Letter from Frances Miller Seward to William Henry Seward, January 19, 1861

  • Posted on: 6 July 2018
  • By: admin
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Letter from Frances Miller Seward to William Henry Seward, January 19, 1861
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transcriber

Transcriber:spp:hah

student editor

Transcriber:spp:csh

Distributor:Seward Family Digital Archive

Institution:University of Rochester

Repository:Rare Books and Special Collections

Date:1861-01-19

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Letter from Frances Miller Seward to William Henry Seward, January 19, 1861

action: sent

sender: Frances Seward
Birth: 1805-09-24  Death: 1865-06-21

location: Auburn, NY

receiver: William Seward
Birth: 1801-05-16  Death: 1872-10-10

location: Washington D.C., US

transcription: hah 

revision: crb 2018-06-22

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Page 1

Saturday
My dearest Henry
Eloquent as your
speech was it fails to meet
the entire approval of those
who love you best –
The wish so often expressed
by your friends that you
had not spoken at all,
the commendations of
only conservative papers,
and the silence or exultant
of those which are unfriendly
all point to the same
lesson– – You are in
danger of taking the
path which led Daniel
Webster
Birth: 1782-01-18 Death: 1852-10-24
to an uk unhonored
Page 2

grave ten years ago –
Compromises based
on the idea that the
preservation of the Union
is more important than
the Liberty of nearly
4,000 000 human beings
cannot be right –
The alteration of the
Constitution to perpetuate
slavery – the enforcement
of a Law to recapture
a poor, suffering fugitive,
– giving half of the
Frontier of a free Country
to the curse of Slavery
– these compromises cannot
be approved by God
Page 3

or supported by
good men – whatever
may be the judgment
of this generation, in
of the end gained now
in ages to come this
truth will stand out
boldly on the page of History –
No one can dread
War more than I do –
for 10 years I have
prayed earnestly that
our Son
Birth: 1826-10-01 Death: 1876-09-11
might be spared
the misfortune of raising
his hand against his
fellow man – yet I
could not to-day
assent to the perpetuation
Page 4

or extension of Slavery
to prevent War –
I say this in no spirit
of unkindness – God knows
I fail to see my own
path clearly often enough
to make me charitable
to the wanderings of others
but I must obey the
admonition of conscience
which impel me to warn
you of your danger –
I fear to hear your name
execrated by the humane
& generous as I hear that
of your chief counselor
Birth: 1809-02-12 Death: 1865-04-15

now –
May God protect &
guide you your own
Frances