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not often, therefore, that religious biography receives much attention out of the church. Be it so;
still the memory of the just is blessed. His faith
and charity and zeal his fervent prayers his affectionate counsels his unwearied labours to promote the glory of God and the salvation of his
fellow men, "smell sweet in death, and blossom in the
dust." The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.
In the preceding chapter, a brief account was given
of the lineage of the Rev. Dr. JOHN H. LIVINGSTON, whose memoir occupies these pages, a man,
who, through a long and active life, by his ardent
piety by the dignity and affability of his deportment by the uniform ability and faithfulness of his
publick ministrations, commanded general confidence and esteem; a man, whose praise is in all
the churches, but particularly endeared by many
pre-eminent services to the Reformed Dutch
Church, FIRST in her Councils, FIRST in her
honours, FIRST in her affections.
The author will now proceed to give a narrative
of the life of this excellent man.
He was the son of Henry Livingston, and S.
Conklin his wife, and born at Poughkeepsie, in
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Dutchess county, in this State, on the 30th of
May, A. D. 1746.
Neither pains nor expense were spared in his
education. Till he was seven years of age, he received no other than parental instruction, but at
this period, there being no school in his native
place, he was sent to Fishkill, and put under the
care of the Rev. Chauncey Graham. When he had
been with this gentleman between two and three
years, his father obtained a competent private tutor for him. He was accordingly brought home,
and Mr. Moss Kent, (the father of the late Chancellor James Kent, Esq.) a gentleman whose qualifications for the trust were very respectable, and
of whose faithful attentions to him, he ever afterwards cherished a grateful recollection, was now
charged with the superintendence of his studies.
With the assistance of such an instructer, and
possessing a docile and inquisitive mind, his improvement, the two following years, in classical
literature, and in such other scholastic branches
as, at the time, were taught to prepare young men
for admission into college, was considerable. And
it is a fact, whatever may be said in favour of an
early public education and the advantages enjoyed in some seminaries are certainly great, that
private instruction, judiciously and faithfully
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