The Washington herald., 1914-04-01
HISTORY BUILDERS.
The Chief Clerk of Three Distinguish
ed Statesmen.
written Expressly for The Herald)
By DIR. T.. J. EDWARDS.

! (Wrttten Expressly Tor The Herald-)
BY DIR. T.. J. EDWARDS.
The State Department at Washington
| never possessed a more competent chiei
| clerk than was Sevillon Brown. Ht
served in that capacity under Hamilton
Fish I'm the administration Of President
Grant and then under William NJ
Eyarts in the administration OF Presi'
| dent Hayes. and after that under Jane:
G. Blaine In the administration OF Gar
field and a part of that OF Presiden,
Arthur.
i Mr.. Brown was a born diplomat. He
had mastered both the science and the
art which are essential II a man Is tc
serve successfully as chief clerk OF the
State Department. He possessed tact q
gift for conceallng thought and ability
to say the right word at the right time
together with a charming personality.
which made every one who went to the
State Department feel comfortable, even
though unable To obtain an audience with
the Secretary OF State.
Mr.. Brown had a splendid opportunity
to study the personal peculiarfties as
well as the intellectual and the temper
amental characteristics of the distin'
guished men who served as Secretary OF
State when he was chief clerk Of the
department.
In conversation with one or two OF
those who had served as Cabinet on
GERS in the administration OF President
Garfield and Arthur but at a time when
MIR. Blaine had retired as Secretary of
State. Mr.. Brown was asked this ques-
ton: who was the hardest worker of
the three Secretaries OF State under
whom you served?"
The answer was instantaneous: 1T
was Hamilton Fish
Then. again. the question was put to
Mr. Brown: How did Mr.. Evarts
work." \ faint smile betrayed Mr..
Brown. SO that he felt compelled to say
that the great lawyer took things very
easy when he was Secretary Of State.
Mr.. Brown proceeded more carefully
to analyZe these three Secretaries Of
State: Hamilton Fish was more la
borious. patient, conscientious, / believe,
than any OF the men who were his pred
ecessors as Secretary of State. He shirk-
ed no drudgery. He did not have Will
lam ii. Stewards gift OF turning his fam
lily dining and his dinner table into
a convenient means OF imparting or gain
ing diplomatic Information. He did not
trust TO intuition. He was a very kindly
and considerate man. and used to think
he took work Ipon himself which might
more properly have been turned over to
some OF his subOrdinates.
William NJ. Evarts was a royal man.
l believe IL is true that when he was
Secretary OF State he was the most popu-
lar man in Washington. Certainly the
members OF the diplomatic circles were
very fond Of him. He had wonderful
skill in making these foreign gentlemen
perfectly at home. They sometimes act
ed as though they felt honored when he
shook hands with them.
Mr. Evarts was an expert in the art
of leaving undone all the work that could
possibly be left to others. Yet he grasp
ed with firm understanding every i'm
portant question that came to the State
Department. And there was no diplo-
mat whoever visited the State Depart
ment who surpassed Mr.. Evarts in
graceful and yet dignified courtesy.
Mr.. Blaine had, l think, the most
wonderful and intuitive grasp Of ques-
tions and instantaneous assimilation of
details and facts OF any man with whom
| was ever brought into association. 1t
was never necessary TO explain a thing
twice TO him. ! think he disliked drudg-
cry. but he knew how TO get the most
comfort out OF drudgery of any man
ever saw. The three men under whom
served were in many respects typical
of what is best in American manhood.
American cultivation and American
character"
Copyright. le4l