Governor Dix, on introducing Mr. Adams, made the following remarks: — "A quarter of a century ago, this very month, and within these walls, William H. Seward delivered a memorial discourse on the character and public services of John Quincy Adams. And to-day the son of Mr. Adams is here to pronounce a similar discourse on Mr. Seward. Thus, with these two kindred ceremonies are associated the names of three eminent statesmen, who have shared largely in the confidence and respect of their countrymen, and who, by their distinguished talents and the purity of their lives, have contributed as largely to their country's welfare and reputation." Governor Dix, presiding on this occasion of honor to Mr. Seward, was a quarter of a century before in the Senate of the United States, and in 1849 retired from that body to give place to Mr. Seward then his political opponent. Soon after Mr. Seward's death, prominent citizens of New York originated the project of a monument to his memory, which took the form of a statue. A committee conferred with Mr. Randolph Rogers, the sculptor, then on a visit in this country, as to the character of the proposed memorial. Subsequently, steps were taken to initiate the enterprise. A commission was given to Mr. Rogers in 1874, and he at once set to work upon his model. The result of his labors is the fine bronze statue which was presented to the city on the 28th of September, 1876. The sculptor, it is thought, has performed his work admirably. In pose, the work is dignified, and although the upper portion of the figure is singularly erect, there is no suggestion of stiffness. Mr. Seward is represented in a sitting position. He has just been writing, and the hand holding the pen has fallen to his side, while he looks forward with an expression suggestive of deep thought. These are the main features of the work, but the details are in no way neglected. The base of the pedestal is of New England granite, and the upper portion of variegated Spezzia marble. The inscription is simple. In the upper tablet, fronting the plaza formed by the junction of Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and Twenty-third Street, is the name "William H. Seward;" and on the larger tablet beneath is inscribed "Governor, United States Senator, Secretary of State of the United States." The presentation and unveiling was witnessed by thousands of people. Mr. William R. Martin, the president of the Department 1 See Vol. III., p. 75. of Public Parks, made the introductory speech. Hon. John Bigelow made the formal presentation of the statue, on the part of the citizens, and it was received by the Mayor, Hon. W. H. Wickham, on behalf of the city of New York. The orator of the day was the Hon. William M. Evarts. The arrangements which had been made for the ceremonies were carried out under the control of the Department of Parks. The southwestern angle of Madison Square, where the statue is erected, was suitably enclosed; a spacious stand, draped with American flags, was there for the accommodation of the speakers and principal guests; the statue was veiled with the nation's ensign. The sculptor has executed a life-like portrait statue of the late eminent American statesman, Mr. Seward. The statue is in every way naturalistic; there has been no attempt to make it anything but a portrait of the man, and this it may fairly lay claim to. He is seated in an attitude of meditation, and in a costume such as, in all probability, he was daily accustomed to wear." 1 66 "Called to the Department of State," says a friendly writer, "at a period when our foreign relations were fraught with peril and environed with difficulty, Mr. Seward so administered them that, while calmly maintaining the internal sovereignty and the external rights of the government which he represented, the jealous ministers of rival nations publicly acknowledged his fairness and his candor, and were able only to cavil at those assertions of the unabated power and dignity of the Republic which, made with unflinching confidence in an hour of unprecedented trial, touched the hearts of his countrymen as the expression of a faith which was then in very deed the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen, but which events have since shown to have been well founded: Just men may have misunderstood Mr. Seward, but his only enemies have been the enemies of right and of the country. At the hands of some of these he suffered in common with our good President, whose death the whole world mourned. "That his life was sought with the President's was an additional testimony to his faithfulness and ability. Men seek to kill only whom they fear and hate. That Mr. Seward escaped the murderous attempts made by the assassins, who struck at his country through him, was an occasion of rejoicing throughout the land. “Through all his public life, Mr. Seward was the unrelenting foe of wrong and oppression, and one of the earliest and most earnest advocates of the canse of freedom; a statesman who recognized his responsibility to a higher law than that of state necessity, and who yet endeavored to secure the blessings of liberty to all by peaceful methods, and to obtain for all the protection of the law without the violation of the law." 1 The London Art Journal of September, 1877. |