stitution was ratified, he was elected a member of the first Congress that convened under that charter in the city of New York, in 1789. He declined an election the second time, and retired from public life.

In 1784 General Floyd purchased some wild land upon the Mohawk, and when he retired to private life, he commenced the clearing up and cultivation of those lands. So productive was the soil, and so attractive was the beauty of that country, that in 1803 he moved thither, although then sixty-nine years old. He directed his attention to the cultivation of his domain, and in a few years, the "wilderness blossomed as the rose," and productive farms spread out on every side.

In 1800 he was chosen a Presidential Elector; and in 1801 he was a delegate in the Convention that revised the Constitution of the State of New York. He was subsequently chosen a member of the State Senate, and was several times a Presidential Elector. The last time that he served in that capacity was a year before his death, which occurred on the fourth day of August, 1821, when he was eighty-seven years of age. Mr. Floyd had always enjoyed robust health, and he retained his mental faculties in their wonted vigor, until the last. His life was a long and active one; and, as a thorough business man, his services proved of great public utility during the stormy times of the Revolution, and the no less tempestuous and dangerous period when our government was settling down upon its present steadfast basis. Decision was a leading feature in his character, and trifling obstacles never thwarted his purposes when his opinion and determination were fixed. And let it be remembered that this noble characteristic, decision, was a prominent one with all of that sacred band who signed the charter of our emancipation, and that without this, men cannot be truly great, or eminently useful.

MONG the brilliant names of the Revolutionary era, none shine with a purer lustre, than that of Livingston. Like the name of Wolcott, from the early settlement of our country to the present time, that name has been conspicuously honored, and has held a large place in the public esteem.

Philip Livingston was descended from a Scotch minister of the gospel, of exemplary character, who, in 1663

left Scotland and settled in Rotterdam, where he died. His son Robert (the father of the subject of this brief sketch) soon after his father's decease, emigrated to America, and, under the patroon privileges, obtained a grant of a large tract of land upon the Hudson River, (now in Columbia County,) ever since known as Livingston's Manor. He had three sons, of whom Philip was the oldest, and who became, on the death of his father, heir to the manor.*

Philip was born at Albany, on the fifteenth of January, 1716. After completing a preparative course of study, he entered Yale College, at New Haven, where he graduated with distinguished honor in 1737. He at once turned his attention to commercial pursuits, and engaged in an extensive and lucrative business in the city of New York, where his integrity and upright dealings won for him the profound respect of the whole community.

Mr. Livingston first entered upon public life in 1754, when he was elected an Alderman of the East Ward of the city of New York. For nine consecutive years he was re-elected to that office, and always gave entire satisfaction to his constituents.

When Sir Charles Hardy, the Governor of the Colony of New York, was appointed a rear-admiral in the British

navy, the government devolved upon the lieutenant, Delancey, who at once, on the resignation of the governor, dissolved the General Assembly and ordered new elections. These contests at that time were very warm, but the superior education and influence of the Livingston family secured for Philip and his brother Robert, seats

* His two brothers, Robert and Gilbert, were influential men at that time. The former was the father of Chancellor Livingston, who administered the inaugural oath to Washington, in 1789; and the latter was the father of the late Rev. John Livingston, D. D., President of Rutger's College, New Jersey.

† At that time the city contained only about eleven thousand inhabitants; and what is now called Wall street, was quite at the north part of the town.

in that body. It was a period of much agitation and alarm,* and required sterling men in legislative councils. Mr. Livingston soon became a leader among his colleagues, and by his superior wisdom and sagacity, measures were set on foot which resulted in the capture from the French of several important frontier fortresses, and finally the subjugation of Canada.

For some time previous to the Revolution, nearly all the Colonies had resident agents in England. The celebrated Edmund Burke was the agent for New York when the war broke out, and it is believed that his enlightened views of American affairs, as manifested in his brilliant speeches in Parliament in defence of the Colonies, were derived from his long continued and constant correspondence with Philip Livingston, who was appointed one of a committee of the New York Assembly, for that purpose. He was very influential in that body, and early took a decided stand against the unrighteous acts of Great Britain. He was the associate and leader of such men as General Schuyler, Pierre Van Cortlandt, Charles De Witt, &c., and so long as whig principles had the ascendency in the Provincial Assembly, he was the Speaker of the House. When toryism took possession of the province he left the Assembly. In 1774, Mr. Livingston was elected a delegate to the first Continental Congress, and was on the committee that prepared the address to the people of Great Britain; an address replete with bold and original thoughts, perspicuous propositions and convincing arguments. The next year the Assembly presented such an array of tories, that it was impossible to

* The "French and Indian War," which was the American division of the famous "Seven Years' War," was then at its height, and the brilliant successes of Montcalm upon the northern frontier of New York, gave the people great uneasiness.

† William Pitt, the great Earl of Chatham, speaking of that first Congress, and the addresses put forth by it, said: "I must declare and aver, that in all my reading and study-and it has been my favorite study-I have read Thucydides, and

a April, 1775.

elect delegates to the second Congress. Accordingly several counties* of New York sent delegates to a Provincial Convention," which body elected delegates to the General Congress, among whom was Philip Livingston, and his nephew, Robert R. Livingston. These delegates were vested with power to act as circumstances should require.

Mr. Livingston warmly supported the proposition for Independence, and he voted for and signed the Declaration thereof. This was sanctioned by the Provincial Assembly of New York.

When the State governments were formed, after the Declaration of Independence, Mr. Livingston was elected a member of the first Senate of New York, which met on the tenth of September, 1777. In 1778, although his health was in a precarious state, occasioned by dropsy in the chest, he obeyed the calls of duty, and took his seat in Congress, to which he had been elected. He had a presentiment that he should not return to his family, and accordingly on his departure, he bade his family and friends a final adieu. On the twelfth of June following, his presentiment became a reality, and his disease then suddenly terminated his life, at the age of sixty-two years. No relative was near to smooth his dying pillow, except his son Henry, a lad of eighteen years, then residing in the family of General Washington.

b May,

1778.

Mr. Livingston was zealous in the promotion of every enterprise conducive to the public welfare,† and has left behind him a name and fame that kings might covet.

have studied and admired the master spirits of the world—that for solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, under such a complication of circumstances, no nation, or body of men, can stand in preference to the General Congress at Philadelphia.

* New York, Albany, Dutchess, Ulster, Orange, Westchester, Kings, and Suffolk. † He was one of the founders of the New York Society Library; also, of the Chamber of Commerce; and was an active promoter of the establishment of King's (now Columbia) College.