all the rest was opposition--while
Lincoln was an unknown quantity.

When the news went forth that Lincoln was nominated, Seward received the
tidings in his library at Auburn; and the myth-makers have told us that
he cried aloud, and that the carved lions on his gateposts shed salty
tears. But Seward knew the opposition to his name, and was of too stern a
moral fiber to fix his heart upon the result of a wire-pulling convention.
The motto of his life had been: Be prepared for the unexpected. It may be
that the lions on the gateposts shed tears, and it is possible there was
weeping in the Seward household--but not by Seward.

He entered upon a hearty and vigorous campaign in support of
Lincoln--making a tour through the West and being greeted everywhere with
an enthusiasm that rivaled that shown for the candidate.

Seward said to his wife, when the news came that Lincoln was nominated:
"He will be elected, but he will have to face the greatest difficulties
and carry the greatest burdens that ever a man has been called to bear. He
will need me, but look you, my dear, I will not serve under him. I must be
at the head or nowhere."

Lincoln knew Seward, and Seward didn't knew Lincoln. And so after the
Convention Lincoln journeyed down East. It took two days to go from
Chicago to Buffalo, and there were no sleeping-cars; and then Lincoln went
on from Buffalo to Auburn--another day's journey. Lincoln wore his
habitual duster and the tall hat, a little the worse for wear. He
telegraphed Seward he was coming, and, of course, Seward met him at the
station in Auburn. Lincoln got off the car alone, unattended, carrying his
carpetbag, homemade, with the initials "A.L." embroidered on the side by
the fair hands of Fannie Anna Rebecca Todd.

Seward and his two sons--William and Frederick--met the coming President,
and the boys laughed at the dusty, uncouth, sad and awkward individual,
six feet five, who disembarked.

The carriage was waiting, but Lincoln refused to ride, saying, "Boys,
let's walk," and so they walked up the hill, in through past the stone
gateposts where the lions stood that shed tears. Seward ran ahead into the
house and said to his wife: "Look you, my dear, we have misjudged this
man. Do not laugh. He is the greatest man in the world!"

Three months later, Seward met Lincoln by appointment in Chicago; and from
that time on, to the day of Lincoln's death, Seward served his chief with
hands and feet, with eyes