The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1865-07-25

Ehe Late Mrs. SecretUrY tSeWnEd~--One
Ofthe Noble Women OF Our Country
True Greatness OfIYOmanhOOE..-The
Reception OF the wife or the Amert.
can Secretary. ,.. g'''- tsh 80 -
LETTER FROM i1IRs. JANE.G. swIssHHI,nf,
H. -----7==------------siE fS 81 u ~
Special Correspondent Pittsburg Commercial.
| WAsHINGgoN, Jnlys 20.--The pail sof
silence which has fallen upon the grave
of Mrs. Seward Is still more remarkable
than the unobtrusive Ctuiet of her life.
and 1 trust it is notidle curiosity which
makes me more anNiousy to know her
history than thnt of any woman whose
name l ever heard. IF I mistake not
her, Example is one which the women
of this country cannot iaffOfde30 lose:
and in hope. IL may. induce someone
who knew her TO. give us some il Z
dents in her honorable life. let ms II
you the little, thacverY. litIle;d tsilou q
When wentinto Campbell Hospital
alter the battle of Charlottesville, /,
called on the public for fruit acids as
an antidote to thirst and hospital gam
creme, the first contribution i received
was from Mrs. Frederick Seward. 1t
was accompanied by n note asking me
to send TO her when anything special
was wanted, Some one, that I slippos-
ed knew, told me that this Mrs. Fred-
erick Seward was the wife of IL nephew
of the Secretary of State, who, being
bachelor, had this lady to preside over
his house. She afterward called at my
rooms, and ut Mr.. Stewards house. on
hospital business, suppOsing she was
Mr.. Stewards niece by marriage, until
the following winter, when there was
much trouble in thecontraband camps.
Among the teachers was II quukeress,
from central New York, one of those
women who left homes of wealth and
refinement to live i'll camp, cabin, and
barraclI, to distribute clothing books,
encouragement, and instruction among
those scattered and bereaved people.
We were one day in troubled council
on one of the many wrongs which had
Stubbornly refused to be riEhted. 1t
was hard to ask Secretary Stanton to
give the time necessary to understand
the case, while his ante-room was con-
stantly thronged with persons waiting
on important business. What to do,
was the question. Folding her hands
in her lap, and looking down thought
fully, this lady soliloquiZed: "If Mrs.
Seward was only here"
''What, Mrs. Seward?"L 50 t-... s
"NIrs. Secretary Seward p3she answer
ed abstractedly, and kept on thinking.
My exclamation of surprise aroused
her, and her surprise at my ignorance
was equal to mine at her information
A question aS to the presentability of
that lady, since such person did actu-I
ally exist, started her to talk as had
never before heard her. o.
She described Mrs. Seward as one of
the excellent of the earth, II woman of
wonderful intellectual power, and great
breadth of attainment-the companion,
contidant, councillor of her husband
one who read his written speeches be-
fore the printer saw them, and gave nm
opinion which he valued more than any
other-Onc who read and diSested long,
tireSome documents, and gave HIM the
substance in Il few moments tiresIde-
cbPt -th9s epntrih ting largely o That
- N irInat ion which tli9tFa ltiSh-
cd N So tard. She was his higher
1nw" adviser, and whenever his policy
fell below that standartl ha had differed
with li0r in opinion. She ever regarded
words, aimed always to walk in the
narrow path straight ttownrd ''the mark
for the prize of the high calling which
is in Christ Jesus, our LOrd.".l ..
In dress and manner this friend de-
scribed her as simple and OstentatiOus
to singulnrity. a smart mechanics
wife would not have exchanged ward
robes with her, and milliners' apprcn-
tices looked ut her in plying wonder
for her lost opportunities. A few days
after this conversation Mrs. Seward
returned from Auburn, but her arrival
was Aot publicly announced. The con-
traband trouble was explained to her,
and II short note of modest request
from her to one in authority removed
the difficulty before which we had been
Standing i'll diSmay. After that, when
l heard people remark that the Stewards
gave no receptions, i have thought of IL
little teacher of contrabnnds, in the
magnificent costume of Il mixed straw
bonnet and brown ribbons, dark wOOlcn
dress and shawl, and heavy shoes hav-
ing marks of "sacred soil" with little
travelling basket on her arm going to
Mrs. Seward'S house in the cleaning
weary, hungry, diSheartened and foot
sore; and finding n reception, n bath, a
dinner, a bed, IL breakfast, along, COM
forting talk, a note to remove her over
hanging mountain, and saw her light
ened step and she returned to her duties
rejoicing. / never heard what kind of
jewels her hostess wore ut these recep-
tiOhs, but calculate they were not
bought ut Tiffuny'S.
n woman i'll Mrs. Stewards position,
who simply remained outside TINT gild-
ed pagoda, society, in which her Ma
testy, First Family, with twenty-pound
-of-tobncco-worth of grandmother to
stand upon-her Royal Highness' Offic-
ial Position, with n wire-pulling hus-
band to bear against-the Duchess OF
Shoddy with pedestal of greenbncks
for support-the Countess of Petroleum,
with II sea of light to illumiue her dia-
monds, md My Lady Bloomer, radiant
in health and Independence contend so
tiercely for the precedence, she would
have been worthy of study us natural
curiosity; but to know that she lived
out of the world of fashion and in the
world of duty from n high ideal of
Christian obligation is to know that her
example is one that the world cannot
well afford to lose.
Mr.. Seward's recovery from the dou-
/ sins knife is common wonder; and
! Surgeon Barnes has said that when he
| left Frederick Seward on the night of
the assassination he little thought to
| find him alive in the morning-thnt,
! for weeks, the quicl5ening of his pulse,
! What secured that perfect repose of
body and mind necessary to the recov-
cry of both? The report of her death