ment, and also a letter to Senator Foot, which was published in pamphlet form, on the powers of the national government, and its duties in the matter of the restoration of the seceding States, after the termination of the war. He wrote and published various other articles on kindred topics. Judge Redfield was during a large portion of his life a member of the Episcopal Church, and deeply interested in its prosperity. He was a frequent and interesting contributor, both while on the bench and afterwards, to The Churchman and other Church journals. He was a delegate to the General Convention of the Church at all its sessions from 1837 to 1861. In the deliberations of that dignified body, especially on questions that touched the subject of jurisprudence, he had great influence. He spoke but rarely, and never at much length, but at times with decisive effect. At the close of the civil war a considerable amount of Confederate property remained in Europe, principally in England, consisting of cargoes of cotton, money balances, ships, munitions of war, etc. To this property the United States government laid claim. And numerous suits in the English Courts of Chancery resulted. Most of it was subject to various and complicated claims by creditors, consignees, agents, and others, and the title to much of it was in dispute. The pendency and conduct of these various proceedings became very embarrassing to Mr. Adams, the American Minister to Great Britain, and it was necessary that competent counsel should be sent to Europe to take charge of and direct them. Judge Redfield was appointed by Mr. Seward, then Secretary of State, in conjunction with Mr. Caleb Cushing, the special coun sel of the United States government for this purpose. He went to England immediately after his appointment, and remained there in the discharge of the duty assigned him for two years, returning home once during the period for consultation with the govern ment. The business with which Judge Redfield was charged was not only important, but delicate and difficult in its bearing upon the relations of the two countries. There was much sensitiveness of feeling at that time between the people of England and of America, growing out of the events of the war and the attitude taken by Great Britain. The American claims against Great Britain for the heavy losses sustained by privateers fitted out in England were then unadjusted. And it is easy to see how, in rash or unskilful hands, the claims of the United States government upon citizens of England, litigated in British courts, might at that juncture have been made productive of serious misunderstandings and disputes. The manner in which Judge Redfield and his associate discharged this difficult duty, the ability, and at the same time the courtesy, tact, and moderation displayed, were worthy of all praise, and were in a high degree serviceable and creditable to the government by which they were employed. All the success was attained which the nature of the claims admitted of. Throughout their prosecution nothing took place to disturb the relations of the governments or to give rise to any aggrieved feeling on the part of the people on either side, or of the parties more immediately interested. Some of the claims were compromised, and all brought to a satisfactory conclusion. The circumstances of Judge Redfield's stay in England were peculiarly gratifying to him. His reputation as a jurist had preceded him, and the mission with which he was accredited brought him into communication with many persons of distinction. He received much cordial hospitality, especially from judges and eminent lawyers, and from some of the dignitaries of the English Church. In such circles his conservative views, refined manners, and cultured conversation made him personally very acceptable, and placed him in marked contrast with those Americans whom ostentatious wealth has made conspicuous in European capitals, or whom the machinery of party politics has introduced into a social position in foreign countries which they had never reached at home. He contracted many friendships in England that were maintained through the remainder of his life. On his return from England he resumed his residence in Boston and the employments he had relinquished on his departure. From that time to the close of his life he still kept at work. In the labors and studies that had so long been congenial he found relief and consolation through gathering years and declining health. Various leading articles for the Law Register were written during this period, among them a review of the Legal Tender cases, an article on "The Right and Duty of Congress to Regulate Commerce on Interstate Railways," another on the "Duties of the Legal Profession." The last edition of his work on railways was also published during this time. And so, in the cherished pursuits, continued to the last, of the jurisprudence to which he had devoted his life, and which he had done so much to cultivate and to dignify; in the esteem and affection of its disciples, by whom he was surrounded; in the communion and fellowship of the Church he loved, he drew to the close of his life, without an enemy in the world. He realized the archangel's benison: "Till many years over thy head return, So mayst thou live; till like ripe fruit thou drop Gathered, not harshly plucked; for death mature." He died in Charlestown, Massachusetts, of an attack of pneumonia, on the 23d day of March, 1876, near the completion of his seventy-second year, and was buried at Windsor, Vermont. Judge Redfield was twice married: first to Miss Mary Smith, of Stanstead, Canada; afterwards to Miss Catherine Clark, of St. Johnsbury, who survives him. A son also survives him; a daughter died only six months previous to his own decease. A brother, Hon. Timothy P. Redfield, is one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of Vermont. |