In the exercise of the pardoning power, Gov. Seward exercised we think, a greater degree of wisdom than most of his predecessors. At the same time he labored for the introduction of milder forms of punishment in the penitentiaries, substituting moral discipline for the lash. These reforms were afterward adopted by the legislature.

The interests of agriculture always received the fostering care of Gov. Seward. He was anxious for the establishment of an agricultural department in the state, with a view to the especial promotion of that important source of public prosperity. His efforts for that measure, however, were not seconded by the legislature, and have remained to this day without direct fruit.

Upon the accession of Gov. Seward to office, the system of normal schools in connexion with academies and common school libraries, had been partially established. These measures received his cordial and efficient support. At his suggestion, a system of visitation and inspection of common schools was adopted by the legislature, although it has failed to be carried into full effect, much to the detriment of the cause of popular education.

In his messages, Gov. Seward took the ground that the welfare of the state demanded the education of all its children,* not as a matter of charity, but of justice and public safety. The defects in the public schools of New York city led him to recommend a modification of the system, and the ultimate substitution of the plan which prevailed in the rest of the state. A prejudice, partaking both of a national and religious character, had come down from the colonial period against foreigners, and especially against catholics. It was this class of the population that would be most directly benefited by the change in the city schools. It was proposed to admit catholic teachers with the same facilities as others. An alarm was at once raised throughout the state. The protestant cause was declared to be in danger, from the undue ascendancy of the catholics. Religious bigotry was thus excited. The hostility, both of protestant clergy and laity, was arrayed against the governor. He was labeled in effigy in New York. The press teemed with abuse of his person and measures. Meantime his political opponents, who had always professed to be more friendly to foreigners and catholics than the whigs, did not fail to take advantage of the popular jealousy for the promotion of their views. The

*See Annual Message, Vol. II. pp. 206, 216.

whigs, on the other hand, who were accustomed to contend with naturalized foreigners at the polls, were unwilling to accord them any privileges. Between the two parties, Gov. Seward was obliged to maintain the contemplated reform on its own merits. His influence was greatly impaired by the general impression that the measures in question were not only untenable in themselves, but that they had their origin in sinister political purposes. This impression, however, was wholly unfounded, and did great injustice to Gov. Seward. His efforts in behalf of the children of catholics sprung from a deep conviction of the importance of education to all men, without regard to condition or circumstances.* During his travels in Ireland in 1833, he saw the effect of British policy in depriving the catholic population of the means of instruction. The people, thus kept in abject ignorance, were more easily made the victims of oppression and tyranny, and more liable to become seditious and treasonable. This spectacle produced a strong impression on his mind. He became anxious that the catholics in America should be put in possession of the advantages of education, and so be assimilated to the native population. †

The controversy on the school question continued throughout the whole of Gov. Seward's administration. It affected his popularity so much as to deprive him of about 2,000 votes on his re-election. The result, however, has shown his far-reaching sagacity. Like many other measures proposed by Gov. Seward, this was in advance of public opinion, but has since commended itself to the good sense of the people. At the first session of the legislature, after his retirement from office, his plan for the education of all classes of children, not excluding those of foreigners and catholics, was adopted by decisive majorities. No doubt has since arisen as to the utility of the measure, except on the part of those whose religious scruples had led them to decline a participation in its advantages.‡

Along with these efforts of Gov. Seward in behalf of educational reform, he was also actively engaged in the removal of the prejudices between native Americans and adopted citizens. His recommendations to successive legislatures for abolishing the legal

See General Correspondence. Letters to Bishop Hughes and others, Vol. III. See letters from Europe, Vol. III.

Gov. Seward's attention was first called to this question by the fact that the annual school returns from New York showed that there were about 25,000 children in that city who did not attend school, and were thus left exposed to the allurements of vice and crime.

disabilities under which foreigners labored, were with more or less reluctance, ultimately adopted.*

The city of New York was, at that time just beginning to be crowded with immigrants who poured into the country from foreign lands. Overtaken by poverty and disease, they served to fill the almshouses and the prisons. Their overflowing numbers increased the amount both of wretchedness and of crime. In order to lessen the evil, a tax upon emigrants was recommended by the mayor of New York. The proposal met with general favor. Under these circumstances the public was astounded by the suggestions of Gov. Seward for the encouragement of emigration. He maintained that the surplus labor of foreign lands should be employed to advantage in developing the natural resources of this country. Instead of shutting our doors upon the down-trodden emigrant, he insisted that we should welcome him to a share in our industry and citizenship. This generous and humane policy, however, was vehemently condemned. It subjected its author to great reproach. Still, as in the case of the school reform, his measures were finally adopted by the state. In 1847 they were made the subject of discussion in the legislature, and having passed that body, have since been a part of the established policy of New York.

The courts of law and of chancery in the state of New York had from time immemorial been subject to a variety of expensive delays. Organized on the model of the English system, the higher courts consisted of judges, a chancellor, and a vice-chancellor appointed by the governor and senate, and holding office until sixty years of age. In the common pleas the judges were appointed for five years by the same power. The legal practice was marked by all the prolixity, technicalities, and superfluous expense of the English courts. The judiciary and the banking powers were combined with overpowering and overshadowing influences by the Albany regency. Gov. Seward exerted all his influence in favor of reform. He was opposed both by the bar and the judiciary. opposition to their combined efforts, he secured the passage of bills in the legislature for reducing the expenses, and simplifying the practice in all the courts of the state. Nor did he stop with this measure for the relief of the public. He urged a complete reform in the constitution of the courts. His plan involved the abolition of the court of chancery, and a new organization of the supreme *See Annual Messages, Vol. II.

In

courts and the common pleas. The legislature did not receive his suggestions with favor; but they did not fail to exert a salutary influence on the public mind. No one can doubt that they prepared the way for the radical change in the constitution effected in 1846. Under this arrangement the court of chancery, after an existence of over one hundred and fifty years, was abolished, and all judicial offices made elective by the people.

It was the desire of Gov. Seward from the commencement of his official career, to effect the decentralization of the political power in the state. By the existing laws, the judges of common pleas were associated in the respective counties with the board of supervisors in the appointment of commissioners of deeds, superintendents of the poor, and other county officers. The boards of supervisors were usually divided in politics, and hence the appointments were in fact decided by the central power at Albany, from which the judges received their offices. At the recommendation of Gov. Seward the appointing power was withdrawn from the judges, and the election of most of these offices given to the people. His efforts for reducing the emoluments of several favorites in public office were partially sanctioned by the legislature. But his recommendation to abolish the office of inspector of various branches of produce and manufacture was not adopted until after the close of his administration.

The safety fund system, of which Gov. Seward had always been a decided opponent, exploded in 1837. A general banking law, passed by the whig assembly of 1838, gave the liberty of banking to any voluntary association of citizens. The new system, however, was at first defective in its details. Many of the banks under this organization failed, producing a loss to the bill-holders. During Gov. Seward's administration, the law was revised, and with successive improvements, has become the settled policy of the state, and has also been adopted by several other states of the Union.

A warm discussion arose during this period, in regard to the minimum denomination of bank paper to be used as a circulating medium. In accordance with the views of Gen. Jackson, bills under five dollars were prohibited by the legislature of 1837. The senate of 1838 refused to repeal this law. At the recommendation of Gov. Seward in 1839, the act was repealed by the whig legislature and no attempt has been made to restore it since.

The geological survey of the state, which had been commenced

pursuant to an act of the legislature in 1836, was brought to a completion, under the auspices of Gov. Seward. At his suggestion, the legislature appropriated funds from time to time for its prosecution, and established a depository for the preservation of specimens illustrative of the natural history of the state. This, he recommended should be made the foundation for a system of popular instruction in the natural sciences, with a view to the improvement of agriculture. The spirit of his suggestion has been carried into effect by the State Agricultural Society, in its system of popular lectures and discussions which are held in the Geological Museum at Albany.

The results of the geological survey were embodied in a series of quarto volumes, which ultimately reached the number of thirteen. Gov. Seward prepared an elaborate introduction to the work, consisting of a review of the settlement, progress, and condition of the state of New York, somewhat on the plan of Mr. Jefferson's "Notes on Virginia." This historical essay is written in a style of admirable clearness and fluency, abounding in recondite and valuable information, and pervaded by an elevated tone of patriotism and humanity. It appears in this work under the title of "Notes on New York."*

The abolition of imprisonment for debt, effected in 1832, did not reach the class of non-resident debtors, or those held by process issuing from the United States Courts. Gov. Seward was opposed, both from feeling and principle, to depriving unfortunate debtors of their liberty and of the opportunity to provide for their families. He had not been long in the executive office, when he procured the passage of laws, which swept away these relics of barbarism from the jurisprudence of the state.

In general, the laws of the state were faithfully executed during Gov. Seward's administration. There was, however, an exception. In the counties of Albany and Rensselaer, was a tract of land, fifty miles square, lying on both sides of the Hudson river, which was claimed to have been granted by the Dutch government, at an early day to the Van Rensselaer family, and which was originally denominated the manor of "Rensselaerwyck." The lands on this tract had not been granted in fee to settlers, as elsewhere, but had been farmed out on perpetual leases, securing annuities to the proprietor, (denominated the Patroon,) payable in kind and in labor, * See Vol. II. p. 9