New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-11-16
SEWARD md HIS WORh.

The fame of William II. Seward has suffered
from neglect, as is the fate of almost all DIS
tinguished Americans The unwilling OF the
statue at Auburn is tardy token OF recognition
of the heroic qualities of the man and his mem
orable services to State and Nation. Long ago
ought his neighbors, fellow ownsmen and adj
nirine friends to have united in the effort, now
happily crowned with success, to commemorate
his career by monument in that beautiful
city which was dear to his heart as his cher
ished home. While these honors and memoir
ais have been unduly deferred, it will not be
the least Of the trophies of Stewards fame that
orators who were his intimate friends have PAID
tribute, as sympathetic as il was noble, to his
genius and patriotism. Not long after his
death the New Y Ork Legislature invited Charles
Francis Adams, fellow-solder with him IN
the anti-slavery struggle and his faithful
lieutenant abroad during the War OF Emanclpa-
ton, to deliver a memorial address at Albany.
Cold and reserved as the orator had always
been esteemed, he astonished his auditors by
the warmth of his imprisoned eulogy. Yester-
day at Auburn another lifelong friend, Mr..
Evarts, who understood perhaps better than
any other American the controlling principles
of Stewards career and the determining motives
of his life and character followed In the same
svmpathetic spirit and on an equally high level
Of oratory.
Stewards historic friendships bore witness 30
the essential attractiveness of character that
inspired faith and personal devotion. in his
youth and early manhood he was drawn into
intimate relations with John Quincy Adams
and Henry Clay in the Nation and with Horace
Greeley and Thurlow Weed in this State. His
argument before the United States Supreme
Court with Mr. Chase in the case Of Van Zandt.
charged with harboring fugitive slaves, opened
the way for a sincere and unbroken friendship
between two Of the chief actors on the broad
stage of the Civil War. But these relations,
with which (save in one instance) baiiied am
bition and the riyalries of political fortune
never interfered, were less significant than the
feeling of love and confidence with which Pres
ident Lincoln regarded him. II any one can
be said to have fully possessed Lincolns heart
and shared his burdens in that crisis of Ameri-
can history it was Seward; and hence it was
fitting that the conspirators who struck down
the one should also have aimed deadly blow
at the other. All these memorable friendships
were explained and justified by the unselfish-
ness and stainlessness of Stewards character.
Swayed by an honorable ambition to devote
himself to public affairs and to serve his coun-
try, he was sngularly free from jealousy and
unworthy motives, without thought of personal
advantage, magnanimous to friend and foe,
without fear and without reproach.
Only a statesman of Stewards heroic mould
could have endured with equaninlity the SUI
preme test of having his greatest services meet
with the least recognition. Students of pO-
htical history are convinced to-day that his two
terms as Governor of Newly orlH were the most
industrious, useful and progressive in the an
nails of the State. But at the time his COM
prehensve reforms and enlightened policy were
not appreciated, and he was ferccly assailed as
a selfish and scheming politician. In like man
ner his conduct of foreign affairs during the
war placed the country under lasting obhGa-
tons to him, yet it was wantonly criticised at
home and abroad, and never while he lived was
any adequate estimate formed Of its value.
1t was his diplomatic management that pre-
vented foreign war after the Trent affair and
the French invasion of Mexico, and extricated
the Nation from the entanglements Of media
uOH DIS plOpoScc ny 81 WHY anu ui'SNi
an ntnguer as Napoleon Ill These truths
are now generally recognized. Every volume
Of biography and "reminiscences Of the period,
from the Life of Lincoln by his private sec
retaries, to Forster's diaries edited by Wemyss
Reid tends TO raise Seward in the estimation
Of patriotic Americans. But the statesman
himself during his closing years was denied
the soace of public appreciation and sympathy.
During the war when patriotism was at a
white heat Stewards caution and diplomatic
sagacity were too readily disparaged as COM
promising and timorous and his support Of
JohnsOn's Reconstruction policy excited preju-
dice and dislike. His best work passed out
of mems minds. The pre-eminence of Lincoln
and the achievements Of the military heroes
were brought out in holder relief Stewards
genius was obscured by the contrasting lights.
Time was requisite for true perspective. Now
be is known and honored for what was best
in his character and work.
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