The trials of the Neutral Ground were indelibly stamped upon the very soul of John Macdonald as his own life was a counterpart in suffering, in defeat, in unyielding struggles and finally in victory over all obstacles. He died in Flushing, Nov. 8, 1863. As he said "Andrew Corsa deserves to be held in honorable remembrance" let us here record in similar phrase that John MacLean Macdonald also deserves to be held in honorable remembrance. Of the personality of the man there is scant record. His nephew (born 1844) describes him as a tall, spare man barely able to get about his room with the aid of a cane. In one of his note-books he has left a circumstantial account of the clothes he ordered in April, 1849, and again in September, 1856. 90 THE McDONALD PAPERS

From these memoranda it would appear that he was scrupu-lously dressed on occasion. The titles of the "McDonald Papers" and the dates upon which they were first publicly read are recorded on p. ix, of Part 1. The nephew of their author has stated a reminis-cence of unusual interest. As a boy he was taken with his uncle and the latter's attendant in the family carriage from Flushing across the ferry to New York City to the meetings of the New York Historical Society. It was a long journey in those days; then the papers were read and like many an-other auditor he fell asleep. He remembers his uncle huddled down in his seat listening intently. As the readings were finished the youthful interest was again stimulated by the ice-cream and cake and "repairing to the refectory" was an important and never-to-be-forgotten part of the occasion. And be it noted here that the practices of those early days are still observed at the meetings of the Society--as to the refreshments at any rate.