The murderous assault came only a short time after a severe injury Mr.Seward had received in consequence of being violently thrown from his carriage.

The shock to his nervous system from the attack of the assassin was so great that his physicians did not for some days permit him to learn the fate of the President, or even to know that his own son, Mr.Frederick Seward, who had been his faithful and able assistant at the State Department, was also one of the victims of the plot of assassination, and was lying, as it was feared, and indeed generally believed, at the point of death.
To the joy no less than to the surprise of the entire country Mr.
Seward rallied and regained his strength very rapidly.

He was wounded on the night of the 14th of April.

By the first of May he had so far recovered as to be informed somewhat minutely of the sorrowful situation.

By the tenth of the month he received visits from the President and his fellow-members of the Cabinet, and conferred with them on the engrossing questions that pressed upon the Administration.
On the 20th he repaired to the Department of State--which then occupied the present site of the north front of the Treasury building--and held conference with foreign ministers, especially with the minister of France, touching the complication in Mexico.