(1801-1872)
[Footnote 12: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.]
[Illustration: William Henry Seward. [TN]]
William Henry Seward, the American statesman, was born in Florida,
Orange County, N. Y., May 16, 1801, and died at Auburn, in the same
State, October 10, 1872. Precocious in his studies, he pursued his
preliminary education in his native village, and, at the age of fifteen,
entered, as a sophomore, Union College, then under the presidency of
Eliphalet Nott, between whom and his pupil a life-long friendship,
illustrated by mutual confidence and counsel, was early established.
Seward's college course, especially brilliant in rhetoric and the
classics, was interrupted in his senior year by a residence of six
months, as a teacher, in Georgia, where previous impressions against
African slavery were confirmed by observation of its workings. Returning
to college, he was graduated with high honors in 1820, the subject of
his Commencement oration being "The Integrity of the American Union."
He was admitted to the bar at Utica, in October, 1822, and in January,
1823, settled at Auburn as a partner of Judge Elijah Miller, whose
daughter he married in October, 1824. Although certain features of the
law--its technicalities and uncertainties--were repugnant to him, he was
soon in the full tide of professional success, and, in the opening of
the circuit courts to equity jurisprudence, found much that was in
harmony with his sense of justice. He was also, from the first,
interested in politics, for which he had decided genius. He came upon
the stage in the closing days of "The Era of Good Feeling," under
President Monroe, when parties were again dividing upon the issues that
have mainly obtained throughout the constitutional era. He approved the
principles of Hamilton, although his boyish training had been in the
Jeffersonian school. Enunciating his views with precision and felicity
of diction, his voice and pen were in constant request, and he rapidly
rose to distinction until, in 1834, he was the acknowledged leader in
the State of the Whig party and its candidate for governor.
Meanwhile he had supported De Witt Clinton, the champion of internal
improvements, and in 1824 drafted, for the Republican Convention of his
county a trenchant address, detailing the history and criticising the
aims of the "Albany Regency," which inspired the hostility to that
famous clique that compassed its overthrow fourteen years later. Among
his notable utterances of this period were an address on Grecian
independence, at Auburn, in 1827; a Fourth-of-July oration, at Syracuse,
in 1831, in which Calhoun's dogma of secession was denounced, and an
eulogy on La Fayette, at Auburn, in 1834. In 1828 he presided over the
Young Men's Convention, at Utica, in behalf of the renomination of
President Adams, and declined a congressional nomination. In 1830 he was
elected by the Anti-Masons to the State Senate, and was re-elected in
1832. He had a prominent and an influential part in the deliberations of
that body, although its youngest member, and in the political minority,
whose addresses to the people he wrote at the close of each session. His
most notable speeches were those for the common-school and canal
systems, the abolition of imprisonment for debt, the amelioration of
prison discipline, and the reform of the militia law, and against
corporate monopolies, increasing judicial salaries, Governor Marcy's
loan law, and the removal of the deposits by President Jackson. The
Senate was then a constituent portion of the Court of Errors, the
tribunal of last resort, and Seward delivered many opinions which
materially enhanced his legal reputation. In one instance he carried,
with substantial unanimity, the court with him, against the views of the
presiding judge, the eminent Chancellor Walworth. In 1833 he made a
rapid tour of Europe, embodying his reflections in letters to the Albany
_Evening Journal_, then edited by Thurlow Weed, between whom and Seward
there was, for fifty years, an intimate and unbroken attachment, unique
in political annals.
In 1838 he was again the Whig candidate for governor, and defeated
Governor Marcy, his former rival, his victory being the precursor of the
national Whig triumph in 1840, in which year he was re-elected. He was
inaugurated, January 1, 1839, his message to the Legislature embracing,
with a masterly exposition of Whig policies, certain suggestions of his
own concerning immigration, education, and eleemosynary institutions
that revealed the catholic spirit and the philosophical habit which,
despite his party fealty, he consistently exhibited. This message
outlined the conduct of the administration that succeeded--enlightened
in its scope, liberal to all classes, distinctly loyal to the Union, yet
jealously guarding against any infringement of the rights of the State.
It widened educational privileges, urged the prosecution of the public
works, including the enlargement of the Erie Canal, granted franchises
to railways, removed imprisonment for debt and the remaining guarantees
of slavery from the statute-books, composed the anti-rent troubles and
executed the laws within the insurrectionary section, perfected the
banking system, and proposed jury trials for fugitive slaves and a
constitutional amendment abolishing the property qualification for the
colored suffrage.
Governor Seward's regard for the dignity of the State was displayed by
his refusal to discharge from custody, without trial, one Alexander
McLeod, a citizen of Canada, held for the burning of the steamer
Caroline, in New York waters, although the demand of the British
government, to that effect, was supplemented by the request of
Presidents Harrison and Tyler. His abhorrence of slavery was accentuated
in his denial of the application of the Governor of Virginia for the
rendition of seamen charged with the abduction of a slave, upon the
ground that the offence, if defined as a crime in Virginia, was not so
in New York, and he did not hesitate to add that his feelings coincided
with his conception of his constitutional prerogative. When a Democratic
Assembly subsequently passed resolutions disapproving his action, he
declined to transmit them to the Virginia authorities, and he also
failed to respond to a similar requisition from South Carolina. His
proposition for the employment of Roman Catholic teachers in the common
schools showed his independence of partisan behest and popular clamor.
Leaving office in 1843, he passed the next six years in professional
labors, varied by occasional addresses of a literary or patriotic cast,
and by many Whig speeches in the campaigns of 1844 and 1848. To his
practice in the State courts was united that in patent cases, which not
only brought him a lucrative clientage, but largely increased his
acquaintance with public men at Washington. His gubernatorial service
had given him national fame, and he was, although not in public life,
esteemed as one of the national leaders of his party. In the courts he
commanded respect for the clearness and strength of his arguments, but,
even there, he was at his best when his heart inspired his speech with
fervor, as in his pleas for Van Zandt and others charged with harboring
fugitive slaves. The defence of Greeley, in the Cooper libel suit, and
of the Michigan rioters, may be cited as instances of his persuasiveness
before juries, but that in the case of William Freeman is celebrated
both for its own quality and the intrepidity of its author. Gladstone
has characterized it as the greatest forensic effort in the English
language, not excluding the masterpieces of Erskine. It is a plea for
the life of a brutalized negro who butchered a whole family under
circumstances of peculiar atrocity. The deed was without excuse or
palliation, save in the insanity of the perpetrator, of which Seward
became convinced, and volunteered as counsel amid the surprise,
imprecations, and threats of the Auburn community, where the case was at
issue. The moment was a supreme one for him, but he did not hesitate.
Without reward, or the hope of reward, even in the gratitude of the
insensate wretch for whom he risked professional standing and public
favor, he worked as indefatigably as though the weightiest honors and
emoluments depended thereon, from the impanelling of the jury to the
failure of executive clemency; but Freeman's death in prison and the
autopsy that disclosed the morbid condition of his brain fully
vindicated Seward's analysis and exalted him in public regard.
On March 4, 1849, coincident with the accession of General Taylor to the
presidency, Seward entered the United States Senate, having been chosen
thereto by a large majority of the Legislature of New York. When he took
his seat, the Whig party was already divided upon the slavery question,
and Seward, by virtue of his previous utterances and his skill as a
politician, became the exponent of the free-soil element, as also the
representative of the administration, an unprecedented trust to be
confided to a senator in his first term. He thus found himself in
opposition to Webster and Clay, and especially to the "Omnibus" bill of
the latter, a measure intended to reconcile conflicting claims
concerning the admission of new States, the status of slavery in the
Territories, and the protection to be accorded it in the free States. On
March 11, 1850, he made a speech, generally pronounced to be his ablest,
as it is certainly his most noteworthy deliverance, in which he declared
that there is a law higher than the Constitution, whose authority may be
invoked in legislation for the national domain. The death of General
Taylor brought him into collision with President Fillmore, who hailed
from New York, and was largely indebted for his vice-presidential
nomination to Seward's kindly offices. Fillmore urged the adoption of
the compromise scheme and signed the separate bills therefor as they
successively passed Congress, thereby incurring censure at the North,
while Seward retained his ascendency with the anti-slavery masses
throughout the country, as well as with the Whigs of New York.
He was re-elected to the Senate in 1855 by a combination of Whigs and
Anti-Nebraska Americans, and on October 12th, of that year, at Albany,
formally announced his adhesion to the new Republican party. In the
Senate he easily ranked as one of its most polished and effective
speakers who, while resolutely maintaining his own convictions,
scrupulously preserved the amenities of debate. He especially
distinguished himself by his earnest, yet unavailing, resistance to the
repeal of the Missouri Compromise. Among his popular addresses of
conspicuous merit are those on "The Elements of Empire in America," at
Union College, 1843; "Daniel O'Connell," at New York, 1847; "John Quincy
Adams," before the New York Legislature, 1848; "The Destiny of America,"
at Columbus, O., and "The True Basis of American Independence," at New
York, 1853; "The Development of the American People," at Yale College
1854, and "The Irrepressible Conflict"--_i.e._, between freedom and
slavery--at Rochester, N. Y., 1858. He made an extended tour in Europe,
Egypt, and Palestine, in 1859.
The Republicans met in National Convention at Chicago, in 1860, flushed
with anticipated success. Northern opposition to the extension of
slavery had combined, and the Democracy was being resolved into
antagonistic factions. Seward's nomination for the presidency seemed
assured. He was the foremost statesman in his party. He had crystallized
its ideas, interpreted its creed, and marshalled its forces. He had an
enthusiastic following who believed that the occasion had met the man;
but there were others who objected that his very superiority would
provoke assault against him, which might hurt the cause for which he
stood. They reasoned against his availability, and their argument
prevailed. He led on the first two ballots in the convention, but, on
the third, Abraham Lincoln, then comparatively unknown, became the
Republican standard-bearer. Seward met this reverse tranquilly, rebuked
certain manifestations of disaffection, proffered the candidate his
hearty support, and, in a series of remarkably able and eloquent
speeches, extending from Massachusetts to Kansas, contributed materially
to his election.
Seward accepted the portfolio of State in Lincoln's cabinet and
immediately assumed the gravest responsibilities. American relations
with foreign governments during the Civil War were uniformly serious and
sometimes perilous. The duties of the Secretary of State were exacting
and delicate. Seward, by his tact and discretion, as well as his courage
and wisdom, kept peace with the world, without debasing the honor or
forfeiting the rights of the republic. One of the most intricate issues
arose in the first year of the war. It is known as the Trent case. Mason
and Slidell, Confederate envoys to England and France respectively, were
forcibly taken by an American naval commander from a British vessel and
lodged in Fort Warren. The American public was exultant over the capture
and protested vigorously against their release; but Seward had to decide
officially the question of their surrender to the British Government,
and, when the demand was duly made, he yielded to it, basing his
conclusion, with admirable adroitness, not only upon international
comity, but also upon American precedents. The president, at first
disposed to take the contrary view, conceded the force of Seward's
argument, the people acquiesced, and a war with England was avoided.
Seward's state papers and despatches are models of style, and by their
frankness of statement and hopefulness of tone did much to sustain the
Union cause abroad. In accord with Lincoln in holding that the paramount
task of the Government was to subdue rebellion against it and
discouraging precipitate movements for the abolition of slavery, he was
also in accord with the president in the policy of emancipation, as
ultimately formulated, and, on January 1, 1863, attested the
proclamation which has made the name of Lincoln immortal. He proclaimed
the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, by which
slavery was abolished, December 18, 1865, and of the Fourteenth,
conferring suffrage and civil rights upon the freedmen, July 26, 1868.
On February 3, 1865, he attended, with the president, the so-called
Peace Conference, in Hampton Roads, with Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and
Campbell, the Confederate commissioners. The conference was fruitless,
owing to the inflexible determination of the president not to entertain
any proposals that did not involve the complete restoration of the
national authority as a condition precedent.
Lincoln began his second term March 4, 1865, Seward remaining in the
cabinet. On April 5th, Seward was badly injured by being thrown from his
carriage. Nine days thereafter Lincoln visited him in his sick chamber.
It was their last meeting. On the same evening Lincoln was assassinated,
and the murder of Seward was attempted. He was stabbed in several places
in the head and throat, and for several days his life was despaired of,
but he slowly recovered, and in June resumed his desk in the State
Department, President Johnson having urged him to retain it. He
continued in office throughout Johnson's administration, favoring the
reconstruction policy of his chief, without, however, incurring the
active hostility of his Republican friends. Distinctive events of his
second term were his maintenance of the Monroe doctrine, in the refusal
to recognize the French empire in Mexico, and the purchase of Alaska,
which was in consonance with views long entertained by him as to the
propriety of the expansion of the territory of the United States upon
the continent of North America. In the best sense of the term he was an
advocate of "Manifest Destiny," and was proud of the acquisition of the
Russian territory at the Far North. A treaty which he negotiated for the
cession of the Danish West India islands of St. Thomas and St. John
failed of ratification by the Senate.
He retired to private life March 4, 1869, and within the next three
years visited Alaska and Mexico, and made a journey around the world,
being everywhere received with official welcome and popular acclaim. The
last few months of his life were passed at his home, where he dictated
the story of his travels and began his "Autobiography," which, even in
its unfinished state, is a charming narrative.
Seward achieved greatness as an executive, a legislator, and a
diplomatist; was one of the most accomplished writers of his time, and
was second only to Lincoln, among civilians, in conserving American
nationality and enlarging American liberties. There is a statue to his
memory in Madison Square, New York, and, on November 15, 1888, another
was unveiled in front of the Auburn homestead, William M. Evarts
delivering the oration. Charles Francis Adams also paid his tribute, in
an address at the Capitol, in Albany, 1873, upon invitation of the New
York Legislature. Seward published a volume on the "Life and Public
Services of John Quincy Adams," 1849. His "Essays, Speeches, and
Extracts from his Diplomatic Correspondence," etc., edited by George E.
Baker, with a memoir, embrace five volumes. His adopted daughter
published his "Travels Around the World," 1873, and his "Autobiography,"
to 1834, has been supplemented by a "Memoir" by his son, Frederick W.
Seward, with extracts from his letters and selections from his "Table
Talk."
[Signature of the author.]