Letter from William Henry Seward to Frederick William Seward, June 7, 1871

  • Posted on: 9 May 2018
  • By: admin
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Letter from William Henry Seward to Frederick William Seward, June 7, 1871
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transcriber

Transcriber:spp:lmd

student editor

Transcriber:spp:obm

Distributor:Seward Family Digital Archive

Institution:University of Rochester

Repository:Rare Books and Special Collections

Date:1871-06-07

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Letter from William Henry Seward to Frederick William Seward, June 7, 1871

action: sent

sender: William Seward
Birth: 1801-05-16  Death: 1872-10-10

location: Alexandria, Egypt

receiver: Frederick Seward
Birth: 1830-07-08  Death: 1915-04-25

location: Unknown
Unknown

transcription: lmd 

revision: tap 2018-04-17

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Page 1

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Editorial Note

Letter dictated by William Henry Seward and written by Olive Risley Seward was copied for Augustus Henry Seward by Lazette Miller Worden. We include the copy because we do not have the original letter.
Alexandria Egypt
June 7th 1871
My dear Frederick
In my hasty note
which Hattie Risley
Birth: 1850-03-05 Death: 1925-07-27
wrote for me last
week, I informed William Seward
Birth: 1839-06-18 Death: 1920-04-29
of
our residence at Cairo and our
successful voyage up and down
the Nile– The weather during our
upper voyage was very hot but the
current of air created by the steam
boat combined with the breezes from
the Mediterranean made the return
voyage endurable– Cairo on our re-
turn was in the language of my
English valet
Unknown
"ot as a hoven" –
Since I have come to cite the authority
of a servant I may as well add
Page 2

in the language of my colored servant
Unknown
,
who is a "citizen of the United States
under the fifteenth amendment,"
that the plagues with which Egypt
was visited in order to subdue the
obdurate heart of Pharaoh
Unknown
in the
in the time of Moses, have not ceased.
Even our palatial residences cannot
save us from the torment of fleas, flies
and other vermin peculiar to burning skies
and sandy plains– I myself had
a day or two of penance to suffer at
Cairo and Olive
Birth: 1844-07-15 Death: 1908-11-27
suffered much
more– but as this letter dictated by
me and written by her will suffice
to say that we are now quite well
Olive is much stronger than when
we left home and I now feel
Page 3

assured that these my travels have
left me more vigor of intellect
and physical strength than I should
have saved if I had been doomed
to the inactivity of an infirm person at
home– I am sorry, but I have not time to
tell you of the monuments & relics of the
earliest civilization of our race– Philosoph-
ical deductions from them torment
me with a desire to write them down
but that is impossible for us to do, while
continually adding new observations
to those before made– We have seen
the sights of Alexandria under the
same pleasant guidance which
conducted us from Suez to Cairo
and from Cairo to Thebes and from
Page 4

Thebes to Alexandria– There are
remaining here a red granite ob-
olisk called Cleopatra's needle
standing, it is said on the site of
the palace of that volumptuous
queen– A majestic monolith, granite
column built by Pompey to celebrate
the establishment of the Roman
power– But no relics are found
of the Alexandrian library– and
even the burial place of Alexan-
der
cannot be discovered– Alex-
andria, 50 years ago a Moorish
town, has become practically an
European city. Its wharves, rail
road stations streets and pal-
aces are built by excavating
Page 5

and removing miles of rubbish,
stones and broken bricks– the ruins of
of the ancient city– and every rock
reached in the excavation is found
to have been honey combed with hewn
vaults which were the cemetery of
generations of men who have passed
away & left no sign of their having
lived– We have found the viceroy
Birth: 1830-12-31 Death: 1895-03-02

of Egypt a liberal and polite
host & we have tried not to abuse
his hospitality. I learn that among
the 500 imperial, princely, and
otherwise distinguished guests
whom he entertained at the cel-
ebration of at the conclusion of
the Suez canal in the same gener-
Page 6

ous manner that he has enter-
tained us, there were wanting many
who left him to pay their opera tick-
ets and their washing bills– With
all our prudence our servants
Unknown
do
not realize the importance of mod-
eration of their own consumption of
the royal champagne (please do
not let this part of this letter get
into the newspapers as some part
of my private correspondence did
in India– ) Tomorrow at 4 o clock
we take the French steamer to Jaffa
a voyage of 2 days. A dragoman
Unknown

from the U. States consulate at
Jerusalem
x

is here to attend us
– The viceroy has kindly consented
to send Betts Bey
Birth: 1818-03-01 Death: 1901-09-27
, who has been our
Page 7

attendant here, to accompany us
until we reach Jerusalem– Im-
patience for home will shorten our
stay in Palestine– We hope to reach
Constantinople by the 1st of July
and from there shall proceed through
Europe with as few delays as will
be required for our own comfort
and the necessary observation of
important points on the journey–
We hope to have completed our
voyage around the world, within,
or nearly within the period originally
assigned for it– Your letter of the 9th
of March is our last date from
home– We expect a recompense for
our self denial in heaps of letters
Page 8

at Constantinople– Olive sends
her love and I am affectionately
Your father William H. Seward
Col. George Butler
Birth: 1840 Death: 1886-05-11
, the Consul Gen-
eral here, has been indefatigable
in his attentions– I have just been
visited by all the Americans in
Alexandria. The majority of whom
are in the military service of the
viceroy and the majority of these
were officers in the rebel army
W H S
by Olive