0*^ o5^. o V ^ ■ .^\*j;:^v\. ./..:^^^^'^-o / -^^- -v^.:^:^:. V / .^^ 'v %/ ' ^^^^^' ■^j. 'o . t .0^ /.i5^.*°o /.-i.;^/*-^. ^°/^i.°- y ^^-V. Het). JHr. JDuttan'0 ^^bk 5^. A SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND CHARACTER HON. SIMEON BALDWIN. AN ADDRESS AT THE FUNERAL OF HON. SIMEON BALDWIN MAY 28, 1851, V X SAMUEL wKs: BUTTON, Pastor of the North Church in New Haven. PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. NEW HAVEN: A. H. MALTBY, No. 67 CHAPEL STREET 1851. Esoz. Si ^11? Printed by STORER & MOREHOUSE, FRANKLIN OFFICE, New Haven, Conn. ADDRESS. It is but a little more than five weeks since we met in this Sanctuary, to pay our tribute of respect and affection to one of our eminent patriarchs, before we committed his body to the tomb. At that time, in answer to the inquiry, where are those, who, a few years since, were regarded as the fathers of the legal profession in this city, it was said, " But one remains. Would, for our sakes, though not for his, that he might remain here always. But it will not be. It can hardly be said that he is here : for he is daily wait- ing in the serenity of patience and hope, and in the confi- dence of faith, for his departure." He has departed! Judge Daggett and Judge Baldwin, intimate in their friendship through a long life, are scarcely divided in death. Judge Baldwin, universally respected and be- loved — we shall see him no more here below ! His life- less body is before us ; and we are here to pay to his memory, before we perform the rites of burial, the just tribute of a review of his life and his virtues. Simeon Baldwin was born December 14th, 1761, in the town of Norwich, in what is now the State, but was then the colony of Connecticut ; and of course on the day of his decease. May 26th, 1851, had passed through five months and twelve days of his ninetieth year ; thus extending his earthly pilgrimage through the average life- time of three generations. He was the youngest among seven children of Ebenezer Baldwin, the grandson of Thomas Baldwin, and great grandson of John Baldwin, the first ancestor of this branch of the Baldwin family in this country. John Baldwin came from England with the Puritan emigrants from the counties of Bucks, Surry and Kent, who accompanied their pastors. Rev. Messrs. Daven- port, Prudden and Whitfield, and began the settlement of New Haven, Milford and Guilford, Of these emigrants, six families bore the name of Baldwin. John Baldwin's name appears on the records of the town of Guilford, in the tax list of the planters and inhabitants of that town, in 1646. It appears, also, from these records, that he was married there in 1653, and had a son born there in 1654, and a daughter in 1656 ; and it appears, moreover, from the records of Norwich, that he was one of thirty-five propri- etors who purohased and settled that town in 1660. At that time he removed with his family to that place, and took up his residence on the town lot assigned to him. On this same spot, were born his son Thomas, his grandson Ebenezer, and his great grandson Simeon, our deceased friend. The parents of Simeon Baldwin were devout and godly persons, who by prayer, faith and Christian nurture devoted their children to Christ and his church. He had the misfortune to lose by death his own mother when he was a little more than a year old ; but her place was in due time supplied so well by a second wife of his father, that he never knew or could see any difference, as he has often said, between her and a real mother. His father combined, as is often the case in the early history of colo- nies, mechanical and agricultural pursuits. He was a man trusted, honored and useful in the civil and religious affairs of Norwich, an active member of the church, a magistrate of the town, and its representative in the General As- sembly. Mr Baldwin thus favored by early parental injfluence, was also eminently favored in the instruction which for a time he received in studies preparatory for admission to college. He went, at the age of thirteen, to reside in the family and under the tuition of his oldest brother, Rev. Ebenezer Baldwin, pastor of the Congregational church in Danbury, who was then, though in early life, one of the most eminent ministers, accomplished scholars and active philanthropists and patriots in the colony. Judge Trum- bull, in a memoir of his own life, and the various writers on the history of Yale College, make honorable mention of him as one of an able body of tutors, who, entering upon their office at a period when the college had fallen into disfavor among many of the civilians of the State, and was in a great measure forsaken by its students on account of general dissatisfaction with its administration, by their eminent scholarship, affable manners, efficient authority, and modes of instruction adapted to the progress of the times, contributed much to raise again its reputation, re- store it to confidence, and repair its prosperity. The late Chancellor Kent, who was under his tuition at Danbury, with Simeon Baldwin, whose classmate he was in college, and through life his admiring and familiar friend, in an ad- dress before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, in 1831, alludes to Rev. Ebenezer Baldwin, as his early preceptor, with an affectionate warmth which time had not chilled and death had hallowed, and gives a touching tribute to his worth and virtues. He calls him " a great and excellent man," and gives a glowing eulogy on his piety, his learning, his eloquence, judgment and patriotism. Our friend commenced his studies with his brother, in Danbury, at a most trying period of our American history, in 1774, when the colonies were burdened under the oppressive measures of the British Government ; and pa- triotic and courageous men were actively engaged in pre- paring for the daring, and to any but the righteous and the brave, desperate work of resistance and revolution. His recollections of that period were vivid and accurate ; and he has often spoken in late years of the active part which his brother took in that work preparatory to our struggle for civil liberty, thinking that struggle sacred, chiefly be- cause it involved religious liberty. Particularly has he spoken of an address, which his brother published in the year 1774, under his own signature, to the people of the western part of the colony, to rouse them to a sense of the danger in which their liberties were then involved, by measures of the British Government, which, as he clearly showed, violated alike their natural rights as men and their constitutional rights as Englishmen ; and also of a sermon which his brother preached, and afterwards published by request, on Thanksgiving Day, in November, 1775, that was designed to keep up the spirits of the people in the dangerous struggle in which they were then fully engaged, by the events that had occurred during the year then draw- ing to a close, especially the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill. A vivid idea of the vast changes which have taken place during our friend's lifetime is conveyed by a fact that he has often narrated. A rumor reached Danbury that a battle had been fought on Bunker's Hill, but no definite intelligence had been received there of its charac- ter or issue. This was nearly three weeks after the battle. So, to procure satisfactory information, Simeon Baldwin, then fourteen years old, was sent on horseback fifteen miles to the house of the clergyman in New Milford, to borrow the Hartford paper, which contained an account, official probably, of that engagement. On his return the inhabitants of the town assembled in great numbers around the house of his brother to hear it read. How much is embraced in a life, one extreme of which is in such a peri- od, and the other in a period, when the nerves of intelli- gence, reaching to all points in a country extended tenfold, are literally operated by the power and with the speed of the lightning ! But the distinguished advantages of our friend under the tuition of his brother, after continuing about two years, were calamitously cut off In the impending and gloomy campaign of 1776, when the defence of New York, threat- ened by the British army of 30,000, well disciplined and well equipped, had become nearly desperate, Rev. Eben- ezer Baldwin, (we use here the language of Chancellor Kent) " was incessant in his efforts to cheer and animate his townsmen to join the militia, which were called out for the defence of New York. To give weight to his eloquent exhortations, he added that of his heroic example. He went voluntarily as a chaplain to one of the militia regi- ments. His office was pacific, but he nevertheless arrayed himself in military armor. I was present (adds Chancellor Kent,) when he firmly and cheerfully bade adieu to his devoted parishioners and affectionate pupils." This was about the first of August, 1776. Soon after his arrival at New York, Simeon, then fourteen years old, went at his summons on horseback to carry to him some clothing and provisions. He remained a short time in New York, and was sent back by his brother, who anticipated the next day an attack from the enemy's forces. When the anticipated attack took place, Mr. Baldwin's horse was taken with all his baggage. The loss of his clothing subjected him to severe exposure, especially in the chilly nights; which, with other hardships of his service in ministering to the sick and suffering soldiers, resulted in a fever that prevailed . 8 in the camp. Intelligence of his sickness was immediately sent to Danbury, and Simeon was dispatched to New York to convey him to his home ; which he accomplished, though they were detained for a time at a town on the way by the severity of his brother's disease. He then went immedi- ately from Danbury to Norwich to summon the family friends. They arrived just in season to hear the last words, and witness the death, at the early age of thirty- one, of this, one of the most promising and heroic of the clerical martyrs to our national freedom. His eminent reputation and worth may be inferred from the fact, that, notwithstanding his youth, he was the favorite candidate for the Presidency of Yale College, then occupied pro tcm,po7'e by Professor Daggett, and would undoubtedly have been chosen to that office, had his life been continued. Being thus bereaved of the instruction of his brother, Mr. Baldwin pursued his preparatory studies partly at Coventry with Rev. Mr. Huntington, and partly at Leba- non at the school of Mr. Tisdale, then a teacher of high reputation in Connecticut. He entered Yale College in the year 1777, during the Presidency of Rev. Dr. Daggett, and graduated with honor in 1781. Of that class he was the last survivor. On the recent triennial catalogue every name except his is prefixed with the fatal star. The whole of his college life was in the stormy and exciting period of the revolutionary war, and at times the college was entirely forsaken, the students being distributed under the care of th'eir instructors, in different towns in the state. They were in New Haven, however, at the time of the attack on this place by detachments of British troops un- der Generals Try on and Garth; and Mr. Baldwin with a company of his fellow students, joined the forces which were hastily collected to resist them, at what was then and is now called " Neck Bridge," a bridge over the western 9 branch of the Qiiinnipiack river, near Cedar Hill. He par- ticipated at that point in a skirmish in which a man stand- ing near him was shot. During the year after his graduation he commenced the study of the law, in New Haven, with Judge Chauncey ; but in the next year, having been appointed, in connection with John Lovett of the next following class, to the charge of the Academy at Albany, he removed to that city ; where he resided in the family of Peter Yates, then an eminent lawyer in that place, of whose valuable law library he availed himself for the continuance of his professional studies so far as was compatible with his duties as teacher. He there formed a pleasant acquaintance with Edward and Brockholdst Livingston, who were both pursuing their legal studies at that time under the direction of Mr. Yates. Here again we get a striking view of the changes which his long life has witnessed in this fact, that at that time there were but sixteen counsellors at the bar in the whole State of New York, with all of whom Mr. Baldwin became acquainted. Among his pupils at the Academy in Albany were John V. Henry, who afterwards became an eminent lawyer, and Francis Bloodgood, who was for many years a judge of the Supreme Court of that State. In 1783, two years after his graduation, he entered on the office of tutor in Yale College ; which he filled with ability and fidelity for three years, pursuing at the same time the study of law with Judge Chauncey, till 1786, when, with his early and life-long friend, David Daggett, he was admitted to the bar of New Haven County, and entered on the practice of his profession in this town. Four years after, in 1790, he was appointed by Judge Law clerk of the district and circuit courts of the United States, and continued to perform the duties of that office, in connection with an extensive pro- fessional practice in the state courts, for thirteen years, till 2 10 the autumn of 1803, when he was elected a representative from Connecticut of the eighth Congress of the United States, with Roger Griswold, Calvin Goddard, and S. W. Dana as his associates. He attended the two sessions of that Congress, which expired in 1805, when he declined a re-election, resumed his practice at the bar, and was re- appointed by Judge Law clerk of the district and circuit courts. In 1806, when he was forty-five years of age, he was appointed by the legislature of the state an associate judge of the Superior Court and of the Supreme Court of Errors. In that office he was continued for eleven years, by annual appointment, which was the custom under the old constitution, till 1817, when the federal party went out of power in the state. He then returned to his practice at the bar. In 1822 he was appointed by the General As- sembly one of the commissioners to locate the Farmington Canal, and was made President of that board. In 1826 he was chosen Mayor of the city of New Haven. In 1830, in his 7'Oth year, after having seen the Canal located and completed to the Connecticut river at Northampton, he resigned his position as commissioner, and since that time has held no public office. The practice of his profes- sion, however, as counsellor and adviser, chiefly at his own office, he has pursued, notwithstanding his age, till within a few years. During his practice at the bar, before he was appointed judge, he occasionally taught in his office students at law, some of whom in after life became eminent. Among these may be mentioned the late Jeremiah Mason, who cherished for him through life a respectful and affectionate regard. At the age of twenty-six, about a year after he was ad- mitted to the bitr, Mr. Baldwin married Rebecca, daughter of the Hon. Roger Sherman, of New Haven, a man justly 11 renowned as one of the committee who reported the Dec- laration of Independence, and one of the signers of that in- strument, and as one of the ablest members of the conven- tion which formed the Constitution of the United States. She deceased in 1795, after a married life of eight years, having been the mother of four children. Of these, two survive him, one of whom has always dwelt under her father's roof in the constant and affectionate exercise of filial fidelity and devotion.* Five years after the death of his wife, on the 13th of April, 1800, Mr. Baldwin married Elizabeth, another daughter of Hon. Roger Sherman, and widow of Sturges Burr. With her he was permitted by a kind Providence to live in happy union for half a century, till July, 1850, when she deceased at the age of eighty-five. Five children were the offspring of this marriage, two of whom survive. The commencement of Judge Baldwin's religious life he was never able to date ; and it was partly for this rea- son, and partly from his very high idea of the spiritual characteristics which are necessary to evince piety, that he deferred to a late period his union with a Christian church. He made a profession of his faith in Christ, and of his de- votion to his service, by uniting with the North Church in New Haven, in August, 1831, during his seventieth year. But, for many years before that time, his pastor and his friends had regarded him as truly a religious man. In- deed, from his youth, he seemed to have practised many of the Christian virtues, and to have maintained a deportment in respect to moral and religious things, which cannot ea- sily be accounted for except on the supposition that he possessed real piety. From his early days, and especially * The other is Hon, Roger Sherman Baldwin, late Senator of the United States from Connecticut. 12 after he assumed the responsibilities of professional and married life, he was an earnest and liberal supporter of re- ligious institutions, a regular, reverent, and devout attend- ant on divine worship and the preaching of divine truth, a lover of Christian people, and remarkable for his kind, con- siderate, delicate, decided and persevering friendship to Christian ministers, especially his own pastors. In the great religious awakening which prevailed in New Haven, in 1831, he was quickened, and caused to feel that he ought not longer to defer his union with Christ's professed people. And from that time, though he has never indulged in strong declarations of his religious feelings, and has never felt that he could profitably take the attitude of pub- lic religious teaching or exhortation, he has scrupulously attended to religious duties, and has manifestly been grow- ing in godliness, in spiritual peace, comfort, hope and joy, and in meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light. The intellectual and moral qualities of Judge Baldwin were such as eminently fitted him for the duties of the high judicial office, which he held for eleven years in the maturity of his life ; and also to attract, as he did, the universal respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens, and the admiration and love of all his familiar friends. Never was it more true of any one than of him, that none knew him but to love him, nor named him but to praise. His intellectual qualities, as they were developed in his life, were so blended with, and affected by his moral quali- ties, that it is difficult in any analysis of his character to distinguish them, and set them forth separately. His judg- ment was uncommonly sound, thorough and well-balanced. He had the power of perceiving truth and evidence clear- ly and accurately. His own ideas were conceived defi- nitely and fully. He understood perfectly the limits of 13 his knowlege. He always knew what he did know, and what he did not know ; and what he did know he knew well, and what he did not know he either learned thorough- ly, or let alone. He had a power of perspicuous and ex- act statement, which enabled him always to communicate to others his knowledge or opinions clearly and accurately. His memory was remarkably ready, capacious, methodical and retentive ; and was able to unfold, even to his last months, the large and rich treasures gathered during nearly a whole century. His love of truth and of equity was strong and warm, though never violent ; and it always guided and controlled his feelings and conduct. He was candid, impartial and uninfluenced by prejudice, to a de- gree rarely witnessed and never surpassed. All his ac- quaintances will agree that a more fair-minded man they never knew^ His integrity was disinterested, upright and inflexible ; and his fidelity was scrupulous, industrious and thorough. His qualities were not those which dazzled by their brilliancy, or overwhelmed by their rapidity and en- ergy ; but they were those which inspired entire and uni- versal confidence. They qualified him peculiarly for the office of Judge of the Superior Court, which he held for eleven years, and should have held for fourteen years more till he reached the age of seventy. It is one of the evils incident, among far superior benefits, to popular gov- ernments, an evil which should be carefully guarded against, that political conflicts and changes sometimes result in the discontinuance of such men in such offices as that of Judge of our higher Courts. Such men in such offices should be retained, to whatever party they belong. Judge Baldwin has so far outlived his generation, that very few in the State have any adequate recollection of his administration of the judicial office. But one of the few, Hon. Thomas Day, who was then and is now Reporter for 14 the Superior Court of Connecticut, has been so kind as to give me a brief statement of his opinion of the judi- cial character of Judge Baldwin — an opinion with which Chief Justice Williams has expressed entire coinci- dence. I take the liberty to quote it : " Everybody, [says he,] in New Haven, knew Mr. Baldwin as a man ; a few may recollect him as a lawyer. I had good op- portunities of knowing him as a Judge ; but all that was distinctive of him in that capacity may be said in a few words. His judgment was sound, the result of thorough investigation and reflection. He was as free from bias as any man that ever gave an opinion. He was not deficient in the learning obtained from books ; but he relied more on his own good sense than on the subtleties or refinements of the law. He had less versatility than some other men. Indeed, the excellence of Judge Baldwin consisted in his being always the same — the same upright, deliberate, in- telligent man. His leading qualities as a Judge were those which were conspicuous in him everywhere. Everybody had confidence in him whether on or off the bench." Judge Baldwin was a man of great amiableness and kind- ness, — the result of a fine native disposition, cultured by principle, and purified by grace. He was always careful never to harm the interest or wound the feelings of any one, and was disposed to accommodate everybody. This kindness of heart, united with his love of equity, and his sound judgment, made him a true, decided, and wise philanthropist. The poor, the depressed, and especially the oppressed, always found in him a considerate, tender, and prudent friend. He imitated, in this respect, our di- vine Lord, as he is described in the language of poetic prophecy, " He shall deliver the needy when he crieth, the poor also, and him that hath no helper." In sympathy 15 with the Latin poet, he counted himself a man, and deem- ed nothing human alien from himself He was always the friend of that race who have encountered an extraordina- ry share of earth's wrongs and miseries ; and, in the ear- lier part of his professional life, was especially active in their behalf He received a strong tendency in this direction, not only from his own feelings and principles, but also from the example of his brother, Rev. Ebenezer Baldwin. In an unpublished memoir of his brother, which Judge Baldwin prepared only two years since, speaking of his brother, and others who sympathized with him, he uses the following language: " While contemplating and endeav- oring to enforce the sublime idea that all men are endow- ed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, they found that among ourselves these self-evi- dent truths were disregarded in a long-established system of negro slavery. To remove this beam from our own eyes, that we might see clearly to remove the mote from our brother's eyes, Rev. Mr. Edwards, of New Haven, (af- terwards Dr. Edwards, President of Union College,) and Mr. Baldwin, by agreement, addressed the public in a se- ries of essays. While yet a tutor in College, Mr. Baldwin had attended as a delegate, and officiated as a scribe of the council which ordained Mr. Edwards in the ministry at New Haven. They became intimate friends, and as they harmonized in sentiment on the great questions of public liberty which then agitated the country, so also were their opinions in unison in regard to the unlawfulness of slavery. Their essays on that subject, which were published alter- nately in Green's paper in New Haven, in the years 1773 and 1774, excited much attention, caused many emancipa- tions, and contributed to produce a course of measures which eventually abolished slavery, not only in Connecti- 16 cut, but in all the Northern States." One of these meas- ur^g^dopted after Mr. Baldwin's death, waR the formation of " The Connecticut Society for the j^romotion of free- dom, and for the relief of persons unlawfully held in bond- je.'X^ In the origin and operations of this Anti-Slavery Soci^y, which was formed in 1790, the year after the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, Simeon Baldwin, sharing the spirit and principles of his brother, and taking up his mantle, bore an active part. The chief arti- cle of the constitution of this society was in these words : " The members of this society shall, individually and col- lectively, co-operate with such societies as have been, or hereafter may be, formed in the United States of America, or other parts of the world, for the extension of freedom, or the abolition of slavery; they shall endeavor to enforce an obedience to the laws which are or shall be enacted in this State for the progressive extension of freedom, and shall, to the utmost of their power, afford relief to persons unlawfully holden in bondage ; they shall also endeavor to promote the education, enlighten the minds, and correct the morals of the negroes, to render them industrious, and to furnish them with the means of honest employment." Of this society, Mr. Baldwin was the most active member, being its secretary, conducting all its correspondence, and directing in its arrangements. A short time since, he placed in the hands of the writer many documents, pub- lished by that society, most of them sermons against slave- ry by eminent clergymen, or petitions to Congress to act, so far as it constitutionally could, for the removal of sla- very. They all bear his name as secretary. Judge Baldwin was uncommonly charitable in his judg- ment of others. Though he had decided opinions, and was strict in his views of right and wrong, he yet always thought and spoke kindly of those who differed from him. 17 He had also singular simplicity and transparency of char- acter. He was ever open and frank in his feelings, his words and his conduct. He was wise, but never crafty; prudent, but never cunning, — " an Israelite, indeed, in whom there was no guile." Judge Baldwin was a man of public spirit. The in- terests of churches and ecclesiastical societies, of the town, the city, the college, the country, the world, were near his heart ; and, though cautious and discreet, he was always ready, whether in youth, maturity, or old age, to partake in any reasonable measure for their advancement. His private interests he never allowed to stand in the way of public advantage. Judge Baldwin's kindness of heart, his considerate and delicate regard for the feelings of others, his frankness and openness of character, his large acquaintance with distin- guished men and cultivated society, and his easy manners and affable conversation, made him remarkable for his cour- tesy. He was a true Christian gentleman. The equanimity of Judge Baldwin was rarely equalled. Though he had strong and delicate sensibilities, and though he passed through many severe domestic bereavements and afflictions, and has had a share of trouble from the un- just and hard dealings of the world, and the variations of fortune, yet, such were his self-control and balance of mind, and so cheerful and grateful were his views of divine Providence, that his soul was always calm and even serene. In speaking of the moral qualities of our deceased friend, I have used strong and earnest language ; for this alone would justly describe them. And sure I am that those who have known him well will not accuse me of going be- yond the bounds of due commendation. Indeed in describ- ing Judge Baldwin as a sound-minded, fair-minded, pure- 3 18 minded, and true-hearted man, it is difficult to say anything which is extravagant. The degree in which Judge Baldwin retained his intel- lectual and most of his bodily powers was very extraordi- nary ; owing, doubtless, partly to a good native constitution, but more to a wise temperance, and his entire equanimity. His hearing was indeed seriously impaired ; but his form was, to the last, as erect, and his step almost as firm as in youth. And in his mind there was no perceptible failure, even in his four-score and tenth year ! Three years since, he ap- peared before a committee of the Legislature, and plead a cause in which he was interested, as ably as if he had been in his meridian. And lately, at a meeting of the bar of New Haven county, occasioned by the death of Judge Daggett, he made a brief address, without opportunity of preparation, with all the clearness, method and justness of thought and expression, for which he has ever been distin- guished. Nevertheless, the time of his death was ordered in great kindness. For a disease, well known to all who looked upon his face,* which, though it has been spreading for a few years past, had hitherto given him pain, only or chiefly, in anticipation, had arrived at a stage, that would have rendered a prolonged life a grievous burden. He was submissively willing to wait all his appointed time till his change should come ; yet he desired to depart, not only that he might enter upon his heavenly rest, but that he might be saved from the evils of his threatening disease. In view of the time of his departure, as well as of the whole course of his life, we may well use, with slight varia- tions, the language of one of our poets : * A Cancer. 19 " Why weep ye then for hhri, who having run The bound of man's appointed years, at last, Life's blessings all enjoyed, life's labors done, Serenely to his final rest has past ; While the soft memory of his virtues, yet. Lingers like twilight hues, when the bright sun is set. " His youth was innocent ; his riper age, Marked with some act of goodness, every day ; And watched by eyes that loved him, calm, and sage, Faded his last declining years away. Cheerful he gave his being up, and went To share the holy rest that waits a life well spent. " That life was happy ; every day he gave Thanks for the fair existence that was his ; For a sick fancy made him not her slave, To mock him with her phantom miseries. No chronic tortures racked his aged limb, For luxury and sloth had nourished none for him. " We may be glad that he has lived thus long. And glad that he has gone to his reward ; Nor deem that kindly nature did him wrong, Softly to disengage the vital cord. When his weak hand grew palsied, and his eye Dark with the mists of age, it was his time to die." The exercises of Judge Baldwin's mind, during his last weeks and days, were as pleasant to reflect upon as his whole life is in the review. The substantial hope of eter- nal life which for years he had indulged, on the ground of his faith in the Savior of sinners, had gradually increased to a confident assurance, which he frequently, though modestly, expressed. He knew that he trusted the Sa- vior ; and he knew that the Savior's promises were sure. He knew in whom he believed, and was persuaded that his soul, thus intrusted to that Savior's hands, would be saved and blest. He delighted in prayer. And when, 20 through weakness, it was difficult for him to direct his own thoughts, — to have another come daily and offer prayer for him and with him, at his bedside, was a pleasure, for which he exhausted the expressions of gratitude. He had frequently prayed that he might have an easy issue from the body into the joy of his Lord ; and it was granted. He passed gradually and quietly away, without apparent suffering. " How blest the righteous when he dies ! When sinks his weary soul to rest, How mildly beam the closing eyes, How gently heaves the expiring breast ! " So fades a summer cloud away ; So sinks the gale when storms are o'er ; So gently shuts the eye of day ; So dies a wave along the shore." 21 RESOLUTIONS OF THE COMMON COUNCIL. _ At a meeting of the Mayor, Aldermen and Common Council of the city of New Haven, Jield on the 26th day of May, A. D. 1851, the following preamble and resolutions were unanimously passed. Whereas, it has pleased Divine Providence to remove by death, Hon. Simeon Baldwin, venerable for his great age, for the singular worth of his public and private character, and for his eminent services to this city, and this State, in many stations of honor and usefulness : Resolved, That in all the distinguished stations which he has filled, whether as Judge of the Supreme Court of the State, as a lawyer, as a member of the National Congress, as President of the Board of Canal Commissioners, as Mayor of this city, as a public man and as a private citizen, the clearness and soundness of his understanding, the integrity and uprightness of his conduct and his principles, and the spotless purity of his whole long life, eminently entitle him to the uni- versal respect and veneration which he received in life, and which follow him in death : and that we honor his memory as a pattern of a truly wise and just man. Resolved, That we deeply sympathise with the bereaved family, and as a mark of our respect will attend the funeral in a body : that these resolutions be signed by the Mayor and Clerk, be put upon record, and be published in the newspapers of the city, and a copy be sent to the family of the deceased. A. N. Skinner, Mayor. Alfred Terry, City Clerk. RESOLUTIONS OF THE NEW HAVEN BAR. At a meeting of the members of the Bar of New Haven county, held May 27th, 1851, on the occasion of the death of Hon. Simeon Baldwin. Hon. Ralph I. Ingersoll was called to the Chair, and Rob- ert H. Osborn, Esq., appointed Secretary. The following resolutions 22 were presented by Hon. Henry Button, and after appropriate remarks by him and Jonathan Stoddard, Esq., were unanimously adopted :— Resolved, That the recent decease of Hon. Simeon Baldwin, the old- est living member of the profession in this State, and whom we may appropriately call the father of the Bar, justly regarded as he has been among the most honorable of practitioners and upright of men, calls for arTexpression of unfeigned sorrow at his death. Resolved, That while we review his long course of usefulness and honor, whether we regard him as the learned and able advocate, the discreet and judicious counsellor, the wise, impartial, and inflexible judo-e criving form and consistency to the jurisprudence of the State ; or as the venerable sage, promoting in his retirement by prudent coun- sel, and active benevolence, the best interests of his fellow-men, we find in him an example worthy of all imitation. Resolved, That in token of our high regard for the public and pri- vate worth of the deceased, and of our sympathy with his afflicted family, we will attend his funeral in a body. Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting, signed by its officers, be presented to the Superior Couit at its next session in thir county, with a request that they be entered on record, and that a copy be fur- nished to the family of the deceased, and a like copy be published in the newspapers of this city. . R. I. Ingersoll, Chairman, Robert H. Osborn, Secretary. 28 f <5,. *• . * 1 / . ^^• v^-". 3 ^ /k- ^<^p c,V •- -^^0^ : i*.^'. -> V ^ li\ **..<>* .'IsSlC^'. \„.^* /JIfe'v %.*^ :'m£ v^^ •" ^^ % 'bV^ .<^ A '. -^^o^ o % '-^^0^ .^