and popular clamor.

Leaving office in 1843, he passed the next six years in professional
labors, varied by occasional addresses of a literary or patriotic cast,
and by many Whig speeches in the campaigns of 1844 and 1848. To his
practice in the State courts was united that in patent cases, which not
only brought him a lucrative clientage, but largely increased his
acquaintance with public men at Washington. His gubernatorial service
had given him national fame, and he was, although not in public life,
esteemed as one of the national leaders of his party. In the courts he
commanded respect for the clearness and strength of his arguments, but,
even there, he was at his best when his heart inspired his speech with
fervor, as in his pleas for Van Zandt and others charged with harboring
fugitive slaves. The defence of Greeley, in the Cooper libel suit, and
of the Michigan rioters, may be cited as instances of his persuasiveness
before juries, but that in the case of William Freeman is celebrated
both for its own quality and the intrepidity of its author. Gladstone
has characterized it as the greatest forensic effort in the English
language, not excluding the masterpieces of Erskine. It is a plea for
the life of a brutalized negro who butchered a whole family under
circumstances of peculiar atrocity. The deed was without excuse or
palliation, save in the insanity of the perpetrator, of which Seward
became convinced, and volunteered as counsel amid the surprise,
imprecations, and threats of the Auburn community, where the case was at
issue. The moment was a supreme one for him, but he did not hesitate.
Without reward, or the hope of reward, even in the gratitude of the
insensate wretch for whom he risked professional standing and public
favor, he worked as indefatigably as though the weightiest honors and
emoluments depended thereon, from the impanelling of the jury to the
failure of executive clemency; but Freeman's death in prison and the
autopsy that disclosed the morbid condition of his brain fully
vindicated Seward's analysis and exalted him in public regard.

On March 4, 1849, coincident with the accession of General Taylor to the
presidency, Seward entered the United States Senate, having been chosen
thereto by a large majority of the Legislature of New York. When he took
his seat, the Whig party was already divided upon the slavery question,
and Seward, by virtue of his previous utterances and his skill as a
politici