The Supreme Court of Vermont. in a published manifesto, in which he di rectly charged his defeat to its interference. Upon the accession of General Jackson to the presidency, Mr. Van Ness received the appointment of minister to Spain, a position which he filled for many years, the duties of which he performed with his accustomed abil ity and success. After an absence in Spain of ten years he returned to his own country, but finding that great changes had taken place in the field of politics, after a short stay in Vermont, he took up his residence in New York City. He was appointed by President Tyler col lector of the port of New York, a post which he well filled for many years. He continued his residence in New York, frequently visiting Washington, and died, while journeying be tween the two cities, at the Girard House in Philadelphia. One who. knew Mr. Van Ness well, al though not of his political faith, wrote of him, he " neither felt nor affected love for literature; troubled himself little with theo retical speculations or with abstract princi ples, except as connected with the kindred sciences of law and politics, which few men more thoroughly studied and understood; . . . without imagination, using language plain but expressing always the precise idea he wished to convey, disregarding decora tion, his reasoning, compacted link within link, glowed with the fire of earnestness and conviction, or rather his speech was a tor rent of impassioned argument, as clear as it was rapid, capable of sweeping away juries and assemblies and of moving from their moorings the anchored caution and gravity of the Bench." His eldest daughter was the wife of Sir William Gore Ouseley; another of Judge Roosevelt of the Supreme Court of New York. One son, at the time of his death, was secretary of State in Texas, prior to its admission to the Union, and his youngest son died holding the position of collector of customs at Carrigo, Texas. His oldest son,
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James, was the first mayor of San Fran cisco. When Mr. Van Ness represented the government in Spain, his title was Minister Plenipotentiary; on his return, the people in the vicinity of Burlington turned out en masse to receive him at the steamboat land ing, news having been received of his ex pected arrival. A stranger, stopping at one of the principal hotels in Burlington, in quired of the landlord who the man was that all the people, men, women and chil dren, turned out to greet; the Boniface replied that " years ago he practiced law here, but he has been gone several years, and I believe he has been a minister in a penitentiary out in Spain." Such is fame. Charles Kilborn Williams. — The father of Judge Williams was Samuel, a pro fessor in Harvard University. Charles K. was born in Cambridge, Mass., but his father, soon after his birth, removed to Rutland, where he long remained one of the most influential citizens of the State; his work in two volumes is the most important contri bution to the early history of Vermont; he represented Rutland in the General Assem bly fourteen years. Charles K. was educated at Williams Col lege; he studied law with Chauncey Langdon at Castleton, whose daughter he subse quently married. He remained in Rutland, in the practice of his profession, until the year 1822. He was connected with the army during the war of 1812 and acquired the militia title of General. In 1822, he was elected judge of the Supreme Court, serving the first year with Judges Van Ness and Doolittle, and the second year with Judges Skinner and Aikens. He declined a re election and was appointed collector of customs in the Vermont District and served during the administration of John Quincy Adams. After his service as collector, when Chief Judge Skinner retired in 1829, he was again
