New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-07-05
WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD.
AN ADEQUATE MEMOIR OF A GREAT STATES
MAN.

W. Seward. seward at washington, as SENATOR anu
Secretary OF State Two volumes, ls46 1s6l 1o6l-
1877: A Memoir of His Life, With selections from
tiTee Volumes DS Royai ave, DID, $50, $50, SCI.
Derby & Miller.
This is the defnitive and authoritative life Of
Seward, the work principally Of his son, who
for years shared his fathers labors who was close
10 him at the most critical junctures, and who
suffered with him when the brutal conspiracy
which struck down Lincoln aimed also at the
life of the great Secretary of State The hrst OF
these three volumes containing the Autobiography
which carried no further than 1854, ana the
beginning of the Memoir was published in 1871
The completion of the work not only Jushhed mt
demanded the republication OF this portion of the
life and the work as il now appears constitutes
full careful and in nearly all ways satisfactory
chronicle of the life of one of the most distln-
guished of American patriots and statesmen Mr.
Frederick W. Seward has accomplished difficult
and laborous task with Judgment and tact
Wherever possible he has permitted his father TO
speak for himself, and Stewards letters possess so
strong literary element, are eminently read
able in themselves and add so much TO our know-
edge of his character and our appreciation of his
great gifts, that no one can reasonably wish the
proportion of them in these volumes less than IL
is.
The speeches and addresses having been pub
lished separately years ago. the biOgrapher has not
reproduced them, combining his citations TO such
passages as illustrate the purpose of the speaker.
When it is necessary to the proper elucidatlon OF
any situation, letters from Stewards correspond
ents are given, and his own notes of converse
tons and interviews always used If possible
The narrative is frightened by the insertion OF
Stewards letters, written while on his various eX
cursions at home and abroad. He was really
admirable correspondent, possessing quick and
close observation and gift of graphic description,
and his accounts of his European experiences and
impressions are Enthusiastically fresh and vivid,
while they have still greater value and interest
in that they contain so many portraits of dlstln-
guished people whom he met abroad and with
many of whom he enjoyed a certain intimacy
Thus his description of Lafayette in the auto
biography may be said to furnish link between
Two periods and in several other instances We
find him very near to celebrities who seem to the
present generation almost to belong to another
world These, however, are but incidental dis
fractions and bits of byplay. The real value of
the Memoir is in the illustration of an American
career which offers one of the purest, nobest and
most elevating examples to the consideration and
emulation of the youth of the country
Some one said that there is a chord of sweet
ness in all the Stewards" and of the truth of the
remark no doubt can be entertained by those
who study these volumes. But no greater mis-
take could be made than to imagine that the
seward sweetness an attribute of weakness or
nfirmity of purpose. The career Of William Henry
Seward was one of constant warfare, and of war
fare. for the most part, against heavy odds. 1t
was filed with grave temptations, also, but OF
foundations resolutely resisted. We have not too
many examples of truly high craftsmanship, of
public lives lived upon an elevated plane, of per
sonal interests Systematically Subordinated to the
good of the republic, Of dauntesS contention
against evil unaccOmpanicd by anger, and because
it is so, it deserves 20 be put into the hands Of
every American boy, and to be commended TO them
as a treasury Of inspiring ard ennobling illustra-
tions and examples 1t is perhaps partly because
Seward had so little acerbity in his nature, because
he was not only a statesman, but philosopher
because he was apt TO see clearer and further
than his contemporaries, that he has been in
measure neglected. We do not refer 10 the defeat
of his aspirations to the Presidency, for that
inevitable under system of politics lie had
been too long in the public eye; he had achieved
too much, and in achieving, he had created too
many antagonisms, for his candidature to be sue
cessful. But he has been overshadowed by others
who perhaps not more instrumental in saw
ing the Union, and especially has the long and
consistent period of his antislavery contention been
undervalued.
No man in America can be truly said to have
forestaed Seward in perceiving the real drift and
goal of the slave power or in announcing what
he saw. But he did his work whenever possible
with an eye to the power Of responsiveness, and
be was but one of thousands who hoped, almost
against hope, that overt acts of disuniOn might
be avoided and prevented. At the same time his
lips were never closed by any speciOus considera-
ton The statesman who appealed against the
sticklers for constitutional infallibility TO the
higher law" of Almighty God, and who, long
before secession was in sight. proclaimed the il.
repressbe nature of the conflict between freedom
and slavery, can never be suspected OF
weakness for. compromise or Of paltering with
the truth for political or personal ends. 1t
IS, indeed, one of the virtues which most endear
his memory TO that he always had the courage
of his convictions Nor were his convictions mar
row. shallow or ill-grOunded. Optimism his
ruling tendency, but ii was the optimism which
creates great states and great nations Never
TO despair of the republic with him, as with
a notable man of the ancient world living
principle and 1t was of priceless value TO the
try in the dark days of the great war, when at
times chaos seemed come again, and when the
overburdened President, haggard with care and
anxiety learned to seek and find sustenance and
comfort in the steady serenity and immovable
faith of his Secretary Of State
We know of no page of political history more
stimulating than that which records Stewards
career at Washington before the war.
Again and again no seemed about TO
he deserted by his own followers. Again
and again the cohorts of slavery seemed
about TO fall upon him with resiStless force. Poor
Sumner fell victim TO Southern rufanism. \
more dastardly and brutal deed than that of
Preston s. Brooks never done, in or out OF
legislative hall; and it is one of the most strk
ing illustrations of the pOtroOnery that prevailed
ut the North at that time that the crime was
never punished, either publicly or privately.
Had there been few more men like Arson Bur
lingame in Congress, the issue would have been
different; but the whole North, with here and
there an individual exception, had learned 10
crouch before the slave power whose insolence