Letter from Frederick William Seward to William Henry Seward, June 4, 1852
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Letter from Frederick William Seward to William Henry Seward, June 4, 1852
transcriber
Transcriber:spp:csh
student editorTranscriber:spp:sts
Distributor:Seward Family Digital Archive
Institution:University of Rochester
Repository:Rare Books and Special Collections
Date:1852-06-04
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Letter from Frederick William Seward to William Henry Seward, June 4, 1852
action: sent
sender: Frederick Seward
Birth: 1830-07-08
Death: 1915-04-25
location: Albany, NY
receiver: William Seward
Birth: 1801-05-16
Death: 1872-10-10
location: Washington D.C., US
transcription: csh
revision: crb 2019-02-19
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Page
1
(Private)
Office of the Evening Journal
Albany June 4th 1852.
My dear Father,
Can you be long enough away from
Washington to meet Gov. Kossuth
I may have misunderstood what he said to me
this morning, but if I did not, I am
afraid he is in danger of being led by the
advice of some of his friends to enter into
a plan for a secret association, as a means
of securing contributions, and other aid; in
the belief, from what has been told him of
the Odd Fellows, Sons of Temperance &c, that
such societies are able to exert a great
Page
2
influence over Americans –– and that it will
obtain for him the support of many, who
on account of political and other relations,
cannot give it publicly.
It may be that I am wrong. Of course
I had no right to inquire anything further
about it, much less to offer an opinion in
opposition to it, worth so little as mine would
be. But he will talk with you freely about
it. I asked if he had said anything
to you in relation to it, and he said, No,
the idea had only been developed since his
return from the South, but that he intended
to communicate it to you, as soon as a
scheme of organization could be drawn up.
You had told him that he could speak
confidentially with me, and he alluded to it
because the young men here had already
formed an association.
Page
3
I know that any organized aid of individ-
uals in the shape of arms or money, or vessels
would have to be communicated secretly, if it
was large enough to be of any importance –
and that intelligence of intended popular move-
ments abroad would have to be concealed. But
might not an attempt to invest the enterprise
with popular attractions, by means of mysticism,
initiations &c degrade it from an expression of
natural feeling into a mere secret society ––
render it such left-handed service as the
Sons of Temperance do to Temperance, and
the Old Fellows do to charity? Or would those
who are unwilling to take ground in his
favor publicly, here, be likely reliable for any
very efficient aid in private? I could not but
fancy that publicity has rather increased
than diminished what has been done for
him in this country. In his country everything
Page
4
is so different –– secret republican contributions
^under an arbitrary government^ are so different from secret societies here that
a mistake might easily be made by looking
upon them in the same light.
If I am all wrong in this, it at
least will do no harm to have said it to you,
and if I am not I am sure you would
wish to see him before he had decided,
Affectionately your son
Frederick W. Seward
William H. Seward
U.S. Senator
Washington
[right Margin] h
1852
(Private)
Office of the Evening Journal
Albany June 4th 1852.
My dear Father,
Can you be long enough away from
Washington to meet Gov. Kossuth
Birth: 1802-09-19 Death: 1894-03-20
in New York, next
week?I may have misunderstood what he said to me
this morning, but if I did not, I am
afraid he is in danger of being led by the
advice of some of his friends to enter into
a plan for a secret association, as a means
of securing contributions, and other aid; in
the belief, from what has been told him of
the Odd Fellows, Sons of Temperance &c, that
such societies are able to exert a great
influence over Americans –– and that it will
obtain for him the support of many, who
on account of political and other relations,
cannot give it publicly.
It may be that I am wrong. Of course
I had no right to inquire anything further
about it, much less to offer an opinion in
opposition to it, worth so little as mine would
be. But he will talk with you freely about
it. I asked if he had said anything
to you in relation to it, and he said, No,
the idea had only been developed since his
return from the South, but that he intended
to communicate it to you, as soon as a
scheme of organization could be drawn up.
You had told him that he could speak
confidentially with me, and he alluded to it
because the young men here had already
formed an association.
I know that any organized aid of individ-
uals in the shape of arms or money, or vessels
would have to be communicated secretly, if it
was large enough to be of any importance –
and that intelligence of intended popular move-
ments abroad would have to be concealed. But
might not an attempt to invest the enterprise
with popular attractions, by means of mysticism,
initiations &c degrade it from an expression of
natural feeling into a mere secret society ––
render it such left-handed service as the
Sons of Temperance do to Temperance, and
the Old Fellows do to charity? Or would those
who are unwilling to take ground in his
favor publicly, here, be likely reliable for any
very efficient aid in private? I could not but
fancy that publicity has rather increased
than diminished what has been done for
him in this country. In his country everything
is so different –– secret republican contributions
^under an arbitrary government^ are so different from secret societies here that
a mistake might easily be made by looking
upon them in the same light.
If I am all wrong in this, it at
least will do no harm to have said it to you,
and if I am not I am sure you would
wish to see him before he had decided,
Affectionately your son
Frederick W. Seward
William H. Seward
U.S. Senator
Washington
[right Margin] h
Unknown
Fredk W
Seward1852