MEMOIR OF HON. W W. SEATON 309 



contributing to its prosperity and usefulness. It is well known that at the time 

 of the organization of the Institution a wide diversity of opinion existed as to 

 the practical means which would be most suitable for realizing the objects of the 

 legacy. Mr. Sea ton, on mature reflection, finally gave his cordial support to the 

 policy which sought to impress upon the Institution a truly cosmopolitan char- 

 acter. He strenuously advocated the plan which the Secretary, then recently 

 elected, had been invited to submit to the Board of Regents, and which looked 

 to the advancement of knowledge chiefly through the encouragement and pub- 

 lication of original researches, a system which, without neglecting other available 

 means for the promotion and diffusion of scientific enlightenment, may be claimed, 

 without uudue pretension, to have made the Institution favorably known, and 

 to have exerted a well-recognized influence wherever men occupy themselves 

 with intellectual pursuits. 



The relation borne by Mr. Seaton to the city of Washington, the delight with 

 which he watched and aided its progress, a certain native taste also for artistic 

 embellishment, led him to take special interest in the architectural character of 

 the Smithsonian building and the ornamentation of the public grounds around it. 



Mr. Seaton was a constant attendant at the meetings of the Board of Regents, 

 and from his familiarity with the early history of the Institution and the state 

 of the funds, as well as from his long experience in public office, was enabled 

 to offer suggestions, always marked by clearness of conception and soundness 

 of judgment. The social attentions which he was accustomed to extend to the 

 regents, especially those who were called from abroad to attend the annual 

 meetings, and to gentlemen invited to lecture before the Institution, were but 

 the expression of his characteristic hospitality ; but by thu3 adding to the plea- 

 sure of their sojourn in Washington, he contributed largely to increase the num- 

 ber of its friends and supporters. The columns of the National Intelligencer, 

 under his direction, were always open to the defence of the policy adopted and 

 the course pursued by the Institution, and he rarely failed to soften by the cour- 

 tesy of his manner and the moderation of his expressions, any irritable feeling 

 which might arise in the discussion of conflicting opinions. It would, indeed, 

 be difficult to say in how many and in what various ways he contributed to 

 the popularity as well as to the true interests of the Institution. The Secretary, 

 who was in the habit of conferring with him on all points requiring mature de- 

 liberation, may with justice acknowledge that he never failed to derive import- 

 ant assistance from the wisdom of his counsels. 



Of a man so highly honored and, what in his case is a more distinctive phrase, 

 so greatly beloved by his fellow-citizens, the following biographical account, 

 gethered from a communication kindly furnished us by an esteemed correspond- 

 ent, will prove, we are confident, neither uninteresting nor uninstructive. It 

 will evince that his eminence was won not less by diligence in the pursuit of 

 a useful and laborious profession than by the graces of his personal character; 

 not less by his unwavering adhesion to principle and duty, than by the flexi- 

 bility with which he knew how to adapt himself to all the classes of men with 

 whom his varied life brought him into contact. 



