51 
he was appointed one of the committee, to draft the declam - 
Horiy which pronounced us for ever absolved from foreign 
allegiance, and exalted to a name and a place among the na¬ 
tions of the earth. 
Returning from this ever memorable congress, Mr. Liv¬ 
ingston was called upon to attend the convention of this 
state, which met at Kingston, in the year 1777. By that 
body he was appointed the chairman of the committee to 
draft the constitution of this state ; and it is greatly owing 
to his abilities and exertions, that we are, indebted for that 
excellent instrument, which has been the admiration and 
envy of every other state in the union; and which in some 
of its most prominent and essential features was imitated by 
those who drew up the constitution of the United States. 
In May of the same year, this state being greatly distract¬ 
ed by the war, and torn by party divisions and animosities, 
so as to render the meetings of the legislature and the regu¬ 
lar administration of justice impossible, he was appointed 
one of the council of safety; in whom were invested all the 
powers, legislative, judicial and executive, necessary for the 
preservation and safety of the state, until the government 
could be again established. 
At the same time he was appointed by the convention, the 
first chancellor of this state ; and in this high and respon¬ 
sible office he remained for twenty-five years, when he was 
called upon to serve the general government in a mission 
to France. 
In the year 1780, Chancellor Livingston, was appointed 
by congress the secretary of state for foreign affairs; and 
he executed the duties of that office until the general peace 
of 1783 ; continuing the whole time to preside in the high 
court of this state, over which he had been placed. 
In the convention of this state, called in 1788, for the pur¬ 
pose of deliberating on the constitution for the United States, 
which had been proposed by the general convention of the 
states at Philadelphia, Chancellor Livingston represented 
the city and county of New-York. In this convention, he 
