Mr. Seward to Mr. Pike
Sir: Your despatch of the 24th of September (No. 101) has been received.
All attempts at revolution present real or affected complaints of oppression, with vows of heroic devotion to liberty. These complaints and vows strike the imagination and touch the sensibilities of indifferent parties, and they are zealously taken up by the enemies of the state which it is purposed to overthrow. It is not until after the revolution has gone through its first stage that mankind come to examine its merits with candor, and to judge of its designs with deliberation. When that stage arrives, if the cause is not found a very strong one, no zeal on the part of its advocates can keep up the exaggerated sympathies with which the revolution was favored in the beginning; and even many a good cause has been left to perish in this way for want of moral support. There are indications that the world’s patience towards the utterly vicious insurrection in this country is beginning to fail. I interpret in this way the report of European opinions you have given me, concurring as it does with the statements of others of our representatives abroad.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
James S. Pike, Esq., &c., &c., &c.