SEWARD. 21 SEWERAGE. reelected. For several years after the expiration of the term he gave his whole time to the jjractice of liis profession, at Aul)Uni, and ap- peared as counsel in a number of important criminal oases. In 184'J he was elected to the United States Senate, and at once took a promi- nent |)lace among the leaders of the Whig Party and l)ecame the most intimate Senatorial coun- selor of President Taylor. In the debate on the Compromise Measures of 1850 (q.v. ) he deliv- ered, on March 11th of that year, an able speech in which he vigorously denounced slavery, and startled the opposition by declaring that "there is a higlier law than the Constitution." He sup- ported the French Spoliation Bill and a protec- tive tariff, spoke on the American fisheries, the Texas debt, the Hungarian Revolution, and other subjects, and vigorously o])posed the Kansas-Ne- braska I5ill (q.v.). In 1855 he was reelected to the Senate, in spite of the opposition of Know- Nothings and Whigs of Southern sympatliies. He was an influential factor in the organization of the Rep'.iblican Party, and for the first few years was generall,v regarded throughout the Union as preeminently its leader. In October. 1858, he made a notable speech at Rochester, in which he spoke of the antagonism between freedom and slavery as an 'irrepressible conflict.' which could only terminate by the United States becoming entirely a slave-holding nation or entirely free. Prior to the National Republican Nominating Conven- tion at Chicago he was the most conspicuous candidate for the Re])ublican nomination for President in 1860, and on the first ballot re- ceived 173V-; votes, but was finally defeated by Abraham Lincoln. After Lincoln's election Seward became Secretary of State, and in this capacity rendered services of almost inestimable value to the nation, holding the office during the Civil War and the four years of Johnson's administra- tion. He negotiated a large number of treaties with foreign governments and conducted the for- eign relations of the United States during these critical times with remarkable tact and suc- cess. Notable instances of this were the case of the Trent affair (q.v.), the question aris- ing out of the Frencli intervention in ilexico, and the negotiations concerning Great Britain's obligations as a neutral nation. (See Alab.jia Claims.) He also negotiated with Russia, in 1867, the treaty for the purchase of Alaska. His State papers are models of clear and vigorous style. During the war lie supported President Lincoln in all his efforts to raise and equip the armies, and gave his approval to the emancipation proclamations. On the evening of April 14, 1865, the same day on which President Lincoln was assassinated, an assassin named Paine en- tered Seward's room and inflicted dangerous wounds upon him as well as upon his son Fred- erick. He gradually recovered, however, and continued as Secretary of State in the Cabinet of President Johnson until the end of his term. He entertained moderate views of reconstruction and supported the plan of President .Tohnson, thus alienating from himself the more radical wing of his party. Upon his retirement from office in 1869. he made a journey to Alaska, and in the following year set out upon a tour of the world, visiting the princijial countries of Europe. Asia, and Africa, and being received everywhere with great honor. He died at Auburn on Octo- ber 10, 1872. His speeches and orations appeared in five volumes, and his official correspondence was published by order of Congress. For his life, consult: Baker, (New_ York, 1855) ; Freder- ick W. Seward (ib., 1877)*; and especially Fred- erick Bancroft (ib., 1!)00) ; also M^iUUim H. Sew- ar(Vs Travels Around the World (New York, 1873), by his adopted daughter, Olive Seward. SEWEL, su'cl, William ( 1G54-1720) . A Quaker liistorian and scholar. He was born and lived all liis life in Amsterdam. His Histcry of the liise. Increase, and Progress of the Ghristmn People Called Quakers, published in Dutch at Amsterdam in 1717, and in English translation (by him-self) at London in 1722. is a standard work of unquestionable accuracy. Consult his Life in the edition published at New York (1844). SEWELL, Jonathan (1766-1839). A Cana- dian jurist, son of Jonathan Sewall (1728-96). He was born in Massachusetts, was educated in England, and in 1785 went to New Brunswick and studied law. He was appointed Solicitor- General in 1793. Attorney-General in 1795, and from 1808 till 1838 was Chief .Justice of Lower Canada. He publislied a PUin for a General Federal Union of the British Provinces in North America (1815), and is sometimes credited with having l)een the first to propose Canadian federa- tion. SEWELL, Mary (1797-1884). An English authorc-s. daughter of a gentleman fanner named Wright. In 1819 she married Isaac Sew- ell. a banker. She wrote verses for children and young people, which had an enormous sale. 'Homely Ballads (1858) reached the fortieth thousand. Mother's Last ^yords (1860) passed beyond a million copies, and Our Father's Care (1861) exceeded three-quarters of a million. Be- sides these and other poems she wrote Patience Hart's Experiences in Hervice (1862), and other popular short tales. All her work was simple in style and ethical in theme. Consult Poems and Ballads, edited with memoir by Mrs. Bayly (Lon- don, 1880). SEWELLEL (Chinook Indian she-wal-lal, robe made of sewellel hide, the animal itself being called o-(jii:ool-l<il in Chinook, sqiiallal in Yakima, and shoirt'l in Nisqually), or Mountain Beaver. A curious little beaver-like rodent (Haplodon rufus) of the mountains from northern Califor- nia to British Columbia, which lives in wet places overgrown with vegetation, where it makes exten- sive burrows and runways often kept wet by run- ning water. They usually live in colonies, and hibernate, preparing for the winter by cutting and collecting great quantities of woody plants and ferns, which they carry to places near their burrows and sjjread out to dry thoroughly before taking them into their burrows as stored food. The Indians ate them and made much use of their soft fur. A second species (Haplodon major) has been described from California. The many structural differences from the beaver have led to placing the sewellels in a family (Haplo- dontidje) by themselves. They are regarded as most nearly representing the ancestral type of the squirrels. SEWERAGE (OF. seutriere. canal, from ML. exaqualorinm. drainage-canal, from Lat. ex, out + aqua, water) AND DRAINAGE (from AS. drehman. dreahnian, drenian, to drain, from AS.,
