Seward might deny, as he did,
that he had ever uttered the words alleged[198], and his friend Thurlow
Weed might describe the words as "badinage," in a letter to the London
_Times_[199], but the "Newcastle story" continued to be matter for
frequent comment both in the Press and in private circles.
British Ministers, however, would have paid little attention to Seward's
speeches intended for home political consumption, or to a careless bit
of social talk, had there not been suspicion of other and more serious
evidences of unfriendliness. Lyons was an unusually able and
well-informed Minister, and from the first he had pictured the
leadership of Seward in the new administration at Washington, and had
himself been worried by his inability to understand what policy Seward
was formulating. But, in fact, he did not see clearly what was going on
in the camp of the Republican party now dominant in the North. The
essential feature of the situation was that Seward, generally regarded
as the man whose wisdom must guide the ill-trained Lincoln, and himself
thinking this to be his destined function, early found his authority
challenged by other leaders, and his policies not certain of
acceptance by the President. It is necessary to review, briefly, the
situation at Washington.
[Illustration: WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD (_From Lord Newton's "Life of Lord
Lyons," by kind permission_)]
Lincoln was inaugurated as President on March 4.
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