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Memoir of Mrs. Edward Livingston

PREFACE.

The present volume is of such limited proportions that any formal introduction to its contents appears quite uncalled for. The letters and other materials from which it has been derived have found their way altogether, in the natural order of things, into the author's hands, as a relation bound to Mrs. Livingston by the most endearing ties, and often living with her. The work is, however, now given to the public as a humble contribution to the history of a day but just gone by, in the hope that it may prove of some interest even to the most general reader.

L. L. H.

Montgomery Place, Barrytown-on-Hudson, N. Y.

Memoir of Mrs. Edward Livingston MEMOIR OF

Mrs. EDWARD LIVINGSTON.

CHAPTER I.

1782 TO 1805.

The interest which clings to the memory of Mrs. Edward Livingston, notwithstanding the lapse of years, is due not only to the history of her early life, which was checkered and deeply colored with romance, but to the fact that Mr. Livingston's relations to public affairs brought her into contact with the most remarkable persons of the day, both in Washington and elsewhere, where she was most conspicuous for her personal beauty and intellect. She possessed what the French call l'art de narrer; the most trifling events related by her were told with such force and felicity that the effect upon her hearers was often startling, and her language had at times the magic of eloquence as she warmed with her theme.

Mrs. Livingston was of direct French descent. Her family name of D'Avezac is ancient. The monastic charters of the tenth century mention the name of Guillaume d'Avezac, Seigneur of Avezac, who took part in the foundation of a monastery situated on the borders of Gascony and Beam. When France was cut up into Departments, Avezac was included in the Department of the Hautes - Pyrénées, in that part which is commonly called "les Baronies." The Chateau d'Avezac was perched on the summit of a high hill, at whose base stood the village of the name. There is now only a ruin left, which is noted on Cassini's map, and is to be found a short distance from the Barthe-de-Nestes, several leagues to the east of Bagnères-de-Bigorre. A younger branch of the family of D'Avezac was established at Tarbes, and owned the Seigneurie de Castera, as well as certain ecclesiastical benefices. These were intended for the younger son, but he felt no vocation for the Church. On his return from Paris, where he had been studying at the Sorbonne, as he passed through Bordeaux he saw a ship about to sail for the West Indies. Without a moment's hesitation he determined to quit France and to join an uncle who was already a colonist. He accordingly embarked for Martinique, and thence went to St. Domingo, where his uncle had settled. He was entirely without means, and might have said, with the shipwrecked poet, "Omnia mea mecum porto."

St. Domingo is by far the most beautiful of the lovely islands in our Southern waters. Its original name of Hayti, in the Caribbean tongue, signifies a land of mountains. Three ridges of high mountains stand above the sea, running from one end of the island to the other, forming lofty precipices and promontories,with commanding bays. There is beautiful scenery in the wild mountain passes and romantic glens; between the mountains lie fertile valleys. Rice grew in the broad savannas, and there were plantations of coffee, sugar, cotton, and indigo. The negroes lived on manioc chiefly, bananas and yams.

St. Domingo is nearly equal in extent to Ireland, and is three hundred and ninety miles in length and one hundred miles in breadth, comprising in all about twenty thousand square miles. At the time when Jean Pierre Valentin d'Avezac de Castera landed there, the whole inhabitants of the islands were divided into French and Spanish colonists. D'Avezac naturally fraternized with the French at Cayes, their capital. He soon made his way, giving proofs of more than ordinary capacity, and held successively military and civil offices of importance under the colonial government. He finally amassed fortune, and became possessor of lands of extent and value, and which he made productive by his knowledge of engineering. He constructed a canal with his own slaves through the beautiful valley of the Fond. He had to contend with many difficulties, but they were settled to his credit by the Prince de Rohan, the governor-general. In 1752 D'Avezac married Marie Therese de Linois, sister of the vice-admiral of that name. By her he had five children, of whom the second son, also Jean Pierre Valentin d'Avezac de Castera, was the father of Mrs. Livingston. He married his kinswoman, Marie Rose Valentine de Maragon, D'Avezac de Castera, in order to preserve in the family the then vast fortune of the D'Avezacs.

Jean Pierre (the son) was chosen in 1791 one of the deputies elected by the planters of St. Domingo to the General Assembly of St. Marc, which had for its object to resist the spreading of the revolutionary spirit of France in the colonies. Eighty-five delegates were sent to France. They were received with enthusiasm at Brest, but at Paris the National Assembly treated them as aristocrats and favored their fanatical opponents. Returning, they tried what they could accomplish at home with the Colonial Assembly, but the insurrections of the mulattoes received encouragement from the Jacobin rulers of France, and the planters were sacrificed. D'Avezac's two eldest sons were killed, and his brother shot and made prisoner. He then sought refuge in exile, and died at Norfolk, Virginia, of yellow fever, broken-hearted by the ruin of the once flourishing colony. He left four children, of whom the eldest son, Auguste, was afterwards known as Major Davezac.* Of his

* The American members of the family gave up Early Brightness. 13

two daughters, Louise, the elder, who was afterwards married to Edward Livingston, was two years younger than her brother. Her mind developed at an extraordinarily early age. She had learned to read nobody knew how. Her father had collected a large library, of which the child had the range. One day while her mother was at her toilettable having her hair dressed and powdered, as was then the fashion, the little girl took up a gilt pomatum jar and read aloud the label on it. Her father, who just then had come in the room, was amazed to find that Louise had taught herself to read. It was fortunate that inclination led her to choose what was good, for no one guided her reading. She delighted especially in the classics, in story and in verse; everything was devoured and remembered through life, for she never forgot what she had acquired in that plantation library. Auguste shared these tastes. Plutarch's heroes were the objects of their childish enthusiasm; whenever one of the two was consigned by their mother to the dark closet, the other would crouch at the door before the chatière (an opening under doors for the cats to pass in and out) with a Virgil, a Tasso, a Racine, or some other book equally above their years, and read aloud the magic pages to charm away the solitude of the captive within. The same spirit pervaded their play; they would act scenes improvised from the Iliad, the Æneid, or the Jerusalem Delivered, the little girl being by turns Andromache, Dido, or Clorinda. She shared in her brothers' lessons with a tutor until they were prepared for and sent off each in turn to the College of Sorèze, in France, according to the custom of the island. Louise was then Home Life. 15

left to finish her education by herself, and to cultivate a love of nature in the midst of St. Domingo's most beautiful scenery. Her father's estate was situated in a lovely valley not far from the town of Cayes, which gave its name to the entire district. St. Domingo is not troubled by the hurricanes which lay waste the other islands of the West India group, and the tropical vegetation is undisturbed in its luxuriance and beauty all the year round. The D'Avezac house was built of marble, and stood on the highest of a succession of terraces which went down to the water's edge. A large veranda surrounded the sides, built around a square court or garden, shaded by stately palms. Delicious sea-breezes blew in freely through the commodious apartments. Marble steps led from terrace to terrace, and on these steps the family, sat in the evening, bareheaded. enjoying the view out upon the sea, and here they were often joined by their friends and neighbors. This establishment differed from the primitive simplicity in which most of the planters lived, because taste directed the expenditure of the vast fortune of the owners, and nearly everything in the house was imported from France at great cost.

The inland side of the house and view were a striking contrast to that just described. The eye wandered down long rows of the cocoa-palm, which formed the avenue of entrance to the estate. To the right, in separate one-storied houses, were the kitchen and offices, the wash - room, store-rooms, and servants' rooms—quite a small village of houses together; then came a hedge of dwarf bananas, which partially concealed the slaves' quarters — a large village with a street down the middle, where the field-hands lived. These were eight hundred in number. The D'AveEarly Wanderings. 17

zacs were what is called " des negrophiles;" they were kindness itself to their slaves, justifying the old saying in ancestral Gascony, whence the family came in France: "D'Avezac bon comme du bon pain." Each child, according to custom, had given it at birth a little black attendant, who never quitted his or her little master or mistress. Major Davezac often spoke affectionately of his black boy given him by his father, and just his age. If Auguste was reproved at home, the little, faithful creature would say to him, "Yo pa aimain nous ot,"* and go off with him to some remote place, where he would divert his young master's sorrows.

At the age of thirteen, Louise was married to a French officer, Mr. Moreau de Lassy, who had left the army and purchased estates in Jamaica, where he took her to reside. Her devoted old black nurse accompanied her. In three years her husband died, Madame Moreau's three children died infants, and the young widow returned to her father's house with the old nurse.

*" They don't like us."

The horrible tragedy of servile revolt in St. Domingo soon followed, and her father's departure for Norfolk after the massacre of his two eldest sons. Madame Moreau went with some friends to New York, where they remained but a short time, as she determined to return to St. Domingo, where her mother, clinging to the hope of better days, had remained, believing she could so best serve the interests of the family. But Madame Moreau's family did not deem it safe for one so young and beautiful to continue to expose herself to the perils of the obstinate and cruel insurrection, and she was induced to accompany her aged grandmother, Madame de Linois, with little Exile. 19

Aglae, an aunt, and two cousins, in their proposed flight from St. Domingo. Time and again, in after-years, her friends gathered about her to listen to her animated account of this episode of her early life. From the lovely but tempest-beaten shores of the island a British frigate could be seen hovering near to offer means of escape. A time was fixed on for the fugitives to go on board, and in the dead of night they made their way through the dense tropical forest where they had been concealed, waiting with breathless anxiety for the ship's boat which was to be sent to the shore to meet them. The night seemed endless. At daybreak they could detect footsteps approaching by the crackling of the dry twigs. In their terror they thought themselves pursued by the blood-thirsty insurgents, and drew closer and closer together to receive the fatal blows. A dog now bounded upon them in an ecstasy of joy, then the branches were cautiously parted, and they heard the well-known voice of a faithful slave saying, in the patois of the island negroes, "Maitresse koté vous y es? Pa peur, cé pésonne ke moin, ka pé porté vous ot ki choz pon mangé. Bateau la pa vini avant a soi."* They thankfully partook of the food brought by this devoted creature, and waited through the long, weary day until night once more crept over the island. A small boat could just be discerned starting from the frigate; it soon reached the shore; they all got in, and the sailors pulled swiftly for the ship. Just then a party of negroes came in sight. Maddened at the escape of their prey, they fired a volley, which killed the aged grandmother, who held little Aglaé in her arms. The child, New Orleans. 21

* "Mistress, where are you? Don't be afraid, it's nobody but me bringing you something to eat. The boat will not come before morning."

bespattered with blood, was providentially uninjured, but the devoted slave who had aided in their escape lay lifeless beside his old mistress. The survivors of the little party reached the English frigate and sailed for Jamaica, where they re-embarked on board a schooner for New Orleans. This was only the beginning of their troubles. The schooner was so small and crowded that the passengers lay in heaps upon the deck. It was impossible to move. A contagious fever broke out, of which several persons died. The voyage, which should have been short, was prolonged by adverse winds and storms. At last they reached New Orleans, where they arrived at an eventful moment.

New Orleans was in a state of transition. At the beginning of the year 1803 Louisiana was still in the hands of Spain, although Spain, in point of fact, by the treaty of Ildefonso of October i, 1800, had entered into a conditional agreement to retrocede the province to the French, and this retrocession had actually taken place in March, 1801. The people, French at heart, were overjoyed at the prospect of their reunion to France, which they had never ceased to desire during the thirty-four years of Spanish rule. But suddenly a vessel from Bordeaux brought the news of the sale of the province by Bonaparte to the United States. Robert R. Livingston, Minister of the United States to France from the beginning of the administration of President Jefferson, had at last obtained the French consent for the transfer of Louisiana to the United States, as the result of his skilful and indefatigable efforts. Mr. Monroe arrived in Paris with extraordinary powers to find the negotiation virtually ended, but joined in that part of it which fixed the price of the territory, and shared in the honor of concluding and signing the treaty. The Cession, 23

On the 30th of November the Spanish colors were displayed from the flag-staff in the Place d'Armes, now called Jackson Square; the commissioners of France and Spain appeared on the balcony of the City Hall, in front of the square, and the French commissioner, Laussat, received the keys of the city, and the representatives of his Catholic majesty proclaimed to the multitude that they were absolved from their allegiance. The French possession lasted, however, only a few days. On the 2Oth of December the tri-colored flag of the French Republic was displayed at sunrise for the last time. At noon of the same day the American commissioners appointed by Congress, Governor Claiborne and General Wilkinson, at the head of their forces, entered the city and proceeded to the City Hall, where the French had already substituted a municipality to replace the Cabildo, or Council, instituted under the laws of Spain. Laussat, the French commissioner, now gave up final possession of the keys to the Americans, and the French flag was replaced by the stars and stripes. A group of American citizens—at that time but a hundred and twenty in number—stood on the corner of the square and waved their hats in token of respect for their national symbol.

No approval was manifested by any other part of the spectators. Indeed, the people of New Orleans were dissatisfied that strangers to their laws and manners as well as language had been sent to rule over them. They complained that the governor was surrounded by new-comers, to whom he gave a preference over the Creoles in the distribution of offices, and were displeased at the indefinite period proposed for their admission into the Union. The population was motley; the old inhabitants, set in their ideas, could not be reconciled Creole Staunchness. 25

to the change. Prejudices, amounting almost to superstition, made them regret the past and dislike innovation. Everything untoward was attributed to the mismanagement of the Americans. This bias was carried so far that, the story goes, when a public ball was interrupted by a sudden earthquake, the ire of a gallant old Creole gentleman was roused, and he was heard to say: "Ce n'était pas du temps des Espagnols et des Français que le plaisir des dames était ainsi troublé."*

In other words, the Americans were unpopular and misunderstood.

As Creoles from the West Indies, the D'Avezac family met with the kindest welcome to Louisiana. Their courage under adversity excited admiration and sympathy on all sides. Madame Moreau and her little sister lived in a small and humble dwelling, such as are still to be seen in the old French and Spanish streets of New Orleans. Several devoted slaves had followed their broken fortunes. They had also brought with them many jewels of value, the sale of which enabled them to subsist for two years without labor; but the time came when the younger members had to work to take care of the older. Mrs. Livingston always spoke of this period with unalloyed pleasure. She said she had never been as happy or light-hearted. After sewing all day she would make her simple toilet, and, full of youthful spirits, pass the evening in the midst of such social enjoyment as the place afforded her and her cousins.

* " It was not in the Spanish times or the French that the amusements of the ladies were interfered with."

The society of New Orleans at that period assembled weekly, without ostentation or extravagance, for amusement and dancCreole Society. 27

ing. These balls, though called public, were in reality not so; the whole company knew each other, admitting only their own circle of friends. Besides, New Orleans was at best but a small town, containing immediately after the cession fourteen thousand inhabitants.

At the balls, orange-flower sirup and eau sucrée were the only refreshments. Carriages were unknown in these primitive days; ladies walked to balls in their satin slippers, preceded by slaves carrying lanterns, while watchmen sang out the hours of the night. When it rained or the weather was bad, the ball could not take place. This was announced by a crier through the streets, to the sound of a drum—a sign understood by all to mean that the ball was postponed until the next fair evening.

It was at one of these simple entertainments that Madame Moreau first met Edward Livingston. After many vicissitudes in the North, Mr. Livingston had come to try his fortunes in New Orleans, considerably past that time of life when men are moved by the spirit of adventure to quit familiar associations and habits. New Orleans was then considered the rising commercial city of the South, where talent and enterprise would have freer scope than in any more settled community, and no sooner was the cession accomplished than the tide of emigration poured in from the Northern States. Mr. Livingston found himself in the midst of a community entirely different from any he had ever seen: laws that were different, a religion foreign to his education, and strange manners and customs. It was not at all uncommon at that time to see the host carried processionally through the streets of New Orleans, as in the towns of Spain and Italy, the principal citizens acting as a guard of honor. Spanish and French were the languages Edward Livingston. 29

of the place. The records of the court were kept in English, but it was necessary to translate the pleadings into French or Spanish in order to make them intelligible to the jury. Each advocate used his native tongue, and sometimes one language followed the other in hopeless confusion.

Mr. Livingston at once became conspicuous at the New Orleans Bar, which has from that time to the present produced a surprising array of men of mark. Moreau, Lislet, and Brown and Livingston and Mazureau and Derbigny and Workman and Duncan explored the sources of the Roman and Spanish and French laws at that early period. Ready money was rarely to be had in those days for the services of an advocate, but liberal payments in lands were made instead, and in this way Mr. Livingston acquired title to real estate afterwards of value to his family. But his circumstances were not without pressing cares and anxiety, and the harassments which followed him to New Orleans weighed heavily upon his mind. Nevertheless, his amiable disposition and adaptiveness enabled him to find happiness in his lot. A letter to his sister, Mrs. Garrettson, dated May 27, 1804, contains the following interesting description of New Orleans, and of his own feelings the year after his arrival there: "My profession and other circumstances have given me a very extensive acquaintance in the province, and the impressions I have received are very favorable to the character of the inhabitants. They are, in general, hospitable, honest, and polite, with excellent natural abilities, and, in short, people with whom a man who had nothing to regret might pass his life as happily as can be expected in any part of this uncertain world. . . ."

Mr. Livingston was a widower, and had left his son and daughter with his relations Marries Madame Moreau. 31

on the banks of the Hudson, afraid to remove them, while still so young and delicate, to a region infested with yellow-fever, and looked upon as undesirable in climate.

Mr. Livingston was thirty-nine years of age, Madame Moreau nineteen. They became interested in each other at first sight. It was fortunate that he understood French, for she could not speak a word of English. He soon discovered that beauty and grace were not the only gifts which nature had showered on the young widow. She at once appreciated the intellect and goodness which characterized Mr. Livingston.

They were married on the 3d of June, 1805. One of Madame Moreau's young cousins was married on the same night to Edgard Montégut, a nephew of the Spanish marquis de Casa Calvo. The two marriages were celebrated in the chapel of the old Ursuline Convent on Condé Street,now the archiepiscopal residence, and one of the oldest buildings in Louisiana. The marriage took place at midnight, with only a few friends present, owing to the recent death of Madame Moreau's aunt. The place, the hour, and the circumstances were solemn. The altar shone with tall-lighted candles; the windows of the chapel were thrown wide open, to admit the soft breezes laden with the perfume of June flowers; behind the grating were heard the sweet chants of the unseen cloistered Ursulines. The brides were both young and beautiful, one surpassingly so. No one who ever saw Mrs. Livingston could forget her. The abbé — later Bishop de 1'Espinasse—who performed the ceremony delivered a touching and eloquent address, in which he dwelt upon the vicissitudes through which the refugees had passed, and upon the haven of rest they had now found.

Memoir of Mrs. Edward Livingston The Family Circle. 33

CHAPTER II.

l8oj TO 1822.

Two months after his marriage Mr. Livingston wrote to his sister, Mrs. Tillotson: "I have now indeed again a home, and a wife who gives it all the charms that talents, good temper, and affection can afford."

Madame Davezac de Castera, Mrs. Livingston's mother, had joined her in New Orleans; her little sister Aglaé already resided with her, and her brother Auguste; her uncle, Jules Davezac, who had also left St. Domingo, was also an inmate of her house. Uncommon sympathy existed between Mr. Livingston and his wife's family. In him the exiles found a tender friend and devoted benefactor. The domestic circle was charming. In summer literary talks

and readings enlivened the breakfast-table, set out on the ground-floor of the broad piazza., shaded by orange and fig trees which bore abundant fruit for the family. A large dish of figs was picked fresh for every meal. Every Creole yard in those days had its fig-tree, which sufficed the family; those who had none bought from the "marchandes," or negro venders, who went about the street with large waiters on their heads filled with plates, and each plate with figs, the marchandes crying out, "Belles des figues! belles des figues!"

And there were other marchandes who sold various dainties, each cried in the patois. Some sold "calas," a breakfast cake to eat with coffee, much liked in Louisiana; their cry was, "Belles calas tout chauds!" Others sold preserves freshly made, and cried out, "Confitures figues!" "Confitures coco!" or "Pralines pistache! pralines pacanes!" which were sugar-cakes Zabette Philosophe. . 35

filled with nuts. Others, again, carried about ice-cream freezers, and cried, "Crême à la glace! crême à la vanille!"

These cries were gladly heard, and the marchandes took a great deal of money, which, as they were slaves, was carried home to their owners regularly in the evening and the day's sales accounted for.

A very different person was the free and independent marchande, Zabette Philosophe. Her surname of "Philosophe" had been given her by Major Davezac. She was to be seen every morning stationed with her basket in the shade of the old cathedral, where she sold pralines (cakes made of nuts and sugar), and also shelled pecan-nuts. Zabette was very black, with teeth of dazzling whiteness. Her countenance was intelligent, with merry, twinkling, searching black eyes. She was extremely neat in her appearance, and wore a striking Madras head-gear. At midday, to avoid the scorching sun, she would retire to the arcades of the adjoining courthouse, where the judges and members of the Bar might be observed stopping on their way to court to exchange a few words with her. Her station in the evening was at the entrance-gate of the Place d'Armes, opposite the cathedral, where she always had something entertaining to say to her favorites, and scanned with a critical eye the passers-by on the promenade. Everybody knew Zabette Philosophe, and she knew everybody. Emancipated by her mistress, the widow of an officer under Bienville, who founded the city of New Orleans, she had been subsequently in the service of Madame Laussat, the wife of the French commissioner. Zabette Philosophe could neither read nor write, but she spoke very pure French from early association. She was shrewd, witty, sarcastic, and original in her opinions, and deserved her sur- Mr. Jules Davezac. 37

name; her philosophy was cheerful and healthful. She attained great longevity, and died at the age of one hundred years. Mr. Jules Davezac, who was president of the first college in New Orleans* (for the primary schools of the Jesuits were broken up, and the Jesuits expelled in 1763), had a fine taste for poetry. Sometimes he would bring to the breakfast-table a canto of his translation of " Marmion " into French, and read it aloud for Mr. Livingston to judge of its merits, he holding the original for comparison. This translation was afterwards sent to Sir Walter Scott, who wrote to Mr. Davezac how he was "pleased with the muse that had repeated his verses in another hemisphere." Mr. Jules Davezac's knowledge of English was so thorough that Mr. Livingston selected him as the person he knew of best fitted to translate his Penal Code, and it is to this version that the Code owes its European fame. Strange to say, Mr. Davezac could neither speak English nor understand it when spoken by others.

* "The College of Orleans was then under the direction of Jules Davezac, a highly-polished gentleman of the old school, and a native of St. Domingo. It is difficult to determine which predominated in him, the gentleman or the scholar. There was a happy combination of both. I even now, after the lapse of so many years, delight in the remembrance of his affectionate accents, and the expression of genial benevolence which overspread his countenance whenever he addressed any one of his youthful subordinates."—

To return to the breakfast-table—Major Davezac's wit and table-talk are still remembered by many; he would tell anecdote after anecdote with infinite zest. Agreeable friends with literary tastes dropped in; conversation grew more and more animated, and fairly sparkled, full of thought and of wit and humor. Mrs. Livingston, the presiding genius, had the subtle power of drawing out her unconcious guests and making them appear to advantage.

In the evening the balcony was the reception-room, the salon en plein air in warm weather. It became the resort of every notable stranger who visited New Orleans; scarcely any Frenchman arrived without bringing letters from General Lafayette to his friend Livingston. The Lefevre-Desnouettes, the Lallemands, the La Kanals, and a host of others, enjoyed the easy hospitality of the Chartres Street house. At that time Mrs. Livingston was singularly striking, slender, delicate, and wonderfully graceful—a hostess like those who were the boast of France. She possessed all the qualities required to stimulate as well as to make her appreciate her husband. Her interest in his cases was intense as her ardent nature; he was always met, on his return from the courts, by her at the street door, even when detained until midnight, and she would fly to learn the results of a trial the merits of which had been previously discussed with her. When the cause was a criminal one, and Mr. Livingston had been unable to save the life of the client he believed innocent, she wept bitterly over the unfortunate being doomed to death. Deeply imbued with her husband's antipathy to capital punishment, she could not be consoled, and would be days recovering from her disappointment. On his part, such was his opinion of her literary judgment and correct taste that he was not satisfied with any composition which had not her approval. She laughingly compared herself with Moliere's cook, upon whom the dramatist tried the effect of his plays; but Mrs. Livingston's was far from the part of a mere listener, and her freely expressed criticisms were often acted on. She advanced rapidly in her knowledge of English. Not so Madame Davezac de Castera. The inveterate habits of a lifetime kept the old lady from using one word of English.

In 1806, the year of the great eclipse, their daughter and only child was born. Mr. Livingston wrote a letter to one of his sisters on this occasion, in which he playfully said that God had given him so fair a daughter that the sun had hid his head. She was named Coralie, but afterwards called simply Cora. From the hour of her birth she was the darling of all; the gentleness of her disposition and the tenderness of her heart endeared her each year more and more to the family circle. As soon as she became old enough, she was her father's favorite companion in his walks along the levee. She was her uncle Major Davezac's pupil from the time she could read, and he taught her to love history and poetry, and later Latin. Boxes of her youthful translations still exist. She was the idol of her mother, who could not bear her out of her sight. Early in the evening, when the hour came to put the little girl to bed, she, so gay and admired, would leave everything and everybody to go with her child; she would get under the mosquito-bar, and make the little girl get on her knees and hear her herself say her prayers, and kiss her good-night, and return to the company.

Occasionally Cora would beg to be allowed to visit her cousins on a neighboring plantation. During her absence her mother would write every day to the little girl by special messengers. Of such letters the following, preserved by her daughter through life to its close, give an insight into the mother's heart:

"Wednesday, 5th January.

"Your letter, my dear daughter, was most welcome; I was anxious for news of you, and of the four days which have gone by since your departure, which have seemed very long to me. Everybody wonders that I could part from you, as they know my tender love for you; but they do not know that it is out of the very depth of that love that I prefer your pleasure to my own happiness.

"What is my little girl doing? I ask myself all day long. At what hour do you go fishing, and are you sure to wear your sunbonnet? Remember, my darling, to be prudent and take care of yourself for the sake of your devoted mother who longs to see you again. L. L."

Here is another of about the same date:

"Amuse yourself, my darling, to compensate me for the sacrifice of separation from you. Yet in all your amusements, even the most harmless, be moderate. It is the only way to make your pleasures lasting, and that they should not be followed by bitter regret. You are inclined to the opposite fault, and this advice from your mother will be more necessary for you than for another. "My thoughts follow you at every step when you are away from me. I do not close my eyes without commending you to the care of Him who watches over us all; I ask Him to bless my child and to teach her to know Him, and to live in the fear of His holy name. Farewell, my own dear daughter. Your father sends you a kiss. Everybody here loves you and thinks of you. Your devoted mother,

"L. L."

Cora was extremely sensitive and easily wounded. "Be sure," wrote Mr. Livingston to his son, Lewis Livingston, who was absent in France with his aunt, Mrs. Armstrong, wife of General Armstrong, then United States Minister to Paris—" be sure that you answer your little sister's letter, or you will hurt her feelings."

The Louisianians. 45

As has been said, Mr. Livingston found himself in scenes altogether new. The word Creole in French, or Criollo in Spanish, originally meant a child born of European parents in the colonial possessions of France and Spain. It soon assumed a very wide signification, and was applied to all that was born, created, manufactured, or produced, whether animate or inanimate objects; for instance, Creole negroes, Creole cattle, Creole horses, Creole sugar-cane, Creole eggs, Creole chickens, etc., in either the West Indies or Louisiana.*

The word Creole is now used to designate the descendants of the ancient French and Spanish population in Louisiana. At the time of the cession the population consisted chiefly of Creoles, and the only society of New Orleans was Creole, in the midst of which Mr. Livingston found

* Gayarré

himself domiciled.* Slavery gave its peculiar coloring to the customs and manners. The climate also had its effect on buildings and on everything like out - door life—outdoor and yet in - door, one being part of the other. The dining-rooms of most New Orleans houses were on the ground-floor, with windows cut down to the street; every passer-by could look in. The family usually assembled in patriarchal numbers around a long and broad table. This was served by three or four colored women in calico gowns, with gay Madras head - handkerchiefs tied in most artistic fashion about their heads, looking like fans on one side, and held up by high combs with very great effect,—African taste and Parisian as well. Large ear-rings completed the costume. A negro butler stood at a side-table and Milor's Pattie. 47

* "The Creoles are very proud of their origin; they consider themselves the Knickerbockers of Louisiana."—Gayarré.

carved. Above the table, in the centre of the dining-room, a large fan was suspended, kept in motion by two half-grown black boys. Highly seasoned Creole dishes, beginning with gumbo, perhaps, began the dinner. Everybody dined at three o'clock. Mrs. Livingston's chefwas a negro named "Milor." His wife, a house-maid, was a real African, coal black, with hideous thick lips and broad, flat nose—looking half savage, and of a savage temper. Her name was "Pattie." She was horribly jealous of Milor, and sometimes shrieks would rend the air. Mr. Livingston, unused to such sounds, would send to inquire what was the matter. "Cé a rien," would be the answer from some of the other servants; "c'est Pattie ka pé bat Milor."* Pattie's costume was also a trial to her good-natured master. It consisted of four head-handkerchiefs, two tied on the shoulder to form a sort of waist, and two others on the hips to make the skirt. Mr. Livingston remonstrated. "My dear," he said to Mrs. Livingston, in the most amiable voice, " can't you make that woman put on a dress?"

* "It is nothing—only Pattie beating Milor."

About this time a friend had presented Mr. Livingston with a pink flamingo. The bird was tall and gawky, and very cross. It was the duty of a little negro boy to feed him in the yard where he was kept. The flamingo bit the unfortunate boy, and made his life a torment. At last the boy mustered courage to go to Mr. Livingston and to complain of his charge. "Why, what is the matter ?" said Mr. Livingston. "Mo pa oule' ét valet zozo,"* said the boy. Convulsed with laughter, Mr. Livingston good-naturedly gave away the flamingo.

A peculiarity ,of the Creole establish

* " I don't want to be the valet of a bird."

Northern Visit. 49

ment of those days was the license given to the negro infants, small children of the house-servants, born in the house, who were to be seen at every hour crawling over the floor on all-fours, with their little colored slips tied tight in a knot behind, all the little legs bare, and the members of the family tripping over them, not in the least put out by their presence. No one objected; they were accustomed to them. Every now and then some one would say, in the mildest way, motioning them to the door, if company came, "Couri! couri* and nothing further, merely to get them a little out of the way.

Mrs. Livingston's first visit to her husband's family at the North was in 1809. Mrs. John R. Livingston died at that time, and Mrs. Edward Livingston remained away from her husband, with her little girl, for an entire year, in charge of her sister-in-law's numerous family. Mr. Livingston's daughter by his first wife was among them; she had been brought up by Mrs. John R.Livingston,who was also her mother's sister. At the end of the year Mrs. Livingston returned to New Orleans. Her own sister, Aglaé Daveza'c, had meanwhile grown up in the convent. She was not handsome, but had a beautiful figure, hands and arms. She was more vivacious than Mrs. Livingston, and her letters sparkle with wit, yet she had become very fond of the nuns, and wished to become one herself. Her sister urged her to come out and see something of the world before taking the veil. She did so, and while she was with Mrs. Livingston met Mr. Carleton,* General Jackson. 51

* "Run away! run away!"

* Afterwards United States Attorney for the District of Louisiana, vice John Slidell, removed by President Jackson, and later Judge of the Supreme Court of Louisiana.

who was at the time studying law in Mr. Livingston's office. They became attached to each other, and were soon after married.

War with England was declared in 1812. Mr. Livingston had been made chairman of the committee appointed by the citizens of New Orleans to co-operate with the authorities for the defence of the city, and had for some time corresponded with General Jackson, and furnished him with maps and information. On the 2d of December, 1814, at the head of the committee and in company with the governor, he was among the first to welcome Jackson to the city. Their close friendship dated from this moment. Mr. Livingston afterwards served as Jackson's aide-de-camp, military secretary, and confidential adviser on all occasions, and, as was stated by Major Latour to Mr. Duponceau, wrote every order and letter which came from the general during the campaign. On the conclusion of the campaign of 1814-15, Mr. Livingston nominated General Jackson for the Presidency. He said, addressing himself to the hero, "General, you are the man. You must be President of the United States."*

The day of the general's arrival in New Orleans, before he had been seen by any but the committee, Mr. Livingston invited him to dinner. Mrs. Livingston had asked a party of fashionable friends to dine with her, and was somewhat annoyed when she heard of the added guest. She prepared her friends, and all looked with curiosity to the moment when a supposed wild man of the woods—an Indian almost—should present himself. Such were the preconceived ideas of an American general from the far

* The late Henry D. Gilpin, of Philadelphia, who was Attorney - general in the administration of Mr. Van Buren, is my authority for the above episode of this stirring time.

West, in what was still, in manners at least, a French province. Great was, therefore, the surprise when General Jackson entered the room. Erect, composed, perfectly selfpossessed, with martial bearing, the soldier stood before them—one whom nature had stamped a gentleman. Mrs. Livingston saw it at a glance and was satisfied. Dinner was announced, he offered her his arm with simple dignity, and during the dinner conversed most agreeably. He left early in company with Mr. Livingston. "Is this your backwoodsman?" cried Mrs. Livingston's friends—" he is a prince!"

New Orleans presented a very affecting picture of loyalty at that time. The citizens prepared for battle as cheerfully as if it had been for a party of pleasure, the streets resounded with martial airs, and every bosom glowed with feelings of national honor. "Here come the brave Creoles," exclaimed General Jackson at a review of militia. They were no longer French, the past was forgotten in the hour of danger; they were now Americans.

Mr. Livingston's position, and the friendship between himself and General Jackson, caused his house to be sought by all for the latest news. Another circumstance caused it to be considered a place of safety. After the battle of the 23d of December, while escorting a party of prisoners to the hospital, Mr. Livingston observed among them a young officer of interesting appearance, and got permission from General Jackson to take him home, where he was left to the nursing of Mrs. Livingston. The insensible officer was placed in the best room, and every care taken of him. He afterwards declared he never could forget his amazement when he recovered his senses, to find himself, as it were, in an Elysium, with beautiful women waiting on him. His surprise was natural when the circumstances and the position of the British troops before the battle are considered. In the midst of swamps and morasses, harassed by swarms of mosquitoes, they suffered all the trials and discomforts incident to lowlands.

Other prisoners were brought into the city. Some conspiracy, fancied or real, caused General Jackson to issue an order that all of them should be sent back at once to the camp hospital. Major Graves was still in bed, in too critical a condition to be removed without risk. Mrs. Livingston went to General Jackson and asked permission to retain the wounded officer, notwithstanding the order. It was the only return she "desired for the services of her entire family " — her husband, stepson, two brothers, and brother-in-law were all engaged in active service. Her prisoner was the only one allowed to remain.

As the noise of the cannon gave notice of the fighting going on — for the battleground of the 8th was not far distant— crowds of women and children came to the house for safety. Major Graves advised Mrs. Livingston to leave the city at once. Should it be taken, he assured her his presence would be of no avail; it would be impossible to protect them from the conquering army. A report had been circulated that Jackson had given orders to blow up the magazine and set fire to the city in case the British succeeded in forcing his ranks. This rumor kept the inhabitants in painful suspense. They also feared his want of familiarity with the topography of the city and its environs, while the frequent volleys of musketry and artillery reminded them that they were facing British veterans flushed with their victories in Spain. A dread also prevailed of an uprising of the slaves, should the city be taken, with its spread of terror, fire, and slaughter far and wide. All these uncertainties harrowed the minds of the people. The news from the battle-field, however, dispelled their alarms, as well as the accounts of General Jackson's exhibition of the qualities of a great captain. The rout of the enemy was complete, and New Orleans was saved, with an extraordinary small loss of life on the American side.

During the military operations Mrs. Livingston actually visited the plains of Chalmette. Her description will never be forgotten by those who heard her. Taken to the upper part of an old plantation-house which still stands, she witnessed a bold reconnaissance. The party was mounted, and gallantly led by John R. Grymes on a white horse, an easy mark for the enemy. Mr. Grymes was then a man of fashion about town, in the morning of his life. He had come from Virginia to seek fortune in Louisiana. He rose early to distinction, and became one of the most accomplished and extraordinary advocates of the Bar of Louisiana, at a time when Mr. Benjamin, who afterwards dazzled the British public, and led the London Bar, was only one of a number of well-recognized equals.

The fall of Pakenham was followed by the suspension of hostilities, by an armistice solicited by the British to bury the dead and bring off the wounded, and by the failure of the English fleet to pass Fort St. Philip; finally by the retreat of their army.

The following letter from Mrs. Livingston, written to her sister-in-law, Mrs. Montgomery, bearing the date of January 12, 1815, was composed in the excitement of the stirring events just glanced at. The accuracy of the statistics is curious, for they are precisely those given by historical records:

"New Orleans, January 12, 1815.

"My Dear Sister,—Aware of your anxiety to learn our fate, I take up my pen, notwithstanding my agitation, to give you glad tidings. Louisiana is still American. God has granted us a brilliant victory, and has spared the lives of those dear to us.

"On the 8th the enemy attacked our army and advanced to the base of the ramparts, intending to take our lines by assault, but the God of Battles was with us and their defeat complete. We killed eight hundred of the English and took five hundred prisoners, besides having five hundred wounded sent to our hospitals, among whom are twenty-five officers of mark. Their loss is said to be about twenty-five hundred men. They were obliged to solicit an armistice to bury their dead, but sent the request through an inferior officer. General Jackson refused to communicate with them, and it was then that the loss of their two superior officers was discovered; the inferior officers returned a second time, with the rank of generals in command, which they had assumed.

"Indeed, my dear sister, there never was a more glorious victory, nor one that cost less blood. Not a single father of a family was killed, and the joy of the people, thanks be to God, is unalloyed by private sorrow.

"Everybody thinks this battle will end the war, and that the enemy will at once re-embark. Should this prove the case, it is impossible to conceive a more brilliant success for American arms or one more full of disaster for the English. I have in the house one of their officers, badly wounded, and it is not without satisfaction that I have received as a prisoner one who came to conquer.

"Mr. Livingston and Lewis have not quitted the camp since the landing of the enemy.

"I will not dwell on all I have endured during the four different engagements of anxiety and terror. Such feelings cannot be described. The battle-ground is only a league from the city, and I could not only hear the booming of the cannon, as the house shook each time, but every musket could be heard also.

"All I can say, dear sister, is that people do not often die of it, however great the anguish of such hours. I had but one consolation— those I love were where they ought to be. Lewis is on the staff, and Mr. Livingston the general's aide-de-camp and right hand. My two brothers are also at the post of duty. The elder had the honor of receiving public commendation from the general for gallant conduct. Farewell, dear sister.

"Ever yours, affectionately,

"Louise Livingston."

On his return to New Orleans, General Jackson was received with tears of gratitude. In a letter from Lewis Livingston to his aunt, Mrs. Montgomery, dated February 2d, there is a description of the triumphant army as it entered the city, "with their brave, modest leader, General Jackson, at their head, amidst the acclamations of an immense multitude of old men, women, and children, the only ones who did not share in the dangers of the field."

On the 25th of January a solemn service of thanksgiving was celebrated in the Cathedral, exactly one month after the arrival of the enemy at the Villeré plantation.

Shortly after the war, New Orleans was visited by a terrible epidemic of yellowfever, during which Mrs. Livingston, undaunted, went about among the poor to nurse the sick, as one of a society of ladies who united for that purpose.

Mr. Livingston soon purchased a sugar estate, called "Ste. Sophie," not far from where the English had landed, and there several years passed by without events to mark them. Mrs. Livingston devoted herself chiefly to the education of her daughter. At the age of fourteen she was introduced into New Orleans society. From that time Mrs. Livingston assumed the dress of a dowager, and seemed rather displeased than flattered when allusion was made to her still remarkable personal beauty. All self was merged in her daughter. Besides, she was afraid of falling into the weakness so natural among women of concealing their age. On her thirtieth birthday she gave a dinner-party; at the moment all were most gay, she proposed her own health in these words: "Would you drink my health to-day? I am thirty. If I should ever be tempted to forget it, you must remind me of this birthday dinner."

To comprehend that she should so early lay down the sceptre dear to woman's soul, one must bear in mind her West Indian origin, where women are old at thirty, whether they will or no, and have to make the best of it. Her early marriage should also be recalled (at the age of thirteen), the variety of her experience, which probably made heryWold long before her time, and, moreover, the discipline of life telling upon a deep and thoughtful nature after the gayety of early youth had fled.

In 1822 Mr. Livingston had taken his wife and daughter to the North, where they passed the summer at Montgomery Place. On their way they stopped in Kentucky, whence Mrs. Livingston wrote to announce their coming to Mrs. Montgomery, her sister-in-law, who had from the date of her marriage been her faithful correspondent. They had not met since the year Mrs. Livingston had spent at the North, after the death of Mrs. John R. Livingston in 1809.

Northern Journey. 65

"Louisville, Kentucky, 25th April, 1822.

"My Dear Sister,—I suppose you will be surprised to receive a letter of mine dated from Kentucky; Mr. Livingston, however, intended to inform you of it when we left New. Orleans. It is not without reluctance that I have undertaken such a long and fatiguing voyage, but the physicians prescribed travelling for Cora, whose health is not what it might be at her time of life, and her father, for the first time making use of his authority, compelled me to leave him, over-anxious of the health of his now only child, and I yielded. We came through Kentucky, travelling by land in order to be with Mrs. Croghan.* We stay here for a few days and then shall cross the mountains to New York.

"Need I tell you, dear sister, the greatest pleasure I anticipate is of seeing you once more and of being with you? In fact, I know not if I could have had the courage to undertake such a journey without the incentive of meeting you, who were so kind to me when I first came, young and inexperienced, from a distant land, far from my natural home, not even speaking your language. You were just the protecting friend I then needed, and with you I can always indulge my feelings, and to you always open my heart—there is no distance between us. I am also so pleased at the idea of presenting your niece to you. She is not a beauty, not a genius, but a good and affectionate child, who will, I trust, not be found unworthy of the family to which she belongs. I have often regretted the circumstances which have kept her from her nearest connections, and wished for an opportunity to introduce her among them. Now the time has arrived, she is on her way to present herself to her father's family, and though so long away from them, she hopes she will not be received as a stranger. By you, my dear sister, I know she will not. You have given her so many proofs of your affection that she cannot doubt it, and she goes to you with the confidence and love of a daughter.

"Say to all my sisters that I hope they have not forgotten me. I am much altered in appearance, but I return with the same heart—a heart warm with the recollection of their former friendship. Remember me also to all my other friends, whom I greet with tender affection.

"I hope you will write to me in New York, that I may find your letter on arriving there.

"Your affectionate

"Louise Livingston."

This testimony to the terrors of " a voyage from New Orleans to New York via Kentucky, sixty years since," is valuable. The following letter was also written to Mrs. Montgomery. It is dated May 19, 1823, and shows the condition of New Orleans just then, and the trials through which they passed.

"My Dear Sister,—This is the time when I fully expected to be busy in preparations to go to you and pass another delightful summer among our friends of the North River. But it seems decreed that no such project of ours can be realized. The state of affairs here is such that no property of any kind can be disposed of, at no matter how low a price, and Mr. Livingston must sell his before he can leave this place. The place is almost in a state of bankruptcy. Usurers are now the only people who are not starving. They have in their power not only the traders, but all the planters and almost every member of the community. It is calculated that before two years more all the property in the State will have passed into the hands of about one hundred individuals. The Legislature tried to apply a remedy to this evil, but was prevented by the governor's vetoing the proposed measures for reform. This veto has destroyed his popularity, which is poor comfort for the ruined country. Mr. Livingston watches for the first opportunity that may present itself to sell, and we hope in the course of the summer some changes may take place that will enable him to sell and to meet his present difficulties. These pecuniary embarrassments do not lessen his exertions for the completion of the Criminal Code; he works incessantly, goes nowhere, sees no one, and sits up every night until one. Thus far he bears it well, but I am afraid that so much application must at last injure his health.

"Cora desires her best love to you. She is not well. The brilliant health she brought from the North River lasted but a few months, and her native air does not agree with her. She sighs for the banks of the Hudson, and bids me tell you she does not despair yet of getting possession of her little room this summer.

"Let us hear from you soon, dear sister. I am persuaded you could easily acquire the habit of dictating, so as to make your letters as agreeable to your friends as when you wrote them with your own hand.

"That a merciful God may preserve to you the blessings you have left, and comfort you for those you have lost, is the prayer of "Your affectionate sister,

"Louise Livingston."

Mrs. Montgomery was blind. To her the long winter months, when she was sealed up in the country, were dreary and melancholy. Her chief pleasure was in receiving letters from her brother Edward and his family. She was extremely fond of Mrs. Livingston, liking her conversation as well as her letters. The old lady had a horror of bores and dullards—" I don't like stupid people," she would say; "I have never been accustomed to them."

Memoir of Mrs. Edward Livingston CHAPTER III.

l822 TO 1833.

In 1822 Mr. Livingston re-entered public life as member of Congress from Louisiana.

Society in Washington just then was very attractive. In official circles the doors were thrown wide open, with that Republican absence of class which allows merit to come untrammelled to the front, and makes it the basis of position. The heads of departments had evening parties during the session, composed of those in office, members of Congress and their families, Senators, the Judges of the Supreme Court, the diplomatic corps, a few resident families of the district, and the respectable strangers in Washington. Invitations could be procured from any lady of standing. Many persons of official and political importance lived with extreme simplicity and economy. The Southern Representatives and Senators, however, if possessed of fortune, lived expensively; that is to say, expensively by comparison only, for the manners and customs were simple, everything was at a moderate cost, and the extravagance and luxury of to-day unknown. In one of Mrs. Livingston's letters to Mrs. Montgomery she mentions eight hundred and seven dollars as a large price to give for a carriage, and adds that Mr. Monroe's carriage, "which was very magnificent," cost nine hundred dollars only.

Mr. Monroe was President when Mrs. Livingston first arrived in Washington. He was extremely observant of etiquette, attached importance to all details, adhered to the military cocked hat of the Revolution, with a black bow as a cockade, and wore the dress which already belonged to the past of " Columbia's chiefs in famous buff and blue." He went by the name of "The last cocked hat." Mrs. Monroe did the honors of the White House with perfect simplicity; nothing disturbed the composure of her manner. Around her were grouped Mrs. Adams, Mrs. Crawford, Mrs. Rush, and Mrs. Hays, the daughter of Mr. Monroe, who had been intimate at the school of Madame Campan with Hortense Beauharnais, after whom she named her daughter Hortensia. After the death of Commodore Decatur, Mrs. Decatur had gone to live at Kalorama, her country-place near Washington, and there she constantly received all the most agreeable people in Washington.

In the following letter of Mrs. Livingston's, of the year 1824, she tells Mrs. Montgomery her first impressions. Mr. Adams and Mr. Crawford were at the time discussed for the Presidency, as was also Mr. Calhoun. Mr. Calhoun was, however, withdrawn from the lists by his friends, and Mr. Crawford received the nomination, but was stricken with paralysis before the election. Other candidates were voted for, but no one having a majority of the electoral votes, the election took place in the House of Representatives, and the result was the election of Mr. Adams as President.

"Washington, Feb. 16, 1824.

"My Dear Sister,—I have written several letters to you from New York. I hope you have received them, though Edward (John's Edward) told me he had a letter from you in which you complained very much of my silence. I have been here for some time, but deferred writing till I could tell you something about the place and the great personages who inhabit it.

"Washington is certainly the dullest-looking town I have ever seen. It is neither a village nor a city, but unites the inconveniences of both without the advantages of either. There are elements here to form very good society, but dispersed on so large a space that people are seldom brought together, except in immensely crowded assemblies, where it matters little whether a man is a fool or not, provided he can fight his way through. There is, however, one exception to this; it is at Mrs. Decatur's; she has small evening parties, where you meet by turn every person of distinction in Washington — foreign ministers, charges d'affaires, etc., etc. To be admitted into her set is a favor granted to comparatively few, and of course desired by all. We are among the highly favored, having been invited three times in one week. I went last Wednesday to the Drawing-room, and was introduced to Mrs. Monroe, who is certainly the Ninon of the day, and looks more beautiful than any woman of her age I ever saw. She inquired most particularly about you, calling you always 'my friend, Mrs. Montgomery.' She said she wished you could be prevailed upon to visit Washington, adding that nothing could give her more pleasure, as you were among her earliest and best friends.

"The canvass for the Presidency is carried on with great ardor by all the parties. I have been very graciously received by the ladies whose husbands are foremost on the list of candidates — Mrs. Adams, Mrs. Calhoun, and Mrs. Crawford. This is the best time for the wife of a member of Congress to visit the seat of government—she is sure of the most flattering reception. . . .

"Most truly and affectionately yours, "Louise Livingston."

Another letter to Mrs. Montgomery speaks of the arrival in Washington of four young Englishmen, with letters from Lord Holland to Mr. Monroe. They were Mr. Wortley, Mr. Stanley (afterwards Earl of Derby), Mr. Labouchere, and Mr. Denison, who were about to make the tour of the United States, at that time a singular deviation from the ordinary travels of young men of fashion. Mr. Stanley was particularly popular; he renewed his acquaintance with Mr. Livingston and his family when he returned to America as Lord Stanley, and the acquaintance ripened into friendship.

Notwithstanding the different politics of their husbands, Mrs. Adams and Mrs. Livingston were drawn together by a love of books and similarity of tastes. Mrs. Van Rennselaer, the wife of the Patroon, distinguished for her matronly beauty and dignity of character, was also a great friend of Mrs. Livingston; and Mrs. Stevenson, the wife of the Speaker, remarkable for her sprightly conversation, was often of Mrs. Livingston's circle.

Distinguished Guests. 79

In her drawing-room could be seen always the most distinguished men of the day. Marshall was still Chief-justice, Justices Story and Washington were Associate Judges of the Supreme Court. Politics did not affect social intercourse, and all parties met together in the evening, often after sharp encounters in the morning of the same day on the floor of the House or Senate. Mr. Clay, Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Benton, Mr. Wirt, and Mr. Webster were to be seen frequently at Mrs. Livingston's. Sir Charles Vaughan, then British Minister, and the French Minister and Madame de Serrurier were on terms of friendly intimacy, and corresponded for years with Mrs. Livingston after leaving Washington, conserving the relations begun when in office. Of Mr. Calhoun's conversational powers, Mrs. Livingston often spoke with admiration, although she said that of all men she had ever talked with, no one could compare with her brother-in-law, Chancellor Livingston. Mr. Clay one day said to her," Why is it, Mrs. Livingston, that although I speak better than Mr. Livingston, my speeches do not read as well as his?" "For the reason, Mr. Clay, that my husband surpasses you in writing," answered Mrs. Livingston. Of Mr. Webster she said that no one could approach him as an orator when he made his great speeches in the Senate.

After six years in the House, Mr. Livingston lost his election for Congress in Louisiana. At its next session the Legislature of Louisiana elected him Senator.

Thus, during the first years of General Jackson's administration, Mr. Livingston was in the Senate. Major Davezac — he had attained this rank in the campaign of New Orleans — was a great favorite of the President, and was sent by him as chargé-d'affaires to Naples.

Mr. and Mrs. Livingston and their daughter had always passed their summers on the Hudson, at Montgomery Place, with Mrs. Montgomery (who died in 1828, bequeathing that estate to her brother Edward). Montgomery Place is an estate of about three hundred acres, on the east bank of the Hudson, near Barrytown. Mrs. Montgomery had purchased it from an old Dutch farmer by the name of Van Benthuysen, who owned considerable property in the neighborhood, but it was originally part of the Schuyler patent. It is entered by a wide avenue, bordered by stately and venerable trees, opening upon a park dotted with trees equally stately and venerable, through which the road winds up to the house, erected in the year 1802. It is substantial and commodious, with ornamented wings, afterwards added by Mrs. Edward Livingston. It overlooks a wide-spreading and undulating lawn, and beyond the lawn lies the broad Hudson, which just there has the appearance of a succession of lakes with islands — all in view of the whole range of the Catskill Mountains. The north boundary is a stream which forms two lovely water-falls, one forty and the other twenty feet in height. The estate is beautifully wooded, and the woods intersected by numerous paths, shady and secluded, each having its own peculiar charm. The place is divided about equally into forest with pleasuregrounds, and the other half in lands under cultivation. In variety of trees it is almost unequalled—only two or three other places have such specimens of the native growth of the American forest; but every year the destructive work of cyclones and thunderstorms diminishes their number.

The friendship between General Jackson and Mr. Livingston, begun at the time of the British invasion of New Orleans, was renewed in Washington. On Jackson's accession to the Presidency, Mrs. Livingston was most kind in guiding and assisting his inexperienced niece, Mrs. Donelson, in the discharge of her duties as mistress of the White House. "Please accept my thanks, dear Mrs. Livingston," I find in one of Mrs. Donelson's letters, " for your offer to obtain for me some articles of dress in New York, which I thankfully accept, as our Western fashions may not suit the air of Washington. I do not mention stuffs, knowing that you have great taste in these matters, and are more acquainted with fashions than I am. A thousand thanks for your kind and maternal goodness to me."

Mr. Livingston became Senator on the same day that General Jackson was inaugurated. He was offered the mission to France, and was urged by letters from his old friend Lafayette to accept the appointment, with expressions of pleasure at the hope of seeing him in France. "I am assured," he wrote, "that the appointment depended on you; nor do I think, my dear Edward, that you would find in Mrs. Livingston, Cora, and my friend Davezac any great objection to your taking the mission to France." Being urged by the President to accept and to depart, he was obliged to decline the post because his private affairs would not admit of his absence from home. The following letter from Mrs. Livingston is written about that time, and alludes to the refusal of the French mission and its reasons. It was written during one of her short absences in New York. She was much out of health at the time:

"With the hope of seeing you so soon, I will not, my dear husband, touch upon the plan mentioned in your letter of the 26th. We shall talk it over, and whatever may be resolved upon, you will remain with the consciousness of having done your part, and to the last the proofs of your undeviating affection will be my best and dearest comfort.

Political Intrigues. 85

"I have long entertained the views you take of the impossibility of a mission abroad. Your wishes for my health blinded your ordinarily sound judgment, and induced you to believe you could realize the dreams of affection. Let the matter rest there. Be assured, however, that the regret of seeing you deprived of this honorable mission preyed more upon my mind than sickness or pain.

"If there were not so many great men in that Calhoun business, I should say it is nothing; but to erect a political edifice the most unsubstantial materials may be used successfully for a foundation, and if you give intriguers a peg they will be sure to hang something upon it. I like Van Buren's communication. It is simple and explicit, and, I think, must do him good among the unprejudiced. It is clear that Jackson's friends are deserting him; thus far the people do not seem to join in the flight, and as long as this is the case he has nothing to fear for his re-election.

"Were it not for the Supreme Court, I would begin to calculate the time for your return. The worst is the uncertainty of the cause being tried, and, if tried, the still greater uncertainty of the decision; but why damp your hopes by my gloomy forebodings ?' Fais ce que dois advienne que pourra.' You thought of retaining Mr. Wirt; and is Mr. Ogden to remain for the trial? If I thought you would be detained m Philadelphia a day or two, and knew exactly the time of your arrival, I should be tempted to meet you there. What do you think of this? Farewell, my dear Edward; may the Giver of all good bless you with His choicest blessings.

"Louise Livingston.

"March, 1831."

When separated, Mr. and Mrs. Livingston wrote to each other every day. I find the following lively letter written from New York:

"You judge correctly of my feelings, my dear Edward, and the notice taken of the Code in the Senate gratified equally your daughter and myself. We felt even for the bad reading which put you to the torture, but cannot be angry with the 'wretched creature'—our pleasure is too great. You have no idea how greedily I receive every item of information contained in your letters. Nothing is known here. Politics and literature are banished from our polished circles. No one thinks of what goes on in Washington, and Arthur Middleton's moustaches, whiskers, and velvet shirt occasion more sensation than the quarrel between the President and Vice-president.

"We continue to keep quietly at home; this seclusion must account for my dulness, although it will not reconcile you to it.

"Believe me, dear Edward, in every condition of mind and heart, ever and entirely your devoted L. L."

The affection and confidence between the husband and wife may be further illustrated by extracts from some of his letters. In one he says:

"How could you doubt, my best friend, that your desire would be decisive with me in producing exertions that no other motive would induce me to make? I well know, and have always appreciated the motives upon which all your wishes with respect to my conduct were founded; and knowing this so well, much happier would it have been had I always followed them. On this occasion, although I am more than ever convinced of the justice of your views, I sometimes feel less confidence than perhaps I ought of the result, but your judgment, on which I implicitly rely, encour ages, and perhaps will make me what I ought to be."

And in another letter, enclosing the draft of a communication to the Emperor of Russia, he wrote:

"Why are you not with me? I want your society always, for in cases where I doubt before I decide, I am never quite sure my decision is right until you have approved it. The immediate occasion of this reflection is the enclosed draft. Tell me whether you like it, and if you do, whether I had not better send it in French; and if you think so, I beg you to send me a translation."

The following touching note will be read with interest:

"Washington, 10 o'clock.

"I have just finished my solitary ride. The first thing that struck me on entering my more solitary chamber was one of your gloves on my desk. I surely did not want anything to remind me of you, yet this little circumstance has brought tears to my eyes! Is it folly? Romance it cannot be at my age. No, dear Louise! they are tears of the tenderest affection that I am obliged to stop and wipe off, that I may see to write to you. The weather changed for the worse so soon after you left me that I fear your journey will not be an agreeable one. Adieu, dear Louise— dear Cora; you shall hear from me very soon again. I must now go to the Capitol. What shall I do for you there? Adieu, my dearest friend.

"Most faithfully and affectionately yours, "Edward Livingston."

The father, the mother, and daughter were blended together in a beautiful and tender friendship and intimacy.

The following letter was written on their daughter's birthday, June i6th:

Cora Livingston. 91

"This is the anniversary, my dear wife, of the birth of our daughter, to whose existence we owe so much of that happiness we have enjoyed, whose life has been one continued blessing to us, without the mixture of one hour's uneasiness arising from her fault. I began the day by invoking blessings on her and on her mother; I close it in the same manner; but the day has passed far from both, in such irksome, tedious labor as leaves me neither the capacity nor the time to express my feelings.

"Therefore I must bid you good-night, in the hope that we may soon meet, as we have always met, with no fear but that of parting again. Edward Livingston."

The leaves published so recently from the journal of Mr. Josiah Quincy describe with extreme admiration the Cora Livingston who was at that time so much admired in Washington. "She was," he said, "not handsome; that is, not transcendently handsome, but with a fine figure, a charming countenance, danced well, and dressed to perfection."

On Mr. Livingston's election to the Senate, Mrs. Livingston received the following letter from Mr. Van Buren:

"Albany, February 6, 1829. "My Dear Friend,—I do most cordially congratulate you on the election of your worthy husband. Under all circumstances you were right in preferring that station to any other. Your utmost wishes are now gratified, and I sincerely rejoice in the justice of fortune. For once in your life you were mistaken. I could not have given you correct information on the subject to which you allude. I have, to be sure, divers communications from Washington from persons who know little — all leading to one conclusion, but nothing official. It would seem there is but one opinion there with all the different sections of our party, and that is gratifying.

"When I am fully informed, you shall be. In the mean time, make yourselves happy. Remember me to my friend Cora, and believe me

"Very sincerely your friend,

"M. Van Buren."

I have before me another letter of Mr. Van Buren's to Mrs. Livingston five months later in date:

"I assure you, my dear friend, that you do me but justice in believing that the accidental circumstances of place and power do not have the slightest influence on me. Having a conscience void of offence, I did not suffer your message to disturb me, as I well knew you would very soon, through the aid of your good sense and good feeling, acquire a correct view of things.

"From a letter received by a rival candidate in this city, I infer that your brother's prospects are extremely flattering, if not positively certain, and I assure you that I shall rejoice in his success. It is unnecessary to say how much of that gratification will be derived from the consciousness that while the public interest is subserved by the appointment of a capable officer, persons whom I so much esteem as yourself and family are gratified.

"The President and several of his secretaries have gone to Norfolk, and I am, as I have been for the last three months, hard at work.

"All things are well here.

"Remember me kindly to my friend Cora and Mr. Livingston, and believe me "Very sincerely your friend,

"M. Van Buren.

"Washington, July 9, 1829."

Major Davezac. 95

The above letter was written just before Major Davezac's appointment, first as chargé - d'affaires to Naples, and then to the Hague, where he remained for seventeen years, during both terms of General Jackson's Presidency and during the administrations of Mr. Van Buren, General Harrison, and Mr. Tyler, undisturbed in office until 1846.

Another letter of Mr. Van Buren's of a later date is interesting, and may be prefaced by the remark that many of Mr. Livingston's friends visited him and his family in the country; Mr. Van Buren passed not unfrequently weeks at a time, "domesticated," as he said, at Montgomery Place:

"Albany, August 17, 1830. "My Dear Friend, — I intend to take the Tuesday boat (of next week) to pay you a visit, and may encumber you for a day or two with more or less of the hopeful youths who are, much to my annoyance, called my sons.

"If you have it in contemplation to leave home before that day, I hope you will not suffer my intended visit to prevent it. A letter in that case will reach me at Hudson on Monday evening. Desiring to be cordially remembered to all, believe me very sincerely yours, M. Van Buren.

"P. S.—I congratulate Mr. Livingston on the results in Kentucky. Taken in connection with the veto, they are the most important of anything of the kind that has happened for many years. The evidence they afford of the utter hopelessness of Mr. Clay's prospects is a matter of secondary consideration. Every man of sense knew that before."

The office of Secretary of State had been vacated by Mr. Van Buren in April, 1831. Mr. Livingston wrote at once to consult his wife on this occasion, as follows:

"Washington, Saturday Night.

"Guess until you are tired, my dear Louise, and you will not hit on the cause of my being summoned to this place. An offer is made to me of a place that would be the object of the highest ambition to every politician — it is pressed upon me with all the warmth of friendship, and every appeal to my love of country. Yet it makes me melancholy, and though I have not refused, I have not accepted. In short, to keep you no longer in suspense, I am offered the first place in an entirely new Cabinet, with the exception of the P. M. G. Van Buren has taken the high and popular ground that, being a candidate for the Presidency, he ought not to remain in the Cabinet, when all the measures will be attributed to intrigue and made to bear upon the Presidency. He has, therefore, prevailed upon the President to accept his resignation. I have, in an interview I have just had, pleaded time for consideration, the suddenness of the offer, my private engagements, and, as a conclusive argument, the state of your health, which might, perhaps, oblige me to make a voyage. This last was answered ingeniously enough. Davezac should have leave to meet you in any port to which you might sail, and conduct you to Paris. At last it was put on the footing that I should have as much time for deliberation as the present incumbent would consent to remain in office, but, with a slap on the knee, 'my friend Livingston, you must accept.' And so we parted. I shall make no promise until we meet. The selection, I think, except the first place, a good one. E. L., Secretary of State; H. L. White, War; Me Lane, Treasury; Woodbury, Navy; Attorney-general not decided yet. All this is a profound secret, not even communicated to Cambreling. Therefore give not the slightest hint, even to him. In addition to the reluctance to give up my independence, I have serious doubts of my ability to fill the office with credit. I know nothing of the details; the political intrigues would worry me; in short, I am perplexed. I must remain here, I think, until Tuesday.

"In this, as in everything else, my dear wife, your happiness and that of my daughter shall be my first consideration. You may write to me in general terms, and direct to Heads in Philadelphia, for I shall be uneasy until I hear that this letter has been read and destroyed.

"I embrace you tenderly and affectionately. E. L."

After returning home and talking the matter over with Mrs. Livingston, he decided to accept the office, and on the 24th of May entered on the duties of the State Department. The following interesting letter was written to his wife after he had been one month in office:

"Here I am in the second place in the United States—some say the first; in the place filled by Jefferson and Monroe, and by him who filled it before any of them, my brother, in the very easy-chair of Adams, in the office which every politician looks to as the last step but one in the ladder of his ambition, in the very cell where the great magician, they say, brewed his spells—here I am without an effort, uncontrolled by an engagement, unfettered by any promise to party or to man—here I am, and here I have been for a month. I now know what it is; am I happier than I was? The question is not easily answered. Had the bait never been thrown in my way, had I been suffered to finish the graft I had begun when your letter summoned me from the country, had I been permitted to stay and watch its growth until the fall, to wander all the summer through the walks you had planned, to see my daughter improving in health and spirits, now and then to plan a picnic, or plague myself in the vain attempt to catch trout, to have exclaimed, on hearing of what happened here, 'Among them be it!' and taken the opinions of my two heads of departments on the crop of wheat and on the celery-bed—could I have passed my summer thus, and taken my independent seat in the Senate during the winter, I could then have answered the question readily. But the temptation was thrown in my way; the prize for which so many were contending was offered to me; the acceptance of it was urged upon me; if I had rejected it, I think it would have been a source of regret that would have made me undervalue the real enjoyments for which I refused it. Such is human nature. But as yet I cannot form a proper judgment of the value of my place; my wife and daughter have not been with me, and if the mental exercise and laborious attention it requires have enabled me to bear the solitude I am in, they will turn to positive enjoyment when you are with me; for I now see that I am master of the difficulties of the office, and although they will be increased during the session, if my health is preserved I shall not fear them.

"All this we have thought and said a hundred times; why I repeat it I cannot tell, except that, running in my mind, it flowed from my pen, as all my other thoughts do when I write to you."

Public opinion had long designated Mr. Livingston as the man most suited to meet the exigencies of this eventful time. Nullification threatened the very foundation of the Government, and the President was aware of the importance of securing the services of one whose abilities and patriotism he had so often put to the test and found equal to every emergency.

The Nullification proclamation of President Jackson, eloquent with the genius of Mr. Livingston, appeared in December, 1832, to justify the confidence reposed in him. It was followed by memorable discussions in the Senate on the South Carolina proceedings. This was a proud era in the life of Mr. Webster, when he supported with transcendent ability the cause of the Constitution and of the country in the person of a chief magistrate to whom he was politically opposed. He was frequently to be seen at the house of the Secretary of State during this epoch.

I find the following letter from Mr. Webster among Mrs. Livingston's papers, referring to a speech made by Major Davezac on the occasion of a public banquet in Holland:

Memoir of Mrs. Edward Livingston "March 27, 1833.

"My Dear Madam,—I can scarcely say how much I am obliged to you for your brother's speech, nor how much you have added to that favor by the kind sentiments of your own note. I have read Mr. Davezac's speech in both languages with continued pleasure, and need not say that I am proud to have awakened in so competent a judge a sentiment of respect for an effort of my own on the same subject. I take the liberty of sending to you a communication for him, which Mr. Livingston will do me the favor to transmit.

"I have presumed, also, to ask leave to present a copy of my speech to yourself; and, as one act of presumption leads to another, I have even ventured to send you a production of mine old enough to be forgotten both by the author and the public. But here, my dear madam, my presumption stops. I am not so unreasonable as to expect that you should give a perusal to so long and so dull a pamphlet. That is a tax which none are expected to pay but the descendants of the ancestors of New England. At least, my dear madam, we should not think of imposing it upon you until you shall have visited us, and we shall have had an opportunity to inspire, if able to do so, some interest in your breast for the descendants of these same forefathers. It would be ill-judged, indeed, to ask your attention to the history of our ancestors until we had reason to hope that you did not regret they had left a posterity.

"I am, my dear madam,

"With most sincere esteem, yours, "Daniel Webster."

The following letter, from Major Davezac to Mr. Livingston, of nearly the same date, is interesting:

"The Hague, April 3, 1833.

"My Dear Edward,—Between you and me thanks are not given, but gratitude fills the heart. Even the lips are silent when we are face to face. You have ever been a dear brother to me, cheering me when I desponded, and always pointing out to me a future more worthy of what you were partial enough to term my talents. I do not wish to separate you in thought from the President. It is my delight to unite you both in my gratitude. Pray, Edward, tell him all you know I feel for him.

"You are right in concluding that I would strain every nerve in order, before I left this court, to conclude with them such a treaty as would please the Nation and the President. Matters have now reached such a point that a convention may be signed within a few days giving us the direct trade with the Dutch colonists. I will not hesitate to consent to the proposal made to limit this to a certain number of years. Let the colonists have the experience of what our direct trade is, and depend upon it they will wish for its continuance.

"How nobly the President has borne himself in this crisis of the Carolina controversy! What vigor! What wisdom! You should hear what Europeans say of us in order to feel—not vanity, but a just pride in the dignity of the American name.

"Adieu, Edouard, tout à vous, à Louise, à Cora, et à Aglaé.* A. Davezac."

* The message of Major Davezac's letter was designed for his niece, Aglae* Carleton, then in Washington with her aunt, Mrs. Livingston, whose attachment to her was truly maternal. Aglae" Carleton was at this time in the very morning of womanhood, endowed with gifts of beauty and of talent. These, together with the gentleness of her disposition and the excellence of her heart, secured for her not only the love of devotion of the family circle, but the admiration of all who knew her.

As the wife of the Secretary of State, Mrs. Livingston's salon necessarily became the centre of foreign society. On her devolved the entire direction of every entertainment, and for this she had a special gift. Her house was always lighted a giorno, and in a thousand ways attractive. Even political animosity was subdued by her conciliating and fascinating manner. She was still exceedingly handsome, and her manners in harmony with her person. Her mind was as remarkable as her person and manners. She never lost her French accent, but preferred English for all purposes of earnest expression. Not only did she assume the management of all household . affairs, but she continued to be Mr. Livingston's most trusted counsellor at every step in life. She was indeed the mirror in which were reflected the thoughts and heart of her illustrious husband.

In 1833, while Mr. Livingston was in this high office at home, the French mission was again offered him. Considerations of public policy and of personal fitness led to the choice. His own inclination induced him to accept it, and Mrs. Livingston's health more than ever required a change.

The following characteristic passage occurs in a letter which he received about that time from John Randolph, of Roanoke:

"Let me conjure you to accept the mission to France, for which you are better qualified than any man in the United States. In Mrs. Livingston, to whom present my warmest respects, you have a most able coadjutor. Dowdies, dowdies won't do for European courts, Paris especially. There and at London the character of the minister's wife is almost as important as his own. It is the very place for her. There she would dazzle and charm, and surely the salons of Paris must have far greater attractions for her than the yahoos of Washington. If I had not lost the faculty of speaking French by long disuse, I should like it of all things."

In April, 1833, Cora Livingston was married to Thomas Pennant Barton, Esq., of Philadelphia, son of Dr. Benjamin F. Barton, author of the first American work on Botany. Mr. Barton was immediately appointed Secretary of Legation by the President, to complete the family party, for without their daughter neither Mr. nor Mrs. Livingston could be happy anywhere.*

* Mr. Barton's commission was sent to Mrs. Barton, with this note from the President:

"Washington, June 4, 1833.

"My Dear Cora,—Your kind letter with that of your husband were duly received. I have postponed a reply until I could enclose to you his commission as Secretary to the French Legation, which I now do, and request that you present it to him with your own hand, and with a tender of my high regard.

"I hope to have the pleasure of seeing you and

Rural Economy. 111

It was arranged that the Delaware, a ship of the line, should convey the minister to his destination. Meanwhile he received his instructions, and Mrs. Livingston went to Montgomery Place to make preparations for a long absence. She wrote from there to Mr. Livingston the following letter, which is curious as an example of the changes in prices of labor and wages in half a century:

"I think fifteen dollars exorbitant wages for the farmer, yet my knowledge of rural economy is in its infancy, and I fear to blunder if I make final arrangements without you. You have thirty people to pro- Mr. Barton before you sail for France. Should I be disappointed in this, permit me to assure you both that, wheresoever you may travel, you take with you my kind wishes and prayers for your health, prosperity, -and happiness.

"I remain, with great respect, "Your friend,

"Andrew Jackson."

vide for on the place, and Andrew is inefficient, and worse than inefficient; but I don't know whether it would do to take a new farmer entirely unacquainted with the place at such a time. Philip will remain at five dollars a month. I am no judge of the capacity of the gardener, but would not dismiss him in any event and take a new one just as we are going away. There ought to be a thorough reform; there are sixteen or seventeen persons belonging to the farmhouse, four carpenters, two wall-makers, and five men under the two gardeners. What they will all do I don't know. Even the pretence of gathering apples is out of the question, as we have none this year. Please think it over, and let us adopt some plan of reform and inaugurate it for a fortnight before we leave. I know you don't want Louisa and her three children turned off for the winter, yet they must all be disposed of in some way. I await your arrival to settle everything for the best, and rely on your coming, if possible."

But for Mr. Livingston to come was impossible, and all practical arrangements were concluded by Mrs. Livingston alone in the best possible manner. She forgot nothing.

On the 14th of August they embarked from New York, and entered the port of Cherbourg on the 12th of September, after a most agreeable voyage of twenty-eight days. Fine weather, excellent accommodations, combined with the attention and pleasant company of the officers on board, made them forget they were at sea.

CHAPTER IV.

1833 TO 1835.

Mr. Livingston's political importance at home was well understood in France; his election to the French Institute had extended his literary as well as legal reputation over the continent of Europe.

Mrs. Livingston was fully prepared for the social and intellectual brilliancy of Paris. A Frenchwoman herself, she had never seen France. She found herself at home immediately, yet the scene was entirely novel to her. Time, maturity, experience, and cultivation had now given to her style, both in writing and in speaking, a peculiar force of expression without superfluity of words, which was classic. She had early in life taken the best authors for her models, and the result was that the elevation of her thoughts found language corresponding for their dress. The most distinguished men in France came frequently to the house—such as Thiers, Guizot, Villemain, and other confréres of Mr. Livingston at the French Institute. Among them was his old friend, Mr. De Marbois, whom he had known in the United States, and who under the first Napoleon had been the negotiator on the French side in the cession of Louisiana. Mr. De Marbois was so aged and infirm that, to join the circle in Mrs. Livingston's salon, he had to be carried by his valet and placed in an armchair for the evening. Broglie was at that time Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Mrs. Livingston's intercourse with Madame de Broglie was more than official. They met constantly in society, and always on Sunday at the little Protestant chapel in the Rue Taitbout, where the most celebrated preachers were to be heard—among others Adolphe Monod, of whom Lacordaire had said "that he was the first of Christian orators."

Pews are not known in French churches, and the daughter of Madame de Staël had a straw chair like everybody else, and not that if she came too late. The Duchess de Broglie was as lovely in character as in person. At her death Mr. Guizot declared that during a period of twenty years he had found her perfect in happy days, and more perfect still in days of sorrow and pain— "a rare and noble heart, and one .of the most charming creatures I have seen in this world, of whom I can only repeat what St. Simon says of the Due de Bourgogne,' May it please God that I should see her in Eternity, where her goodness has without doubt placed her.'"

The domestic circle of the royal family assembled in the evening in one of the palace salons, where the Queen and princesses, with their ladies, sat around a table generally engaged in needle-work, which they sent to be sold for charitable objects. Queen Marie Amélie and Madame Adélaïde, the King's sister, became very fond of Mrs. Livingston, and received her frequently without ceremony at these informal evenings. Of the Queen Mrs. Livingston said that she was remarkable for her dignity and goodness. The pride of the archduchess was unmistakably stamped upon her manners—she never forgot her rank a moment, yet that rank was not made oppressive to others. On the arrival of his friends the Livingstons in Paris, and previous to their presentation at court, General Lafayette had described the Queen in these significant words: "Quant à la Reine, c'est une aristocrate."

The presentation at the court of Louis Philippe was as simple as was consistent with the order of a royal residence. The strangers who desired to be introduced made it known to their ambassador or minister, who sent their names to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and received in return a notice stating the day and hour of their reception. On attending at the Tuileries, they were ushered into a suite of showy but ancient-looking rooms, ranging along the then Place du Carousel. They were arranged in a line along the sides of the halls, according to the rank and the seniority of their respective ambassadors in France. The ambassadors stood nearest the point where the King entered; next stood the ministers plenipotentiary, and then the chargés - d'affaires, according to the order when each was accredited to the court, this mode of adjusting old quarrels about precedence having been settled by the Congress of Vienna. The King and royal family entered together; the King, commencing with the ambassador next him, proceeded down the line, the ambassador presenting his countrymen in succession, then returning to his place. The King proceeded through the rest in the same manner, on the name of each person being mentioned, addressing him a few questions, generally relative to his visit to France. After the King had progressed some distance down the line, the Queen commenced the same ceremony, followed by the Due d'Orleans and Madame Adelaide. The younger sons of the family remained at the head of the apartment. During the month of January each year several magnificent court balls were given, to which foreigners who had been presented were invited. Those balls added very much to the popularity of the court, and formed a strong contrast to the other exclusive courts of Europe.

Mrs. Livingston described the Due d'Orléans, as tall and handsome, and of a slight and graceful figure. He was accomplished and pleasing, spoke English and other tongues with fluency, and was well informed on the topics of the day. As the heir to the throne, public interest was centred on him. He seemed to have an intuitive sense of what was necessary for his position and prospects.

At that time Madame Récamier still held her literary and social court at the Abbaye au Bois, and Chateaubriand, its chief ornament and pride, was an intimate friend of the Livingstons. Through him Mrs. Livingston and Mrs. Barton were invited to the unpacking of a Corpo Santo from Rome—a precious relic for the nuns. Mrs. Livingston always said that the beauty of Madame Récamier, whom she then saw for the first time, far surpassed description. Nothing pleased "le vieux voyageur en Amérique," as Chateaubriand called himself, more than to visit his American friends, for they recalled scenes identified with his literary fame.

Mrs. Livingston was peculiarly sensitive to any remarks which might reflect on the dignity of the country of her adoption, which was also that of her affections; she never permitted a disparaging comment on America in her presence. The Prussian ambassador at Paris one day spoke of Washington as a mere village, and, turning to Mrs. Livingston, asked what its population was; to which she replied, with a smile, "Á peu près celle de Potsdam." On another occasion there was some difficulty about certain social privileges claimed by foreign ministers for the wives of the Secretaries of Legation. The Compte de St. Maurice, whose province it was to settle points of etiquette, expressed surprise that she, who represented a Republic, should attach any importance to such matters. She replied, "Nous devons y mettre 1'importance que vous y attachez vous—mêmes." She gained her point with the chamberlain, he yielding to one who understood her rights, great or small, and knew how to enforce them in such terms as could only add to the consideration in which she was held.

On one occasion one of the dignitaries at court asked Mrs. Livingston if her countrymen spoke French; to which she replied, "Comme moi." This ready speech must have been confounding. In view of the large French-speaking population of natives in Louisiana alone, it had evidently the most solid foundation to rest on. It had, indeed, the merit of some of the passages of Livingston himself in his letters to the French Government, and deserves to be mentioned here as "une réponse sans réplique."

On another occasion Mrs. Livingston was asked to dine with the Duchess de Broglie, to meet a very select party of dip lomatic characters. The duke was at that time minister for foreign affairs. In the course of things, however, it came to pass that the representation of one country was to be distinguished above the rest. There were to be none but ambassadors or ministers and their wives. But in this preferential case the niece of one great public functionary was excepted. She and she alone of private individuals was to appear at table. When Mrs. Livingston heard of the thing she promptly interfered. Like courtesy must be extended to the United States, or the young lady in question would have to be denied the entertainment. The duchess was impaled, evidently, on the horns of the dilemma, and Mrs. Livingston (who knew that the code of diplomatic intercourse is exacting and punctilious) had her way, and her country appeared at the official entertainment on the only terms proper to it, those of equality.

Mr. Livingston received the following letter from Major Davezac, urging him to visit the Hague with Mrs. Livingston, about this time:

"The Hague, April 24, 1834.

"My Dear Brother,—I have this instant a letter from Cora that would have made me extremely happy, since it informs me of your intention to visit the Hague with Louise, but that the object of the journey is to seek relief in change of climate from the obstinacy of your fever and ague, which I remember in New Orleans was only cured by change of air. Cora adds that the severity of the spring in Paris causes you to hesitate, lest in this higher latitude the cold should prove more intense. I can, fortunately, relieve your apprehensions on that score by assuring you that on my own arrival here I found the vegetation just as much advanced as I had left it at Naples, seventeen days earlier. I write, therefore, at once, to beg you to come as soon as you can. The change from the air of Paris, with its agitation and excitements, to the pure and almost country air of the Hague, will restore you immediately, I have no doubt, to your usual health, particularly if you bring with you our beloved Cora. Think, too, of the effect on the mind and spirits of such a heart as yours, of being once more with me, your old friend, your brother — as much your brother as if he had in his veins your mother's blood. Fancy us all in my humble dwelling (for I insist that you should stay with me), enjoying together once more the pleasures of unreserved conversation, as we have so often enjoyed it in days long since passed, but as fresh in my memory as if they had occurred yesterday. Ask me for dates!—the recollections of friendship are always of yesterday. ... It is true that Cora says she is not included in the plan. Why so? Will Barton refuse her to my eager solicitations? Can he not spare her to come and spend a few days with her early friend, with her second father, whom her heart has adopted, and with whom you have always allowed her to share her best affections? I will apply to the King, in order that you may meet with no detention at the frontiers, and recommend the route by Strasburg, and thence on the Rhine by steamboat, which nothing ever—excepting the Hudson—can surpass, and to enjoy the enchantment of the scene that smiles upon the beholder from the vine-clad hills. And then our Netherlands; do not fancy them without charms too. Mild, unpretending, and genuine, Holland will receive you in her best attire; her tunic of emerald green, her early bouquets of tulips and hyacinths and other countless flowers, ready to bloom as soon as the sun invites them to leave their glass houses and to bask in his rays. . . .

The Hague. 127

"On the 6th of May begins our fair at the Hague; nothing is more amusing for a stranger in its novelty than this exhibition.

"Have I tempted you, my dear Edward? Write to me by the next post, and say that you will come, but you must have Cora with you. Tell my sister that I have a good and comfortable room for her; my love to her, and for you my unchanging friendship and affection.

"A. Davezac."

The invitation was accepted, and Mr. and Mrs. Livingston visited Holland—Mrs. Barton remaining in Paris with her husband.

The effect produced by Mrs. Livingston on society at the Hague delighted her brother. The following letter to her daughter is an evidence of the reception they met with there:

"The Hague, May 29*.

"Our visit here has been delightful; your father has been received with great honors, and his books seem familiar to all the thinking men of Holland. The King has been spending a few days in town. Prince Frederick and his wife (daughter of the King of Prussia), and all the members of the royal family who have not already left their winter residences for the country, wished us to pass an evening with each one, and also the Duchess of Saxe-Weimar, who asked us to join her chosen circle of friends. It is impossible to be more gracious. Invitations are showered on us from all sides. We could accept but two dinners, as our time is short—one at the Duke of Saxe-Weimar's, and the other at the Minister of Foreign Affairs, where all the diplomatic corps are asked to meet us.

"The King kept your father an entire hour talking over all political questions unreservedly, and expressing regret at our early departure. The Hague is a dull-look ing place, very different from Brussels, which looks like a capital, and is a charming city."

During Mr. Livingston's absence in Holland his old friend, General Lafayette, died. His efforts to secure the French treaty with the United States had been untiring, both inside and outside of the Chamber of Deputies, and I have before me a quaint note to Mr. Livingston in his own handwriting announcing its final defeat, as follows:

"My Dear Friend,—I am very unhappy to inform you the American Treaty has been rejected by eight votes.

"Your old and much afflicted friend,

"Lafayette."

The claims of the United States upon France had been finally acknowledged by the Treaty of 1831, negotiated in Paris by Mr. Rives. Redress had been sought in vain until then by every Administration, beginning with that of Mr. Madison, the commerce of the United States having suffered greatly under the decrees of the Emperor Napoleon.

Louis Philippe had signed the Treaty, fixing the indebtedness of France at twenty-five millions of francs. But this was all the King would do, and no provision was made by the Chamber of Deputies for the payment which had been stipulated for, and which became due. The Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. McLane, assuming that the payment would be made, drew a bill of exchange for the amount, addressed to the French Minister of Finance, and sold the draft to the Bank of the United States. The Bank transferred it to a European holder, who caused it to be presented to the minister to whom it was directed. The latter declined the payment, giving as a reason that no appropriation had been made for that purpose, and the paper was returned protested to Mr. Me Lane. This was the immediate occasion of the appointment of Mr. Livingston to the French mission.

When Mr. Livingston repaired to his post it was not without hopes of success, but to find the situation full of difficulties. Constant assurances were given him that the French King and Government had the payment that they had contracted for much at heart, but the Chamber of Deputies, to embarrass a King they wished to destrpy, actually refused by a majority of eight to vote appropriations necessary to carry the treaty into effect, and then proceeded to declare the demand exorbitant. Whereupon the President of the United States, in his annual message of December, 1834, proceeded to recommend, in very plain although dignified terms, that the United States should take redress into their own hands, and the Executive be authorized to make reprisals upon French property in case no provision should be made for the debt at the approaching session of the Chamber of Deputies.

News of the contents of the message reached France, and produced great excitement. In the correspondence which it became Mr. Livingston's official duty to carry on, Mrs. Livingston shared all his hopes and fears and anxieties. She had watched with the deepest interest the progress of events which tended to complicate the affairs of the United States with those of France, and when the offer of the French mission was made to her husband, had exercised a powerful influence in inducing him to accept it. She thought that his position in the Republican party of the day, his sympathy with the French character, and his conciliating manners and disposition, all were calculated to make him a suc cessful negotiator at such an important juncture. But the pride of the French people was aroused, and they loudly refused to make any payment under what was considered by them a national threat on the part of the United States. Mr. Livingston received a note from Count de Rigny, Minister of Foreign Affairs, which informed him that the government would still, notwithstanding the difficulties caused by the menace of General Jackson upon the public mind, ask the Chamber of Deputies for the appropriation, but that his Majesty had, at the same time, considered it his duty no longer to leave his minister at Washington; that Mr. Serrurier would be ordered home, and that Mr. Livingston might take such measures as should seem to be natural consequences; and that the passports which Mr. Livingston might desire were therefore at his disposal.

Mr. Livingston immediately wrote to Count de Rigny that if his note was intended as an intimation of the course which, in the opinion of his Majesty's Government, he ought to pursue as the natural result of Mr. Serrurier's recall, he could take no directions or follow any suggestions but those of his own government; but if it was intended as a direction that he should quit the French territory, he would comply with it at once, leaving the responsibility where it belonged. At the same time he promised a full answer to the minister's letter. This answer was prepared by him by the end of the month, and contained a forcible and eloquent exposition of facts to repel the charges made against the President. He took occasion also to state that although the military title of General had been gloriously acquired by the head of the American government, he is not in official language designated as "General Jackson" but as "the President of the United States." Mr. Livingston did not fail, at the same time, to point out to the minister that the communications of the President of the United States to Congress by way of Presidential message were privileged, and not written for the comment of foreign powers. Foreign powers could not take offence at communications made with the freedom belonging to co-ordinate branches of one government engaged in the exchange of views as required by their domestic relations.

The President informed Mr. Livingston that his course was not only warmly approved as wise and patriotic, but that if he had quitted France at once that course would not have displeased him. As it was, he was directed, if the appropriation should be rejected, to leave France in a United States ship-of-war with all the legation; but if the appropriation should be made, to retire to England or Belgium, leaving his Secretary of Legation as chargé-d'affaires, to await further instructions.

The Chamber of Deputies finally determined to appropriate the money due under the treaty, but at the same time to vindicate what it chose to consider the offended dignity of France. The necessary measure was passed with the proviso that payment should not be made until the French Government should have received satisfactory explanation of the terms used by President Jackson in his message.

Mr. Livingston now determined to demand his passports, leaving Mr. Barton at Paris as chargé - d'affaires. He informed the Due de Broglie, who had again become Minister of Foreign Affairs, of his intention to depart, in a letter in which he still more fully explained the free and unfettered communication necessary between the President and Congress, the sanctuary of domestic consultations, and refused to acknowledge the right of any foreign powers to scan such communications.

On receiving the passports he had demanded from the French Government, Mr. Livingston embarked at Havre with his wife and daughter, on board the frigate Constitution, on May 4, 1835, and arrived safely in New York on the 23d of June.

His last letter from Havre was to Major Davezac, and expresses his feelings on his departure in the following terms:

"Havre, 4th May, 1835.

"I am very happy, my dear Davezac, to find that you saw the condition annexed to the law providing for the payment of our indemnity in the light I do, and approved of my return. The necessity for this movement disappointed me, as I wished very much to pass some time with you, and afterwards in England; but this was impossible after the refusal to pay, for such in effect is the annexation of a degrading condition—my stay in Europe would be considered as evidence of a wish to resume my mission.

"We shall probably now, my dear Davezac, meet no more unless you should get tired of diplomacy before I die, which is not very probable. Whenever you do, come to Montgomery, and we will lead a happier, although less splendid life, than either at Paris or the Hague. If we could persuade Carleton to join us there we might make a family establishment that would be delightful.

"We have been here four or five days waiting the arrival of the frigate from Cherbourg, where she went to take in water. She has just returned, and we embark to-morrow."

To this letter Mrs. Livingston added a postscript:

Gratifying Reception. 139

"Adieu, frère! Until the pulsations of my heart are forever stilled, I shall feel for you the warmth of that friendship which has'surpassed all other friendships; and by the memories of the past you will ever continue dear to your devoted sister,

"L. L."

The news of the condition in which he had left American affairs in France had preceded Mr. Livingston, and universal satisfaction was expressed throughout the country. Crowds greeted him on landing, and followed his carriage to his brother's house in Greenwich Street. Dinners and public banquets followed in succession. His reception at home was an ovation.

A few months later Mr. Livingston had the satisfaction of seeing the restoration of the cordial relations between France and the United States. Great Britain offered her friendly mediation to both. General Jackson accepted on the part of the United States, with a reservation of the points of the controversy which affected the honor of the country. On the point of honor the brave old man stood to his guns and declined submission. The indemnity must be paid and no apologies made. And such in fact was the case. Within a month the four instalments of the indemnity then due were paid, and without waiting for any action on the part of Great Britain.

Memoir of Mrs. Edward Livingston A True Helpmate. 141

CHAPTER V.

1835 TO i860.

On Mr. Livingston's return to the United States, he made what proved to be his final visit to Washington. This was also to be his last absence from his family. The following extract is from a letter dated Feb. 5, 1836, the last letter he ever wrote to his wife. As she advanced in life, she appeared disposed to adopt melancholy views, perhaps engendered by continued ill health and its depressing influences. She seemed never satisfied with herself, and had given vent to these feelings in a recent letter, to which this extract is a reply:

"How can you say, my dearest, that you can do nothing to secure the happiness of our family, and that all the merit, if there be any, of providing for its support is mine. What have you done for thirty years past but direct me by your prudence from rash undertakings, and encourage me in every honorable and useful pursuit, and console me under afflictions that would have overwhelmed me, and made me relinquish every effort, if you had not been at my side to teach me to bear them? What I am, my dear Louise, I owe chiefly to you, and you must not undervalue the aid you have given me."

The winter was passed in New York City. Early in the spring they returned to Montgomery Place. Mr. Livingston loved the place dearly, and there he proposed to pass the remainder of his life, close to a host of kindred scattered along the banks of the river. He had said to a friend,* on Death of Mr. Livingston. 143

* Mr. Charles Lucas, who wrote the preface to the second edition of the works of Mr. Livingston on criminal jurisprudence. (See Appendix.)

his departure from Paris, that he should thenceforward withdraw from politics, and wholly devote the days which Providence might yet grant him to the task of perfecting his system of criminal law, the adoption of which he seemed less to expect from the State of Louisiana than from the Congress of the United States.

He now wished to indulge that fondness for country life and out-door occupations for which he had always had a taste. He was a great angler, and had planned an excursion with some friends for trout-fishing, when a sudden and violent illness terminated his life on the 23d of May, 1836, within five days of his seventy-second birthday. His illness was pronounced fatal from the first. His wife and daughter watched without a hope to cling to of his recovery, held his hand in theirs until they could mark the death chill, wiped from his brow the cold damp which gathered there, and moistened his parched lips without shedding a tear. There seemed to them a sacredness about the scene which for the time restrained the outbreak of human woe. He was not to be disturbed as he passed away into the invisible world forever.' At the beginning of his illness he had said to his wife," My dear, if I should be taken now, what will become of you; my affairs were never so unsettled?" Mrs. Livingston urged him to dismiss all such thoughts. He never mentioned them again, and was enabled to commit the wife and child he loved so devotedly with full trust to the God of the widow and of the fatherless. The last motion of his hand directed them both to kneel by his bed and join with him in prayer. "Father," said his daughter," if it be possible watch over us from above." "That I will, my child, that I will," was the answer, pronounced with energy impossible to describe.

President Jackson's Tribute. 145

The following letter of condolence in the handwriting of the President is before me:

"Washington, May 26, 1836.

"Dear Madam,—I received this morning the melancholy intelligence which you desired to be communicated to me, of the death of your beloved husband.

"At this dispensation of Providence so afflicting to you and so distressing to the country at large, allow me so far to intrude upon your gloom as to tender to you and your family the condolence of a sincere and old friend. As his bosom companion you have been the most intimate witness of the purity and elevation of his character, and cannot fail to realize in the hour which deprived you of his company how frail are the expectations and enjoyments which do not connect with a life of virtue and usefulness. If ever such a life could inspire the fortitude necessary to enable a wife to bear with proper composure the death of a beloved husband, you, my dear madam, have possessed it; and I pray that, aided by your own reflections and your accustomed reliance on the promises of the Christian religion, it may bless you with consolation and strength.

"In these sentiments, and in those of affectionate sympathy for you, all my household unite with me. Accept them, madam, as but a feeble evidence of the respect and friendship which I entertained for Mr. Livingston, and of the feelings which will ever make your happiness and welfare an object of the deepest interest to me. "Yr. friend,

"Andrew Jackson.

"Mrs. Livingston."

The shock was terrible, the occupation of Mrs. Livingston's life was gone. Financial troubles pressed heavily upon her. Her health, which had not improved by the climate of Paris, became more and more delicate, and she grew so feeble that she could scarcely walk. She was her husband's sole heir and executrix; he had felt that in her good sense and ability was the only hope of extricating whatever might be left, and to the mother he committed the future of their loved daughter, Mrs. Barton.

The unfavorable complications of Mr. Livingston's affairs in Louisiana—and for a time the prospect of a good result for them seemed desperate — compelled the presence of the executrix at New Orleans. Stricken and suffering as she was, Mrs. Livingston made the journey that autumn under the care of Judge Carleton.

The celebrated Batture case had been the subject of Mr. Livingston's early controversy with Mr. Jefferson.

An alluvion was and is still continually forming in front of the city of New Orleans, between the first row of buildings and the water's edge. Before the cession this vacant space was covered with grass, and the horses and cattle of the citizens were sent to pasture there.

Soon after he went to reside in New Orleans, Mr. Livingston had investigated the history of the Batture, and had declared it to be his opinion that this increase by alluvion, of which he foresaw the value, was not public property, and belonged, under the French and Spanish laws, to the owners of the soil adjacent to the shores. Hoping to retrieve his fortunes, he had purchased a part of the Batture. But as, soon as Mr. Livingston took possession of his property the public was aroused. Both the city of New Orleans and the United States laid claim to the Batture.

In 1818 the streets were prolonged over the vacant space in consequence of consid erable augmentations effected by the Mississippi, which during the annual rise undermines its banks on the bends, detaches the earth, and deposits it on the points lower down.

In January, 1836, when Mr. Livingston last visited Washington, he appeared in the case of the municipal authorities of the city of New Orleans against the United States. He .was senior counsel; his junior associate was Daniel Webster, and the United States were ably represented by Benjamin F. Butler. Mr. Butler cited largely from Mr. Livingston's answer to Mr. Jefferson, in such terms of admiration and respect as to draw from Mr. Livingston a digression on the subject of his pamphlet and to the grievous wrongs he thought he had suffered from Mr. Jefferson. He was happy to state that at a subsequent period the friendly intercourse with Mr. Jefferson had been renewed; that the offended party forgot the injury, and that the other performed the more difficult task of forgiving the man upon whom he had inflicted it. Mr. Livingston could not, he said, let this occasion pass of making known that he had been spared the lasting regret that Jefferson had descended into the grave with a feeling of ill-will towards him.

In connection with her claims in New Orleans I find a letter from Mr. Webster to Mrs. Livingston on the subject of the Batture " Corporation Case:"

"Washington, May 6,1836.

"My Dear Mrs. Livingston,—I have received your letter, and it gives me very great pleasure to comply with your request. Having had occasion to write to New Orleans on the subject of my own fees in the suit between the City and the United States, I have already had an op portunity of expressing my opinion of the professional zeal and ability manifested by Mr. Livingston in the argument of that cause. I readily make use of this occasion, however, to repeat the expression of those sentiments, and to put that expression in the form which you may think most likely to be useful.

"I pray you, my dear Madam, to accept my respects. Mrs. Webster enjoins me to remember her most kindly to yourself and daughter. Yours, very truly,

"Daniel Webster."

Mrs. Livingston returned to New Orleans for the settlement of her affairs in 1840 and in 1841. Her sister was no more. She resided with her niece, Mrs. Carleton's daughter, who had married Dr. Thomas Hunt, the leading advocate of public and of university education in the State of Louisiana, the earliest and most active founder of the Medical College of Louisiana, an orator, as well as a man of science, and a scholar. Mr. Randell Hunt, the eminent counsel of Mrs. Livingston, gained for her during her stay an important suit against the heirs of Story, and this success changed her circumstances for the better. Her correspondence with Mr. Hunt. begun at the death of Mr. Livingston and continued until the close of her life, was marked by confidence and good understanding, engendered by his eminent services and her noble nature's ready appreciation of such a friend. Mr. Benjamin F. Butler argued the Story case for her, in the Supreme Court of the United States, with signal ability, and gained it.

The changes of scene and the diversion of thought which were brought about by these matters of business had a very beneficial effect. Mrs. Livingston was like another person. She used to say that she had not smiled since her husband's death until she looked in the face of her niece's infant daughter, who was called after her. Yet she felt she had much to be grateful for: thirty years of happiness had been accorded to her in the companionship of the most devoted husband and most amiable of men. In her own daughter many of his qualities survived. During her mother's first winter in New Orleans Mrs. Barton remained with her husband in Philadelphia. The second winter she accompanied her mother, and remained in New Orleans until spring. The devoted affection of Mrs. Livingston's niece, Mrs. Hunt, for her aunt and cousin was a source of consolation. Mrs. Barton was childless, and in the children of her cousin she found constant happiness and solace. The mother and daughter also turned to books for unalloyed enjoyment, and upon their return to the North the occupations of country life became more and more interesting. Mr. Barton occupied himself with great taste in landscape gardening, and in collecting and acclimatizing specimens of foreign and native trees. Mrs. Barton, who had not known the whereabouts of the kitchen-garden at Montgomery, studied botany, and became widely known for her skill in gardening and floriculture, while Mrs. Livingston's administration of the farm was economical and prudent. While in New Orleans the first winter she wrote to her daughter constantly. One of these outpourings of maternal affection serves as a counterpart of the rest—" Here I am, my dear child, in New Orleans. Hunt is most attentive and kind, and Aglaé perfect to me. My cough is better, the soft air does me good, but you, my beloved child, are far from me, and I suffer cruelly from the separation. It is so strange to be without you! Are we then two distinct persons? And have I dreamed only of that perfect unity which made one a part of the other and our lives inseparable until now? God knows what is best for us, and we must submit to his holy will without a murmur. I am much occupied, and find that my presence was a necessity. Write daily, and number your letters that I may know they all reach me safely. Always, my beloved daughter, "Your devoted mother,

"L. L."

A pathetic incident of her return to New Orleans is not amiss here. An old black woman — one of the slaves of the family in St. Domingo—had begged to be taken North. Mrs. Livingston answered that a complete change of habits and surroundings would make the old woman unhappy. But poor Adéle's heart-rending appeals followed her to New York and she gave way. She arrived at Montgomery very aged, very cross — almost unbearable. Seated on a wooden bench in the servants' hall, before the kitchen door, she shelled peas, for a little occupation, grumbled and found fault with everybody. Such a person could not be a favorite among her fellow-servants, but they were obliged to bear with her, for Mrs. Livingston unhesitatingly dismissed any new-comer who would not take kindly the whims and temper of this faithful old creature. Adéle lived to extreme old age, notwithstanding the snows of the North.

For twenty-five years after the death of Mr. Livingston, Mrs. Livingston struggled with confirmed ill-health, which she bore with that resolution which was part of her nature. The vivacity of her disposition was sobered by long suffering and the discipline of life; naturally her temper was quick and imperious, but she kept it under control and only used it on proper occa sions. For some years it was doubtful whether Montgomery Place would not have to be sold. With patient self-denial and intelligence Mrs. Livingston devoted all her energies to business. "Fortunately for her she had the aid of able legal friends and advisers devoted to her interests, and gradually every debt was cancelled. Her letters on business to David B. Ogden, Judge Kent, Benjamin F. Butler, Henry D. Gilpin, Randell Hunt of Louisiana, show strong understanding and ability. Mr. Randell Hunt at length succeeded in placing the celebrated Batture claim in New Orleans in a position that enabled Mrs. Livingston to enter into a compromise, which should secure a portion of a property long withheld and appropriated by the city.

"I have not troubled you with an account of the vexatious and often formidable assaults made upon your rights," wrote Mr. Hunt to her two years before the close of this case, "but I have never ceased to watch over your interests; nor have I spared any exertion, or labor, or loss of time, to redeem my plighted word of honor to you. That I have not been able to obtain a complete recognition of your full rights will not surprise you, when you reflect that Mr. Livingston himself failed for so many years to accomplish anything against a rapacious public. And when you consider the powerful influences arrayed against you, you may perhaps think that I did much in accomplishing even so little.

"It now remains, my dear madam, to determine whether you will accept the compromise offered to you.

"If you will not, I will proceed to commence a suit to enforce your claim to the lots about to be laid off by the municipality.

"If you will accept the compromise, I will thank you to send me a power of attorney to sign the act. No particular form is necessary. I am, my dear madam, very truly your faithful friend,

"Randell Hunt. "New Orleans, December 30,1850."

Mrs. Livingston agreed to the compromise, which was accepted by all parties and went into effect under an act of the Legislature. The following affectionate note is from William H. Hunt, the youngest brother of Randell — who from boyhood had been a special favorite of hers and had charge of her property in New Orleans— announcing the final close of the case— (William H. Hunt afterwards became Secretary of the Navy under President Garfield, and U. S. Minister to St. Petersburg, where he died in 1884):

"My Dear Madam,—I have taken up my pen to convey to you the agreeable intelligence which I have just now received, that the Batture suit is at length at an end, so far as the claim of the front proprietors is concerned.

"The accounts of the battures are now being made out, and the notary promises them and the money on Thursday next. I do not doubt but that this word ' batture,' which you have so long regarded with horror, will prove the means of adding more comfort to you in your old age.

"That my expectations will be realized is my sincere prayer; and perfect confidence in the result bids me tell you now— not to say again, as I know you have before thought—William is too sanguine. . . . My love to Cousin Cora.* Believe me ever,

"Your faithful friend and servant,

"William H. Hunt.

"New Orleans, April 15, 1853.

* Minister Hunt had married a great granddaughter of Chancellor Livingston.

Mr. Randell Hunt. . 161

"P. S.—I am truly pained to learn of your suffering. God grant, my dear madam, that the good news may find your health as good as I have always known your heart to be."

Some years after the conclusion of this suit, Mr. Randell Hunt paid Mrs. Livingston a visit on the Hudson. Of this visit she wrote with characteristic warmth:

"It was a great pleasure to have Randell Hunt, and I told him with truth how often I thought, while enjoying my home with my daughter, that without him it might probably have passed into the hands of strangers; for I am convinced that to his zeal still more than his talents are we indebted for the retrieval of our affairs when clouds encompassed our prospects on every side."

Mrs. Livingston kept up an occasional correspondence with Mr. Van Buren. I have before me one of his latest letters t0 her:

"Lindenwald, Nov. 28, 1846.

"My Dear Friend,—I write this in consequence of having heard that your health is worse than usual. This was, I hope, a mistaken impression, or, if otherwise, has, I trust, before this time ceased to be the case. It cannot be necessary to speak of the unfeigned solicitude which I feel upon the subject, or of the satisfaction it will afford me to learn from yourself that you are in this respect as well as I earnestly desire you to be.

"You will have seen that we have been shamefully beaten in this State. The antiRenters went against us in a body, and the Conservatives in general did the same thing. Governor Wright is, however, stronger in the State at this moment than he was before the election, and we shall soon bring matters to rights.

Death of Major Davezac. 163

"I am not sure that I have acknowledged your kind attention in respect to forwarding the swans Davezac sent me from Holland. One of them got injured on the way (from New York, I believe) and soon died. The other (the male) was kept up during the winter, and although his mate had died by his side, it seems he expected to meet her again in the pond. When brought out in the spring in good condition he seemed to search for her in all directions, and moaned most piteously for several weeks, growing gradually poorer, and at the last left the water and died on the bank—to all appearance of grief.

"Pray remember me to Mrs. Barton, and believe me ever,

"Yours truly,

"M. Van Buren."

The life at Montgomery Place was extremely retired, but their real friends found them out, and to such the welcome was cordial, full of charm and true hospitality.

On the day previous to the death of Mr. Benjamin F. Butler, in Paris, 1858, in giving messages of remembrance for several friends at home, he added, " Write to my dear friends Mrs. Livingston and Mrs. Barton, and tell them in these last hours I remembered them and their friendship. Say how I regretted not stopping at Barrytown, and that it was impossible."

In February, 1850, Major Davezac returned to the United States. He was taken ill almost immediately on his arrival in New York, and died. The accompanying lines from Mrs. Barton to me announced the sudden catastrophe: "A kinder heart never beat in a human breast— he might truly be termed the poor man's friend, not merely in words, but in deeds. At his funeral there was but one exclamation, ' Who could know him and not love Activity of him.' If such were the feelings of strangers, you may judge of mine. My poor mother was just recovering from a violent and dangerous attack of illness. The effect of such a blow on her may be imagined. It has renewed all our grief at your mother's loss." Mrs. Hunt died the year previously.

Mrs. Livingston was always ready to help young artisans and tradespeople, and many owed their success to her practical assistance when most required. Her good sense guided these acts of benevolence and made them truly useful. To the very poor her door was never closed.

Her life-long passion for books, of which I have spoken more than once, helped to make the weary hours of imprisonment in her sick-room tolerable, and softened its trials. Her eyesight improved with age, and she read several hours a day to herself; her daughter, an inimitable reader, devoting many other hours in the evening to reading to her. Again and again they reread the classics, as well as all the new books they could procure. Mrs. Livingston was particularly fond of history and biography; every new publication of the kind she devoured with the eagerness of youth. The scope of her mind was apparent from the variety and character of the books that surrounded her. Books of devotion were dear to her, and the great French and the English writers of sermons and theologians were companions of her Bible and her much marked Thomas a Kempis.

Like the fir-tree in Heine's poem, she sometimes dreamed of the palm, and, had her health permitted, would have liked once more to revisit the West India Islands; but a sea voyage was impossible.

The benignity of her disposition was striking. She was a stranger to anger. I remember once, a near relation of hers, young, high - tempered, and impetuous, answered her rudely and with impertinence when slightly reproved. Mrs. Livingston remained perfectly calm under the insult, without a harsh word or look to the offender. Such generosity touched the delinquent to the heart; no whip could have stung her so much. Overwhelmed with confusion and remorse, she burst into tears and humbly asked for pardon. The venerable lady smiled kindly and lovingly, and would scarcely listen. "Go," said she, "my child, and be happy, there is nothing to forgive at all."

She was, even in the pangs of pain, ever unselfish and strenuous for others, considerate towards friends and equals, condescending, liberal, and kind to inferiors. Her servants worshipped her. Of these the faithful gardener and manager, Alexander Gibson, his mother, and sister, are still living, after fifty years of devoted services to the family, at Montgomery Place.

The memory of her kind acts is not yet forgotten in the neighborhood where she resided. She had several scholarships, and used them freely where she found merit and a desire for education without means to procure it.

Mrs. Livingston's appearance in age was singularly striking. Notwithstanding her continued sufferings, the hand of time was not laid heavily on her, and she retained to an uncommon degree traces of the celebrated beauty of her youth. Her dress was deep black, with a high standing collar and a widow's cap. Her brown hair, with scarcely a white thread visible, was parted over a soft feminine brow still smooth and fair, her eyes were undimmed by age, and her noble countenance reflected her thoughts, and beamed with intellect, dignity, and kindly feeling.

Letter of Mr. Bancroft. 169

The close of her life was as quiet and peaceful as the beginning had been stormy and eventful. Years glided by without any noticeable incidents. Her daughter's society was all in all to her. Mrs. Barton had no children. Mrs. Livingston spoke of this with sorrow as she looked out upon the lawn and terrace where she had hoped to see grandchildren growing up around her.

A just biography of Mr. Livingston remained an unfulfilled wish dear to the heart of Mrs. Livingston. She knew intimately Prescott, Ticknor, Irving, and Bancroft, but all of these eminent American writers had other engagements which prevented such an undertaking. Mr. Bancroft's letter upon this subject is here given:

"New York, June 2, 1860.

"Dear Mrs. Livingston,—Your letter touches me so deeply that I have most earnestly desired to find myself able to accede promptly to your wishes. But on reflection I find it would be a tempting of Providence; the work which I am under engagements to the public to fulfil, with certain illustrations which I have promised to carry through, will occupy me, under the most favorable circumstances of perfect health and leisure and quiet of mind, at least from three to five years. I am already fifty-nine years old, and dare not propose -to myself new tasks. The great veneration which I feel for Mr. Livingston's name makes me wish I were a younger man; but I am constantly,by the death of my friends, reminded that I have not long to remain here, and I ought to be very grateful if my life is spared long enough to enable me to finish what I have already undertaken.

"You may regret this necessity under which I find myself placed, but you cannot regret it so much as I do.

Religious Persuasion. 171

"I am and ever shall be, with the greatest respect and regard,

"Most truly yours,

"George Bancroft."

The distinguished historian has survived this letter twenty-five'years.

During her whole life Mrs. Livingston had been devoted to her husband's family, in all its branches. Influenced by her close intimacy with Mr. Livingston's venerable and pious sister, Mrs. Garrettson, and attracted by the simplicity and fervor which the Methodists follow, she had become a devout member of the Methodist Church.

All her later friendships were based on religious sympathy, and included such Methodist divines as Bishop Simpson, Doctor Durbin, Doctor Olin, and others, eminent for talents as well as piety, who were frequently her guests at Montgomery Place.

In October, 1860, her health at last gave way. She had, as late as the 2Oth, been sufficiently well to give her own orders for dinner, and to direct from her bed her usual household arrangements. A letter from Mrs. Barton to me, dated October 2ist, contains the following account of her mother's condition. She was unaware the end was so near.

"I cannot send a letter without saying something of my mother, but there is no change to record, no improvement in strength, and since the leaves have begun to fall so rapidly, she has not come down to dinner, fearing any change of temperature. I am afraid to take her to town in so prostrate a condition. Thank God, she suffers no acute pain, and her chief malady is now an oppression of the chest, which, except when paroxysms come on, is quite bearable. Her nights are, however, restless, and she is very much troubled to know the hour; the candle sometimes has to be lighted every half-hour to look at the watch. One of the great changes is her liking to have a great many to serve her; you know how different this is from her former self. But alas! her former self is now almost a thing of memory, as I doubt if you would recognize her, so emaciated has she become. But enough on this sad, hopeless topic, which banishes all others from my mind."

Symptoms appeared, however, which were better than expected, but the power to rally was wanting. Her daughter and several near relations watched and waited. On the morning of the 23d she said to Mrs. Barton," I have had such a sweet night, God was with me." At four o'clock on the 24th a suffusion took place, and she suffered greatly, but later in the day she slumbered, and when awake was perfectly conscious. The beautiful foliage of autumn lent a glow to the light by which she was fast sinking.

The following letter from her niece, Miss Garrettson, announced the end to me:

"October 24th.

"All is over now — the restless, aching, troubled body is sleeping sweetly in-the last, last rest, which only the angels can wake to joy and immortality; quiet as an infant slumbers were the last moments. Her spirit passed away a few minutes past five. Cora, after the first agony, is calm."

From the same affectionate source I had more details in a letter of Nov. ist:

"Dear Cora would sit beside the coffin, and in the church was like a statue, painful to look upon, until the last kiss was placed by her upon the coffin-lid, and then she broke down. Our dear aunt was conveyed to the grave on last Sunday. The day was perfect, the fading beauties of earth seemed typically represented in the season, opening the way to a glorious immortality. The last time she had sent for me it was to talk over spiritual things. She told me of her first religious impressions, which dated back to her youth, and had 'deepened with the trials of life; we talked and prayed together; it was a sweet interview which I have to remember."

The piety of this lofty and accomplished lady was that of the simplest of persons. It was the custom of her life constantly to prostrate her bowed form in fervent prayer. As her end approached (so it is I remember her), while she seemed to have a still deeper appreciation of the beauties of nature than ever, gifted though she was with extraordinary sensibilities, she turned constantly to the world beyond the grave with a degree of faith which made of her closing years an example. She seemed ready as mortal may be when the end itself came. She gave her blessings t0 those immediately about her, and her heart warmed more and more to the yeomanry who were her neighbors, the worthy farmers among whom she had lived in the town of Red Hook. It was then that she directed that they should bear her remains to their last resting-place. She was buried in the Methodist Church at Rhinebeck, about seven miles from Montgomery Place.

Mrs. Livingston was seventy-eight years of age. She had outlived most of her generation.

In the drawing-room at Montgomery Place there is a portrait in oil representing Mrs. Livingston in the brilliancy of her youth and beauty, at the age of seventeen. The eyes are large, dark, and almondshaped, the eyebrows arched and pencilled, the nose straight and delicate, the mouth refined and expressive, the oval of the face perfect. Perhaps the most striking point in her appearance is the distinguished air. One is forcibly reminded of the beauties of France in the galleries at Versailles. The shori waist of the dress belongs to the fashions of the First Empire; her hair is powdered, two rows of coral beads and a string of pearls encircle her slender throat, and her ear-rings are long, pear-shaped pearls. The complexion is extremely white and fair.

Looking about the room, the illusion continues. The draperies and furniture are of the same p.eriod, and all French; this was Mrs. Livingston's favorite drawingroom, and repeated one of Mrs. Madison's at the White House.

Aside from motives of personal affection, the record which here closes is given to the public, because it seems that there are points of general and abiding interest in the career of its subject, who, although she was careful never to depart from the sphere of true womanhood, was an intelligent and useful influence at several epochs of our history. American annals are enriched by many names taken from her sex. It is thought they ought to have some place for Mrs. Livingston's.

Memoir of Mrs. Edward Livingston APPENDIX.

In the year 1870 Mrs. Barton went to France to direct the publication of a new edition of her father's works on Penal Law. The first edition, which had appeared in 1822, was exhausted. She received great assistance and sympathy in this undertaking from several of her father's friends still living. Mr. Charles Lucas, of the French Institute, an early friend of Mr. Livingston, wrote the Preface to the new edition, and interested himself in everything concerning its publication. The French edition appeared just in time for the opening of the Prison Congress in London, July 9, 1872, simultaneously with a new edition of the Penal Code in English, published under the auspices of the American Prison Association. Mrs. Barton returned to America satisfied that she had perpetuated her father's works in both languages by the two new editions, just at the time most needed, and before his old friends had all passed away.

She now concluded negotiations, which had been some time pending, with the Library of the city of Boston for the sale of her husband's library, considered one of the most valuable private collections in America. From the Twenty-first Annual Report of the Trustees, City Document No. 88, pp. 10 and 82f, I make the following extracts:

"The most important event of the year has been the acquisition of the Barton Library, for which the negotiations were completed just previous to its close. An account of the volumes acquired, which did not come to the Library until after the beginning of the new library year, will find an appropriate place in the next Report of the Trustees. It is sufficient to say now that it is the most intrinsically valuable addition yet made to the Library, and that it has placed the institution in a position which will render it still more invaluable and indispensable to every cultivator of elegant letters in the country. From the initial correspondence to the final termination of the purchase, Mrs. Cora Livingston Barton, the widow of Thomas P. Barton, the collector of the Library, conducted herself with a liberality founded on generous impulses and a large cultivation. For the purpose of fulfilling the expressed wishes of Mr. Barton, and of keeping

the Library together as one collection, and in placing it within the means of our institution, she undoubtedly made a large pecuniary sacrifice. In her sudden death the Trustees experienced a sense of personal loss. Indeed, the whole transaction was as creditable to her as it was advantageous to the city.

"Early in May the delivery of the books from her house in New York City began, which was completed before the close of the month, by the despatch of four cases from Montgomery Place, her residence at Barrytown-on-Hudson, whither had been sent from New York, a few days previously, five cases containing her own books, and the others to be retained by her during her lifetime. The whole library was packed in about seventy cases.

"Within two days after this fulfilment of the agreement, Mrs. Barton, early on the morning of the 22d May, suddenly died at Montgomery Place.

"This bare narration gives no idea of the generous spirit with which this most estimable lady carried forward every step of the contract. The library had been left to her by her husband's will, without condition, to do with as she pleased. But she knew that his desire had been that the labor of his lifetime should not be lost by a separation of his dearly prized books, and she determined that his wishes should be literally carried out. In doing this, she gave to the Barton Library everything in her possession which could add value to the collection—the correspondence, autographs, and plates, which would illustrate and complete it. She added a mask of Shakespeare's face, taken at Mr. Barton's expense from the monument at Stratford-on-Avon, and a statuette of Richard III., the work of Rogers."

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Notes

1. Capuchin A Catholic friar.

Text Prepared by:

• Grace Rivet
• Claire Ross

Summer 2021 Group:

• Ryan Price
• Sidney Smith

Source

Cable, George Washington. "Posson Jone'" and Père Raphaël: With a New Word Setting Forth How and Why the Two Tales Are One. Illus. Stanley M. Arthurs. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1909. Google Books. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://books. google.com/books?id=bzhLAAAAIAAJ>.

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