ABRAHAM LINCOLN. BY CARL SCHURZ ABRAHAM LINCOLN. REMARKS AT THE FUNERAL SERVICES BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF CARL SCHURZ. Ir is interesting to note that one of the best studies of an American statesman and the best brief summary of Abraham Lincoln's career came from the hand of one born out of the country; for the fact points two ways, it indicates the hospitality of America, and it intimates how great a contribution the rest of the world is constantly making to the development of American life. We sometimes think and speak as if Americans and American institutions all sprang from the colonization which took place from England in the seventeenth century, forgetting that the nineteenth century has seen a far more extensive and more varied migration from all Europe. Carl Schurz was born March 2, 1829, near Cologne, Prussia, and was a student in the University of Bonn in 1848, when the revolutionary movement in Germany drew to itself many enthusiastic young men who thought they saw the opportunity for the establishment of republican principles. The movement was quickly suppressed by the existing government, and led to the exile of some of the most promising men of intellectual powers. Many came to this country and found positions in colleges and universities. One of the conspicuous men was Francis Lieber, who continued his academic life and was long a force as a political thinker and writer. Another was Carl Schurz, who, with more of the qualities of a public man, began at once, on coming to this country in 1852, to prepare himself for active life. He knew little or no English when he landed, but in three years he had so mastered the study of law that he was admitted to the bar in Jefferson, Wisconsin. He found himself amongst his former countrymen in the Northwest, and at once threw himself ardently into politics in sympathy with the movement against the extension of slavery. So rapidly did he come to the front that he was candidate for the office of Lieutenant-Governor of Wisconsin in 1857, and came within two hundred votes of an election. In the great debate between Lincoln and Douglas in 1858, he joined himself to Lincoln and took an active part in that political campaign. That was the beginning of his friendship with Lincoln; and though as chairman of the Wisconsin delegation to the convention in 1860, he persistently advocated the nomination of Mr. Seward, he accepted heartily the choice of Lincoln, and from that time till the election was incessantly working for him and addressing political meetings. Mr. Lincoln set so high a value on Mr. Schurz's worth that he appointed him Minister to Spain. At the time, he was actively engaged in organizing the first cavalry regiment of volunteers; and when after a few months at Madrid he returned to lay before the administration the result of his observation of the political attitude of European governments, he was appointed Brigadier-General, and a few months later Major-General, and served in the field till the end of the war. His clear intelligence of public affairs was recognized in his appointment by President Johnson as special commissioner to report on the condition of the seaboard and Gulf States. His report had great weight with Congress in its subsequent legislation, but Mr. Schurz made his political judgment still more effective in the years of reconstruction by his writings as a journalist. Successively a special correspondent of The New York Tribune and editor of the Detroit Post, he became in 1867 part owner and editor of the Westliche Post of St. Louis. So strong a power did he now become that in 1869 he was elected United States senator from Missouri. He was, however, a man who held firmly to what he conceived to be political principles when they came into conflict with party policy, and he threw himself into the movement known as the Liberal Republican party in 1872. In 1876 he returned to the support of the Republican party, and President Hayes invited him into his cabinet as Secretary of the Interior. His administration of that office afforded a fresh illustration of his application of political principles to conduct. He had identified himself with the movement for the reform of the civil service, and being now in a position where he could put his belief into practice, he made the department a witness to the efficacy of the merit system, and gave a striking object lesson of the possibility of carrying on the government on this basis. At the close of Mr. Hayes's administration Mr. Schurz abandoned official life, and returned to journalism, giving also a few years to business, but he did not abandon the public service. An independent in politics, he continued to give his powerful influence, in speech and in writing, on all the great political questions, maintaining a devotion to high ideals, so that it is doubtful if any private citizen in the last |