The Washington herald., 1907-12-08

life Of a young German. not educated
beyond his fellows. unhelped by an
ancient name. unaided by powerful
friends. who comes 10 this country in his
prime and wins Ais way up by sheer
force of the ability that was in him 10
the position Of Minister to Spain. friend
of President Lincoln. brigadier general in
the army, and finally 70 the office Of Sec
retary of Interior.
And with it all Carl Schurz remained
simple and lovable to the last. Always
he had that healthy curiosity of the eyes
which is the characteristic Of men who
do not leap in the dark. but study we'll
the way. In spite OF the honors that ne
won ne WAS always approachable. finely
human and without affectation, and these
qualities have impressed themselves upon
these "reminiscences so that. reading
them. one seems TO hear the man himself
in private speech
This ~ote OF fine simplicity one marks
early IN the "reminiscences. one OF his
paragraphs begins. Il was born in a cas-
ue," and lest this should sound Ike
boasting, he hastens to add. This. how
ever. does not mean that l am Of aristo-
cratic ancestry" His father. as a mat
ter Of fact. was a schColmaster in Liblar.
was born in 1877, and the years of his
youth fell IN what the Rhine folks call
'the French time" Thus IL was that the
elder Schurz was able 10 regale his son
with stories Of the great Napoleon. and
how his regiment had passed over the
field Of Waterloo a few days after the
famous battle. Carl Schurz was born
March ?. 1923
His Early Life.
The first chapters OF his "reminiscences
are taken up with interesting stories of
childhood; of how before he was six
years old he was taken to the village
school in which his father taught At
ten years Of age he was taken to the
Jesuit gymnasium at Cologne. and he
tells rs very faithfully his studies here.
he learned some Italian. got a good ac-
quaintance with Latin and Greek. and got
TO lT.ow Shakespeare and the other Eng
lish poets in translation. He had to leave
Cologne on account Of financial difficulties
and began TO attend lectures at Bonn,
from which place ne matriculated shortly
1t was at the beginning Of the winter
season of 1S47-S at Bonn that Schurz
made the acquaintance of Prof. Gottfried
Kinkel. an acquaintance which for his la
ter years was to become Of fateful conse-
quence.
In 1878. after the French had driven
away Louis Philippe and proclaimed the
republic. came the revolution in Germany
in which Carl Schurz. then aged nineteen
had his part. Kinkel was one of the
leaders in the revolutionary movement
The progress OF the revolution is told
with good deal of fidelity and skill by
Carl Schulz. and one of the most in.
teresting episodes OF the book is that
which narrates his escape from the fort
ress of Rastatt through a sewer-a mar.
rative which strongly resembles the fic.
titious- story OF the escape of Jean Val
jean in Les Miserables. Shortly after
this 1t WAS that Kinkel was arrested. ant
after various vicissitudes was trans.
ferred to the penitentiary al Spandau
Carl Schurz il was who was selected BY
the German patriots 10 effect a release
of Kinkel a sum Of money was raised
in Germany and intTusted to his es.s4
OF this Schurz made good use, and a
great personal risks and Inconvenience
contrived the escape OF kinkeI They
took schooner for Scotland, and thence
made their way to England, where, a.
Carl Schurz says, he, for the first time
received a distinct impression of the Eng
lish language, a language of which hs
was to have in after life so ready
command. The Kinkel family settled il
England. but Carl Schurz took himself
to Paris, where he lived for some Tins