The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-12-08

forth The "Reminiscences of Cart Schurs
CTho Mcclure CompanyE We shall limit
our discussion 10 the second volume, which
describes the authors experiences in the
United states. Unfortunately. Mr., SchuTz
left his tack unfinished. the narrative having
beer carried no further than May. 1888.
Eyilad as u ~revolutionist. first from his
native Germany. then, in 1881, at the age
OF -. from France. whittier he had fed.
Srhurz supported himself in Londcn FOR a
while by teaching German and French.
In july. 1852. he married, and a month
later bnIed in the harbor Of New York.
Hs had resolved 10 make tho Unitod
States hfs permanent home. As. coming
no the bay Of New York, his ship sbdrted
the shore oR Staten Island, dotted with
country houses. green lawns and olumps
of shade trees. the young German asked
one of his fellow passengers what ! m OF
people lived in those attractive looking
dwellings. ~Rich New Workers" said he.
SAnd how much must a man have to be-
come a rich New Yorker" asked Schurz.
well" was the reply. "a man who has
something like sI5O.OOO or 100000 or an
assured income of $40, 600 or Sl2.OOO would
be. considered wealthy. OF course. there
are men who have more than that-as much
an a million or two or even more" Are
shsro MANY such in New York;" -Oh, no. not
MANY: perhaps a dozen. But the number
Of people who might be called well TO 90
il large And are there many poor peo-
pie in New York;" Yes, some; mostly
newcomers, | think. But what is called
poverty here would in many cases hardly
be called poverty in London OF Paris mere
are scarcely any hOpelessly poor here.
IL is generally thought here that NOBODY
needs be poor In after years the author
Of these recollections often had occasion
10 recall this conversation.
The Aston House was full to overlooking
when the Schurzes arrived. and they had
TO 20 a long distance up Broadway to the
Union Square Hotel. on the corner Of Four
teenth street., where they took a very plainly
furnished room. Their first dinner in the
United States is vividly described. II was
a tabla d'h0te at S o'clock in the afternoon.
Dinner time was announced by the fierce
beating of a gong. The guests filed INTO a
large. bare dining room. with one long row
Of tables. Some fifteen or twenty negroes
clad in white jackets. white aprons and
white cotton gloves conducted the guests
60 their seats. When the guests. were
seated the head waiter struck a loud bell:
then the negroes rapidly filed out and soon
reappeared carrying large soup tureens
with silver covers. They planted them
selves along the table az certain intervals.
standing for a second motionless. At an
other clang Of the bell they lifted their
,ureena high up and then deposited them
Ipon the table. Then. holding fast with
their right hands TO he handles OF the
silver lovers until another stroke OF the
hell resounded. they ierked on the covers.
swung them high over their heads and
marched on. So the dinner went on.
with several repetitions If such proceed
ings. the negroes becoming all the while
more and more enthusiastic aDd bizarre
In their performances.
As there was nothing to hold the Schurzes
10 New York they resolved TO visit Phila-
delphia. not with any purpose OF permanent
settlement. hut thinking that it might be a
good place for systematic study. This II
proved 70 bc. The first task Of the young
German exile vas to learn English thor
oughly in the shortest possible time. His
method was simple. He did not use an
bnAubn GRAMMAR anu lDhrtu hNh Aot pDH-
ess one. He resolutely began to read a
daily newspaper. which, as IL happened. was
the Philadelphia Public Ledger. Regularly
every day ne worked through editorial
articles. the news letters and dispatches
and even az many Of the advertisements as
his time would allow. From newspapers
he proceeded to novels The first he took Up
was the Vicar Of Wakefield Then fol-
lowed Scott. Dickens and Thackeray;
then Nacaulay's historical essays. then. ~
he thought of preparing himself for the legal
profession. Blackstone's Commentaries"
the clear. terse and vigorous style of which
he always continued to regard as an adj
mirable model. Shakespeare's plays. the
vocabulary Of which presented more diff
culties than all the rest. came last. Schurz
did his reading, he tells us. with the utmost
conscicntiousncss, never permitting him
self 10 skip "A word the meaning Of which
he did not clearly understand and never
failing to consult the dictionary in every
doubtful case. A sOon as he thought
himself sufficiently advanced in the
knowledge nj the language he procured
an English edition of JuniIs. and trans
lated a considerable number of the let
tiers from the English text into German
In writing; then he translated, also in
writing, his German translation back into
English. and finally compared this re-
translation with the English original. ThiI
was lahoriOus work. but in con junction witt
his reading IL gave rim what he would cal
a sense Of the logic and also Of the music
of the language.
After becoming known as a speaker anC
writer in English az well as in German i
any American citizen OF our time couIC
he called bilingual il was he Mr., Schuri
was often asked by persons interested IL
linguistic studies or in psychological prob
lems whether while speaking or writing
he was thinking in English OF in German
or whether he was constantly constraineS
10 translate from one language into IN,
other. The answer is interesting. IL !
tina, whom speaking or writing in Englisl
hr thought in English, but when speaking
or writing in German he thought in Ger
man. When. on h other hand. his min,
followed a train Of thought which did no
require immediate expression in words
he saws that he was unconscious Of wha
language he was thinking in. Another
inquiry WAS often put to him, namely
in which language he preferred to thinI
ard write. He always replied that it de