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theless, originated several important measures, and not unfrequently engaged in debate. Those of his speeches which are preserved exhibit that clearness of perception and language, that various but unostentatious learning, that simplicity, dignity and patriotism, which were characteristic of him. His views of public questions were expressed with firmness but without asperity; he discussed, in a masterly manner, all those topics connected with a true construction of the constitution, and the extent and limitations of power assigned to the members of the confederacy and to the different departments of the government, which grew out of the controversy in South Carolina; the reputation which he had acquired in Congress so long before, and that which had been added to it by his eminent labours in a different sphere, suffered no diminution, but gained additional lustre by this return to a legislative career.

In the spring of 1831 the Department of State became vacant by the resignation of Mr. Van Buren. Mr. Livingston, who had retired a few months before, at the close of the session of Congress, to an estate which he possessed on the Hudson river, in the neighbourhood of his birth place, was summoned by General Jackson to fill that elevated post. Totally unprepared for such an event, he hesitated for some time to accept it; with the modesty and simplicity which marked his character, he distrusted his abilities adequately to discharge its duties; and it was not without difficulty that the President obtained the services of one whose devotion to his country he had himself witnessed in far different scenes, and whose talents and virtues had received the approbation of his countrymen so often and in so many ways. Eminent as have been the men who have filled the post of Secretary of State, few have displayed the same fitness and ability to discharge its duties. His negotiations with foreign nations

were very successful; and the documents connected with them, so far as they have been published, exhibit profound political wisdom and an enlightened spirit. The treaties that he formed are not more beneficial in their commercial stipulations, than they are made consonant, in their international provisions, with the feelings and improvement of the age. The missions which he originated or promoted, have opened new and important fields to American enterprise. The counsels of which, as the chief member of the administration, he was the advocate or adviser, were founded on views of the constitution carefully considered and ably vindicated.

The duties of such a place were, however, more arduous than Mr. Livingston, at his advanced age, was willing to continue long to discharge; and on the reëlection of General Jackson in 1833, he retired from his cabinet. At that time the negotiations with France, arising out of the treaty of 1830, which granted an indemnity to the United States for injuries done to American commerce, during the wars of Napoleon, were in a state of great complexity. This was increased by the excitement which party contests in the French Legislature gave to the subject; and it was evident that the position of affairs demanded such a course on the part of the United States, as should protect their honour and maintain their rights, without allowing any thing not required by these just objects to interfere with or endanger that ancient friendship between the two nations, which had its origin in the struggles of the revolution. For such a service no man in the United States was more eminently fitted than Mr. Livingston. The distinguished public office from which he had just retired, the ability and consistency that had marked his course as a statesman, his sound views in regard to the institutions and policy of his country, made him a representative of American feelings, opinions

and determination, in whom his fellow-citizens had a perfect confidence. The known moderation of his character, his reputation as a jurist, especially on international questions, his long residence in Louisiana, whose inhabitants were connected with France by so many associations, his knowledge, which was more than commonly profound, of the language, literature and history of that country, seemed to assure for him the most friendly reception there; and, as if to add to these circumstances of peculiar fitness for such a post, he had not long before been elected a member of the Institute of France, so that he was already enrolled among a body of distinguished Frenchmen, and connected with them by those ties which spring from mutual labours in the paths of science and of philanthropy, and in the search of wisdom and truth. He was accordingly selected in the summer of 1833, by President Jackson, to fill the post of Minister Plenipotentiary to France; he accepted the appointment, embarked shortly after in the Delaware ship of the line, and arrived at Cherbourg in the month of September. He remained abroad until April, 1835, when he returned to the United States. Although, at the time of his leaving France, the differences between the two countries had not been finally adjusted, and his departure was a step taken in consequence of what he deemed due to the honour of his own country, yet it was shortly afterwards followed by an acquiescence, on the part of the French Government, in the course which, under the instructions of President Jackson, he had firmly but temperately urged. His whole conduct, in circumstances that demanded, at every step, the exercise of an able judgment and an enlightened patriotism, served well to terminate his career as a public servant; and the official documents in which it is exhibited and indicated, must ever be regarded as among the most excellent of his own state

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papers, and will deservedly hold a conspicuous place in the history of our intercourse with foreign nations.

On his arrival in the United States he was hailed with cordial and enthusiastic approbation; not only did he receive, as he merited, the decided and warm approval of his government, but his fellow-citizens united to display in various ways their admiration of a conduct alike manly and patriotic, just and resolute. Public meetings, accompanied with various testimonials of respect, attended his progress to and from Washington; and he had the satisfaction to be assured, in the liveliest and most gratifying manner, that, in a position of unusual difficulty, he had greatly contributed at once to maintain the honour and just pride of his country, to overcome without yielding to the mistaken views of her ancient ally, and to preserve those peaceful relations which every circumstance that could exist in the intercourse of two such nations, made it desirable for them to maintain.

Mr. Livingston did not long survive his return to America. He immediately resumed his residence at his estate on the Hudson river, among his numerous family connexions; and the rest of his life was spent in scenes rendered equally attractive to him by their own natural beauty, and by the associations of his earlier years. He devoted himself with the greatest enjoyment to the pursuits of the country. His farm and his garden, with that social intercourse in which he always loved to indulge, afforded him constant employment; and it was in the midst of such occupations that his life was terminated, by a sudden illness, in the spring of 1836. He had just reached the age of seventy-two.

The private life of Mr. Livingston was a daily exhibition of domestic and social qualities which secure affection and diffuse happi

ness; his temper was serene and his disposition cheerful; his heart was keenly alive to all the impulses of affection and friendship; he could bear misfortune with equanimity, but to the close of life readily participated in the cheerful amusements of society; devotedly fond of study, and having untiring industry and a retentive memory, his mind was richly stored with all the knowledge that literature could impart; fond of scientific investigations, so far as his many engagements permitted him to pursue them, he readily gave his aid to those who engaged in them; actively benevolent, he was unceasing in his endeavours to promote every plan which he deemed conducive to the welfare or improvement of men. In his profession he was eminently distinguished; as an advocate and a lawyer, he stood by general consent in the highest rank; and his labours in those kindred branches of study and reflection, which were required in the preparation of the systems of civil and criminal law which he framed, gave him a reputation and secured to him honours and distinction, in his own and other countries, not surpassed by any of the jurists of his times. Among the statesmen of America, his place was no less eminent; his public speeches present, in every instance, striking views of the questions he discussed, and although the stations of trust to which he was elevated, place his official labours in comparison with some of the most illustrious of his countrymen, this has only served to display more clearly their intrinsic merit, and to secure for them an equal approbation. Recurring, as we must do, on an occasion such as this, to the character and conduct of his life, reflecting on his virtues as a man and his services as a statesman, we cannot indulge in a wish more just, than that those who may be called on to fill the duties of a distinguished public trust, may ever blend with them the same anxious care to promote the welfare and happiness

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