an im- 
 perfect record of the real life of Judge Ossorne. ‘To say of 
 any man that he was born, was educated, was trusted by his 
 
 associates, honored in the community, and finally was laid in 
 
14 
 
 his grave, is only to say what may justly be said of hundreds 
 who every year are chronicled by the public press as having 
 passed away. 
 
 Judge Osporne came to New Haven fifteen years ago, when 
 nearly sixty years of age, with an established reputation in 
 his native county, but with only a general acquaintance in 
 other parts of the state. Apart from his connection with the 
 Law School, his New Haven life has been rather a retired one. 
 By his personal friends he has been known and respected as a 
 just and good man, genial and kindly in his feelings, singularly 
 careful of the reputation of others, particularly of people he 
 did not like, habitually governed by christian principle in his 
 conduct and opinions, and thoroughly imbued with the hon- 
 ored traditionary sentiments of Connecticut in whatever mat- 
 ters pertain to the higher welfare of society. In his religious 
 life, always a Congregationalist from conviction, he became a 
 communicant in the church in Fairfield in 1831, and on his 
 removal to this city, in the church of the First Society. 
 Those who have known him most intimately, however, are 
 aware how much his religious feelings were quickened and 
 deepened during the later years of his life, 
 
 In his political associations, his early sympathies were with 
 the party that half a century ago was called the Republican 
 party. He was elected to Congress, however, as a Whig, and 
 adhered during life, not always with entire cordiality, to what- 
 ever party best represented the convictions of a thoroughly 
 New England mind. Suspicion of the tendency of the moral 
 and religious principles of some of the extreme advocates of 
 convictions which lay deepest in his own nature, modified the 
 
 enthusiasm of his party feelings, and led him to frequent ex- 
 
15 
 
 pressions of distrust and disapproval, though it never pre- 
 vented his co-opération with them on questions of public 
 policy. 
 
 The New Englander for January, 1866, contains an article 
 written by him on “* Government in the United States,”” which 
 well illustrates the character of his mind and the habitual 
 subordination which, in his view, political truths should hold 
 to the higher truths of morality and religion. In his social 
 life, Judge Osporne was almost a model man. His attachment 
 to his home, his friends, his town and his state was intense. 
 Almost single-handed, he fought in the House of Representa- 
 tives the proposition for a constitutional convention, after it 
 had passed the Senate unanimously, and carried his point. 
 He believed in the original constitution of the colony and the 
 state in which the town was the political unit; and distrusted 
 all schemes which would give to a mere numerical majority in 
 the state the right to interfere with the self-government and 
 ancient franchises of the towns. 
 
 The death of Judge OsBorne removes another of the men 
 who have represented, to the generation coming upon the stage, 
 the moral and mental characteristics which have given to Con- 
 necticut an influence over the sentiments of the country at 
 large, far beyond that to which she was entitled by her num- 
 bers or her wealth. 
 
 The two surviving members of Judge OsBorne’s family are 
 Artuur D, Ossorne, Esq., Clerk of the Superior Court for 
 New Haven County, and Mary Exiasetu, the wife of Hon. 
 
 Henry B. Harrison. 
 
16 
 
 ACTION OF THE BAR. 
 
 In the afternoon of Thursday, Sept. 2d, at two 
 o’clock, the Bar held a meeting at the Superior 
 Court-room. Judge BLACKMAN called the meet- 
 ing to order, and EDWARD A. ANKETELL, Esq,., 
 was elected Secretary ; after which, Hon. RALPH 
 
 I. INGERSOLL rose and remarked as follows: 
 
 The last meeting of the Bar I attended was on the occasion 
 of the death of the late Governor Durron, who had been 
 associated for a long time with Judge OsBorne, whose recent 
 death has brought us together. I little thought while I lis- 
 tened to the touching remarks made by Judge Osgporne on 
 that occasion, although he was in rather delicate health, yet 
 when I compared my own age with his, I could not bring my- 
 self to believe that I should so soon take part in proceedings 
 of a bar-meeting brought together by his own demise. It 
 would then have seemed more probable that some other mem- 
 ber of the profession would perhaps have offered a tribute to 
 my own humble self. But, Sir, by the mercy of our Heavenly 
 Father, I have been permitted to survive them both, and I - 
 merely come here now to offer, in the form of resolutions 
 which I put together after hearing of the death of Judge 
 Osporne, a humble tribute to his memory. I shall not make 
 any extended remarks on this occasion. My own ideas are 
 
 embodied in the resolutions which I present. 
 
 The following are the resolutions which Mr. 
 
 INGERSOLL offered and read: 
 
17 
 
 Resolved, That while we bow in humble submission to the 
 dispensation of an all-wise and merciful Providence in remov- 
 ing from us by death the Hon. Tuomas B. Osgorne, with 
 whom we have been many years familiar, as one of the most 
 upright, learned and venerable of our professional brethren ; 
 we cannot but express our heartfelt thankfulness that one so 
 universally and deservedly respected in the legal profession, 
 in the different official positions that he has held, as Judge of 
 the County Court of Fairfield County, his native county, 
 Member of Congress from that district, Professor in the Law 
 department of Yale College, and withal, so exemplary in his 
 christian character, has been permitted for so long a period to 
 remain on earth, and finally to leave us in a calm and peaceful 
 resignation to the divine will, and in the faith so long illustra- 
 ted by the purity of his private life. 
 
 Resolved, 'That in sorrowful sympathy with the afflicted 
 family of the deceased, we will attend the funeral in a body ; 
 that these resolutions be presented to the Superior Court, to 
 be entered on the records of that court; that a copy there- 
 of be presented to the bereaved and mourning relatives, and 
 that like copies be furnished for publication in the several 
 
 newspapers of this city. 
 
 _CHARLES IVEs, Esq., after the reading of the 
 
 resolutions, addressed the meeting as follows: 
 
 I can hardly permit myself to allow these resolutions to 
 pass without adding a few words to the remarks that have been 
 so appropriately and eloquently made by the honorable gentle- 
 
 man who has offered the resolutions. I regret that there is 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 only one of the early associates of Judge Ossorne left to par- 
 ticipate, to-day, in the honors which are here paid to his 
 memory. Most of his cotemporaries speak to us only from 
 their sepulchral urns. It is largely left to younger hands to 
 strew flowers upon the new-made grave, while younger voices 
 utter the plaudits which fall all unheeded upon the “dull, 
 cold ear of death.”” There is only one more remaining of 
 those whom you (Judge Bracxman) and I, Sir, have been 
 accustomed to consider the fathers of the New Haven Bar. 
 All the rest have passed away, leaving brilliant examples for 
 their successors, which I trust we may all endeavor to emulate 
 and copy. 
 
 Judge Osporne was so fortunately situated that he was not 
 under the necessity of mingling in those forensic strifes that so 
 severely try the nerves, and ruffle and harrass the spirit, and 
 which, at times, cannot but have a disturbing effect upon the 
 temper. He was able to follow the law as a student,*and to 
 learn and teach its philosophy. Some of us are obliged to be 
 its pack-horses, ‘Thus pursuing the law asa science, his mind 
 was enlarged and disciplined, and it was delightful to see in his 
 old age, how pure, and calm, and philosophic it rose, uncon- 
 taminated, above the grosser things of life. As I have met 
 him from day to day, during the last twenty years, and heard 
 him, with his keen, reflective, philosophic mind, discourse in 
 regard to local, state and national affairs, the philosophy of 
 life, man and his destiny, he has reminded me, more than any 
 man I have ever known, of Socrates, whose delight it was to 
 converse with young men in the streets and market-places, 
 upon laws, politics, ethics, religion and other subjects of 
 
 interest. 
 
1g 
 
 I have known Judge Osporne during his residence in New 
 Haven, a period of nearly twenty years, and I think I can 
 safely say that during that time, so upright has been his 
 life, so calm, so pure, so genial and lovable has he been in all 
 his relations, that he dies without an enemy, and probably not 
 leaving a man behind who has ever heard anything said to his 
 discredit. It is a happy thing, Sir, for a man to pass through 
 the world, and so fill up the measure of a long life, that he 
 may lie down at last in the grave, with the blessings of a whole 
 community upon his memory. 
 
 It is no time to make prolonged remarks. I only desired 
 to add my humble tribute to that of others, and to express 
 my appreciation and approbation of his many virtues and 
 exalted character, and my sincere hope that we may all profit 
 by the bright example of his well-spent life. I take great 
 
 pleasure in seconding the resolutions. 
 
20 
 
 [By His Son, ARTHUR D. OsBoRNE.] 
 
 His children, to whose tender care the mem- 
 ory of my father is committed, can never forget 
 anything that they ever knew of him; yet it will 
 be a gratification to them to possess a lasting 
 memorial of whatever was admirable in his char- 
 acter, which may be transmitted to his children’s 
 children. 
 
 The sketches, written by other hands, con- 
 tained in this volume, present quite a complete 
 view of his life, but there are some things which, 
 it seems to me, I may properly add. 
 
 My father possessed, in a remarkable degree, 
 a philosophic and reflective mind. Whatever 
 subject engaged his attention, he probed to the 
 bottom, and asa result obtained clear and exact 
 thoughts. All that he said or wrote was sim- 
 ple, and free from any attempt at ambitious dis- 
 play, and he had an unusual power of expressing 
 an idea fully and concisely, in few and plain words. 
 
 He was very tenacious of opinions which he 
 had deliberately formed, and consequently was 
 
 sometimes slow to adopt new ideas and new 
 
21 
 
 views; but he was always open to conviction, 
 and when satisfied that these rested on a solid 
 foundation, he gave to them a hearty assent, 
 and often became their zealous advocate. 
 
 His habits and manner of life were very simple 
 and unaffected. He did nothing for show. He 
 never courted, or sought the favor of persons of 
 rank, and was very careful to be just and kind to 
 the humblest. He understood well those who 
 are sometimes called the common people, and 
 though he never resorted to any of the arts of 
 popularity, they always liked and trusted him. 
 He could talk easily and freely with them, and 
 they with him. 
 
 Moving among men, his appearance would 
 arrest attention. In carriage he was erect and 
 spirited, and though his bearing was modest, his 
 presence was always dignified and commanding. 
 I shall never forget how he looked the last time 
 he went out. He rode down to attend a business 
 meeting at the Bank of which he was a Director. 
 He was then so feeble that with great difficulty 
 he alighted and went up the steps, but when he 
 entered the room and came into the presence of 
 
 others, he assumed a perfectly erect attitude, his 
 
22 
 
 eye kindled,—his old fire, by force of will, seemed 
 to have returned. 
 
 Before his election to Congress, his occupation 
 had withdrawn him from public life, so that be- 
 yond a small circle at the Bar, and of personal 
 friends, his abilities were not known, but he 
 attained a high reputation, during those four 
 years, as an able speaker, an accomplished writer, 
 and an efficient politician and legislator. One of 
 his printed speeches on the Sub-Treasury was 
 widely circulated in his own and in other states, 
 and in style and force of thought ranks with the 
 very best. 
 
 He spoke often during the presidential cam- 
 paign of 1840, and used to say the highest compli- 
 ment he ever received was during a speech made 
 at Greenwich in this campaign, from a country- 
 man, who rose and requested him to wait until he 
 could go out and tie his horse, as he wanted to 
 hear every word. baht 
 
 I think he regarded his efforts in the Legisla- 
 ture of 1850, as displaying more ability than any 
 others he ever made. He was elected for the pur- 
 pose of resisting the removal of the Court House 
 
 from Fairtield, and without the aid of any of the 
 
23 
 appliances by which Legislatures are manipula- 
 ted, he carried the House with him by a large 
 majority. 
 
 At that session, a proposition was made for a 
 constitutional convention, with a view of securing 
 an elective judiciary, and a change in the repre- 
 sentation of towns. It had passed the Senate 
 unanimously. It was supported in the House by 
 the late Gov. Dutton and Henry E. Peck, Esq., 
 of New Haven, and Hon. H. C. Deming and Mr. 
 Hammersly of Hartford, and other able men. 
 He thought it an unwise movement, and after 
 seeking in vain for the aid of one man in the 
 House, he determined to assail it single-handed. 
 The debate resulted in his complete triumph, and 
 the proposition has never been renewed. 
 
 In all money matters he was exceedingly scru- 
 pulous, and in executing trusts or dealing with 
 working people he inclined to take less rather 
 than more than his own. I remember one in- 
 stance in which he was solicited to draw a will in 
 such a way as to enure to his own benefit, to the 
 exclusion of others whom he thought equally 
 entitled. He refused to draw it, and so discour- 
 
 aged the proposal that it was abandoned. 
 
24 
 
 The great events of the war interested him 
 profoundly. He contributed freely of his money, 
 and was ever ready with voice and pen to aid his 
 country. His courage never failed, and in the 
 darkest days he said, “ We will fight until nothing 
 is left but the ground, before we give up.’”’ And 
 this he said, not ina spirit of animosity, for he 
 never seemed to have any bitter feelings after the 
 war, but because he thought not to succeed would 
 be utter ruin. 
 
 In 1844, having won a conspicuous position in 
 the state, a long and honorable public career was 
 open to him, but owing to the delicate health of his 
 wife and for other reasons, he preferred to with- 
 draw, and to enjoy the competence he had 
 acquired, in the happiness of a more quiet home- 
 life. 
 
 My father’s thoughts and affections centered in 
 hishome. At Fairfield, where he resided during 
 the whole of his married life, his house was 
 peculiarly charming and picturesque. It was 
 spacious and hospitable in aspect, attractive by 
 the good taste and individuality that marked it, 
 and the perfect order in which all about and with- 
 
 in it was always kept. Here he had expected to 
 
25 
 spend his days, until the death of my mother in 
 1851, broke up his plans of life and caused his 
 removal to New Haven, in 1854. 
 It seems appropriate to insert here the obit- 
 uary notice which my father wrote at the time 
 of her death, for the Mew York Observer :— 
 
 OBITUARY. 
 
 ——— 
 
 Died at Fairfield, Conn., on the 19th of August, 
 1851, Mrs. Elizabeth H. Osborne, wife of Hon. 
 Thomas B. Osborne, aged 49. 
 
 A large circle of friends will mourn the loss 
 of this highly gifted and excellent lady. Being 
 the daughter of cultivated and intelligent parents, 
 her early education was careful and thorough. 
 Her intellect was, in its original constitution, 
 strong and discriminating, and had been disci- 
 plined by application to the severer studies. 
 
 With this higher faculty of mind, she united a 
 lively fancy, just taste, and a delicate tact, which 
 made whatever she said or wrote peculiarly en- 
 gaging and attractive. Her occasional composi- 
 tions, both in prose and poetry, though never 
 
 written for the press, were much circulated and 
 4 
 
26 
 
 read among friends; and in force of thought and 
 grace of style are not inferior to the productions 
 of the best writers. 
 
 Elevated in her tastes and tendencies, she loved 
 improvement, and to improve others; and many 
 will remember the good influence of her society 
 and conversation, as well as its ever fresh and 
 cheerful entertainment. Her religious principles 
 were settled at the early age of fourteen, by the 
 experience of a true faith in Christ as her Lord 
 and Savior; and these formed the unwavering 
 and sure basis of her character at all times and in 
 all places, for the rest of her life. 
 
 Fidelity to whatever she undertook, and to the 
 obligations of her place and station, was one of 
 her eminent virtues. To this she added a high 
 sense of truth and justice, a quick and resolute 
 conscientiousness, and reasonableness of temper 
 and expectation. In her affections she was warm, 
 and in her friendships faithful and true. It was 
 this rare combination of moral and intellectual 
 excellence, which gave to her character its beau- 
 tiful symmetry. Without any of the arts of dis- 
 play, or a particle of false acting, she gradually 
 and insensibly drew attention and won regard 
 
 and admiration. 
 
27 
 
 But it was in her own family, in the discharge 
 of the duties of a wife and mother, that her qual- 
 ties shone with their brightest lustre. In her 
 happy home, her love was a guardian spirit ever 
 hovering around her husband and children for 
 good. 
 
 While we drop a tear over the departure of 
 one so highly prized and fondly cherished, the 
 stricken heart feels a mournful satisfaction in 
 calling to mind her virtues, and paying this slight 
 tribute to her memory. There is a higher con- 
 solation in believing that death was to her but 
 
 a translation to a better world. 
 
 FROM this time, the welfare of his children was 
 his constant care, and he had the satisfaction of 
 establishing them both on his own homestead, and 
 almost, as it were, under his own roof. His chil-_ 
 dren and grand-children were constantly near him 
 during his declining health and in his last hours. 
 Then, his natural reserve melted away, and he 
 manifested his love for them in the tenderest 
 manner; regarding his son-in-law and daughter- 
 
 in-law with the same interest and affection as his 
 
28 
 
 own son and daughter. At no time did his careful 
 forethought for his children cease. This, and re- 
 ligious thoughts, occupied his mind to the exclu- 
 sion of almost everything else. He said, often, 
 when calling for some service to be rendered, “J 
 know that my nurse can do everything for me, but 
 I ask you because it will be pleasant to remember 
 it when I am gone.” 
 
 His religious faith grew stronger to the end 
 of his life, and he seemed to rest in perfect trust 
 in his Savior. Sometime before his death he said, 
 ‘““T hope I shall have the Savior with me when I 
 go through the dark valley.’’ And at the last he 
 said, “I follow Him through the dark valley.” 
 And again he said, “I feel His arm and know 
 that I am safe.” 
 
 His interviews with his grand-children were 
 very touching, and affected them deeply. He 
 expressed most earnestly the hope that they 
 would grow up to be good and useful men. In 
 one of these, placing his hand on the head of the 
 elder, he said, ‘“ My dear boy, I cannot tell you 
 how much I think of you. I have great hopes of 
 you. You know you bear my name, and I love to | 
 
 think of it as I lie here.” Then turning to the 
 
“9 
 
 younger one, he said, “‘ You must not think I love 
 Tommy more than you, because I spoke to him 
 first, but he is older than you are, and is named after 
 me. Now kiss me once more, and always remem- 
 ber grandpa with affection.”’ Asthe children left 
 the room sobbing, he placed his hands together 
 and said, with a broken voice, “ Oh! how I love 
 those dear boys. For the last eighteen months I 
 have never omitted once to offer a daily prayer 
 in their behalf.”’ 
 
 He passed away quietly at half-past one in the 
 morning of Thursday, Sept. 2d, 1869. His last 
 hours were free from pain, and were cheered by 
 the presence and tender ministrations of his chil- 
 dren, and soothed by the melody of the beautiful 
 hymns which his faithful nurse, Mr. Richard 
 Story, sang to him almost constantly through 
 the night. 
 
 His whole lite was governed by christian prin- 
 ciples. To these he always inflexibly adhered. 
 
 In thinking of him, I am often reminded of the 
 
 line, ‘ Fustum ac tenacem propositt virum.” 
 

 
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