156 Rcznezvs of Books pense of his self-respect and personal integrity. We hope Mr. Bancroft will sometime tell why a quite full life of Seward makes no allusion to this affair, though Mr. Motley's appointment is here credited to the Sec- retary of State (II. 153, 154). One of the best chapters in style and substance is that on Political Prisoners (II. 254-2S0), a passage of our war history as indefensible as it was ineffective, an instance of Seward's excessive activity, as well as at- tended by more than one ugly contretemps, e. g., the case of Ex-President Pierce, and by many quite unnecessary acts of futile injustice. Mr. Ban- croft's views here are worthy of note and commendation. The system was as unwarranted in law and even good policy as were the legal tender acts in which Chase acquiesced. These volumes present, as any sketch of a career so long, varied, active, and conspicuous must, numerous points of interest which cannot be touched here. The author offers a final or general estimate of Seward, in most of which we concur. He had previously written of his course in the Cabinet of Lincoln in the early months of the war, as we think with entire justice, that " his ambition was for the Union vastly more than for himself" (II. 149). His summation (II. 526-529) somewhat to our sur- prise, opens thus: " The excellence and success of Seward's career were mainly due to 'W% superior ideals" — the italics ours — "and his skill in practical politics." His alleged "insincerity and egotism" are set down to his " irresistible impulse to pose and explain and appear all-wise and all-important," a characteristic which was not observed, we think, in his lifetime, but may have existed. This is followed by the unquali- fied dictum that "he holds the first place among all our Secretaries of State" (II. 528) whereat other and perhaps wiser judges will demur, recalling the names of at least a half-dozen previous secretaries. Here, we are reminded of Lowell's sarcasm — given by Mr. Bancroft in a note (II. 504) — " more than any minister with whose official correspond- ence we are acquainted, he carried the principle of paper currency into diplomacy."' But except in some details, we agree with the final estimate of Mr. Bancroft; and we can pay him the tribute of our hearty admiration of the labor and ability which his work shows. History, and still more, biography, is written to little purpose if it does not lead to judgments and conclusions. A reviewer may have his ; and ours of Seward is carefully formed from some personal observation of the man and much more study of his career, together with a somewhat extended acquaintance with several of his most intimate and life-long associates and friends in public and private life. Judged by just stand- ards, he appears to us a high, bright figure in the large group of those who bore foremost civil parts in the anti-slavery struggle and the ensuing war ; a man of pure life and magnanimous spirit ; patriotic to the core : unselfish to a degree greatly beyond any other party leader who ranked beside him ; governed by a strong sense of duty ; ready to stand alone ^Political Essays, 293.
