accepted, and he found himself in the pos session of the most important and embar rassing embassy in the gift of the President. Paris swarmed with emissaries of the Con federacy; the Emperor of the French was more than half inclined to favor the South ern government, and to recognize it as an independent sovereignty. He had already acknowledged that the Confederacy was en titled to the rights of belligerents. With consummate tact, and with far-reach ing foresight, Mr. Dayton thwarted the plans of the Southerners, and finally succeeded in inducing the French Government to adopt a policy of action which materially crippled the Confederacy and added greatly in for cing the result. Mr. Dayton lived long enough in Paris to secure the confidence and respect of the Em peror and of his court, and to render the most inestimable services to his own government. He died very suddenly on the first day of De cember, 1864, before the war closed, but at a time when it required very little sagacity to understand that the end of the great struggle was near. Mr. Dayton's service on the bench was short; it extended over a period of only three years. Rut it was Jong enough to teach his fellow-judges and the members of the bar that he was a safe judge, to whom the interest of suitors might be entrusted with perfect safety. He was not a learned lawyer; he rather trusted to the strong com mon-sense of his nature for aid than to the learning which could be obtained only from study. Still he was sufficiently acquainted with the principles of law gained from books to equip him for the performance of his duties as judge. He had the uncommon faculty of seizing the salient point in a cause, and of using it with great ability in reaching a conclusion. He disdained tech nicalities, and refused to be governed en tirely by mere forms. His broad-minded and capacious intellect must secure some fact, some principle in a cause submitted to him which was worthy of his observation.
He was dignified and impartial, easy of ac cess, pleasant and agreeable to all who ap proached him. Few citizens ever filled higher places in the respect and admiration of the people of his native State than did William Lewis Dayton. Daniel Elmer succeeded, by the appoint ment of the joint-meeting, to the position vacated by the resignation of William L. Dayton. He came from one of the most in fluential families of Cumberland County, numerous branches of which are still to be found in that county. He was the fifth Daniel, in regular descent, from the first of that name, who emigrated to New Jersey from Connecticut early in the eighteenth century, and became pastor of a Presbyterian church at Cohansey. Members of the fam ily became distinguished as patriots in the Revolutionary army. It is claimed that the first settler in this country was a descendant of the Alymer who was a tutor to Lady Jane Grey, afterward Bishop of London, and who changed the name to Elmer. Daniel Elmer was born in 1784 at Bridgeton, in Cumberland County. His father, who was in very moderate circumstances, died when his son was only eight years old, and young Elmer was obliged to struggle for his livelihood. Fortunately he found a generous friend in his grand-uncle, Dr. Ebenezer Elmer of Revolutionary fame, who provided for his young relative, but could not give him all the advantages of a collegiate life. His education was such as he might acquire in the common schools of his time, but his natural activity and industry enabled him to obtain by study the necessary equip ment for his profession. He was employed in the clerk's office of the county while he pursued his studies in the office of General Giles of Bridgeton, who was not only clerk of the courts, but also a practising attorney. The young student lost nothing by this ex perience; his service in the clerk's office made him acquainted with the routine of the practice, and brought him in contact with citizens from all parts of the county.
