It has been my good fortune to read to the Society this series of papers of which it is not too much to say that none have RESOLUTIONS 81

ever been received with more interest or satisfaction. It is certainly to be hoped that they will hereafter be preserved in a permanent form--at once a valuable contribution to the his-torical literature of the State, and an enduring memorial of his peculiar services to the cause of history and interest in the objects of this Society. And this brings vividly to me the recollections of my own personal intercourse with Judge Macdonald. I recall him as I first saw him, slowly and with difficulty ascending to the old rooms in the University, in which for so many years we so-journed "as for a season"--and with the assistance of his servant reaching his accustomed place at the old green table at the head of the room. That old green table! Who shall write hereafter the record of those days in the Society, and the distinguished men who met around it, and by their personal voice and presence and active co-operation honored and cheered the Society in their honorable work--Gallatin and Adams, and Clay and Webster --and our late honored and lamented President.1 Truly, "There were giants in those days." At that old table Judge Macdonald spent patient hours of quiet study over the files of old newspapers and other volumes illustrating the subjects of his investigation--recording slowly and with difficulty with his left hand the points of importance and various illustrations to be woven into the web of his future work. It was my custom to leave him during the intermedi-ate hours in which the library was closed, and my own duties required attention elsewhere, to pursue these assiduous and earnest researches.