against himself, but quietly to bring the aid of his wisdom and experience to the support of its head.

He concurred with Gen. Taylor in his invitation to California and New Mexico to organize state governments and apply for admission into the Union at the next session of Congress. The suggestion of the President was adopted. As Gov. Seward had anticipated, California appeared by her senators and representatives at the commencement of the congressional session in December, 1849, with a constitution excluding slavery. It was understood that New Mexico was preparing to come with a similar constitution.

To Gov. Seward belongs the authorship of the phrase-the Higher Law-which has acquired a fame that will never die. It was used by him in his speech in the Senate, March 11, 1850, on the admission of California into the Union.

This speech was unanimously acknowledged to be a bold, manly, and profound production. Lucid and consecutive in argument, learned in historical and philosophical illustrations, with a chaste elegance of diction, it was not surpassed for sound statesmanship and an acute exposition of the principles of natural and constitutional law, by any speech delivered in the Senate on the absorbing subject of freedom in the territories.

The enemies of Gov. Seward at once accused him of maintaining the existence of a Higher Law, in opposition to the Constitution, by which the new domain of California was devoted to justice, liberty, and union. But this was a flagrant misrepresentation of his language, which embodied a truth, that none but the grossest materialists and skeptics can call in question. No enlightened ethical philosopher, no man of ordinary religious feeling and conscientiousness will deny that there is a law higher than political constitutions and human legislation, "the law which governs all law-the law of our Creator, the law of humanity, justice, equity, the law of nature and of nations." Nor will it be doubted, that in case of a conflict between divine and human law, "we ought to obey God, rather than man." But it was not the purpose of Gov. Seward on that occasion, to repeat a principle so plain as this. The phrase as used by him on the floor of the Senate would hardly seem capable of such misconstruction as has been given to it. We quote his words, precisely as they were spoken:

"It is true, indeed, that the national domain is ours. It is true it was acquired by

the valor and with the wealth of the whole nation. But we hold, nevertheless, no arbitrary power over it. We hold no arbitrary authority over anything, whether acquired lawfully or seized by usurpation. The Constitution regulates our stewardship; the Constitution devotes the domain to union, to justice, to defence, to welfare, and to liberty. But there is a Higher Law than the Constitution, which regulates our authority over the domain, and devotes it to the same noble purposes. The territory is a part, no inconsiderable part, of the common heritage of mankind, bestowed upon them by the Creator of the Universe. We are his stewards, and must so discharge our trust as to secure in the highest attainable degree their happiness."

Every intelligent reader will perceive that while Gov. Seward devoutly recognizes the Law of God, and its paramount claims both on individuals and nations, he was far from asserting a contradiction between that law and the American Constitution on the subject in question. On the contrary, he declares that they agree in demanding freedom and justice for the new domain. Can any wise statesman, can any far-seeing patriot, can any friend of human improvement deny the soundness of this position?

But let us not be misunderstood. In vindicating Gov. Seward from the aspersions which were brought upon him by the expression alluded to, it is far from our intention to disclaim for him a belief that the obligation of human laws is founded on their harmony with the principles of eternal justice. He is no adherent of the superficial and wretched philosophy which derives the distinctions of morality from the caprices of opinion. In common with the greatest thinkers of all ages, he traces the obligation of right to the uncreated wisdom of the Deity. With Plato and Cicero, in ancient times, with Bacon, Hooker, and Cudworth, at a later date, he recognizes the bosom of the Deity as the seat and fountain of law-" whose voice is the harmony of the world." This ennobling idea pervades the writings of Gov. Seward,—it is the pivot of his personal character, as well as of his public and legislative career. Among other instances of its operation, we find it in an argument, in 1847, relating to the fugitive slave law of 1793, where he uses the following striking expression: "Congress has no power to inhibit any duty commanded by God on Mount Sinai, or by his Son on the Mount of Olives."*

During the discussion of the "Compromise Bill," Gov. Seward addressed the Senate, July 2, 1850, in a speecht remarkable for the vigor of its dialectics, its comprehensive and sagacious states* See Forensic Arguments, Parks vs. Van Zandt, Vol. I. See Vol. I. p. 44-110.

manship, and its noble zeal for freedom, as well as for the appositeness of its classical illustrations, and the polished beauty of its style. His exposition of the dangers and evils of the compromise is in a strain of masterly eloquence. After appealing to the wisdom of his auditors to adopt the true principle of conciliation by gradual reform, he closed his remarks with one of those genuine touches of poetry which often flash over the severity of his argumentative discourse. "We shall then realize once more. the concord which results from mutual league, united councils, and equal hopes and hazards in the most sublime and beneficent enterprise the earth has witnessed. The fingers of the Powers above would tune the harmony of such a peace."

This speech was succeeded by speeches on "New Mexico," and "Freedom in the District of Columbia," in which Gov. Seward displayed his usual elevation of thought in applying the principles of universal justice to the maintenance of human rights. In January, 1851, Gov. Seward delivered a speech, on the question of "Indemnities for French Spoliations," giving a luminous analysis of the whole subject, accompanied with ample historical proofs, and eloquently enforcing the necessity of justice and good faith to national honor. The state that would be prosperous must be free from the burden of violated engagements. The people that would dwell in safety, without fear for fireside, fane, or capitol, must practice an austere and pure morality-must embody in their daily lives the spirit of the eternal law through which "the most ancient Heavens are fresh and strong."

The next great topic, on which Gov. Seward addressed the Senate was the "Public Domain." In his speech on this subject, Feb. 27, 1851, without maintaining the absurdity that the land of any country ought to be or can be equally divided and enjoyed, he shows the evils arising to the highest interests of society from great inequalities in landed estates. His views of the gratuitous distribution of portions of the public domain to actual settlers, although they may fail to win the sympathy of politicians, are marked by equal humanity and good sense, and will challenge the attention of all intelligent friends of social progress.

In Dec. 1851, Gov. Seward submitted a resolution to the Senate, in favor of a cordial welcome by Congress to Kossuth, to be communicated by the president as the executive organ of the United States. His sentiments in regard to the illustrious champion of Hungary are expressed in two speeches on the subject, which

handle the objections of the opponents to the resolution with a good-humored severity of argument, and a remarkable terseness of language, while they present the claims of Kossuth to the admiration of American freemen, in a style of fervid eloquence that is equally touching in its pathos and convincing in its appeals.

During the following February, the discussion of Mr. Foote's resolution, declaring the sympathy of Congress with the exiled Irish patriots, Smith O'Brien and Thomas F. Meagher, came up in the Senate, when Gov. Seward took occasion to express his deep interest in the welfare of Ireland, enforcing his views with his usual vigor of argument and liveliness of illustration. This was succeeded in March by a speech on "Freedom in Europe;" in which he presents an admirable sketch of the Hungarian revolution, discusses the neutral policy of Washington in regard to foreign nations, explains the true character of intervention, and argues at length in its defence. The tone of this speech is lofty and severe, and in some passages rises to an almost Miltonic grandeur.

The next speeches of Gov. Seward in the Senate were on "American Steam Navigation," "Survey of the Arctic and Pacific Oceans," and "The American Fisheries." A peculiar value attaches to these speeches from their eminently practical character, the variety and accuracy of the statistics which they embody, their clear and cogent reasonings on the facts they present, the intimate knowledge which they exhibit of the commercial and industrial relations of the country, and the enlightened and glowing patriotism with which they are inspired. To the admirers of Gov. Seward they are of no less interest, on account of their fine illustrations both of his mental habits and his personal character. In the action of his intellect, patience and depth of research, a constant aim at the integral unity of the subject, a logical grouping of particulars in reference to a future pregnant inference, and a singular self-possession in the exercise of judgment, ever serve as the basis which underlies the expression of a masculine and generous enthusiasm and an earnest-hearted sympathy with all that is beautiful in the progress, or sacred in the hopes of collective humanity.

The speeches of Gov. Seward in the Senate since the commencement of the current year (1853) have been on questions of great practical interest. In his remarks in the debate on "Continental Rights and Relations," he pays a graceful and feeling tribute to

the character of John Quincy Adams, whom he claims as the author of the policy on re-colonization, generally ascribed to President Monroe. Passing to the discussion of the policy itself, he gives his reasons for holding to its substantial truth, while he protests against the manner in which it was brought in issue on that occasion. The speech is gravely and forcibly argued, though not without incidental touches of effective satire.

In February, the important question of our "Relations with Mexico and the Continental Railroad" was debated in the Senate. The speech of Gov. Seward on that subject abounds in lucid views of national policy.

On the proposal to abolish or suspend the duty on foreign railroad iron, Gov. Seward addressed the Senate in one of his most characteristic speeches. This was followed by a speech on "Texas and her creditors," which closes the list of his senatorial efforts at the time we are now writing. Both of these speeches are marked by the admirable union of statistics, general reasoning, and lofty sentiment, of which the texture of his deliberative eloquence is composed.

It will be seen that Gov. Seward has not been an idle spectator of the proceedings of the Senate. His voice has been raised on the most momentous questions in those halls "where debate either wins a great influence or utterly wastes the speaker's power." No one can doubt the effect of his active participation in the senatorial strife on his own fame. His speeches have not only been heard with profound respect in the august forum, where they were delivered, but they will be read with instruction and delight by the most intelligent portion of our republican population.

Rich in significant lessons of statesmanship, abounding in the treasured wisdom of years of study and practice in affairs, breathing a spirit of the most expansive humanity, and adorned with the classic embellishments of a susceptible and refined taste, they form an interesting memorial of the progress of American letters. Gov. Seward, we are persuaded, will henceforth occupy as enviable a place among the writers of his country, as he has long held among her practical statesmen.

In addition to his elaborate speeches in the Senate, Gov. Seward has often taken an incidental part in important debates, a record of which is preserved in the present collection. After the decease of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, he delivered a tribute to the memory of each of those illustrious statesmen, in chaste and dis