Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. I.djvu/262

 212 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS honored as an upright and patriotic citizen who served his party with fidelity and never con descended to low and unworthy measures. He de served well of the country, which he served faith fully during his career. After his retirement from the office of president he urged upon the govern ment the judgment of unsettled claims which he presented for outlays made during his prolonged political services abroad, and for which he had never received adequate remuneration. During the advance of old age his time was largely occupied in correspondence, and he undertook to write a philosophical history of the origin of free govern ments, which was published long after his decease. While attending congress, Monroe married, in 1786, a daughter of Lawrence Kortright, of New York. One of his two daughters, Eliza, married George Hay, of Virginia, and the other, Maria, married Samuel L. Gouverneur, of New York. A large number of manuscripts, including drafts of state papers, letters addressed to Monroe, and letters from him, have been preserved. Most of these have been purchased by congress and are pre served in the archives of the state department; others are still held by his descendants. Schouler, in his &quot;History of the United States,&quot; has made use of this material to advantage, particularly in his account of the administrations of Madison and Monroe, which he has treated in detail. Bancroft,