people, in all serving seven years. He discharged the difficult and delicate duties of a prosecuting officer in an able and satisfactory manner.
He was a delegate-at-large to the National Republican Convention at Cincinnati in 1876, and represented the New Hampshire delegation on the Committee on Resolutions.
At the Republican State Convention in 1878, Mr. Burns presided and delivered one of his strong and characteristic speeches which created a deep impression throughout the State. It was everywhere commended as an able and forcible presentation of the issues of the hour. In 1879 he was appointed judge advocate-general, with the rank of brigadier-general, on the staff of Governor Head. In February, 1881, he was appointed United States district attorney for New Hampshire, and in February, 1885, he was reappointed, carrying to the performance of the duties of that office the same zeal and fidelity displayed in all his professional labors.
In the exciting senatorial contest of 1883, Mr. Burns was the recipient of testimonials of the highest respect and confidence from party leaders throughout the State; and the enthusiasm with which his name was greeted, and the ardent support accorded by his many friends, was very flattering, especially as he had not entered the field as a candidate.
Mr. Burns is a man of scholarly tastes and habits. He has a fine law library, one of the best in the State, and a choice and valuable collection of miscellaneous books. He is a member of the New Hampshire Historical Society, and the New England Historical and Genealogical Society. In 1874 he received from Dartmouth College the honorary degree of A.M. In Masonic circles Mr. Burns is very prominent, having taken thirty-two degrees in that order.
Mr. Burns was united in marriage, January 19, 1856, his twenty-first birthday, with Sarah N. Mills, of Milford. They have been the parents of eight children, four of whom are living. Their oldest son, Arthur H. Burns, a young man of fine character and great promise, died at the early age of twenty,—a serious loss to his parents and to the community in which he lived. He was universally loved and respected. Mr. Burns has a fine homestead in Wilton, in which and all its surroundings he very properly takes great pride and pleasure. To his wife, his family, and his home he is very loyally and devotedly attached.
In Mr. Burns are developed many traits of character which have distinguished the two races from which he traces his descent. He is conscientious and firm in his allegiance to a principle. His political faith is not a garment to be donned at pleasure, but a part of his being. He is frank and hospitable. The occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his marriage was celebrated at his home in Wilton by the presence of a large concourse of friends and guests, who expressed their appreciation of their host by many appropriate presents.
Mr. Burns is sincere in his friendship and loyal to his friends. Their trust in him is never misplaced. As a consequence he has many warm personal friends. He is genial and affable. The portrait accompanying this sketch was engraved from a photograph taken on his fiftieth birthday.
