The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-04-01

cannot regard Stewards first Admins la"on ~
q political success. Du, for The ; ,h,oMSn"M,
winch carried the wings TO vtclyr Mv h ho
he nation in is4o, Seward woulf ,rSe. sI;hd nsys
nnaInspn received l3,0OO more o.c" mn o.n
buren IN New York, Seward ran only olvu vS.oN
a s"n Of Il ISL ~ br Ds%SsI .i%o. Nv rec ihH s, a. many
Iem,crats as Wings into me Assembly,, ana
S,sr,h5ew the Wing nv ny, In NE Senate soma e
Il. 3 Was no, a eanai1 y. for a .hlrd term ~
the democratic oandids) was chosen by nearly
s Vote to m 4S 2 ~ ID Dec; u ~ pa asss' cs Ssc'i IS
honorably closed. Y.,hout your aid, how hope
, ,rs would have b. a ny prospect o. rcSs,n n
WSseeis devotion !" seward was eau.Iied only BY
Stewards gratitude 70 Weed. Their fortunes
were 70 know many yicisdtudes, but their mutual
nttnchmcnt coniiuued until death broke the chain
Seward did not accept the nomination for any
once for a unlber OF years after he ceased, to
BE- Governor But, In lSiS. his friend, Thuriow
IN" Vice Presidency on the ticket with Zachary
Taylor. The Wing National Convention, however.
preferred Fillmore 10 Seward for theVice Presidency:
the Barnburners from the regular Democracy In
New York, the Wings obtained Inc control 81 the
legislature In that State. The result of the po'
Seward was chosen United States Senator by
about four -fifths Of the embers Of both houses.
II.
The author Of the biography before W finds
this midway point a convenient one for noting
some Of hts subjects personal traits. Seward
was in his forty-second year when he ceased 70
be Governor, and in his forty eighth when he was
chosen United States Senator. He was al this
time a slight, wiry man Of scarcely medium height.
Viewed from the side. bis head see med 10 b large,
for it was long and narrow: his hair was thick,
and his nose prominent and Roman. The red
hair III his youth and early manhood had be-
come brownish, and, al the end Of the 4cs was
beginning 10 show a slight sprinkling Of gray.
HIS thin, baardless face and small blue eyes in
Dictated shrewdness and mental activity. Some
have described him as rather careless In his dress,
but there was nothing about his appearance TO
suggest a radical. Though not at all robust,
he was able to endure engrossing and protracted
mental %exertion. Neither plodding nor me.
thodical, he was still far from being incident.
he took his work a,wel as his pleasure with zest.
Occasionally, his pen would run on for nearly
twentyfour hours, pausinE only for one or two
brief rests. When preparing one Of his addresses.
he wrote: Ihave not left my room. except for an
evening walk, in four days" In early manhood,
Seward had read much good literature. and, In mid
die life, he continued To enjoy Tactus, Cicero
and a few other Latin authors. He was a close
studen, OF Bacon, and had considerable know
edge Of the most famous works on politics and
philosophy. For fiction he had no special fond
ness, but the best novels Of Scott and Of Bulwer
Interested him at odd times. History attracted
him much morr. Prcscotts Mexico called forth
enthusiastic praise from him. and he carried
Alison's history Of Europe with him to rad on
the train when he returned home from Albany
in January, lSia lis library was never to be.
ZONE a large one. but /, was we'll selected. and he
read what he bought In a letter written In l8i7,
occur these sentences: Occasion offered while at
New York 10 purchase some transla,ions Of books
which I have long desired. l have bought
Dante, Tasso, Arosto, Chaucer and Lanes Arab
ian Nights Entertain ments,
Strange as i, may seem al first thought Sew
ards greatest ability Was shown as a writer.
Early In life, Ia recognized that his natural equip
ment for public speaking was much inferior to
his skill in composition. lie wrote with ease
and had The capacity OF cri,iciSng and improv-
ing his manuscript until he hit upon the mos,
concise and effective phrase. Most Of his mes
sagcs and papers were such as come only from
a bright mind and a ready pen. He had a large
vocabulary, and employed ii with adroitness; as
well when he aimed TO be vague or equivocal
al hen he wished 10 BE- clear and positive. He
could sound almost all the notes that sir human
feeling, and, although his ideas might not he new,
h. had a gift for stating them in an interesting
way, and causing them to be accepted as original.
Was he ever a great orator The biographer
admits that, II by an orator is meant one who
deeply impressps an audience through the senses
Of sight and hearing, The question must be an.
swered in the negative, Except peculiar circum-
stances, such as would I've presented by an anx.
ious, curious crowd in a time Of widespread ex.
element, Seward's delivery rarely. il ever, added
TO the at,ractiyeness or force Of his written com.
position, and his reputation was highest among
those who had only read his speeches. His ora
tory represented intellect unsided by an inspiring
physical personality. What Is natural and best
In his addresses suggests o keen, philosophical
essa yist versed In politics and well read in the
field Of speculation. Hence. although no com
petent Judge has pronounced him a grea, orator,
no person Of Intelligence ever listened 10 him
with less than lively interest. In an autohio.
graphical fragment. Seward wrote. Earlier
than ] can remember. I have had a catarrhal
affection, which has left my voica husky and
incapable Of free intonation." Excessive smok.
ing and the use Of snuff did not lessen this mis-
fortune. In the accounts OF his speaking which
refer TO the period OF his United States Senator.
ship, the husky voice and graceless delivery
are often mentioned. Galusha A. Grow. who
admired Seward, and heard hin on several grra,
occasions, described his manner as Indifferent and
rerfunctory, much liAN tha, Of a schoolboy %reciling
a pieca, and concerned more with recalling what
he wished to say than with impressing his audi
ence, Charles \. Dana, in his Recollections,"
says that Seward stood up and talked as though
he were engaged in conversation. and the efTec,
was always great, II gave the impression OF
a nan celebrating out loud with himself"
Seldom, II ever. did Seward rely on the occasion
for inspiration, or count upon employing the arts
Of delivery commonly practised by clever orators.
His speech In most instances had been written
out. re weighed and revised, sentence by sentence,
and then committed TO memory. What was
printed was the written speech, or carefully cor
rected report Of what he had said. This ex plains
how his productions attained a high and uniform
level Of literary excellence, and also why there
no rush OF ~ ten pore thought exciting the
speaker and thrilling the audience. Stewards
e~locu,ion did not prove much In later years, but,
throughout his whole term In the United States
Senate, there was a steady growth In his faculty
Of literary expression, until he was unequalled
in this respect by any public man Of his time
except Lincoln.
Ii was one Of Stewards ennUyancrs that, In all
periods Of his political career, many thought him
i~nsincere and given TO concealmcnt quite the
opposite Of concehlncni, | trust, is the error Of
.., . bara,ta a Al a phSn MAN " ~ ora,.t.l a.,