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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
Into thy mother's lap; or be with ease

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.

ΧΙ

ADDRESS

DELIVERED IN BROOKLYN CITY ON MARCH 30, 1896, BEFORE THE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF

ARTS AND SCIENCES ON

THE MONROE DOCTRINE

THE MONROE DOCTRINE

I HAVE been asked to address you this evening on the subject of the "Monroe Doctrine." This phrase, heard by many Americans for the first time, and conveying to most minds a very indefinite idea, has been brought before the country with striking effect within the last three or four months. It has drawn us dangerously near to a war with Great Britain, and nearer perhaps to a war with Spain. It has caused a paralysis upon business and a loss of property in the depreciation of securities that no arithmetic can estimate. For what cause? Upon what provocation? With the countries concerned we are perfectly friendly; we have received no injury from them and have none to fear; with their people we have no quarrel. With one of them we are more closely allied, by every tie that can possibly exist between nations, than any independent countries ever were in the history of the world. Suddenly, without warning or premonition, this condition of affairs and its happy presage for the future were threatened with violent disturbance. Twentyfour hours before the announcement, not a man in either country, outside of the American Executive Chamber, could have dreamed of such a rupture, on any score then existing, or capable of being anticipated.

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