of the whigs were earnestly desirous that the candidate should be taken from their ranks. Mr. Seward's distinguished senatorial career had made him prominent before the party and the state. His bold attacks on the policy of the administration had won the gratitude and the admiration of the whigs. It was mainly through his efforts, that the party had been organized, and no one was better fitted than himself to take the position of their acknowledged leader.

Accordingly, at the Whig State Convention, held in Utica, Sept. 13th, 1834, Mr. Seward was nominated as a candidate for governor. The election came, and he was defeated. The result showed that the whig party had not been able to put forth its full strength. It had not yet gained confidence in its own power to cope with a party that had never been overthrown, and was sustained by the monetary influence of the state and the vast patronage of the national government. Mr. Seward received a flattering vote, and led his ticket in all the counties, but Gov. Marcy was re-elected by a majority of about ten thousand.

Mr. Seward, having escaped the claims of public life, resumed the practice of his profession at the commencement of the year 1835. Nor did he lose his interest in the great political questions of the day. He still labored, with unshrinking fidelity, in support of the party to which he was attached, and of which, by a large portion, he was regarded as the head.

On the 3d of October, 1835, he delivered an address* at Auburn on Education and Internal Improvements. This production was remarkable for its anticipations of the progress of the state, and its lucid exposition of the principles of government, which he afterwards carried into effect, during his administration as chief magistrate.

In July, 1836, Mr. Seward established himself in Westfield, Chautauque county, for the purpose of assuming an agency to quiet the troubles between the landlords and tenants of the Holland Company. Serious difficulties had arisen among the settlers on the tract of the company, and the services of Mr. Seward seemed important for the restoration of tranquillity. A change of scene also it was hoped, would prove favorable to his health, which had become impaired by his assiduous professional labors. The manner in which he conducted this agency subjected him to much reproach * See Vol. III, p. 128.

in a subsequent political canvass. sion to treat in another place.*

But of this we shall have occa

The election for governor in 1836 resulted in favor of Mr. Marcy, who received a majority of nearly 40,000 votes over the whig candidate, Mr. Jesse Buel. Meantime, Mr. Seward continued his agency, and his professional toil, with extraordinary success. His growing fame produced no abatement of his industry, and he devoted himself to the interests of his clients with the same earnestness and zeal which he had exhibited in his political efforts on the floor of the Senate. During this period he prepared several essays, which display genuine literary merit, no less than a spirit of enlarged and comprehensive statesmanship.

Mr. Seward received an invitation to deliver a discourse on Education at Westfield in July, 1837. He accepted the service, which he performed with signal ability. The discourse was a clear and eloquent defence of the principle of universal education. It maintained the duty of giving public instruction to all classes of the people, irrespective of condition or circumstances. In regard to the education of females, it claimed for woman the highest standard of literary attainment, challenging for her the same intellectual advantages that were enjoyed by the other sex.

At a meeting of the whigs of Cayuga county, Oct. 11, 1837, Mr. Seward delivered a speech of masterly ability. The state of the country called forth his most vigorous eloquence. The commercial revulsion, which he had so long predicted, was sweeping over the land. Disastrous experience gave ample confirmation to the principles of the whigs. In his speech on this occasion, Mr. Seward earnestly appealed to the people to redress their wrongs at the ballot box. This was only one of many efforts during the canvass. He was indefatigable in his exertions, which were now crowned with the most brilliant success. The election resulted in the total overthrow of the Albany regency. The whigs gained a triumphant victory throughout the state, electing six out of eight new senators, and one hundred of the one hundred and twenty-eight members of the Assembly.

The New York and Erie Railroad was originally undertaken by a company chartered while Mr. Seward was a member of the Senate. He voted against the charter, not through hostility to the construction of the road, but on the ground that so great an enterSee Vol. III, p. 136.

*See Letter to the citizens of Chautauque Co., Vol. III.

prise could not be effected by a corporation, and that the road when completed should pass into the hands of the state, like the Erie Canal, for the public benefit. His vote being misrepresented in the election of 1834, he corrected the error in a letter to a committee,* declaring himself unreservedly in favor of that great work. As he had predicted, the enterprise languished until 1837, when it was abandoned by the regency and its party in the legislature. It was still sustained by the whig majority in the Assembly, whose policy, however, was rejected by a regency Senate.

A convention of the friends of the railroad was held at Elmira on the 17th of October, 1837, at which Mr. Seward was present. He was the first citizen, living in a portion of the state not immediately interested in the enterprise, who gave it his personal support. At the request of the convention, he prepared an address on the subject to the people of the state of New York, in which he gave a brief history of the road, and urged the adoption of efficient measures for its speedy completion. He placed the resumption of the work on the same broad principles of policy which pervaded his subsequent administration. On the strength of such reasonings, the whig party throughout the state gradually yielded their aid to the project, and at length rejoiced in the completion of the truly magnificent structure.

At the Whig State Convention in 1838, the names of William H. Seward and Luther Bradish were presented to the electors of the state for governor and lieutenant-governor. The previous defeat of Mr. Seward had not in the least degree weakened the confidence of his friends. They knew that it was not owing to personal causes, but to the position of parties; and hence were anxious again to present his claims for the suffrages of the people. Great importance was attached to the election by both political parties, on account of its bearing on the presidential campaign of 1840. The canvass labored under peculiar difficulties. During a season of great pecuniary embarrassment, Mr. Seward had conducted the affairs of the Holland Land Company to the eve of a prosperous close. His agency in Chautauque county had been managed with discretion and kindness; but it did not fail to be used by his political opponents as an instrument of reproach. Hoping to alienate the whigs from their favorite candidate, they charged him with fraud, injustice and oppression, in his treatment.

* See Vol. III,

p. 417.

† See Vol. III, p. 306.

of the settlers, averring that he had employed his official power in the agency for his own private emolument, and the benefit of land speculators. Mr. Seward was silent in regard to these calumnies, until they had awakened a painful anxiety toward the close of the canvass. He then published his letter to the citizens of Chautauque county,* which, by its clear and cogent statements, put an effectual stop to the slanders that were in circulation and gave him popular strength never enjoyed before.

The slavery question was another perplexing element in this canvass. The yet distant prospect of the annexation of Texas was viewed with alarm by the friends of liberty at the North. It renewed the discussion of slavery, which had not entered into political movements since the Missouri Compromise in 1820. A portion of the citizens of New York, headed by William Jay and Gerrit Smith, had addressed letters to the several candidates for office, intended to draw out their views on the subject of slavery. The mass of all parties regarded this course of action with profound disgust. The candidates of the regency party did not hesitate to give a negative answer to the questions that had been propounded. The whigs were thought to be placed in an inconvenient dilemma. Mr. Seward's answert was at once frank and sagacious. While he expressed without reserve his devotion to human freedom, he limited his aims by a regard to prevailing opinions, and a sense of what was practicable in the attainment of right. His reply did not compromise his popularity, as had been hoped by his oppo

nents.

With the regency the

The election was warmly contested. struggle was for life or death. No measures were neglected on their part to defeat the candidates of the whigs.. Every species of objection was urged against Mr. Seward. The gravest and the most trivial charges were alike brought to bear on the canvass. Among other things he was accused of the "atrocious crime" of being a young man, as he was but thirty-three when first nominated for governor, and at this time but thirty-seven. The election took place in November, and in spite of unexpected disasters to the whig cause in all other states, the "young man" was triumphantly elected. Mr. Seward's majority reached to 10,421. The whig party carried the state in every department, and secured a complete ascendancy of political power. + See Vol. III. p. 426.

* See Vol. III. p. 457.

Mr. Seward was the first whig governor of New York. With the exception of De Witt Clinton, he was the only one who had ever been elected in opposition to the Albany regency. The party which had virtually dictated the policy of the state for nearly fifty years was thus effectually destroyed, and a new development of principles was to be realized under the administration of William H. Seward. In entering upon the executive office, Gov. Seward was surrounded with peculiar difficulties. The business of the country had been prostrated by the revulsions of 1836. His political friends looked with confidence to his administration for the financial relief of the public. The whigs, moreover, were in power for the first time. Numerous and excited applicants eagerly pressed their claims for office. In this crisis, Gov. Seward conducted with great moderation and impartiality. Cautious in making promises, he rejected no application without substantial reasons, which he never took pains to conceal. His frankness in rendering all necessary explanations to a disappointed candidate was equal to the wise reserve with which he abstained from giving undue encouragement.* In this judicious course, however, he did not avoid offence. Applicants were more numerous than offices. Of course, some must be disappointed. And of these some rallied around rival statesmen. Gov. Seward thus incurred the opposition of several prominent members of the whig party, who, naturally enough, adopted principles different from his own.

Nor did his election bring the political contest in the state of New York to a close. An important battle had been won, but the campaign was not completed. Never did party zeal run to a greater height, than during the period of his administration. In describing his official career, we shall do little more than indicate the principles by which it was inspired, as delivered in his messages, and other executive papers.

Among the measures to which the attention of Gov. Seward was early directed, was the completion of a lunatic asylum, and the adoption of a judicious and humane system for the treatment of the insane. Before his retirement from office, his suggestions in this behalf were carried into successful operation. Frequently visiting this and other charities of the state, he recommended them to the patronage of the legislature, as well by his example as his counsels.

* See Official Correspondence, Vol. II, p. 589.