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SKETCHES OF EMINENT AMERICANS.
a man of few words, and known rather as a man of action; thoughtful and determined, rarely acting from impulse, but in all thing9 guided by rehson and a scrupulous regard to duty.
Although now arrived at that time of life when most men, having secured a competence, are apt to seek repose, he is as active and energetic as ever; in fact, he is never at rest. In his leisure hours, the book or the pen divides his attention. Becoming interested in various local corporations, he has withdrawn from active participation in manufacturing pursuits.
He is a fine specimen of character, both enterprising and industrious, without those features too often attributed to that character?by some, called skill and cunning; by others, dishonesty.
HON. RODERICK SEAL,
OF BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI.
Hon. Roderick Seal, the subject of this memoir, is a native of North Carolina, and was born in Richmond county on the 31st day of December, 1817. His father, Colonel Jacob Seal, removed from North Carolina to Mississippi, and located himself in Hancock county.
The country to which he had removed was almost a wilderness. The beauty of the primeval forest had scarcely been touched by the march of improvement, or the soil broken by the hand of cultivation; consequently the subject of this sketch passed his early days amid scenes and excitements incident to frontier life, and little calculated to form the character now witnessed in him. Although surrounded by such unfavorable circumstances, yet an impulse was given to his young mind which has never been lost. His aspirations were upward, and he desired to follow other pursuits than those presented in the wilderness in which he was situated. He therefore became restless and discontented. To a mind like his the inglorious life of the farmer was little suited. His father, therefore, sent him to the best schools in the country, discovering that it would not be expedient to keep him at home so much against his inclination.
At the age of nineteen years he was placed under the care of Captain John S. Brush, a graduate of West Point, with whom he completed his academical education; and his future success was, no doubt, owing in a great degree to the interest which Captain Brush took in his young pupil?s education, discovering in him faculties of the mind, which he was accustomed to say, when fully developed, would render him eminent in any position in life.
His professional studies in the law were prosecuted under Judge Julius C. Monet, whose high attainments, purity and elevation of