From that time onward, though still weak, and bowed down with grief by the death of Mr.
Lincoln and the possibly impeding death of one still nearer to him, Mr.
Seward gave close attention to public affairs.

The need of action and of energy so pressed upon him that he found no time to utter lamentation, none to indulge even in the most sacred personal grief.
The heroic element of the man was displayed at its best.

His moral strength, his mental fibre, his wiry constitution were all tested to their utmost, and no doubt to the serious shortening of his days.
Mr.Seward feared that the country was in danger of suffering very seriously from a possible, if not indeed probable, mistake of the Administration.

In the creed of his own statesmanship, there was no article that comprehended revenge as a just motive for action.

No man had suffered more of personal obloquy from the South than he, no one living had received deeper personal injury from the demoniac spirit, the wicked inspiration of the rebellion.