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JAMES HENRY DUNCAN. 
 
) 
 
5n iHemoriam* 
 
 JAMES HENRY DUNCAN. 
 
 vStudiis et Rebus Honestis. 
 
'01 
 
 JOHN WILSON" AN 
 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 C>?^ 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. Parentage and Earey Years 9 
 
 II. Public Life ^7 
 
 III. Christian Character 37 
 
 IV. Home Life 53 
 
 V. Last Days 75 
 
JAMES HENRY DUNCAN. 
 
 I. 
 
 PARENTAGE AND EARLY YEARS. 
 
 /^FTENTIMES a man closes a life not sufficiently event- 
 ful or marked in character to demand a public biogra- 
 phy, 3^et so valuable and highly sustained, and so precious in 
 its memory, as to call for a permanent record for the sake of 
 his kindred and posterity. 
 
 This Memorial of Mr. Duncan is not merely a tribute of 
 affection and respect to his memor}^, but is designed to per- 
 petuate in his family the example of his pure and upright 
 life, and to leave to them some clear picture of the place he 
 filled in his generation, and of his influence upon it. 
 
 This will be done not. so much by giving a minute account 
 of his life, as by transcribing the spontaneous expressions of 
 opinion and feeling, offered from many sources at the time 
 of his death. When a man has spent a long life in one 
 community, and has largely shared in its affairs, the estimate 
 it makes at that time is perhaps more just and accurate than 
 
lo In Menioriani. 
 
 that from any other source. This is specially true in the 
 case of Mr. Duncan, who was pre-eminently a citizen; while 
 the length of his life and its public character shut off the 
 possibility of a false judgment. 
 
 It is seldom in our shifting American society that any 
 individual is so thoroughl}' identified with a community as 
 was Mr. Duncan with the town of Haverhill. His maternal 
 ancestor, William White, was one of the first settlers, and 
 in 1642, with five others, signed the deed by which the 
 Indian chiefs — Passaquo and Saggahew — conveyed to its 
 future inhabitants, the territor}^ of which Haverhill is now 
 a part. The White family continues here in unbroken 
 descent, Mr. Duncan having been of the sixth generation. 
 This branch of his ancestry was of English origin; Wil- 
 liam White having emigrated to New England in 1635, at 
 the age of twenty-five years. He first settled in Ipswich, 
 then went to Newbury, and came to Haverhill between 
 1640 and 1642. 
 
 On the paternal side, Mr. Duncan was of Scotch-Irish 
 descent. His great-grandfather, George Duncan, was one of- 
 the colony that came from Londonderry, Ireland, and settled 
 Londonderry, N.H., in 17 19. He joined the colony proba- 
 bly within two or three years after its commencement, with 
 seven children. He was a man of education, a justice of 
 the peace, and an elder in the church. His youngest child, 
 James, came to Haverhill about 1740, where he established 
 himself as a merchant. He married Elizabeth, daughter of 
 John and Elizabeth Bell, of Londonderry. He died in 1818, 
 
James Henry Duncan. 1 1 
 
 aged ninety-two 3^ears. He had ten children, the sixth of 
 whom was James, who married Rebecca White, and died 
 Jan. 5, 1822, aged sixty-two years. He left two children: 
 Samuel White, who died Oct. 21, 1824, aged thirty-four 
 years; and James Henry, of this Memorial, who was born 
 Dec. 5, 1793. 
 
 Thus on the maternal side the family of Mr. Duncan 
 covers the entire history of Haverhill, a period of more than 
 two centuries, and on the paternal side the three generations 
 cover more than half of this period. 
 
 The purpose of this Memorial makes it proper to give a 
 brief account of the Scotch-Irish colony from w^hich Mr. 
 Duncan had his descent. Its history and character render it 
 worthy of comparison with the Plymouth colony, which 
 it resembled in many features, differing from it only as the 
 Scotch differ from the English, and as Presbyterians differ 
 from Congregationalists. In their history previous to emi- 
 gration, there is a striking parallel. Both were driven from 
 their homes by religious persecutions; both took up a tern- ' 
 porary residence in foreign countries; both suffered in these 
 new homes, — the Puritans from lack of congeniality and the 
 low standard of religion that prevailed about them, the 
 Scotch-Irish from direct persecution; both were impelled to 
 emigration by a desire for peace and religious liberty; both 
 regarded their faith and form of church government as of 
 supreme importance. The contrast between them consisted 
 in the fact, that in the Old World the Scotch-Irish endured 
 greater sufferings than did the Pilgrims, while in the New 
 
12 /;/ McDioriam. 
 
 World the trials of the Ph-mouth colony far exceeded those 
 of the Scotch-Irish. Another conti-ast is found in the char- 
 acter of their influence. The Pilgrims, coming a century 
 earlier, took possession of New England, established the 
 Congregational order, and gave a direction to the history of 
 the continent. The Scotch-Irish colony was soon swallowed 
 up, lost for the most part the Presbyterian order and all pecu- 
 liar customs and characteristics. The times of emisfration 
 are the only cause of this contrast. In force of character, 
 in zeal for religion, in previous preparation, in singleness of 
 purpose, the Scotch-Irish were not inferior to the Pilgrims. 
 
 The first settlement of the Scotch in the north of Ireland . 
 was made about 1612, induced by liberal srrants of lands that 
 had reverted to James I. by reason of a rebellion of his 
 Irish subjects. But the ancestors of the greater part of the 
 colony that settled in New Hampshire were driven from 
 Scotland by the persecutions of James II., carried out by 
 Claverhouse, towards the close of the seventeenth century. 
 
 The unceasing antagonism of the Irish Catholics was only 
 a degree less harassing than that from which they had fled. 
 The memorable siege of Deny in 1688-9, occasioned by 
 the attempt of James II. to regain his throne, was shared 
 by a large number of those who came to this country. 
 Nerved by this experience for any emergency, and con- 
 stantly fretted by the enmity of their Irish neighbors, and by 
 still continued oppressive measures of government, thev 
 began to emigrate, early in the eighteenth century, to the 
 Middle States. In 171S. a colony of one hundred and twenty 
 
James Henry Duncan, 13 
 
 families left, in five vessels, for Boston. There they sepa- 
 rated. Some went to Andover, others to Pelham and Wor- 
 cester; but the pastor. Rev. M. McGregor, and his flock, 
 established themselves, early in 17 19, on an unsettled tract 
 in New Hampshire, to which they gave the name of London- 
 derry. Here they were soon joined by many of the families 
 that had separated from them in Boston; and thus was 
 formed, what for a long time it continued to be, a purely 
 Scotch-Irish community. So far as is known, it was the only 
 one in this country that could properly be thus named; all 
 others were either quickly scattered, or merged in the pre- 
 yailing population. It retained this characteristic till the 
 close of the century. In speech, in social customs, in tone 
 of mind, and in church government, it was scarcely affected 
 by smTounding influences. The first two churches of Lon- 
 donderry and Derry are still Presbyterian. Receiving con- 
 tinual accessions from Ireland, it also early began to send 
 out colonists; a process that continued till its representa- 
 tives were found in all parts of the country. 
 
 The characteristics of these colonists were thoroughly 
 Scotch, slightly tinged by their temporary contact with the 
 Irish character. With no intermingling of Irish blood, they 
 yet had something of Irish humor and lightness of spirit. 
 Some few customs also were learned in Ireland, as seen at 
 their weddings and funerals. They were, however, distinc- 
 tively Scotch in their superior vivacity and quickness of mind, 
 in sociality, in rugged simplicity, and depth of emotional 
 nature, — qualities that put them somewhat in contrast with 
 
14 Ifi Memoriam. 
 
 their English neighbors. They were less serious, but no less 
 religious; rougher, but not less kind; plainer-spoken, but not 
 less true; more hasty and impetuous, but, in the end, not less 
 wise and considerate. These national traits seem to have 
 been intensified by their isolated condition in Ireland, and 
 for a half-century in this countr}-, and still mark their de- 
 scendants wherever they are found. Something of them was 
 seen in Mr. Duncan: his Scotch blood betrayed itself in 
 phj'sical and mental traits, though much subdued by its inter- 
 mixture with the English. Hon. William Willis writes : 
 "I have a clear recollection of the three generations of Dun- 
 cans in Haverhill. The first James, who died in 1818, was 
 tall and brawny, with a distinctly marked Scotch face; his 
 dress was in the old style, — broad coat, small clothes, 
 buckled shoes, &c.; and his speech retained the racy 
 brogue of his fatherland. His son James was a man of 
 great energy, impetuous and overbearing in his tempera- 
 ment, and could not bear opposition or contradiction. His 
 son James was altogether of a difierent mould, — mild, gen- 
 tlemanly, calm, never overstepping the bounds of propriety, 
 and of sufficient firmness and fortitude to indicate the Scotch 
 energy of the Duncans, blended with the gentle tempera- 
 ment of the Whites." 
 
 Much of the force of mind and character and capacity 
 for public affairs displayed by Mr. Duncan were undoubtedly 
 derived from the Bell ancestry, — a family distinguished 
 from the first by administrative ability, and still conspicuous 
 in the public affairs of New Hampshire. 
 
y antes Hefiry Duncan. 15 
 
 There are few left to speak of Mr. Duncan's childhood, but 
 he is remembered by two or three persons as a boy of great 
 purit}^ of character and correctness of deportment. His love 
 of books, especially the English classics, man}' of which he 
 read while a mere child, led to the plan of giving him a lib- 
 eral education. At the age of eleven years he w^as sent to 
 Phillips Academy, at Exeter, N.H., then the leading classical 
 school in the country. Mr. Duncan often referred to this 
 early experience, and especially to his extreme suffering from 
 shyness and timidity at taking his place in the class w^ith 
 pupils .nearly all of whom were older, and some who had 
 attained to the full stature of manhood. Though ranking 
 among the first in scholarship, the recitation was often pre- 
 ceded b}^ weeping at the ordeal before him. Here he was 
 brought into the companionship of Edward Everett, Jared A. 
 Sparks, Buckminster, John G. Palfrey, John A. Dix, and John 
 S. Sleeper. The stimulating influence of such companions, 
 aided by his own quick faculties, rapidly developed him; 
 and at the age of fourteen he entered Harvard College. He 
 was graduated in due course, in the class of 181 2, with Dr. 
 John Homans, Judge Sprague, Bishop Wainwright, Henr}' 
 Ware, Franklin Dexter, Charles G. Loring, and others. 
 
 Then, as now, graduation at Harvard was made a festive 
 occasion. Family tradition relates how nearly all the rela- 
 tives and many friends made the long journey to Cambridge 
 the day previous; how the services of the single hairdresser 
 filled the night; how, after the public services, in which the 
 3'oung Duncan bore an orators part, the entire compan}' were 
 
1 6 In Mcnioi'iam. 
 
 entertained at a sumptuous dinner served in a hotel; how they 
 returned to Haverhill on the third day; all of which was en- 
 joyed at an expense that would seem large even in these days 
 of depreciated currency. In college Mr, Duncan held a high 
 rank, especially in the classics, the careful studv of which 
 was stfongly apparent in the smooth, rounded, latinized style 
 that marked his conversation and public speech. 
 
James Henry Duncan. 17 
 
 IL 
 
 PUBLIC LIFE. 
 
 nPHE career thus happily begun was followed by the study 
 of the law, — first in the office of Hon. John Varnum, at 
 Haverhill ; and afterward with his cousin, Leverett Saltonstall, 
 at Salem. In 18 15 he was admitted to the Essex Bar, and 
 entered upon practice at Haverhill. 
 
 The question was often asked him by his children why he 
 settled in Haverhill, then a small village. He used to ex- 
 plain that before the railway system came into operation, 
 bringing with it the tendency to centralization, the greater 
 part of legal business was transacted in the country, and not, 
 as now, in the larger cities. Many of the foremost lawyers 
 were to be found in the smaller towns, and all cases were tried 
 in their own locality. At that time, Jeremiah Mason, Daniel 
 Webster, and Timothy Pickering were in Portsmouth; Judge 
 Story and Leverett Saltonstall were in Salem; while, almost 
 every town could boast of a lawyer of standing and reputation. 
 Mr. Duncan's practice brought him into the courts with these 
 great men, and his contact with them fostered a certain air ot 
 largeness and dignity always apparent in his public life. 
 
 For several years Mr. Duncan gave his entire time to his 
 profession ; but the death of his father, Jan. 5, 1822, left him in 
 
1 8 /// McmoriiDu. 
 
 the charge of a considerable estate, which gradually with- 
 drew him from its duties, though he did not wholly relin- 
 quish practice until 1S49, when he took his seat in Congress. 
 It has been thought by many a mistake that Mr. Duncan did 
 not continue in his profession. His ready and sympathetic 
 eloquence, his thorough honestv and comprehensive judg- 
 ment, gave promise of a brilliant future. But probably his 
 life was more widely useful than if he had remained an 
 advocate. As a lawyer he was devoid of trickery, and he in- 
 stinctively repudiated those indirect methods often employed 
 in the profession. Though richly gifted as a pleader of cases, 
 he had a constitutional aversion to litigation, and thus was 
 oftener engaged in settling cases than in disputing them. 
 He was fond oi his profession, and reluctantly gave it up 
 for what seemed to him more imperative duties. We intro- 
 duce here the resolutions of the Essex Bar. passed after his 
 death. 
 
 Resoht'd, That we desire to express and put on record our re- 
 spect for the memory and character of the Honorable James H. Dun- 
 can, whose recent death was so sincerely and deeply lamented in 
 the particular community where he was born and lived, as well as 
 by the public at large. Mr. Duncan entered on the practice of the 
 law in the courts of this county, more than fifty years ago, after a 
 thorough preparation, according to the usages of that day. partly 
 in the office of the late Leverett Saltonstall. so distinguished here in 
 his generation, and his kinsman and Iriend. He pursued his pro- 
 fession here for many years, with marked fidelity and success, al- 
 ways trusted and respected by his brethren, until, ha^-ing served his 
 
James Henry Duncan. 19 
 
 State honorably and usefully in both branches of the Legislature, 
 he was called by the general voice of his fellow-citizens into the 
 public councils of the country, now more than twenty years ago, 
 since which time he has withdrawn himself wholly from the 
 practice of the profession, and attendance on the courts. Of late 
 years he has been known as a lawyer, to much the largest portion 
 now in practice at this bar, only by the "traditions of the elders," 
 among whom, as well as in the courts, he had obtained and always 
 held a " good report." 
 
 Resolved, That these proceedings be entered at length on our re- 
 cords ; that the president be requested to present an attested copy 
 thereof to the court, and to ask that the same be entered on record 
 therein, and a copy transmitted to the family of our deceased friend 
 by the clerk. 
 
 Mr. Duncan lived what may be called a public life; yet it 
 was through a certain evident fitness that led him to be 
 called to its duties, rather than from his own seeking. He 
 filled no very high offices ; but, in one position or another, 
 he was constantly serving his generation. A short time pre- 
 vious to his admission to the Bar, he was elected Major of 
 the Haverhill Light-Infantry Company; and, passing through 
 the various grades of militia service, he rose to the rank ot 
 Colonel, by which title he was afterwards commonly ad- 
 dressed. He was early a trustee of the Essex County Agri- 
 cultural Society, and from 1836 to 1839 its President. 
 
 On the formation of the National Republican party, popu- 
 larly known as the Whig party, in 1827, he was elected to 
 the State Legislature; and, in the three succeeding years, 
 
20 /;/ Meinoriam. 
 
 to the Senate, when he declined re-election. In 1837-8, he 
 was again found in the House; and, in the two following- 
 years, he was a member of the Council. In 1857, he was 
 again elected to the Legislature. On the passage of the State 
 Insolvent Law, in 1838, he was appointed one of the Com- 
 missioners in Insolvency; and, on the passage of the L^nited- 
 States Bankrupt Law, in 1 841, he was made Commissioner 
 in Bankruptcy, holding the office until the law was repealed. 
 In 1839, ^'^^ ^^'^^ elected a delegate to the Convention at 
 Harrisburg that nominated General Harrison for the Presi- 
 dency. In 1848, he was chosen to represent his district, 
 then the largest manufacturing district in the United States, 
 in the national Congress; and was re-elected in 1850. This 
 simple statement indicates how constantly, up to the age of 
 sixty, I\Ir. Duncan was in public life. Meanwhile, and during 
 the remainder of his life, he was serving in other large public 
 interests not of a political nature; while in town matters his 
 services were constantly demanded. For fifty 3-ears, scarcely 
 an important item of municipal business was transacted ex- 
 cept under his advice or leadership. If a matter needed to 
 be brought before the General Court, he was delegated to 
 attend to it. He took the leading part in the erection of two 
 Town Halls; making, at the dedication of both, historical 
 addresses. 
 
 Hon. Alfred Kittredge communicates the following 
 impression of ]Mr. Duncan in connection with the town 
 meetinos: — 
 
yames Henry Duncmi. 21 
 
 " He took great interest in the affairs of the town, and frequently 
 addressed his fellow-citizens upon subjects of importance, — favor- 
 ing or opposing measures, as he judged the welfare of the town 
 required. He was listened to with great interest, and usually car- 
 ried a majority with him. He did not take the floor upon every 
 question, but reserved himself for important subjects, upon which 
 he wished the town to form a correct judgment. In all discussions, 
 he was in a marked degree gentlemanly, both in his manner of 
 presenting subjects and in his treatment of those who differed from 
 him, — stating his own views forcibly, and giving others due credit 
 for their own. He had a remarkably clear utterance, and a rich, 
 ringing voice that gave him great power over an audience. When 
 in the Legislature, Samuel Allen (I think) gave him the cogno- 
 men of 'the silver-tongued member from Haverhill.'" 
 
 Once, hovyever, his tovynsmen refused to listen to him. 
 The town was about to vote, for the third time, bounties to 
 recruits, ruinously large, and also in opposition to the o-en- 
 eral statutes. The excitement was intense, and was per- 
 vaded neither by reason nor a regard for the laws. The 
 
 Town Hall was crowded with nearly two thousand men 
 
 the vast majority clamoring for the measure. Mr. Duncan 
 alone resisted it, and, in spite of the inevitable misconstruc- 
 tion that he was endeavoring to save his property from taxa- 
 tion, and the worse imputation of a lack of patriotism and of 
 siding with the disloyal party, contended for the observance 
 of the laws, and insisted that the defence of the nation could 
 only be successfully made by men moved by a patriotic 
 sense of duty, and by a willingness to accept the measures 
 
2 2 /;/ Mcmoriam. 
 
 of the general government for raising troops. They refused 
 to listen; and Mr. Duncan left the platform the most un- 
 popular man in Haverhill. His sense of duty did not suffer 
 him to rest here. In no spirit of retaliation, but because he 
 felt that the lasting interests of the town and the principles 
 of municipal government demanded it. he secured an injunc- 
 tion from the Supreme Court upon the action of the town 
 meeting. On the evening of the day when this became 
 known, his house was surrounded by a mob. and. for sev- 
 eral hours, the personal safety of its inmates was seriously 
 threatened. His course on this occasion illusti^ates the fear- 
 lessness and moral courage which formed so conspicuous 
 a feature of his character. He was well aware of the hos- 
 tilitv he must encounter, and of the personal danger even to 
 which he might be exposed by thus opposing a movement 
 upon which, in teiTor of an approaching draft, the public 
 mind was franticly bent. But his view of the public welfare 
 — his convictions of duty — forced him to it; and, when 
 impelled to action by such considerations, he could never 
 take counsel of his fears. In a few days, reason returned to 
 the people: and he was soon re-established in their minds 
 as their leader in the home-work of the war. 
 
 One of the most interesting traits of Mr. Duncan was his 
 patience with the people in their hasty and unwise action. 
 He never showed disgust or withheld effort or spoke dis- 
 courao^inglv. even when affairs were at the worst. There 
 was a tenderness for the town, an enduring love, in which 
 its peculiar faults were swallowed up. and lost even to 
 himself 
 
James Heni'y Dnnca7i. 23 
 
 The followino- letter from General Frankle, a German 
 citizen and a soldier of high rank in the late war, speaks 
 of Mr. Duncan as a friend and as a patriot : — 
 
 "To me, he was one of the dearest, most valuable friends. A 
 stranger I came to him : he soon was my friend, generously giving 
 encouragement and treating me with such affability and kindness 
 as to reveal at once the unprejudiced citizen of the world and the 
 Christian gentleman. Only those who have tried to make their 
 homes in a foreign country can understand the trials and struggle 
 the undertaking costs, and can truly appreciate kindness of heart 
 unbiassed by prejudice, such as I found in Mr. Duncan. With 
 pleasure mixed with sadness I look back on my intercourse with 
 him, and like to recall his words : ' Here we acknowledge integrity 
 combined with intelligence as the chief value of man, without con- 
 sidering where he was born.' From his lips, this was no meaning- 
 less phrase. He lived up to his words in this as in all else. In 
 connecdon with this sentiment I had ample opportunity to see how 
 he felt towards those of foreign birth, who fought in our late war. 
 He was as just as he was kind. I remember the words he wrote 
 to me in one of his letters during that period : 'We have a right to 
 expect the aid of every one who lives among us ; for we accord 
 to every one all privileges we ourselves possess. Every citizen, 
 whether foreign or native born, lives linder the benign protection 
 of our government ; and in return it has a right to the services 
 of all, in this hour of need. I have no doubt as to the issue of 
 the war : whatever sacrifices it will cost, it will bring us lasting 
 peace, firmer union, and will erase from us the crime of slavery, 
 and establish perfect equality among us, irrespective of race or 
 color.' 
 
24 In MemoiHam. 
 
 "Many men from Haverhill and vicinity, serving with me during 
 the war, sent their well-earned money through me to Mr. Duncan, 
 for distribution to their families at home. Many a humble house- 
 hold was gladdened by his presence, appearing to them as a har- 
 binger of good tidings and comfort. His words of consolation and 
 sympathy, and his active, untiring assistance, generally not known 
 to the public, will ever be remembered b}^ them. I like to dwell on 
 the scene, when I read a letter from Mr. Duncan to the men who so 
 liberally provided for their families ; telling them how opportunely 
 their money came, how it brought joy and comfort to their dear 
 ones at home ; giving them news from their wives and children ; 
 praising them for their love and forethought for their families as 
 well as for their patriotism and valor in the field, and assuring them 
 of his heartfelt sympathy in their present trials. Many an eye was 
 moist, and from many lips came the words, 'God bless him ! ' Can 
 we wonder that he is mourned over by the humble as well as by 
 those who stood nearer to him in a more intimate relation, and that 
 he ranks among us as the representative American citizen?" 
 
 We leave it to the voluntary correspondence of others to 
 speak at length of Mr. Duncan's public life; but we cannot 
 forbear mention, as showing his faithfulness as a citizen, of 
 his services on the School Committee, after the age of 
 seventy. These duties commonly performed by younger 
 men, and often too slightingly, he met as promptly and ear- 
 nestly as though they had been matters of State, — always 
 at the meetings of the committee, visiting the schools in 
 strict conformity with the rules, and sharing in the exami- 
 nations. Faithful in much, he was also faithful in that which 
 is least. 
 
yames Henry Duncan. 25 
 
 The following resolutions were adopted by the town a few 
 daj^s after Mr. Duncan's death : — 
 
 Whereas, The event of death, as the ministering angel of Provi- 
 dence, has recently appeared to us in the removal of our esteemed 
 fellow-citizen, the late Hon. James H. Duncan; and whereas we 
 deem it proper that some formal expression should follow this event 
 which has taken from us one whose entire life was spent here, and 
 as a citizen was so constantly and intimately associated with the 
 varied interests of this community, — therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That in the death of Mr. Duncan, while recognizing 
 the hand of Providence, and bowing in Christian submission to the 
 wisdom above us, we feelingly deplore the great loss which this 
 community has sustained in the departure of one whose counsel has 
 so often been our guide, wdiose services in public affairs have been 
 so frequently and so variously invoked, and whose sympathies and 
 interests were so inseparably linked, by the associations and inci- 
 dents of a long life, with all the leading affairs of our community. 
 
 Resolved, That for h's public services and private virtues, for his 
 friendly spirit and broad toleration so constantly manifested towards 
 his fellow-citizens in all their varied interests, for his integrity in all 
 the business affairs of life, and Chrisdan kindness towards his fel- 
 lows-men, for the unblemished life he lived, which was prolonged to 
 that age when of him it may be said he was gathered to the fathers 
 "Hke a shock of corn fully ripe," we have reason to cherish his 
 memory with grateful remembrance as a prudent counsellor and 
 common friend, whose influence and usefulness were spared to us 
 during the full measure of active years allotted to man. 
 
 Resolved, That in connection with this public expression of 
 tribute to his memory, we also bear to the family of the deceased 
 
 3 
 
26 /;/ Memoriam. 
 
 our cordial and hearty sympathy with them in their affliction, unit- 
 ing our common sorrow with their private grief over this event 
 which to us is a pubHc loss, as to them it is a heartfelt sorrow. 
 
 Resoht'd. That these resolutions be placed upon the records of 
 the town, and that the clerk be directed to furnish a copv of the 
 same to the family of the deceased, and also for publication. 
 
 The following letter is from Dr. Spofford. of Groveland. a 
 life-long contemporary with Mr. Duncan : — 
 
 "Upon my return to this county, after some years' 
 
 absence, one of my earliest associates and political friends was James 
 H. Duncan: and my social and political intercourse with him and 
 other literary and professional gentlemen of Haverhill and vicinity, 
 of that day. are among my most cherished and valued recollections. 
 Although politics were rather still in the * era of good feeling ' which 
 succeeded the peace of 1S15. Mr. Duncan and myself were natu- 
 rally in sympathy t'rom our mutual inheritance of the principles of the 
 ' Essex Junta." — a constellation of worthies prominent in the Revo- 
 lution of 1776. who were, in the words of a distinguished orator of 
 that day. 'the companions, the aids, the friends of Washington.' 
 who had the honor to be slandered and abused by the party whose 
 principles and long political ascendency culminated in the slave- 
 holders' rebellion. In 1S36 I became connected with the 'Haver- 
 hill Gazette,' as a proprietor and associate editor with John G. 
 Whittier. This connection brought me into more intimate relations 
 with Mr. Duncan, as our paper was long the only Whig and Re- 
 publican paper here. It was the fortune, or misfortune, of Mr. 
 Duncan and myself, and our political associates, to be in a hope- 
 less minority on national politics, with little exception, for a period 
 covering a very large portion of our active lives. Nothing but 
 
y antes Henry Duncan. '2-"l 
 
 firm principle, early imbibed and honestly held, sufficed in those days 
 to retain talented and ambitious young men in an almost hopeless 
 minority, or trom joining the popular party, and placing them- 
 selves in the line of promotion to office and honor. Of such promo- 
 tion, from his ability, education, and manners, no one would have 
 been more sure than Mr. Duncan ; but at the darkest hour, when no 
 sagacity could discern the glimmering of a day when an opposer of 
 the Democratic party would enter the White House, or even an exe- 
 cutive office under the general government, we always knew where 
 to find our friend. For him, office had no charms unless held in 
 accordance with his fixed principles and political associations. In 
 1840 it was our fortune to be of the prevailing party, and, after a 
 most exciting canvass, to elect William H. Harrison to the Presiden- 
 tial chair. In that canvass I had the honor of standing on the same 
 platform with our lamented friend to plead the cause of the people. 
 Our paper, for the standing and efficiency of which we were indebted 
 to Mr. Duncan, and others whom I should be proud to name, was 
 allowed to have done good service in the cause. Our towns have, 
 with slight exceptions, accorded with our political course ever since ; 
 and w^e have been intimately associated with a noble band of patriots 
 in five successful Presidential elections. It is a satisfaction to know 
 that our friend, and some others of our political associates lately de- 
 parted, who felt a deep interest in the cause, lived to see our life- 
 long principles triumphant, the dark cloud of slavery removed, and 
 New-England principles, so long overborne and held in abeyance 
 by a false and spurious democracy, again pervading the land. 
 Of late my own personal feelings have been most interested, when, 
 from the already scanty and never recruited ranks of those who en- 
 tered life before me, my few remaining seniors drop oft' one by 
 one. But in this case I feel that not only his family sustains an im- 
 
28 In JMemoriam. 
 
 meuse loss, not merely of one who has done much, but from whom, 
 in this interesting crisis of our public aftairs and the new municipal 
 organization, much more might have b-.^en expected." 
 
 Mr. John G. Whittier, who, ^Ir. Duncan often used to 
 say, was as good a writer of prose as of poetry, sends these 
 few words : — 
 
 "The death of my old friend and fellow-townsman, James H. 
 Duncan, removes one of the few remaining landmarks of the Ha- 
 verhill of my boyhood. The last time I saw him he was in good 
 health, and in the lull and vigorous exercise of his fine powers of 
 intellect, and with the same winning manner and conversational 
 tact which had early attracted me. At one period his views of po- 
 litical duty ditfered widelv from mv own ; but for many years we 
 have stood together on the phitform of the Republican party, of 
 which he was an earnest and elBcient advocate. His congressional 
 career was a highly honorable one, marked by his characteristic 
 soundness of judgment and conscientious faithfulness to a high ideal 
 of dutv. In private life as in public, he was habitually courteous 
 and orentlemanlv. For manv vears the leadingf man in his section, 
 he held his place without ostentation, and, to use the words of 
 Lautsze, the Chinese sage, ' achieved greatness by not making him- 
 self great.' " 
 
 The following letter from Hon. Amos Tuck, of Exeter, 
 N.H., gives so full an account of ]SIr. Duncan's congressional 
 career that other mention of it is scarcely needed: — 
 
 " I have pleasure in complying with the kind 
 
 request of vour family to state some of my recollections and im- 
 pressions of your honored father at the time I knew him in Con- 
 ofress. 
 
James Henry Duncan. 29 
 
 "Although I had resided at Exeter more than ten years, and of course 
 knew the general estimation in which your father was held, I never 
 came into personal relations with him till I met him at Washington, 
 as a member of the 31st Congress, in December, 1849. In order to 
 do justice to the sentiments he then maintained, and to the position 
 which he took upon the important questions of the time, it is neces- 
 sary briefly to recall the circumstances of that period. 
 
 " He entered Congress at the first session of General Taylor's ad- 
 ministration, when the problems in politics and government, which 
 crrew out of the Mexican war and the acquisition of California and 
 New Mexico, infused such intensity of feeling into the public mind, 
 that the two great political parties of the country began to break 
 down; and in sundry instances men, before prominent as leaders, 
 denounced their former political associates, and allied themselves to 
 life-long adversaries. The old Whig party, with which your father 
 had long been honorably connected, was becoming more anti- 
 slavery ; while the Democratic party was gradually giving way to the 
 entire leadership of Southern men, and becoming hopelessly in- 
 volved in the sin, shame, and want of statesmanship, involved in the 
 advocacy and support of slavery extension. The change at that time 
 had fully commenced in the Whig party, which in 1855 culminated 
 in taking a new name, and in the Democratic party, which, even at 
 an earlier period, resulted in a repeal of the Missouri Compromise. 
 A new era was approaching, and men were readjusting their party 
 relations according to the degree of faith they had in a higher law 
 than party convenience, and in the sacredness of the duty of equal 
 and exact justice to all men. It was at this period first becoming 
 manifest, in the example of some of the most honored and intel- 
 lectually the greatest men of the country, that intellect alone did not 
 constitute the statesmanship which the times demanded. Moral 
 
30 /;/ Mcmoria))i. 
 
 questions were involved, were discussed throughout the country ; 
 and the abihty to perceive moral truth, and to estimate the force 
 of moral causes, was as indispensable to leadership as superior 
 mental capacity. Some brilliant stars tell trom their places in 
 the political firmament ; and new men. having more faith, repre- 
 senting the aroused conscience of a religious and educated people, 
 began to emerge from the masses, and to assume the leadership 
 which at length guided the country through years of war, and es- 
 tablished our institutions on their first firm foundation. 
 
 " Your father had relations of Iriendship with the old leaders of the 
 Whig party, and was welcomed into their fellowship at Washington 
 on his arrival at that city. But his moral perceptions had been cul- 
 tivated bevond what was common amoncf the devotees of either of 
 the old parties, and he knew and felt the force of the moral ques- 
 tions which were discussed throughout the countrv upon the rela- 
 tions of the government to slavery. Attached to his party, and 
 attached to his honored friends, he yet could not be blind or deaf or 
 insensible to the claims for justice of the humble who could not even 
 speak for themselves. He remembered those in bonds, as bound 
 with them, and, at the expense of personal comfort, voted, I be- 
 lieve, from first to last, during his congressional term of four years, 
 under all the circumstances of an excited. period of our history, on 
 the slavery question in all its phases, only as his best friends could 
 now wish he had voted, after all the light since shed upon the subject. 
 That he so signally and uniformly acted on the side of wisdom and 
 right, while so many of his associates were misled by excitement, or 
 failed for other reasons to see and maintain what it is now apparent 
 they ought to have supported. I attribute in a great degree to his 
 elevated moral character, to his cultivated sense of right, to his 
 determination never to violate the dictates of an enlightened con- 
 science. 
 
James Henry Duncan. 3^ 
 
 " He was not a frequent debater in the House of Representatives ; 
 but when he did speak, he commanded more than common attention. 
 His language was chaste and of the pure EngHsh type, his voice 
 musical and commanding, his manner cultivated and elegant. He 
 was one whom to know was to love, who made many friends and 
 no enemies, and who left Congress possessing universal esteem. 
 
 "I will not presume to speak of him, as I have known him since 
 1853, because I am aware how much better he is known to others, 
 who lived nearer to him, met him oftener, and enjoyed the blessing 
 of a more intimate friendship with him. Yet I may be allowed to 
 rejoice with his friends in the bright example he has furnished of 
 the true Christian gentleman, — so refined in manner, so generous, 
 so cultivated, dignified, and good, that the memory of him will be 
 for ever blessed." 
 
 From Hon. Robert C. Winthrop: — 
 
 " I had not failed to notice in the newspapers 
 the sudden death of your lamented father, and I regretted extremely 
 that it was out of my power to be present at his funeral. I had not 
 indeed met him often of late years, but I have always entertained 
 for him the most cordial esteem and respect. Our association at 
 Washington was only during a single Congress, for a considerable 
 part of which I was in the Senate while he was in the House of 
 Representatives; but I had known him long before, in the Legis- 
 lature of Massachusetts and in social life, and had ever regarded 
 him as a man of singular amiability and excellence. His consci- 
 entious devotion to duty, his scrupulous integrity, his modest yet 
 manly independence, and his earnest patriotism were worthy of all 
 praise ; while the true-hearted Christian spirit which pervaded his 
 life could not fail to win for him the confidence of all around him. 
 
32 In Memoriam. 
 
 I gladl}' add my humble testimon}- to his virtues, and am only sorry 
 that my personal intercourse with him was so infrequent of late 
 years that I can enter into no details in illustration of his character 
 or career. I thank you for including me among his friends, and 
 for assuring me that he remembered with pleasure our old associa- 
 tion. I have few more cherished satisfactions than being remem- 
 bered kindly by the good men of our own and other States, with 
 whom I have been associated in public life in other years." 
 
 Next to Mr. Duncan's life-long care for the interests of the 
 town, perhaps the best service he rendered to the public was 
 in his connection with Brown University. From 1835 until 
 his death, he was a member of its Board of Fellows, — a 
 period covering the crisis of its history, — in which his sound 
 and enlightened judgment and legal skill were of the utmost 
 service. In 1861, after twenty-six years of service, the Board 
 conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. 
 Mr. Duncan privately criticised this act as coming from a 
 body of which he was an active member, and never wore the 
 honor easily; but others can well understand that the Board 
 were justified in waiving the delicacy of the act in order to 
 bestow an honor in itself right and proper. Probabl}' no one 
 else viewed the matter as did Mr. Duncan. 
 
 The following discriminating letter from the Rev. Dr. 
 Barnas Sears touches upon Mr. Duncan's relation to the 
 University: — 
 
 . ■. . . "Being a member of the Board of Fellows, he 
 was accustomed to come to the citv on the Mondav eveninij preced- 
 ing Commencement, that he might be at the meeting of the Board 
 
yaines Henry Duncan. 2>2i 
 
 on Tuesda}-. He always made it a point to take lodgings at the 
 City Hotel, in order that the hospitality of friends might be extended 
 to others, especially clergymen. He called at nw house uniformly 
 the first evening, where he generally met other friends from abroad ; 
 and these were among the most delijjhtful hours of Commencement 
 week. It would be difficult to say whether his relish for the pleas- 
 ures of social intercourse or his interest in the affairs of the college 
 predominated. He was peculiarly formed both for social and for 
 public life. He was one of the few who are in their right place as 
 guardians of a literary institution. As might be expected, he soon 
 became one of the most influential members of the corporation. He 
 was liberal and enlightened in his views, wise and prudent in his 
 measures, and manl}^ and noble in his feelings, being neither 
 ungenerous or uncharitable on the one hand, nor weak and yield- 
 ing on the other. He could maintain the general interest and char- 
 tered rights of the University, if invaded even by indirection or 
 implication, and yet, in debate, hold the strongest opponent in 
 check by a silken cord. His mind was quick to perceive the nature 
 and bearing of any question that might arise. Rarely were diffi- 
 culties started in the course of a discussion which he had not antici- 
 pated in thought ; and still more rarely was he overreached by a 
 resort to ambiguous means to carry a point. If ever a temptation 
 was offered to bend a great principle to suit the views of individuals, 
 or to surrender a great interest for the sake of temporary expediency, 
 it was then that his mind rose to the height of the subject, — that 
 his thoughts were compacted and rounded into shape, that his 
 language became select and pointed, and that his voice rung out in 
 silver tones. How often did these same qualities appear in some of 
 the more animated discussions in which he took part at the meet- 
 ings of the Missionary Union ! Long will men remember the 
 
 4 
 
34 Iii^ Memoriam. 
 
 impression made on these and similar occasions by this Christian 
 gentleman and scholar, with his finely cut features and symmetrical 
 form, his graceful and animated delivery, his chaste, beautiful, 
 and musical language, his pertinent, clear, and convincing argu- 
 ments, his unflinching fidelity, and his spotless integrity. So 
 blended in him were these various attributes of body and mind, 
 that we can think of them only in their union, and it would seem 
 that a mind of delicate mould had formed for itself a bodily organ 
 suited to its own purposes. In him we see how much Christianity 
 can do for true culture, and how beautiful an ornament culture is to 
 Christianity. It may be long before a successor can be found with 
 such a union of personal, literar}^ social, and Christian graces ; 
 but all who were associated with him in office can cherish in their 
 hearts the remembrance of his virtues, and feel the influence of his 
 example to their latest days. Thus, as empty vials retain somewhat 
 of the perfume with which they were once filled, so may the places 
 once occupied by those now no longer with us retain the fragrance 
 of their name and worth." 
 
 At the annual meeting of the Board of Fellows of Brow^n 
 University in 1869, the following action was taken: — 
 
 President Caswell remarked, at the commencement of 
 his annual report to the Corporation, — 
 
 " I begin by adverting to the very great loss which the University 
 has sustained in the death of the Hon. James H. Duncan, LL.D., 
 its senior Fellow. He died at his residence in Haverhill, Mass., 
 on the 8th of February last, at the age of seventy-five years. Mr. 
 Duncan was elected a member of the Board of Fellows in 1835. 
 He took a lively interest in the prosperity of the institution : and 
 during the long period of more than a third of a century, though 
 
yames Henry Duncan. 35 
 
 living in another State and at a considerable distance, he was 
 seldom absent from these annual meetings. He brought to the 
 discharge of his high duties sincerity and earnestness of purpose, 
 courtesy of manner, and great soundness of judgment. 
 
 "Fully appelating, as we do, our great loss, we may well bear 
 in grateful remembrance his long and valuable services as a 
 member of this Corporation, his exemplary Christian character, 
 and his many private and public virtues." 
 
 After the reading of the report by Dr. Caswell, and its 
 adoption by the Corporation, Alva Woods, D.D., a member 
 of the Board of Fellows, presented the following preamble 
 and resolutions, which were unanimously passed by the 
 Corporation : — 
 
 Whereas, It pleased our heavenly Father, in his infinite wis- 
 dom, to remove by death, on the eighth day of February, 1869, 
 our much-esteemed associate, the Hon. James H. Duncan, LL.D., 
 the senior Fellow of Brown University, it is deemed fit and proper 
 for this Corporation to place on record an expression of their esti- 
 mate of his worth and of the loss sustained by his death ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That this Corporation retain a grateful recollection 
 of the many virtues of our departed associate ; of the integrity and 
 uprightness of his character, the soundness of his judgment, his 
 fairness and urbanity in debate, his abnegation of self in his eflbrts 
 tor the public good, and his remarkable exemplification, both in his 
 official relations and private intercourse, of the characteristics of a 
 Christian gentleman. 
 
 Resolved, That this Corporation hold in deservedly high esti- 
 mation his unwavering loyalty to the University, during thirty-three 
 years in which he was a member of the Board of Fellows, as mani- 
 
;^6 In Memoriam. 
 
 fested by his regular and punctual attendance at our annual meet- 
 ings, rarely if ever being absent, b}^ placing his sons here to be 
 educated, contributing from his own funds, according to his ability, 
 towards the necessary endowments of the College, and maintain- 
 ing, while life lasted, perpetual vigilance to preserve intact and 
 unmoved the foundations of this ancient institution of learning, so 
 that it should accomplish, both in the letter and spirit, the noble 
 purposes of its benevolent founders, as set forth in the charter 
 which they framed for its government in all coming time. 
 
 Resolved, That while we mourn the ffreat loss which the insti- 
 tution has sustained by his death, we tender to the bereaved widow 
 and family our warmest sympathies ; and direct that a certitied 
 copy of these resolutions be sent to them by the Secretary of this 
 Corporation. 
 
 These resolutions were accompanied by the following 
 letter from Mr. S. S. Bradford, the Secretary, ^r<? tern., of 
 the Board : — 
 
 " Please be assured that these are not merely 
 
 formal words, but expressive of what is most sincerely believed 
 and most deeply felt. Permit me to embrace this opportunity to 
 say, on my own behalf, that I greatly deplore this loss of one of 
 the wisest, truest, ablest, and best frionds of our College. It is 
 but six brief years since I was first honored with his acquaint- 
 ance and confidence. The kindly regards which he at the ver}' 
 first awakened in my heart towards him, the respect and honor, 
 and, I may say, the veneration with which I at once looked up to 
 him, were an inspiration which has increased in power from year 
 to year, and must live on while memory lasts." 
 
James Henry Duncan. 37 
 
 III. 
 
 CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. 
 
 TT is especially to preserve the memory of Mr. Duncan's 
 religious life that this Memorial is made. Water spilt 
 upon the ground cannot indeed be gathered up again; still 
 the loving hands of those who knew^ him well have drawn 
 such a picture of him in this respect, that something like 
 a true impression may be given and so preserved. Mr. 
 Duncan, during his whole life, worshipped with the First 
 Baptist Church in Haverhill. His ancestors, on both sides, 
 were among its founders. He was thus a Baptist by birth 
 and education. To the principles thus inculcated, he after- 
 wards added the full conviction of his mature years, and, 
 through life, was a firm and hearty friend of that church. 
 Yet he was not, in the narrow sense of the term, a denomi- 
 nationalist. He was by nature catholic, and took the broad 
 and liberal side on all church questions. More and more, 
 towards the close of his life, he dwelt on those features of 
 Christ's kingdom which are universal, and rejoiced in its 
 progress under all names. In periods of special religious 
 interest, his catholicity of feeling was strongly apparent. At 
 such times, nothing could be inferred as to his ecclesiastical 
 preferences. In his earnest exhortations and personal labors, 
 
38 In Memoriam, 
 
 his one desire was that men might believe in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. Still he was most loyal to his own denomination; 
 and to the local church in Haverhill he gave the devoted 
 service of a lifetime. Though this church has alwavs been 
 blessed by an able ministry and has had a laity of high char- 
 acter, still the dignity, and usefulness, and high Christian tone, 
 that have marked it are due, in very great measure, to his early 
 and long influence upon it. He did not become a member 
 of the church until the age of forty; yet his interest in and 
 care for it were scarcely less before than after. Though he 
 did not regard himself as a Christian until this time, probably 
 his whole life was a period of religious growth and ripening. 
 He seems to have been deterred from taking his place in the 
 church bv a misapprehension as to the signs of conversion, — 
 expecting some powerful change of feeling and almost sen- 
 sible assurance of acceptance. But persons of Mr. Duncan's 
 habits of life seldom undergo such experiences. The back- 
 o-round was too bris^ht for such a contrast. In the winter of 
 1833-4, Drs. Beecher and Wisner, of Boston, held a "four 
 days' meeting" in Haverhill. The town was powerfully 
 moved bv their earnest preaching, and a deep religious 
 movement began. iNIr. Duncan was confined to his house 
 by illness; but the spirit of the movement seemed to reach 
 him in his retirement, and he became deeply impressed 
 in regard to his own spiritual condition. One evening, a 
 member of his family returned from the service, and gave 
 some account of the sermon, by Dr. Beecher, from Hosea 
 vi. 3: "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know^ 
 
James Henry Duncan. 39 
 
 the Lord; his going forth is prepared as the morning." 
 The text seemed to dispel his former misapprehension, 
 and opened up to him the idea of a divine progress in 
 the life of the soul. Soon after, he was able to attend the 
 meetings, which were continued for some time. During 
 the few weeks previous to Mr. Duncan's death, similar meet- 
 inp-s were held in the churches of the town, which he attend- 
 ed with the deepest interest, — taking part in them with a 
 freshness of fervor and an energy wonderful in one of his 
 years. At one of them he related, by way of encourage- 
 ment to others, his own experience at that crisis of his 
 religious life. He described the depth of his feeling, the ful- 
 ness with which he was convinced of his duty, the clearer 
 light that had come to him as to the nature of regeneration, 
 — all attended, however, by a hesitation to take the needful 
 position. One evening, however, he said, when these convic- 
 tions were unusually strong, he was about to leave the church 
 after the sermon, not having summoned resolution to remain 
 at the inquiry meeting that was to follow. While moving 
 down the aisle, a humble Christian woman said to him, " Mr. 
 Duncan, would it not be better for you to remain?" This 
 simple remark was all that was needed to turn his hesitation 
 into a purpose. He went back to his seat, and, in the meet- 
 ing that followed, made a public consecration of himself to 
 Christ. The full import of this act cannot be understood, 
 except as Mr. Duncan's position in society, and as a leading 
 lawyer and citizen and a man largely engaged in public 
 affairs, and intimately associated in legal and political circles 
 
40 In Memoriam. 
 
 with distinguished men who were out of sympathy with the 
 evangelical faith, is remembered. It was indeed a taking up 
 of the cross. Then his religious life began in full earnest; 
 and. from that time, flowed on, an ever-widening and deep- 
 ening stream, till the end. He was soon after baptized by 
 the Rev. Dr. Hague, of Boston, the church not having a 
 pastor. 
 
 The Rev. S. P. Hill, of Washington, formerly pastor of 
 the church in Haverhill, writes, — 
 
 "My acquaintance with your honored and beloved father com- 
 menced in connection with m}' pastorate of the church in Haver- 
 hill, in 1832. He was not then a member of the church, but 
 took an interested and active part in all that pertained to the 
 welfare of the congregation, and was greatly esteemed as its wise 
 counsellor and firm friend. He welcomed me to my new, and in 
 manv respects trying, field of labor, always gave me a kind and 
 judicious support while I remained in Haverhill, and he never at 
 any time afterwards withdrew from me the sympathy of a sincere 
 friendship. I remember particularly his having invited me one day 
 to a ride in his good old New-England chaise ; his mind attracted 
 much by the reviving beauties of nature was still more affected by 
 the evident movements of new spiritual lite awakening in him, and 
 he freely and fully unburdened to me all his inward thoughts. He 
 told me his former difficulties and embarrassments in arriving at a 
 comfortable assurance of acceptance with his Saviour, and the man- 
 ner in which they had at length been overcome. His principal 
 obstacle, he told me, was the impression that he received from child- 
 hood, that conversion was some powerful transition, accompanied by 
 almost visible and audible evidence. He had latelv had his attendon 
 
James Henry Duncan. 4^ 
 
 called to a passage in Hosea : ^Then shall we know, if we follow 
 on to know the Lord ; his going forth is prepared as the morning,' 
 &c. And such certainly was the progress of religion in him. His 
 interest in it, either for himself personally or for others, never seemed 
 to suffer a decHne, but was onward and upward. 
 
 "Perhaps no one's fidelity to religion is so tried as by accepting 
 the situation of a Representative in Congress. Serving his con- 
 stituents and country with great acceptance for two sessions, it was 
 my privilege to meet him again in this place, and to share, as m the 
 olden time, his pleasant intercourse. I can truly say that these try- 
 ing circumstances did not in any wise change him. His attendance 
 on divine worship was constant, and his whole life was a beautiful 
 exemplification of the simple, sincere, courageous Christian. Thus 
 in every scene and at every period did he illustrate in his career the 
 beaudful idea that first determined the principle of his religious 
 experience. And now having attained, as we believe, the highest 
 point of progress, what remains to us but to rejoice in his favored 
 lot? While we give to nature her tears, let us give to grace its 
 triumphs, and view him henceforth as 
 
 'Walking with God, 
 High in salvation and the climes of bUss.' " 
 
 In no respect is Mr. Duncan's character so complete as in 
 that of a member of the visible church. He gave to it not 
 only the best of his ability and culture and the full devotion 
 of his heart, but whatever it might seem to need of time and 
 material help. Yet his plan was to develop the strength of 
 the church rather than suffer it to lean upon him. His wis- 
 dom is now evident. When he united with the church, it 
 was in a languishing condition, and, as Dr. Train remarked 
 
 5 
 
42 hi Memoriam. 
 
 in his address at the funeral, wt:)uld probabh' have died had 
 it not been for Mr. Duncan's wise and faithful assistance. It 
 is now strong in a large and earnest membership. The deep 
 piety and fidelity that he brought into the church were of far 
 greater service to it than his material support. The church 
 was first in his thoughts. Nothing but the most imperative 
 reasons kept him from its meetings. Dr. Bosworth, in his 
 eloquent commemorative discourse, relates that " once, when 
 asked bv a member of his family to attend a political gather- 
 ing, at which his own claims as a candidate for Congress 
 were to be advocated, his prompt and decisive reply was, 
 ""No, my dear: it is the hour for the meeting of the church.' 
 When the request was renewed after the church meeting had 
 closed, his quick response was, 'No: I do not wish to have 
 mv mind drawn from serious things." To these week-day 
 meetings of the church he brought his best gifts of speech 
 and thought. His deep emotional nature .speciall}^ fitted him 
 to take part in them, and they were often the scenes of an 
 eloquence and fervency of appeal that would have graced any 
 pulpit. His mind dwelt in the circle of the simple gospel 
 truths, — ^regarding them as facts rather than as dogmas. 
 Christ as a personal Saviour, and a life of actual faith in Him, 
 were his central and governing thoughts." 
 
 The following letter from the Rev. Augustus H. Strong, 
 of Cleveland, for several years Mr. Duncan's pastor, though 
 treating upon other features of his character, is so appropriate 
 to this point that it is introduced entire: — 
 
James Henry Duncan. 43 
 
 Cleveland, Feb. 9, 1869. 
 My dear Mrs. Duncan, — I have been hoping, ahnost against 
 hope, that I might have the sad pleasure of being with you during 
 these few days to come; but Providence seems to order otherwise, 
 and I have left to me only the poor expression of my sympathy and 
 grief which a letter can give. 
 
 The shock was almost as sudden and desolating, when I heard 
 of Mr. Duncan's death, as it would have been if I had heard that 
 my own father had died. Your household has been so much a 
 home to me, and every thought of it is so interwoven with the 
 memory of the head of the household, that I can scarcely realize 
 what the old homestead will be without him. Very few men in our 
 day preserve, with all the advantages of modern culture, so much 
 of the grace and courtesy of the olden time. There are few homes 
 that have been so blessed as yours, or that have exerted, as yours 
 has, a wide and lasting influence through the many who, during 
 these many years, have enjoyed your hospitalities. I think no one 
 who ever saw Mr. Duncan in his own home can forget the dignity 
 and princelike cordiality with which he was received. I have 
 learned many a lesson from him in this regard. 
 
 He was a man of most eminent natural gifts. The pure Enghsh 
 that flowed from his lips came from a mind that recognized, as by 
 instinct, the fitnesses of language, and that never failed to clothe 
 the thought in the most just and winning garb. The soul of elo- 
 quence was in him too : no man I ever saw kindled into so quick 
 and beautiful enthusiasm in presence of a great thought of Christian 
 philanthropy or of divine and sovereign grace. Some of his talks 
 in our evening prayer-meetings, after the sabbath-days' sermons 
 had been preached, seemed to me to be specimens of an almost 
 
44 -^^ Memoriatn. 
 
 marvellous eloquence ; in a larger assembly they would have made 
 him famous. We all knew his powers of conversation, and I am 
 grateful that a very wide and appreciative circle recognized his 
 remarkable gifts of public address, — gifts that put him side by side 
 in many respects with Everett, his college-mate and friend. 
 
 But not his family and private influence as a man of courtesy and 
 hospitality ; not his services to town and State and country, or his 
 high powers as an orator, — affect me most : I think of Mr. Dun- 
 can as a Christian, and every thing else is lost sight of. The Church 
 of Jesus Christ will miss him, and that beloved company of believ- 
 ers will never look the same again, now that he is gone. I can 
 well remember how he used to drink in the truth, when I myself 
 preached in the spirit of it, and how ever}' such divine influence 
 seemed to reproduce itself in his family and public prayers. With 
 much of variation in his moods, with many doubts and conflicts in 
 his inner life, it was always a strength and help to me to see how 
 invariably principle, and not feeling, ruled with him ; how constant 
 and devout was his attendance on the worship of the church, both 
 social and public, and how bound up he seemed to be in all the 
 interests of the Zion of God. It has pleased me greatly to hear that 
 the last year has been one of peculiar religious refreshing and enjoy- 
 ment to him. I am reminded of Dr. Chalmers's wish, that after six 
 decades of life had passed, the seventh might be a sabbath of relig- 
 ious rest and of preparation for heaven. God has been very gra- 
 cious to our departed and lamented friend, that the last da3's were 
 days when heaven's peace and joy were with him, bright fore- 
 gleams of the glory that was so soon to dawn upon his soul. Mr. 
 Duncan was one of those men who seem to be so packed full of 
 life, so invulnerable to ordinary attacks of mortality, that we expect 
 them almost never to die. But the death of such is all the more a 
 
James Henry Duncan. 45 
 
 blow to us, and a solemn lesson how short life is at the longest, and 
 how certainly death must come to us. Still, dead, as he is, he is 
 not dead in the highest and best sense. He was one of those souls, 
 who, we feel, must have an immortality before them in which their 
 powers can fully expand and develop, and in which their praise and 
 knowledge of God can be made perfect; and here, amid all our 
 sorrow, there is great joy. 
 
 " Do we call the star lost that is hidden 
 In the great light of morn, 
 Or fashion a shroud for the young child 
 In the day it is born ? 
 
 Yet behold, this were wise to their folly 
 
 Who mourn, sore distressed, 
 When a soul that is summoned, believing, 
 
 Enters into its rest." 
 
 A more signal proof of Mr. Duncan's fidelity to the church, 
 as well as a truer indication of his piety, are seen in the fact 
 that his prominence as a member never led him into a spirit 
 of dictation or resistance. We quote from Dr. Bosworth's 
 sermon : "The affairs of the church were not always con- 
 ducted according to his views. He sometimes differed in his 
 opinions from his pastor, but having uttered and advocated his 
 own views, he quietly submitted to the decisions of the body. 
 His magnanimity was equal to his subordination. He never 
 abandoned the church, or for one hour ceased to co-operate 
 
 with it." 
 
 Mr. Duncan's religious life in Washington was like that at 
 home, — not merely above reproach, but positively active in 
 relation to the ordinances of religion. 
 
46 In Memoriam. 
 
 Mr. JOHX Keely. Deacon in the First Baptist Church, con- 
 tributes an account of Mr. Duncan's connection with the Sun- 
 day school, of which he Avas for a long time superintendent, 
 and. after his return from "Washington until his death, a 
 teacher: — 
 
 " From the commencement of the Baptist Religious Society in 
 Haverhill, the families connected ^^-ith Mr. Duncans ancestry had 
 shown a remarkable interest in its prosperity ; but all had remained 
 outside of the church. It might very naturally have been expected 
 that Mr. Duncan's literar}- pursuits and cultivated tastes would have 
 led him to look upon this society with more indifference than his 
 familv connections had hitherto done. But we tind him. like them, 
 crh-incr his counsels and efforts to promote its welfare. As earlv as 
 1S19. when it seemed necessary, but rather diincult. to establish a 
 Sundav school, though not professing to be a Christian, he greatly 
 encouraged his pastor, and aided the undertaking by volunteering to 
 become one of the teachers : and the intelligent fideht}- with which 
 he then inculcated the fundamental doctrines and duties of religion 
 is now held in grateful remembrance. And when it was deemed 
 desirable to organize a Sunday-school societ}*, he cheerfully ac- 
 cepted, not so much the honor of being its president, as the oppor- 
 tunity of thus giving his influence to aid in the religious education 
 of the voung. And he continued in this position until, in the full ma- 
 turity' of his manhood, he surrendered himself to Christ and his cause ; 
 and, much to the surprise of his numerous associates in literary. ci\-il, 
 and political life, but triie to his con\-ictions of duty, — the first of all 
 his familv connections to do so. — he asked admission into the 
 church for whose welfare he and his ancestors had so long cared. 
 Thoucrh at this time burdened with an amount of business cares 
 
yanies Henry Duncan. 47 
 
 such as few would consent to bear, he cheerfully took upon himself 
 his full share of labor on committees ; and the social and more pub- 
 lic meetings of the church were often thrilled by the earnest, noble 
 conceptions of truth and duty which so eloquently fell Irom his 
 lips. 
 
 " Th.it elevated position in society which was cheerfully conceded 
 to one possessing his rare powers and refinement never led him to 
 treat as inferiors those with whom he was associated in the church, 
 but only led him the more gracefully to mingle his efforts with those 
 of his fellow-Christians in striving to make the church a light in the 
 surrounding community, and to win others to Christ. Here, he 
 seemed to be anxious to think of himself and to be esteemed by 
 others only * according to the measure of faith which God had 
 dealt.' • 
 
 "Soon after he entered the church, he was appointed superintend- 
 ent of the Sunday school. This position he filled fitlteen years, 
 until public duties at the Capital compelled him to be absent. On 
 his return he declined to resume that position, but readily consented 
 to labor as a teacher. Verv soon he gathered around him a larofe 
 class of 3'oung men, who listened with delight to his well-prepared 
 instructions, and for whose welfare he cared with so deep and pray- 
 erful a solicitude as impelled him to express in private his anxiety to 
 see them decided Christians. Though Mr. Duncan was many years 
 older than any other teacher in the school, no one manifested a 
 deeper interest in all that related to its prosperity. Constitutionallv 
 and by habit inclined to be conservative, here he was always ready 
 to co-operate with the superintendent in all his progressive plans for 
 the welfare of the school; sometimes himself suggesting new meas- 
 ures for trial. When at home and well, he was always present; 
 and, at the close of an interesting session of the school or the con- 
 
48 . In Memoriam. 
 
 cert, he would often linger to express to the superintendent his satis- 
 faction at the interest manifested in the exercises by the scholars. 
 Only a few weeks before his death, at the close of a prayer-meeting, 
 at which a large number of our scholars were present, — and some 
 had expressed their deep concern for their own salvation, — his 
 countenance beaming with almost a heavenly radiance, he met the 
 superintendent with expressions of delight at the excellent condition 
 of the school. 
 
 " Mr. Duncan was also remarkable for the singular courtesy with 
 which he treated all his associates. It was wonderful to see with 
 what graceful pleasantness and ease such a man could exhibit a per- 
 fect example of deferential propriety, and what a charm was thrown 
 over it all by the reflection that it was really the natural result of his 
 acknowledged superiority. The superintendent felt that he could 
 always rely upon Mr. Duncan for counsel, and was sure that every 
 wise measure would certainly receive his support." 
 
 Mr. Duncan's devotion to the local church v^^as but the 
 type of his zeal for the church at large. The " Watchman 
 and Reflector," of Feb. 18, 1869, in an obituary article 
 remarked : — 
 
 " His well-balanced mind, and calm, deliberate judgment, caused 
 him to be sought as a valuable counsellor in the affairs of our 
 denomination. For a long period he was an interested and active 
 member of the American Baptist Missionary Union, and, for several 
 years, was the chairman of its Board of Managers. For many 
 years, also, he rendered valuable service in the Board of Trustees 
 of the Newton Theological Institution." 
 
 In respect to missions, he not only felt a religious interest 
 in them, but thoroughly studied and followed them from 
 
James Henry Duncafi. 49 
 
 month to month in all their details and changes. A large 
 part of the leisure time of the sabbath was given to reading 
 the various missionary journals, the results of which appeared 
 in the monthly missionary concerts of the church, as well as 
 in the deliberations of the Union. 
 
 The following letter from Dr. Baron Stow, of Boston, 
 to Dr. Bosworth, refers in general to Mr. Duncan as connected 
 with the larger interests of the church : — 
 
 "The more intimate friends of the late Colonel Duncan have 
 made me familiar with the beauty of his home-life, and caused me 
 to admire traits of character which I never had the opportunity per- 
 sonally to observe. My elevated estimate of his character as a 
 civilian was formed on the evidence I had of the esteem in which 
 he was held by those who confided to him an unusual number of 
 public trusts. From those who knew him best, and who were ever 
 glad to avail themselves of his services, I have uniformly heard tes- 
 timony of the most favorable kind. On no occasion did I ever hear 
 his name mentioned in connection with any principle or party or 
 measure that could have wounded or mortified me had he been my 
 own brother. The first ungenerous word respecting him, I never 
 heard spoken. He stood among public men equally free from those 
 extravagant laudations which provoke envy, and those unfriendly 
 suspicions and implications which create prejudice. His escape 
 from these opposite evils was owing especially to his characteristic 
 modesty and to his freedom tram every thing like assumption of 
 superiority or claim to leadership. For many years I was asso- 
 ciated with him in boards of trust, and had good opportunities to see, 
 not only how he demeaned himself, but also how he was regarded 
 by his fellow-ofhcials. Decided and firm in his opinions, he had 
 
 6 
 
50 In Menioriam. 
 
 nothing of the turbulent agitator, or scheming demagogue, or noisy 
 debater. His words were few, and more convincing than exciting. 
 His temper was cool, his manner calm, his way from premises 
 to conclusions direct and luminous. What he was in the Board of 
 Managers of the Missionarj'- Union and in the Board of Trustees of 
 the Newton Theological Institution, you know full well. In neither 
 of those boards did you ever know him to say or do an unwise thing. If 
 his opinions did not always prevail, they always carried weight and 
 commanded respect. If he contended earnestly, it was never con- 
 tentiously, but always for such principles or measures as he had 
 deliberately examined and believed to be defensible at the bar of both 
 reason and conscience. He had a large share of Christian conser- 
 vatism, and could not easily be induced to countenance any theories 
 or practices that savored of radicalism. He was a good hater of 
 every thing precipitate, rash, or tortuous. iVs a member of the 
 Board of Fellows of Brown University, he had frequent occasion to 
 grapple with perplexing problems, and never did I see him unequal 
 to the exigency. He understood his position, and appreciated his 
 responsibilities. His record of service in that body will bear inves- 
 tigation, and will show how steadfast he uniformly was to his con- 
 victions of the right and the true." 
 
 The following action was taken by the American Baptist 
 Missionary Union, at the time of Mr. Duncan's decease: — 
 
 The Executive Committee have learned, with profound regret, 
 that the Hon. James H. Duncan, of Haverhill, Mass., died on the 
 8th instant, at the age of seventy-five. 
 
 He was long a member of the Board of Managers of the Amer- 
 ican Baptist Missionary Union, and for several years its Chairman. 
 By his fellow-citizens, he was elevated to many positions of public 
 
James Henry Duncan. 55 
 
 "We were speaking several days ago of Mr. Duncan's method 
 of conducting family prayers, and M. remarked she never should 
 forget the impressive manner in which he read the Bible : never 
 had she heard any one equal him in expression and modulation, 
 and the silvery tones of his voice sound in my ears to this moment. 
 The universal kindness and cordiality in his every-day life spoiled 
 one for the usual indifference of persons in general." 
 
 The Rev. Joseph May, of Newbmyport, writes: • — 
 
 "I always felt it well-spent time when I was with him, both for 
 his practical wisdom and experience, and for the undertone of 
 moral worth which is what really commands respect above all other 
 things. Especially I admired his simple, childlike religiousness, 
 and enjoyed the genuineness of his devotions in your home, which 
 I always remember very soothingly. That again is an office which 
 few men discharge so as to affect me as I crave to be affected. It 
 is sweet and dear to one's heart when it is real. In your father's 
 prayers there was always to me that quality, — a filial spirit and 
 reverence that made them very impressive. I feel it a great privi- 
 lege to have known him, and known him at home." 
 
 A relative of the family relates the following incident: — 
 
 "I was at Mr. Duncan's house on the morning of his son's depart- 
 ure for the army of the Mississippi; also, in singular coincidence, 
 on the evening of the day of his return after a long and eventful 
 absence. Immediately after breakfast, according to the custom of 
 the family, all assembled in the sitting-room; and, after the usual 
 reading of Scripture, they kneeled for the morning prayer of the 
 head of the famil}^. It would seem that the moment of parting 
 with a son for distant service before the enemy would have caused 
 
56 hi Memoriam. 
 
 utterance in that prayer of those contending emotions, which will 
 struggle in the bosoms of us poor mortals in the face of the contin- 
 gencies which must forebode at such a parting : no, not so did the 
 fond parent address his Father in Heaven. In that invocation, the 
 son was nobly and cheerfully dedicated to his country. The sup- 
 plication was all for the nation, and then followed a trust, — a hearty, 
 reliant, certain trust in Him who is the God of battles. Throughout 
 that prayer there was no breath of fear, or betrayal of those 
 emotions which none but an heroic. God-fearing, right-spirited man 
 could repress at such a time. 
 
 "It is not necessary to speak of the interval before the return. 
 There was a return in honor, in renewed health, in promise ; and 
 the joyful family met at the same altar for thanksgiving to God. 
 But what of the father who led their devotions ! I see him now, 
 on his bended knees, his head bowled low between his hands : I 
 cannot recall the words. There are prayers, like this one, in which 
 all is gathered up in a single offering : the soul feels to the inmost 
 sense its entireness of dedication ; but so quietly asserted, that 
 it knows not the way and manner of speech thereof. This I do 
 remember : Mr. Duncan was moved wdth contrition in a spirit of 
 deepest humility ; for in his great joy he did not know why God 
 had been so merciful to him, had spared so much to him a sinner. 
 
 "How just, how wise, how deeply religious was the high sense 
 of the relation between the creature and the Creator, in the aspira- 
 tions of these two prayers ! " 
 
 We introduce here a few stanzas from the father to his 
 eldest daughter, called out by a child's effort to cheer him 
 when depressed. She was rewarded the next morning by 
 these lines, precious to her as the only effort made b}'' her 
 father to express his thoughts in verse: — 
 
 ¥ 
 
James Henry Duncan. 57 
 
 Daughter ! thy love would lift 
 
 From off my burdened breast 
 The cares which press my spirits down, 
 
 And rob me of my rest. 
 
 Amid life's toilsome path, 
 
 Can aught our cares remove. 
 And, while we live and act on earth, 
 
 Exalt our thoughts above ? 
 
 Yes : Faith can pierce the veil 
 
 Which wraps our mortal sight. 
 Reveal those heavenly scenes where 
 
 God sits throned in light. 
 
 And while we labor here. 
 
 With grief and cares opprest, 
 Hope keeps our fainting spirits up, 
 
 Faith points to endless rest. 
 
 Daughter ! thy words of love and truth 
 
 My troubled thoughts do calm ; 
 And may that faith keep thy 
 
 Young heart from every ill and harm. 
 
 The severest trials of Mr. Duncan were the loss of three 
 adult children in the brief period of three years and four 
 months. In the spring of 1855, consumption showed itself 
 in Susan, then just eighteen, and in the promise of a future 
 bright for herself and her friends. In her, beauty of person 
 \vas heightened by rare loveliness of disposition. She pos- 
 sessed a mind vigorous and active, which had been well 
 cultivated by reading and study, an excellent judgment, great 
 natural vivacity, a dignity and earnestness of character which 
 had been confirmed and strengthened' by the sanctifying in- 
 
 7 
 
S8 III Memoriatn. 
 
 fluences of religious faith and the earl}/ consecration of herself 
 to the Saviour. She lingered until February, 1857, illustrat- 
 ing, through all these months of weariness and sutfering, the 
 sustaining power of a Christian faith, shedding over the home 
 circle an influence precious and enduring. 
 
 Soon after, his son James, who had graduated at Brown 
 University in 1849, began to fail in health. His beautiful 
 filial character and his promise as a man of business had 
 already led Mr. Duncan to lean upon him, and his slow de- 
 cline was watched wi|:h heart-breaking sorrow. He died 
 Dec. 31, 1858, during the passage to the Barbadoes, where he 
 was going in search of health. Mr. Duncan, in a letter to 
 an absent daughter, refers to his death thus: — 
 
 /' I was not aware how highly he was esteemed in the community 
 till his decease. The universal and sincere expressions of sorrow 
 are a grateful tribute to his memory. He never made any efforts to 
 win the public favor, but a unitbrmly courteous, frank, upright, and 
 manly deportment gained him universal confidence and regard. In 
 looking back upon his life, I can find no act to fix the slightest stain 
 upon his character. He was my hope, my stay and staff", and his 
 death creates a void which can never be filled." 
 
 From this severe blow to his aflfection and hopes, Mr. 
 Duncan never fully rallied. Though he at once took up again 
 the burdens of life which he had hoped would be borne by 
 another, it was with an abiding sense of sorrow and loss. 
 
 In i860, the family was again called to great affliction by 
 the very sudden death of their daughter Rose, on the 20th 
 
yames Henry Duncan. 59 
 
 of June, while at school in Hudson, N.Y. Her illness was 
 so brief and unalarming, that the family at home were 
 scarcely awakened to anxiety before they heard of her 
 death. As James had been regarded as the stay of the 
 household, so Rose was looked upon as its joy. Beautiful 
 in person, full of wit and vivacity, amiable and affectionate, 
 while almost saintly in the fervor of her piety, she was more 
 than loved by her father: she filled his ideal of female char- 
 acter. In a letter to his daughter Mrs. Harris, then in Texas, 
 he thus refers to his loss : — 
 
 "These oft-repeated afflictions almost crush me. I have felt 
 the loss of James every way. My hopes and enjoyment of life were 
 gready diminished by his death; but Rose was very near my 
 heart. She was so bright, so kind, so unselfish, so affecdonate, 
 so sprightly, that her presence was a perpetual joy. She was 
 always good from childhood ; we seldom, if ever, had occasion to 
 correct or reprove her; and, since the age of fifteen, w^ien she 
 made a profession of religion, she has evinced a consistency of 
 piety remarkable at any age. In her, vivacity and discredon were 
 most happily blended. She possessed talents of a high order. She 
 enjoyed society, especially that of the culdvated and refined ; but 
 it was not essential to her enjoyment of life. She found happiness 
 in reading, in study, in music, and, above all, in nature, for whose 
 beauties she had a keen perception. She was ever ready and 
 desirous to do good ; and entered on any w^ork, which enlisted her 
 feelings, with an energy truly remarkable. We were prepared, by. 
 a long period of sickness, to anticipate dear Susan's death ; and 
 James's health had been so precarious, that we feared he might fall 
 a victim to his malady, although the dme and manner were most 
 
6o In Memoriain. 
 
 unlooked for : but Rose is arrested full of hope, of happiness, and of 
 apparent health. Were it not for the hopes which religion inspires, 
 I should sink under this stroke, — so sad, so sudden, — in the 
 midst of so many delightful anticipations. But a voice comes to 
 me from the excellent glory, 'Weep not for me: I am with the 
 angels, and behold the face of my Redeemer.' The loved one we 
 mourn is now enjoying the society of angels and glorified spirits, 
 with the capacity for happiness which she possessed on earth infi- 
 nitely enlarged and purified. Only a deep-seated acquiescence in 
 the Divine sovereignty, — a conviction that the Judge of all the 
 earth will do right, — that his dealings, however dark to us, are 
 guided by infinite wisdom and mercy, — can keep me from mur- 
 muring at this inscrutable providence. No consolation in such a 
 bereavement as this can be I'ound but in the promises contained in 
 the divine word. I fervently commend you to God and the word 
 of his grace, praying that you may be sustained and comtbrted," 
 
 These repeated afflictions, though they left ineffaceable 
 marks upon Mr. Duncan's mind, were no trial to his faith, 
 nor were they suffered to cast a lasting gloom over his life. 
 He at once bowed himself under the hand of God, acknowl- 
 edged that it was well, and drew fully upon the consolations 
 of the gospel. 
 
 He never lost the zest of life. There was nothing ascetic 
 either in his temperament or religion. He took liberal and 
 healthy views of life, and enjoyed its good things with a 
 thorough, rational pleasure. He was generous in all pro- 
 visions for his household; not merely as to the manner of 
 meeting their wants, but in providing for their happiness. 
 He often took them upon journeys, prepared the way for 
 
yames Henry Duncan. 6i 
 
 them in society abroad, and, as far as possible, made his 
 own house the scene of cultivated social enjoyment, — enter- 
 ing into it himself with the keenest relish. This was not 
 done out of mere indulgence: it entered into his plan of 
 rearing a family. He provided enjoyment for his children, 
 instead of leaving them to seek it for themselves. His 
 wisdom is apparent, so far, at least, that in his large family 
 no moral wreck has occurred; and all the children were 
 early united with their parents in earnest Christian views of 
 life. 
 
 The hospitality of Mr. Duncan was one of the most 
 marked features of his home-life. The house was scarcely 
 ever without guests. Its ample size and his generous man- 
 ner of living made it possible to offer such attentions to 
 others, while the heartiness and grace with which they were 
 accompanied rendered them most enjoyable. This hospitality 
 was not the mere reciprocation of society. His doors were 
 open alike to friends and strangers. If the town, or any 
 religious or secular interest, could be served by his hospital- 
 ity, it was proffered without stint. His house was regarded 
 as the temporary home of public speakers, lecturers, clergy- 
 men, and all others to whom hospitality seemed due. Be- 
 fore the family circle was broken by death, it was not 
 unusual for eighteen or twenty persons to sit down at dinner. 
 
 The grace and tact and dignity wnth which Mr. Duncan 
 entertained, is remembered by multitudes. Still, he did not 
 suffer himself to spend upon these social amenities any very 
 large part of his time. He was through life an intensely 
 
62 In Memoriatn. 
 
 busy man. The Rev. Dr. Train, in his remarks at the funeral 
 service, which unfortunately are not preserved, said that 
 when he came to Haverhill, in 1836, and became, for 
 eighteen months, an inmate of his family, " Mr. Duncan 
 seemed to him the busiest man he had ever known. He 
 had a large practice as a lawyer; he was extensively engaged 
 in farming; he was a selectman, and often a representative 
 in the legislature; he was a bank-director; he was largely 
 connected with the railroad then slowly pushing its way 
 towards Haverhill; he was superintendent of the Sunday- 
 school, and had much to do with the details of the business 
 of the church. But these labors did not weigh him down, 
 nor take from the freshness and elasticity of his spirits." 
 This pressure relaxed somewhat in later 3'ears; still his days 
 were always given to business. The evening, however, 
 usually found him at leisure for the enjoyment of his family 
 and guests, or attending the church-meeting, or the reading of 
 some valuable book. He preserved his literary taste amidst 
 the cares of business, and confined his reading to books of 
 a substantial and standard character. He wrote often and 
 at length' to the absent members of the family. These letters, 
 carefully written and full of advice, with apt accounts of the 
 home-life, are now precious treasures to his children. 
 
 During the last few years, the Monday-Evening Club — an 
 association of orentlemen in Haverhill and Bradford — was a 
 source of great pleasure to him. Though the oldest member, 
 he was the most punctual and constant in attendance; and 
 none entered more thoroughly and heartily into its social 
 
James Henry Duncan. 63 
 
 and literary enjoyments. At the first meeting held after his 
 death, the following resolutions were adopted: — 
 
 Resolved, That the sudden death of our brother, the Hon. 
 James H. Duncan, the oldest member of the Club, impresses us 
 with dee'p sorrow. 
 
 Resolved, That we esteemed him a brother of sterling integ- 
 rity, of elevated Christian character, and of rare social qualities ; 
 that we witnessed with great pleasure his constandy increasing 
 interest in our Club ; that we entertained for him the highest con- 
 sideration and respect; that we mourn for him as a loss to us, his 
 friends, and the public ; and that we shall ever warmly cherish his 
 memory for his personal worth, and as an acdve and efficient 
 member of the Club. 
 
 Resolved, That while we tenderly sympathize with Mrs. 
 Duncan and her afflicted family in the loss of one so dear to them, 
 as husband, father, and friend, we are truly grateful that they 
 have the consolation afforded by the assurance that the exchange 
 of worlds was to the departed an endless gain. 
 
 Mr. Duncan was also an interested member of the Baptist 
 Social Union, — a club of gentlemen who met socially in 
 Boston, to confer upon the interests of the Baptist denomina- 
 tion. It adopted these resolutions: — 
 
 Resolved, That in the departure from this world of our esteem- 
 ed friend and brother in Christ, Hon. James H. Duncan, whose 
 death has been announced to us this evening, we mourn the loss 
 of a truly good man and faithful laborer in the vineyard of the 
 Master ; that while we sorrow that we shall see his face no more 
 in the flesh, we are comforted by the blessed assurance he has left 
 
64 J^fi Mtjnoriajn. 
 
 with us. that he has entered upon the rest which remaineth for the 
 people of God. 
 
 Resolved. That in his life we recognize a bright example of 
 continuance in well-doing, especially of fidelity to public trusts, and 
 of rare consecration to the interests of humanity, literature, and 
 religion ; and that by this act we desire to express our gratitude to 
 God, who permitted him to live so long, and to die crowned with 
 the benedictions of all, both in the church and the world, with 
 whom he had been associated. 
 
 Resolved, That we tender to his bereaved widow and family 
 our warmest svmpathies ; and that we assure them of our prayers, 
 that this dispensation of Providence may be sanctified to their 
 good. 
 
 Resolved. — That these Resolutions be entered upon the records 
 of this Union : and that a copy, signed by the President and Sec- 
 retary, be sent to the family of the deceased. 
 
 The testimonials, of which this memorial is largely com- 
 posed, and which it is mainly intended to preserve, touch 
 the chief points of '^\x. Duncan's career and character. 
 Still they but faintly indicate how thoroughly his life was 
 subordinated to the one idea oi fidelity to duty. This was 
 not merely a purpose taken up and followed, but was in- 
 wrought into the very substance of his character. It was the 
 underlving element that supported and entered into all his 
 traits of mind and habits of conduct. It was the key-note 
 to his life. — the principle from which he habitually acted. 
 Unless it is fully recognized, his character offers a somewhat 
 strange and seemingly opposite combination of traits. He 
 was modest and shrinkinsr, vet he showed the truest courage. 
 
 \ 
 
yames Henry Duncan. 65 
 
 His temperament was quick and impulsive, but it seldom 
 bore him into excesses. His emotions apparently governed 
 him, but in realit}' judgment held the reins. He was some- 
 w^hat distant and reserved in manner, but there was a law of 
 love in his heart that made him full of sympathy and affec- 
 tion. Of himself, he tended to the care of minor matters; but 
 his career — opened by his talents, but entered from a sense of 
 duty — shows that his true sphere was amidst large interests. 
 His tastes led him to privacy, but he heeded the call to serve 
 the public. He managed his own affairs with less wisdom 
 than those entrusted to him. In fact, Mr. Duncan showed 
 no superior ability except when under the inspiration of 
 duty. He was eloquent and wise and great, just in the 
 degree in which his moral faculties were moved by a sense 
 of moral accountability. He would never have been thought 
 a man of courage, except when courage was specially de- 
 manded. His gentle and considerate manner would not 
 have suggested his unflinching will, had not occasion made 
 it manifest. All his faculties, tastes, dispositions were under 
 the lead of duty; and the fixed nature of this relation was 
 not only the most marked feature of his character, but so 
 informed the whole, and led him into such spheres of activ- 
 ity, that there may be said of him what Tacitus said of 
 Agricola: "^ Bonum virum facile crederes, magnum libenter." 
 The death of Mr. Duncan was the occasion of a larsre 
 number of letters to the famil}^, some of which are introduced, 
 both because of the comfort they afford, and as indicating 
 the various yet uniform estimate in which he was held. 
 
66 In Memoriam. 
 
 Hon. William Willis, of Portland, Me., writes to his 
 sister, Mrs. Duncan: — 
 
 " Bereavements of this sad nature leave wounds on our hearts, 
 especially our aged ones, which never heal. Memories of the 
 past, extending over more than forty years, must keep these 
 wounds continually open, and you will ever find a void there which 
 nothing can fill. It must be a consoling reflection to you, that, 
 during these long years, retrospection will plant no thorn in your 
 memory, or cast a cloud over the serene horizon of your happy 
 union. 
 
 " In retracing my earliest recollections of Mr. Duncan, extend- 
 ing back sevent}' years, I can recall no act which dims the lustre 
 of his pure life : he was a model boy, as he was a model man. 
 At Exeter and at Harvard, as well as in his professional and 
 political life, diligence in study, correctness in deportment, purity 
 in character, honesty and integrity, insured to him the commenda- 
 tion of the teachers of his youth, and the unqualified approbation 
 of the companions and friends of his mature years. I think I have 
 never known a person, who, through a whole and so long a life, sus- 
 tained a character so uniformly correct and worthy of approbation. 
 
 "In his manners he was a little formal and reserved, perhaps, 
 towards strangers, 'but to those men who sought him, sweet as 
 summer.' He was never haughty on the one hand, nor too 
 familiar or supercilious on the other. A cultivated intelligence, 
 an enlightened conscience, and a sound judgment, graced by pol- 
 ished manners, constitute a character — too rare in our days — 
 which should be held up as an example and ornament to the com- 
 munity. 
 
 " Of his domestic life I forbear to speak in this presence : a 
 man of such sterling qualities could not fail to shed over the 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
yames Henry Duncan. 67 
 
 charmed circle of private life any other than the soft light which 
 flows from a well-balanced moral character. 
 
 " Few of his classmates now remain. Andrews and Brooks, of 
 Boston; Downes, of Calais, and Nourse, of Bath, old men all, 
 still survive : but there have gone before him, of the eminent 
 associates of his class. Dexter, Homans, and Loring of Boston, 
 Bishop Wainwright and the beloved Henry Ware. Thus, one 
 after another, the ties so cherished on earth are parted, to be re- 
 united in that higher and better world, which knows no parting, 
 nor sorrow, nor tears." 
 
 From Prof. George B. Jewett, of Salem: — 
 
 "Allow me to express to you my sincere thanks for the copy of 
 the Memorial Sermon with which you have so kindly favored me. 
 It is eminently fitting that a life so redolent of Christian excellence 
 and beauty, — a life which speaks so impressively of all that is 
 lovely, and of good report, and truly worthy of imitation, — should 
 be thus perpetuated. Its commemoration redounds to the praise 
 of divine grace. 
 
 " The hour with which Mr. Duncan favored me on the afternoon 
 of the sabbath which I spent in Haverhill, last fall, will long be 
 held by me in most grateful remembrance. The frankness and 
 kindness of his remarks impressed me most deeply. I felt assured 
 that the work * in which I was engaged must be a good one, if it 
 met the cordial approval of a mind so capable of estimating it in 
 all its bearings, and of a heart so sensitive to the interests of the 
 Redeemer's cause. Now that he has gone to his high reward, I 
 rejoice to be one of the many to whom is granted the privilege of 
 pronouncing a blessing on his memory." 
 
 * A criticism upon a recent revised edition of the New Testament. 
 
68 In Memoriani. 
 
 From Surgeon-General Dale: — 
 
 "You can judge of my emotion when, upon opening the 'Ad- 
 vertiser ' of yesterda}^ in the cars, I saw the announcement of 
 the death of your honored and venerated father, my lam.ented 
 friend. I had not even heard of his illness ; and it is only a short 
 time since I paid my respects to him in the cars, as he was on his 
 wa}^ to Boston. It will be a melancholy satisfaction to myself and 
 family to meet with kindred and friends in paying a sincere and 
 heartfelt tribute of respect to the memory and virtues of one of the 
 most distinguished citizens of the Commonwealth. 
 
 " The late Hon. Mr. Duncan seems to have been the last of that 
 school of gentlemen in our country, whose public character, patri- 
 otism, and loyalty survived the mutations of party; entitling him, 
 in a ripe old age, to the rare distinction of a safe counsellor and 
 an unselfish citizen, anxious only for the public good. 
 
 " In the deep grief of your venerable mother and family there 
 must be left this consolation and support, that, living to an ad- 
 vanced age, he j'et retained a physical and mental vigor rarely 
 seen ; and perhaps he is mercifully spared those infirmities which 
 are common to extreme age." 
 
 The Rev. Edward G. Porter writes : — 
 
 " Although my acquaintance with your father was but slight, 
 I saw him enough to know how great a loss you are now called to 
 sustain. I well remember his large-hearted Christian hospitality, 
 which it was my privilege to share one Sunday evening, when Dr. 
 Dodge was in Haverhill. No one could see your father at home 
 without being impressed with the combined force and gentleness 
 of his character, which so fully exemplified the spirit of the Gospel 
 as to win the esteem and affection of all that knew him. Permit 
 
 { 
 
James Henry Duncan. 69 
 
 me to say, that the memory of such a father, who was spared to you 
 so long, is an occasion of such gratitude to God that your hearts 
 might reasonably dwell, not so much on what you have lost, as on 
 what he has gained. I hope some one will, at the proper time, 
 give the public an appreciative sketch of that long, useful, and 
 honored life now brought to a close." 
 
 Prof. A. N. Arnold, D.D., of Chicago, writes: — 
 
 " I must claim the privilege of condoling with you in your oreat 
 grief. You have often been called to weep over dear departed 
 ones, but this sorrow is different from any of the past. Those 
 may have seemed more undmel}', but this is more irreparable. Yet, 
 however you may have wished it delayed, you cannot wish it less. 
 The greatness of your loss is a part of your consolation, and the 
 more fully you can appreciate it, the more reason you have for 
 submission and gratitude ; for you must consider how much greater 
 the loss of such a father would have been, if it had occurred when 
 his children were less capable of appreciating it. Permit me to 
 remind you that it would be wrong and selfish to mourn without 
 moderation that he has reached the goal of his best hopes and 
 aspirations. You must not repine that he has found what you 
 were proud to see him so steadfastly seeking, — the satisfaction 
 and perfection of his nature. I have the distinct impression — 
 derived I hardly know from what testimony — that his Chrisdan 
 character, always consistent, shone forth witli brightening lustre in 
 the last few^ years. It should be so always, but it is not as mani- 
 fesdy so with all, as I«believe it was with him." 
 
 The following comprehensive estimate of Mr. Duncan's 
 character is from the Rev. S. F. Smith, D.D. : — 
 
70 hi Memoriam. 
 
 " M}^ acquaintance with Mr. Duncan has been long and inti- 
 mate. I have seen him under all relations, in various circum- 
 stances, and in every kind of exigency calculated to bring into 
 action the distinguishing qualities of his mind and heart. His 
 ardent and enlightened patriotism I have never seen surpassed. 
 During the years of confusion and excitement which preceded the 
 war of the rebellion, his quick, keen eye detected the bearing of 
 public measures, and carefully watched the movements of artful 
 politicians. And not satisfied with doing his duty to his country 
 in her public councils only, he perpetually carried the case of our 
 national necessities in supplication before God. As a statesman 
 he was distinguished b}'^ firmness of principle. Christian conscien- 
 tiousness, and the most incorruptible integrity. He had carefully 
 reflected on all matters of national interest, and was controlled in 
 his official acts by convictions which were the result of calm inves- 
 tigation and mature judgment. Always in his place,* ever attentive 
 to the course of business, he fulfilled his duties as a representative 
 of his native district in a manner that gave no cause for the slight- 
 est breath of reproach. Actuated by a wise conservatism, he still 
 understood the spirit of the age, and was ever in the party of true 
 progress. He passed unscathed through the temptations of the 
 national capital, always respected, and always worlh}^ of respect; 
 in no case compromising his personal dignity as a man, nor his 
 nobility of character as a sincere and conscientious Christian. 
 When the dread collision came, he understood full}^ the exigencies 
 of the times. He cherished no vindictive spirit towards the ene- 
 mies of freedom, but condemned their action, and stood for the 
 demands of justice and national honor. In the quiet hour of family 
 devotion, how often did he bear the weighty sorrow of his patriotic 
 heart, the distresses of his beloved country, humbly and trustingly 
 
James Henry Duncan. 71 
 
 before God ! Often, at such hours, I have been indined to say, 
 'This is true patriotism, a love of country which can safely be 
 submitted to any ordeal.' 
 
 " There was something beautiful in his relations to his home. 
 His house was the abode of generous and graceful hospitality. 
 He had the faculty of making his guests feel how welcome they 
 were under his roof. His relations to his own family were very 
 tender. Firm, prompt, and decided, he was still loving, confiding, 
 and just. And, as his children either grew to years of discretion, 
 or were taken, one by one, to the higher home, his gentle consid- 
 eration, his unwearied love, his admission to his counsels and his 
 heart of the living, and his quiet resignation, his unquestioning 
 'even so, Father,' in giving to the will of God the dead, — pro- 
 claimed him like another faithful Abraham in his household. 
 
 "The claims of religion he held paramount to all others. 
 Though often wearied by the toils of the day, he admitted no 
 excuse for absenting himself from the meetings of the church at 
 evening. He was wise in counsel, but never obtrusive. He 
 listened with candor. He comforted with words of encouragement. 
 His rehgion was not a transient fervor, but a steady heat. In his 
 religious self-manifestation, there was nothing sensational, nothing 
 one-sided; nothing that seemed to flow from casual impulse, or 
 that tended to temporary results. He held the doctrines of grace 
 as they were held and taught by the New-England fathers. His 
 religious development was harmonious and symmetrical, and he 
 was therefore felt to be a power in the church and in the com- 
 munity. His brethren wisely confided in his judgment ; and rarely, 
 if ever, did they feel that their confidence had been misplaced. 
 
 "As the members of the Church of which, from the hour of his 
 Christian profession, he was a pillar and an ornament, so also his 
 
72 In Memoriam. 
 
 fellow-citizens leaned on him as a strong support. They prized 
 his influence. They waited for his counsel. Always living in his 
 native town, he felt himself identified with all its interests, and he 
 watched over them with unceasing solicitude and love. No public 
 measure of importance was adopted, for nearly half a century, of 
 which he was not a part ; there was no public exhibition of public 
 spirit and enterprise, tending to the prosperity of the town of Haver- 
 hill, of which he did not show himself a prudent and far-seeing 
 adviser and a generous promoter. Often, in their town meetings, 
 will his fellow-citizens miss his calm foresight, his wise direction, 
 his liberal plans, and his prompt administration. 
 
 '' He was deeply interested in the benevolent organizations of 
 the denomination to which he belonged, and was repeatedly elected 
 as the presiding officer of some of them. But he was distinguished 
 by his love for the work of missions to the heathen, and kept him- 
 self familiar with the progress of the work. He was several times 
 called to the honorable office of Chairman of the Board of Mana- 
 gers of the American Bapdst Missionary Union. He filled this 
 office with dignity and urbanity ; entering upon it with a heart full 
 of love to the cause, and feeling that he sustained the same rela- 
 tions and obligations to it as the whole body of his brethren. His 
 words at the anniversary meetings were always appropriate, judi- 
 cious, calm, and dignified. And the parliamentary experience 
 and skill which he had acquired in the halls of Congress, he grace- 
 fully brought, an offering to his brethren and to Christ, and a 
 useful aid to the cause of foreign missions. It was a beautiful 
 circumstance, that, on his last sabbath evening, — enfeebled as he 
 was by the pressure of disease, and just as death was gathering 
 its dark shadows around him, — he aroused himself sufficiently to 
 intimate that he remembered that it was the occasion of the mis- 
 
James Henry Dtmcan. 73 
 
 sionary concert. Just as life was lapsing into the glories of immor- 
 talit}^ he recalled his former interest in the efforts for the salvation 
 of a fallen world, and left it as a parting memorial to his children 
 and his brethren, that his latest thoughts of earth lingered on the 
 inspired petidon — 'Thy Kingdom come.' 
 
 " He was honored with many responsible offices and important 
 trusts, religious and secular, and in the discharge of these duties 
 he always proved himself competent and faithful. In his posidon 
 as a member of the Corporadon of Brown University, and of the 
 Board of Trustees of the Newton Theological Insdtudon, he took 
 pains to understand the exigencies of every occasion, to compre- 
 hend the nature and the merits of every quesdon, and to discharge 
 to the full his responsibility. 
 
 "When he approached the age of seventy, he wisely remem- 
 bered his days, and began to contemplate the necessity of nature, 
 which would soon compel him to relinquish the labors and respon- 
 sibilities of this life. Very often did. he allude to his age, as 
 indicating the propriety of his diminishing his worldly cares and 
 turning his thoughts heavenward. His characterisdc acdvity, 
 which seemed altogether beyond what is customary in a person so 
 far advanced, condnued almost to the very close of his earthly 
 career. Scarcely was he missed from the scenes of his usual 
 acdvity when the people were starded by the assurance that he 
 had passed away. Scarcely was he absent from his place in the 
 house of God, when the solemn announcement was spread abroad 
 that he 'was not, for God had taken him.' And so he departed, 
 full of years and of honors. He manifested, as he drew near the 
 close of life, the mellow beauty and ripeness of age, though with 
 none of its tokens of decay. It was like the setting of the sun on 
 a summer evening, — the same luminary that shone in his glory 
 
74 -^^^ Memoriam. 
 
 at noonday, now none the less glorious, though grown more mild, 
 serene, and beautiful. 
 
 " The streets were thronged to watch the funeral procession on 
 the day of his burial. All felt that not only had a great man 
 fallen in Israel, but that they themselves had lost a wise counsel- 
 lor, a stay and staff, and a friend. And when at the grave, the 
 clouds which, during the afternoon, had shed over the ground a 
 bridal covering of spotless white, temporarily parted, and allowed 
 the sun to dart a beam of glory upon the earth, — it was the 
 dictate not more of imagination than of confident faith, to view 
 the scene as the symbol of the white robe of Christ's righteousness 
 which he had put on, and of the glory revealed to his ascended 
 spirit." 
 
 I 
 
 s 
 
James Henry Duncan. 75 
 
 V. 
 
 LAST DAYS. 
 
 IV/TR. DUNCAN'S last illness was brief, and its fatal ter- 
 mination was a surprise to all. Although he was 
 seventy-live years old, he bore no marks of age. His step 
 was elastic, his voice was clear and strong as ever; his coun- 
 tenance was fresh and smooth, and indicated twenty years 
 less of age than the fact. His health had never been better 
 than during the past few years. 
 
 On Monday, Feb. i, he went to Boston, and, on his 
 return, complained of dizziness and headache, but was not 
 so ill as to prevent him from attending a temperance meet- 
 ing in the evening, held in the City Hall. The motive that 
 took Mr. Duncan to this meeting was characteristic of 
 him, — a generous willingness to hear the prohibitory law 
 advocated, the expediency of which he doubted. Here his 
 cold was aggravated. On Tuesday, he attended to business 
 as usual, but in the evening experienced a chill, and retired 
 early, taking simple restoratives. On Wednesday, he kept 
 to his room as a matter of prudence. H^is physician. Dr. J. P. 
 Whittemore, was called; and symptoms of pneumonia were 
 discovered by him. But the disease, alarming as it was in 
 itself, seemed of so mild a type, that danger was not appre- 
 
76 In Memoriam. 
 
 hendecl. At no time during the remainder of the week did 
 he appear very ill to those about him: he suffered but little, 
 was cheerful, and enjoyed the presence of the family in his 
 room. But the physician saw that the congestion was 
 steadily extending throughout his lungs. The usual rem- 
 edies were promptly employed at each stage of the disease, 
 but nothing hindered its course. Still, his great vitality, the 
 apparent soundness of his constitution, and, more than all, 
 the fact that his mother had safely passed through two such 
 attacks when beyond his age, favored the hope of recovery. 
 He had no sense of his danger, and on Friday spoke of his 
 intention of going to Washington to attend the Inauguration 
 of Gen. Grant. On Sunday the full power of the disease 
 became evident. He was restless, breathed with difficulty, 
 and his mind wandered at frequent intervals. During the 
 night he rapidly failed. His son-in-law spent the entire 
 night at his bedside, endeavoring to calm his intense excite- 
 ment and delirium, hoping he might secure rest. Though 
 constantly wandering and talking wildly, he was easily, 
 though but for a moment, recalled to a rational state. In 
 these lucid intervals, all the gentleness and suavity of his 
 usual manner reappeared with singular beauty. At dawn, 
 he was joined by Mrs. Duncan; the morning-light was ad- 
 mitted, and the fearful change wrought in the night was 
 revealed. Still, a gentle slumber, into which he fell, awoke 
 a faint hope that possibly the disease had spent its force, and 
 that he might yet rally. Dr. Sparhawk, of Amesbury Mills, 
 — a relative and cherished friend of the family, — was sum- 
 
James Henry Duncan. 77 
 
 moned in council, but his arrival, at eleven o'clock in the 
 forenoon, found Mr. Duncan in a dying state. Toward the 
 last, the force of his mind seemed to overpower the delirium: 
 he brokenly expressed a sense of his situation, uttered a few 
 sentences of pra3^er, murmured words of affection to his wife 
 as she bent over him, endeavored to name the children, and 
 at noon quietly breathed his last. There were present only 
 members of the family and the physicians. The rapid prog- 
 ress of the disease had not prepared them for the issue, and 
 it was difficult to realize that the end had actually come. 
 Soon the sad consciousness forced itself upon them: the 
 husband and father and friend was gone; but they felt that 
 he had gone to God, and was " alive for evermore." 
 
 " Why weep ye then for him, who having won 
 
 The bounds of man's appointed years, at last, — 
 Life's blessings all enjoyed, life's labors done, — 
 Serenely to his final rest has passed ; 
 While the soft memory of his virtues yet lingers, 
 Like twilight hues, when the bright sun is set ? " 
 
 The announcement of his death passed rapidly through the 
 town, and was received almost with incredulity. When the 
 surprise passed, a general sorrow and sense of loss took 
 possession of all hearts. Many had lost in him a loved and 
 faithful friend, and all felt that the town had been bereaved 
 of its most useful and honored citizen, and that his place 
 would never be filled. 
 
 By the general urgent desire of the community, the funeral 
 services were held in the. church, instead of the house, as 
 LofC. 
 
78 In Memoriain. 
 
 was first intended. At two o'clock prayer was offered up 
 at the house, b}^ the Rev. Dr. Train, after which the body 
 was borne to the First Baptist Church, Deacon John Keeley, 
 Mr. George Appleton, and John J. Marsh, Esq., of Haverhill, 
 and Mr. Henry S. Washburn, of Boston, acting as pall- 
 bearers. At the church the services were opened by the 
 singing of the hymn: 
 
 " Hear what the voice from heaven proclaims 
 For all the pious dead : 
 Sweet is the savor of their names, 
 And soft their sleeping bed." 
 
 After portions of the Scriptures had been read b}^ the 
 Rev. Dr. Bosworth, an address was made by the Rev. Dr. 
 Train, not of the nature of a eulogy, but composed of per- 
 sonal reminiscences, drawn from his long acquaintance with 
 Mr. Duncan, that yet most vividly illustrated the main fea- 
 tures of his character. It is felt that this Memorial is 
 incomplete in not being able to present the beautiful and 
 just tribute, that flowed without premeditation from his lips. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Warren, of the Baptist Missionary Union, 
 followed with sympathetic words, expressive of the loss 
 that was sustained in so many relations, and read the Reso- 
 lutions of the Officers of the Missionary Union, already 
 given. The letter of the Rev. Mr. Strong, on the previous 
 pages, also was read. After the prayer by the Rev. Dr. 
 Bosworth, the following hymn was sung : — 
 
 " Who, O Lord, when life is o'er. 
 Shall to heaven's blest mansions soar ? 
 Who an ever welcome guest, 
 In Thy holy place shall rest ? 
 
 i 
 
James Henry Dzincan. 79 
 
 He whose heart Thy love has warmed ; 
 He whose will to Thine conformed, 
 Bids his life unsullied run ; 
 He whose words and thoughts are one ; 
 
 He who shuns the sinner's road, 
 Loving those who love their God ; 
 Who, with hope and faith unfeigned, 
 Treads the path by Thee ordained ; 
 
 He who trusts in Christ alone. 
 Not in aught himself hath done, — 
 He, Great God, shall be Thy care, 
 And Thy choicest blessings share." 
 
 When the services were ended, the large congregation 
 passed across the chancel, where the body was placed, and 
 looked for the last time upon the face that had been seen 
 almost daily in their streets for nearly three quarters of a 
 century. Death had left but faint impress upon those famil- 
 iar features, and their deep repose within their narrow place 
 was almost the only assurance that they were fixed in death. 
 From the hands folded across his person in a customary 
 way, an ivy reached upward encircling his head, faintly yet 
 clearly speaking of the palm and the crown — the victory 
 and the glory — that were now his. While the services con- 
 tinued, and as the procession moved from the church to the 
 cemetery, places of business were generally closed, and the 
 entire community seemed to yield to the sad truth, that their 
 friend and townsman had for ever passed from the midst of 
 them. When the body had been placed in the tomb, — its 
 temporary resting-place till spring, — the Rev. Dr. S. F. 
 
8o In Memoriam. 
 
 Smith offered up pra3^er. The snow had gentl}^ fallen during 
 the day; but while the prayer was going up the clouds parted, 
 and some few rays from the sun, now nearly set, struggled 
 into the gloom of the winter day, reminding us that " light 
 is sown for the righteous " even in the midst of death. 
 
 On Sunday, Feb. 28, the Rev. Dr. Bosworth preached a 
 commemorative discourse, from Heb. xi. 4: "And by it he 
 being dead yQ\. speaketh;" — a clear and eloquent presenta- 
 tion of the ivitnessing life as illustrated in Mr. Duncan. It 
 is not included in this Memorial, only because it has been 
 already published and widel}' circulated. 
 
 ~ The letters and the action of various bodies, embraced in 
 the previous pages, indicate the aifection and respect in 
 which Mr. Duncan was held by his fellow-men. While his 
 family have no need of such expressions to justify their own 
 sense of him, they are tenderly grateful for the assurance 
 that their love and veneration are so largely shared by others. 
 They serve to strengthen the hope that they ma}^, in some 
 measure, perpetuate in themselves something of the influence 
 of his faithful life. They are gathered here in a permanent 
 form for this end. 
 
 May the God of the father be with the children, and with 
 the children's children, to the end ! 
 
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