tsmummitiiii^iimiKier KF 366 P3/ THE GIFT OF ^M 24, 1897 A Successful Life Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Phi Beta Kappa Society : Those of us who have attained middle life, or advanced beyond it, and are now in possession of that inheritance which must soon be passed over to our successors, have had the good for- tune to live in the most progressive and, in a sense, the most revolutionary period of recorded history. We have witnessed the transformation of almost everything affecting men in their relation to the external world. We have seen recast and moulded anew or readjusted almost every agency that acts upon society, except the eternal verities of religion and the immutable impulses of nature. From and through the highest range of thought, in the manifold departments of science, down to the smallest CUrence Hmietronflf Seward mechanical invention for economizing labor and adding to the sum of human comfort and happi- ness, results have been evolved that would make the environment of to-day, seem like existence on another planet, to those tenants of our earth who left it half a century ago, were they per- mitted to revisit it now. In all this marvelous and rapid change and development we have become habituated to con- sidering men as aggregates. Our thoughts have been directed to the effect of the great movement of the world upon masses of people and in the multitude of the wonders of the last fifty years, we have had but little leisure or inclination to study individuals, except as asso- ciated with the careers or the achievements of the men of thought or of action, who have impressed themselves upon the times, as promi- nent or noteworthy at some stage in the great march of progress. The statesmen, legislators, jurists, colonizers, soldiers, discoverers, explor- ers, inventors, engineers, scientists, philoso- phers, teachers, who have been identified with the great events or ideas that have operated so powerfully upon the destiny of man, are indeed known to us by name, and the leading incidents H Successful Life of their lives and the chronicles of their deeds, are accessible to us in numberless biographies ; but the very nature of their work, its vast importance and far reaching influence, have inclined us rather to the contemplation of the methods and consequences of their labors, than to the consideration of those elements which supplied the motive power and constituted the causes of their superiority. We know, indeed, from a somewhat loose generalization, that the prominent traits of men of action are intelli- gence, energy and judgment, and that those of men of thought are knowledge and reason and the power of communicating that knowledge and convincing by that reason, and that with the possession of those qualities, added to that of high personal character, which is a more potent factor than is commonly recognized, the equipment is furnished for those who lead in the great affairs of life. But there are few men who become leaders, and ' ' the proper study of man- kind," is not made, only by following the course of those who are conspicuous in the annals of the world's progress, or have helped to make history. While we perceive in them the working of certain controlling forces, we Clarence Hrmstrong Seward nevertheless judge them by the exceptional acts that have made them remarkable. We are so affected by special considerations that we fail to grasp the whole scope and rotundity of their lives. Undoubtedly they furnish examples for imitation, undoubtedly great lessons are to be learned from them, but somehow they seem in their personalities to be remote and abstract and, in a measure, unreal. The enduring, use- ful knowledge we acquire of those phases of character, of those qualities of mind and heart, of those rules of conduct that lead to the suc- cess of life are gathered from the superior men with whom we come in contact or whose private as well as public lives are open to our observa- tion. Contemplation of the character and career of the eminent man to honor whose memory I am here to-day, has given rise to certain general reflections not inappropriate, as it seems to me, to the present occasion, and they were also partly suggested by the motto of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. It frequently has been remarked, that in every community the majority of its people lead random and unregulated lives in the sense that H Successful Life tliey are the creatures of chance and circum- stance. I do not refer to the accidents of birth, or hereditary fortune, or the patronage of pow- erful friends, but to those other external influ- ences which act upon men, to which they pas- sively submit and by which they are constantly controlled. They are the people who drift event- ually into such harbors as blind fate has left open to them. They get from the world but little more than a subsistence and give back to it nothing but their work for their wages. There is another class composed of those who are the intelligent, active and enterprising men of affairs, who deal with material interests, who are absorbed in business or professional life, who are producers and administrators, a practi- cal, utilitarian, indispensable class whose im- pulse is the creation of wealth, the legitimate gratification of ambition or the honest attain- ment of power. Their motives, though based on self-interest, are none the less worthy spurs and incentives to exertion. Such men, while laboring for themselves are also workers for the general good. In the wise economy of social relations, there is an operative law by which the results of the individual efforts of every useful lo Clarence Hntietvong Bctvard man extend beyond himself and tend to the ben- efit of others. This is but a trite and common- place reflection, but it is one which cannot be ignored in the consideration of those conditions which relate to the influence of the conduct of men in and upon the communities of which they form a part. Hence it is, that those who con- stitute that class are entitled to all respect, for they are the strength and support of the State in the advancement of its material prosperity, the development of its industries and the direc- tion of its opinion on the ordinary matters which relate to the peace, the security and the welfare of the public ; for the maxim of Tally- rand is as true here as elsewhere that ' ' the thoughts of the greatest number of intelligent persons in any time or country are sure, with a few more or less fluctuations, to become in the end the public opinion of their age or com- munity." I do not allude of course, to those sordid and base persons who live only to accu- mulate property, who amass polluted fortunes and leave dishonored memories — whose only aim in life is to make money at all hazards ; that class ever present in all communities and which was mentioned by Horace some two thousand H Successful Life years ago in his letter to Maecenas in speaking of the man whose object is to lay up wealth by any means : ' ' rem si possis rede, si non quo- cunque vtodo rem. ' ' But there is in every community another and a smaller class of men not limited to any pursuit, profession or occupation, whose lives passed upon a higher plane are regulated by what, not inaptly, may be called the philosoph- ical spirit of living; that is to say, they are guided and directed by exalted rational views of the duties and responsibilities of life, conform their conduct to the dictates of principle and illustrate by their careers how wide a difference exists between success in life and the success of life. To many, that difference would seem to be only one of a preposition, but it is in substance as broad as the difference between a part and the whole of life. What is the success of life? Is it a mere rhetorical phrase, sounding of that hollow thing called transcendentalism, or is it capable of a satisfactory definition? It lies in the completeness of life as an entirety. It consists in getting from it the most and the best of that which is attainable, and giving back the most and the best of what we can contribute. Clarence Hntistrong Seward That definition sums up the whole of the real practical philosophy of life. It embraces a reciprocal relation. Its fundamental idea is the acquisition of all that goes to make up a com- plete moral and intellectual manhood, and the return of the best service and the strongest influence that can be exerted through the possession of that moral and intellectual power. But it is often suggested that the presentation of such subjects as we are now considering is always made in a theoretical form, that no instruction is derived from it and no use can be made of it. The earnest man looks for pro- cesses and an example. How is this superiority to be reached ? How is such a character to be formed ? What are its elements ? On what is it based ? Who illustrates it ? There is no general code providing for it; there is no system of positive philosophy by which all men may pursue living as a science from their first consciousness of responsibility to the end of their careers. Attempts have been made in that direction, but each man's life is as independent as his own identity, and only cardinal principles apply to everyone, for there are general principles which should operate equally and H Successful Life 13 subordinate rules of conduct which act unequally. Physical organization, early sur- roundings and opportunities vary the force and qualify the results of the latter. The first and important step, however, is the resolution and the determination to be guided by those general principles and be controlled by those rules of action which lead to the formation of exalted personal character, and to the procurement of what has been referred to as the best we can obtain from life ; that is our own highest development and usefulness. The rest becomes habit. Such a character and such conditions are formed as is the man himself, for ' ' Nature crescent grows not in thews and bulk alone, "But as this temple waxes, the inward service of the heart and mind grows wide withal." There is uniformity of development, there is a harmonious but not unconscious expansion of the moral faculties, and on the intellectual side, there is the attainment of knowledge, of clear insight into things, of just judgment and the increasing power of mind that comes from study, reflection, observation and intercourse with wise and good men. 14 Clavcncc Hrmatrong Seward In this presence and on this occasion, it is scarcely necessary to explain that the general principles upon which high character is based, are personal purity and rectitude, or that the prime requirement is to "live honestly, harm no one voluntarily and render unto every man his due. ' ' He whose conduct conforms to those principles lives on a lofty plane of existence ; and here again comes into view that striking fact, that moral strength becomes a habit and it is no figment that it is as hard to break a good habit as a bad one. ' ' Custom can make it a property easiness," and right and wrong are distinguished instinctively. He who has ac- quired such a habit of living is not constantly feeling the pulse of his motives or taking the temperature of his intentions. He is in a state of moral health. But there are other and necessary elements which go to make up that combination of quali- ties we call character, and which are connected with both its moral and intellectual constitu- ents, for they relate to rules of conduct as well as to understanding and judgment. Among them is placed conspicuously self-knowledge and a just estimate of one's own capacity and H Successful Life 15 powers and the ability to use that capacity and apply those powers wisely and effectively. That self-knowledge is not, as many believe, intui- tive. Native qualities of mind enable some to acquire it earlier than others, but with most men it is taught by lessons of experience ; and the sooner the lessons are learned, the better. There are many men of talent who never learn them, whose whole lives are passed in futilities because they undertake tasks beyond their power of accomplishment and for which they are altogether unsuited. They are the men who are misplaced in the world, who, with a proper apprehension of their own capabilities and with proper direction, would have suc- ceeded, but who for the want of them, make dismal failures. Who has not seen and mourned over them, over their abortive schemes, their wasted energies, their misdirected efforts. I do not refer now to the enthusiasms of youth. The generous impulses which prompt us in early life to conceive some plan for the ameliora- tion of society are neither to be laughed at nor condemned. As Parke Godwin says in his picturesque and forcible way, the bright youth who does not believe he can do something to 1 6 Clarence Hrmstrong Sevoard improve those about him, "has in him more of the clod than the angel," but he must learn what and how much he can do, as well as how to do it, and that good intentions and noble pur- poses do not execute themselves ; that they must be accomplished by qualified agents, and that fitness to do the work is the great require- ment of the workman. We are fast drifting in these days towards the acceptance of the notion that any one of fair education, reasonable tact and a strong will, can do anything and every- thing, forgetting that the universal genius is the universal fool. That man is wise who takes a just measure of himself, who keeps within the boundary of his abilities and who learns the lesson that has been thundering through the ages from the time when ' ' The I/ord answered Job out of the whirl- wind and said : Canst thou bind the sweet influence of Pleiades or loose the bands of Orion ? Canst thou call forth Mazzaroth in his season, or guide Arcturus with his sons ? Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven ? Canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth? Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee? Canst thou send lightnings that they may go and say H 8uccc89ful Life 17 to thee, Here we are ? Then Job answered the lyord and said : Behold I am vile ; what shall I answer thee ? I will lay my hand upon my mouth." Well is it for him, ' ' who learns his limitation, and to whom the dark horizon of necessity becomes the sunlit circle of duty." Another quality to be arrayed on the moral side of the subject, is decision ; and it is one in which many men of splendid mental endow- ments are lacking, and for the want of which they are hopelessly feeble and inefficient. Indecision is a constitutional defect with some men, a fault largely of temperament, peculiar to timid and sensitive natures, and those who are swayed by undisciplined imagination. It comes from the want of self knowledge, sound judg- ment and moral courage and is, "The craven scruple of thinking too precisely of the event ; ' ' A thought which quartered hath but one part wisdom, "And ever three parts coward." The condition of the vascillating, procrasti- nating, undecided man, has been graphically 1 8 Clarence Hnnstrong Seward described by Mr. Foster in his famous essay, and the abject picture presented evokes our mingled pity and contempt. With these weak men, " the mind seems all at once to be placed in misty vacuity, or overwhelmed in confusion ; and this conscious imbecility becomes severe distress when it is felt that consequences of unknown good or evil depend upon decision to be made amid so much uncertainty." But many a man has triumphed over this defect by the exertion of will, by the assumption of responsibility, by forcing himself to do that which on . a comparison of reasons seems to be right. The dread of taking risks gradually diminishes and in the end the habit of prompti- tude is acquired. It grows very much as the quality of physical courage does with some men. It is not the substitution of rashness and impetuosity for prudence and deliberation, but it is the calm determination to dare and to do. One of the bravest of men, whose white plume was followed by the chivalry of France, fur- nishes the type of educated physical courage ; and that mental vigor, readiness of mind, single- ness of purpose and steadfastne.ss of action which belong to men of decision in ordinary life, may H Successful Life 19 be acquired in the same way and developed by the same heroic determination. The superior man possesses also the quality of self control, which in its best manifestation is found in the virtues of temperance and of fortitude. Temperance, says Lord Bacon, is the virtue of prosperity ; fortitude is the virtue of adversity, and in morals, the latter is the more heroical virtue. With inferior men and even with men of mediocrity, the danger of pros- perity lies in its deteriorating effect upon char- acter, in that it inspires arrogance, widens the field of temptation and furnishes the means for those indulgences which are provoked by ease and encouraged by idleness. But the wise man enjoys his prosperity with moderation ; he is not puffed up with vanity, nor unduly exalted by his good fortune, but keeps on in the even tenor of his way, modestly thankful for the good that has befallen him and estimating at their true value those blessings which bring him contentment and serenity of spirit. But the more heroical virtue of fortitude is indeed the more difficult one, and he is the strong man who can bear, without breaking, the great sorrows and the bitter disappointments of life ; and those Clarence Hrmstrong Seward sorrows and disappointments are the common lot of humanity. In the quaint phrase of the author of the Christian Morals, "Our felicities stand upon the tops of pyramids, ready to fall off, and the insecurity of their enjoyment abrupteth our tranquilities." Fortunate is he who obtains such control over his feelings and his emotions that the current of his life is not set awry by those disasters which crush us to the earth from which it is so hard to rise again. Thus far, we have noticed that the superior man has for his moral equipment, high prin- ciples, knowledge of himself, decision of charac- ter, self command and moral courage, to which are to be added, independence, firmness, sincer- ity and patience. I am not permitted, within the reasonable limits of an address like this, to dilate upon still other qualities which appropri- ately would be classified in the same category, but the special purpose I have had in view is to call attention to those elements which enter into the constitution of strength of character, as the foundation of a successful life. But the intellectual power of the superior man must also be of a high order, and for this he is, of course, largely indebted to nature for H Successful Life 21 the gift of liis general capacity. The enlarge- ment and training of that capacity must depend upon himself, whether he has had in early life the advantage of the discipline of academic edu- cation or not. The superior man I have sought to describe, strives to bring his mind to the highest state of efficiency. He pursues those studies best calculated to promote that effici- ency, acquires solid knowledge, and acquires it systematically, but he adds to it what may be derived from culture. He forms a taste for the arts and literature, he broadens his views and liberalizes his ideas by travel and association with learned, thoughtful and instructive men ; he courts the refinements of life and he supple- ments intellectual vigor and a full, prompt and ready mind with the graces and accomplish- ments that marry beauty to strength, and in the language of Mr. Wirt, "Cheer and enliven our social intercourse." The man who thus gets from life in character and intellectual power the best that it can afford, is qualified for the discharge of its highest duties and is equipped for whatever services he may be called upon to render, whether in com- manding positions of public employment, or in Clarence Hntistrong Seward the sphere of private life. In the former, be- side the greater value of his work, he advances the dignity and good repute of public service. In the latter, his influence is widespread and wholesome in every direction. He furnishes the example of all that is worthy and noble and his reward lies in the respect and admiration and honor of all good people. I have stated that the earnest practical man looks for the result of teaching and for a con- crete example of the doctrine taught, when the lesson relates to conduct and duty. Being called upon to point to one who in the highest degree displayed the exalted character and lofty qualities of which I have been speaking, I should without hesitation name as conspicuous in the front rank of such choice men, him, to whose memory we pay to-day the tribute of our loving admiration — Clarence Armstrong Seward. When I received from the learned President of this college and from the Phi Beta Kappa Society, the invitation to address you, I asked myself the question : What, in the contempla- tion of Mr. Seward's career, made the most powerful and lasting impression upon me, and the answer quickly came that it was the full- H Successful Life 23 ness, completeness, brilliant success and distinc- tion of the whole of his life. And asking my- self further the causes of that success I recog- nized as existing in him in the most ample measure those qualities and attributes I have referred to as constituting the real elements upon which the success of life is based. Hence, in referring generally to those high traits of character and qualities of mind, I have already described his moral and mental superiority. If the portraiture is not a likeness, the fault is in the lack of skill of the artist, not in the worth of the original. He furnishes the highest type of the distinguished man in private life. The greater part of his active career was removed from the gaze of the general public. Indeed, I am not aware that he ever, except temporarily, occupied official position. He may not be classed with those who have acquired eminence in public service, although he was peculiarly fitted for that service. The course of his life ran in other and serener channels. He had not the itching ambition to occupy public place. In his earlier days, he was connected with the military service of the State as Judge Advocate General. He was also a Presidential Elector in 24 Clarence Hrnistrong Setvavd t88o. He did not aspire to be a noted figure, either in state or national politics, but he had a strong influence in both. His advice and coun- sel were sought by the leaders of the great party to which he belonged and the utmost co"n- fidence was reposed in his judgment, sagacity, patriotism and disinterestedness. That he did not avail himself of the many opportunities afforded him for obtaining high public station, resulted partly from that disinterestedness and partly from his devotion to the duties of his professional calling. But there was one great position he filled for a brief time and which will forever connect his name with the most tragic event in our national history. When on the night of Good Friday, 1865, that deed of darkness was done in "Washington which laid low the most illustrious American of the present century, the attempt was made also to assassinate the Secretary of State. During the time of the disability of the latter, and through the earlier weeks of the administration of President Johnson, Mr. Clarence A. Seward filled the place of the great statesman whose wonderful dexterity brought the country successfully through all the dangers H Succeasful Life 25 and complexities of its relations with foreign nations during the terrible strain of the Civil War. While Mr. Seward was at the head of the State Department, the duties that devolved upon him required great delicacy, tact and sound judgment ; and young as he was, he displayed those qualities in such a way as to command the approval of all connected with the administration of the affairs of the govern- ment. I know of no other official relation that Mr. Seward occupied, either to the state or national government, unless it may have been in his strictly professional capacity. Mr. Seward was born in the city of New York on the 7th day of October, 1828. In his early infancy his parents died and he passed under the guardianship of his uncle, the great statesman, William H. Seward. Brought to this beautiful section of western New York, he spent his childhood and youth in Senator Seward's family until he entered Hobart College in the Class of 1848. Here, in this institution of learning, he obtained that solid education which was the strong foundation of the great knowledge he amassed. And here he received that mental discipline and training 26 Clarence Hrmetrong Seward which enabled him to accomplish so much in his brilliant professional career. For this college he always entertained a feeling of deep love and devotion. He was proud of it, and of the high honors it had bestowed upon him. He always spoke of it with tenderness and enthusiasm. His affection for it continued undiminished during his whole life. He would allude to it often and he displayed his interest in a most substantial manner by liberal gifts for college purposes. He was President of the Associate Alumni of the College during the years 1893 and 1894, and it had been his custom to entertain annually the members of the fac- ulty and the alumni in the city of New York. One of the charming things about Mr. Seward was the intense interest he always manifested in the prosperity of this college and of that fratern- ity of which he became a member while a student here, and of which he was the President at the time of his death. I refer to the Alpha Delta Phi Society. His loyalty to that society, his eager concern in all that affected it, was as strong and vital as if he were still an under- graduate. We rarely see the spirit and buoy- ancy of youth survive to the period of approach- H Successful Life 27 ing old age without abatement, as it did with him in everything connected with his college and his society. Indeed, a part of the social side of Mr. Seward's life had relation to the personal associations he formed in that society ; for in those associations originated the friend- ship which bound him to such men as Bishop Coxe, John Jay, George William Curtis, James Russell lyowell, Phillips Brooks, and many other great men among the dead and among the living, who were his brethren in that fraternity. The same deep interest was also taken by him in the Phi Beta Kappa Society and all that pertained to it. It is a singular coincidence, worthy perhaps of mention, that on the first as well as on the last occasion on which I ever saw Mr. Seward, there being an interval of forty years, the subject of our conversation was college affairs. On the first occasion I was a stripling, fresh from a high school, and he had been but a few years away from Hobart College. He told me of many incidents of his student life and of the happy days of his college experiences. Forty years afterwards I sat beside him at a banquet given in his honor by the Alpha Delta Phi Club 28 Clarence Hrmatrong Seward in the city of New York. Time and illness and grave anxieties and corroding cares had wrought great ravages upon him. As I looked into his countenance and contrasted it with the brightness, vivacity and hopefulness that shone upon it so many years before, I could not but feel that the shadow of the long night was fast falling upon him. There were many graduates of many colleges assembled at that board, and as the evening passed on, his anxious, careworn look departed, his eyes brightened and his cheeks flushed when youthful scenes were brought back to his memory ; and when the old college songs rang through the room, he said to me : ' ' We are all twenty years old again to-night." As I gazed into his kindling eyes and saw the blood mantling on his pallid cheek, I could not help thinking of the dying Etonian listening to the strains of the "Swing, swing together" of the boat song, as they floated in through the window ; and of dear old Colonel Newcome back to the little room of his boyhood at the Grey Friars, answering "adsum " to the roll call that summoned him to stand in the pres- ence of the great Master of us all. It was at this banquet that Mr. Seward H Successful Ltfe 29 announced the intention of endowing a scholar- ship in honor of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity, an intention which was subsequently executed by the establishment of that scholarship at Hamilton College, which was selected as the birthplace of the Society, there being no Chapter in existence at Hobart College. Upon his graduation from this college, Mr. Seward began the study of law at Auburn, and upon his admission to the bar became the part- ner of Mr. Samuel Blatchford, afterwards one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. He continued in the practice of his pro- fession at Auburn until the year 1854, when he and Mr. Blatchford removed to the city of New York and associating with them Mr. Burr Gris- wold established the firm of Blatchford, Seward & Griswold, which soon became one of the most prominent among the leading law firms in the metropolis. When Mr. Blatchford became a Judge of the District Court of the United States, Mr. Charles M. DaCosta came into the firm, and subsequently Mr. William D. Guthrie also became a member. Upon the lamented death of Mr. DaCosta in 1890, Mr. Morawitz, and later still, Mr. Steele also became Mr. Sew- 30 Clarence Hvmstrong Sevoard ard's partners. Thus for a period of forty-foUr years, Mr. Seward was engaged in the active pursuit of his profession, and during that time his employments were of the highest order and of the most important character. I may say that his held equal rank with any of the great law firms of the city, and during the most of the long period with which Mr. Seward was con- nected with that firm, he was its chief. It was in his professional relation that Mr. Seward came most prominently before the pub- lic. He was a wise and safe adviser, a learned lawyer, a persuasive and eloquent advocate and a courteous adversary. If the extent, variety and magnitude of employment are the tests of a man's profes- sional standing, Mr. Seward was one of the emi- nent lawyers of his day. He was engaged in many of the greatest causes that have ever been litigated in the State or Federal Courts, and in looking over the long list of those causes, one cannot fail to be struck not only by their num- ber and importance, but by their variety. It would be inappropriate to undertake at this time to enumerate them, but they include cases involving the most difficult and complicated H Successful Life 31 questions of patent law, of commercial law, of constitutional law, of the exercise of govern- mental powers, of corporation law, as well as the ordinary matters of litigation. The last cause in which Mr. Seward made an oral argu- ment was one of the gravest, and was a fitting climax of his professional career. It was the Income Tax case, in the Supreme Court of the United States, and in it he and his associates secured a remarkable triumph, establishing the impotence of the Federal authorities to levy tribute upon the income of the citizen, and achieving that triumph by such force of reason and argument as to overturn the settled convic- tions of the Judge whose casting vote decided the fate of one of the most momentous contests ever made at the bar of any court of justice. Among his professional brethren and to the bench throughout the country (for his pro- fessional engagements led him into the courts of different jurisdictions), Mr. Seward was noted not only for his skill in the presentation of his cases, but for his scholarly attainments. It may be said of him, with literal truthfulness, that he had a profound knowledge of the law as a science. He was not merely a case lawyer, 32 Clarence Hrmstrong Seward seeking for adjudications to sustain his argu- ments, but he supported them by his knowledge of the principles of law and of the reasons of those principles. He was thoroughly acquainted with the history and development of the com- mon and of the statutory law, but his inclination was rather towards the vast and expansive system of equity jurisprudence, which became his favorite field of study. He had high con- ceptions of the dignity, the honor and the duties of his profession and was a rigid observer of its ethics and etiquette. lyoyal to his client, resourceful in the use .of every legitimate weapon of offense or defense, he was never known to deal a foul blow, resort to an unfair device or seek an advantage through doubtful methods. Thus he attained a commanding place in the profession and was held worthy to be enrolled among its more distinguished members. Nature was bounteous to Mr. Seward in the mental endowments she bestowed upon him. He had a vigorous intellect, remarkably quick perceptions, strong reasoning powers and a memory of great retentiveness, besides which he loved labor and was one of the most indefati- H Successful Life 33 gable students and workers I ever have known. He pursued knowledge for its own sake and his attainments were extensive and diversified. The substantial fabric of his earlier education was ornamented by a broad and wide culture that few men attain. He preserved through life a fondness for what are called the classics ; his mind was imbued with the beauties of Greek and I,atin literature ; and his acquaint- ance with the writings of the prominent modern authors in foreign languages was also extensive, while his knowledge of the great works of English writers was profound and intimate. He was a close student of the Bible, and of Chaucer, Spenser, Shakspeare, Milton, Sir Thomas Brown, Addison (I mention his especial favorites) and other bright stars in the constellation of American and English author- ship, and it was his custom to draw from them both in conversation and in formal addresses, when he would flash before the mind's eye the most exquisite of their * * * " Jewels, five words long " That on the stretched forefinger of all time ' ' Sparkle forever. ' ' From his familiarity with the best writers, he 34 Clarence Hrmstrong Seward acquired a style impressive, beautiful, graceful, forcible and limpid. He was an original thinker, and that originality was not impaired by the extent of his knowledge of the thoughts of others. He was expert in lighting up a subject by a quotation or striking figure or apt contrast, and I shall never forget the effect produced while he was addressing a graduating class of young physicians, in comparing the rigorous examinations through which they passed with the burlesque catechism of Argan when Moliere's inimitable Doctors found the malade imaginaire to be qualified in the mysteries of the healing art. The broad culture Mr. Seward possessed, extended to the arts and sciences, to painting, sculpture and music, to the mechanical arts and industries, to political economy and the science of government. His was not a mere superficial knowledge, but a discriminating understanding of them. Thoroughness was a marked feature of all his attainments. With such an elevated character and such affluence of high mental and moral qualities, it followed inevitably that in his social relations Mr. Seward should also occupy a leading H Successful Life 35 position. His associations and companionships were with the most distinguished men, both at home and abroad. He was a traveler, for many years passing part of his summer vacations in Europe ; and both in Great Britain and on the continent he was the welcome and honored guest of the foremost men in public and pro- fessional life and in the highest circles of society. There was that in his personality which of itself would have been the open sesame to the highest social privileges. He bore upon his countenance the patent of high birth and breeding. He had the calm and dignified self possession of the man sure of himself and of his own position, and that position was instinctively recognized by all who came in contact with him. He had a graceful affability which never degenerated into familiarity, but which, at the same time, had nothing in it of self complacency or of condescension. This winning manner, which cannot be accurately described, at once attracted to him the kindly feeling of all who became acquainted with him, and was largely the cause of the influence he obtained with the great men he numbered among his friends. He was given to hospitality and dispensed it with 36 Clarence Hrmstrong Seward richness and liberality, with elegance without ostentation, with refinement without affec- tation. Under his roof and at his table were brought together from all parts of the country and Europe the wisest and the wittiest, and the brightest of men. Whoever has had the privilege of sharing in the social enjoyments of his home will not fail to remember what a gracious and accomplished host he was, or the delightful evenings passed in the company of the eminent men by whom he was surrounded and of whom he was the peer. I have endeavored briefly but comprehen- sively to present the picture of Mr. Seward as he was, without unduly coloring it and free from the exaggerated extolment that affection and the sense of a great loss sometimes induce us to make of our dead friends. Besides the tribute I would pay to him, I have had the desire at this Commencement of his College to hold up to the young men who are before me the splendid example of his successful and honorable life. That life was so wholesome and genuine that it compels our admiration. It was not eventful, if by that is meant one filled with dramatic and sensational incidents, but it was H Successful Life 37 marked by incessant activity, by arduous toil in an exacting profession and by the prompt and conscientious discharge of every duty his high position in society called upon him to perform, and by the generous and unstinted aid he gave to all good enterprises. I have attempted to show his superiority, wherein it consisted and the qualities that produced it. The difference between him and other superior men was one of degree. As I said before, he stood in the fore- most rank. Mr. Seward departed this life on the 24th of last July, and when he died there went out into the great unknown world, one of the sweetest and lovliest spirits that ever shed light and happiness around it in this. Who can estimate the priceless value of such a life as his ? Who can tell its far reaching influence ? He gave back to the world in fullest measure the best that he possessed and leaves the blessed memory that belongs to the just. And is it only a memory ? Can it be that such a pure and noble life is forever ended ? Behind the now impene- trable veil which separates him from us, we too must pass, and 38 Clarence Hntistvong Seward " I