Rensselaer Union, Volume 5, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 October 1872 — The Late William H. Seward. [ARTICLE]

The Late William H. Seward.

Auburn, N. Y., October JO. Mr. Seward, having taken cold and been somewhat unwell for a day or two, was, on the evening of Saturday, the fifth, seized with a severe chill, and his physician was summoned to him. He had been, during the summer, in his ordinary good health, suffering only from the inconvenience of the muscular palsy of his arms, and had been engaged in preparing for the press ' his account of his recent journey around the world. The chill was that of ordinary tertian ague accompanied by a harrassing catarrhal cough. It was followed by fever and delirium, which lasted till late in the night. On Sunday he was up in the afternoon, took dinner, and passed a comfortable night. On Monday, with the exception of his cough and catarrh, he was comfortable, and dictated as usual to his assistants on the completion of his book. He played whifTon Monday evening, but at ten p. m. a slight chill occurred, followed by delirium and fever, .which aggravated catarrhal disturbance of the chest, which lasted nearly all night, his physician seeing him, on this account, alter midnight. Off Tuesday morning after some sleep, he* was again better, and drove out in the afternoon, but fever, delirium and restlessness returned with the cough on Tuesday night. On Wednesday he drove out tor two hours, and dictated to his amanuensis as usual, though harrassed all day with the cough and the catarrhal effusion in the chest. On Wednesday evening his cough abated for a while, and there seemed a promise of a good night, but the fever, restlessness and cough returned at bedtime. He was nearly sleepless until five •’clock in the morning. At four a. m., to , relieve the tedium of lying sleepless, he had his son William read the New York Time* to him of Wednesday morning. He slept after five pretty well till eleven a. rv. of to-day, though his fever kept up without Any real remission. At half-past one he was seized with great difficulty in

breathingy eau»«d by a sudden catarrhal effusion into the lungs, commencing with the right lung, and soon involving the left also, wh’ich occasioned his death in about two hours. He entertained np apprehension but that* he should rebover from the attack of catarrhal ague till last night and this morning. While at his age, and . with the condition of muscular palsy, from which he had suffered so long, the fact that the fever,was increasing upon him together with the catarrhal disturbance, led his physicians to apprehend a fatal, result in the course of a week __ or more, yet no immediate fear was felt, and his dissolution was sadden—and unexpected. Mr. .Seward’s intellectual faculties were clear and vigorous to the last, save when disturbed by paroxysms of fever. Just after the effusion from the lungs to-day, and thinking it would relieve his breathing, he was, at his own desire, placed on a lounge and bolstered up and moved from his adjoining bed-room into Ids study, where, in the midst of Lis books and his literary and other papers, and surrounded by his relatives and a few friends, and ail his devoted dependents, he breathed his last. !Por the last hour of hlwUle, as the powers of nature

were giving away, hie condition became easy, and he spent the time in affectionate leave-takings of relatives and dependents, and finally sank quietly to his last rest, as if going to sleep. The following brief biographical sketch of the Hon. William H. Seward is taken from ZelPs Encyclopedia: William Henry Seward wae born in Florida, Orange County, New York, May 16,1801. He graduated at Union College in 1820, was admitted to the Bar in 1822, and commenced practice, at Auburn, in his native State, in 1823. He was elected in 1830 to the State Senate of New York in which he came forward as a champion of internal improvements, of the abolition of imprisonment for debt, and of giving the people more power in the election of public officers. He visited Europe in company with Jhls father in 1833, and wrote a series of letters during his tour for an Albany newspaper, and they afterward appeared in a separate form. Having been brought forward for the Govern-

orship of the State, he was defeated by Mr. Marcy, afterward Minister for Foreign Affairs Under President Franklin Pierce, but was successful in 1838, when he was elected Governor of New York by a large majority. In this position he recommended the increase of education, internal improvements, a liberal policy toward foreign immigrants, and took the side of abolition in the growing controversies on slavery. Mr. Seward held the office of Governor for two terms. lie resumed, afterward, the practice of law, first in the courts of his own State, and afterward acquiring a lucrative share of patent causes in the courts of the United States. In 1849 he was elected to the Senate of the United States, where he became the acknowledged leader of his party, and, in the debate On the admission of California, he promulgated what was called his “higher law” doctrine, in saying that there was “a higher law than the Constitution which regulated the authority of Congress over the national domain—the law of God and the interests of humanity." In a speech at Rochester, N. Y., in 1868, he declared that there was an “irrepressible conflict between opposing and enduring forces,” and that “the United States must become either entirely slave or entirely free.” In 1859 he revisited Europe, and extended his tour to Egypt and the Holy Land, and in 1860 was the most prominent man of the Republican party for the nomination for the Presidency, but personal and local interests finally secured the election of Abraham Lincoln, while Mr. Seward accepted the Important post of Secretary of State, in which he guided the diplomacy of the Federal Government through tins perils of War and Secession with an almost unparalleled industry, energy, and success. On the 14th of April, 1805, at the same time President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, another assassin, named Payne, entered the house of Mr. Seward (then confined to his room by a fall from his carriage), dangerously wounded his sbn, and with a poniard inflicted wounds upon him which were at first believed to be fatal, but from which he slowly recovered. After the death of Jfr. Lincoln, Mr. Seward continued to act as Secretary until the close of Mr. Johnson’s Presidency. In 1868r-69 he took an extended tour through the far Northwest, Alaska, California, Mexico, etc., and in 1870 again set out for a travel through Eastern Asia In October of the same year he was received by the Mikado of Japan, being the first foreigner to whom the honor had been accorded. The works of Mr. Seward have been published in 4 vol. Bvo., New York, 1853-60. They include his orations, addresses, political speeches, official correspondence and miscellaneous writings.