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472 action for the sake of maintaining the Union. He cherished hopes of a peaceful solution of the na- tional troubles, and, while declining: in March, 1861, to enter into negotiating with commission- ers of the Confederate government, he was in favor of evacuating Fort Sumter as a military necessity and politic measure, while re-enforcing Fort Pick- ens, and holding every other post then remaining in the hands of the National government. He is- sued a circular note to the ministers abroad on 9 March, 1861, deprecating foreign intervention, and another on 24 April, denning the position of the United States in regard to the rights of neu- trals. Negotiations were carried on with Euro- pean governments for conventions determining such rights. He protested against the unofficial in- tercourse between the British cabinet and agents of the Confederate states, and refused to receive de- spatches from the British and French governments in which they assumed the attitude of neutrals be- tween belligerent powers. On 21 July be sent a despatch to Charles F. Adams, minister at Lon- don, defending the decision of congress to close the ports of the seceded states. When the Confederate commissioners were captured on board the British steamer " Trent " he argued that the seizure was in accordance with the British doctrine of the ' right of search," which the United States had resisted by the war of 1812. The release of these prisoners, at the demand of the British govern- ment, would now commit both governments to

the maintenance of the American doctrine ; so they would be " cheerfully given up." He firmly rejected and opposed the proposal of the French rmpiTor to unite with the English and Russian governments in mediating between the United States and the Confederate government. He made the Seward-Lyons treaty with Great Britain for the extinction of the African slave-trade. The diplomatic service was thoroughly reorganized by See. Seu;inl; iind by hi* lucid despatches and the unceasing presentation of his views and argu- ments, through able ministers, to the European cabinets, the respect of Europe was retained, and the efforts of the Confederates to secure recogni- tion and support were frustrated. In the summer of 1862. the army having become greatly depleted, and public proclamation of the fact being deemed unwise, he went to the north with letters from the president and secretary of war, met and con- ferred with the governors of the loyal states, and arranged for their joint proffer of re-enforce- ments, to which the president responded by the call for 300,000 more troops. Mr. Seward firmly insisted on the right of American citizens to re- dress for the depredations of the "Alabama, ' and with equal determination asserted the Monroe doc- trine in relation to the French invasion of Mexico, but, by avoiding a provocative attitude, which might have involved his government in foreign war, was able to defer the decision of both questions till a more favorable time. Before the close of the civil war he intimated to the French government the irritation felt in the United States in regard to its armed intervention in Mexico. Many despatches on this subject were sent during 1865 and 1866, which gradually became more urgent, until the French forces were, withdrawn and the Mexican empire fell. He supported President Lincoln's proclamation liberating the slaves in all localities in rebellion, and three years later announced by proclamation the abolition of slavery throughout the Union by constitutional amendment. In the spring of 1865 Mr. Seward was thrown from his carriage, and his arm and jaw were fractured. While he was confined to his couch with these in- juries President Lincoln was murdered and on the same evening, 14 April, one of the conspirators gained access to the chamber of the secretary, in- flicted severe wounds with a knife in his face and neck, and struck down his son, Frederick W., who eamc to his rescue. His recovery was slow and his sufferings were severe. He concluded a treaty with Russia for the cession of Alaska in 1867. He negotiated treaties for the purchase of the Danish West India islands and the Bay of Samana, which failed of approval by the senate, and made a treaty with Colombia to secure American control of the Isthmus of Panama, which had a similar fate. Sec. Seward sustained the reconstruction policy of President Johnson, and thereby alienated the more powerful section of the Republican party and subjected himself to bitter censure and ungenerous imputations. He opposed the impeachment of President Johnson in 1868, and sup- ported the election of Gen. Grant in that year.

He retired from office at the end of eight years of tenure in March, 1869. After a brief stay in Auburn, he journeyed across the continent to California, Oregon. British Columbia, and Alaska, returning through Mexico as the guest of its government and people. In August, 1870, he set out on a tour of the world, accompanied by several members of his family. He visited the principal countries of Asia, northern Africa, and Europe, being received everywhere with great honor. He studied their political institutions, their social and ethnological characteristics, and their commercial capabilities. Returning home on 9 Oct., 1871, he devoted himself to the preparation of a narrative of his journey, and after its completion to a history of his life and times, which was not half finished at the time of his death. The degree of LL. D. was given him by Union in 1866. He published, besides occasional' addresses and numerous political speeches, a volume on the " Life and Public Services of John Quincy Adams " (Auburn, 1849). An edition of his "Works" was published, which contains many of his earlier essays, speeches, and addresses, with a memoir by George E. Baker, reaching down to 1853 (3 vols., New York. is53i. To this a fourth volume was added in 1862. and a fifth in 1884, containing his later speeches and extracts from his diplomatic correspondence. His official correspondence during the eight years was published by order of congress. The relation of his " Travels Around the World " was edited and published by his adopted daughter, Olive Risley Seward (New York, 1873). Charles F. Adams published an "Address on the Life, Character, and Services of Seward " (Albany, 1873), which was thought by some to have extolled him at the ex- pense of President Lincoln's fame, and elicited replies from Gideon Welles and others. Mr. Sewanl's " Autobiography," which extends to 1834, has been