Letter from William Henry Seward to William Henry Seward, Jr., August 27, 1871
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Letter from William Henry Seward to William Henry Seward, Jr., August 27, 1871
transcriber
Transcriber:spp:srr
student editorTranscriber:spp:csh
Distributor:Seward Family Digital Archive
Institution:University of Rochester
Repository:Rare Books and Special Collections
Date:1871-08-27
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Letter from William Henry Seward to William Henry Seward, Jr., August 27, 1871
action: sent
sender: William Seward
Birth: 1801-05-16
Death: 1872-10-10
location: Paris, France
receiver: William Seward
Birth: 1839-06-18
Death: 1920-04-29
location: UnknownUnknown
transcription: srr
revision: crb 2018-03-29
<>
Page
1
e
Lazette m. Worden copied the original of this letter for Augustus H. SewardA copy of Father's last letter
Paris
August 27.
My dear William
We left Geneva on Thursday
at noon & traversing the north shore of Lake
^Leman^ as far as Lucern, we crossed one of the lower
Alpine ridges to Bern, the capital of Switzer-
land, arriving there the same evening, all
by rail road. Bern is a very pretty German
city upon which the river [ Aar ]
Alternate Text: Aare descends from the
Bernese glaciers. It is a quaint place being
named from the bear & having two bears for
its coat of arms – It keeps two living bears as
sentinels at the city gates – It has moreover
a huge clock, the machinery of which brings
out a rooster to crow at noon – a company of
soldiers to parade on the dial and a
moving automaton to strike the hour & wake
up a sleeping burgher sentinel whose pipe
has gone out & whose keep is empty –
Page
2
But more interesting to us than bear
or clock, or serpentine river, is the simple
and effective though quaint republican
government which at Bern –
Without a ship of war or a naviga-
ble river, or access to ^the^ sea to float a ship
upon – although surrounded by jealous
monarchies – without a soldier in field-
life, liberty and property are safer
in Switzerland, there in any country on
this round world. The president
public would not hear of my going to
see him but came directly to our
hotel & thanked me for my consid-
eration in visiting this little state
Fifteen hours by sail, chiefly, brought
us to Paris yesterday morning where
we are lodged at the Hotel Meurice
opposite the Louvre – or what is left of it
& in front of where the proud [ Tuillrie's ]
Alternate Text: Tuileries
stood on now stands a scared naked
desolate and [ forbodding ]
Alternate Text: foreboding ruin – Our
Legation and consulate we have seen
Page
3
– have recovered some visits and
have seen through the remnant
galleries of the Louvre and the deves-
tated Bois de Bologne – To night we
dine with Lord Lyons
& Hattie
On Tuesday we expect to go to Versailles
We expect to finish Paris in all this
week where it will only ^be^ for us to
see London unless I should find
it convenient to go thither by the way
of Berlin. In any case we are ex-
pecting to sail for home on some day
not later than the 10th of next month
We find here letters from home to the date
of July 2d but doubt not we shall find
some on our arrival in London. Clarence
just escaped this city as we entered
it – My health continues about the same
but I am beginning to feel the
effect of this high latitude – in which
the European summer assimilates to
the American – Olive protests against
Page
4
this & says some only feeling the
effect of a long night journey on the
rail road –
Affectionately
William H. Seward
by Olive R.S.
e
Editorial Note
Paris
August 27.
My dear William
We left Geneva on Thursday
at noon & traversing the north shore of Lake
^Leman^ as far as Lucern, we crossed one of the lower
Alpine ridges to Bern, the capital of Switzer-
land, arriving there the same evening, all
by rail road. Bern is a very pretty German
city upon which the river [ Aar ]
Alternate Text
Bernese glaciers. It is a quaint place being
named from the bear & having two bears for
its coat of arms – It keeps two living bears as
sentinels at the city gates – It has moreover
a huge clock, the machinery of which brings
out a rooster to crow at noon – a company of
soldiers to parade on the dial and a
moving automaton to strike the hour & wake
up a sleeping burgher sentinel whose pipe
has gone out & whose keep is empty –
But more interesting to us than bear
or clock, or serpentine river, is the simple
and effective though quaint republican
government which at Bern –
Without a ship of war or a naviga-
ble river, or access to ^the^ sea to float a ship
upon – although surrounded by jealous
monarchies – without a soldier in field-
life, liberty and property are safer
in Switzerland, there in any country on
this round world. The president
Birth: 1797-04-18 Death: 1877-09-03
of the
re-public would not hear of my going to
see him but came directly to our
hotel & thanked me for my consid-
eration in visiting this little state
Fifteen hours by sail, chiefly, brought
us to Paris yesterday morning where
we are lodged at the Hotel Meurice
opposite the Louvre – or what is left of it
& in front of where the proud [ Tuillrie's ]
Alternate Text
stood on now stands a scared naked
desolate and [ forbodding ]
Alternate Text
Legation and consulate we have seen
– have recovered some visits and
have seen through the remnant
galleries of the Louvre and the deves-
tated Bois de Bologne – To night we
dine with Lord Lyons
Birth: 1817-04-06 Death: 1887-12-05
– Tomorrow Olive
Birth: 1844-07-15 Death: 1908-11-27
& Hattie
Birth: 1850-03-05 Death: 1925-07-27
are to spend with WilliamsUnknown
On Tuesday we expect to go to Versailles
We expect to finish Paris in all this
week where it will only ^be^ for us to
see London unless I should find
it convenient to go thither by the way
of Berlin. In any case we are ex-
pecting to sail for home on some day
not later than the 10th of next month
We find here letters from home to the date
of July 2d but doubt not we shall find
some on our arrival in London. Clarence
Birth: 1828-10-07 Death: 1897-07-24
just escaped this city as we entered
it – My health continues about the same
but I am beginning to feel the
effect of this high latitude – in which
the European summer assimilates to
the American – Olive protests against
this & says some only feeling the
effect of a long night journey on the
rail road –
Affectionately
William H. Seward
by Olive R.S.