In due time…..when I shall have paid the debt of Nature, my remains will rest here in your midst with those of my kindred and neighbors. It is possible they may be unhonored, neglected, spurned! But, perhaps, years hence …..some wandering stranger, some lone exile may erect over them a humble stone, and thereon, this epitaph, “He was Faithful.”

William Henry Seward by John Phillips
c. 1856
Oil painting on canvas, painted by Scottish-born painter John Philip, commissioned by George Washington Patterson, Lt. Governor and Congressman of NY and friend of Seward. John Philip (1817-1867) was a Victorian era Scottish painter best known for his portrayals of Spanish life.