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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ

CARL SCHURZ IN 1906

THE
REMINISCENCES OF
CARL SCHURZ
VOLUME ONE
1829-1852

ILLUSTRATED WITH PORTRAITS AND
ORIGINAL DRAWINGS

NEW YORK
THE McCLURE COMPANY
MCMVII

Copyright, 1907, hy The McClure Company

Published, October, 1907

Copyright, 1905, 1906, by The S. S. McClure Connpany
Copyright 1905, 1906, by Carl Schnrz

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FACINO PAGB

Carl Schuez in 1906  Frontispiece
Heeibert JifssEN and Frau JiJSSEN  12

222492 98
104118 122128170

Christian Schubz, Father of Carl Schurz-^Bohn 1796, Died 1876 .
Mother of Schtirz — Born 1798, Died 1877 
University at Bonn and Rathaus at Bonn ....
Prof. Gottpribd Kinkel . 
Frederick, William III 
Frederick William IV and Louis Philippe ...
The Revolution in Berlin, 1848 
Carl Schuez at Nineteen 
Karl IVLarx .... ...
Carl Schurz as a Student .  196
Fkederich Tiedemann and Hbnsel . . . .... . 204
"A Prussian Officer, under a Flag of Truce, with a Summons to Sukkender" 212
Gottfried Kinkel in Chains . . . . . ... 246
Rachel — ^From the painting by Edouakd Dubtife .^  278
Kbuger, Innkeeper at Spandau and Herr Leddihn  286
Kjnkel's Escape  310
A Mythical Portrait of Schurz . .  338
Gottfried Kinkel and Carl Schurz  374
Cabl Schurz and His Wife  403

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ

CHAPTER I
jVIANY years ago I began at the desire of my children to
write down what follows. In the domestic circle, partly from
myself and partly from relatives and old friends, they had
heard much about the surroundings and conditions in which I
had grown up, as well as about the strange and stirring adven
tures of my youth, and they asked me to put that which they
had heard, and as much more of the same kind as I could give
them, into the shape of a connected narrative which they might
keep as a family memorial. This I did, without originally con
templating a general publication.
The circumstance that this narrative was first intended
only for a small number of persons who might be assumed to
take a special interest in everything concerning the subject,
may explain the breadth and copiousness of detail in the
descriptions of situations and events, which perhaps will occa
sionally try the reader's patience. To soften his judgment he
should imagine an old man teUing the story of his life to a
circle of intimates who constantly interrupt him with questions
about this and that of which they wish to know more, thus
forcing him to expand his tale.
However, I have to confess also that while I was writing,
the charm of story-telling, the joy of literary production, came
over me, and no doubt seduced me into diffusenesses which I
must ask the kind reader to pardon.
Until recently it was my intent not to publish these remi
niscences during my lifetime, but to leave it to my children to
[3]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
decide after my death how much of them should be given to the
general reading public. It appeared to me that such a publi
cation during the lifetime of the author might easily acquire
the character of self-advertisement, especially in the case of a
man who had been active in public hfe, and might, perhaps,
continue to be so. But after ample consultation with judicious
friends I have concluded that in consideration of my advanced
age and of my retirement, which manifestly exclude all political
ambition, I could not be suspected of such designs.
It is hardly necessary to say that in telling the story of
my youth I had to depend largely upon memory. I am well
aware that memory not seldom plays treacherous pranks with
us in making us believe that we have actually witnessed things
which we have only heard spoken of, or which have only vividly
occupied our imagination. Of this I have myself had some
strange experiences. I have therefore been careful not to trust
my own recollections too much, but, whenever possible, to com
pare them with the recollections of relatives or friends, and to
consult old letters and contemporary publications concerning
the occurrences to be described. It may be indeed that in
spite of such precautions some errors have slipped into my
narrative, but I venture to hope that they are few and not
important. When I began to write these reminiscences of my youth,
I attempted to do so in English; but as I proceeded I became
conscious of not being myself satisfied with the work; and it
occurred to me that I might describe things that happened in
Germany, among Germans, and under German conditions,
with greater ease, freedom, and fullness of expression if I
used the German language as a medium. I did so, and thus
this story of my youth was originally written in German. It
was translated by my friend, Mrs. Eleonora Kinnicutt, and I
[4]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
cannot too strongly express my obligation to her, who not only
did for me the more or less dry work of turning German
phrases into English, but was in a large sense my coworker,
aiding me throughout with most valuable counsel as to the tone
of the narrative, and as to passages to be shortened or struck
out, and others to be more amply elaborated.
I was born in a castle. This, however, does not mean that
I am of aristocratic ancestry. My father was, at the time
of my birth, a schoolmaster in Liblar, a village of about eight
hundred inhabitants, on the left bank of the Rhine, three
hours' walk from Cologne. His native place was Duisdorf,
near Bonn. Losing his parents in early childhood, he was
adopted into the home of his grandfather, a man belonging to
the peasant class, who possessed a small holding of land upon
which he raised some grain, potatoes and a little wine. Thus
my father grew up a true peasant boy.
At the period of his birth, in 1797, the left bank of the
Rhine was in the possession of the French Republic. The years
of my father's youth thus fell in what the Rhine folk called
" The French Time," and later in life he had much to tell me
of those stirring days; how he had seen the great Napoleon,
before the Russian campaign, passing in review a body of
troops in the neighborhood of Bonn; how, in the autumn of
1813, the French army, after the battle of Leipzig, defeated
and shattered, had come back to the Rhine; how, while standing
in the market-place at Bonn, he had seen General Sebastiani
dash out of his headquarters in the " Hotel Zum Stern," leap
upon his horse and gallop around with his staff, the trumpeters
sounding the alarm and the drums beating the long roll, be
cause of the news that a band of Cossacks had crossed the Rhine
between Bonn and Coblenz ; how the French troops, stationed
[5]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
in Bonn, had hurriedly formed and marched off in the direction
of France, many disabled soldiers dropping out of the columns ;
how, one morning, several bands of Cossacks, dirty, long-
bearded fellows, on small, shaggy ponies, had swarmed over the
country, and chased the French stragglers, killing many of
them; how they had also forced themselves into the houses,
stealing everything that took their fancy; and how, when
the Cossacks had disappeared, the peasants hid their few
remaining possessions in the woods, to save them from the
oncoming Russians.
Soon after, the troops belonging to the allied powers
marched through the country, on their way into France to fight
the campaign of 1814, which ended in the occupation of Paris
and Napoleon's exile to the Island of Elba. A short period of
apparent peace followed; but when Napoleon, in 1815, sud
denly returned from Elba and again seized the government of
France, the Prussians levied fresh troops on the Rhine; all
able-bodied young men were obliged to enlist; and so my
father, who was then eighteen years of age, joined an infantry
regiment and marched off to the seat of war in Belgium. The
troops were drilled on the way thither in the manual of arms
and in the most necessary evolutions to fit them for immediate
service. My father's regiment passed over the field of Waterloo
a few days after the battle, on its way to a small French for
tress which they were to besiege, but which soon capitulated
without bloodshed. Later he was transferred to the artillery
and raised to the dignity of a corporal, an honor which grati
fied not a little his youthful ambition. He regretted never to
have been in actual combat, and later in life, when his contem
poraries told the stories of their deeds and dangers, he was
always obliged to admit, with reluctance, the harmless charac
ter of his own war experiences.

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
Upon his discharge from military service my father
entered, as a pupil, a teachers' seminary at Briihl, and was
soon appointed schoolmaster at Liblar. He had received a little
instruction in music at the seminary and had learned to play
the flute. This enabled him to teach simple songs to the school
children and to form a glee club, composed of the youths and
maidens of the village. In this glee club he made the acquaint
ance of my mother, Marianna Jiissen, whom he married in
1827. My mother was the daughter of a tenant-farmer, Heri-
bert Jiissen, who occupied part of a seignorial castle called
" Die Gracht," near Liblar. My father and mother lived, for
several years after their marriage, with my grandparents ; and
so it happened that I, their firstborn, came into the world on
March 2, 1829, in a castle.
This castle, the ancestral seat of Count Wolf Metter-
nich, was not very old — ^if I remember rightly it was built
between 1650 and 1700 — a large compound of buildings un
der one roof; surrounding on three sides a spacious courtyard;
taU towers with pointed roofs, and large iron weather vanes
at the corners, that squeaked when moved by the wind ; a broad
moat, always filled with water, encircling the whole; spanned
by a drawbridge, which led through a narrow arched gateway
into the court. In the wall above the massive gate, which was
studded with big-headed nails, there was a shield bearing the
count's coat-of-arms, and an inscription, which I puzzled out
as soon as I could read, and which has remained in my memory
through aU the vicissitudes of my life. It read:
" In the old days m Hessenland,
I was called the Wolf of Gutenberg;
Now, hy the Grace of God,
I am, Count Wolf Metternich of the Gracht."
[71

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
This large group of buildings contained the dwelling of
the tenant and his retainers, the steward's officers necessary for
the management of the estate, the granaries and the stables.
On the fourth side of the court a second bridge spanned a
branch of the moat and led to a small but more pretentious
building, also surrounded on all sides by water. This wais the
residence occupied by Count Metternich and his family during
the summer and the shooting seasons. It also had its tall towers
and spreading wings, containing a chapel and household service
rooms. It was situated on somewhat higher ground, and seemed
to dominate the other buildings. This residence, standing apart,
was called " The House." A third drawbridge united " The
House " with a park of about sixty acres, of which one-half
resembled the Versailles gardens, with its straight pebble walks,
labyrinths and trimmed hedges, and here and there statues of
Greek gods and nymphs, fountains and ponds. Large orange
trees, in green tubs, stood, like sentinels, in rows along the
walks. The grounds were enlivened by flocks of guinea hens and
stately moving peacocks. Another part of the grounds was
laid out like an English park, with lawns, ponds and groups
of tall trees and shrubbery, and here and there a small summer
house or a pavilion. The estate as a whole was called by the
people "Die Burg," and my grandfather was known in the
village and surrounding country as " Der Burghalfen." " Hal-
fen " was the name given originally to the farmer-tenants who
went halves with the lord of the estate in the proceeds of the
crops. This has in some parts of the Rhineland given way to
the payment of a fixed rent to the landlord, but the old name
" Halfen " remains.
My grandfather, the Burghalfen, had, at the time of my
first recollection, attained his sixtieth year. He was a man of
[8]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
huge proportions: over six feet in height, with powerful chest
and shoulders, and massive features to correspond; square chin;
a firm mouth and full lips ; large straight nose ; fiery dark eyes
with bushy eyebrows; a broad forehead, shadowed with curly
brown hair. His strength of muscle was astounding. Once, at
a kirmess festival, when several other halfen were his guests,
my grandfather accepted a challenge to lift in his arms the
great anvil which stood in the blacksmith's forge on the other
side of the moat, and to carry it over the drawbridge, through
the gate, into the house, up the stairs to the loft, and back again
to the forge. I can see him now, striding along, up and down
the creaking stairs, with the heavy block of iron in his arms,
as though he were carrying a little child.
Wonderful were the stories told about him: that once a
mad bull which had broken loose from the barn into the court
yard and driven all the stablemen under cover, was confronted
by him, single-handed, and felled to the ground with one blow
of a hammer; and that when heavily laden wagons were stuck
in the ruts of bad country roads he would lift them up and out
with his shoulders; and various other similar feats. It is not
unlikely that such tales, as they passed from mouth to mouth,
may have gone a little beyond the boundary line of fact, and
swelled into legendary grandeur; but they were recounted with
every assurance of authenticity ; and certain it is that the Burg
halfen was the strongest man of his day in the neighborhood
of Liblar. His education had been elementary only. He could read
and write, though with books he had little concern. But he
was a man of great authority with the people. From the vil
lage and surrounding country men and women came to seek
the Burghalfen's advice, and to lay their troubles before him;
and whenever report reached him of a quarrel among neighbors,
[9]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
or between husband and wife, he would start forth with a
stout stick in his hand for the seat of war. He would hear the
case both for plaintiff and defendant, and after making up
his mind which side was in the wrong he would pronounce
judgment and deal out the punishment on the spot, which not
seldom consisted in a sound thrashing. Against his verdict
and its immediate execution — a somewhat patriarchal form
of judgment — no one ever ventured to protest.
When the harvest-time came and the Burghalfen needed
laborers for his fields, he had only to walk through the village
street, and old and young flocked to his service and worked
for him with zeal until the harvest was safely garnered. But
the spirit of helpfulness was mutual; whoever was in distress
would say, " I will go to the Burghalfen," and he would do so,
confident that no sacrifice would be too great, no service too
burdensome to him, when the welfare of others was concerned.
" Live and let live " was his principle and his habit. Every
parish in the Rhineland had its yearly kirmess, with feasting,
drinking, games and dances. These festivals lasted always three
days, and were not infrequently carried over into a fourth. At
such times relatives and friends visited one another, bringing
along their families ; so that for those who had many brothers,
sisters, cousins and intimate friends, opportunities for enjoy
ment were not wanting throughout the summer. At every kir
mess gathering that he visited the Burghalfen was the central
figure. He was pleasure-loving — ^perhaps a httle too much for
his own good. There were few whom he could not " drink under
the table " ; and he was a terrible fighter, too, when it came to
blows; but fortunately this did not happen often, for he was
a man of peace by nature. I have been told that when under
strong provocation he would, in his wrath, seize a chair, dash it
to pieces with a mighty foot thrust, grasp one of the legs for a
[10]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
weapon, and, like Samson with the ass's jawbone, charge upon
and drive the Philistines irresistibly before him. — '
It was the custom in each parish to hold an annual " Schiitz-
enfest," or bird-shooting. An imitation bird, made of a block
of wood, strengthened with iron bands and plates, was fastened
to a tall pole, from sixty to eighty feet or more from the ground.
The shooting was done with rifles, and he who brought down
the last bit of the wooden bird won the prize and was crowned
king. This custom still exists to-day in many parts of Ger
many, If, upon such occasions, in the neighborhood of Liblar,
the Burghalfen failed to appear, the festival was incomplete ;
but he seldom did fail. With his big rifle he was almost always
among the first on the spot. This rifle, called " der Ferkel-
stecher " (the pigsticker) , was a most remarkable and formida
ble weapon. Why it was so called I do not remember. It dis
charged a good handful of powder and a ball weighing fully
eight ounces, and was so heavy that the strongest man could
not hold it horizontally from his shoulder without support.
Even my grandfather always placed one of his tallest yeomen
behind him to grasp the weapon upon its heavy recoil. Innu
merable were the birds brought down with this formidable in
strument. Every victory was followed by a feast at the tavern,
which not only swept away all the prize-money, but a goodly
sum besides; and not seldom did the victor return home with a
hot and heavy head.
But the Burghalfen was also a thorough husbandman;
intelligent, energetic and indefatigable. Bright and early in
the morning he was up and joined his laborers in the field, not
only giving directions, but when occasion required setting a
good, example by doing himself the most arduous task. I still
see him before me as, according to custom, he drove the first
harvest load into the barn, whip in hand, sitting on one of the
[11]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
four gayly decorated horses, which were harnessed tandem fash
ion to the wagon; and I have often heard that his counsel about
questions of husbandry was frequently sought and highly
esteemed by his fellow- farmers.
In his own home, of course, he was king, but a king who
was loved as well as obeyed, and whose very faults were ac
cepted by others as a kind of necessity of nature which had to
be submitted to, and would suffer no change.
'' At his side, in remarkable contrast, stood my grandmother,
a small, slender woman, with a thin, once pretty face; dehcate,
devout and domestic; always active and full of cares. The
household which she conducted was, indeed, sufficiently large
and onerous to allow her but little rest. At dawn of day in
summer, by lamplight in winter, she was busy superintending
the preparation of breakfast for the working people and start
ing them at their various occupations. They numbered, men
and girls, over twenty, without counting the day laborers.
The " Folk," as they were called, assembled for meals in
a hall on the ground floor, which had a vaulted ceiling resting
on thick stone columns. On one side was a huge hearth, with an
open-mouthed chimney; large pots hung over the fire on iron
hooks and chains. This was the " commons " of the house. On
the other side of the hall stood a long table, with wooden
benches, at which the folk took their meals. Before sitting
down — standing with their backs to the table — they all said a
prayer; then the " meisterknecht," or. foreman, struck a loud
rap with the handle of his knife on the table, which was the
signal for all to sit down. They ate their soup or porridge with
wooden spoons out of big wooden bowls, which were arranged
along the center of the table within easy reach. There were no
individual plates or platters; meat and vegetables were served;
upon long, narrow strips of board, scoured white. The house
[12]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
provided three-pronged iron forks; for cutting, the folk used
their own pocketknives. The foreman dealt out the black bread
in large chunks; white bread was given only on festive occa
sions. During the meal not a word was spoken, and when the
foreman laid down his knife it was the signal that the repast
was over. It goes without saying that he always allowed the
people a sufl5ciency of food. They arose, again turned their
backs to the table, repeated a prayer and separated, each to his
or her task.
During the time that the servants were taking their meal
my grandmother busied herself with the help of a scullery maid
at the big fireplace, preparing breakfast for the family. On
one side of the hall a few steps led up into a smaller, though
spacious, room, also with a vaulted ceiling, A long table stood
in the middle, surrounded by chairs, of which several were
upholstered in leather and adorned with bright copper nails,
A wide window, with a strong outward-curved iron grating,
opened into the courtyard and allowed a full view of whatever
took place there,\This apartment was the living-room of the
family, and served also as a dining-room, except upon great
occasions, when the feast was spread in " The Saal," on the
opposite side of the servants' hall. This living-room was my
grandmother's headquarters. It had a small window, cut
through the wall into the folk-hall, for the purpose of enabling
her to oversee whatever happened there; and through it her
voice was at times to be heard instructing or reproving."* When
the autumn and winter evenings came she gathered around her
the maid servants, of whom there were a dozen or more, with
their spinning wheels. Then the flax was spun which supplied
the house with linen; and while the wheels whirred the girls
sang, my grandmother encouraging them by setting the tunes.
The men, meanwhile, came in from the stables and workshops
[13]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
and seated themselves on benches around the great hearth in the
hall, to tell stories and to indulge in what passed with them for
wit. In the summer evenings they sat around in the courtyard,
or leaned upon the bridge-railing, chatting or singing. Two or
three times during the year, in accordance with ancient custom,
all assembled in the folk-hall for a romp ; blindman's-buff and
other games were played, and there was no end to the tumbling ,
and pulling, shrieking and laughing, until, at a fixed hour, the
foreman stalked in, like stern fate, and sent them all off to bed.
\ Such were the surroundings in which I first became aware
of existence, and in which the earliest years of my childhood
were passed. It is remarkable how memory can hark back to
the time of the first development of consciousness. So I have
still before me a picture of myself, when I could not have been
much more than two years of age. On the road, bordered with
horse-chestnut trees, leading from the castle to the village,
there was a pit enclosed in masonry, in which the count kept
some wild boars. I can see myself distinctly, a small child
in petticoats and a little white bonnet on my head, sitting upon
the wall, looking down with a mixed feeling of delight and
terror upon the great black monsters, with their terrible white
tusks. As I sat there, an old man with shining buttons on his
coat approached, talked with the woman who had charge of me,
and gave me some cake. My mother, to whom in later life I
recalled this, told me that the man wearing the castle livery
must have been old Bernhard, the coimt's body-servant, who
died when I was in my third year.
Another picture I see before me : A large flock of sheep,
with the lambs, returning home from the pasture in the dusk of
the evening, bleating and crowding with impatient haste
through the gateway into the court. Sitting on my mother'!
arm, I watched them; the old shepherd approaches to allow me
[ 14 1

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
to touch the shining little shovel on the end of his long staff,
toward which I had stretched out my hand; but the old man's
grim and wrinkled face frightens me; I shrink back and cling
closely to my mother's shoulder.
With special pleasure do I recall the great cow stable,
built like a church, with a central arched nave and two lower
side naves, in which the cows stood — about forty in number.
My mother, who interested herself in the work of the dairy,
took me with her sometimes when she went to see that the ani
mals were properly cared for. How warm it was there of a
winter's evening! Sitting on a bundle of hay or straw, in the
dim light of the lantern, suspended from the high arch of the
central nave, I used to listen to the softly murmuring sounds
of the kine chewing their cud, which filled the great space with
a peculiar sense of comfort, and to the chatter and the songs of
the dairy maids as they busily moved to and fro, calling the
cows by their names.
My mother told me later that when I was between three
and four years old I had a very exciting love affair. The
count had a daughter, who was then about eighteen or nineteen,
and very beautiful. The young Countess Marie, when she met
me on her walks, sometimes stroked my red cheeks with her
hands, as young ladies do now and then with very little boys.
The consequence was that I fell ardently in love with her, and
declared frankly that I would marry her. My intentions were
quite determined, but the young Countess Marie did not seem
to look at the matter as seriously as I did, and that led to a
catastrophe. One day I saw her standing with a young man at
one of the windows of the house, busy catching carp with a hook
in the moat of the castle. A furious fit of jealousy seized me;
i demanded, screaming, that the young man should leave the
adored Countess Marie at once, in default of which I insisted
[15]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
that someone should throw him into the water!\ I grew stiU more
furious when the young gentleman not only did not leave, but
even seemed to be laughing at me. I made such a noise that the
castle folk came running from all parts, to see what was the
matter. I told them, with hot tears ; and then they also laughed,
making me still more furious. At last the count's good old
cook hit upon a successful idea; she took me into the kitchen,
where she gave me a small jar of quince jelly to eat. Quince
jelly was then to me an entirely new form of human happiness,
and it had a remarkably quieting effect upon my distressed
feelings. So far the tale my mother told me; and I will con
fess that quince jelly has ever since remained my favorite
sweet. " The Burg " had also its terror for me ; it was the head of
a roe buck, with black antlers and very large eyes, which
adorned the wall at the end of a long corridor. I do not know,
and probably never knew, why this head of a roe buck was so
terrible to me ; but certainly it was so ; and when I had to pass
it I ran as fast as my little legs would carry me.
I can still hear the horn of Hermann, the count's hunts
man, who, on fine evenings, sat on the bridge-railing and played
merry tunes that reverberated from the walls and the toweri?
of- the castle. This huntsman was a great personage in my
eyes, for on festive occasions he, arrayed in brilliant uniform
with gold lace, a hunting-knife at his side, and a waving bunch
of feathers on his hat, accompanied the count. He came to a
sad end, poor Hermann! One day he was found in the forestf
dead; probably shot by poachers. This was the first tragic
sensation of my life. We children, for a long time afterwards;
would point to this man or that, with a shuddering suspicion
that, perhaps, he might have been the murderer of Hermann|
I must have been a little over four years old when my
[16]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
parents left the castle to establish a home of their own in the
village of Liblar. The village consisted of one street. Mid
way on an elevation stood the parish church with its pointed
steeple and cross. The houses, mostly one-storied and very
small, were of whitewashed plaster, with frames and beams ex
posed, and tiled roofs. There were perhaps half a dozen brick
buildings in the village, belonging to the count. The inhabitants
of Liblar, small farmers, laborers, mechanics and a few inn-
or shop-keepers, took an especial pride in their village because
its street was paved with cobblestones. Notwithstanding our
house had two stories, it was very small, with ceilings so low
in the upper story that my grandfather when standing
upright almost touched them with his head.
' Although we no longer lived at the castle, I continued to
be my grandfather's favorite, and he wished me to come to
liim as often as possible. My mother had to take me almost
every day to the Burg, and I accompanied my grandfather
sometimes even at his work. At harvest time, when he took
the loaded wagons into the barn, I had to sit with him in the
saddle. In the late autumn, when the slaughtering of the fat
swine, — a work which he insisted upon performing himself, —
took place, the honor fell to me of carrying the big, leathern
knife-case, the bright buckled straps of which were wound
around my neck so that they should not drag along the
ground. And the more important I believed myself to be on
such occasions the greater was my grandfather's delight. On
rainy days he lent me an old gun with a flint lock, and taught
me how to cock and snap it so that it gave out sparks. Then I
was allowed to go hunting in the sitting-room and the adjoining
chambers, and to shoot as many deer and wild birds as my
imagination could scare up. This would amuse me for hours;
and my grandfather then took me on his knees and hstened to
[17]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
the wonderful tales about the game I had bagged and the
adventures in the forest and field I had encountered.
Suddenly a terrible misfortune befell the family. My
grandfather had a stroke of paralysis. The upper part of his
body remained sound, but he could no longer walk or stand.
And thus, alas! the Burghalfen's bustling activity came to a
sudden end; no more feats of strength; no more merry rides to
the bird-shooting and to the kirmess. The robust man, yester
day still proud of his vigor, was now obliged to sit still from
morning until night, his legs swathed in flannel. During the
daytime his great armchair stood at the sitting-room vdndow
with the outward-curved grating, so that he might overlook the
courtyard. He attempted to conduct farm affairs in this way,
but he soon had to delegate his authority to a younger brother.
And now the suddenly aged man did not know what to do
with himself nor with his time. The Cologne Gazette was
daily brought to him, but reading had never been much to his
liking. It being summer and fly-time, a movable table at
tached to his armchair was sprinkled with sugar to attract the
flies that swarmed into the room. He would sit for hours with
a short leathern-flapped stick in his hand kifling flies, now and
then giving the table a terrible whack.
" This is all that I am still fit for," sighed the once useful
man. Often I was taken to him to entertain him with my boy
ish prattle and to make him laugh. Then he began to tell me
about bygone days, especially about the " French times," and
the experiences of landed proprietors and peasants during those
terrible years of war and pillage. As he talked I could see the
merry " sans-culottes " swarming over the land, indulging in
their wild pranks. I saw, as they approached. Count Wolf
Metternich one night flying from the castle in a hurry, after
having buried and walled his treasures, including the family
[18]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
archives, deep down under one of the towers, and confided all
the belongings he left behind him to my grandfather's safe
keeping. I could see one of the great Napoleon's generals ride
through the gate, filling the court with brilliantly uniformed
horsemen, and take up his quarters in the great house. When
my grandfather's narrative reached the period of the departure
of the French and the arrival of the Cossacks he became spe
cially animated. Then it was that the castle people had to hide
in the depths of the forest all their horses and Wagons, cows,
sheep and pigs, lest they should fall a prey to either the re
treating French or to the advancing Russians, Time and
again I made him describe the Cossacks, They ate tallow
candles and ransacked the house and stables for spirits. Find
ing none, they threatened to use force with my grandmother;
whereupon my grandfather knocked a few of them down, and
was much surprised that none of their comrades came to their
help. When the search for " schnapps," however, continued,
my grandmother hit upon the happy idea of filhng a barrel
with vinegar, to which she added a large quantity of mustard
and pepper-seeds and a little alcohol. This brew, which would
have burned like fire in the throats of ordinary mortals, the
Cossacks praised highly; moreover, it seemed to agree with
them. With all their devilishness they possessed a God-fear
ing sense, for whenever they were planning an especial mis
chief they would carefully cover the eyes of the crucifix on
the wall so that the good Lord might not see the sin that they
were about to commit.
Stories like these were told me over and over, and elab
orated to suit my endless questions and my insatiable craving
to know more; so that before I could read or write my grand
father's stirring recollections had etched into my mind a very
fair impression of the Napoleonic wars, so closely compli-
[19]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
cated with the future history of Germany, and laid a founda
tion for my future political opinions and sympathies.
In the winter evenings the Burghalfen's great armchair
was rolled up to the center-table for a game of cards ; but in
spite of all efforts made for his entertainment, the sad contrast
between the past and the present soon undermined his cheerful
ness. He tried to appear content, and not to be a burden to
his loved ones, but the old life of bustle and gayety at the
Burg, of which he had been the soul and center, was for
ever gone; and soon other clouds loomed upon the horizon.

[gO]

CHAPTER II
Before I was six years old my father took me into the
village school of which he was the teacher. I remember that
I could read and write very early, but not how I acquired
those arts. Much I owed to the instruction which my father
gave me at home. I had frequented the village school hardly
a year when my father resigned his position as schoolmaster.
The salary, about $90 a year, was too pitiably small to support
the family, to which in the meantime two little girls had been
added. My father, like all who feel within themselves a yearning
for knowledge with few opportunities for satisfying it, had
the earnest ambition to give to his children the education that
fate had denied to him. With this object in view he made a
start in a new direction, and opened a hardware-shop, for
which he appropriated a part of the house which had once
been a cow-stable, hoping that the business would gradually
yield an income sufficient for the family needs. In me he be
lieved that he had discovered an aptitude for study. He there
fore decided that at the proper age I should go to the " gym
nasium " and later to the university, to be fitted for one of the
learned professions. For the time being I continued to attend
the village school, but the instruction I received there was
early supplemented in various directions. It was my father's
especial wish that aU his children should study music. To this
end, when I was about six years old, a queer little piano was
procured which had neither pedals nor damper, and possessed
several pecuharities incident to old age. But it served well for
[21]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
my first finger exercises, and to me the instrument was very
beautiful. Now we had to find a music teacher. The organist
who played in our village church possessed an ear for har
mony, but, devoid of training, he could hardly decipher the
simplest composition on paper. The village folk had accus
tomed themselves to his performances, and when there
occurred in his interludes some strange entanglements nobody
was much disturbed. After the organist frankly admitted to
my father, with entire preservation of his dignity, that his
musical talents did not include an ability to impart knowledge
to others, it was decided that I should go twice a week to
Briihl, a town four miles distant, to receive lessons from the
well-equipped organist living there. The broad turnpike
leading to Briihl passed through a great forest. It was a
mailcoach road; and whenever the postilion happened to see
me trudging along he would invite me to a seat with him on
the box, which was a great favor cheerfully accepted. After
a while my younger brother Heribert joined me in taking
music lessons, and this enabled me to enlarge the scope of my
studies; for while Heribert was taking his lessons with the
organist I had time to lay the foundation of a knowledge of
Latin with the parish priest. Thus we wandered twice a week
to Briihl and back, singing duets on the way, and as we were
both blessed with a good ear, and were not wanting in voice,
it may have sounded well enough. At least we attracted the
attention of many passers-by. Once a pleasure party, stop
ping their traveling carriage, and dismounting, invited us to
sit with them under the trees, where they made us go through
our entire repertoire and rewarded us with good things from
their provision hamper.
My brother Heribert, fifteen months younger than I, was
a charming boy; blue-eyed, blond, of a most cheerful tem-
[22]

christian schuhz

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
perament and an exceedingly amiable disposition. He liked to
occupy himself with animals and flowers more than to sit still
and pore over books ; so it was decided that he should become a
florist gardener. We two clung fondly to one another, and my
mother later in life often told me that she had no greater
joy than to see us together when, clothed alike and in many
ways recognizable as brothers, we were the most cordial com
rades in work and play. Nor were wild pranks wanting,
though there were none of a vicious nature. The worst ad
venture made at the time a profound impression upon me and
has remained vivid in my memory. The old halfen of an estate
near Liblar died, and as he belonged to our extensive kinship,
we two brothers had to carry lighted tapers in his funeral
procession. After the burial, according to Rhenish custom,
the relatives and friends attending sat down to a funeral
feast. Such repasts, however solemn at the start, were apt to
degenerate into merry carousals. And, sb it happened this
time. The feasting lasted long and the excellent wines pleased
the mourners mightily. A thoughtless uncle had the un
fortunate idea that this would be a good opportunity for
giving my brother Heribert and me a practical lesson in wine-
drinking. He filled and refilled our glasses, constantly urging
us to empty them. The result was that first we became very
jolly and finally slipped from our chairs under the table in an
unconscious state; whereupon, profoundly sleeping, we were
put into a haycart and taken home. When we woke up the fol
lowing morning and heard what had happened we were
heartily ashained. I do not know whether at that time I re
solved never to allow the like to happen again; but certain it is
that this occurrence gave me a profound loathing for drunk
enness, which I have carried with me through Hfe; and al
though I have always taken wine or beer whenever it pleased
[23 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
me, that excess at the funeral-feast has remained to the
present hour my only one.
Of intellectual stimulus our village did not offer much, ex
cept that which I found within our home walls and in the larger
family circle. My mother's opportunities for cultivation had
never extended beyond the parish school and intercourse with
relatives and friends. But she was a woman of excellent mental
quahties — in a high degree sensible, of easy and clear perception
and discernment, and apt to take a lively interest in everything
deserving it. But the chief strength of her character lay in
her moral nature. I know no virtue that my mother did not
possess. Nothing, however, could have been farther from her
than assumption of superiority, for she was almost too modest
and self-effacing. Rectitude, which is as it is because it cannot
be otherwise, was in her joined to the gentlest judgment of
others. Her disinterestedness in every trial proved itself capa
ble of truly heroic self-sacrifice. The sorrows of those around
her she felt more deeply than her own, and her constant care
was for the happiness of those she loved. No misfortune could
break her courage, and the calm cheerfulness of her pure soul
survived the crudest blows of fortune. When she died, nearly
eighty years old, she had even in the last moments of con
sciousness a bright smile for the children and grandchildren
standing at her bedside. Her figure was slender and well- formed
and her features somewhat resembled those of our grandf atheri
We children always admired her curly golden-brown hair.
Whether in the blossom-time of her life she would have been
called beautiful or not we never knew; but her countenance was
to us all love and goodness and sunshine. The customs and
forms of the great world were of course unknown to her, but
she possessed the rare grace of noble naturalness which goes
far to supply a deficiency in social training. Her handwriting
[24]

MOTHER OF SCHURZ

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
was awkward and her spelling by no means faultless. Of litera
ture she knew httle, and with grammar and style she had never
been troubled. But many of her letters, written to me at differ-
. . . ent times and in different situations of life, were not only filled
with noble thought and sentiment, but possessed rare poetic
beauty of expression; the unconscious greatness of her soul
found its own language. Her very being exercised a constantly
elevating and stimulating influence, although she could aid her
children but httle in the acquisition of what is commonly called
knowledge. All the more zealous was my father in this direction. The
low whitewashed walls of the small, modestly furnished living-
room of our house, in which we also took our meals, were hung
with the portraits of Schiller, Goethe, Wieland, Korner, Tasso
and Shakespeare; for poets, historians and scientists were my
father's heroes, and he early told me of their creations and
achievements. He read every book he could lay his hands upon
and had coUected a few of his own, among them Becker's
" Universal History," some German classics and some transla-
. . . tions from Voltaire and Rousseau, But these books were still
beyond my childish comprehension; and so others were obtained
for me from a circulating library at Briihl, There we found
a series of folklore tales, pretty well- told old legends of Em
peror Octavianus, and the four Haimons children, and the
horned Siegfried, and strong Roland, etc., and some of the
popular knight-stories, the contents of some of which I still
could tell.
Then a new world opened itself to me. The old head
gardener of the count, who had observed my love of reading,
gave me one day that most magnificent of juvenile books,
" Robinson Crusoe." It may be said without exaggeration that
to " Robinson Crusoe " the youth of all civilized peoples have
[25]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
owed more happy hours than to any other one book. I can still
see it before me, as I grasped it eagerly as soon as school hours
were over ; I can see the worn edges of the binding, the wood-
Quts, even the inkspot which to my extreme annoyance disfig
ured one of them; and I can still hear myself telling the school
master about the wonderful contents of this book and begging
him to read it aloud to the class, which he did on two afternoons
in the week, his own interest increasing so much with every
reading that the hours gradually lengthened, to the detriment
of other studies. Next to " Robinson Crusoe " came the
" Landwehrmann," a popular history of the war of liberation
in 1813, for which my interest had been excited by my grand
father's and my father's reminiscences, and from the reading
of which I emerged a fiery German patriot. And finally I was
led up to higher literature by my father's reading aloud to me
while I was ill with the measles some of Schiller's poems, and
even the " Robbers."
There were still other stimulating family influences. My
mother had four brothers. The oldest, " Ohm Peter," as we
children called him, had served in a French regiment of grena
diers during the last years of Napoleon's reign, and was rich
in recollections of that eventful period. The wars over, he mar
ried the daughter of a halfen and became himself the halfen
of a large estate in Lind, near Cologne. In body and mind he
resembled my grandfather, and we children loved him heartily.
The second was " Ohm Ferdinand." He was the superintendent
of extensive peatworks belonging to Count Metternich, and
lived in Liblar in comfortable circumstances. He had risen in
the Prussian military service to the dignity of a " Landwehr-
lieutenant," and when he turned out at the periodical musters
in his fine uniform, a sword at his side and a " tschako " with a
high bunch of feathers on his head, we children looked at him
[26]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
with awe and admiration. This uncle had read much and was
the free-thinker, the Voltairian, of the family. He also be
longed to a Freemasons' lodge in Cologne, of which it was
whispered among the village-folk that the members had sold
themselves body and soul to the devil, and that at their fre
quent night-meetings the devil appeared in the guise of a black
goat and demanded homage of them. The fact that " Ohm
Ferdinand " never went to church on Sunday seemed to confirm
the worst rumors with regard to him. The third brother,
" Ohm Jacob," lived at Jiilich, a fortified town not far distant,
where he married the daughter of a merchant and established
himself in mercantile business. He was an extraordinarily
handsome man in face and figure ; of fine, amiable qualities, and
of distinguished personality. His admirable character won for
him the respect and liking of the community to such a degree
that he was elected burgomaster, an office which he held for
many years with great dignity and with popular approval.
Once a year he visited the great fair at Frankfurt-on-the-
Main, from which he returned by way of Liblar, bringing to
us pretty little gifts and also interesting tales about the
remarkable men and things he had seen and heard there.
The fourth and youngest brother was " Ohm Georg," who
had served in a regiment of cuirassiers in Berlin and then had
come home to aid my grandfather in his husbandry. He had
lived three years in the capital of the kingdom, and therefore
had looked far beyond the shadow of the church-steeple of his
home. He, too, was a handsome man, and had the chivalrous
trait of the family. Each one of the four brothers was over six
feet in height, and together they formed a stately group. Not
in stature only, but in intelligence and breadth of view they
towered far a^ove the ordinary people of their surroundings.
In addition to them there were two brothers-in-law— my
[27]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
father and "Ohm Rey," the husband of a sister of my
mother's, a wideawake and jovial man, who owned a large farm
about an hour's walk from Liblar, This circle met often
in happy social intercourse. The conversation at such times
was by no means restricted to local topics, nor to the trans
action of every-day business. These men read newspapers,
took an interest in all that happened in the outer world, and
discussed, if not with thorough knowledge, at least with eager
interest and sympathy, the events that moved humanity at large.
Not seldom was I present at these talks, leaning against the
arm of my father's chair or crouching unnoticed in the corner
of the room, a silent and receptive listener. Here it was that I
first heard of the struggles of Abdel-Kader in Algiers and of
the hero Schamyl in the Caucasus; of the repeated attempts
upon the life of Louis Philippe in France and the Carlist
wars in Spain, with the generals of high-sounding, musical
names, and — what especially excited me — of the imprisonment
of the Archbishop of Cologne for Jesuitic conspiracies against ,
the Prussian Government, And so on. Much of what I heard
was at first to me little more than mere sound. Still I asked
many questions, which were answered by my father and by my
uncles as well as they could. And although perhaps the mind
of the boy thereby acquired but little clear understanding of
things, the f eehng took early root in me that we in our little
village were a part of a great world, the affairs of which con
cerned us, too, and demanded our attention and sympathy.
In this family circle I also heard for the first time about
America, A peasant family of our village, by the name of
Trimborn, emigrated to the United States, I still have before
my eyes the picture of their departure. One afternoon a wagon-,
loaded with trunks, boxes and household utensils started from
a neighboring cpttage; the village-folk wished good luck to
[28]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
the emigrants, and a large crowd followed them until the wagon
disappeared in the forest on the road to Cologne. Another
family, by the name of Kribben, who were particular friends
of ours, soon followed the Trimborns to settle in Missouri,
where I saw them many years later. Meanwhile, things
American were eagerly discussed by my father and my uncles.
Then I heard for the first time of that immeasurable country
on the other side of the ocean, its great forests, its magnificent
rivers and lakes — of that young republic where the people
were free, without kings, without counts, without military
service, and, as was believed in Liblar, without taxes. Every
thing about America that could be got hold of was eagerly
read, and I saw for the first time in a penny magazine the
picture of George Washington, whom my father called the
noblest of men in all history, because he had commanded large
armies in the war for the liberation of his people and, instead
of making himself a king, had voluntarily divested himself
of his power and returned to the plow as a simple farmer.
By this example my father explained to me what it was to be
a true patriot.
The men in our family circle fairly reveled in that log-
cabin romance, which is so full of charm to the European
unacquainted with the true conditions of American life; and
it wanted but little to induce the men of the family to try their
fortune in the new world at once. Although the resolution was
not taken in a hurry, America always remained a favorite
topic of conversation with, them ; and in the course of time every
member of my family did emigrate, some to remain in
America, others to return to Germany,
Among grown-up people outside of the family, too, I
found a friend who stands out in my memory in bold relief. He
was a singular character. His name was George van Biirk, and
[29]

ITHE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
as he had been a master shoemaker, he generally went by the
name of " Master George." Feeble sight obhging him to re
nounce his trade, he made a living as an errand man, and was
so frequently employed by my father in that capacity that he
almost seemed to belong to our house. He was then a man in
middle life, tall and thin, with a haggard and sallow but
pleasant face, to which, however, a whitish spot in one of his
eyes gave a peculiar expression. He was one of that class of
persons who with good natural endowments have had but
little education, but whom that little has served to lift out
of the rut of the commonplace. He had read all the books
that had come in his way, and although many of them went
beyond his comprehension, they had helped shape his thoughts
and notions. He had. all sorts of droll conceits, which he gave
forth with facility of expression and sometimes in piquant
terms of speech, and as he was, withal, an amiable soul, every
body liked him.
The whole population of the village and surrounding
Rhine country, my own family included, was Roman Cathohc.
So was Master George; but upon many points he could not
agree with the church. " Why," he argued, " if we are to
believe blindly and never think for ourselves, why did the all-
wise Creator give us our reason? " This view he applied with
especial acuteness to the sermons of the parish priest. Also
with the Apostle Paul he had various differences of opinion. I
was still a mere child, but he confided his religious scruples and
philosophical contemplations to me, thinking that as I was to
become a learned man, the sooner I formed opinions of my own
on serious subjects the better. With especial earnestness he
warned me against studying theology with the intention of
entering, the priesthood — for " these divines are obliged to say
too many things which they do not themselves believe." And
[30]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
then he attacked with great eloquence the miracles of which the
Bible tells us, and which he confessed he could not understand.
Sometimes, however, he seemed to remember that after all
I was only a child. He would then take me upon his knee and
tell me fairy-stories, such as one tells to children, but he never
omitted to add that the stories were not true and that I must
promise not to believe them. This I did promise, but always
asked for more. The child's mind has a craving for the super
natural, and although terror taken by itself is an uncomfortable
sensation,- still the shudders produced by the thought of the
monstrous and awful have for it a strange fascination. The
village people among whom I hved were for the most part
superstitious to a degree. They firmly believed in the personal
devil with horns and tail, and in vdtches who were in intimate
league with him ; and there were even two or three old women in
our village to whom the finger of suspicion pointed as being
" not quite right." I also heard some of our neighbors tell of
" men of fire " whom they had seen with their eyes walking
about the fields at night. These were said to be lost souls con
demned for their misdeeds in the fiesh to wander about forever
in fiery torment. Although I knew perfectly well from my
talks with my parents and uncles and Master George that there
were no such creatures as witches, and that the " men of fire "
were only will-of-the-wisps arising from the vapors of the
moorland, nevertheless I found it delightfully gruesome to
stare at these old women and cautiously to visit the morass
where these terrible " men of fire " were said to hover.
To my friend. Master George, I am also indebted for my
first understanding of the word philosopher. There stood in
our village street an old deserted house which must once have
been a more aristocratic dwelling than its neighbors. It was
larger, the beams of its framework were more artistically f ash-
[31]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
ioned and ornamented, and the entrance had a porte cochere,
jutting out into the street. At the time of which I write the
house was empty and dilapidated, and we village children tore
up and down its rickety stairs and passageways and found its
vacant rooms, with their dark corners, well adapted for hide-
and-seek and robber plays.
This uncanny place interested me deeply, and from Mas
ter George I learned that its last owners and occupants had
been two old bachelors by the name of Krupp, then long dead.
The older of the two, so Master George told me, was a very
peculiar gentleman. He wore his hair braided in a cue and on
his head an old-fashioned three-cornered hat. He had but one
eye and he wore spectacles with only one glass. These were
sewed to the front corner of his hat so that the one glass should
drop into place over the one eye the instant that he put his hat
upon his head. He possessed a large library and was a very'
learned man. He would often wander through the village
street, absorbed in thought, his hands behind his back, not no
ticing anyone. He never went to church, and before he died
refused to receive extreme unction. Krupp, so Master George
always wound up his talk about him, was " a true philosopher."
I asked my father whether this queer man had really been a
philosopher. My father thought so beyond a doubt. This,
then, was my first conception of a philosopher, and frequently
in late life, when I heard philosophy and philosophers spoken
of, has the picture of the three-cornered hat with the one-eyed'^i
spectacle attached to it risen up in my mind.
Master George had strange peculiarities. One day, while
he was entertaining a company with amusing talk, which;
kept his hearers in the merriest mood, he suddenly heard a
clock strike. Master George stopped abruptly in the middle
of the sentence, jumped to his feet, exclaiming in a solemn
[32]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
tone: "One hour nearer death." The next moment he sat
down and after a short silence continued his talk as merrily
as before. My father, to whom I described this scene, said that
he had often seen Master George do the same; that his mind
was filled with a presentiment of impending death, and with
all kinds of thoughts about the hereafter which sometimes
came suddenly to the surface in this strange way. My friend
never spoke to me about his dark premonitions. To me he
disclosed only the cheerful side of his nature and of his
" philosophy of life," although he never used so pompous an
expression as this. He frequently endeavored to show me how
httle one requires to be happy in this world, and made his own
life serve as an example. He was a very poor man, accord
ing to the usual understanding of the term. Fate had not
only refused him favors, but had in a certain sense persecuted
him. He did not deny that he had within himself the making
of something better than a mere cobbler, but his parents
thought they could make nothing else of him. And yet the
weakness of his eyes had robbed him even of the fitness for
cobbler's work and he had been obliged to become an errand
runner in order to earn the daily bread for his wife and
children. But what would it avail to torment himself with
dark broodings over that which he might have been and was
not? The world was a beautiful world even for him, the
poor errand runner. He had enjoyed the good fortune of
associating with people who knew much more and were much
cleverer than himself. And every new idea thus opened to
him was a new delight. If he thought only of the pleasures
that life had given, instead of the sufferings that it had in
flicted upon him, he saw reason to be content. In fact, all that
was required for earthly happiness was few wants and a good
conscience. [33]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
" If," he would say with emphasis, " you are ever over
taken by misfortune, or oppressed by poverty, you must think
of your friend Master George,"
And so I have very often done. The counsel that he
gave me upon every occasion was always mixed with jests and
droll descriptions of men and things which never permitted
the admonitions to become dull sermons. He also endeavored
to stimulate my ambition by painting to me in glowing colors
the good fortune of the liberal education which was in store
for me; and when he spoke of my future career he gave full
rein to his ardent imagination.
His presentiment of an early death proved true. My
good friend did not long survive those days. While I was at
the gymnasium he died of consumption. I have always kept
him in warm remembrance.
The impression of what Master George had said to me
about religious things was deepened by an occurrence of a
different nature.
I fully resolved, so far as a child could make such a reso
lution, that when I studied it would not be for the ministry.
True, among the Roman Catholic population of the lower
Rhine country, a family that counted a priest among its mem
bers was proud of the distinction. But this was mainly the case
with the women of our home circle ; the men were more or less
affected by the free-thinking spirit of the age, and my uncle
Ferdinand, the Voltairian, even went so far as to indulge in
bold jests and scoffings upon rehgious subjects. This jarred
upon me painfully. It seemed to me audaciously wicked to
speak in flippant words about things which I had been taught
in church, and at my mother's knee, were high and holy. My
father, who, as already mentioned, had read his Voltaire and
Rousseau and been influenced by them, never fell in with that
[34]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
tone of talk. On the other hand, he made no effort to hold me
by means of counteracting influences to strict adherence to the
faith. From the pulpit as well as in private religious instruc
tion I had repeatedly heard the priest say that the Cathohc
religion was the only saving one, and that aU of different
behef — Protestants, Jews and heathen — were hopelessly
doomed to everlasting hell-fire. There was not a single Prot
estant in Liblar; in fact, we children could hardly imagine
what a " Calvinist," as the Protestants were called, was
like; and when one day a stranger, a Prussian official, passed
through our village and we heard that he was a Protestant, we
looked at him with a mixture of pity and fear, and were much
surprised to find him a man of dignity and agreeable presence.
How could he be cheerful? we wondered; for, of course, he
too must know of his doom. There was one Jew in the village,
a butcher who supplied the neighborhood with meat. In no
other way did we come into contact with him. But I saw
sometimes in our house another Jew by the name of Aaron,
who lived in a neighboring village, and I observed that my
father always talked with him in a friendly and interested way
upon various subjects. This astonished me. But my father
told me that old Aaron, whose face had always appeared to
me very serious and of great dignity, was not only a very good
and honest, but also a very enhghtened, even a wise, man — ^more
honest and virtuous and wise than many a Christian. The
question whether so good a man as old Aaron must necessarily
be doomed to eternal hell-fire troubled me very much. I could
not make this agree with my idea of the all-just God. Soon
my father read to me Lessing's " Nathan der Weise," setting
before me the lesson of tolerance which this dramatic poem so
attractively teaches, and which I most heartily enjoyed, with
out 'being conscious how dangerously those teachings shook
[35]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
the piUars and undermined the fundamental dogmas of the
only true church.
Another event brought further shock. The schoolmaster
who had succeeded my father had taken some liberties with
one of the pupils, a relative of ours, and was called to account
for it. He denied the accusations, and the community soon
split into two parties: on the one side the schoolmaster de
fended by the parish priest, and supported by the count's
family and a large part of the population; on the other
our family and friends. The quarrel waxed very bitter, as
is always the case with such village warfare, and led to vio
lent disputes, once even to a bloody riot, which the one con
stable of the place was unable to suppress. " There is
revolution in the village," people said. This was the first time
that I had heard this fateful word. The priest made himself
especially conspicuous by repeating slanderous tales about
members of our family. This went so far that even my
mother, the gentlest of women, became greatly excited, and
one day I overheard her tell the priest to his face that he was
a wicked man and a reckless defamer of character — where
upon the clerical gentleman tamely slunk away. To my mind
the priest, as the vicar of God and the mouthpiece of His
word, had been a holy man. And now to hear my mother, the
very embodiment of truthfulness and piety, tell the priest that
he was wicked, could not but be to me a dangerous revelation.
It tormented me greatly after this not to be able to listen to
his Sunday sermons with unshaken faith, and it distressed me
beyond measure when I stood near him as a choir-boy to see
him perform the holy office of the mass. But my religious
observances went on as before.
The unhappy confhct caused by the schoolmaster episode
had unforeseen consequences. The schoolmaster indeed had
[36]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
to quit Liblar, but he left the quarrel behind, and it affected
the relations between my grandfather and the count, which
down to this time had been most friendly. Count Wolf
Metternich was older than my grandfather — a stately and
stalwart figure over six feet high and unbent by the burden
of his years ; his hair and whiskers silver white and his counte
nance most benignant. He was a nobleman of the old school,
proud to have old servants and old well-to-do and contented
tenants. The farm-rents were low, and when the crops failed
the count was always wilhng to make reductions. On the other
hand, when the crops were plentiful, he did not at once seize
the opportunity to advance rents, but rejoiced in the prosper
ity of his people. His old business manager, the rent-master,
as he was called, looked grim and exacting, but he conducted
affairs in the spirit of his lord. Thus the relation between
the count and my grandfather had been one of easy-going con
tentment on both sides, cemented by the common remembrance
of the hard times of the " French War," during which the
count had often been obliged, under the most trying circum
stances, to entrust to my grandfather the care of his ancestral
home. Of course, the difference in the worldly position be
tween the count and the halfen was never overlooked. My
grandfather, according to the ideas of those days, was a well-
to-do man and could allow himself some comforts and luxuries.
But I remember hearing it spoken of in the family circle that
this or that could not be had or done, because the castle people
might consider it presumptuous and take offense. For in
stance, my grandfather could go to town or pay visits in a two-
wheeled chaise, but not in a four-wheeled carriage; and his wife
and daughters might wear as pretty caps or hoods as they
pleased, trimmed with lace ever so costly and even adorned
with precious stones, but they could not wear bonnets such as
[37]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
were worn in Cologne. The count when he gave his great
annual hunt always invited the men of our family. I vividly
remember the stately old nobleman as he went on foot with
his company into the forest — ^he himself in a gray hunting
coat armed with an out-of-date flintlock gun — for such new
fangled things as percussion-caps he would not trust. Upon
such occasions he treated his guests, whether noble or not, as
friends. But when my grandfather leased for himself a hunt
ing preserve in the neighborhood, to shoot his own hares and
partridges, it was considered doubtful at the castle whether
the Burghalfen had not gone a little too far. However, the
matter was fortunately allowed to remain in doubt. The old
countess was generally regarded, as a very proud lady, but in
her intercourse with my grandfather's family she always
showed the friendliest spirit. We children were invariably in
vited on Christmas eve to the Christmas tree at the castle and
presented with gifts, and whenever there was illness in our
household practical helpfulness as well as genuine concern
was shown by the count g,nd his family. The count's sons
were on a friendly footing with the sons of the Burghalfen,
and on festive occasions they danced right merrily with the
daughters. In this long-established happy relation the quarrel about
the schoolmaster, in which, I do not know why, the count's
family took a lively part, sounded like a discordant note. As
so often happens, when irritated feelings are at play, one
cause after another bred mutual misunderstanding and dis
content. Then the old count died, and soon after the old rent-
master. The estate passed into the possession of the eldest son,
and with him began a new regime. The young count was a
man of a good and kindly character, but the time-honored
principles in regard to old servants and old tenants were not a
[38]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
part of his nature, as they had been of his father's. The high
bred patriarchal simplicity, so characteristic heretofore of the
house, seemed to him antiquated and not a little dull. He
found more pleasure in his English racehorses and his smart
jockeys than in the fat, heavy bays that had formerly drawn
the family coach, with a sleepy gray-headed coachman on the
box. He was not bound to the Burghalfen by any memories
of the hard French times, and thus their relations gradually
became merely those of business interest. He appointed a new
rent-master, a young man with brusk manners and entirely
unsentimental views of hfe, and when he explained to the
count that the income from the estate could be considerably
increased, the information was by no means unwelcome in
view of growing expenditures. Under these circumstances the
breach between the young count and the Burghalfen rapidly
widened, and finally — the precise particulars I no longer re
member — the rupture came, the lease of the estate was can
celled and my grandfather, a year or two later, left the Burg.
There was a public auction of the house and farm-belongings
lasting several days, which I once attended for a few hours.
The jokes of the auctioneer sounded harshly offensive to my
ears and there was a deep resentment in my young heart as
though a great wrong were being done. My grandparents then
took a house in the village, but they did not long survive the
change from the castle. My grandmother died first and my
grandfather twelve days later. Many tears of heart-felt sor
row were shed for them both.
Meanwhile a great change had taken place with me, too.
When I was in my ninth year my father thought I had out
grown the village school in Liblar, He therefore sent me to
a school of a somewhat higher order in Briihl, which was con
nected with the teacher's seminary there, and was regarded as
[39]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
a model institution. The schoolrooms were in an old Fran
ciscan monastery, and I remember with a shudder the tortures
to my sensitive musical ear when my father, in order to
present me to the principal, led me through a long corridor,
in each window-recess of which stood a young man practising
finger-exercises on the violin, so that at least a dozen instru
ments giving out discordant sounds were to be heard at the
same time. The instruction I received from the well-equipped
master was excellent, and at the same time I continued my
lessons in Latin and my musical studies. I also began to hve
among strangers, boarding during the wiater in the modest
home of a butcher's widow. In the summer I walked to school
from Liblar to Briihl and back every day of the week — a walk
of about eight miles.
And then came a heavy blow. One gloomy winter's day,
returning from school to my lodging, I found my father
awaiting me with tears in his eyes. Several times his voice
failed in attempting to tell me that my brother Heribert, after
an illness of only a few days, had died. Only the Monday be
fore I had left him a picture of health. This was a dreadful
shock. My father and I wandered home through the forest
holding one another by the hand and weeping silently as we
walked. For a long time I could not console myself over this
loss. Whenever I was alone in the woods I would call my
brother loudly by name and pray God, if He would not give
him back, at least to allow his spirit to appear to me.
Then I felt a want of mental occupation on my lonely
way between Briihl and Liblar and so I accustomed myself to
reading while I walked. My father, whose literary judgment
was somewhat determined by current tradition, counted Klop-
stock among the great German poets, whom one " must have
read," and so he gave me the " Messiah " as appropriate read-
[40]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHURZ
ing. To read the whole of Klopstock's " Messiah " is consid
ered to-day an almost impossible test of human perseverance,
and there are probably few Germans now living who can boast
of having accomplished the feat. I am one of the few. On the
long walks between Briihl and Liblar I studied the whole
twenty cantos, not only with steadfastness, but in great part
with profound interest. It is true that among the pompous
hexameters I hit upon many that sounded very mysterious to
me. I consoled myself with the thought that probably I was
too young fully to understand this grand creation. Other
parts really impressed me as transcendentally beautiful. I
must confess that in the literary studies of my later hfe I have
never been able to rise again to this appreciation of Klop
stock's greatness. After having finished the " Messiah," I was
told by my father to learn by heart Tiedge's " Urania " and
a series of poems by Gellert, Herder, Biirger, Langbein,
Korner and others. Thus I became acquainted with a good
many products of German literature, and was in point of
reading well prepared to enter the lowest class of the
gymnasium. Here I must mention an occurrence which in a truthful
narrative of my life should not be suppressed. My father, who
loved me dearly and took pride in me, was extremely exact
ing in the performance of duty. He examined carefully the
weekly reports of my teachers and was never satisfied with
anything short of the best. These reports were always good.
Only once, tempted by a robber play with my school-feUows,
I had omitted the learning of the Latin lesson, which
crime the priest, my teacher, duly recorded. Whether shame
or fear prevented me from telhng my father I do not remem
ber, but returning home on Saturday afternoon, I tried to
make him beheve that accidentally the report had not been
[41]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
written. My hesitating manner at once convinced him that
something was amiss, and a few direct questions brought me
to full confession. Then the following conversation took
place :
" You failed to do your duty and you tried to conceal the
truth from me; don't you think that you deserve a whipping? "
" Yes, but do please let us go into the cow-stable, so that
nobody can see or hear it."
The request was granted. In the solitude of the cow-
stable I received my punishment, and nobody knew anything
about it; but for many a day I carried with me a bitter con
sciousness of well-deserved humiliation, and for a long time I
would not put foot into the cow-stable, the theater of my
disgrace. But my childhood was on the whole sunny and happy,
and if my memory fondly dwells upon it and I am a
little diffuse in describing it, I must be pardoned. I consider
myself fortunate to have spent my early life in the country,
where one feels himself not only nearer to nature, but nearer
to his kind than in the confinements and jostling crowds
of the city. I also consider myself fortunate in having grown
up in simple and modest circumstances which knew neither
want nor excessive affluence, and which did not permit any
sort of luxury to become a necessity; which made it natioral
to me to be frugal and to appreciate the smallest pleasures;
which preserved my capacity of enjoyment from the misfor
tune of being blunted and blase; which kept alive and warm
the sympathy, that feeling of belonging together, with the
poor and lowly among the people, without discouraging the
striving for higher aims.
Our village was so small that only a few steps led into
field or forest, and every inhabitant was a near neighbor.
[42]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
Although, after I could read, my books consumed much of
my time, I had my full part of the games with the peasant
and tradesmen's children in the village, and their faces and
names are stiU quite familiar to me. My most intimate friend
was the youngest of the three sons of a well-to-do merchant—
a boy of amiable disposition and good parts. We were exactly
of the same age and pursued the same studies. So we believed
ourselves destined to walk through life side by side. We sep
arated in early boyhood and did not meet again until late in
life. He had studied law, had served his country with honor
in the wars of 1866 against Austria and of 1870 against
France, had risen to the dignity of a major of Uhlans and
been decorated with the Iron Cross, an order bestowed only for
personal bravery. After the French war he had been ap
pointed a judge in Alsace, and later he retired from that place
to his native village, an old bachelor in very comfortable cir
cumstances. He inhabited a fine house on the very spot whei*e
many years before the queer old philosopher Krupp had lived.
Here, in 1889, the dear comrade of my boyhood, now a portly
man of years, welcomed me and my children who accompanied
me with radiant heartiness and hospitality, A repast was
quickly improvised, and when the dear old friend pressed his
arm around my neck and in his best wine proposed my health,
our eyes, like our glasses, were full to the brim.
My father interested himself greatly in the care of ani
mals and flowers. Plants and song birds were in every room of
our house. He taught me how to set snares for the field-fares
which passed over our country in the autumn, and were re
garded as a great table delicacy. Those snares were distrib
uted along the hunters' trails in the forest, and I used to go
before sunrise and again at twilight in the evening into the
depth of the woods and secure the birds that had been caught
[43]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
— a form of sport which I confess I no longer approve. In
these lonely walks, when roe, fox, rabbit and now and then
a, wild boar rustled past me, I learned to love the woods and
to feel the fascination of the f orest-sohtude, with its mysteri
ous silence under the great leaf -roof and the whisper of the
winds in the treetops. Soon I cared less for the bird-trapping
than for the enjoyment of that woodland charm, and even on
the way to and from school I learned to avoid the highroad
and to strike into the shade on the right or left, wherever I
could find a path. This love for the woods has never left me,
and often in later life, at the aspect of a beautiful spreading
landscape or of the open sea, I have asked myself whether
what I had seen and felt in the forest did not surpass all else.
Summer was for us a period of festivities. Already in
May occurred the kirmess in Lind, Ohm Peter's home, and
late in the. autumn the kirmess in Herrig, where Ohm Rey
lived; and between those there were stiU a great many more
kirmesses on the farms of uncles and cousins. To most of
them the whole family went, including the children. For
such occasions a two-wheeled chaise was not sufficient. So
the kirmess-car, an ordinary two-wheeled cart, covered with
tent cloth and furnished with seats that consisted of wooden
boards or bundles of straw, was put into requisition, and the
number of human beings which the kirmess-car could take
seemed beyond calculation. The horse, or when the roads were
bad, the horses, shone in their most resplendent brass-orna
ments, and the vehicle was decorated with green boughs and
flowers. We found at the kirmess a crowd of boys and girls
of our kin, who, like ourselves, during these festive days,
enjoyed full freedom. At the midday-meals, at which the
older guests usually spent from four to six hours, we children
did not sit very long. Only when for the entertainment of the
[44]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
company a juggler appeared, as for example the great " Jan-
chen of Amsterdam," who on the farms of that region enjoyed
the reputation of being a true sorcerer, we would stand trans
fixed until he was gone. Then we ran to the booths on the vil
lage street with their honey-cakes, cheap toys and little rou
lettes, and in the evening we went " to the music." From the
dance the older people as well as the children usually retired
early — the older people to begin their game of cards, which
frequently lasted until sunrise next day — and the children to
go to bed. Even this going to bed was a festivity. As the
house on such occasions always had many more guests than
beds, a room for the boys was fitted out with straw, blankets,
linen sheets and pillows laid on the fioor. When such a sleep
ing apartment was offered to a dozen or more boys as their
domain for the night, the main frolic of the day began, which
was continued with boisterous hilarity until one boy after
another sank down utterly overcome by fatigue.
To us children in Liblar the greatest day of the year was
Whitsun Monday, when the annual bird-shooting, "the
Schiitzenfest," took place. How grand appeared to me this
" Fest," which in truth could hardly have been more modest!
Such excitement! On the Saturday afternoon before Whit
suntide five or six men were seen striding through the
village, bearing upon their shoulders a pole forty or fifty feet
long, at the point of which a wooden bird was fastened.
The village youth joined the procession, which slowly moved
up the street to a meadow shaded by elms and linden-trees.
The wooden bird was decorated by the children with flower
ing broom-twigs, and then the pole was hoisted upon one
of the trees and lashed to the branches with ropes and chains.
As this was done by hand, it was hard work not without
danger. We children always watched it with no httle trepida-
[45]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
tion, I came very near losing my life on one such occasion.
The pole, having been hoisted up the tree, slipped the rope and
knocked one of the men from the branch on which he sat.
Standing just under the tree, I suddenly heard above me the
crash of a branch and the cry " Jesus Maria! " I sprang away
to see the body of a man fall exactly upon the spot on which
I had stood. The poor fellow broke his spine and died shortly
after he had been carried into the village. Usually, however,
the raising of the pole passed without accident, and we
children marched back with bouquets of blooming broom in
our hands, conscious of having helped in accomplishing a
great work, and with the anticipation of still greater things
to come. ,
How slow Whitsunday was in passing! But the fun be
gan all the earlier on Monday morning. Already at daybreak
the drummer — an old bow-legged little man — ^had marched
through the village, beating the reveille; but it was afternoon
before the head men of the San Sebastian Society — that was
the name of the sharpshooters-corps, to which belonged almost
all the grown-up inhabitants of the village, male and female —
came to our house, where at that time the flag and the other
treasures of the society were kept, to take them from there to
the dwelling of the last year's " king." Finally, the procession
started: first the old drummer with a bouquet of flowers and
many colored ribbons on his breast and hat; next, bearing
the flag, Master S chafer, a tailor, white-haired and spindle-
legged. He was called the " young ensign," because his father
had before him carried the banner, upon which was painted in
loud colors St. Sebastianus, the patron-saint, pierced with
an incredible number of arrows; then the captains, carrying
ancient spears, also decorated with flowers and ribbons, ac
companied by all the solemn-visaged directors of the society,
[46]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
and then the " Schiitzenkonig " of the previous year. The
king wore upon his hat a crown of gold tinsel and artificial
flowers, and aroimd his neck a silver chain, from which were
suspended silver shields, the size of a hand, with the engraved
names of the kings of at least a hundred years back. The
shields covered the king's shoulders and breast and back,
giving him a gorgeous appearance. His Majesty was fol
lowed by the marksmen, with their rifles on their shoulders,
the remainder of the population, old and young, bringing up
the rear. Arrived at the green, the procession marched three
times around the tree upon which the pole was fastened,
halted, knelt down and repeated the Lord's Prayer, Then the
drummer beat the roll, the ex-king hung his crown and chain
upon the branch of a tree, and after the old men and the
women members of the society, who could not themselves fire
rifles, had chosen among the sharpshooters present those who
were to represent them, the shooting began. The drummer
watched each shot with close attention, for it was his duty to beat
a roll every time that the bird was hit. When that roll.was par
ticularly vigorous the rifleman who had fired the shot re
warded the drummer with a glass of wine, and it must be
confessed that with every glass the good man's face grew
redder and his drumbeats wilder. The multitude, which mean
while had scattered among the booths where sweetmeats, wine
and beer were sold, crowded again around the marksmen as
soon as the wooden bird began to splinter. From minute to
minute the excitement rose; ancient-looking telescopes were
raised to discover the weak spots on the bird, and the suspense
became breathless when, as oft^n happened, only a small
ragged bit of wood remained on the top of the pole and the
next well-aimed shot might decide the day. Finally, when the
last bit fell, the drummer beat the most terrible of his rolls,
[47]

, THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
the crowd, with deafening cheers, pressed around the victor,
who now, as the new king, was adorned with the crown and
chain of shields. Then the moment had come for the " yovmg
ensign " to show what he could do. He swung the flag so
violently around himself that those standing nearest stepped
back in alarm ; he waved it over his head and around his breast
like a wheel, then around his legs, then up and down, back and
forward, until the veins in his forehead threatened to burst,
and all this to the accompaniment of the drummer's most pas
sionate beats. I always watched him with admiration, con
vinced that nothing greater in this line was possible, until,
alas ! one day I overheard an old peasant, shaking his head, re
mark: " He is nothing to what the old man was! " Again the
procession marched three times around the tree and back to
the village, the drummer at the head, making remarkable zig
zags with his bowlegs, the gray-headed " young ensign " still
waving his colors furiously and the marksmen punctuating
the triumphal march with occasional blind shots. Happy was
the boy to whom one of the men was willing to entrust the
carrying of his rifle, thus allowing him to take part in the
great event!
Then came the royal feast at the tavern, at which the new
king entertained his predecessors in office and the directors of
the society, with ham, white bread and wine. Finally, in the
evening followed a dance, the music for which was originally :
furnished by the drum, which in my time, however, had been
superseded by an orchestra consisting of a violin, clarionette
and double bass. The reason why this festival remained so
vivid in my memory, even to the minutest detail, is that it ex
cited in me for the first time something like a real ambition. It
was the great public contest of skill in the arena of the world
in which I lived; and when I saw the victor with the crown on
[48]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
his head and the resplendent chain of shields upon his shoul
ders and breast, surrounded by a cheering multitude, it seemed
to me something very great, to which I too some day might
aspire. And this honor was indeed to come to me in later days
when I no longer appreciated it so highly.
Although the summer was thus rich in joy, our winter
was no less so. It not only brought skating on the castle moat
and battles with snowballs, but to me the first enjoyment of
the stage; and of aU the joyous excitements of my childhood
none surpassed that into which we were thrown by the ar
rival of the puppet theater in Liblar. With eagerness we boys
regularly accompanied the crier through the village, who by
means of a drum brought the people to their doors and an
nounced to the honored public the coming of the drama. Oh,
the fear that I might not be allowed to visit the theater, and
the impatience until the final moment came! The stage was
erected in a small dance-hall. The price for front seats ranged
from one cent for children to five cents for adults. The fight
ing of the hall consisted of a few tallow candles. But the cen
ter of the dark curtain was decorated with a rosette of
transparent paper in different bright colors, and was lighted
from behind by a lamp giving a suggestion of marvel and
mystery. A shiver of expectation crept over me when at last
a bell rang three times, sudden silence fell upon the hall, and
the curtain hfted. The stage scenery was arranged in per
spective and the puppets were moved from above by wires.
The first play that I saw was " Die Schone Genovefa."
It was a splendid piece. The fair Genovefa is the wife of
Count Siegfried, The count rides to the Holy Land to wrest
the Holy Sepulchre from the infidels. He entrusts the coun
tess and the castle to the care of his castellan Golo, in whom he
reposes absolute confidence. Hardly has the count ridden
[49]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
away, when Golo conceives the plan of making himself master
of the castle and of marrying the fair Genovefa. She repels
him with disgust. The wicked Golo then locks her into a dark
dungeon and orders his man-at-arms to kill her. This the
servant promises to do, but moved by pity he leads her
out of the dungeon into a great lonely forest after telling
Golo that the murder has been accomplished. The fair Geno
vefa lives upon herbs and berries and finds shelter in a cave.
Here she gives birth to a child, a boy, the son of Count Sieg
fried, whom she calls " Schmerzenreich " — dolorosus. Fearing
that both she and the boy wiU starve to death, the poor mother
fervently prays to God for help, and behold! a doe appears
and provides them both with milk. Every day the doe re
turns and Schmerzenreich grows up to be a strong boy. Sud
denly Count Siegfried arrives from the Holy Land to the
dismay of the wicked Golo, who had been hoping that his
master would be killed in the far-away country.
The castle folk at once recognize the count; Golo turns
over the castle to him, and tells him that Genovefa is dead.
The count is very sad. He goes into the forest to hunt, and
happens to see a doe, which leads him to the cave. Husband
and wife are reunited and the whole truth comes to light.
Mother and child are taken back in triumph to the castle, and
the horrid Golo is condemned to die of hunger in the same
dungeon into which he had cast the fair Genovefa,
The puppet show had other plays, one — the great
warrior-prince " Eugene " — a heroic drama in which great
battles were fought and whole rows of paper Turks were
shot down. And then a fairy play with every kind of mar
velous transformation and other surprises. All these things
were very pretty, but to my mind they could not be com
pared to the fair Genovefa. The impression that this play
[50]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
made upon me was simply overpowering, I wept hot tears
at the leave-taking of Count Siegfried from his wife
and even more over their reunion, and could hardly re
strain a cry of delight when husband and wife returned
to the castle and the wicked Golo met his well-deserved
fate. I do not believe that ever in my life at a play was my
imagination so active and the effect on my mind and emotions
so direct and overwhelming. This doll with a plume on its hat
was to me the real Count Siegfried; that one there with the
red face and black beard the real treacherous Golo; this one
with the white gown and the yellow hair the beautiful Geno
vefa, and the little red thing with the wriggling legs a real
live doe. The impression was the same when I saw the play a
second time. I knew the whole story and how it was to
end; but when the count took leave of his wife and departed
for the Holy Land I could hardly refrain from calling out
to him not to go, for if he did, something terrible was sure to
happen. How happy that naive condition of childhood in
which the imagination surrenders itself so unresistingly, with-
^out being in the least disturbed by the critical impulse!
But this faculty of naive enjoyment received with me
an early and a vicious shock. When I was about nine years
old I saw for the first time live human beings on the stage in a
play called " Hedwig, the Bandit Bride," by Korner. It was
played in Briihl by a traveling company. The chief character,
that of the villain Rudolph, was acted with all the teeth-
gnashing grimaces customary on a little provincial stage.
But as I still took this to be the genuine thing, it did not
fail to make a strong impression, although not nearly as
strong as that at the puppet-show when the fair Genovefa was
played. I began to criticise, and this inclination received a
tremendous impulse when in the company of my father I saw
[51]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
this " Bandit Bride " for the second time. In the last act, ac
cording to the text, Hedwig, the heroine, has to kiU the villain
by hitting him a vigorous blow on the head with the butt of a
gun while he is crouching over a trapdoor. On the Briihl stage
this, however, was changed: Hedwig was to shoot the villain
instead of striking him. When the actress who played this
part pointed her weapon and tried to fire, it refused to go off
and gave only a faint click. The villain remained in his bent
posture over the trapdoor, hoping every moment to be killed.
Hedwig again pulled the trigger, but in vain. The poor
woman looked around utterly helpless. In the audience there
was the deepest silence of expectation. Then from behind the
side-scene came the order, in that loud stage-whisper which
can fill an entire house: " Bang him on the head with the butt;
bang him quick! " Whereupon Hedwig with slow delibera
tion reversed the gun and struck the man who had been so
patiently awaiting death a leisurely blow upon the head. He
rolled over, the audience burst into uncontrollable shrieking
laughter, in which the dead villain, lying upon the stage,
could riot refrain from joining. In the audience the merriment
would not cease. But as for me, I would far rather have cried;
the occurrence fairly stunned me. With it ended that com
plete surrender to iUusion which had given me so much joy. It
failed me, at least until I was fortunate enough to behold ar
tistic performances of a higher order; and this happily came
soon during my schooltime at the gymnasium in Cologne.

[52]

CHAPTER III
1 WAS ten years old when my father took me to the gym
nasium at Cologne, usually called the " Jesuit Gymnasium,"
althpugh it had no connection with that religious order. In
those days Cologne had about ninety thousand inhabitants,
and was, as I supposed, one of the finest cities in the world.
My grandfather had taken me there several years before on
a visit, and well do I remember the two things that then inter
ested me most : the cathedral tower with the huge crane on top,
and the convict chain-gangs sweeping the streets — sinister-
visaged fellows in clothes striped dark gray and yeUow, with
heavy iron chains on their feet that rattled and clanked dis
mally on the pavement stones, one or more soldiers standing
guard close by, gun in hand. I remember also how my grand
father reproved me for taking off my cap to everybody whom
we met in the streets, as was the custom in our little village at
home; for he said there were so many people in Cologne that
were one to attempt to bow to them all there would be no time
left for anything else ; that one could never become acquainted
with all those persons, and many of them were not worth know
ing; and finally, that such deference on my part would mark
me at once as a country boy and make me appear ridiculous.
This " making myself ridiculous " was something I
greatly dreaded, and I would have taken any pains tp avoid it;
yet it happened that my first appearance at the gymnasium
was an occasion of amusement to others and of mortification
to myself. In the schools at Liblar and Briihl we had been in
the habit of using slates for our arithmetic and dictation exer-
[53]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
cises. Not dreaming that a slate was incompatible with the
dignity of a ten-year-old pupil at the gymnasium, I carried
mine under my arm into the class-room and thus unwittingly
exposed myself to the scoffs and giggles of the boys, not one of
whom I knew. There was a loud burst of laughter when one
boy shouted: "Look at that fellow; he has got a slate!" I
should have liked to reply to this remark with my fists, but
just at that moment the instructor entered, and all was
respectful silence.
My scale of living at Cologne was, of necessity, ex
tremely modest. Board and lodging had been provided for
me by my parents at the house of a locksmith, I slept in the
same bed with the locksmith's son, who was also a mechahic,
and took my meals at the family table with the journeymen
and apprentices. Severe decorum was exacted of all; the mas
ter led the conversation, and only the foreman occasionally
took part in it. I had no social intercourse whatever with per
sons of good education outside of school; but within school
many helpful influences surrounded me.
At the present day the question " What should be the
course of study in an educational institution of the rank of a
gymnasium? " is being much discussed. This I shall return to
later. But the question what the course of study should be
seems to me by no means the only important, nor even the
most important, one. What we learn in school is naturally but
little, only a small portion of that which we have to learn for
fruitful activity in after life. It is therefore of especial con
sequence that the things learned in school, whatever they may
be, should be taught in such a manner as to awaken and en
courage in the pupil the desire and enjoyment of learning
more, and to enable him to seek and find for himself the means
of further instruction, and to use them to the greatest possible
[54]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
advantage— in onewOTd^Jhat the pupil in_school should, learn
how to kaip- This_reammLJiut„ftDJbr..a^p.p£Qjmate methods^of
teaching, but also individual ability of the teacher to judge of
the Rapacities of his pupil, to put those capacites into activity
and to SLuide and ii^^p^'re-thpm. And just in these respectsT
was uncommonly fortunate in my years at the gymnasium. _ .
The head master of the lowest class was, in my time, a
young Westphahan, Heinrich Bone, whom I remember with
especial gratitude. At a later period he became widely known
as a teacher of exceptional ability. He instructed us not only
in Latin, but also in German ; and he strictly held to the prin
ciple that clearness and directness of expression are the funda
mental requisites of a good style. Instead of wearying his
pupils with dry grammatical rules, he gave them at once short
compositions to write, not upon subjects like " The Beauty
of Friendship," or " The Uses of Adversity," but simple de
scriptions of things actually seen — a house, a group of people,
a picture, and the like. He required these compositions to be
rendered in the simplest possible sentences, without any com-
phcation or ornament. The most important rule, however,
which he enforced with especial emphasis was this : every noun,
every adjective, every verb, must express some object or some
quality, or some act perceptible to the senses. All that was
vague or abstract or not perceptible to the senses was at first
severely forbidden. In this manner he accustomed his pupijs to
seeclearly whatpvpr W"s T^pfnrp tb^JT eyes, andJhen_to_setf orth
the impression received__in_ffiQrds so concise and clear-cut_that
theifTneaiiing wasjjniiaistakable»,„
^^''^^'nVlien'weTiad attained a certain degree of efficiency in
this very simple exercise, we were allowed to enlarge the form
of our sentences, but only for the purpose of presenting more
clearly and fully some vivid picture. Thus we were led step
[55]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
by step to the construction of some complicated periods.
Narrative compositions followed the descriptive ones, the
teacher's requirement still being the utmost clearness of ex
pression; and not until the pupil had proved himself compe
tent to grasp and to present the actual, the sensually
perceptible, was he permitted to indulge in abstractions and
refiections. This method taught us not only to form correct
sentences, but to exercise the faculty of correct observation,
which, strange to say, is developed in a comparatively small
number of people.
The fundamental idea underlying this method, applicable
to all instruction, is that the principal aim of teaching should
be to fit, equip and stimulate the mind of the scholar with a
view to independent action. Herein lies the secret of aU suc
cessful mental education. This is the way to learn how to
learn. To be sure, the pursuit of this method demands teach
ers of ability and thorough training, to whom their calling is
something more than a mere routine business.
I count it among the special favors of fortune in my life
that such a man as Professor Bone continued to be my princi
pal teacher in the three lowest classes of the gymnasium. The
instruction I received from him in the class room was supple
mented by frequent private conversations, for I was among
those favored with his personal friendship. My first little
composition attracted his attention and won his approval. I
vividly remember my proud satisfaction when once he read
one of my writings to the class. He invited me to visit him in
his quarters. At that time he was occupied in compiling a
reader, to be used at the higher institutions of instruction, and
for this book he himself wrote a series of little descriptions and
stories, as illustrations of his method. Several of them he read
to me and asked me, probably to assure himself of the impres-
[56]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
sion made upon the simple mind of a pupil, to criticise them,
which privilege I exercised with frankness. He did me the
honor of putting two or three of my little compositions, with
out essential change, into his book, as examples of his rules
faithfully followed. From the thirty-fifth edition of Bone's
" Lesebuch," received by me from Germany some years ago, I
wiU quote one of them as illustrating the principles fixed by
him for the beginner. It is a " Hunting Scene."
" The mountams and meadows were covered with glistening snow.
The sky shone red with the rising of dawn. I saw three huntsmen stand
ing under a tall oak. The large branches on the tree bore a heavy weight
of snow ; the small twigs sparkled with icicles. The huntsmen were clad
in light green jackets, adorned wth shining buttons. At their feet lay
a large stag; its red blood colored the white snow. Three brown dogs
stood beside the dead body, their tongues hanging quivering out of their
mouths." In turning the pages of this reader, many delightful
evening hours passed with my teacher arise in my memory.
In many of those conversations he sought to guide my
reading and especially to make me acquainted with the
beauty of old German poetry. He also encouraged me to
read historical works. I possessed Becker's Universal His
tory. This I read from beginning to end, and reread what
had especially interested me. Through the extracts given in
Becker's work I first became acquainted with Homer. Those
extracts in fluent prose stimulated my desire to learn more
of that poet so much that I procured the translation of the
" Ihad " and the " Odyssey," by Johann Heinrich Voss.
Never until then, and I believe never since, has poetry moved
me so tremendously as in the great passages describing Hec
tor's leave-taking from Andromache at the city gate, when
the hero lifts little Astyanax upon his arm and invokes the
[57]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
gods for him; or the prostration of old King Priam in the
tent of Achilles as he implores the cruel, victor for the dead
body of his heroic son; or the meeting of Odysseus and Nau
sikaa, and the departure of the god-like sufferer from the
house of the Phaiakian king, when Nausikaa, sad and bashful,
hides behind a column and gazes after the departing stranger;
or, after the terrible battle with the suitors, the meeting of
Odysseus with the faithful Penelope, or the scene where the
returning hero reveals himself in the garden to his old, sorrow-
stricken father, Laertes. The reason why these scenes moved
me so much more deeply than the descriptions of the bat
tles in the " Iliad " and the fabulous adventures in the
" Odyssey," although these, too, were most fascinating, I
only learned to appreciate later ; it is because they touch within
us the purely human feehng which depends neither on time
nor place; which is neither ancient nor modern, but universal
and eternal. After reading Homer in translation I began to long im
patiently for the study of Greek, and the ease with which I
acquired that language afterwards, was undoubtedly due to
my desire to meet Homer in the fuU beauty of the original
form. Of course I was early introduced to the kings and to the
republican heroes and sages of Roman history, and learned,
through my own experience, to appreciate how greatly the
study of a language is facilitated by studying the history of
the country to which it belongs. This apphes to ancient
tongues as well as to modern. When the student ceases to look
upon the book which he is translating as a mere pile of words
to be brought into accord with certain rules of grammar ; when
that which the author says stimulates him to scrutinize the true
meaning, relation and connection of the forms of expression
[58]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
and the eager desire to learn more of the story or the argument
urges him on from line to hne, and from page to page, then
grammar becomes to him a welcome aid, and not a mere
drudgery, and he acquires the language almost without know
ing how. I fully experienced this when under Bone's guidance
I read Cornelius Nepos and Cesar's Gallic wars, and still more
in translating Cicero's Orations. Most of these appear to the
student at first rather difficult. But if he begins each time by
examining the circumstances under which the oration was
delivered, the purpose it was to serve, the points upon which
special stress was to be laid, and the personalities which were
involved in the proceeding, he will be imperceptibly hurried
along by the desire to discover with what representations and
arguments, what attacks and defenses, what appeals to rea
son, honor, or passion, the orator has sought to carry his causes
and the quickened interest in the subject will soon overcome
aU the linguistic difficulties, I remember that, so stimulated,
I usually exceeded in my translations the task set to me for
the next recitation, and, besides, by this zealous reading a
sense was created for what I may call the music of the lan
guage, which later greatly helped me in the idiomatic construc
tion of my Latin compositions.
Professor Bone ceased only too soon to be my teacher, for
his extraordinary capacities attracted wide attention outside of
the gymnasium, and he received a call to undertake the direc
torship of an educational institution founded by some Rhenish
noblemen for the education of their sons. He left the gym
nasium in compliance with this call. I did not see him again
for many years. When traveling in 1888 through Germany
I heard from an old school fellow that Bone, in failing health,
had retired to Wiesbaden. I resolved at once to seek him out.
[59]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
I found him living in a very modest house, the interior of
which looked ahnost like a convent — for Bone had always been
a devout and strict Roman Cathohc. An elderly nun-like
person ushered me into a small parlor hung with pictures of
saints and adorned with crucifixes. She carried my card into
an adjoining room, from which instantly issued a cry of
dehght; and the next moment, dragging himself hurriedly
along, my good old teacher appeared. Time had changed him
from a vigorous young man into a shriveled, fragile little
body, clad in a long dressing gown, his feet in large gray felt
slippers, and a black skull-cap covering his thin white hair.
We embraced, and the dear old man seemed beside himself
with joy.
"There, I knew I was right," he exclaimed: "I heard
that you had come to Germany, and I was sure that if
you went to see the great people in Berlin you would certainly
also come to see me, I recognized your voice at the front door;
yes, yes, I knew it at once, although I have not heard it for
more than forty years,"
We sat down close together, and there was much ask
ing and answering of questions. His eyes shone with pleasure
when I told him that I had sent to Grcrmany for the
latest edition of his reader; that I had often explained to
my children and friends the method by which he taught me how
to write German, whereupon he reminded me of our even
ings in Cologne and how he had liked me as a boy, and so forth.
Thus a few delightful hours shpped by. When finally I rose
to go, he exclaimed:
"What, not going already! We must have a glass of
wine together. Good heavens! there isn't a drop of wine in
the, house. What shall I do?"
Then he added, thoughtfully :
[60]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
"I have some exceUent stomach bitters; shall we drink
one another's health in bitters? "
I was quite content. The bottle was taken from the cup
board, the black liquor poured out, we drank one another's
health in stomach bitters, and the glasses rang. Another em
brace, and we parted never to meet again. •>— I ? _
But to return to my school days. The quiet Hfe of the
first years in Cologne was not without its excitements. Two
occurrences of this time made a deep impression upon me. My
daily walk to school led past the great Cathedral, which, now in
its finished state the admiration of the world, looked in those
days much like a magnificent ruin. Only the choir had been
nearly finished. The great central part between the choir and
the towers stood under a temporary roof and was built partly
of brick. One of the two towers was not more than some sixty
feet above the ground, while the other, surmounted by the
famous century-old crane, had reached perhaps three or four
times that height. The tooth of time had gnawed the medieval
sculptures on the walls and arches and turrets, and the whole
hoary pile, still unfinished, yet decaying, looked down, sad and
worn, upon the living generation at its feet.
One morning when I was wending my accustomed way to
school I saw fall from the top of the crane tower an object
which looked like a cloak, and from which in its descent some
thing detached itself and floated away in the breeze. The cloak
shot straight down and struck with a heavy thud upon the stone
pavement below. The passers-by ran to the spot; the cloak
proved to contain a man, who, without doubt, had sought his,
death by jumping down. He had fallen upon his feet, and lay
there in a little heap; the bones of the legs had been pressed
into the body; the head, encircled by a fringe of gray hair, was
much disfigured; the face, pale and distorted, was that of an
[61]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
elderly man. The object which had floated away in falling
proved to be a wig. When the winds had played with it for
a while it settled down quietly beside its dead owner.
This shocking spectacle filled my mind with uncanny im
aginings, I made every effort to discover who the unfortunate
man was, and what the cause could have been to drive him to
such desperation; but all rumors were uncertain and contra
dictory. Then fancy conjured up to my mind all possible
turns of fortune and conditions of life which could drive a
human being into self destruction — ^hopeless poverty; lost
honor; disappointed affections; torments of conscience — and
soon my head was filled with plots of stories or tragedies, aU
of which ended with the self -destructive plunge from the
cathedral tower.
Another tragic scene which agitated my mind in a similar
way is photographed upon my memory. A young man in
Cologne had murdered his sweetheart and been condemned
to death. The execution, by the guillotine — for the left bank of
the Rhine was still under the " Code Napoleon " — ^was to take
place at dawn of day on a public square between the Cathedral
and the Rhine, and before the eyes of all who might choose
to witness it. The trial had excited the whole population to a
high degree ; now the people looked forward to the final catas
trophe with almost morbid interest. My locksmith guardian
was of the opinion that neither he nor I should miss the op
portunity of beholding so rare a spectacle. Long before sun
rise he awoke me, and together we went to the place of execution
in the gray morning light. We found there a dense crowd,
numbering thousands, of men, women and children; above
them loomed the black scaffold of the death machine. Deep
silence reigned; only a low buzz floated over the multitude
when the condemned man appeared on the scaffold, and then
[62]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
all was silence again. My sturdy locksmith held me up in his
arms, so that I might look over the heads of the crowds in
front. The unfortunate culprit stepped forward; the assistant
of the executioner strapped him to a board which extended
from his feet to his shoulders, leaving his neck free; the vic
tim glanced up at the ax, suspended from a cross beam; the
next instant he was pushed down so that his neck lay under the
gleaming blade; the ax fell like a flash of lightning, severing
the head from the shoulders at a whisk. A stream of blood
spurted into the air, but the hideous sight was quickly concealed
from the gaze of the public by a dark cloth. The whole deed
was done with the rapidity of thought. One scarcely became
conscious of the terrible shock before it was over. A dull mur
mur arose from the onlooking throngs, after which they silently
dispersed; the scaffold was taken down and the blood on the
ground covered with sand before the first rays of the morning
sun shone brightly upon the Cathedral towers. I remember
walking home shuddering and trembling, and finding it im
possible to eat my breakfast. Nothing could have induced me
to witness another execution.
The good locksmith was an enthusiastic play-goer, and al
lowed me sometimes to accompany him to the theater — to be
sure only on the topmost gallery, where a seat cost five groschen
(twelve and a half cents). The theater of Cologne occupied,
as I learned later, in the world of art a very respectable place.
To me it was a dream of the marvelous and magnificent, I
was beside myself with astonished delight when, for the first
time, I saw, before the lifting of the curtain, the painted
ceiling over the auditorium part in the middle and through
this mysterious opening a brilliantly lighted chandeher slowly
descend, the ceiling thereupon closing again. The performances
I witnessed also moved me powerfully. [63]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
Indeed I did not follow them with the same naive illusions
with which I had lived through the adventures of the fair
Genovefa ; but what I saw in the theater in Cologne was on so
much higher a level that I could surrender myself again to
full enjoyment. Thus I saw one or two knight dramas, popu
lar at the time; also "Wallenstein," These pleasures did not
come in rapid succession, for frequent visits to the theater could
hardly have accorded with the principle of economy that gov
erned my locksmith as well as myself. But the drama took
profound hold upon me, and what I saw of it created an almost
irresistible desire to write a play myself. I searched through
Beckers' Universal History for a good subject, and' finally fell
upon the Anglo-Saxon King Edwy, who ruled in England
in the middle of the tenth century and who brought upon him
self, through his love for the beautiful Elgiva, a struggle
with Saint Dunstan, and an unhappy fate. It seemed to me
that if I took some liberties with history, as dramatic poets not
seldom do, this subject — a royal lover battling with the power
of the church — ^might be capable of being worked up into a
fine tragedy. Of course the play as I wrote it amounted to
nothing; but in weaving the plot through successive scenes, and
in writing out some of the dialogues, I enjoyed the full bliss
of literary creation. Never to have tasted this delight is never
to have known one of the greatest joys of life.
Lyric poems and ballads also figured among my " early
works." One of my ballads originated in this wise: Under
a clump of tall trees not far from the castle at Liblar were
some crumbled ruins of masonry that had an uncamiy look.
Nobody seemed to know their history. Imagination pictured
to me a variety of possibilities, out of which I wove a romantic
tale. The Knights of the Gracht had on this spot kept wild
animals in a big pit. A beautiful maiden had somehow got
[64]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
into this pit and had been rescued by a noble youth after a
heroic fight with the monstrous beasts. This adventure, not
very original to be sure, I worked up in pompous eight-line
stanzas, the sound of which delighted me so much that I could
not refrain from sending a copy of my poem to my father.
He, even prouder of it than I, hastened to show the verses to
Count Metternich. The count, who probably took httle in
terest in any kind of poetry, pronounced them fine, but said
that he had never heard of this occurrence as a part of his
family history — ^which did not surprise me in the least.
At prose, too, I tried my hand. Once, after having written
a composition on " Schiller's Maid of Orleans," which struck
me as especially good, I found it difficult to resist the ambitious
desire of seeing myself in print. I made a clean copy of the
composition and carried it to the office of the Cologne Ga
zette, with a letter addressed to Levin Schiicking, a well-
known novelist of the time, and the literary editor of that
great journal. In my letter I begged the privilege of a per
sonal interview. A courteous answer fixed the day and hour
of my visit, and soon I stood, with loud heart-beats, at the
great man's door, who, so I believed, held my literary future
in the hollow of his hand. I found in him an amiable gentle
man, with pleasant features, and large, blue, benevolent eyes.
He received me very kindly, talked upon a variety of subjects
and finally returned my manuscript to me with the remark
that it contained much that was excellent, but that I would
do well to regard it only as a " study." I departed completely
crushed with disappointment and mortification; but after all
I lived to become sincerely grateful to good Mr. Schiicking
for his timely counsel. Much that I have since written has,
in pursuance of his sound advice, been quietly treated as a
" study " by myself, [65]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
When I had reached the " Tertia " of the gymnasium,
fortune favored me again by bringing me into close relations
with another admirable instructor, Professor Piitz, who had
become distinguished as the compiler of excellent historical
text^books. He could not boast of great historical researches
made by himself, but he possessed a rare skill in exciting the
interest of the pupils in the subjects of instruction, and in
pointing out the way to further studies. His method of teach
ing history was to devote the greater part of the hour to a
presentation, in free speech, of the particular period with
which he wished to make us familiar. He enlivened his subject
by exhibiting it in a variety of lights and by adding sufficient
detail to make his lecture not only instructive, but also dramatic
and picturesque, and thus easily remembered.
In the next lesson the pupils were expected, whenever
called upon, to reproduce, out of themselves, in their own
language, what they had learned in the previous lessons, the
short recitals of the hand-book serving as a framework to
the historical structure. From time to time the professor
would dehver a comprehensive discourse, grouping together
the events of certain historic periods, and thus giving us bird's-
eye views over wide fields. In this way history was impressed
upon our memory as well as our understanding, not in the
form of tabulated statements or columns of figures, nor merely
by means of anecdotes, but in panoramic views and prospects
full of hfe and philosophical light. To me, the class lesson and
the study connected with it, for which I had always an espe
cial liking, became, instead of hard, dry labor, a genuine joy
which could not repeat itself too often. It was largely owing
to these methods of instruction that, when a few years later at
my final examination Professor Piitz asked me whether I
thought I could from my memory describe the conquests of
[66]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
Alexander the Great and draw a map thereof on the black
board, I felt myself able to undertake the task, and accom
plished it satisfactorily.
Soon after I had become his pupil Professor Piitz drew
me nearer to him, and something like relations of confidential
friendship grew up between us. He had traveled much during
his long vacations, had seen many foreign countries and made
acquaintance with many remarkable personalities. Thus he
had widened his mental horizon beyond the hmits of that of
the ordinary teacher of the gymnasium. There was something
cosmopolitan in his conceptions, and in regard to theological,
as well as political things, he passed for a man of advanced
ideas. In addition to history, he also taught us German composi
tion, and as in my writings he discovered something akin to
his own views, he treated me almost like a young comrade,
whom he permitted in his presence to forget the schoolboy
for the moment. He liked to tell me about his travels and
about the social and pohtical institutions and affairs of the
world; and when our conversation turned upon church and
state, he talked not seldom with a certain touch of irony, which
was to make me understand that in his opinion many things
ought to be different from what they were. He also encour
aged expressions of opinion on my part, and it gave him
pleasure to see that I had thought of this and that which was
not just within the circle of a schoolboy's ideas ; and when, so en
couraged, I gave expression to my boyish criticisms of existing
conditions, he would sometimes hsten with an approving smile,
at the same time remarking that we might talk unreservedly
between ourselves, but that it would be advisable for us to be
more circumspect in conversation with others.
In other ways also he enlarged my horizon. From his
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
private library he lent me several volumes of Goethe and of
works of writers of more recent times. Even foreign litera
tures he opened to me; he gave me, for instance, the transla
tions of Shakespeare by Schlegel and Tieck, which I devoured
with avidity, and he made me acquainted with Cervantes and
Calderon. He also taught me some Italian, and read with me
the " Prisons " of Silvio Pelhco in the original, and parts of
Tasso and Ariosto in translation. Thus he disclosed to me a
new world; and I think of him with gratitude, as one of the
benefactors of my youth. It was a great pleasure to me to meet
Professor Piitz again in later life. It must have been in
1873, when I was a member of the Senate of the United States,
that I received one day, by European mail, a package con
taining a letter from Professor Piitz, with some printed
pages. " I have frequently corrected your tasks," he wrote,
" and now you have to correct mine." Then he informed me
that he was preparing a new edition of his historical hand
books, and wished to have my judgment about that part
which treated of the latest events in America. And this he
laid before me on the proofsheets that accompanied the letter.
With pleasure I complied with his request, and found his work
so correct in every detail that it did not call for the slightest
amendment. On my next journey to Germany I sought him
out in Cologne. He had retired from his office, and lived in
comfortable surroundings. I found him, to be sure, very much
aged, but still young in spirit. Our meeting was a hearty joy
to us both, and we celebrated it with a delightful supper.
When I entered the higher classes of the gymnasium the
influence of youthful friendship came powerfully into my life.
I gave up my quarters at the locksmith's because there was
no piano there for daily practice, and moved into more suitable
lodgings. It now became possible for me to receive visitors
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
and to lead a somewhat freer life. Among my schoolmates I
always had friends of my own age, but none whose endeavors
and ambitions accorded much with my own tastes. Now I
became acquainted with a circle of youths who, like myself,
wrote verses, and read them, and encouraged each other in
the study of literature. The two with whom I came into
closest intimacy were Theodore Petrasch, the son of a secre
tary of the provincial government, and Ludwig von Weise, a
descendant of a patrician family of Cologne. Petrasch was
an uncommonly bright youth of a most amiable, cheerful,
and exuberant nature. Weise, while possessing excellent abil
ities and a strong character, had developed rather the critical
than the productive faculties of his mind. Both discussed
political, as well as religious, subjects with far more free
dom and assurance than I had dared to do, and their liberal
utterances had already attracted the notice of the gymnasium
authorities. Petrasch had been called to account by the in-"
structor of religion and had made certain heretical confes
sions with such frankness that the, shocked schoolmaster sus
pended him from all religious observances until a new light
should break in upon him, and he invited him to further talks
upon sacred subjects.
To me, questions of religious faith had for some time
caused many hours of most serious reflection. I have already
narrated how in earliest childhood my belief in the everlasting
punishment of the heterodox, and in the infallibihty and moral
perfection of the priesthood, had been severely shaken. Since
then I had pondered much upon kindred subjects, and the time
had now come for me to be " confirmed," In preparation for
this rite, the Roman Catholic priest, our instructor, especially
indoctrinated us in the tenets of the church, I threw myself
into this study with an earnest desire to overcome all doubts. It
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
even seemed to me at times that this had been accomplished,
and I went through the act of the " First Communion " in a
state of religious exaltation. But very soon the old scruples
and doubts returned stronger than before. What was most
repugnant to me was the claim of the church to be not merely
the only true church, but also the only saving one, and that
there was absolutely no hope of salvation outside of its pale,
but only damnation and eternal hell-fire. That Socrates and
Plato ; that aU the virtuous men among the heathen ; that even
my old friend, the Jew, Aaron; nay, that even the new-born
babe, if it happened to die unbaptized, must forever burn in
unquenchable fire — ^yes, that I too, were I so much as to har
bor the slightest doubt concerning their terrible fate, must
also be counted among the eternally lost — against such ideas
rebelled not only my reason, but my innermost instinct of jus
tice. Such teachings seemed to me so directly to contradict the
most essential attributes of the all- just Deity, that they only
served to make me suspicious of other tenets of the creed.
High authorities in the church have indeed not maintained
teachings so extreme, but assigned to unbaptized, innocent
infants and to virtuous heathen after death a mysterious state
intermediate between heaven and hell. Yet certain it is that
the religious teachings of my youth held to the immoderate
tenets I have described, thus enforcing with a rude and relent
less logic the dogma of original sin and the necessity of infant
baptism. What a blessing it would have been to the church and
to all within reach of its influence, if, not only some, but all of
its teachers had opened its whole heaven, with the full counte
nance of God, not only to its behevers, but to aU innocent and
virtuous human souls.
I was distressed beyond measure. Often I prayed fer
vently for light, but in answer to my prayers only the old
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THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
doubts came back. I went to my teacher of religion and
confided to him the condition of my mind with perfect frank
ness. We had a series of conversations, in which, however, he
had httle to say to me that I had not heard before. I confessed
to him with the utmost candor, that while I should be glad
to be convinced by what he said, he had not so convinced me ;
whereupon I also was reheved of the obligation of attending
religious observances until I myself felt an urgent desire to
resume them, I zealously studied ecclesiastical history and
dogmatic writings, and availed myself of every opportunity
to listen to preachers of renown; but the longer and more
earnestly I continued those studies the less could I find my
way back to the articles of faith which were so repugnant to
my sense of justice. There remained, however, within me a
strong religious want, a profound respect for rehgious thought.
I have never been able to hsten to a hght-minded scoffer about
rehgious subjects vidthout great repugnance.
While my friends could not tell me much that was soothing
on rehgious topics, they opened to me vistas in German litera
ture — especially the political part of it — ^which were new and
fascinating. Of Heine, my teacher. Professor Piitz, had told
me, but I knew of him httle more than his name; of Freiligrath,
only a few of his pictures of the tropics ; of Gutzkow, Laube,
Herwegh, and so on, nothing at aU,
Petrasch lent me Heine's " Book of Songs," This was to
me like a revelation. I felt almost as if I had never before
read a lyric poem; and yet many of Heine's songs sounded
to me as if I had always known them, as if the fairies had
sung them to me at my cradle. All the verses that I myself
had written until then, and which were mostly of the declama
tory kind, went at once into the fire, and I saw them burn with
genuine rehef. The reading and the rereading of the " Book
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
of Songs " was to me an indescribable revelry. Then I read
the pictures of travel, the various political poems, and " Atta
Troll," vnth. its acrid political satire, the wit of which did
not do good to the heart, but sharply turned one's thoughts
upon the condition of the fatherland, I read also with my
friends the poems of such revolutionary stormers as Herwegh,
Hoffmann von Fallersleben and others, most of which we
possessed and circulated among us only in written copies.
The revolutionary passions expressed in many of those
poems were in fact foreign to us, but their attacks upon the
existing governments, especially upon the Prussian, struck a
responsive chord which easily reverberated in the breast of every
Rhinelander, Our Rhine country, with its gay, light-hearted
people, had, within a comparatively short period, ' passed
through a series of multi-colored experiences. Before the
time of the French Revolution it had been under the easy
going, loose rule of the Archbishop Electors; then, conquered
and seized by the French, it belonged for a time to the French
Republic and the Empire, At last, after the French wars, it
was annexed to Prussia. Of these three rulerships, following
one another in too rapid succession for any sentiments of
allegiance to take firm root, the Rhine folk hked the Prussian
rule the least, although it was undoubtedly the best. The ab
rupt, stiff, exacting character of Prussian officialdom, with
its rigid conceptions of duty and order, was uncongenial to
the careless and somewhat too pleasure-loving Rhenish people.
Besides, the population was throughout Roman Catholic, and
the word Prussian was synonymous with Protestantism, Prus
sian officers in considerable numbers came to help govern the
Rhine people, which of course created bad blood. All these
things made Prussian rule on the Rhine appear like a sort
of foreign rule, which was very repugnant to the feelings of the
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
natives. In the course of time they recognized that the honest,
orderly methods of administration by the Prussian officers
possessed great merit; but the spirit of opposition, charac
teristic of the Rhenish population, once aroused, could not be
easily overcome. The word Prussian served for an opprobrious
invective, and when one schoolboy flung it at another it was
difficult to find a more stinging epithet to fling back. All
this was to oecome entirely changed in consequence of the
revolutionary movement toward national unity in 1848; but
at the time when I was a student at the gymnasium the hatred
of Prussia was stiU in fullest flower on the banks of the
Rhine. We young people were indeed free from provincial, and
especially religious, narrowness of sentiment, but we shared
the prevailing impression that great changes were necessary;
that it was scandalous to withhold from the people the free
dom of speech and press; that the old Prussian absolutism
must yield to a new constitutional form of government; that
the pledges made to the German nation by the German princes
in 1813 had been shamefully violated, and that the disinte
grated fatherland must be molded into a united empire with
free political institutions. The fermenting restless spirit per
meating the minds of the educated classes, and finding expres
sion in the literature of the day, aroused in us boys the warmest
enthusiasm. By what means the dreams of liberty and unity
were to be accomplished — whether, as Herwegh advised in one
of his poems, which we all knew by heart, we were to tear the
iron crucifixes out of the ground and forge them into swords,
or whether there was a peaceable way of reaching the goal —
we were not at all clear in our thoughts. But we eagerly read
newspapers and pamphlets to keep ourselves informed of the
occriErences and tendencies of the day. Neither could we alto-
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
gether refrain from occasionally uttering our sentiments.
I was in the Upper Secunda when our professor of German
— it was no longer my friend Piitz — gave us, as the subject
of a composition, a memorial oration on the battle of Leipzig.
Believing it to be my duty to write exactly what I thought
about that event, I expressed with entire frankness my feel
ings about the ill-treatment the German people had suf
fered after their heroic efforts on that battlefield, and my
hope of a complete regeneration of the German fatherland.
I was profoundly in earnest. I wrote that memorial oration,
so to speak, with my heart's blood. When the professor, at one
of the next lessons, returned the papers to us in the class room,
with critical remarks, he handed mine to me in silence. It
bore this footnote : " Style good ; but views expressed nebulous
and dangerous." After the adjournment of the class he called
me to his side, put his hand upon my shoulder and said, " What
you wrote has a fine sound; but how can such things be al
lowed at a royal Prussian gymnasium? Take care that it does
not happen again." From that time on he refrained from
giving subjects to the class which might tempt us to pohtical
discussion. In the meantime I continued zealously my literary studies,
and my creative impulses were constantly stimulated by the
applause of intimate friends. I wrote a large: number of short
poems, and also some tragedies on historic subjects. No rec
ord of these sins of my youth have remained in existence to
embitter my subsequent life — or perhaps also to contribute to
its merriment. We are easily ashamed of our premature pro
ductions and of the sublime conceit that must have inspired
them. But I cannot look back without a certain feeling of
tender emotion upon the time when I surrendered myself to
those poetic impulses with the hope, certainly with the \^sire,
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
to give in the course of time, to my fatherland, something
valuable and lasting.
It is needless to say that these literary efforts absorbed
much of the time that should have been devoted to other studies.
In the first years at the gymnasium I had always received, in
the semi-annual examinations, the highest marks. I sacrificed
these to my literary work, inasmuch as in some branches of
instruction, especially in mathematics and natural science, I
did only what was rigorously exacted of me.
My hfe outside of school was simple in the extreme and*
afforded me every opportunity to practise the virtue of
frugality. My pocket-money aUowance was very small; some
times I had none at all; neither can I remember ever to
have asked my parents for any money. They thought of it
themselves and put a pittance into my pocket when, after my
vacation, I returned to Cologne, or when they visited me there.
Frequently I managed to get along for weeks with the sum
of five groschen (twelve and a half cents). The occasional
possession of a thaler (seventy-two cents) gave me the sensa
tion of wealth. Even when I had nothing, which sometimes
happened, I never felt poor. This mental habit, acquired early
in life without much reflection, has subsequently proved of
great value to me. It has spared me much heart-burning, I
have always had to associate with persons possessing more
than myself of the so-called good things of hfe— persons that
could allow themselves many enjoyments that I had to do
without. To this I accustomed myself, and I did it without
the slightest self -depreciation or envy. Among all human
passions envy is the one that makes a man the most miserable.
Of course I do not mean by envy the mere wish to possess de
sirable things which we see others possessing, for such wishes
^re legitimate and not foreign to the noblest ambition. The
: [ T5 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
envy I speak of is that jealous ill-wiU which begrudges others
what they possess, and which would destroy their enjoyment
of it. A long life has convinced me that the truest and most
beautiful happiness of the human soul consists in the joyous
contemplation of the happiness of others. The envious, con
sciously or unconsciously, wish to deprive others of that which
makes them happy; and this is, of all imaginable dispositions
of the mind and heart, the most wretched.\^ Education can
^render youngjpeople no better service than to teach themTiow
jtp make their pleasures independent of"' moneys jThis-is-far-
easier than we commonly suppose. It requires only that we
learn to appreciate the various good things which cost nothing
and some of which are offered by almost every environment.
In this way we discover how many enjoyments there are in
life which usually remain hidden to those who are in the habit
of purchasing their pleasures with silver and gold.
Although during my boyhood my means were extremely
limited, my opportunities for enjoyment, even in sesthetic direc
tions, were by no means few, I have already told how I
went to the theater, not very often, but finding all the more
pleasure in it the few times I could go. There were other
opportunities no less valuable. On Sunday mornings some
times I spent hours in the Walraff Gallery, some rooms of
which were filled with pictures of the old Cologne school.
Although I was then unable to appreciate their historic and
artistic value, they attracted me greatly by their splendor
of color and naivete of composition. Particularly I recall a
" Last Judgment," in which the humorous grimaces and sar
donic smiles of a number of fantastic red, blue, and green
devils amused me immensely. For many an hour I stood in
dreamy contemplation before the " Sorrowing Jews on^he
Waters of Babylon," by Bendemann, a celebrated painter o£
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
the Diisseldorf school. As is usual, the boy in me was first
fascinated by the subject of the picture, until repeated scru
tiny gradually stirred my critical faculty and developed my
taste as to composition and execution.
Nor were opportunities for musical delight wanting. On
Sunday morning the so-called " Musical Mass " was celebrated
in the cathedral, at which frequently the archbishop officiated
and the church displayed its splendor. The principal charm of
the service was the music, which attracted not alone the devout,
but also the art-loving public, A full orchestra and a choir of
selected voices rendered a Mass by some celebrated composer.
These performances were sometimes of singularly marvelous
effect. I have already mentioned that the cathedral at that
period resembled a ruin as to its exterior. This was also true
in great measure of the inside. Upon passing through the time-
worn portals into the middle nave one was confronted at a
distance, just beyond the transept, by a bare, gray wall shutting
off the choir from the rest of the cathedral; this was the back
of the great organ, placed temporarily in this position be
cause the choir was the only really completed portion of the
edifice. The organ therefore stood, so to speak, with its back to
the larger part of the church. On the platform in front of the
organ, facing the choir, were placed the orchestra and the sing
ers. Thus the people standing- in that part of the church
between the back of the organ and the portals heard the music
not directly, but as an echo wonderfully broken. The forest
of pillars and the arches high as heaven, carried it back as from
a far distance, aye, as from another world. It was a mysterious
waving and weaving and surging and rolling of sound; the
violins and 'cellos, and flutes and oboes, like the whispering
and sighing of the spring winds in the treetops; the trumpets
and trombones and the mighty chorus now and then hke the
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
roaring of the storm and the raging of the sea. Sometimes
the echoes seemed to be silent for a moment and a melody or
a succession of harmonies would ring clear through the im
mense space; or a soprano solo would detach itself from the
magic confusion and float upon the air like an angel's voice.
The effect was indescribably touching, and I remember how,
not seldom, I stood leaning against one of the gigantic col
umns and something like devout tremors passed over me,
and my eyes fiUed with tears. This, I thought, must be what
I had heard called the " Music of the Spheres," or the " Con
cert of the Children of Heaven," as I had seen depicted on
the old canvases of the Walraff Museum.
Sunday noon afforded still another treat. A part of the
garrison paraded on the Neumarkt, and its excellent band
played martial strains for the changing guard, afterwards en
tertaining the public with a well-selected programme. Their
repertoire being large, these military concerts helped not a
little to increase my musical knowledge.
The talks with my much traveled friend. Professor Piitz,
together with books on architecture lent by him, excited in me
an interest in ancient and mediaeval architecture, and jnany
happy hours were spent in studying the middle-age structures
of religious and secular character of which Cologne is justly
proud. My artistic studies were therefore by no means incon
siderable, although I had to confine myself to such as were
accessible without cost.
Free afternoons were usually passed with my friends.
Besides reading aloud, we philosophised together on every
thing above and below with that gravity characteristic of
young, ardent and somewhat precocious persons. Some^es
I went to my uncle's house at Lind, a half -hour's walk fr^
Cologne, to visit two cousins of about my own age. They wei#
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
dear comrades. As they were not to prepare themselves for
any learned profession, but were to be farmers, like their
father, I had not so many interests in common with them as
with my other friends ; but they were boys of mental activity,
excellent disposition and chivalrous spirits, and we amused
ourselves together to our hearts' content. When the weather was
bad we now and then resorted to a game of cards. And here,
in order to be entirely faithful to truth, I must mention an
occurrence which will prove that my youth was by no means
free from serious blemish.
At first we played cards merely for the sake of passing
,time. Then as the taste for it grew, we staked small sums of
money to increase the interest and excitement, which it did most
effectually. The stakes were very small indeed, but the chang
ing fortune in winning and losing stimulated the gambling
passion until finally a catastrophe occurred. One particular
afternoon I happened to have the money in my pocket with
which to pay my tuition fees, which were due in a few days.
I lost steadily in the game and was so carried away that at last
I took out of my pocket the money entrusted to me by my
parents. Of course, with it I expected to win back all that I
had lost. We played on feverishly, but luck would not turn,
and at last the entire sum of the tuition fee was swept away.
It amounted only to a very few thalers, and my cousins helped
me out of my immediate embarrassment; but my horror at
what had happened was so great, my consciousness of guilt
so painful, and the sense of mortification so acute — for I con
sidered myself, and with reason, to be a criminal — ^that the
inward suffering of those days, especially when I made a con
fession to my parents, has ever remained in my memory as a
terrible lesson, I had gone through a very serious experience
with myself. In playing for stakes the desire to win money
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
had really not been my impelling motive, but the evil fascina
tion which the demon of fortune always possesses had led
me to commit an act which, committed under less favorable
circumstances, and upon a larger scale, might have ruined
my character irretrievably. Card-playing for money is often
classed among the aristocratic passions; but I believe there is
no form of amusement which, when it becomes a real passion,
is so dangerous even to nobly cast natures. It was perhaps
very fortunate in my own case that this lesson came so early
in life and appeared in so drastic a shape.
Gay days we had during our summer vacations at home
in Liblar. A crowd of cousins from various places found them
selves together, reinforced by friends from Cologne. That was
the time for merry pranks, which, as it seemed, gave as much
pleasure to the old members of the family as to the young.
One occurrence of my vacation life has remained especially
vivid in memory,, In a Gterman village the " studying " boy,
as he is called, is always re:garded with interest and wonder,
and upon the occasion of his visits family and friends are apt
to take a pardonable pride in displaying his attainments. So
it was with me. My father, who could not produce much effect
upon his villagers with my Latin and Greek, took great de
light in showing off my musical proficiency, especially my
ability to improvise. He succeeded in persuading the old or
ganist, a feeble musician, but one free from all artistic jeal
ousy, to allow me to play a voluntary at the Sunday morning
service. Once on a festive day when Count Metternich and
his family occupied their private chapel attached to the church,
and the congregation happened to be exceptionally large, I
felt it incumbent upon me to do something extraordinary,* So
at the close of the mass I pulled out all the stops and played ^
military march that I had heard at one of the parades at Co-
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
logne with such effect that the departing congregation stood
still in astonishment. Even the count stepped out from his
chapel to see what was the matter. This was the chmax of
my musical career as an organist, which soon came to an ab
rupt end. One Sunday at vesper service I accompanied the
choir, consisting of the sacristan and four other singers. It
was the organist's custom to play a short interlude between the
alternate verses of the hymn. This gave me an opportunity
to give my faculty of improvising full swing. Beginning in
the key in which the hymn was being sung, I moved up a tierce,
intending to return to the original key by means of a bold
transition. But the sacristan and the choir were not accus
tomed to such antics. They resumed their song in the higher
key, shrieking themselves red in the face until the veins of their
foreheads and temples threatened to burst. At the close of the
service the sacristan declared with unmistakable emphasis that
he would have no more improvising and thorough bass; that
this nonsense must stop, and that for his part he hked the
old organist far the better of the two. Thus was my glory as a
performer on the organ in Liblar forever gone.
In another field an ambitious wish of mine found its
fulfiUment, I became a member of the Sanct Sebastianus So
ciety, and resolved to take part in the annual bird-shooting.
Having learned very early how to handle a rifle, I had myself
inscribed in the list, and offered to several members, male and
female, to shoot for them; and the offers were accepted. The
casting of bullets on the Saturady before Whitsuntide was
one of the most solemn acts of my life; and when I wok^ with
sunrise on Whitsun Monday I felt as if for me a day of great
decision had dawned. I have already described the different
features of that popular festival. With profbund seriousness
on this occasion I marched behind the old bow-legged drummer
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
and the master-tailor, our color-bearer, in the ranks of the
marksmen to what my heroic enthusiasm called " the field of
honor"; and when, after marching three times around the
tree bearing the pole with the wooden bird, we knelt down for
prayer I was one of the most devout. Not one of my first shots
missed. The bow-legged drummer rewarded me with the cus
tomary roll, and I suspect I sometimes looked around with eyes
that sought admiration. Only one shot more was mine, but the
wooden bird was already much sphntered, and with every
moment it became more uncertain whether my last chance
would yet be reached. My heart beat high; my last turn was
really reached, and on the top of the pole there was only a
httle strip of wood left which a well-aimed bullet would surely
bring down. I raised the rifle to my shoulder with the feeling
as if this shot would determine the current of my future. With
a mighty effort I kept cool, so that my eye should be clear and
my hand firm. But when I had pressed the trigger I felt
myself as if in a dense fog; I only heard how the drummer
furiously belabored his instrument and how the surrounding
multitude shouted. The great deed, therefore, was done. I had
" shot down the bird." I was king. Not far from me stood
my father; he laughed aloud and evidently was extremely
proud. Now the great chain with the silver shields was put
upon my shoulder, a tail hat with the old tinsel crown and
flowers on top was fixed upon my head. It was a great mo
ment; but I had won the prize merely as a substitute for an
other person, not for myself. Who was that person? A Sanct
Sebastianus sister, an old washerwoman. She was brought
forward and also adorned with ribbons and flowers. I was
obliged to offer her my arm as my queen, and so we marched
solemnly behind drum and flag back into the village. The
riflemen made every possible noise with their guns; the clul-'
[82]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
dren shouted, and the old people stood in their doorways,
greeted me with their hands, and called out: " See the Schurz
Karl!" But I felt as if we two, the old washerwoman and
myself, presented a decidedly grotesque spectacle in that tri
umphant procession, which in my imagination had always been
such a solemn affair. I thought I even saw some people in
dulge in a mocking smile about our unquestionably ridiculous
appearance. But worse than this — I noticed on the faces of
some of the old marksmen something like an expression of
disapproval; my ear caught a remark that it was, after all,
not quite proper to make the Schiitzenfest of the venerable
old Sanct Sebastianus Society a boy's play. I could not deny
within myself that this view of the case was not unjustified;
and thus in the hour of that triumph which I had so often
pictured in my dreams, a heavy drop of bitterness fell into
the cup. It was the old, old experience, at that time still new
to me, that we seldom are blessed with success or joy without
some bitter admixture, and that the fulfillment of a wish
usually looks very different from anticipation; and this expe
rience has been repeated in my life again and again.
In the meantime dark clouds were gathering over our
home. My grandfather's retirement from the Burg had been
followed by evil consequences; it was as if the firm ground
had been taken from under our feet. The proceeds of the
sale of the inventory had been entrusted to my youngest uncle
for investment. He groped about for a considerable time and
finally hit at the idea of trading in grain. In connection with
this plan my father, who was in need of a larger income than
his little hardware business yielded, decided to erect a building
of which the ground floor was to be a large amusement hall
and the upper story a granary. In one of his many books he
had read the description of some new method of construction
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
which caught his fancy and which had the charm of novelty.
The building was successfully erected, but it cost far more
than had been anticipated. It appeared also that the festive
occasions proved too few to make the letting of the amuse
ment hall profitable, and the granary yielded even less. My
uncle's grain business soon became highly speculative and he
promised himself mountains of gold from it. When he drifted
into embarrassment, of course his brothers and brothers-in-law
came to the rescue, thus involving themselves also in affairs
of which not one of them had any knowledge. My uncle
Jacob, the burgomaster of Jiilich, had indeed good qualities
as a merchant; he was painstaking, orderly and exact, but
the quick calculation of chance, the instinct of the trader,
he, too, lacked entirely. So with my father; he was far more
interested in his scientific books than in his ledger. Often I
recall seeing him at his desk with a disorderly pile of papers
before him and a helpless, impatient expression on his face.
Sometimes he would then rise abruptly, push the papers into
the desk, crowd them down with both elbows, and drop the
lid upon their wild confusion. The various members of our
family came to one another's financial assistance so often that
after a httle while not one of them knew accurately the con
dition of his own or of their common affairs. To bring order
out of chaos they would occasionally meet at Liblar for the
purpose of talking over business matters and " settling up."
But this would have required the saying of many disagree
able things from which each in his amiability and brotherly
affection recoiled. By way of beginning they would sit down
together to a comfortable repast and recall happy bygone
times; gradually the proposed business conference faded out
of view; they ate and drank and were so happy together that it
would have been a pity to disturb all by alluding to unpleasant
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
subjects. After this had gone on for a day, or even a few
days, they remembered that it was high time for them to return
home ; then they took leave in the most touching manner, kissed
one another, sometimes even shedding tears at the parting, and
each one went his way without having talked of the business
matters which had brought them together. Of course their
affairs drifted from worse to worse, and some further daring
grain speculations only served to hasten on the final disaster.
My father was not directly implicated in those specula
tions, but he could not keep from getting entangled in the
difficulties which sprung from them. Although youth is in
clined to take matters of business lightly, I became gradually
aware that my parents were often in pressing need of money,
and I began to share their anxieties, I myself raised the ques
tion whether it would be possible for them to keep me any
longer at the gymnasium. This was quickly answered by my
obtaining a fellowship which covered a large part of my ex
penses; and besides I resolved to tutor junior pupils, thus
earning the rest of the money needed, I threw myself into
this new task with eagerness. The tuition fees amounted to
about six and a half cents per hour, but they were sufficient to
enable me to work my way up to the highest class but one. ^
Suddenly my parents were cheered by apparently more
hopeful prospects. My father found an opportunity for sell
ing his property in Liblar at a price which would enable him
to discharge his obligations and furnish the means for a new
livehhood. As soon as the sale was concluded he removed with
the family to Bonn, where I was to go to the university after
having absolved the gymnasium. In Bonn my father made
arrangements with an old friend which put him in possession
of a spacious house, the lower part of which was used as a
restaurant for students, while in the upper stories were several
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHURZ
rooms to be let. My friend Petrasch, who meantime had been
matriculated in the university, took one of them. AU this
promised very satisfactorily.
But then a great misfortune fell upon us. The purchaser
of the property in Liblar, with whom my father had made a
very imperfect contract, declared that he had become dissatis
fied with the arrangement and that he proposed to forfeit the
little sum paid in advance, and not take the property. This
was a hard blow. My father tried, unsuccessfully, to hold the
purchaser to the bargain, and no other purchaser could be
found. To return to Liblar was impossible, as my father was
then bound to his new arrangements in Bonn, Now the bills
of exchange became due, which in anticipation of the money
coming to him from the sale in Liblar he had given to his
creditors. He could not meet them; the bills were protested,
and suddenly I received in Cologne the news that some of the
creditors had thrown my father into the debtors' prison. This
struck me like a clap of thunder. I ran to the prison house and
saw my father behind an iron bar. It was a distressing meet
ing, but we endeavored to encourage one another as best we
could. He explained to me his circumstances, and we consid
ered what might best be done to extricate him from this humih-
ating situation.
I was then seventeen years old and on the point of passing
into the highest class of the gymnasium, but evidently I could no
longer remain in Cologne, I hurriedly took leave of my teach
ers and friends, and devoted myself entirely to the affairs of
the family. My uncles would have been glad to assist us, but
they themselves were involved in grievous embarrassments.
Business matters were entirely foreign and repugnant to me;
but necessity is a wonderful schoolmaster, and I felt as if in
a day I had grown many years older. After much travehng
[86]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
to and fro I succeeded in making arrangements sufficiently
satisfactory to the creditors to induce them to release my
father. Those were very dark days.
When my father was thus enabled again to take our
affairs into his own hands, the question arose, what was to
become of me. Was I to abandon my studies and enter upon
a new course of life? This idea was rejected at once; but
circumstances did not permit my return to Cologne. I had to
remain with my family. We therefore formed the bold plan
that I should begin at once as an irregular student to attend
lectures at the university, and at the same time to pursue those
studies which would make it possible for me to pass the gradua
tion examination in Cologne the next year. This' plan was
bold in so far as it was generaUy understood that when a young
man left the gymnasium without having completed the course
and then came back to pass the examination required for
regular standing at the university, that examination was often
made exceptionaUy severe in order to discourage like practice.
But there was no hesitation in attempting the difficult task.
Meanwhile, my mind had also settled upon a calling. I was
fond of historic and linguistic studies, and believed I possessed
some literary capacity: I therefore resolved to prepare myself
for a professorship of history, and so began to attend philo
logical and historical lectures.
My passing from the gymnasium to the university brings
me back to the question abeady mentioned, whether the clas
sical curriculum at the German gymnasium, as well as at cor
responding institutions in other countries, has not become an
tiquated and unpractical. Is it wise to devote so large a part
of the time and of the learning-strength of boys to the study
of the Latin and the Greek languages and the classical htera-
tures? Would it not be of greater advantage to a young gen-
[87]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
eration to put in place of the Latin and Greek the study of
modern languages and literatures, the knowledge of which
would be much more useful in the practical business of life?
This question is certainly entitled to serious consideration.
Latin is no longer what it was in most of the countries of the
so-called civilized world down to the beginning of the eight
eenth century, and, in some of them, even to a much more
recent period, the language of diplomacy, of jurisprudence,
of philosophy, and of all science. Not even the ability to quote
Horace in conversation is any longer required to give one the
stamp of an educated man. The literatures of classical an
tiquity are no longer the only ones in which great creations
of poetry in perfect beauty of form are found, or models of
historical writing, or of oratorical eloquence, or of philosoph
ical reasoning. Of all these things modern hteratures contain
rich treasures, and there is also an abundance of excellent trans
lations to make the masterpieces of antiquity accessible to
those who do not understand the classical tongues.
And yet, when I now in my old days, and after multi
farious experiences of hfe, ask myself which part of the in
struction I received in my youth I would miss with the most
regret, my answer would not be doubtful for a single moment.
Indeed, I have, I am sorry to say, lost much of the Latin and
Greek that I knew when I was at the gymnasium. But the
aesthetic and moral impulses that such studies gave me, the
ideal standards they helped me in erecting, the mental horizons
they opened to me, I have never lost. Those studies are not a
mere means for the acquisition of knowledge, but, in the best
sense of the word, an element of culture. And thus they have
remained to me during my whole hfe an inexhaustible source
of elevating enjoyment and inspiration.
If once more I had to choose between the classical studies
[88]

i;he reminiscences of carl schurz
and the so-called useful ones in their place, I would, for myself
at least, undoubtedly on the whole elect the same curriculum
that I have gone through. I would do this the more readily
as in all probability I should never have been able to begin or
resume the classical studies had I not enjoyed them in my
youth, and as the knowledge of the ancient languages has
been of inestimable value to me in acquiring the modern ones
in later life. He who understands Latin will not only learn
French, and English, and Spanish, and Italian, and Portu
guese much more easily, but also much better. I can say of
myself that I have in fact studied only the Latin grammar
quite thoroughly, but that this knowledge has divested my
grammatical studies in modern Latin and Germanic lan
guages of all wearisome difficulty. Therefore, while I recog
nize the title of the utility argument, now so much in vogue,
to our serious consideration, I cannot but confess that I per
sonally owe to the old classical courses very much that was
good and beautiful, and that I would not forego.
To be a student at the university is the most entrancing
dream of the German gymnasium boy. It had been mine.
Now I was at the university. But how? As a mere intruder
who had still to win his right to academic citizenship through a
difficult examination still to pass; as a person of questionable
standing hardly relieved of a most humihating situation,
troubled by bitter cares, with very uncertain prospects before
me. Thus it happened to me that what I had hoped for came
to me in depressing form. The wish could hardly be recog
nized in the appearance of the fulfillment.

[89]

CHAPTER IV
Although not yet regularly immatriculated at the
university at Bonn, I received a warm welcome from a group
of fine young men, the Burschenschaft Franconia — one of
that class of students' associations which after the wars of hber-
ation of 1813, '14 and '15 had been organized at various Ger
man universities, in obedience to a patriotic impulse. My ad
mission to this fellowship I owed to my Cologne friends,
Petrasch and von Weise, who had preceded me at the
university and had spoken a good word for me to their breth
ren of the Franconia society, probably with an exaggerated
account of my literary capabilities. This I discovered upon
the occasion of my first appearance at the Franconia " Kneipe,"
when it was the evident intention of both my friends to
make a show of my talents. But I was at that time an
extremely bashful youth, always silent and awkward in the
presence of strangers. I shall never forget the feelings of
utter helplessness that came over me when Petrasch introduced
me to the presiding officer of the society, Johannes Overbeck,
a self -poised young man several years my senior, and a bril
liant student who had already published a volume of original
poems. All this I knew and it had impressed me greatly. In
answer to the friendly greeting he gave me I blushed and
stammered and only managed to articulate an occasional yes
or no. I was quite conscious of the sorry figure I was cutting,
and what was worse, aware that Petrasch and Weise were
disappointed and ashamed of me. It was the first occasion in
life when I was brought in contact with men from other parts
[90]

the reminiscences of carl schurz
of Germany; and they, especiaUy the North-Germans, had
something superior and dehberate in their ways that greatly
impressed me.
My irregular standing at the university did not permit me
to be received as a fuU member into the Franconia, but I was
admitted as a guest to their convivial meetings. For a long
time I sat a mute spectator at the jovial gatherings of my
friends, but finally iny hour came. One of the principal events
of the convivial evenings was the reading aloud of the Kneip-
zeitvMgy a humorous paper, written and read in turn by dif
ferent members. To write a good Kneipzeitung was the object
of general ambition, and those papers not seldom possessed
decided literary merit. As I sat or moved, a quiet observer
among my friends, abundant opportunity was afforded me to
study the peculiarities of my new companions. My observa
tion finally took form in a parody of the " Auerbach cellar
scene " in " Faust," in which I made the leading members of the
Franconia the dramatis personce. The satire was pointed,
though of course not ill-natured. When I had finished the
composition I showed it in confidence to Petrasch, He shouted
with delight, and was certain that nothing better had ever been
written by any member of the society. This of course I refused
to believe, biit yielded to his entreaties that I turn it into a
Kneipzeitung and that he should be the one to read it aloud at
the next reunion. I insisted that he keep its authorship strictly
secret, which he promised. When finally the evening came for
its presentation my heart was in my throat, and my face red
with blushes, as the assembled company burst into repeated
laughter and applause. The success of the paper was com
plete. Petrasch declared that the writer wished to remain un
known, but with this the audience would not rest content. Of
course nobody suspected me. My friend, as proud of the
[91]

THE reminiscences OF CARL SCHURZ
achievement as if it had been his own, winked at me across the
table and whispered audibly, "May I not teU?" This alone
would have been sufficient to betray me, but another member
sitting near recognized my handwriting. And now there was
a great hurrah. From all sides they rushed upon me ; there was
no end of congratulation and handshaking; and Petrasch,
looking around at the assembled company, called out: " There,
now, what did I tell you? "
It has always been a rehef to me that the poetic produc
tions of my youth somehow disappeared; but I confess that I
would like very much to see this one again, for at the time it
rendered me an inestimable service. Its success aroused my
dormant self-reliance and transformed me from an awkward
country lad, who was in a good way to remain a ridiculous
figure, into a respectable and respected young man. My shy
ness rapidly ceased in the intercourse with my comrades, and
many delightful friendships were the outcome of it all.
Much time I could indeed not give to my friends during
my first university year at Bonn, for the graduation examina
tions at the Cologne gymnasium, upon which my whole future
depended, were still ahead, and they ever stood before me like
a threatening specter. Aside from the historical and philolog
ical lectures by Aschbach and Ritschl, which I attended, I had
to acquire all that was taught in the upper class of the gymna
sium by way of self -instruction, and with the exception of
higher mathematics and of natural science I succeeded in doing
this, but, of course, not without much labor. At last, in Sep
tember, 1847, the crisis came, and I journeyed to Cologne,
accompanied by the prayers of my family and the cordial
wishes of all good friends. Fortune favored me again, and all
went well, I knew the sixth canto of the Iliad by heart, and
it so happened that the examiner in Greek gave jme a part of
[92]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
that canto to translate, which I could do without looking at the
book. In addition to this, the result of my examination in his
tory and my compositions in German and Latin were suffi
ciently satisfactory to move the examiners to overlook my
weakness in other branches. Upon the conclusion of the ordeal
the government commissioner, who had before seemed to me
the personification of grim fate, handed me my graduation
papers with an especially cordial handshake, and he gave me
iriany good wishes for future success on my way. I returned
to Bonn in triumph.
Now at last, as a regularly matriculated student, I could
take equal rank with my university friends. With ardor and
with a feeling of assurance I threw myself into philological
and historical studies, looking with greater calmness into the
future, in which I pictured myself as a professor of his
tory at some German university, devoting some of my time
to literary work. I hoped that now the severest storms' of life
were behind me, and that I might look forward to a smooth
career which would satisfy all my ambitions. How little did I
dream of the strange vicissitudes of fortune which were soon
to scatter all these plans and to hurl me into currents of life
entirely different from those which I had anticipated!
The cheerfulness of temperament with which benign na
ture had endowed me and the capacity of frugal enjoyment
which the conditions of my early youth had developed in me,
rendered me highly susceptible to the fascination of free
student-hfe. Again fortune had greatly favored me in open
ing to me at the very entrance into the academic world access to
a most stimulating circle of young men.
Friedrich Spielhagen, in his memoirs, says that the Bursch
enschaft Franconia was in a sense the most distinguished among
the student societies of that day. And this it was indeed. To
[93]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
be sure, it did not count among its members scions of noble
houses nor men of exceptional wealth. At any rate rank
and wealth did not count. But its scientific and literary
tone was marked, and many of its members later made a name
-for themselves in various walks of life. Among these were
Johannes Overbeck, the archaeologist, of whom it has been said
that he wrote the best book, that has ever been written on Her-
culaneum and Pompeii, without ever having seen either spot;
Juhus Schmidt, an astronomer, who gave to the world various
works of great scientific value, and died as director of the
astronomical observatory at Athens ; Carl Otto Weber, of Bre
men, a young man of rare brightness of mind and the most
charming sweetness of character, whose distinguished merit
gave him a professorship of medicine at Heidelberg, where,
like a soldier in battle, he died of diphtheritic poison in an heroic
effort to save a human life; Ludwig Meyer, who became an
expert in mental diseases and a professor at Gottingen, and
director of various institutions for the insane; Adolph Strodt-
mann, the biographer of Heine, who also excelled as a remark
ably able translator of French, English and Danish literature;
Friedrich Spielhagen, in whom in spite of his somewhat dis
tant and reserved character we aU recognized a man of rare
intellectuality and moral elevation, and who later became a
star of the first magnitude among the novelists of the century.
There were several other young men of uncommon capacity
and sound ambition who afterwards rose to honorable if less
conspicuous positions in life.
Although in this company there was earnest and hard
work done, its members were neither priggish nor did they lack
youthful exuberance of spirits. But these spirits only very
seldom degenerated into those excesses which usually pass as
characteristic of German student-life. There were indeed a
[94]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
few capable of great things in beer-drinking. But beer-drink
ing was not cultivated as a fine art, in the exercise of which one
had to seek honorable distinction. Nor would he who was tem
perate be exposed to any want of respect or derision. Modera
tion was the rule, and he who broke that rule too often made
himself liable to a reprimand or even e;xpuIsion. Neither did
we take part in the practice of dueling, in which various corps
at German universities sought then as now their glory. I can
recollect but two cases during my time at Bonn that a meinber
of the Franconia fought a duel, and of those we were by no
means proud. There is probably no civilized people to-day,
except, perhaps, the French, in which enlightened public opin
ion does not look upon and condemn dueling as a remnant of
medieval barbarity. While excuses may sometimes be offered
in cases of exceptional insult, it is no longer accepted as evi
dence of true courage nor as the best means for a man to guard
or avenge his honor; and the professional duelist who by fre
quent encounters creates suspicion that he is wantonly seeking
an opportunity for a fight wins rather the reputation of being
a rude if not a criminal ruffian than the renown of a hero. The
true gentleman has ceased to be ashamed of invoking the law
for the protection of his own or his family's or friends' honor
when that honor may need protection; and the world has be
gun to suspect the' man who for its defense breaks the law
instead of appealing to it. Irresistibly this view is becoming
public opinion among all truly civilized peoples.
In what light then, in the face of this public opinion,
does that portion of the so-called educated youth in German
universities stand, which, not making even injured honor an
excuse, cultivates the duel as a form of social amusement, and
finds glory in the number of scars won in causeless combats?
The precautionary measures customary at German universi-
[95]

THE REMINISCENCES dF CARL SCHURZ
ties have made an ordinary duel so harmless that usuaUy noth
ing more than a mere scratch on the face is the result. To fight
in this way requires no more courage than to have a tooth
drawn; perhaps not even so much. As a true test of courage,
therefore, such a duel cannot be regarded. The cause for it
mostly consists in nothing but some childish quarrel, wantonly
brought on for the very purpose of provoking a challenge;
and the student who in this way disfigures his face with a net
work of unsightly scars is truly foolish to think he can pose as
a braver and better man than others who enjoy their youth in a
more sensible way during the period when they are preparing
themselves for the grave problems of lifc^^It is said that the
duel prevents personal quarrels from degenerating into vulgar
brawls and fisticuffs, and that the sword is a more dignified
weapon than the fist. But this defense appears utterly unten
able when we look at the universities of other countries, where
dueling is practically unknown and where common fights are
as infrequent as they are in Germany, It is also asserted, that
dueling stimulates a nice sense of honor among young people.
But what kind of honor is this? Is it honorable to fight with
out due cause? Is it honorable to treat with contempt those
who object to duehng about silly nothings? Is not this so-called
sense of honor mere shallow and rude rodomontade? It is in
fact nothing but the cultivation of an entirely false standard of
honor — a self-deception very dangerous to young people, be
cause it confuses their moral principles, upon the clearness and
firmness of which the character of the true gentleman rests.
Such a notion of honor which consists only in cheap show in
duces one too easily to forget that the moral courage of a man
who unflinchingly and unselfishly stands up in the struggle of
opinions and of interests for that which he recognizes as true
and right, rises far above aU the glories of the dueling-field
[96]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL. SCHUEZ
and aU its pretended heroism. It is a matter of experience that
not a few of the most beUicose students, devoid of just this
genuine and higher courage, become the most servile syco
phants of power in later life, always parading the scars on
their faces as proof of their bravery. In this way a class of
unprincipled climbers has developed itself, which depends in
the competition for place and promotion, not on its real ability
and true merit, but on social connections and the protection
of the powerful, and which thus loses in the matter of character
what it wins in the way of success.
Such were the views about the duel held in my time by
the Franconians, although it is certain that they were not lack
ing in sense of honor nor of pride. Their principles, however,
did not keep them from the fencing school; indeed several of
them would have been conspicuously able to enforce respect
sword in hand. I have to confess that I found especial pleas
ure in the fencing exercises, and Spielhagen praises me in his
memoirs " for wielding a, deft and powerful blade." i^-^
In other respects we followed the customs and enjoyed
the pleasures of German student-life to our hearts' content.
We wore with pride the society colors on our caps and the
tricolored ribbon across our breasts. We celebrated our
" commerses " and went through all the traditional ceremonies
with becoming solemnity. We took long rambles into the coun
try — and it was no pedantic affectation, but a real outfiow of
gay spirits that on such occasions some of us who had studied
our Homer with especial assiduity conversed in homeric verses,
which somehow we contrived to apply to what we were doing
or observing. We also indulged in delightful excursions up
,and down the Rhine and into its lovely side- valleys ; and
blessed be the memory of the innkeepers who did not demand
an immediate settlement of our accounts; blessed above aU,
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THE EEMINISCENCES OF ^CARL SCHUEZ
that of the benign Nathan of Sanct Goarshausen, under the
shadow of the Loreley-rock, who welcomed every Franconian
under his roof as an own child. Oh, how we reveled in the
poetry of those friendships, which more than all else made
youthful years so happy! The mature man should never be
ashamed of the emotions that once riioved him to wind his arm
around his friend's shoulder and to dream of inseparable
brotherhood. Thus I shall never be ashamed of the feelings
which I showed as exuberantly as my companions, whenever
at the close of the semester some members dropped out of our
circle never to return, and when at leave-taking our glasses
rang to the echo of the farewell song:
" Wohlauf noch getrunken
Den funkelnden Wevn,
Ade nun Ihr Lieben,
Geschieden muss sein."
Even now I cannot listen to this song without a throb in
my heart, for I see before me the dear fellows as their eyes
filled at the moment of parting and they again and again
embraced. Oh, these careless, sunny, university days, with their
ideals and enthusiasms, their sentimentalities and their fehci-
ties! How soon they were to be overshadowed for me by the
bitter earnestness of life!
It was at the beginning of the winter semester of 1847-8,
at Bonn, that I made the acquaintance of Professor Gottfried
Kinkel — an acquaintance which for my later years became one
of fateful consequence, Kinkel delivered lectures on literature
and art-history, some of which I attended, I also participated
in his course of rhetorical exercises. This brought me into
close personal contact with him. He was at the time when I first
[98]

PROF. GOTTFRIED KINKEL

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
knew him thirty-two years of age; the son of an evangelical
minister stationed in a village on the Rhine, and he himself
also to be educated for the church. To this end he visited the
universities of Bonn and Berlin, In the year 1836 he settled
down at the university of Bonn as a teacher of church history.
But on account of his health he made a journey to Italy in
1837, where he gave himself up to the study of the history of
art. After his return he became assistant preacher of an
evangehcal church in Cologne, where he attracted large con
gregations by the eloquence of his sermons. In the meantime
his poetical gifts, which by personal intercourse with Simrock,
Wolfgang Miiller, Freiligrath and others had been constantly
stimulated, had attracted wide attention. Especially his ro
mantic epic, " Otto der Schiitz," won for him a prominent
name in literature. In Cologne he became acquainted with
the divorced wife of a bookseller, a woman of extraordinary
mental activity. While rowing on the Rhine one day Kinkel
saved her from drowning, the boat having capsized, and soon
after, in the year 1843, they were married. This union with a
divorced Roman Cathohc woman would alone have sufficed to
make his position as an evangelical clergyman untenable, had
it not already been undermined by his outspoken liberal opin
ions. For this reason he abandoned theology and accepted a
position of professor-extraordinary of art-history at the
university of Bonn,
As a lecturer he proved himself exceedingly attractive by
his interesting personality as well as by the charm of his deliv
ery. Kinkel was a very handsome man, of regular features
.nd herculean stature, being over six feet in height and a pic
ture of strength. He had a wonderful voice, both strong and
soft, high and low, powerful and touching in its tone, gentle
as a flute and thundering like a trombone — a voice which
[99]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
seemed to command all the registers of the church organ. To
listen to him was at the same time a musical and an intellectual
joy. A gesticulation as natural as it was expressive and grace
ful accompanied his speech, which flowed on in weU-rounded
and not seldom poetic sentences.
When Kinkel offered to introduce his hearers in a special
course to the art of speech, I was one eagerly to seize the oppor
tunity. He did not deliver theoretical instruction in rhetorics,
but he began at once to produce before us eminent models and
to exercise our faculties by means of them. As such models he
selected some of the great rhetorical passages in the dramas of
Shakespeare, and for me he set the task to explain the famous
funeral oration of Marc Antony, to point out the intended
effects and the means by which these effects were to be accom
plished, and finally to recite the whole speech. I accomplished
this task to his satisfaction, and then Kinkel invited me to visit
him at his house. I soon followed this invitation, and the result
was the development between teacher and scholar of a most
agreeable personal intercourse. He possessed in a high de
gree the genial unconventionality and the gay temper of the
Rhineland. He delighted to put the professor aside and to let him
self go wheri in the circle of his family and friends in unre
strained hilarity. He drank his glass of wine — with moderation,
to be sure — laughed heartily at a good jest and even at a poor
one, drew from all circumstances of life as much enjoyment
as there was in them, and grumbled little when fate was unkind.
Thus one soon felt at home in his company. He had indeed also
his detractors, who accused him of being what they called
" vain." But who is not vain, each one in his way? Vanity is
the most common and the most natural of all weaknesses of
character — and at the same time the most harmless and the
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
most pardonable if it stands under the influence of a sound
ambition. Whenever it is carried too far it becomes ridiculous,
and thus punishes itself,
Mrs, Kinkel was not at all handsome. Her stature was
low, her features large and somewhat masculine and her com
plexion sallow. Nor did she understand the art of dressing.
Her gowns were ill-fitting and usually so short that they
brdught her flat feet, clad in white stockings and black slippers,
with cross-ribbons, into undue prominence. But the impression
made by her lack of beauty vanished at once when one looked
into her blue, expressive eyes, and when she began to speak.
Even then she seemed at first to be neglected by nature, for her
voice was somewhat hoarse 'and dry. But what she said almost
instantly fascinated the hearer. She not only spoke upon many
subjects of high significance with understanding, sagacity and
striking clearness, but she also knew how to endow by her pic
turesque presentation commonplace things and every-day
events with a pecuhar charm. In conversing with her one
always felt that behind what she said there was stiU a great
wealth of knowledge and of thought. She also possessed that
sparkling Rhenish humor that loves to look at things from
their comical side and under aU circumstances appreciates what
ever there is enjoyable in hfe. She had received an exception
ally thorough musical education, and played the piano with a
master hand. I have hardly ever heard Beethoven and Chopin
compositions performed with more perfection than by her. In
fact, she had passed far beyond the hne that separates the
dilettante from the artist. She had also wi-itten some exquisite
compositions. Although her voice possessed no resonance and
in singing she could only indicate the tones, stiU she sang with
thrilhng effect. Indeed, she understood the art of singing with^^:
out a voice. [101]

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Whoever observed these two externally so different human
beings in their domestic life could not but receive the impres
sion that they found hearty joy in one another and that they
fought the struggles of life together with a sort of defiant
buoyancy of spirit. This impression became even stronger
when one witnessed their happiness in their four children.
No wonder that Kinkel's house became the gathering
place of a circle of congenial people, whose hours of social in
tercourse left nothing to desire in animation, intellectual
vivacity and cheerfulness. It was composed throughout of men
and women of rich mental endowments and of hberal ways of
thinking in the religious as well as the political field — ^men and
women who liked to utter their opinions and sentiments with
outspoken frankness; and there was no lack of interesting
topics in those days.
The revolt among the Roman Cathohcs caused by the
exhibition and adoration of the " holy coat " in Trier had
brought forth the so-called " German Catholic " movement,
and had also given a vigorous impulse to the tendency for free-
thinking and free-teaching among Protestants. Upon the polit
ical field, too, there was a mighty stir. The period of polit
ical discouragement and of national self -depreciation in Ger
many had given place to an impulse to strive for real and well-
defined goals, and also to the belief that such goals were attain
able. Everybody felt the coming of great changes, although
most people did not anticipate how soon they would come.
Among the guests of Kinkel's house I heard many things
clearly uttered which until then were only more or less
nebulous in my mind, A short review of the origin and devel
opment of the feelings vnth regard to political conditions,
which at that time prevailed with the class of Germans to
which he, and, in a more modest way, I belonged, may serve
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
to make intelhgible their conduct in the movements which
preceded the revolutionary upheavals of the year 1848,
The patriotic heart loved to dweU on the memories of the
" holy Roman empire of the German nation," which once, at
the zenith of its power, had held leadership in the civilized
world. From these memories sprang the Kyffhauser roman
ticism, with its dreams of the new birth of German power and
magnificence, which had such poetic charm to German youth:
the legend telling how the old Kaiser Friedrich Barbarossa
was sitting in a cave of the Kyffhauser mountain in Thur-
ingia, in a sleep centuries long, his elbows resting on a
stone table and his head on his hands, while a pair of ravens
were circling around the mountain top; and how one day the
ravens would fly away and the old kaiser would awaken and
issue from the mountain, sword in hand, to restore the Ger
man Empire to its ancient glory .1 While cherishing such
dreams we remembered with shame the time of the national
disintegration and the dreary despotism after the Thirty
Years' War, when German princes, devoid of all national
feeling, always stood ready to serve the interests and the am
bitions of foreign potentates — even to sell their own subjects
in order to maintain with the disgraceful proceeds the luxuries
of their dissolute courts; and with equal shame we thought of
the period of the " Rheinbund," when a number of German
princes became mere vassals of Napoleon; when one part of
Germany served to keep the other part at the feet of the hated
conqueror, and when Emperor Francis of Austria, who had
been also emperor of the hopelessly decayed empire of Ger
many, laid down in 1806 his crown, and German Emperor
and German Empire ceased even to exist in name.
Then came, in 1813, after long suffering and debasement,
the great popular uprising against Napoleonic despotism, and
[103]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
with it a period of a new German national consciousness. To
this feeling appealed the famous manifesto, issued from the
town of Kalisch, in which the king of Prussia, allied with the
Russian Czar, after Napoleon's defeat in Russia, called the
German people to arms, promising at the same time a new
national union and participation of the people in the business
of government under constitutional forms. The new birth of a
united German national empire, the abolition of arbitrary gov
ernment by the introduction of free political institutions — that
was the solemn promise of the Prussian king as the people
understood it — that was the hope which inspired the people in
the struggle against Napoleonic rule with enthusiastic heroism
and a self-sacrifice without limit, and ended in a final victory.
It was one of the periods in history when a people proved itself
ready to sacrifice all for the attainment of an ideal. But after
the victories of Leipzig and Waterloo followed another time of
bitter disappointment.jAgainst the formation of a united
Germany arose not only the jealous opposition of non-Gterman
Europe, but also the selfish ambitions of the smaller German
princes, especially of those who, as members of the " Rhein
bund," such as Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, Baden, etc., had been
raised in their rank. And this opposition was strengthened by
the intriguing policy of Austria, which, with her possessions
outside of Germany, had also un-German interests and designs.
And this Austrian policy was conducted by Prince Metter
nich, the prime minister of Austria, to whom every emotion
of German patriotism was foreign, as he hated and feared
every free aspiration among the people. Thus the peace
was far from bringing to the German people the reward for
their sacrifices which they had deserved and expected. From
the Congress of Vienna, in 1814 and 1815, which disposed of
peoples as of herds of cattle in order to establish a permanent
[ 104 ]

; THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
balancei of power in Europe, nothing issued for the German
nation but a treaty of aUiance between German states, the
famous " De^he Bund," the organ of which was to be the
" Bundestag.!!,; and this organ was to be composed of the rep
resentatives of the various German kings and princes, without
any vestige of a representation of the people. There was
no mention of any guarantee of civic rights, of a popular
vote, of a free press, of the freedom of assembly, of a trial by
jury. On the contrary, the "Bundestag," impotent as an
organ of the* German nation in its relations to the outside
world, developed itself only as a mutual insurance society of
despotic rulers— ^as a central pohce board for the suppression
of all national and hberal movements. The king of Prussia,
Frederick Wilham III., the same who had made the prom
ises to the people contained in the proclamation of Kalisch,
had probably in the days of distress and of national uprising
honestly meant to do what he promised. But his mind was
narrow and easily disposed to consider autocratic authority
on his part as necessary for the well-being of the world. Every
effort among the people in favor of free institutions of gov
ernment appeared to him as an attack on that absolute author
ity, and therefore as a revolutionary transgression; and the
mere reminder on the part of the people of his own promises
made to them in 1813 was resented by him as an arrogant self-
assertion of subjects, and as such to be repelled. Thus he be
came, perhaps unconsciously, the mere tool of Prince Metter
nich, the evil genius of Germany. The outcome was a period of
stupid reaction, a period of conferences of ministers for the
concoction of despotic measures, of cruel persecutions of patri
otic men whom they called demagogues, of barbarous press-
gagging, of brutal police excesses. In some of the small Ger
man states some advance was made toward liberal institutions,
[105]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHURZ
which, however, was usually followed by more odious measures
of repression on the part of the Bundestag. Such were the re
turns for the sacrifices and the heroism of the German people
in the struggle for national independence ; such was the fulfill
ment of the fair promises made by the princes. It was a time
of deepest humiliation. Even the Frenchmen, who had felt
the edge of the German sword, derided, not without reason,
the pitiable degradation of the victor.
Hope revived when Frederick William III.'s son and
successor, Frederick William IV., ascended the Prussian
:^hrone in 1840. He was regarded as a man of high inteUigence
and had, as crown-prince, excited fair expectations. Many con
sidered him incapable of continuing the stupid and sterile pol
icy of his father. Indeed, the first utterances of the new king
and the employment of able men in high positions encour
aged the hope that he harbored a national heart, in sympathy
with the patriotic aspirations of the German people, and that
the liberal currents of the time would find in him appreciative
understanding. But fresh disappointment foUowed. As soon
as the demand was pubhcly made, that now at last the old
promises of a representative government should be fulfilled,
the king's attitude changed. These demands were bluntly re-
peUed, and the censorship of the press was enforced with
renewed severity,
Frederick William IV. was possessed of a mystical faith
in the absolute power of kings " by the grace of God." He
indulged himself in romantic imaginings about the political
and social institutions of the Middle Ages, which had for him
greater charm than those befitting the nineteenth century.
He had sudden conceits, but no convictions; whuns, but no
genuine force of will; wit, but no wisdom. He possessed the
ambition to do something great and thus to engrave his name
[106]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
upon the history of the world; but he wished at heart to leave
everything substantially as it had been. He thought he could
satisfy the people with an appearance of participation in the
government without however in the least limiting the omnipo
tence of the crown. But these attempts ended like others made
by other monarchs in other times. The merely ostensible and in
sufficient things he offered served only to strengthen and in
flame the popular demand for something substantial and effec
tive. Revolutions often begin with apparent but unreal reforms.
He called " provincial diets," assemblies of local representa
tive bodies, with the expectation that they would modestly con
tent themselves with the narrow functions he prescribed for
them. But they petitioned vehemently for a great deal more.
The experiment of appearing to give and of really _withhold:
ing^^erything was boundJto~fair miserably. The petitions of
the provincial diets for freedom of the press, for trial by jury,
and a liberal constitution, became more and more pressing.
The discoritent gradually grew so general, the storm of peti
tions so violent, the repugnance of the people to the police-
despotism so menacing, that the old parade of the absolute
kingly power would no longer suffice, and some new step
in the direction of liberal innovations seemed imperatively
necessary. At last Frederick WiUiam IV. decided to convoke the
so-called " United Diet," an assembly consisting of the mem
bers of all the provincial diets, to meet on April 11, 1847,
in Berlin. But it was the old game over again. This assembly
was to have the look of a parliament and yet not to be one. Its
convocation was always to depend upon the pleasure of the
king. Its powers were circumscribed within the narrowest
limits. It was not to make laws nor to pass binding resolutions.
It was to serve only as a sort of privy council to the king, to
[107]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
assist him in forming his decisions, its wishes to be presented
to him only by way of petition. In the speech with which
the king opened the United Diet, he declared with em
phasis that this was now the utmost concession to which he
would ever consent; he would never, never permit a piece of
paper, meaning a written constitution, to be put between the
¦prince and his people; the people themselves, he claimed, did
not desire a participation of their representatives in the govern
ment; the absolute power of the king must not be broken; " the
crown must reign and govern according to the laws of God
and of the country and according to the king's own resolu
tions " ; he could not, and must not, " govern according to the
will of majorities " ; and he, the king, " would never have called
this assembly had he ever suspected in the slightest degree that
its members would try to play the part of so-caUed representa
tives of the people." This was now, he said, the fulfillment,
and "more than the fulfillment," of the promises made
in the time of distress in 1813, beforeC.the expulsion of the
French. General disappointment and increasing discontent fol
lowed this pronouncement. But the concession made by the
king in fact signified more than he had anticipated. A king
who wishes to govern with absolute power must not permit a
public discussion of the policy and of the acts of the govern
ment by men who stand nearer to the people than he does. The
United Diet could indeed not resolve, but only debate and
petition. But that it could debate, and that its debates passed
through faithful newspaper reports into the intelligence of the
country — that was an innovation of incalculable consequence.
The bearing of the United Diet, on the benches of which
sat many men of uncommon capacity and liberal principles,
was throughout dignified, discreet and moderate. But the
[108]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
struggle against absolutism began instantly, and the people
followed it with constantly increasing interest. What has
happened in the history of the world more than once hap
pened again. Every step forward brought to the consciousness
of the people the necessity of further steps forward. And
now, when the king endeavored to stem the growing commo
tion, repeUed the moderate demands made by the United Diet
with sharp words, and dismissed that assembly " ungraciously,"
then the pubhc mind was, by the government itself, dragged
into that channel of thought in which revolutionary sentiments
grow. There had indeed long been some revolutionary agitators
who, in their isolation, had passed for dreamers and could
win but a slim following. But now the feeling began to spread
in large circles that the real thunder-storm was coming,
although hardly anybody anticipated how soon it would come.
In former days people had excited themselves about what
Thiers and Guizot had said in the French chambers, or Pal-
merston and Derby in the English parliament, or even what
Hecker, Rotteck and Welker had said in the little Diet of the
grand duchy of Baden. But now everybody listened with
nervous eagerness to every word that in the United Diet of
the most important of German states had fallen from the lips
of Camphausen, Vincke, Beckerath, Hansemann and other
liberal leaders. There was a feeling in the air as if this United
Diet, in its position and the task to be performed by it, was
not at all unlike the French assembly of the year 1789.
We university students watched these events with per
haps a less clear understanding, but with no less ardent interest,
than our elders. As I have already mentioned, the " Burschen
schaft " had its political traditions. Immediately after the
wars of liberation — 1813 to 1815 — ^it had been among the first
[1091

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
in hne to raise the cry for the fulfiUment of the pledges given
by the princes. It had cultivated the national spirit with zeal,
although sometimes with exaggerated demonstrations. It had
furnished many victims in the persecutions of so-called dema
gogues. The political activity of the old Burschenschaft had
indeed not been continued by the younger associations; laut
" God, Liberty, Fatherland," had still remained the common
watchword; we still wore the prohibited black-red-golden rib
bon under our coats, and very many members of the new
Burschenschaft societies still recognized it as their duty to keep
themselves well informed of what happened in the political
world and to devote to it as active an interest as possible. Thus
the hberal currents of our time found among us enthusi
astic partisans, although we young people could not give a
very definite account of the practical steps to be taken.
In the prosecution of my studies I had taken up with
ardor the history of Europe at the period of the great Refor
mation. I expected to make this my specialty as a professor of
history. The great characters of that period strongly at
tracted me and I could not resist the temptation to clothe some
of them in dramatic form. So I planned a tragedy, the main
figure of which was to be Ulrich von Hutten, and I began to
elaborate some scenes in detail. At the beginning of the winter
semester of 1847-48 I had, made the acquaintance of a young
student from Detmold, who became not indeed a member, but
a guest of the Franconia. His name was Friedrich Althaus.
More than any young man of my acquaintance he responded
to the ideal of German youth. His was a thoroughly pure and
noble. nature and richly endowed with mental gifts. As we
pursued similar studies we easily became intimates, and this
friendship lasted with undiminished warmth long beyond the
university years. To him I confided my Hutten secret, and he
[110]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
encouraged me to carry out my plan. Happy were the hours
when I read to him what I had written and he gave me his
judgment, which usually was altogether too favorable. Thus
passed the larger part of the winter in useful and enjoyable
occupations. Then fate broke in with the force of a mighty
hurricane, which swept me, as well as many others, with irre
sistible power out of aU life-plans previously designed and
cherished.

[Ill]

CHAPTER V
One morning, toward the end of February, 1848, I sat
quietly in my attic-chamber, working hard at my tragedy of
" Ulrich von Hutten," when suddenly a friend rushed breath
lessly into the room, exclaiming: " What, you sitting here! Do
you not know what has happened? "
"No; what?"
" The French have driven away Louis Philippe and pro
claimed the republic."
I threw down my pen — and that was the end of " Ulrich
von Hutten." I never touched the manuscript again. We tore
down the stairs, into the street, to the market-square, the accus
tomed meeting-place for all the student societies after their
midday dinner. Although it was still forenoon, the market was
already crowded with young men talking excitedly. There was
no shouting, no noise, only agitated conversation. What did
we want there? This probably no one knew. But since the
French had driven away Louis Philippe and proclaimed the
republic, something of course must happen here, too. Some of
the students had brought their rapiers along, as if it were neces
sary at once to make an attack or to defend ourselves. We
were dominated by a vague feeling as if a great outbreak of
elemental forces had begun, as if an earthquake was impend
ing of which we had felt the first shock, and we instinctively
crowded together. Thus we wandered about in numerous bands
— to the " Kneipe," where our restlessness, however, would not
suffer us long to stay ; then to other pleasure resorts, where we
fell into conversation with all manner of strangers, to find in
[112]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
them the same confused, astonished and expectant state of
mind; then back to the market-square, to see what might be
going on there; then again somewhere else, and so on, without
aim and end, untU finally late in the night fatigue compeUed
us to find the way home.
The next morning there were the usual lectures to be at
tended. But how profitless! The voice of the professor
sounded like a monotonous drone coining from far away.
What he had to say did not seem to concern us. The pen that
should have taken notes remained idle. At last we closed with
a sigh the notebook and went away, impeUed by a feeling that
now we had something more important to do — to devote our
selves to the affairs of the fatherland. And this we did by seek
ing as quickly as possible again the company of our friends, in
order to discuss what had happened and what was to come. In
these conversations, excited as they were, certain ideas and
catchwords worked themselves to the surface, which expressed •
more or less the feelings of the people. Now had arrived in
Germany the day for the establishment of " German Unity,"
and the founding of a great, powerful national German Em
pire. In the first line the convocation of a national parliament.
Then the demands for civil rights and liberties, free speech,
free press, the right of free assembly, equality before the law,
a freely elected representation of the people with legislative
power, responsibility of ministers, self-government of the com
munes, the right of the people to carry arms, the formation of
a civic guard with elective officers, and so on — in short, that
which was called a " constitutional form of government on a
broad democratic basis." Republican ideas were at first only
sparingly expressed. But the word democracy was soon on
aU tongues, and many, too, thought it a matter of course
that if the princes should try to withhold from the people the
[113]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
rights and hberties demanded, force would take the place of
mere petition. Of course the regeneration of the fatherland
must, if possible, be accomplished by peaceable means, A few
days after the outbreak of this commotion I reached my nine
teenth birthday, I remember to have been so entirely absorbed
by what was happening that I could hardly turn my thoughts
to anything else. Like many of my friends, I was dominated by
the feeling that at last the great opportunity had arrived for
' giving to the German people the liberty which was their birth
right and to the German fatherland its unity and greatness, and
that it was now the first duty of every German to do and to
sacrifice everything for this sacred object. We were pro
foundly, solemnly in earnest.
' The first practical service we had to perform turned out
to be a very merry one. Shortly after the arrival of the tidings
from France the burgomaster of Bonn, a somewhat timid man,
believed the pubhc safety in his town to be in imminent danger.
In point of fact, in spite of the general excitement there were
really no serious disturbances of the public order. But the
burgomaster insisted that a civic guard must at once be organ
ized, to patrol the city and the surrounding country during the
night. The students, too, were called upon to join it, and as
this forming of such a guard was also part of our political pro
gramme, we at once willingly obeyed the summons, and we did
this in such numbers that soon the civic guard consisted in
great part of university men. Our prescribed task was to
arrest disturbers of the public order and suspicious individuals,
and to conduct them to the guardhouse; to induce gatherings
of a suspicious nature to disperse; to protect property and
generally to watch over the public safety. But the pubhc safety
being really in no manner threatened, and the patroUing of
the city and neighborhood meeting no serious need, the uni-
[114]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
versity men found in the whole proceeding an opportunity for
harmless amusement. Armed with our rapiers, the iron sheaths
of which were made to rattle upon the pavement to the best of
our abUity, we marched through the streets. Every sohtary
citizen whom we met late in the night was summoned with
ponapous phrases to " disperse " and to betake himself to his
" respective habitation," or, if it pleased him better, to follow
'^us to the guardhouse and have a glass of wine with us. When
ever we happened to run across a patrol not composed of stu
dents, but of citizens, we at once denounced them as a danger
ous mob, arrested them and took them to the guardhouse, where
with cheers for the new empire we drank as many glasses
together as there were points of reform in the political pro
gramme. The good burghers of Bonn fully appreciated the
humorous situation and entered heartily into the fun.
While all this looked merry enough, affairs elsewhere were
taking a serious turn — as serious as we, too, felt at the bottom
of our hearts.
Exciting news came from aU sides. In Cologne a threat
ening ferment prevailed. In the taverns and on the streets
resounded the " Marseillaise," which at that time still passed in
all Europe as the "hymn of liberty," On the public places great
meetings were held to consult about the demands to be made by
the people, A large deputation, headed by the late lieutenant
of artillery, August von Willich, forced its way into the hall
of the city council, vehemently insisting that the municipality
present as its own the demands of the people of Cologne to the
king. The streets resounded with the military drumbeat; the
soldiery marched upon the popular gatherings, and Willich,
as well as another ex-artillery officer, Fritz Anneke, were ar
rested; whereupon increasing excitement.
The Rhenish members of the prorogued United Diet im-
[115]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
plored the president of the province to urge upon the king
an immediate acceptance of the demands of the people as the
only thing that could prevent bloody conflicts. In CoblenzT
Diisseldorf, Aachen, Crefeld, Cleves and other cities on the
Rhine similar demonstrations took place. In South Germany
— ^in Baden, Hessen-on-the-Rhine, Nassau, Wiirtemberg,
Bavaria — ^the same revolutionary spirit burst forth like a
prairie-flre. In Baden the Grand Duke acceded almost at once
to what was asked of him, and so did the rulers of Wiirtem
berg, Nassau, and Hessen-Darmstadt, In Bavaria, where even
before the outbreak of the French February revolution the
notorious Lola Montez, favorite of King Ludwig I., had had
to yield her place near the throne to the wrath of the people,
uproar followed uproar to drive the king to liberal concessions.
In Hessen-Cassel the " Elector " also succumbed to the press
ure when the people had armed themselves for an uprising.
The students of the university of Giessen sent word to the
insurgent Hessians that they stood ready to help them. In
Saxony the defiant attitude of the citizens of Leipzig, under
the leadership of Robert Blum, quickly brought the king to
terms. Great news came from Vienna. There the students of the
university were the first to assail the Emperor of Austria with
the cry for liberty and citizens' rights. Blood flowed in the
streets, and the downfall of Prince Metternich was the result.
The students organized themselves as the armed guard of
liberty. In the great cities of Prussia there was a mighty com
motion. Not only Cologne, Coblenz and Trier, but also Bres-
lau, Konigsberg and Frankfurt-on-the-Oder, sent deputations
to Berlin to entreat the king. In the Prussian capital the
masses surged upon the streets, and everybody looked for
events of great import. [116]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
While such tidings rushed in upon us from all sides
like a roaring hurricane, we in the little university town of
Bonn were also busy preparing addresses to the sovereign, to
circulate them for signature and to send them to Berlin. On
the 18th of March we too had our mass demonstration. A
great multitude gathered for a solemn procession through the
streets of the town. The most respectable citizens, not a few
professors and a great number of students and people of all
grades marched in close ranks. At the head of the procession
Professor Kinkel bore the tricolor, black, red and gold, which
so long had been prohibited as the revolutionary flag. Arrived
on the market-square he mounted the steps of the city hall and
spoke to the assembled throng. He spoke with wonderful elo
quence, his voice ringing out in its most powerful tones as he
depicted a resurrection of German unity and greatness and of
the liberties and rights of the German people, which now must
be conceded by the princes or won by force by the people. And
when at last he waved the black, red and gold banner, and
predicted to a free German nation a magnificent future, en
thusiasm without bounds broke forth. People clapped their
hands, they shouted, they embraced one another, they shed
tears. In a moment the city was covered with black, red and
gold flags, and not only the Burschenschaft, but almost
everybody wore a black-red-gold cockade on his hat. While
on that 18th of March we were parading through the
streets suddenly sinister rumors flew from mouth to mouth.
It had been reported that the king of Prussia, after long hesi
tation, had finally concluded, like the other German princes, to
concede the demands that were pouring upon him from all
sides. But now a whispered report flew around that the soldiery
had suddenly fired upon the people and that a bloody struggle
was raging in the streets of Berlin. [117]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
The enthusiastic elation was f oUowed by a short time of
anxious expectancy. At last came the report of the awful
events that had taken place in the capital.
The king of Prussia, Frederick William IV., at first
received the petitions rushing in upon him with sullen silence.
He had so recently, and then so emphatically, even so defiantly,
proclaimed his inflexible determination never to consent to any
constitutional limitation of his kingly power, that the thought
of yielding to popular pressure anything that he fancied should
be only a free emanation of the royal will was well-nigh incon
ceivable to him. But the situation became more threatening
from day to day. Not only the language of the deputations
arriving from various parts of the kingdom constantly grew
more and more impetuous and peremptory, but the people of
Berlin began to hold mass meetings counting by thousands and
to greet with thundering acclamations the political watchwords
uttered by popular orators. The municipal authorities, too,
were swept into the current a;id entreated the king to make
concessions. At last he saw the necessity of yielding some
thing. On the 14th of March he gave a " gracious " answer to
an address presented by the city council, but that answer was
still too evasive and indefinite to satisfy public opinion. Mean^
while bloody collisions occurred between the police supported
by military detachments and the multitude thronging the pub
lic squares and streets, in which a merchant and a university
student were killed. The bitterness of feeling caused by these
events was somewhat assuaged by a rumor that the king had
resolved upon further and more important concessions, which
would be publicly announced on the 18th. He had indeed con
cluded to issue an edict opening a prospect of steps to be taken
in favor of national unity and abolishing the censorship of the
press. [118]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
On the afternoon of the fateful 18th of March an im
mense concourse of people assembled on the open square in
front of the royal palace, hoping to hear the authoritative
announcement that the popular demands had been granted.
The king appeared on the balcony and was received with
enthusiastic cheers. He attempted to speak, but could not be
heard. In the belief, however, that he had granted all that was
asked for, the people were ready for a jubilee. Then a cry
arose for the removal of the bodies of troops surrounding the
palace and appearing to separate the king from his people. It
seemed to be expected that this would be granted, too, for an
effort was made to open a passage for the soldiers through the
dense crowd, when a roll of drums was heard. This was re
garded as a signal for the departure of the soldiery; but,
instead of the troops withdrawing, heavy bodies of infantry
and cavalry pressed upon the multitude for the evident purpose
of clearing the square. Then two shots rang from the infantry
line and the whole scene suddenly and frightfully changed.
Frantic cries arose: " We are betrayed! We are betrayed! " In
an instant the mass of people who but a moment before had
joyously acclaimed the king, dispersed in the adjoining streets
with the angy shout, " To arms, to arms! " In all directions the
thoroughfares were soon blocked with barricades. The paving-
stones seemed to leap from the ground "and to form themselves
into bulwarks surmounted by black-red-gold flags, and manned
by citizens, university students, tradesmen, artists, laborers,
professional men — ^hastily armed with all sorts of weapons,
from rifles and shotguns down to pikes, axes and hammers.
There was no preparation, no plan, no system, in the uprising;
everybody seemed to follow a common instinct. Then the
troops were ordered to the assault. When, after a fierce fight
they had taken one barricade, they were at short distances con-
[119]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
fronted by another and another. Behind the barricades women
were busy bringing food and drink for the fighters and caring
for the wounded. During the whole night the city resounded
with the roar of cannon and the rattle of musketry, v^
The king seemed at first sternly determined to put down
the insurrection at any cost; but as the street battle proceeded
he became painfully conscious of its terrible character. Reports
arrived in rapid succession. He would now give an order to
stop the fight and then an order to go on. Shortly after mid
night he wrote with his own hand an address to " My dear Ber-
liners." He began by saying that the firing of the two shots
which had caused the excitement had been a mere accident, that
a band of miscreants, mostly foreigners, had taken advantage
of this misunderstanding to goad many of his good subjects
into this fratricidal fight. Then he promised to withdraw the
troops as soon as the insurgents would remove the barricades,
and he implored them " to hsten to the fatherly voice of their
king, to which the grievously suffering queen joined her affec
tionate and tearful prayers," But the address failed to produce
the desired effect. It was accompanied with the roar of cannon
and the rattle of musketry, and the fighting citizens rather re
sented being called " a band of miscreants."
At last, on the afternoon of Sunday, the 19th of March,
when one of the high commanders of the troops, General
MoUendorf , had been captured by the citizens, the withdrawal
of the troops was resolved upon. Peace was concluded on the
understanding that the army should leave Berlin, that there
should be freedom of the press, and that Prussia should have
a constitution on a broad democratic basis. When the soldiery
had marched off something happened that in dramatic force
and significance has never been surpassed in the history of revo
lutions. From all parts of the city solemn and silent processions
[ 120 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
moved toward the royal palace. They escorted the bodies of
those of the people who had been kiUed in the battle ; the corpses
of the slain were carried aloft on htters, their gaping wounds
uncovered, their heads wreathed with laurel branches and im-
morteUes. So the processions marched into the inner palace
court, where the litters were placed in rows in ghastly parade,
and around them the multitude of men with pallid faces, be
grimed with blood and powder smoke, many of them still car
rying the weapons with which they had fought during the
night; and among them women and children bewailing their
dead. Then the king was loudly called for. He appeared in
an open gallery, pale and dejected, by his side the weeping
queen, " Hat off ! " the multitude shouted, and the king took
off his hat to the dead below. Then a deep voice among the
crowd intoned the old hymn, " Jesus, meine Zuversicht " —
" Jesus, my Refuge," in which all present joined. The chorus
finished, the king silently withdrew and the procession moved
away in grim solemnity.
This was a terrible humiliation to the crown, but at the
same time a pointed answer to the king's address in which the
fighters had been denounced as a band of miscreants, or as
the seduced victims of such a band. Had there really been
such miscreants, or persons answering our present conception
of anarchists, among them, Frederick William IV. would
hardly have survived that terrible moment when he stood be
fore them, alone and defenseless, and they fresh from the
battlefield with guns in their hands. But at that moment their
cry was not " Death to the king I " nor " Down with royalty! "
but " Jesus, my Refuge! "
Nor was the history of those fateful days tainted by any
act of heinous crime; indeed, two private houses were sacked,
the owners of which had been caught betraying the fighting
[121]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
citizens to the soldiery. But while the insurgents were in com
plete control of large portions of the city during the whole
night, there was not a single case of theft or of wanton de
struction. Property was absolutely safe.
The " Prince of Prussia," the oldest brother of the child
less king and presumptive heir to the throne — ^the same prince
who as Kaiser William I. was in the course of events to be
come the most popular monarch of his time — was reported to
have given the order to fire on the people, and the popular
wrath turned upon him. By order of the king the prince left
Berlin under cover of night and hurried to England. Ex
cited crowds gathered in front of his palace on the street
" Unter den Linden," There was no mUitary guard to protect
the building, A university student put upon its front the in
scription " National property," and it was not touched. Im
mediately after the street battle had ceased the shops were
opened again as in ordinary times.
Arms were distributed among the people from the gov
ernment armories. The king declared, " I have become con
vinced that the peace and the safety of the city cannot be
better maintained than by the citizens themselves," On the
21st of March Frederick William IV, appeared again
among the people, on horseback, a black-red-gold scarf
around his arm, a black-red-gold flag at his request carried
before him, a huge tricolor hoisted at the same moment on
the royal palace. The king spoke freely to the citizens. He
would " place himself at the head of the movement for a
united Germany; in that united Germany Prussia would be
merged." He swore that he wanted nothing but a " constitu
tional and united Germany." At the university building he
turned to the assembled students, saying, " I thank you for the
glorious spirit you have shown in these days. I am proud that
[122]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
Germany possesses such sons." It was understood that a new
and responsible ministry had been appointed, composed of
members of the liberal opposition; that a constituent assembly
to be elected by the Prussian people should be convoked to
frame a constitution for the kingdom of Prussia ; and a national
parliament to be elected by the people of all the German states,
to meet at Frankfurt for the purpose of uniting all Germany
under a new constitutional government. The people of Berlin
were in ecstasy.
" The heroes f aUen in the glorious struggle for social and
political liberty," as the proclamation of the municipal as
sembly called them, were carried for burial to the Friedrichs-
hain cemetery, accompanied by two hundred thousand citizens,
who took the coffins past the royal palace, where the king again
stood with uncovered head^
Such were the great tidings the country received from
Berhn, Thus the cause of liberty and national union seemed
to have achieved a decisive and irreversible victory. The kings
and princes themselves, foremost the King of Prussia, had
solemnly promised to serve it. The jubilation of the people
was without bounds.
Since the French-German war of 1870 and the establish
ment of the present German Empire it has been the fashion in
Germany to scoff at the year 1848, dubbing it the " crazy
year," and to ridicule the " thoughtlessness " with which at that
time great political programmes were made, comprehensive
demands formulated, and f ar-reaching*movements set on foot,
to be followed by cruel disappointments and catastrophes.
But did the German people of 1848 deserve such ridicule?
True, the men of those times did not know how to deal with
the existing conditions, nor to carry to the desired end the
movement so victoriously and hopefully begun. It is equally
[ 123]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
true that the popular movement was disjointed and now in
retrospect appears in certain lights fantastic. But what rea
sonable person can wonder at this? The people, although
highly developed in science, philosophy, literature and, art,
had always hved under a severe guardianship in all po
litical matters. They had never been out of leading strings.
They had observed only from afar how the other_nations
exercised their right to govern themselves, and managed their
active participation in the functions of the state, andthose
foreign nations the Germans had learned to admire and per
haps to envy. They had studied the theory of free institutions
in books and had watched their workings in current news-'^
paper reports. They had longed for the possession of like
institutions and earnestly striven for their introduction in their
own country. But with all this observing, learning, and long
ing, and striving, the larger part of the German people had
been excluded by the prevailing rigid paternalism from prac
tical experience in the exercise of political self-government.
They had not been permitted to learn the practical meaning of
political liberty. They had never received or known the teach
ings which spring from the feeling of responsibihty in free
political action. The affairs of government lay outside of the
customs and habits of their lives. Free institutions were to them
mere abstract conceptions, about which the educated and the
seriously thinking men indulged in politico-philosophical specu
lations, while to the uneducated and the superficial they only
furnished political catchwords, in the use of which the gen
eral discontent with existing conditions found vent.
Suddenly after a prolonged fermentation, and following
an impulse from abroad, the German people rose up in
strength. The kings and princes now conceded everything
that they had refused before, and the people found themselves
[124]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
all at once in full possession of an unaccustomed power. Is it
to be wondered at that these surprising changes brought forth
some confused desires and misdirected endeavors? Would it
not have been more astonishing if the people had at once
clearly, defined and wisely limited their desires, and promptly
found the right means for the attainment of the right objects?
Do we expect that the beggar who suddenly becomes a mil-
honaire wUl instantly know how to make the best use of his
unwonted wealth? And yet, it cannot be said of the large
majority of the German people that, however vague their
political notions may have been, they asked in the revolution
ary movements of the year 1848 in the main for anything
that was unreasonable or unattainable. Much of what they
at that period sought to accomplish has since been reahzed.
The errors committed by them in 1848 were more in the means
employed than in the ends aimed at. And the greatest of
these errors sprang from the childlike confidence with which
they expected the complete fulfillment of all the promises which
the kings and princes, especially the King of Prussia, had
made under stress of circumstances. It is idle to indulge
in speculations about that which might have been if that which
was had been different. But one thing is certain: If the
princes had not permitted themselves to be seduced by the
machinations of the reactionary parties on the one side, nor
to be frightened by occasional popular excesses on the other,
but had with unflinching fidehty and with the exertion
of all their power done that which in March, 1848, they had
given the people reason to expect of them, the essential ob
jects fought for at that period would have proved themselves
entirely practicable. It was indeed not prudent on the part of
the people in their enthusiastic enjoyment of what they called
the " Volkerfriihling " — ^the People's Springtime — an enjoy-
[ 125 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
ment to which they gave themselves with such ingenuous elation,
to cherish that credulous confidence, instead of assuring
themselves of the necessary guarantees against a reaction
bound to come; but this imprudence sprang from no ignoble
source. He surely wrongs the German people who lays solely
at their and their leaders' doors the responsibility for the fail
ures of the years 1848-49, overlooking the tergiversations of
the princes. But what should make the memory of that " springtime "
especiaUy dear to Germans is the enthusiastic spirit of self-
sacrifice for the great cause which for a while pervaded almost
every class of society with rare unanimity. It is this moral
elevation which, even if sometimes it ran into fantastic exag
gerations, the German people should prize and honor — of
which they should certainly not be ashamed. My heart warms
whenever I think of those days. In my immediate surround
ings I knew hosts of men who at that time were ready at any
moment to abandon and risk all for the liberty of the people
and the greatness of the fatherland. We ought to respect
him who is willing to throw away all, even life itself, for a good
and great idea. And whoever, be it an individual or people, has
had in life moments of such self-sacrificing enthusiasm, should
hold the memory of them sacred.
Upon the occasion of a crowded public meeting of
university men in the " Aula," the great university hall at
Bonn, I found myself, quite unintentionally, thrust into a con
spicuous position among my fellow-students. I do not remem
ber the special purpose for which the meeting was held.
Professor Ritschl, our foremost phUologist and, if I recollect
rightly, at that time dean of the philosophical faculty, a very
highly esteemed and popular man, was in the chair. I stood
among the crowd. I had thought much and formed a decided
[126]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
opinion of the subject which was under discussion, but did
not attend the meeting with the intention of taking part in
the debate. Suddenly I heard some of the speakers say some
thing very repugnant to my feelings, and following a sudden
impulse, I found myself the next moment speaking to the as
sembly. I have never been able to recollect what I said. I only
remember that I was in a nervous condition until then entirely
unknown to me; that thoughts and words came to me in an
uninterrupted flow; that I spoke with vehement rapidity,
and that the applause following my speech wakened me out
of something like a dream. This was my first public speech.
When the meeting had adjourned I met at the exit of the
hall Professor Ritschl, As I attended some of his lectures
he knew me. He put his hand upon my shoulder and asked:
" How old are you? "
" Nineteen years."
'Too bad; stiU too young for our new German parha-
ment." I blushed all over; that I should become a member of
any parliament — ^that was a thought to which my ambition had
never soared. I feared the good professor had permitted him
self to joke with me.
Before long I was again in the foreground. Like all othe^
orders of society in those days, we university men had our
pecuhar grievances which in the " new time " were to be re
dressed. The Prussian Government kept at the universities
an official one of whose principal duties it was to watch the
political tendencies of professors and students. This office had
been created at the time of the " persecution of demagogues,"
after the notorious ministerial conferences at Carlsbad, and
was therefore in bad odor with liberal-minded men. The officer
in question was at that time Herr von Bethmann HoUweg.
[127]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
More on account of his duties than of his personal qualities
he was highly unpopular with the students. We thought that
such an officer, a product of the period of deepest degradation,
did not fit the new order of things and must speedily be abol
ished. A meeting of students was therefore called at the
riding academy, from which, our object having been rumored
about, the professors prudently absented themselves. My
impromptu speech in the Aula caused my election as president
of this meeting. We resolved to present an address to the
academic senate, demanding that the officer in question should
at once be removed. As chairman of the meeting I was charged
with the duty to write the address on the spot. This was done.
It was couched in very peremptory language and consisted
only of four or five fines. The meeting approved it forthwith,
and resolved — as in those days we loved to do things in dra
matic style — to proceed in mass to the house of the rector of
the university and personally to present the paper to him. So
we marched, seven or eight hundred men, in dense column, to
the dwelling of the rector and rang the bell. The rector, Herr
van Calker, professor of philosophy, an oldish, anxious-looking
little man, soon appeared on the doorstep, and I read to him
the energetic sentences of our address. For a moment he tim
idly looked at the crowd of students, and then told us in halting
and stammering phrases how rej( ed he was to behold the
soaring spirit of German youth r how the students could
accomplish in these important days great things, and that he
would be happy to submit our address to the academic senate
and to the government for speedy consideration and adjust
ment. We read upon the face of the good little man, toward
whom everyone of us felt most kindly, that he contemplated
the soaring spirit of German youth with a certain uneasiness,
thanked him for his good-will, took our leave politely and
[128 ]

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CARL SCHURZ AT NINETEEN
THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
marched back to the market-square. There it was reported to
us — whether truly or not — that during our visit to the rector
the unpopular officer in question had speedily packed his trunks
and already left the town.
While the jubilation over the " Marzerrungenschaften "
— ^the results of the revolutionary movements in March — at
first seemed to be general, and even the adherents of absolutism
put a good face on a bad business, soon a separation into dif
ferent party-groups began between those whose principal aim
was the restoration of order and authority — ^the conservatives ;
those who wished slow and moderate progress — the constitu
tionalists; and those who aimed at securing the fruits of the
revolution in " a constitutional government on the broadest
democratic basis " — the democrats. Instinctive impulse as well
a§ logical reasoning led me to the democratic side. There I met
Kinkel again, and our friendship soon became very intimate.
In the course of our common activity the formal relations be
tween teacher and pupil yielded to a tone of thorough com
radeship. In the beginning the zealous work of agitation absorbed
almost aU our time and strength. Kinkel, indeed, still deliv
ered his lectures, and I also attended mine with tolerable regu
larity; but my heart was not in them as before. All the more
eagerly I studied modern history, especially the history of the
French Revolution, and read a large number of politico-philo
sophical works and of pamphlets and periodicals of recent
date, which treated of the problems of the time. In this way
I endeavored to clear my political conceptions and to fill the
large gaps in my historical knowledge — a want which I felt
all the more seriously as my task as an agitator was to me a
sacred duty.
First we organized a democratic club consisting of citi-
[129]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
zens and students, which found in the so-called Constitutional
Club, led by Professor Lobell, a very able man, a most re
spectable opponent. Then we founded a local organ for the
democratic party, the Bonner Zeitung, a daily paper, the edit
orship of which was undertaken by Kinkel, while I, as a
regular contributor, had to furnish every day one or more
articles. And finally, once or twice a week, in fact as often as
we could, we marched out to the neighboring villages to
preach to the country people the political gospel of the new
time, and also to organize them into democratic clubs.
Undoubtedly, the nineteen-year-old journalist and speaker
brought forth a great deal of undigested stuff, but he believed
sincerely and warmly in his cause and would have been ready
at any time to sacrifice himself for it.
My activity in this direction, however, soon after its begin
ning came very near a sudden stop. Long before the breaking
out of the revolution of March, the people of the Duchies of
Schleswig and Holstein had made great efforts, while being
united with Denmark by a " personal union," to win a politi
cally independent existence. In March, 1848, the people of those
Duchies rose in mass to the end of securing this independent
position, and of making not only Holstein, but also Schleswig
a part of the German Confederation. This uprising awakened
in all Germany the liveliest sympathy, and in various places
efforts were made to raise volunteer troops for the assistance
of the people of the Duchies against the Danes. Especially at
the universities these efforts struck a responsive chord, and
students in large numbers went to Schleswig-Holstein to join
the volunteer organizations. My first impulse was to do like
wise, I was already engaged in serious preparations for de
parture when Kinkel persuaded me to desist, because the libera
tion of Schleswig-Holstein from the Danish yoke would, be
[130]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
recognized by. the German Parliament and the German gov
ernments as a national cause, and the Prussian and other regu
lar troops would do much better service in the war than the
loosely organized and badly driUed bodies of hastily gathered
volunteers. Neither did he conceal from me that he was anxious
to keep me with him in Bonn, where, as he sought to convince
me, I could do the Fatherland much better service in the way of
agitation for our cause. As it turned out, the volunteer organi
zations formed by students fought right bravely in Schleswig-
Holstein, but when facing the superior discipline and tactics
of the Danish troops, found themselves exposed to all sorts of
ugly accidents. The service so rendered was therefore in no
proportion to the sacrifices made by their members. The re
ports brought by several students who, after having served in
Schleswig-Holstein for a little time, returned to the universi
ties, consoled me for the restraint I had put upon my warlike
ardor. Several of these Schleswig-Holstein volunteers came to
Bonn, and among them Adolph Strodtmann, who at a later
period achieved in German hterature a respectable place. He
became my near personal friend, and wiU appear as such in this
story of my hfe on various occasions. He was the son of a
Protestant clergyman in Hadersleben, a little town in the
Duchy of Schleswig, Father and son were enthusiastic adher-
erits of the pro-German national cause, and young Adolph, who
shortly before the outbreak of the Schleswig-Holstein uprising
had left the gymnasium, joined at' once a corps of student-vol
unteers. He was unfit for military service in a rare degree, for
he was not only very nearsighted, but also of imperfect hearing.
He told us frequently vsdth great humor of his only martial
achievement. One morning the corps of students was surprised
in their camp by the Danes and roughly handled- Strodtmann
[131]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
noticed the general tumult and concluded that something ex
traordinary was the matter. The orders which were given he
did not understand; but he joined the crowd of others and soon
found himself alone enveloped in powder-smoke. " Then," he
added, " I fired my rifle twice, but do not know to this moment
whether in the right or wrong direction. I was so nearsighted
that I could not distinguish the Danes from our people. I al
most fear that I fired in the wrong direction, for suddenly
I felt something like a heavy blow in my back ; I fell and re
mained on the ground until the Danes lifted me up and took
me away. It was found that a buUet had hit nie in the back
and had gone straight through me. Of course only a Dane
could have shot me in the back, and inasmuch as I always re
mained in the one spot during the fight, I must have turned my
back towards the Danes and fired off my rifle in the direction of
our own people." Dangerously wounded, Strodtmann was
taken to the "Dronning Maria," the Danish prison-ship, and
after a little while exchanged. After a speedy recovery he came
to the University of Bonn, to study languages and literature.
His physical infirmities made him a somewhat singular per
son. His deafness caused all sorts of funny misunderstandings,
at which he usually was the first to laugh. He spoke with a very
loud voice as if the rest of us had been as deaf as he was him
self. In consequence of his wound he had accustomed himself
in walking to put one shoulder forward so that he always looked
as if he were squeezing himself through an invisible crowd of
people, and he was at the same time so inattentive that he ran
against all possible objects. But he was a most sincere and
honest enthusiast; of almost childlike ingenuousness in his
views of men, things, and events ; in a high degree capable of
self-sacrifice and open to generous and noble impulses. His
gifts as well as his inchnations made him devote him-
[ 132 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
self to literature. His verses, which he produced in great
profusion and with uncommon facility, excelled less by orig
inality of thought or, fancy, than by an abundant and superb
flow of poetical expression. It was largely owing to this talent
that he subsequently wrote some admirable translations of
French, English and Danish poetry and prose. His political
instincts were strongly democratic, and he joined the agitation
led by Kinkel with great zeal. It was thus that he and I
became fast friends.

[133]

chapter VI
The political horizon which after the revolution in March
looked so glorious soon began to darken. In South Germany,
where the opinion had gained ground that the revolution
should not have " stood stiU before the thrones," a repubhcan
uprising took place under the leadership of the brilhant and
impetuous Hecker, which, however, was speedily suppressed
by force of arms. In the country at large such attempts found
at first little sympathy. The bulk of the liberal element did not
desire anything beyond the establishment of national unity
and a constitutional monarchy " on a broad democratic basis,"
But the republican sentiment gradually spread and was inten
sified as the " reaction " assumed a more and more threatening
shape. The national parliament at Frankfurt elected in the
spring, which represented the sovereignty of the German
people in the large sense and was to give to the united Ger
man nation a national government, counted among its mem
bers a great many men illustrious in the fields, not of politics,
but of science and literature. It soon showed a dangerous ten
dency of squandering in brilliant, but more or less fruitless,
debates much of the time which was sorely needed for prompt
and decisive action to secure the legitimate results of the revo
lution against hostile forces.
But our eyes were turned still more anxiously upon Ber
lin. Prussia was by far the strongest of the purely German
states. The Austrian empire was a conglomeration of differ
ent nationalities — German, Magyar, Slavic and Italian, The
[ 134 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHURZ
German element, to which the dynasty and the political capital
belonged, had so far been the predominant one. It was most
advanced in civilization and wealth, although inferior in num
bers. But the Slavs, the Magyars and the Italians, stimu
lated by the revolutionary movements of 1848, were striving
for national autonomy, and although Austria had held the
foremost place in the later periods of the ancient German em
pire and then after the Napoleonic wars in the German
Confederacy, it seemed problematic whether her large non-
German interests would permit her to play a leading part now
in the political unification of Gtermany under a constitutional
government. In fact, it turned out subsequently that the
mutual jealousies of the different races enabled the Austrian
central government to subjugate to despotic rule one by the
other, in spite of the hopeful beginnings of the revolution, and
that the non-German interests of Austria and those of the
dynasty were predominant in her policy. But Prussia, except
ing a comparatively small Pohsh district, was a purely Ger
man country, and by far the strongest among the German
states in point of numbers, of general education, of economic
activity and especiaUy of military power. It was, therefore,
generally felt that the attitude of Prussia would be decisive
in determining the fate of the revolution.
For a while the Prussian king, Frederick William IV,,
seemed to be pleased with the role of a leader in the national
movement which the revolution had made him assume. His
volatile nature seemed to be warmed by a new enthusiasm. He
took walks on the streets and talked freely with the' peoplcl
He spoke of constitutional principles of government to be in
troduced as a matter of course. He loudly praised the noble
generosity which the people of Berlin had manifested toward
him in the hours of stress. He ordered the army to wear the
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
black-red-gold cockade together with the Prussian. On the
parade ground at Potsdam he declared to the sulking officers
of the guards " that he felt himself perfectly safe, free and
happy among the citizens of Berhn; that all the concessions
made by him had been made of his own free wUl and according
to his own convictions, and that nobody should dare to ques-
,tiQrLthis."|But when the Prussian constituent assembly had
met in Berlin and began to pass laws, and to design constitu
tional provisions, and to interfere with the conduct of the
government in the spirit of the revolution, the king's mind
gradually opened itself to other influences, and those influ
ences gained access to him and surrounded him all the more
readily since he removed his residence from Berlin to his
palace at Potsdam, a little town preponderantly inhabited by
courtiers and soldiers and other dependents of the govern
ment. Thus the king's immediate contact with the people
ceased, his conferences with the newly appointed liberal min
isters were conflned to short formal " audiences," and voices
appealing to old sympathies, prepossessions and partialities
were constantly nearest to his ear.
There was the army, traditionally the pet of the Hohen-
zoUerns, smarting under the " disgrace " of its withdrawal
from Berlin after the street battle, and pining for revenge
and restoration of its prestige. There was the court nobility,
whose business it always had been to exalt and flatter the royial
person. There was the landed aristocracy, the " Junker " ele
ment, whose feudal privileges were theoretically denied by the
revolutionary spirit and practically invaded by the legislative
action of the representatives of the people, and who artfully
goaded the king's pride. There was the old bureaucracy, the
power of which had been broken by the revolution, although
its personnel had but little been changed, and which sought to
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
recover its former sway. There was the " old Prussian " spirit
which resented any national aspirations that might encroach
upon the importance and self -appreciation of specific Prus-
siandom, and which still had strength in the country im
mediately surrounding Berhn and in some of the eastern
provinces. All these forces, which in a general term were pop
ularly called " the reaction," worked together to divert the
king from the course he had ostensibly taken immediately
after the revolution of March, with the hope of using him
for the largest possible restoration of the old order of things
— well knowing that if they controlled him, they would,
through him, control the army, and then with it a tremendous,
perhaps decisive, force in the conflicts to come. And this
" reaction " was greatly strengthened by the cunning ex
ploitation of some street excesses that happened in Berlin —
excesses which in a free country like England might, indeed,
have brought forth some vigorous measures of repression by
the police, but would certainly not have induced anybody to call
the practicabiUty of civil freedom or of the constitutional
principles of government in question. But these occurrences
were_used in Prussia with considerable effect to frighten the
timid men of the bourgeoisie with the specter of general an
archy, and to persuade the king that after all the restoration
of unrestrained royal power was necessary for the mainte
nance of law and order.
On the other hand, the visible development of the reaction
had the effect of producing among many of those who stood
earnestly for national unity and constitutional government, a
state of mind more open to radical tendencies. The rapid
progress of these developments was clearly perceptible in my
own surroundings. Our democratic club was composed in al
most equal parts of students and citizens, among whom there
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THE EEMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
were many of excellent character, of some fortune and good
standing, and of moderate views, while a few others had worked
themselves into a state of mind resembling that of the terror
ists in the French Revolution. Kinkel was the recognized
leader of the club, and I soon became a member of the execu
tive committee. At first the estabhshment of a constitutional
monarchy with universal suffrage and weU-secured civU rights
would have been quite satisfactory to us. But the reaction, the
threatened rise of which we were observing, gradually made
many of us beheve that there was no safety for popular lib
erty except in a republic. From this belief there was only one
step to the further conclusion, that in a republic, and only in
a republic, all evils of the social body could be cured, and the
solution of aU the political problems would be possible. The
idealism which saw in the republican citizen the highest em
bodiment of human dignity we had imbibed from the study
of classic antiquity ; and the history of the French Revolution
satisfied us that a republic could be created in Germany and
could maintain its existence in the European system of states.
In that history we found striking examples of the possibility
of accomphshing the seemingly impossible, if only the whole
energy resting in a great nation were awakened and directed
with unflinching boldness. Most of us indeed recoiled from
the wild excesses which had stained with streams of innocent
blood the national uprising in France during the Reign of
Terror, But we hoped to stir up the national energies without
such terrorism. At any rate the history of the French Revolu
tion furnished to us models in plenty that mightily excited our
imagination. How dangerously seductive such a play of the
imagination is, we were of course then unaware.
As usually happens, we tried first to imitate our models
in certain external things. To emphasize the principle of
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
equality among the members of our club, we introduced the
rule that there should be for all, however different might be
their rank in life, only one form of address, namely, " citi
zen." There was to be no longer a " Herr Professor Kinkel,"
but only a " Citizen Kinkel," and so on through the list. We
did not permit ourselves to be disturbed by the ridicule which
this oddity attracted, for we were profoundly in earnest, sin
cerely believing that by the introduction of this style we could
give tone to the developments which would inevitably come.
Of the debates in our club my recollection is not distinct
enough to say how much reason or how much unreason there
was in them. At aU events they were carried on sometimes
with remarkably eloquent earnestness, because most of the par
ticipants spoke from genuine honesty of conviction.
In the course of the summer Kinkel and I were invited
to represent the club at a congress of democratic associations
in Cologne. This assembly, in which I remained a shy and
silent observer, became remarkable to me in bringing me into
personal contact with some of the prominent men of that
period, among others, the leader of the communists, Karl
Marx. He could not have been much more than thirty years
old at that time, but he already was the recognized head of
the advanced socialistic school. The somewhat thick-set man,
with his broad forehead, his very black hair and beard and his
dark sparkling eyes, at once attracted general attention. He
enjoyed the reputation of having acquired great learning, and
as I knew very little of his discoveries and theories, I was all
the more eager to gather words of wisdom from the lips of that
famous man. This expectation was disappointed in a peculiar
way. Marx's utterances were indeed full of meaning, logical
and clear, but I have never seen a man whose bearing was so
provoking and intolerable. To no opinion, which differed from
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
his, he accorded the honor of even a condescending consider
ation. Everyone who contradicted him he treated with abject
contempt; every argument that he did not like he answered
either with biting scorn at the unfathomable ignorance that had
prompted it, or with opprobrious aspersions upon the motives of
him who had advanced it. I remember most distinctly the cut
ting disdain with which he pronounced the word " bourgeois " ;
and as a " bourgeois," that is as a detestable example of the
deepest mental and moral degeneracy he denounced everyone
that dared to oppose his opinion. Of course the propositions
advanced or advocated by Marx in that meeting were voted
down, because evl^ryone whose feelings had been hurt by his
conduct was inclined to support everything that Marx did not
favor. It was very evident that not only he had not won any
adherents, but had repeUed many who otherwise might have
become his f oUowers.
From this meeting I took home with me a very important
lesson : that he who would be a leader and teacher of men must
treat the opinions of his hearers with respect; that even the
most superior mind will lose influence upon others if he seeks
to humUiate those others by constant demonstrations of his
superiority. That public man wiU be most successful in en
lightening and winning the ignorant who puts himself upon
their standpoint, not with condescension, but with sympathy.
On the whole the summer of 1848 was to me a time of
work and worry. The newspaper for which I had to write
articles, the agitation in clubs and popular meetings, and be
sides my studies, imposed upon me a very heavy burden of
labor, in which — I must confess — ^my studies fell into a some
what subordinate place. What troubled me most was the visi
bly and constantly growing power of the reactionary forces
and the frittering away of the opportunities to create some-
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
thing real and durable, by the national parliament in Frank
furt and by the assembly in Berlin. I remember weU to have
carried with me an oppressive consciousness of my own
ignorance in pohtical things, which was the more painful the
more urgent appeared the necessity for the people to be pre
pared for prudent and energetic action in the decisive strug
gles which impended.
Our activity, however, had also a cheerful side of which
my youthful spirits were keenly susceptible. We students en
joyed with th6 country-people a very great popularity, and
even persons who did not sympathize with us politically re
ceived us with a kindness which sometimes was so exuberant
as to make our presence the occasion of gay festivities.
The most interesting event of those days which I have
cherished in my memory was the student-congress in Eisen
ach, which occurred in September, 1848, and which I attended
as one of the chosen representatives of the university men of
Bonn. This was the first long journey of my life. I had never
before been far enough away from my paternal roof that I
might not have returned in a few hours. On a bright Septem
ber morning I sailed up the Rhine from Bonn to Mainz, I
should have enjoyed it with the fullness of youthful spirits
had I been able to drive away the disquieting thoughts which
were stirred up by confused rumors of a riot and street-battle
in Frankfurt. In fact, upon my arrival in that city I found
those rumors distressingly verified.
The revolt in Frankfurt was the outcome of the follow
ing events. I have already mentioned that the popular up
rising in the duchies of Holstein and Schleswig against the
Danish rule had been sanctioned as a national cause by the old
Diet of the German Confederation, and then by the national
parliament and by aU the several German governments.
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
Prussian and other German troops had marched into the
duchies and won considerable advantages over the Danish
army on the field of battle. Everything promised a speedy
and happy termination of the war. It was therefore a painful
surprise when the Prussian government, whose head, Fred
erick William IV,, had as usual permitted himself to be intimi
dated by the other European powers, concluded in the name
of the German Confederation a truce with Denmark — the so-
called "truce of Mahnp" — in which it was agreed that the
victorious Gennan troops were to retire from the duchies,
that the duchies were to lose their own provisional govern
ment, and that a commission composed of two Prussians, two
Danes and a fifth member to be elected by them was to govern
the disputed country. At the same time all the laws and ordi
nances that had been issued by the Schleswig-Holstein au
thorities since the days of March, 1848, were declared invalid.
This truce called forth the greatest indignation aU over Ger
many. The representative assembly of Schleswig-Holstein
protested. The national parliament in Frankfurt, which saw
not only the honor of Germany greviously compromised, but
its own authority overruled by these proceedings of the
Prussian government, resolved on September 5 to refuse the
recognition of the truce of Malmo and to demand the suspen
sion of all the measures stipulated therein. But after several
failures to form a new ministry on the basis of this resolution,
and not daring to bring the question of authority between
itself and the Prussian government to a direct issue, the par
liament revoked the resolution of September 5, ten days later,
and declared at the same time that the execution of the truce of
Malmo could apparently no longer be hindered. This declara
tion, which seemed to strike the sympathies of the German
people full in the face, caused immense excitement, of Which
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
the revolutionary leaders in Frankfurt and the surrounding
country at once took advantage. On the next day a large
mass meeting was held on a meadow near Frankfurt, Inflam
matory speeches goaded the passions of the multitude to fury,
and the meeting adopted resolutions by which the members of
the majority of the national parliament in Frankfurt were
branded as traitors to the German nation. Troops of armed
democrats poured in from all sides, and an attempt was made
to force the parliament to revoke the hateful declaration, or to
drive out the traitorous majority. Two prominent conser
vative members of the parliament. Count Auerswald and
Prince Lichnowsky, fell into the hands of the revolutionists
and were killed; and then followed a bloody struggle in the
streets of Frankfurt, in which the insurgents soon succumbed
to the quickly concentrated troops.
When on my way to Eisenach I arrived in Frankfurt, the
victorious soldiery stiU bivouacked on the streets around their
burning campfires; the barricades had not yet been removed;
the pavement was still stained with blood, and everywhere the
heavy tramp of mUitary patrols was heard. With difficulty I
made my way to the hotel " Zum Schwan," where I was to
meet, according to agreement, some Heidelberg students, in
order to continue in their company the journey to Eisenach.
With hearts full of gloom we sat together deep into the night,
for we all felt that the cause of liberty and of popular sover
eignty had received a terrible blow. The royal Prussian
government had successfully defied the national parliament,
which represented the sovereignty of the German nation.
Those who called themselves " the people " had made a hostile
attempt upon the embodiment of popular sovereignty which
had issued from the revolution, and this embodiment of popu
lar sovereignty had been obliged to call upon the armed forces
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
of the princes for protection against the hatred of "the
people." Thus the backbone of the revolution begun in
March, 1848, was substantiaUy broken. We young students
indeed did not see so far. But we felt that terrible mischief
had been done. Our youthful spirits, however, consoled them
selves with the hope that what was lost might still be recovered
by well-directed and energetic action under more favorable
circumstances. The next day I visited with some of my friends the gal
lery of St. Paul's Church, in which the national parliament
held its sessions. With that profound reverence, the organ of
which (to express myself in the language of phrenology) has
always been with me very strongly developed, I looked at that
historic spot, in which the fate of the revolution of 1848 was
already foretold. On " the right " there sat, with a smile of
triumph on their lips, men whose principal aim it was to restore
the old order of things ; in " the center " the advocates of a
liberal constitutional monarchy, tormented by anxious doubt
as to whether they could control the revolutionary tendencies
without making the absolutist reaction all-powerful; on "the
left " the democrats and republicans with the oppressive con
sciousness that the masses of the people, in whom they were to
find the source of their power, had grievously compromised
them by this wild eruption of passion at Frankfurt and had
thus put the most dangerous weapon into the hands of the
reactionists. I remember well the men whom my eyes most eagerly
sought. On " the right " Radowitz, whose finely chiseled face,
somewhat oriental in its character, looked like a sealed book
containing the secret of reactionary politics; in "the center"
Heinrich von Gagern, with his imposing stature and heavy
eyebrows; on "the left" the Silenus-head of Robert Blum,
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
whom many regarded as the ideal man of the people; and the
little shriveled figure of the old poet, Ludwig Uhland, whose
songs we had so often sung, and who with such touching fidel
ity stood by that which he beheved to be the good right of his
people !
In the evening we traveled on to Eisenach, and soon I
found myself in the midst of a company that could not have
been more congenial.
The pleasant little town of Eisenach, at the foot of the
Wartburg, where Luther translated the Bible into good Ger
man and threw his inkstand at the head of the devil, had re
peatedly been selected by the old Burschenschaft as the
theater of its great demonstrations. The object of the present
student-congress consisted mainly in the national organiza
tion of German university men with an executive committee
to facilitate imited action. There were also to be discussed
various reforms needed at the universities, of which however;
so far as I can remember, nobody could give an entirely
clear account. We organized ourselves according to parlia
mentary rules so that our oratorical performances might begin
at once. AU the German universities, including those of
Austria, having sent delegations to this congress, the meeting
was large in numbers and contained many young men of un
common gifts. Those who attracted the most attention both
within and without our assembly were the Viennese, of whom
nine or ten had reported themselves. They wore the handsome
uniform of the famous " academic legion " — ^black felt hats
with ostrich plumes, blue coats with black shining buttons, tri
colored, black-red-gold sashes, bright steel-handled swords,
light gray trousers, and silver-gray cloaks lined with scarlet.
They looked like a troop of knights of old. When the citizens
of Eisenach, who had received up with most cordial kindness,
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
gave a ball in our honor, all competition with the Viennese
for the favors of the fair sex was in vain. But it was not
their outward appearance alone that distinguished them.
They were men of marked abUity and already had a history
behind them which made them an object of general interest
and appealed in a high degree to the imagination.
Nowhere had the university students played so important
and prominent a part in the revolutionary movement as in
Vienna. To them was largely owing the uprising that drove
Prince Metternich from power. The "academic legion,"
which they organized and which, if I am not mistaken, counted
about 6000 men, formed the nucleus of the armed power of
the revolution. In the " central committee," which consisted of
an equal number of students and members of the citizens'
guard, and which stood for the will of the people as against
the government, they exercised a preponderant influence. Dep
utations of citizens and peasants came from all parts of Austria
to present their grievances and petitions to the "Aula," the
headquarters of the students, which had suddenly risen as an
authority omnipotent in the opinion of the multitude. When
the imperial ministry was about to promulgate a new press-
law, which indeed abolished the censorship but stiU contained
many restrictions, its chief requested the students to express
their judgment about that law. And on May 15 the students
at the head of the armed people forced the government by
their determined attitude to revoke the constitution which the
government had framed on its own authority, and to promise
the convocation of the constituent assembly. The students
successfully maintained their organization against various at
tempts of the government to dissolve it. They compelled the
ministry to agree to the removal of the soldiery from the city
of Vienna and to the formation of a committee of public
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
safety, which was to consist principally of the members of the -
students' organization. So independent and so comprehensive
a power was confided to it that in several important respects
it stood by the side of the ministry as co-ordinate. Without its
consent, for instance, no military force should be employed in
the city. Thus it might have been said without much exagger
ation that for a certain time the students of Vienna governed
Austria. It was, therefore, not astonishing that the Viennese le
gionaries, who had already made so much history, were among
us regarded as the heroes of the day, and that with eager
attention we listened to their reports about the condition of
things in their country. Those reports, however, opened a
prospect of further serious troubles if not of a tragical end,
and of this our Viennese friends were sadly conscious. They
knew that the victories of the Austrian Field Marshal Radetzki
in Italy over Carlo Alberto, the king of Piedmont, would
give Austria's army new prestige and the reactionary court-
party new power; that this court-party systematically in-
fiamed and used the Czechs against the Germans in Austria;
that the presence in the capital of the constituent assembly,
the convocation of which the students themselves had asked
for, would greatly impair the power of the revolutionary au
thorities; that in the civic guards and in the committee of
public safety mischievous dissensions had broken out; that the
court-party derived from all these things great advantage and
would avail itself of the first favorable opportunity to sweep
away the fruits of the revolution in general, and to suppress
the students' organization in particular, and that the decisive
struggle would come soon.
These presentiments sometimes fell like dark shadows
upon our otherwise so jovial conviviality, and it required all
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
the elasticity of youthful spirits to console us with the hope
that finally all would be well.
While we were stiU planning various excursions from
Eisenach into the surrounding country, our Viennese friends
informed us that they had received letters from the " Aula "
about the threatening situation of things, which obliged them
to return to Vienna without delay. They parted from us with
a real " morituri salutamus," " In a few days," they said, " we
shall have to fight a battle in Vienna, and then you may look
for our names on the list of the dead," I still see one of them
before me — ^he was a young man of rare beauty, by the name
of Valentin — ^who spoke those words. Thus our admired
Viennese legionaries took leave of us, and we trembled in
appreciating how terribly and how quickly their prediction
might come true.
The rest of us also were now obliged to think of journey
ing home. The only practical object of the student-congress
was accomplished. The general organization of the German
university men had been resolved upon and the executive au
thority designated. Subjects for further discussions there were
none. The funds of many of us too were beginning to run low.
But with every hour our parting appeared harder to bear. We
had come to love one another so much and our companionship
was so enjoyable that we strained our inventive genius to the
utmost to save at least a few days. At last we took an inventory
of the money that was still in our pockets in order to form a
common purse, out of which, after the means necessary for our
respective homeward journey had been reserved, the cost of
further convivial pleasures was to be defrayed. In this way we
really gained a few days which we enjoyed to our heart's
content and at once some festivities were planned, one of which
came very near having a bad end.
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
One evening we marched up to the Wartburg, There a
plenteous spread with beer awaited us, having consumed which,
we were in the dusk of evening to march down the mountain
to the town by the light of torches. As the merry students had
become great favorites with the population of Eisenach, a
multitude of citizens, and among them a considerable number
of soldiers, who were in garrison in Eisenach, accompanied us
to take part in our jollification. As was the custom of the time,
political speeches were made during the entertainment, and the
indignation against the princes, especially the king of Prussia,
on account of the truce of Malmo being still very bitter, some
of those speeches assumed a decidedly republican tone. Pres
ently the excitement grew hot, and some of the soldiers threw
up their caps, cheered for the Republic, and declared that they
would put themselves under the order of the students. Mean
while evening had come and the whole company, preceded and
surrounded by burning torches, and singing patriotic songs,
marched down the forest road to Eisenach, This spectacle was
charming, but the effect produced upon the soldiers by the rev
olutionary speeches made some of us a little uncomfortable as
to results. So far as any of us knew, there was no under
standing with other parts of the country which would have
insured to a popular uprising in Thuringia any outside sup
port, and to incite harmless people, especially soldiers, to a
revolutionary attempt, without plan or purpose, which could
have for them only very mischievous consequences, appeared
to me for one in a high degree objectionable. If, however,
which was probable, nothing came of it beyond what had al
ready happened, there would be no serious harm ; and with this
comforting hope I went to bed, not knowing what was hap
pening in the meantime. The foUowing morning I heard that
a large part of the multitude that had participated in our festi-
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
val on the Wartburg had gone on to a pubhc resort. There the
speechmaking was continued; the number of soldiers among
the audience had largely increased, and these had with remark
able unanimity and in a tumultuous way again cheered the
Repubhc, and finally refused obedience to some officers present
who had ordered them to go away.. During the night the ex
citement had spread among the soldiers until well-nigh the
whole military garrison of Eisenach was in a condition of ac
tual mutiny. The officers had lost all control. Troops of sol
diers now came to us with the request that we students should
put ourselves at their head. This indeed had not been the pur
pose of the speechmakers of yesterday, who now had to use
every possible effort to prevent further mischief. From Wei
mar, the capital of the duchy, telegraphic orders arrived forth
with to remove to that city the soldiers garrisoned in Eisenach.
But the soldiers stubbornly refused to go; they insisted upon
remaining with the students. Now the civic guard of Eisenach
was summoned to force the soldiers to depart. But when that
civic guard was in hne on the market-place, it did not show the
least willingness to undertake the task. The guardsmen, rather,
amused themselves with cheering the students. The embarrass
ment grew more and more serious. At last we succeeded in
persuading the officers of the troops that all this was only
a merry and hght-hearted student frohc, and that the soldiers
ought not to be held to account for having, amid the general
hUarity, and perhaps under the influence of excessive potations,
fraternized with the students. The officers at last were induced
to take the jocular view of the matter, and we engaged our
selves to bring the soldiers back to their duty, if the authorities
promised that nothing would happen to them in consequence
of this escapade. The promise came at once and now we suc
ceeded in persuading the soldiers quietly to rally around their
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
colors. Fortunately it was at that time stiU possible in the
smaU states of Germany to arrange such things in so good-
natured a manner. In Prussia an occurrence of this kind would
have produced very serious consequences.
After this performance we felt that now it was indeed
time for us to depart from Eisenach and to go home. Our
financial resources too were very nearly exhausted. On the
evening before our departure we had a last great carousal in
the RathskeUer. One of us, if I remember rightly a student
from Konigsberg, who had distinguished himself by wearing a
Polish cap and by indulging in extremely revolutionary
phraseology, made the motion that before parting we should
issue an address to the German people and let them know our
opinion about the existing condition of things, and then ad
monish them closely to watch and with all possible energy to
resist the advancing reaction. That such a proclamation, at
such a moment, coming from such a lot of young persons, could
have an aspect intensely comical, did not occur to us. The mo
tion was discussed with the greatest seriousness and unani
mously adopted. The address was drawn up at once. Then,
with the signatures of the committee, to which I too had the
honor of belonging, it was printed the same night, posted on
.the walls of the city haU and of various other public buildings,
and sent to several newspapers for further publication. This
having been done, we sang several patriotic songs and then we
parted after tender embraces and vows of eternal friendship.
Early the next morning we scattered in all directions.
On the way home an extremely sober feeling came over
me. In Frankfurt I still found a " state of siege " and a
gloomy atmosphere of anxiety. The day was cloudy, damp
and cold when I went down the Rhine on the steamboat.
Among the passengers I did not see a single familiar face.
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
As I sat hour after hour alone and shivering on the deck,
disquieting thoughts began to trouble me, not only about
the general course of things, but also for the first time about
my own personal safety. I remembered the wording of the
address which we had pubhshed in Eisenach, and which con
tained several sharp attacks upon the majority of the national
parliament and upon the Prussian government. I remem
bered also to have read in the papers that the parliament
in consequence of the September revolt had passed a law
which imposed a heavy penalty upon utterances insulting to
its members. Had we not actually committed that crime in
our published address? Undoubtedly; and thus I began to
picture to myself how after my arrival in Bonn I would soon
be arrested, and on account of the press-offense against the
national parliament and the Prussian government put on
trial. Of course I resolved to suffer courageously for my con
victions. What troubled me more was the thought that our
address probably would have no other effect than this. But
my apprehension that I would be arrested and punished
proved to be entirely superfluous. If our proclamation had
really come to the knowledge of the government, the authori
ties probably did not think it worth while to take any notice of
it ; and I drew from this the lesson — a not at all flattering one
— ^that we young people might possibly appear to others much
less important than to ourselves. Before long, however, con
flicts really serious arrived.
Momentous news from Vienna confirmed the predictions
of our Viennese friends in Eisenach. Hungary had in the days
of March asserted a high degree of political autonomy under a
" personal union " with Austria. It had its own ministry re
siding in Pesth, without whose counter-signature no order of
the Austrian emperor concerning Hungary should be vahd.
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Without the assent of the Hungarian legislature no Hunga
rian troops should be employed outside of the boundaries of
Hungary, nor should non-Hungarian troops enter within those
boundaries. The " Archduke Palatin," an Austrian prince,
should as Viceroy of Hungary, have his residence in Pesth. In
addition to this, the German and Slavic districts, which so far
had been considered as belonging to Hungary, should remain as
integral parts of the country subject to the Hungarian gov
ernment. The to a large extent independent Hungarian
government was an object of detestation to the Austrian
court-party. That party resorted to various intrigues, which
resulted in a direct breach between the Austrian and Hun
garian governments, in the killing of an imperial emissaryby an
excited multitude in Pesth, and in the creation by the Hun
garians of a national government-commission in Hungary,
followed by a proclamation from the Austrian emperor which
virtually amounted to a declaration of war. The Hungarians
prepared for the struggle, and when in October Austrian troops
were dispatched from Vienna for the subjugation of Hungary,
the people of Vienna, the students at their head, rose in revolt
against their own government, with the feeling that the at
tempt to destroy the constitutional rights of the Hungarians
was at the same time directed against the rights of the German
Austrians, and against all the fruits of the revolution. The
minister of war. Count Latour, was hanged to a lamp-post by
an infuriated crowd. After a bloody fight the insurrectionists
controlled the city. The commander of the garrison. Count
Auersperg, found himself obliged to evacuate the town, but
he entrenched hunself in a strong position outside, and was
soon reinforced by large bodies of troops under Prince
Windischgratz. Windischgratz took command of the army,
attacked the city of Vienna on October 23, and after long
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
and bloody struggles he put down the last resistance on the
31st. Vienna was then Subjected to the unlimited arbitrariness
of mUitary rule, and the revolutionary movement in German
Austria had an end. Several of the chivalrous legionaries,
with whom we students had enjoyed such sunny days in
Eisenach, had fallen in the battle, and the rest were fugitives.
With this catastrophe coincided a marked turn of affairs
in Prussia. Since March the Prussian government had moved
in constitutional forms, and the ministry, at the head of which
stood the liberal General von Pfuel, showed itself willing to
fulfill the promises that had been given. But the king and his
immediate surroundings had on various occasions riianifested
a disposition which hardly harmonized with those pledges and
called forth grave apprehensions. On October 31 the Prus
sian Constituent Assembly gave voice to the general sympathy
with the struggling people of Vienna and resolved to request
his Majesty's government " to take speedy and energetic steps
to induce the German central power in Frankfurt to effect
ually protect the imperiled liberties of the people in the Ger
man districts of Austria, and to restore peace." The president
of the ministry. General von Pfuel, supported this resolution.
The next day he found himself compelled to resign, and the
king then appointed a ministry of decidedly reactionary char
acter, at the head of which he put Count Brandenburg, and
the leading spirit of which was Herr von Manteuffel. The
Constituent Assembly solemnly protested, but in vain. On
November 9 the Brandenburg ministry presented itself to the
Assembly with a royal message which transferred the meetings
of that body to another place and prorogued its sessions until
November 27. By a large majority the Assembly denied the
right of the royal government to do these things, but the next
day the house was surrounded by large bodies of troops under
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THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
General Wrangel, who gave the order that nobody should be
permitted to enter, but anybody might leave the bmlding. On
November 11 the civil guard of Berlin was dissolved and
in a few days disarmed. The Assembly moved from one
place to another, constantly followed by the soldiery, until
finally on November 15, at its last meeting, it refused to
vote the supplies, and declared " that this ministry had no
right to dispose of the moneys of the state or to levy taxes, so
long as the Constituent Assembly could not undisturbed con
tinue its deliberations in Berlin." These events called forth
immense excitement all over the country. They seemed to
prove that the reactionary court-parties were determined to
sweep away by force all the fruits of the revolution.
That the Constituent Assembly in opposing the " coup
d'etat " was altogether within its right, admitted of no doubt
in the minds of the democrats. They blamed it only for not
having made the fullest use of its right by calling the people
directly to arms, and for having at this moment of great deci
sion limited itself to the weak-kneed policy of " passive resist
ance." But they thought that this passive resistance by means
of a general refusal to pay taxes might finally force the gov
ernment to yield, assuming that the refusal to pay taxes
would become general and be maintained with inflexible
steadiness. The democrats in Bonn, among whom we students played
a prominent part, were zealous in demonstrating their deter
mination to support the Constituent Assembly. The declaration
that we would refuse the payment of taxes coming from the
students looked somewhat like a huge joke, because we had none
to pay. The problem we had to solve, therefore, consisted in
persuading other people to refuse to pay their taxes. We be
lieved we could strike a demonstrative blow by stopping the
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
levying of octroi duties which were levied at the gates of the city
on the food-stuffs brought to the town. We did this in driv
ing the revenue officers from their posts, which pleased the
peasants, who were at once ready to bring their products free
of duty into the city. This led to conflicts with the police in
which, however, we easily had the upper hand.
Now it appeared to us unnecessary to seize upon the general
machinery of the tax-department. The next day a committee,
of which I was a member, appeared at the city hall to take
possession of it. The Burgomaster received us with great po
liteness and hstened quietly to what we had to say to him about
the authority of the Constituent Assembly and its power to stop
the payment of taxes; but he tried to amuse us with all sorts
of evasive talk. At last we became impatient and demanded
an immediate and definite answer according to which we would
resolve upon further measures. Suddenly we noticed a change
in the expression of the Burgomaster's face. He seemed to
hearken to something going on outside and then, still politely
but with a sort of triumphant smile on his lips, he said:
" Gentlemen, your answer you will have to receive from some
body else. Do you hear that? " Now we hearkened too, and
heard a still distant, but approaching, sound of a military band
playing the Prussian national air. The music sounded nearer
and nearer in the street leading up from the Rhine. In a few
minutes it reached the market-place and behind it came the
heavy tramp of an infantry column which presently filled a
large part of the square in front of the city hall. Our conver
sation with the Burgomaster of course came to a sudden end
and we thought it very decent on his part that he permitted us
to leave the building undisturbed.
The appearance of the military was easily explained. As
soon as we began to refuse the payment of taxes, the authorities
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
in Bonn, which at that time had no garrison, had telegraphed
to the nearest fortress for aid, and the call was promptly re
sponded to. This of course put a stop to our doings in the
matter of stopping the payment of taxes. The soldiers at once
occupied the gates of the city and the octroi duties were levied
as before. In the evening we had a meeting of our democratic
committee to consider what was next to be done. The first
impulse was to attack the soldiers and if possible to drive them
out of the town. This would have been a desperate enterprise,
but it was taken seriously in view. After mature consideration,
however, we aU recognized that a fight in Bonn, even a success
ful one, could have real importance only as a part of a more
general uprising. Cologne was naturally regarded as the
capital of the Rhineland and as the central focus for all
pohtical movements. It was there we had to seek our support,
and from there to get our orders. We had already received
from Cologne a report that feverish excitement prevailed in
that city, and that the signal for a general uprising was to be
expected from the democratic leaders. For this we were to pre
pare quietly and quickly, but we were to avoid everything like
an isolated attempt. We sent a messenger to Cologne to in
form our friends of 'what had occurred in Bonn and to get
further instructions. In the meantime we made arrangements
to collect as many as possible of the muskets of our civic-guard
and to make cartridges, which was done with great zeal.
But now disquieting news came about what happened in
the vicinity of the gates of the city. Large crowds of peasants
from the neighboring villages had assembled outside. They
had received information about the coming of the soldiers to
Bonn and thought that the democrats and the students must
be in great danger. They had now come to help us. Many of
them probably imagined the expulsion of the troops from the
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
city to be as easy as had been the driving away of the tax
officers from the gates. Some of them were spoiling for a fight.
We had indeed reason for apprehending that they would press
into the city and involve us in a street-battle with the soldiers
under very unfavorable circumstances. It was not an easy
task to persuade those impatient people to go home and to keep
themselves ready to aid us as soon as the signal for action should
come from Cologne, The whole night our committee waited
for the return of the messenger we had sent there. About day
break we separated, but only to meet again after a short rest.
The preparations for war continued in the meantime. Not one
of us slept in his own quarters, so as not to be easily found in
case the authorities should try to arrest us, I took refuge in a
friend's room that was filled with muskets and cases of cart
ridges which were stored there ready for distribution.
Our messenger did not return from Cologne before even
ing of the next day. He reported that our friends did not
feel themselves able to attempt a blow with any prospect of
success against the large masses of troops gathered there ; that
they would confine themselves to the continuation of the " pas
sive resistance," and that they urgently recommended to us to
abstain from all violent steps until further orders. Nothing
rehiained to us therefore but to swallow our wrath and to keep
our friends in the open country quiet. What happened with
us, happened all over the kingdom of Prussia. The Constituent
Assembly had yieidedtothe^qvernmentj, bloodies victory and
the resolution to refuse the payment of taxes soon became a
dead letter.
But it looked as if the whole affair would come home to
the democratic leaders among the students in a disagreeable
way. There was a rumor that against three or four of us,
against me among others, warrants had been issued, and that
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
we had to expect our arrest any moment. Whether it was really
so, I did not know, but it was so believed; and our friends went
at once to work to protect us from harm. They spread the im
pression among the citizens of Bonn that if we were touched
by the police, all the students would quit the city. Now, as the
prosperity of Bonn depended in a great measure upon the
presence of the students, this caused no little alarm among the
good burghers. Many of them urgently asked the Burgo
master to use his whole influence to obtain from the higher
authorities the promise that nothing should happen to us, and
thus to avert the threatening calamity. In fact we were in
formed by our friends in the course of a few days that such a
promise had indeed been given, and that for once we should
escape unharmed. We therefore left our hiding places, and I
continued to write for our newspaper, to address meetings and
to attend lectures, so far as I could find time to do so,
Frederick William IV,, after having won his victory over
the Constituent Assembly, felt himself strong enough to give
to Prussia a constitution of his own exclusive making, without
submitting it for assent to the representatives of the people.
This constitution of his provided for a Diet consisting of two
Chambers. The Chambers were convoked at once and Kinkel
stepped forward in Bonn as a candidate for the lower House,
He was elected by a large majority, and had to take his seat
soon after, Frau Kinkel accompanied him to Berlin, Although
they sent me regular contributions for the columns of the
Bonner Zeitung, the daUy duties of the editorship fell upon
my shoulders during their absence as a very heavy burden of
unaccustomed work.
The Bonner Zeitung having only a very small editorial
staff, I had not only to furnish political articles, but also many
other things which a daily paper must offer to its readers —
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
among others the reports about the stage. A theater had been
established in Bonn which gave respectable performances, and
even hght opera. To the Bonner Zeitung the director of the
theater assigned a box for its reporters, the principal reporter
having so far been Mme. Kinkel. This box was now at my
disposal, and I occupied it, not only when journalistic duties
called me to witness the performance of a new play, but some
times also when I felt the want of a little relaxation from my
many labors and cares. Here I must confess that to these
labors and cares an affair of the heart had been added.
Until this time no woman outside of my family-circle had
played any part in my life, perhaps largely because of my
excessive bashfulness. At length inevitable fate laid its hand
upon me too. I really fell in love, head over heels, at first
sight, with a beautiful young lady. She was the daughter of
a little merchant. Her name was Betty. I had never been
introduced to her and we had never exchanged a word, I
had only seen her sitting at her window, occupied with
embroidery; still oftener with a book in her hand, I had fre
quently passed by this window, and almost always she sat
there. Sometimes our eyes met, and I then was conscious
of blushing all over. From a friend of hers I heard that she
was reading Shakespeare in the English original, which
gave me a high idea of her mental gifts and acquirements.
The sly manner in which I sometimes turned the conversation
with that friend in the direction of Betty, was, of course, self-
betraying; and from what he told me in return, I was happy
to suspect that Betty too was aware of my existence. I ardently
longed to know her and soon found a to me surprisingly fav
orable opportunity.
One evening whUe sitting in the theater-box, — Flotow's
opera " Martha " was on the stage, — two ladies took seats in the
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THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
one adjoining mine. A few minutes later I turned and could
hardly believe my eyes when, with a violent heart jump, I sud
denly became aware that only the low partition between the
boxes separated me from Betty, Soon the ladies began to look
around for something and I heard them say that they had left
their opera-glasses at home. Here was an evident opportunity
for me. I held my own opera-glass in my hand. What more
natural than to offer it to Betty with a polite word? Indeed,
was it not positively impolite not to do so? But — ^but — the
necessary words would not come. I sat completely paralyzed
and tongue-tied throughout the whole play. Finally the ladies
left the box and with them my long hoped-for opportunity, I
rushed from the theater, tormenting myself with self-re
proach, and instead of going, as I had intended, to the Fran
conia, I took a long, lonely walk in the night. But soon this
love-dream became more shadowy than ever, for events oc
curred which tore me altogether out of my surroundings.
Of the larger parliamentary bodies that had issued from
the revolution of March, only the national parliament in Frank
furt was still in existence. That existence it had owed to
the longing of the German people, or rather the German peo
ples, for national unity, and it was its natural and universally
understood mission to weld the German peoples under a com
mon constitution of national government into one great nation.
Immediately after the revolution of March, 1848, the differ
ent German governments, and with them also Austria, because
of her German possessions, had recognized this object as a legit
imate one, and it was with their co-operation that in May the
elections for the national parliament had taken place. The
large majority of that body, in fact, the German people in
generaT,' regarded the Frankfurt parliament as jthe specific
-'fqpresentative of the sovereignty of the German nation. It
E~16tf

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHURZ
was to be expected that the princes and those of their adher
ents, who may be designated as court-parties, would submit to
this conception of the powers of the parhament. only so long,
and only so far, as they found themselves forced to do so. But
few.Sf.the_gnnces, if any, were^ sufficiently liberal to_ac££pt a^
limitation of their princely prerogatives wiUL equanimity.^
EvSfy"gain of the people inThe matter of political power they
felt to be their own loss. Of course they were also opposed to
the institution of a strong national government for the reason
that this would be conditioned upon the surrender to the
' national authority of many of the sovereignty-rights of the
different states. It was not only a national republic that the
individual German sovereigns feared, but they also dreaded a
national Kaiser who would be apt to reduce them to the con
dition of mere vassals. The German princes, with the excep
tion of the one who could hope himself to occupy the imperial
throne, were therefore the natural adversaries of German
unity, embodied in a strong national government. There may
have been some men of national sentiment among them
capable of overcoming this reluctance, but certainly there were
very few, Austria desired a united Germany in some form,
only if it could hope to occupy in it the position of the lead
ing power. Face to face with the princes and their parties stood the
national parliament in Frankfurt, that child of the revolution,
which might then have almost been called the orphan of
the revolution. It had at its immediate disposal no administra
tive machinery, no army, no treasury, only its moral authority;
all the other things were in the hands of the different German
state governments, .The only power of the national parliament
/jonsisted in the will of the people. And this power was suflff
cient for the fulfillment of its mission so long as the will of the
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
people proved itself strong enough, even through revolutionary
action in case of necessity, to counteract the adverse interests
of the princes, :The parliament would have been sure of success
in creating a constitutional German empire, if it had performed
that task quickly and elected and put into office its Kaiser while
the revolutionary prestige of the people was still unbroken —
that is to say, in the first two or three months after the revolu
tion of March. No German prince would then have declined
the imperial crown with a constitution ever so democratic, and
not one of them would have dared to refuse the sacrifice of any
of his sovereignty-rights to the national power.
\/ But that parliament was laboring under an over
abundance of learning and virtue and under a want of that
political experience and sagacity which recognizes that the
better is often the enemy of the good, and that the true states
man wiU be careful not to imperil that which is essential by
excessive insistence upon things which are of comparatively
little consequence. The world has probably never seen a polit
ical assembly that contained a larger number of noble, learned,
conscientious and patriotic men, and it will be difficult to find
a book of the same character richer in profound knowledge and
in models of lofty eloquence than its stenographic reports. But
it did not possess the genius that promptly discerns opportunity
and with quick resolution takes fortune by the forelock ; it was
not mindful of the fact that in times of great commotion the
history,^ the world does not wait for the theoretical thinker.
And thus it fSled.  .. 
The parliament indeed recognized soon after its opening,
that, if it was not to remain a mere constituent assembly, but
also, until the constitution should be completed, a temporary
government, an executive organ was required; and thus it
resolved upon the institution of a " provisional central power,"
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
with a sort of lieutenant-emperor at its head. To this office it
elected the Archduke Johann of Austria, who enjoyed the
reputation of being a liberal. He was authorized by the par
liament to appoint an imperial ministry. But, as mentioned
before, his minister of foreign affairs had no diplomatic ma
chinery under him ; his minister of war had no soldiers except
such as were lent to him by some of the several state govern
ments ; and his minister of finance no fiscal machinery, no tax-
levies, and no money except what the several state govern
ments contributed. All the things which together constitute
the substantial force of a government remained after all in
the control of the several German states. The real source of
its power was therefore after all nothing but the revolutionary
strength of the people. At the end of the year 1848 this rev
olutionary strength did not confront the princes and the court-
parties any longer in so imposing a shape as it had done in the
Spring, A large portion of the people who had been so enthu
siastic in March had become more or less tired of the constant
excitements, while the princes and their adherents had to a
'large extent recovered from the terrors of March, had assured
themselves of the administrative machinery and of the fidelity
of their armies, and had been keeping their aims steadily in
view — in point of fact had, at the great political centers, Vienna
and Berlin, inflicted very grievous defeats upon the revolution
ary spirit. The possibility of new revolutionary action on a
large scale had therefore grown very much less. Under these
circumstances the national parliament could indeed issue its
ordinances and have them proclaimed through the national
executive, but the governments of the several German states
felt that they need not pay, much more attentioix.to them than
?than they pleased. And yet, the parliament had still its
principal task before it: to complete the constitution of the
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
jS^ermaii empire^o intro^^^ practicaUy, and_ thereby to
satisfy the great national want of .theJG£rman.p£ople,
It was still engaged in learned and arduous debates about
the fundamental right, and liberties the German citizens should
possess ; it still had to solve doubts as to whether Germany should
have a Reichstag to be elected by all the people and whether
the head of the national government should be a hereditary or
only an elective Kaiser, or a President, or instead of a single
head, an executive committee. It had still to determine of
what countries and parts of countries the German empire
should consist; whether the German-Austrian districts should
form a part of it, and which of the two German great powers,
Austria or Prussia, should in this event have the hegemony.
The parliamentary struggle on these questions lasted long,
and only, when the reactionary Austrian minister, Prince
Felix Schwarzenberg, demanded that the whole of Austria,
organized as a united state with its nearly thirty millions of
non-German inhabitants, should form part of the German
empire — a demand with which the creation of a really Ger
man national union seemed entirely incompatible — only then
did the parliament come to a decision. The majority declared
itself for a hereditary Kaiser, and on March 28, 1849, elected
to that office the King of Prussia,
However unpopular Prussia and the Prussian king were
outside the boundaries of that kingdom, especially in South
Germany, and however little the democratic party desired
the creation of an executive head to the German empire
in the shape of a hereditary Kaiser, yet when the work of
German unity appeared at last completed, the national en
thusiasm was once more kindled into a joyous flame. A commit
tee consisting of thirty-three members of the national par
liament, headed by its president, betook itself to Berlin,
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
receiving on the way the most spirited manifestations of popu
lar joy, to offer to the King of Prussia the constitutional
headship of the empire.
And now came the bitterest disappointment of all. It
was indeed well known that Frederick William IV., full of his
absolutist mysticism, had never at heart recognized the sove
reign character of the national parliament as a constituent
assembly, and that he had claimed for the king of Prussia
as well as for the other German princes the right to revise the
constitution itself. It was also generally understood that that
constitution, as it came from the hands of the national par
hament, was too democratic to suit his taste. But when all the
German governments, with the exception of those of Bavaria,
Saxony and Hanover (Austria was no longer to be consid
ered) , had yielded to the pressure of popular sentiment and
declared themselves ready to accept the imperial constitution
and the Kaiser, and it was certain that even the three opposing
kings would offer no serious resistance, the people, still hopeful
and confiding, believed that Frederick William IV- could not
refuse the great offer. Had he not in March on the streets
of Berlin solemnly declared that he would put himself at the
head of the national movement, and that Prussia would be
merged in a united Germany? How could he possibly reject
and desire to destroy the work of national union at the very
moment when it required for its completion only his assent and
acceptance? But what happened? Frederick William IV.
refused the crown. He had indulged himself in all sorts of
fantastic dreams about the manner in which Germany might
be united, but found that the constitution . now presented to
him in all essential points diverged seriously from his own con-'
ceits. The national parliament he thought had no right
to offer to hun or anybody else a crown; such an offer courd,
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
in his opiniOTijJegitiniatdyJ)e^ade only by a free resolution
reraiajnjgrinces. -Neitiier would the acceptance of the

"Gefniari imperial crown be compalible^wrtirhis feelings of
feiondly obligatiotts-~tacAnstria7' These and similar reasons
for the non-acceptance of the imperial constitution and the
Kaisership were uttered by the king, partly in pubhc, partly
in private. It is quite possible that the most serious reason which
frightened him lay in the probabUity that if he accepted the
imperial crown, he might have to defend it by force of arms
against Austria and Russia; and this apprehension appeared
in an almost naive way in an answer which the king gave to
the eloquent words of a member of the Frankfurt parlia
ment, Herr von Beckerath, urging him to accept: "If you
could have addressed your appeal to Frederick the Great, he
would have been your man; but I am not a great ruler." In
deed, Frederick William IV. from the first day of his govern
ment to the pitiable end thereof sufficiently proved that he
was not made to be the first Kaiser of the new German empire.
His refusal to accept the imperial crown and the constitution
of the empire turned the general enthusiasm of the people
throughout the country into general dismay and indigna-
tion. lOn April 11 the national parhament declared that
it would stand by the constitution it had made. By the 14th
the legislative bodies of the governments of twenty-three Ger
man states had signified their acceptance of that constitution
and of the election of the king of Prussia as Kaiser. But
Frederick WiUiam IV. persisted in his declination, and the
kings of Bavaria, Hanover and Saxony also continued to
signify their unwillingness to assent.
On May 4 the national parliament appealed to the " gov
ernments, the legislative bodies, the communities in the several
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
states and to the whole German people to stand up for the
recognition and the introduction of the national constitution."
This appeal sounded very much like a summons to arms,
and in various parts of Germany it had already been antici
pated. In the Bavarian Palatinate, on the left bank of the
Rhine, a detached province of the kingdom of Bavaria, the
people had already on April 30 risen up with rare unanimity,
and declared in immense mass-meetings that whatever the Ba
varian government might do, they would stand and fall with
the national constitution. They went even farther. They insti
tuted a provisional government to replace the authorities acting
under the king of Bavaria. The revolt rapidly spread to the
neighboring grand duchy of Baden, where the whole army
of that state, with the exception of a small body of cavalry,
joined the revolt and surrendered to it the important fortress
of Rastatt. The Grand Duke of Baden took to flight, and a
provisional government composed of popular leaders as
sumed the place of his ministry. In the kingdom of Saxony
the people of Dresden, the capital city, attempted to force the
king to recognize the national constitution. There too the king
found himself obliged to flee after a short struggle between
the people and the military, and a provisional government was
organized. The king of Saxony apphed to the Prussian gov
ernment for aid. This was wUlingly granted, and after a bloody
fight in the streets of Dresden the revolt was suppressed and
the authority of the Saxon king restored by Prussian bayonets.
What were the adherents of the national cause in Prussia
to do while their king sent Prussian soldiers to overcome the
national movement outside? Uprisings were attempted in
Berlin and Breslau, but speedily overcome by force of arms.
In the Rhenish provinces the excitement was tremendous. In
Cologne a meeting was held of the representatives of the
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
country communes, which almost unanimously demanded the
recognition of the national constitution and threatened the
defection of the Rhineland from the Prussian monarchy in
case of non-compliance. But the Prussian government had
long ceased to be frightened by mere mass-meetings or by
high-sounding phrases, when there was not a strong revolu
tionary force behind them.
Clearly, to save the national constitution, quick action
was absolutely needed. Again the Rhenish people turned their
eyes upon their capital, Cologne; but such masses of troops
had been concentrated there that a rising would not have had
the slightest prospect of success. In the manufacturing dis
tricts on the right bank of the Rhine the revolt really broke
out. The immediate occasion was an order issued by the Prus
sian government to mobilize the army-corps of the Rhine prov
ince for the purpose of sending it against the defenders of the
national constitution in the Bavarian Palatinate and in Baden,
where provisional governments had been set up by the revo
lutionists. To this end the "Landwehr" (military reserve)
in the Rhineland and in Westphalia was called into active serv
ice. The members of the Landwehr were at that time, as they are
now, men between twenty-five and thirty-five, peasants, trades
men, artisans, merchants or professional men, many of them
fathers of young families. To interrupt their daily work and to
leave their wives and childreprinvolved to most of them a heavy
sacrifice. This sacrifice was all thelieavier when they were called
upon to help beat down those who m Baden and in the Palati
nate had risen for the unity of thexatherland and the liberty
of the people, and with whom many, if not a large majority, of
the members of the Landwehr warmly sympathized. So it
happened that numerous meetings of the Landwehr men were
held for the purpose of declaring that they would not obey the
[ 169 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
summons to arms. There was actual resistance at some of the
depots where the Landwehr men were to receive their arms
and equipments. In Diisseldorf, Iserlohn and Elberfeld, ap
parently formidable uprisings took place. ^
Such uprisings could clearly have had a possibUity of suc
cess only had they become general throughout the country; and
indeed it looked for a moment as if the disaffection of the
members of the Landwehr in the Rhineland and Westphaha
would spread and become the starting-point of a powerful
general movement. But what was to be done had to be done
quickly. In this aspect the question of the moment confronted
us in Bonn. Kinkel had returned from Berlin and was on the
spot. The Chamber, a member of which he was, had once more
urged the king to recognize the national constitution and to
accept the imperial crown, and the king thereupon had dis
solved it.] Kinkel was then in Bonn the recognized dg^mocratic
leadirrNow he had to show his abihty to act projnptly or to
relinquish the leadership to others in the decisive hour. He did
not hesitate a moment. But what was to be done? That the
Landwehr, at least the largest part thereof, did not wish to
take up arms against the defenders of the national constitu
tion, was certain. But in order to maintain this refusal, the
Landwehr had to take up arms against the Prussian govern
ment. To make this resistance effective, immediate organiza
tion on a large scale was necessary. If the members of the
Landwehr were ready for that, they could do nothing simpler
and better than to take possession of the arms which were
stored in the different Landwehr armories, and then under
their own leaders make front against the Prussian govern
ment. Such an armory was situated at Siegburg, a little town
a short distance from Bonn on the right bank of the Rhine. It
[170]

KARL MARX

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
contained muskets and other equipments enough to arm a con
siderable body of fighters, who then, joined to the insurrec
tionists in the manufacturing districts, might have formed a
respectable power and spread the rising in all directions. This
was the thought which occurred with more or less clearness to
the democrats in Bonn, and they found also a mihtary head
for the execution of the plan in the person of a late artillery
lieutenant, Fritz Anneke, who came from Cologne. The
Landwehr of the district had been summoned to Siegburg on
May 11, to be mustered into service. Thus time was pressing.
On May 10 we had in Bonn a meeting of Landwehr men
from the town and the immediate neighborhood. During the
morning hours a large multitude assembled in a pubhc hall.
The citizen elected to preside admonished the men to refuse
obedience to the call of the Prussian government; if arms
were to be taken up at all, it must be against those who sought
to rob the German people of their liberty and unity. The men
received this admonition with many signs of warm assent.
The meeting continued during the whole day. The number of
Landwehr men coming in increased from hour to hour. Dif
ferent speakers addressed them, all in the same sense, and, as
it appeared, with the same effect. It was agreed that the blow
against the armory at Siegburg should be struck the following
night. To this end it was essential to hold the men together
during the day, so that as large a number as possible might
take part in the expedition.
To keep the men together during the whole day was not
easy. Some money had been raised to provide for their meals.
But that alone was not sufficient. Kinkel, after having deliv
ered his last lecture at the university, spoke to the meeting at
four o'clock of the afternoon. With glowing words he inflamed
the patriotic sentiments of the audience, admonishing them ur-
[171]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
gently to stay together, as now the hour of decisive action had
come, and promised them at the conclusion of his speech that
he would soon be with them again, to share their fate at the
moment of danger.
I spent part of the day at the meeting, and part with the
executive committee of the democratic club. There we received
the current reports from Elberfeld and from the democratic
clubs of the neighborhood as to their readiness for action;
and the arrangements were made for the march to Siegburg
after dark. Specific instructions were given to every member.
There was so much running to and fro during the whole
day that many details of what happened are no longer in my
memory. But I remember that as often as I appeared on the
street, I was stopped by student-friends with the question
what was in the wind, and whether they should march along
with us ; whereupon I told them what I had resolved myself to
do in this crisis, and that each one of them would have to shape
his conduct upon his own responsibility. Under the feverish
excitement of the last days I had come to that desperate state
of mind which will do and dare anything. It was evident to
me that if the fruits of the revolution were to be saved, we
must not shrink from any risk.
I also vividly remember how at dusk of evening I went
home to tell my parents what had happened and what I con
sidered it my duty to do, and to bid farewell to my family.
Since the breaking out of the revolution my parents had taken
the warmest interest in the course of events. They had
always been enthusiastic in the cause of a united Germany and
of free government. Our political sentiments were therefore
in hearty accord. My father was a member of the democratic
club, and rejoiced to see me among its most active members
and to hear me speak. The noble nature of my mother had
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
always clung with enthusiastic zeal to what she considered to
be right and just. Both had watched developments suffi
ciently to anticipate the approach of a catastrophe. The
announcement I made to them did therefore not surprise
them. It was not unexpected to them that I had to take part
in an enterprise that was so dangerous and for me so full of
consequences. At once they recognized my honorable obli
gation. To be sure, their hopes for the future rested upon me,
I was to be the support of the family in the struggle for exist
ence. But without a moment's hesitation and without a word
of complaint they gave up all for what they considered a duty
of patriotism. Like the Spartan woman or the Roman matron
of whom we read, my mother went to the room where my
sword hung and gave it to me with the one admonition
that I' should use it with honor. And nothing could have
been further from her mind than the thought that in this act
there was something heroic.
Before I left the house I went for a moment to my study.
From the window I had a free outlook on the Rhine and the
lovely Seven Mountains, How often, gazing upon this charm
ing picture, had I dreamed of a quiet and beautiful life! Now
I could in the darkness distinguish only the outhne of my be
loved hills against the horizon. Here was my room quiet as
ever. How often had I peopled it with my imaginings! Here
were my books and manuscripts, all testifying of hopes, plans,
and. endeavors, which now perhaps had to be left behind for
ever. An instinctive feeling told me that all this was now
over. At the same hour Kinkel took leave of his wife and
children, and then returned to the meeting, where he appeared
on the platform armed with a musket. With impressive words
he announced to his hearers what was to be done to-night and
[ 173 ]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
what he himself was resolved to do. He urged nobody to fol--
low him blindly. He concealed from nobody the danger of the
enterprise. Only those who in the extreme need of the father
land felt it to be their duty, he summoned to march with him
in the ranks.
I had been instructed to see to it that the ferry across the
JR-hine should be at our disposal. It was dark when I went to
my appointed place on the bank of the river. There I found
a fellow-student, Ludwig Meyer, with whom I crossed the
river in a rowboat. On the other side we met according to
agreement a troop of companions. At once we took posses
sion of the ferry, the so-called flying bridge, ordered the ferry
man to swing it over to Bonn, and then to take it back to the
right bank of the Rhine, loaded with a crowd of armed men.
This was the force that was to march to Siegburg and seize
the armory. Kinkel appeared well armed. Two of our friends
were on horseback, the rest on foot, most of them provided
with weapons of some kind, but not a great many with guns.
To me was given a rifle, but without fitting ammunition.
Our commander, Anneke, mustered the crowd and di
vided it into sections. One of these was put under the com
mand of Josef Gerhardt, who at a later period went to Amer
ica and did good service as colonel of a Union regiment in
the CivU War. Anneke found that his troop did not count
over one hundred and twenty men, and could not refrain from
giving bitter expression to his disappointment. Many of those
who attended the meeting during the day had in the darkness
slunk away when the signal was given to march. Patriotic im
pulses that in the morning were fresh and warm had cooled
off in the many hours that elapsed between the first resolution
and the moment for action.
Our column being formed in order, Anneke made a short
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
speech, in which he set forth the need of discipline and obedi
ence, and then the march began. About half an hour after our
start one of our horsemen, who had remained behind, came up
at a gallop with the report that the dragoons, then garrisoned
in Bonn, were at our heels, to attack us. This report should
have surprised nobody, for during the day and the evening the
preparations for our enterprise had been carried on so openly
that it would have been astonishing had the authorities received
no knowledge of it, and had they not taken measures to frus
trate the expedition. Moreover, we had forgotten to make the
ferry behind us unserviceable. Nevertheless the announcement
of the approach of the dragoons produced in our ranks consid
erable consternation, Anneke ordered our horsemen to hasten
back and to reconnoiter as to the nearness and strength of our
pursuers. Meanwhile our march was accelerated so that we
might possibly reach the River Sieg and cross it before the
arrival of the dragoons ; but in this we failed. Long before we
approached the river, we heard not far behind us the trumpet-
signal ordering the dragoons to trot their horses. Anneke,
who evidently was not very confident of the ability of his men
to face regular soldiers in a fight, halted our column and told
us that we were evidently not in a condition to offer success
ful resistance to regular troops; we should therefore disperse,
and if we wanted to make ourselves further useful to the
cause of the fatherland, we might find our way to Elber
feld or to the Palatinate, where he was ready to go. This
signal to disperse was at once obeyed. Most of the men
scattered over the surrounding cornfields, whUe some of us,
perhaps twenty, stood still by the side of the road. The dra
goons quietly passed us at a trot ori their way to Siegburg,
There were only some thirty of them, not enough therefore to
overcome us or even to force their way through on the road,
[175]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL 'SCHUEZ
if those of us who had firearms had offered an orderly
resistance. When the dragoons had passed by and only a handful
of our people had again found themselves together, a feel
ing of profound shame overcame us. Our enterprise had
not only come to an unfortunate, but a ridiculous and dis
graceful end. Our column had taken to the fields before only a
handful of soldiers, scarcely one-third of our number. And
this after the big words with which many had pledged them
selves to the cause of German liberty and unity, I looked for
Kinkel, but I could not find him in the darkness. At last I
discerned Ludwig Meyer and others of my nearer friends,
who all felt as I did, and we resolved at once to go on to see what
might still be done. So we marched after the dragoons and
reached the town of Siegburg shortly before daybreak. The
democratic club, with which we had been in communication and
the leaders of which had been expecting us during the night,
had its headquarters in a tavern, and there we went. With
them we discussed the question whether, in spite of the miser
able failure of the preceding night and the occupation of the
armory by the dragoons, we might not after all take that build
ing by assault, and organize a respectable movement in aid of
our friends in Diisseldorf and Elberfeld. The democrats of
Siegburg could see little to encourage us. I was in a state of
feverish excitement, and although extremely tired, could not
sleep. In the course of the morning a considerable multitude
got together, members of the Landwehr, and their friends
from the vicinity. Soon we began to make speeches before
large crowds, and the storming of the armory was repeatedly
urged, A rumor came that during the day a fight had broken
out between citizens and soldiers in Bonn, and I communicated
that rumor to the assembled multitude; but further informa-
[176]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
tion having arrived, I had to my shame to confess that the
tale was not true, I was nervously eager to wash out the
disgrace of the night before, and to try the utmost for our
cause, even under the most unfavorable circumstances. But
it was all in vain. The evening came, the crowds dispersed,
and I had at last to make up my mind that the people we had
before us could not be moved to do anything desperate. Meyer
and I resolved to go where there was fighting in prospect, and
set out for Elberfeld, We reached that town the next day.
There we found barricades on the streets, much noise
in the taverns, only a small number of armed men, and no dis
cipline nor united leadership. Evidently here was no chance
of success. Nothing could come of this, except perhaps a
hopeless fight or a speedy capitulation, Meyer and I resolved
therefore to go to the Palatinate, Soon we were on board a
steamboat running up the Rhine, I wrote home asking my
parents to send me some necessary things to our friend Nathan
at Sanct Goarshausen, and on the evening of the same day
we arrived under his hospitable roof in the shadow of the
Loreley-rock, There I had my first quiet hours after the terrible excite
ment of the last four days. When I awoke from profound
sleep all that had happened appeared to me like a dismal
dfeam, and then again as a clear, more dismal reality. The
thought struck me for the first time that now, although safe
enough for the time being in Nathan's house, I was a fugitive,
running away from the authorities; it was certain that they
would not permit an attempt upon one of their armories to
pass unpunished. This was a singularly uncomfortable feel
ing; but a much more hideous thought followed — that I could
not be proud of the act to which I owed my outlawry, although
its purpose had been patriotic. The outcome had been miser-
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
able enough to make impossible my return to my friends, until
the shame of it had been wiped out. But my prof oundest grief
was not with regard to myself. It was the knowledge that aU
the insurrectionary attempts in Prussia had failed, and that
the Prussian government had its hands entirely free to turn
against the insurgents in Baden and the Palatinate. I tried
indeed to hft myself up to the behef that so great, so just, so
sacred a cause as that of German unity and free government
could not possibly f aU, and that undoubtedly I would still have
some opportunity to contribute to its victory, be it ever so
little. I have never forgotten the hours which I spent with
Meyer and Wessel, one of our friends of the Franconia, who,
while not compromised politically, had followed us from
friendship, walking up and down discussing these matters
under the Loreley-rock, that most dreamy nook of the Rhine
valley. My friend Meyer looked at the situation in a some
what soberer spirit than I could command. After mature con
sideration, in which probably the thought of his family played
an important part, he concluded to return to Bonn and to
take the chances of a trial for his participation in the Siegburg
affair, I did not try to urge my view of the case upon my
dear, brave comrade, and thus we had to part.
The leave-taking from Meyer and Wessel was very hard
to me. When I pressed their hands for the last time, I felt as
if I had not only to say good-by to them, but also again to
my parents and sisters, to my home, to all my dear friends, to
my whole past. And now farewell to the beautiful student
life and its precious friendships, its ideal endeavors and
hopes, its glorious youthful dreams!
The years of apprenticeship were over, the years of wan
dering began. My friends journeyed down the Rhine to Bonn
and I alone up the Rhine to Mainz,
[178]

CHAPTER VII
In Mainz I learned from a member of the democratic club
that Kinkel had already passed through on his way to the
Palatinate, Mr. Zitz, one of the democratic leaders of Mainz,
who had organized a corps of volunteers in the neighborhood,
and was to be found at the little city of Kircheimbolander,
would probably be able to teU me more. I therefore set out
on foot to that place, carrying my baggage in a knapsack on
my back, I found Mr. Zitz, a tall, stately man, surrounded
by his apparently well-armed and disciplined free corps, (Mr,
Zitz, a few years later, was well known in New York as a
member of the law firm of Zitz & Kapp,) The camp looked
orderly and well-managed. The artillery consisted of three or
four little cannon, such as were commonly used to make a noise
at popular frolics, Mr. Zitz told me that Kinkel had gone to
Kaiserslautern, the revolutionary capital of the Palatinate, to
offer his services to the provisional government. I marched
on, and found Kinkel and Anneke both in the best of humor.
They welcomed me heartily, quartered me in a tavern, and
told me that soon they might give me something to do, -,
The next morning I rose bright and early. With especial
curiosity I observed how people under a revolutionary condi
tion look, I found that the guests in the tavern breakfasted
as calmly as ever, I was told that the son of mine host would
celebrate his wedding in a few days, and that great prepara
tions were going on for the festivity. There was, indeed, a
good deal of bustle on the streets — ^here persons who seemed
to be following their daily vocation in the accustomed way;
[179]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
there troops of young men in their ordinary dress with muskets
on their shoulders, who evidently belonged to the " Volks-
wehr " — volunteer guard — in process of formation; between
them, soldiers in the Bavarian uniform who had passed over
to the people; and even policemen, in their official uniform
with swords at their sides, and engaged in their regular
functions as guardians of safety and order. At this I was
not a little surprised, but I learned that these policemen had
taken the oath of allegiance to the national constitution, that
they served the provisional government, and were generaUy
very good fellows. On the whole I found that although the
leaders of the revolutionary movement had their busy hours
of care and trouble, the population was in a condition of merry
contentment, enjoying the charm of the moment without
bothering much with thoughts of what the coming day would
bring. There was a sort of general Sunday afternoon atmos
phere, a real picnic humor — ^very amiable, but not at all cor
responding with the conception which I had formed of the
seriousness of a revolutionary situation. I soon learned to
understand that this good humor sprung from the generally
sunny disposition of the people of the Palatinate.
The Bavarian Palatinate is a country richly blessed by
nature; the beauty of the landscape and the wealth of its re
sources are well apt to nourish in its inhabitants a natural
disposition to enjoy hfe merrily. The Pfaelzers had been
known from immemorial times for their light-heartedness.
They were an intelligent and excitable folk, good-natured
and enthusiastic, self-confident, and perhaps also a little given
to contentiousness. There were very few poor among them,
at that time at least, except in one small district. It was, there
fore, by no means want or distress that made the Pfaelzers
discontented and revolutionary. The Vienna Congress, after
[ 180]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
the Napoleonic wars, had assigned the Palatinate to the king
of Bavaria, but as that province was not contiguous to the
rest of the kingdom, it had not the feeling of really belong
ing to it. A Bavarian patriotism would never grow in the
Palatinate. When the Bavarian government sent " Old-
Bavarian " officers into the Palatinate to help govern its
people, the attitude toward one another became still more
unfriendly, as the hungry " Old-Bavarians," it was said, were
sent to the rich Palatinate to grow fat. Their relations were
much like those that existed between the Prussian province
on the Rhine and old Prussia. The Pfaelzers were there
fore in almost constant opposition to Old-Bavaria, and this
opposition would have been sufficient to drive them into the
ranks of the liberals had not liberal ways of thinking and
feeling been natural to this vivacious and enlightened populji-
tion. That this liberalism bore a decided German-national
character was a matter of course. In fact, orie of the most
famous national demonstrations at the beginning of the
thirties, the celebrated " Hambacher Fest," had taken place in
the Palatinate, and among the leaders of the national move
ment there were always Pfaelzers in the foremost ranks.
When the king of Bavaria refused to recognize the na
tional constitution made by the Frankfurt Parliament, the
general indignation in the Palatinate broke out in furious
fiame. It was a natural sentiment with the Pfaelzers that if
the king of Bavaria would not be German, the Palatinate
must cease to be Bavarian, On the 2d of May an immense
mass-meeting was held at Kaiserslautern in which all the
liberal clubs of the Palatinate were represented. This meet
ing elected a committee for the " defense of the country,
which, according to the resolutions adopted, was to take the
government of the province into its hands and to organize an
[181]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
armed force. This action accorded with the universal will of
the population of the Palatinate, with the exception, perhaps,
of a very few civil and military officers.
The terrible confusion which the refusal of the king of
Prussia to accept the imperial crown under the national con
stitution had brought upon all Germany came now to light
in an almost grotesque manner. As already mentioned, the
national parliament had, on the 4th of May, summoned " the
governments, the legislative bodies, the communes of the
several German states, the whole German people, to see to it
that the constitution of the German Empire be generally rec
ognized and practically introduced." Inasmuch as the king
of Bavaria would not recognize the national constitution, the
Pfaelzers felt themselves justified in rising against the
Bavarian government, for they only obeyed the national par
liament, which they regarded as the highest national authority
in Germany. The " Committee for the Defense of the Coun
try," therefore, quite logically applied to the national parlia
ment through their representatives in that body, and to the
national central power, for recognition, protection, and sup
port. The national central power, at the head of which stood
the Austrian Archduke Johann, thereupon sent an imperial
commissioner, Dr, Eisenstuck, to the Palatinate with the in
struction " to take in the name of the imperial power all meas
ures necessary for the restoration of the laws in that country,"
and especially to see to it that some of the resolutions adopted
by the " Committee for the Defense of the Country " be re
scinded. The imperial commissioner, after due investigation,
declared those resolutions to be invalid, but he recognized the
" Committee for the Defense of the Country " and for the
execution of the national constitution as fully competent to
organize an armed power and to swear in the members thereof
[ 182]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
to obey the national constitution, and in case of necessity to
defend that constitution by independent action against all
attacks by force. With this, of course, Archduke Johann, who
had sent him, was not pleased.
That prince had originally become distasteful to the Aus
trian court by marrying a young woman who did not belong
to the nobility, and by uttering now and then a liberal senti
ment. This had put him in the odor of liberalism with the
great public, and to this circumstance he owed his election to
the office of regent of the empire in 1848. It was not unnat
ural at all that this election created in him the desire to obtain
for himself the imperial crown. When the king of Prussia
was elected emperor the archduke was greatly disappointed,
and he showed his displeasure at once by offering to the na
tional parliament his resignation as regent of the empire. He
permitted himself, however, to be pursuaded to withdraw that
resignation for the time being, and he did this aU the more
willingly as he received from the Austrian court the sugges
tion that he should not abandon so important an office while
it existed, because through it he might do very important
service to the dynastic interest of Austria. That dynastic in
terest of Austria was, at the time, to prevent by every means
the elevation of the king of Prussia to the dignity of German
emperor; and also not to permit any constitution of the Ger
man empire which did not comprise the whole of Austria,
including its Hungarian and Slavic populations, and in which
Austria did not occupy the leading place. The national con
stitution, which was actually adopted by the Frankfurt parlia
ment, making Prussia the leading power, was therefore to the
Austrian court an abomination. The liberalism of the Arch
duke Johann may originaUy have been ever so genuine — cer
tain it is that he had the monarchical interest in general, and the
[183]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
Austrian interest in particular, more at heart than the national
constitution and German unity.
Now the following situation of things presented itself;
the German national parliament had created an executive au
thority in the form of the " Provisional Central Power," with
the Archduke Johann as regent, in order to enforce respect to
its orders and its laws. The most important of the utterances
of its wiU consisted in the national constitution and the elec
tion of the king of Prussia as German emperor. The king
of Prussia, that is, the emperor-elect, refusing to recognize the
national constitution as rightfully existing, and declined to
accept his election. The national parliament thereupon sum
moned not only all German governments, but also all legisla
tive bodies and the communes of the German states, etc., in
fact, the whole people, to enforce the national constitution.
The people of the Palatinate did exactly what the national
parliament had ordered the German people to do. The
Pfaelzers had risen for the national constitution, against
the king of Bavaria, who refused to recognize that constitu
tion. The imperial commissioner, sent by the regent of the
empire into the Palatinate, found himself obliged, by the logic
of circumstances as well as by his loyalty to the national par
liament, to confirm the " Committee for the Defense of the
Country " in the Palatinate, and to recognize it as lawfully
empowered to resist all forcible attacks upon the national
constitution. And what then did the imperial regent who had
been appointed for the purpose of enforcing the will of the
national parliament, and especially to secure the recognition
and introduction of the national constitution, do? He recalled
the imperial commissioner at once, and then went to work to
suppress by force of arms the popular movement which had
been set on foot in compliance with the summons of the na-
[184 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
tional parhament for the defense and introduction of the
national constitution. And for this act of suppression mainly
Prussian troops were selected — troops of the same king who
in March, 1848, had solemnly promised to put himself at the
head of the national movement and to merge Prussia in Ger
many; who then had been elected German emperor; and who
now was to strike down those who insisted that he should be
come German emperor.
It has been said in defense of this monstrous proceeding
that the popular uprising for the national constitution in the
Palatinate and in Baden was mixed up with strong repub
lican tendencies ; that is, with the desire to subvert the existing
political order of things. This is true to a certain extent, but
it is also true that if the German princes had loyally done that
which in March, 1848, they had given the German people the
fuUest right to expect that they would do, and if the king
of Prussia and his brother-kings had accepted the national
constitution, they would have neutralized, disintegrated, and
rendered powerless all republican movements in Germany.
The German people at large would have been satisfied. They
would undoubtedly have consented even to some changes in
the monarchical sense in the national constitution. And it is
no less true that the manner in which the kings, after so many
beautiful promises and pledges, sought to disappoint the hopes
of the German people for national unity, was only too certain
to destroy all faith in their national sentiment, and to create
the opinion that only by means of republicanism a united Ger
man nation could be formed. The attitude of the king of
Prussia, as well as the kings of Bavaria, Hanover, and Sax
ony, placed before the German people the clear alternative
either to abandon, at least for the time being, all endeavors
for German unity and political freedom, or to strive for the
[185]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
reahzation of these objects by means which are termed by
governments revolutionary. The pitiable history of Germany
during the next ten years has strikingly demonstrated that
those who looked at the situation in the year 1849 in the light
of this alternative were entirely right.
Let us now return to the Palatinate and the recaU of
the imperial commissioner. At first attempts were made to
check the revolutionary movement in the Palatinate with small
bodies of troops ; but this failed, and as also in the meanwhile
by the uprising of the people and the defection of the army
in Baden the situation of things had become much more seri
ous, the Prussian government began to mobilize some army
corps and to prepare for a regular campaign. It was these
preparations which had caused the various revolts in the Prus
sian provinces on the Rhine and in Westphalia. The Palati
nate was now, for a little while, left to itself, and the good-na
tured and sanguine people saw in this temporary quiet a sign
that the king of Prussia and his royal associates after all
disliked openly to proceed against them with arms in their
hands, because other populations in Germany might be as
enthusiastic for the cause of German unity and liberty as the
people in the Palatinate and Baden. They preferred to believe
that the uprising would end as merrily as it had begun ; and this
explains the fact that the popular light-heartedness in the
midst of revolutionary events, which I have designated as a
picnic humor, lasted a considerable time. The cooler heads
indeed did not indulge in such delusions; they foresaw that
this would be a decisive struggle against an anti-national and
anti-liberal reaction, in which the princes and court parties
would put into the field their large and well organized power,
if necessary even to the last reserves, and that against this
power the resources of the Palatinate and of Baden looked
[186]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
pitiably inadequate. In the Palatinate a small number of
Bavarian soldiers had come out for the popular cause — that
is to say, they had left their colors and taken the oath of
aUegiance to the national constitution and to the provisional
government. Aside from these regular soldiers, the provisional
government had at its disposition the civic guard of some of
the cities, which, however, could be used only for local service,
and were indifferently armed. Then they had the little corps
under Zitz — some six or seven hundred men — and a small
corps under Blenker, and finally the military bodies which
were still to be organized on a large scale, but which so far
were insignificant as a fighting force. It would probably not
have been difficult to raise in the Palatinate an army corps of
twenty to twenty-five thousand men had the provisional gov
ernment had firearms at its disposal. Multitudes of volunteers
offered themselves, but as no guns could be put into their
hands and they could only be armed with spears, many of them
went home again. An attempt to import muskets from
Belgium failed, because they were intercepted by Prussian
customs officers on their way through Prussian territory. An
expedition led by Blenker to surprise the fortress of Landau,
situated in the Palatinate, which contained considerable stores
of arms and military equipments, also failed. Thus the want
of arms remained one of the most pressing cares.
The provisional government consisted of highly honor
able, well-meaning, and brave men, who should not be blamed
for not having mastered a situation which would have tested
the resources of a great organizing genius. Nor did they suc
ceed in finding military men equal to the gigantic task. The
chief command of such military organization as they had they
gave first to a former leader of the civic guard in Vienna,
Fenner von Fenneberg, a man who had developed into a pro-
[ 187 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
fessional revolutionist, and who spent his time mainly in blam
ing others for not doing what had to be done. He was soon
obliged to give up his post, and the command then passed tem
porarily into the hands of a mihtary commission composed
of former Prussian officers, Techow, Beust, Schimmelpfen-
ning, and Anneke. These were well-trained men, but better
fitted to take command of bodies of troops already or
ganized and equipped than to create an army in a country
the population of which was httle accustomed to disciphne
and ready obedience, and to whom Prussian officers with their
systematic ways and abrupt methods were not very sympa
thetic. Still this commission accomplished all that could have
been expected of it. Meanwhile the provisional government
had engaged for a considerable sum of money the services of
an old Polish general by the name of Sznayde, of whom it
was rumored that he was really not a Pole, but a Gei'man by
the name of Schneider. Men who had served as officers in the
great Polish revolutionary wars appeared at that time with
a sort of a halo of revolutionary heroism around their heads.
The popular legend attributed to them not only extraordinary
bravery, but also all possible military talent, and exceptional
familiarity with the secrets of the military art. It was as if
at the rallying places of the Polish refugees, especially in Paris
and Switzerland, a stock of generals was kept in store, to be
occasionally disposed of for revolutionary enterprises in any
part of the world. Among these Polish officers there were
undoubtedly men of very respectable ability, such as Dembin-
sky, Bem, Mieroslowski, and others; but also much worthless
and time-worn material. How the provisional government of
the Palatinate hit upon General Sznayde I do not know. It
was said that in the Polish-Russian war of 1830-1831 he had
been a very brave cavalry officer, but in the year 1849 it would
[188]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
have been difficult to find a general less fit for the command
of the volunteer bodies in the Palatinate. He was a very fat
and ponderous old gentleman who looked as if he preferred to
wield fork and knife rather than the sword, and to whom a
good night's rest would be much more welcome than the tumult
of battle. Neither could he say the httle he had to say in in
telligible German. His performance as an organizer of the
popular army consisted mainly in hindering the mihtary com
mission that was to aid him. The consequence was that while
the provisional government issued an abundance of appeals
and orders, most of them remained unobserved. After a
labor of six weeks the Palatinate had not more than seven
to eight thousand men, most of whom were very badly armed,
and all of whom were indifferently disciplined.
In the neighboring grand duchy of Baden things looked
much more favorable; the whole infantry and artillery, as
well as the largest part of the cavalry of the state, had come
over to the popular side and presented a well-equipped army
corps of about fifteen thousand men. Moreover, the fortress
of Rastatt had faUen into the hands of the insurrectionists,
with all its stores of arms, ammunition and equipments.
Newly formed organizations could therefore much more easily
be provided with all the necessaries, and thus an army of some
forty or fifty thousand men might have been organized
in a comparatively short time. To be sure, the officers
had mostly remained true to the grand duke, and thus sepa
rated themselves from their commands, but their places had
been filled with promoted corporals and sergeants, and among
these were able men in sufficient numbers to maintain among
the troops tolerable discipline. Thus the revolution appeared
in Baden in more or less stately armament.
But_thfi-poli±ical_Jeaders irL..the Palatinate and. Baden
[189]""

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
ought to have recognized from the start that the utmost ex
ertion of their strength could not possibly be sufficient to re
sist the united power of the German princes, or even that of
Prussia alone. There was no hope of success unless the popular
uprising spread beyond its present boundaries into the rest of
Germany. To this end all the available forces that could be
mustered should without delay have been thrown across the
frontiers in order to draw into the revolutionary movement the
population of the neighboring states; in the first place those
of Wiirtemberg and Hessen. A young officer of Baden,
Franz Sigel, who had been promoted to major by the provi
sional government, recognized this clearly enough, and he
counseled an advance into Wiirtemberg. The provisional
government permitted him to lead an expedition into the grand
duchy of Hessen with a small force, but after an unfortu
nate engagement he was ordered back. The provisional gov
ernments of Baden and of the Palatinate could not screw up
their courage to an offensive venture across their boundaries;
they did not see that their defeat was inevitable if they waited
in a defensive attitude for the attacks of the hostile forces.
They continued to cling to the desperate hope that the Prus
sian government after all at the last moment would recoil
from an active assault upon the defenders of the national con
stitution; or, if not, that the Prussian "Landwehr" would
refuse to fight against their brothers who had risen for a com
mon cause. Whatever the Landwehr might have done if the
revolutionary army, with bold resolution and victorious cour
age, had come to meet them on their own ground, and had so
appealed to their sympathies, it could hardly be expected of
them that they would sacrifice themselves for a cause which was
only timidly defended by its champions. But however clear this
should have been at the time to the leaders in Baden and the
[190]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
Palatinate, the provisional governments insisted upon remain
ing within the boundaries of their own little countries and
thus to await the attack.
On the day after my arrival in Kaiserslautern I would
have enlisted as a private soldier in one of the volunteer bat
talions then being organized, had not Anneke iwt advised me
not to be in too much of a hurry, but to permit him to find a fit
position for me. He had been made chief of artillery in the
Palatinate, and said he could employ me on his staff. Two
days afterwards he brought me an appointment as heutenant,
signed by the provisional government, and made me his aide-
de-camp. Kinkel found employment as one of the secretaries
of the provisional government. The artillery of the Palat
inate consisted, at that time, of only the four little guns of
the corps commanded by Zitz, of half a dozen smaU cannon,
of which it was said they might be of much use in mountain
warfare, and of a battery of six pounders obtained from the
provisional government of Baden. The field of activity of
the artillery chief and of his staff was therefore a limited one ;
and I was not displeased when I was told that until the be
ginning of active hostilities I might also be employed in
political affairs.
I was now and then sent to popular meetings which were
held to warm the patriotic zeal of the masses; and once I
received an order to effect the arrest of a priest who used
his influence in his parish — a large village of about three
thousand inhabitants — to keep the young men from enlisting
in the mihtary organizations then forming. This was regarded
as a sort of high treason against the new order of things;
and the priest being looked upon as a desperate person who
might possibly offer resistance, a little body of fifty men was
to accompany me in order to aid me in the execution of my
[ 191 1

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
orders. This armed force did, indeed, not look very formid
able; the lieutenant who commanded it was in civilian dressj
except that he wore a plume on his hat and a tri-colored sash,
and a sword. Among the men there was only one military
uniform, that of a member of the national guard of Strasburg,
whence he had come to enjoy with us the revolutionary frolic
in the Palatinate, The rest of the men were in their daily
garb. There were only about a dozen muskets among them,
mostly with old flint locks. The rest of the armament con
sisted of spears and scythes fastened straight on poles. As
a commissioner of the provisional government, I was dis
tinguished by a tri-colored sash and a sword; I also carried
a pistol in my belt, but without cartridges. Thus equipped
we marched across the country to the village in which the
treasonable priest carried on his mischievous activity. Within
sight of the village we halted, and there being nobody among
my men who was acquainted with the whereabouts, I sent
three of them, without arms, ahead to reconnoiter the location
of the parsonage. Two of them should remain there after
having discovered it, and the third was to return to serve the
expedition as a guide.
When I marched into the village at the head of my arma
ment I found the streets a picture of profound peace. It was
a beautiful summer afternoon; the male inhabitants, agri
culturists, were working in the fields; only a few old people
and little children were to be seen at the doors of the houses
or at the windows, looking at the strange procession with
stohd astonishment. I must confess that I appeared to myself
for the moment somewhat comical, but my official duty left me
no choice. The parsonage was promptly surrounded by part
of my force, so that my culprit should not slip away
through a back door; the main body was drawn up in
[192]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
front of the house on the street. I knocked at the door
and found myself soon in a plain but very comfortably
furnished room with the priest before me. He was a young
man, perhaps thirty-five years old; a robust figure and a
weU-formed head, with lively penetrating eyes. I tried to as
sume a severe martial attitude, and acquainted him at once,
in short words, with my charge, put my hand upon his shoulder,
as was customary in making an arrest, and called him my
prisoner. To my astonishment he broke out in a merry laugh,
which seemed quite genuine.^
"You want to arrest me," he exclaimed; "that is nice.
You are evidently a university student. I have been the same,
and understand this sort of thing; the whole story is only a
joke. Drink a bottle of wine with me." Thereupon he opened
the door of the room and called to a servant to bring wine.
I did not like to be at once discovered as a university stu
dent, and resented that my mien of official authority should
not impress him. So I said in as severe a tone as possible,
" Reverend sir, this is not a joke. You have hindered in your
parish the organization of the army; such treasonable conduct
cannot be permitted by the provisional government. In the
name of that provisional government I have arrested you. You
must follow me; do not hesitate to obey. Your house is sur
rounded by soldiers; do not oblige me to use force! "
" Force! We will see about that! " he exclaimed, and in
his eyes there gleamed something like anger and defiance, but
he controlled himself, and continued in a serious but quiet
tone: "There cannot be so much hurry about this that you
may not hsten to a word from me. Here is the girl with the
wine, and if I must follow you, permit me at least to drink a
glass with you, to your health. It is true I have warned my
poor peasant boys not to enter the army and to expose them-
[ 193 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
selves to be shot for nothing. You yourself do not think that
this insane revolt can succeed; in a few days the Prussians wiU
chase your provisional government across the Rhine, Where
fore then this nonsense which may cost many people their
lives? " With this he pulled the cork out of the bottle and
filled two glasses, I had no time to consider whether, thirsty
as I was, I should drink with my prisoner, when I heard the
bell on the church steeple near by give a violent signal of
alarm. This could be nothing else than a tocsin; it seemed
that the peasants had somehow or other been informed of the
danger threatening their priest, and as if this church beU
summoned them to his protection. The priest seemed to under
stand the situation clearly; a sly smile flew across his face,
" How many men have you outside? " he asked.
" Enough," I answered.
I opened the window and saw crowds of peasants hurry
ing on from aU sides with flails and pitch- forks and bludgeons.
My men were still standing in line on the street ; some of them
seemed to look around with anxiety at the villagers rushing
upon the scene. I ordered the lieutenant to post my men with
their backs against the house and to let nobody in; in case of
an attack he should defend the door to the utmos't of his ability.
I directed him to give the same orders to the men who^v^atched
the back door of the parsonage. The multitudes in front of
the house grew larger and largen. Threatening exclamations
were heard; evidently the situation was becoming complicated.
Whether the handful of my volunteers could resist that big
crowd of fanatic peasants appeared very questionable.
The priest still smiled. " My parishioners wiU defend me
with their lives. It looks to me as if your armed force were in
their power."
Then a happy thought shot across my mind.
[ 194 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
" In any case, you, Herr Pastor, are in my power," I an
swered, drawing my pistol from my belt and cocking it. The
priest would have continued to smile if he had known that the
pistol was not loaded. He evidently thought it was a danger^
ous weapon, and his smile disappeared suddenly.
" What do you want? " he asked.
" I want you," I said with a show of coolness which,
however, I did not reaUy feel; " I want you to step at once to
this window and to admonish your peasants to return to their
homes without delay. You will add that you have affairs
with the provisional government in the interest of your parish
ioners; that you will go to the city in the company of your
friend here — that means me — ^to transact that business, and that
these armed volunteers have come to protect you on the way
against all danger and annoyance. While you make this speech
to your peasants I stand with this pistol behind you. Do your
business well, my friend; the provisional government will re
member it." The priest looked at me for a moment with an
expression of surprise, and smiled again, but it was an em
barrassed smile; the pistol in my hand evidently did not please
him. Then he rose, stepped to the window and was received
by the peasants with loud exclamations. He commanded
silence, and said exactly what I had prescribed to him. He did
his business finely. The peasants obeyed without hesitation,
and quiet reigned again in the streets. The priest and I then
emptied our bottle of wine with all comfort. At dusk we left
the house by the back door and wandered together toward the
city like two old friends in merry conversation, my armed
escort a hundred paces behind us. On the way I toyed with
my pistol, throwing it into the air and catching it again with
my hand. " Take care," said the priest, "the pistol might go off."
[195]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
"Impossible, Herr Pastor," I answered; "it is not
loaded." " What! " he exclaimed, " not loaded? "
We looked at one another and broke out into loud
laughter. I reported to the provisional government how the priest
had helped me and my people out of a very precarious situa
tion, and he was very kindly treated and allowed to return
home forthwith. The provisional government had indeed
much more important things to think of.
The attack which the merry Pfaelzers — at least many of
them — had so long deemed improbable now really came. On
the 12th of June a body of Prussian troops crossed the fron
tier. If the curses which those otherwise so good-natured people
hurled against those Prussians had all been cannon baUs, the
Prussian troops could hardly have stood up against them; but
the real fighting force at the disposal of the provisional gov
ernment was so insignificant and so ill-equipped and undis
ciplined that an effective defense of the counfry was not
possible. It was therefore necessary to avoid an encounter
with the Prussians, and so it happened that the first military
operation in which I participated consisted in a retreat. A
few days before this my chief. Lieutenant Colonel Anneke,
had instructed me to be ready to march at any moment, which
I did not find difficult, because my baggage was extremely
scant, I was given a horse, a fine bay, and as I had never
learned to ride, my commander sent me to a riding school,
where the master ordered me to mount the animal, explaining
to me in a few words what I was to do with my legs and my
hands to guide my mount; whereupon he struck him with
a smart cut of his whip, and I had to keep my seat as weU as
I could on my prancing steed. After this had gone on for an
[196]

W^'^'f^^WMSm^^

CARL SCHURZ AS A STUDENT

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
hour or so the master dismissed me, saying: " The next lesson
you wiU get on the march." He was right; the constant exer
cise in active service gave me a pretty firm seat.
The sudden necessity of retreating considerably in
creased the general confusion. There was no end of or
ders and revocations of orders untU we finaUy got started.
I think it was in the night from the 13th to the 14th of
June. With our artiUery we had, indeed, no great diffi
culty, inasmuch as it consisted of very few pieces. At two
o'clock in the night we mounted our horses and were off, A
night march is almost always a miserable affair, especially
a night march in retreat. Yet I must confess that the dull
rumble of the wheels on the road, the rustle of the march
ing columns, the low snorting of the horses, and the rattling
of the sabers and scabbards in the darkness, affected me as
something especiaUy romantic. In the appreciation of this I
found sympathetic response with the wife of my chief, Ma
thilda Franciska Anneke, a young woman of noble charac
ter, beauty, vivacity, and fiery patriotism, who accompanied
her husband on this march, I remember well our common
pleasure, when in that night we passed by a tavern on the road
side, where some of the men, bearded fellows with black hats
covered with plumes, and fantastically ornamented blouses,
their rifles hung over their shoulders, in the feeble flicker of a
lamp crowded around the woman of the hostelry, who poured
wine for them. The picture might have been a scene of Schil
ler's " Robbers." The majority of our men not being uni
formed, every soldier dressed more or less according to his
fancy, and this gave tempting scope to individual taste. Many
of the men evidently endeavored to look very wild and terrible,
which they would have done had their faces not been so strik
ingly good-natured, [ 197 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
About sunrise after this flrst night's march we found
ourselves in a deep gorge between precipitous ledges, near a
place called Frankenstein, where we took a defensive posi
tion across the road to Neustadt. A cold morning brings, under
such circumstances, a feeling of truly unrbmantic sober-mind
edness with it, and I then learned that a hot cup of coffee, ever
so thin, and a piece of dry bread, belong to the great benefac
tions of life. The Prussians, however, did not press us, and
we remained undisturbed in our bivouac near Frankenstein
during the entire day. On the 15th and 16th of June the
troops of the Palatinate were drawn together near Neustadt-
an-der-Hardt. In this rich country the population of the villages mani
fested their friendly sentiments toward us by putting large
pails filled with wine in the doors of their houses, so
that the passing troops might refresh themselves. There I
saw for the first time the leader of a considerable corps,
Colonel Blenker, who twelve years later, during the Civil
War in the United States, attracted much attention as a bri
gade commander. He was an exceUent horseman, and as he ap
peared splendidly accoutered at the head of his staff, he pre
sented a stately and imposing figure. The spectacle of several
weU-armed battalions revived, to some extent, the courage of
our troops, which had been somewhat dampened by the retreat,
and here and there arose the cry that now the confounded
Prussians might come on; but the retreat was continued and
the Palatinate abandoned without the striking of a blow.
About the 19th of June, 1849, some seven or eight thousand
strong, we crossed the Rhine into Baden territory and marched
toward Karlsruhe, the capital of the grand duchy.
Our entry into that neat little city created among the in
habitants a sensation which was by no means flattering to the
[198]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
troops of the Palatinate. The Karlsruhe burghers, who had
been accustomed to the trim appearance of the grand duke's
soldiers, did not seem to relish the picturesque and romantic
appearance of our Paliatinate fighters for liberty, but were
rather inclined to close their doors and shutters as though
feeling the necessity of protecting themselves against the
inroad of a band of robbers. At any rate, the faces of
many of the peojJle who. stood on the streets watching our
entering columns bore the unmistakable expression of anx
ious expectancy. We consoled ourselves with the thought,
and gave that thought very vigorous utterance, that the
population of this little capital consisted mainly of cour
tiers, high and low, and of government officials, and that at
the bottom of their hearts they hated the revolution and wished
the grand duke to return, although many of them had, since
his flight, talked like republicans. The wish of the people of
Karlsruhe to get rid of their neighbors from the Palatinate,
was so great that our troops were not even given sufficient op
portunity to prove to those timid souls what honest and peace-
loving beings were concealed under those wild beards, those red
plumes, and those belts stocked full of daggers and dirks. On
the same day a camp was assigned to us outside of the city,
and on the 20th of June we marched northward to the aid of
the revolutionary army of Baden, which in the meantime had
got into a critical situation.
The army of Baden had defended the northern frontier
of the grand duchy against General Peuker, commander of a
corps formed of regular Wiirtemberg and Hessen troops. Just
at the time when the hostUities broke out, the Badish army
also received its Pole, General Mieroslawski, as commander-
in-chief. He was still a young man, and had shown much abihty
as weU as bravery in the last Pohsh uprising, but he possessed
[199]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
no knowledge of local conditions, and was ignorant of the
German language. However, he was vastly preferable to old
Sznayde. On the 20th of June the Prussian corps passed the
Rhine from the Palatinate near Philipsburg, and so got into
the rear of the Badish army. With a rapid movement Miero
slawski turned against these Prussians, checked them by a bold
attack near Waghaeusel, and then executed a clever flank
march by which he passed between the Prussian troops and
those of General Peuker, and opened communication with the
corps of the Palatinate and the reserves which approached from
the south of Baden. The engagement at Waghaeusel was by
no means discreditable to the Badish troops. We could hear
the roar of the guns as we marched northward by way of
Bruchsal, and soon rumors began to circulate among us of a
great victory won by our people over the Prussians. But then
later news came that Mieroslawski was retreating along the
Wiirtemberg frontier and that we had to cover his flank.
This did not much disturb our belief that the battle of
Waghaeusel had really been a victory, the fruits of which,
however, as was said, were lost through the treachery of the
colonel of the dragoons, who was ordered to pursue the beaten
enemyJOn the 23d of June we advanced to Ubstadt and
tEefewe received the report that the next morning we would
have to meet the Prussian vanguard. The orders which I re
ceived from my chief kept me busy on horseback untU night,
and it was late when I reached my quarters in the tavern at
Ubstadt. My chief had already gone to rest. Upon all sides I
heard the snoring of sleepers. Only the daughter of our host,
a buxom young maiden of resolute expression of face, seemed
to be at work. I asked her for a bed and something to eat, and
both requests were granted by her with a robust outbreak of
her feelings against the " accursed Prussians," who had nothing
[200]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
to do in the Badish land, and whom we should send home on the
morrow with a sound thrashing. Now I expected ;%ithin
myself the solemn " emotions on the eve of battle " of which
here and there I had read. But no emotions came; I fell asleep
as soon as I had stretched myself out.
Neither did those emotions come the next morning, " on
the morning of the battle." It almost appeared to me as if
overmuch had been imagined about such emotions. In later
hfe I have gathered the experience that indeed they will
occur, but only on exceptional occasions. Ordinarily the
thoughts of the soldier on the morning before the battle turn
to things of a very practical nature, among which breakfast
occupies an important place. So it happened to me on that
morning at Ubstadt, At an early hour we were in the saddle,
and soon we saw at a little distance in our front some cavalry
men who approached at a moderate pace. This signified that
the Prussians had deployed one or more squadrons of uhlans as
skirmishers who would be followed by infantry and artillery
to make an attack. The uhlans disappeared after having fired
a few shots from their carbines, and then began a lively rattle
of infantry fire. Soon cannon were posted on both sides and
the baUs fiew to and fro with their peculiar rushing sound,
without, however, doing much damage. At first my attention
was occupied entirely by orders which I had to transmit or
to execute, but after our artillery had been placed, and
we sat quietly on our horses in the immediate neighbor
hood of the battery, I had leisure to becom^ conscious
of my thoughts and feelings. Then I experienceVi another
disappointment. For the first time I was " under fire." I
cannot say that I was entirely calm; my nerves were in an
unaccustomed stir: but that stir was not fear, nor vfas it the
heroic joy of battle, of which I had read so much, for I was
[ 201 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
obliged to stand stiU, As the Prussian guns directed their fire
upon our artillery position, their balls flew one after another
immediately over our heads. At first I felt a strong inclination
when I heard the noise right above me, to duck; but it occurred
to me that this was unbecoming an officer, and then I remained
straight upright in my saddle. I also forced myself not to
quiver when a musket bullet whizzed close by my ear. The
wounded men who were carried past excited my warm sym
pathy; but the thought that the same might happen to me the
next moment did not occur to me at all. When my chief
afterwards sent me again with orders hither and thither, aU
the reflections ceased and I thought of nothing but the things
I had to do, and of the course of the action as I could observe
it. In short, I felt little or nothing of those stormy, irrepres
sible agitations which I had imagined to be inseparable from a
battle, but the experience convinced me that under similar
circumstances I should always be likely to retain my presence
of mind. The engagement at Ubstadt was a comparatively small
affair, with no purpose on our side but to retard the advance
of the enemy until the Badish army could have reformed in (
our rear, and then slowly to fall back upon its position. At
/Ubstadt this instruction was carried out in a comparatively
orderly manner. That such things cannot be done as perfectly
with hastily organized and indifferently disciplined volunteers
as with well-schooled regular troops is a matter of course.
The next day we had a more considerable engagement with the
Prussian vanguard near Bruchsal, which again ended in a re
treat on our part. As frequently happens in popular upris
ings, excited people are apt to ascribe the faUure of their
enterprise to the treachery of this or that leader; and on this
occasion the cry was raised against poor General Sznayde.
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
On the retreat he was suddenly surrounded by a band of
mutineers and dragged from his horse. He then disappeared
from the scene of action, and the troops of the Palatinate were
put under the immediate orders of the Badish commander. (^
«v. On the line of the Murg River, the left wing leaning on
the fortress of Rastatt, the united corps of the revolutionists
of Baden and of the Palatinate fought their last defensive
fight on the 28th, 29th and 30th of June, 1849, in part
very gallantly, although without success. On the evening
of June 30 Lieutenant Colonel Anneke sent me with an
instruction concerning artillery ammunition into the fortress
of Rastatt, where I was to wait for him in a certain
fortification from which we could observe a large part of
the battlefield. There he would call for me, he said, I dis
charged my order and then went to the place indicated by
my chief, tied my horse to a gun carriage and sat down on
the rampart, where after having watched the fight outside for
a little while I fell asleep from sheer fatigue in spite of the
roaring of the cannon. When I awoke the sun was about to
set, I inquired among the artillerymen standing around for
Colonel Anneke, but nobody had seien him. I became restless
and mounted my horse to look for my chief outside of
the town. When I arrived at the gate the officer on duty
informed me that I could not get out; that our army was
pressed back toward the south, and that the fortress was com
pletely surrounded by the Prussians. I galloped to the head
quarters of the. commander of the fortress and received there
the confirmation of what I had heard. The prospect of re
maining in the city with Prussians all around, and this not in
obedience to orders, but by mere accident, struck me as ex
ceedingly undesirable. I could not resign myself to it, and
inquired again and again whether there was no way out, until
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
at last an officer standing near the gate said: " I feel just as
you do, I do not belong here and have tried all possible points
where I thought I might slip through, but all in vain. We
have to submit and remain." Of Anneke I found no trace.
He had either left the city or perhaps had not been in it all.
Having given up all hope of escape, I reported myself
to the Governor of the fortress. Colonel Tiedemann/ He was
a tall, slender man, with fine, regular features, and a bold,
resolute expression of face. As the son of a privy counselor,
a far-famed professor of medicine in Heidelberg, he had re
ceived a good education. In early youth his inclination led him
into the army, and he followed to Athens the Bavarian Prince
Otto, who became the first king of Greece. The revolution in
Baden found him at home, and the -provisional government
entrusted to him the command of the fortress of Rastatt]
He received me kindly, hstened to my report, and attached me
to his staff. As to my duties, I was to report to him the next
morning. I received quarters in the house of a confectioner
by the name of Nusser, My host and his wife, very kind and
weU-mannered people, welcomed me heartily and put at my
disposal a pleasant room and a seat at their table. Also my
servant, Adam, a young soldier from the Palatinate, who for
tunately had followed me into the fortress, found shelter in
the house, AU this looked cheerful enough. But when my host and
Adam had left me alone and I could, in the silence of my
chamber, think over the new situation, my heart became_^
heavy. That our cause, unless a miracle happened, was lost, I
could no longer conceal from myself; and what kind of a
miracle it might be, my hopeful imagination failed to guessj.
Could it be the passing over of the Prussian Landwehr to
the revolutionary army? That would have been possible at the
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
beginning of the campaign, if at all. Now, after a series of
defeats that possibility had disappeared. Could it be a great
victory of our troops in the highlands of Baden? Not to be
thought of, as the retreat of our forces from the Murg River
must have weakened them more by the inevitable demoraliza
tion than they could have been strengthened by reinforce
ments from other parts of the country. Could it be a great
victory of the Hungarians in the East? But the Hungarians
were far away and the Russians were marching upon them.
Could it be a new uprising of the people in Germany? But
the revolutionary impulse was evidently exhaustedj Here we
were shut up in a fortress surrounded by the Prussians. A
stubborn defense of the fortress could serve our cause, only
in so much as it might prove that a popular army could
also possess courage and maintain its military honor. But
under all circumstances the fortress could resist only a very
limited time. 'And then? Capitulation. And then? We would
faU into the hands of the Prussians. The supreme commander
of the Prussian troops in Baden was " The Prince of Prus
sia," in whom, at that time, nobody would have recog
nized the afterwards so popular Kaiser Wilhelm I. At that
period the prince was regarded as the worst enemy of all
movements for freedom. The generally credited rumor that
it was he who on the 18th of March, 1848, in Berlin, had given
the order to fire upon the people had earned for him, with the
people, the title of the " Grapeshot Prince." The excitement
of the masses against him during those days of March was in
fact so violent that the king thought it best to send him away
to England for some time, and this journey was carried out in
a manner which looked very much like flight. That in the year
1849 when the imperial crown was offered to his brother,
Frederick WiUiam IV., he belonged to those who advised
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
a favorable consideration of that offer, and that if he
instead of his brother had been king of Prussia, the crisis
might have taken a turn much more propitious to the realiza
tion of German unity, was at that time not yet known; nor
would it have found much behef, for the prince of Prussia
was then generally thought to be an honest and inflexible
absolutist, who candidly and firmly believed that kings were
ordained by God and had to render account only to God; that
the people must have nothing to do with the business of the
government ; that resistance to the kingly power was equivalent
to a direct offense against God Himself, and that it was an im
portant duty of those in power to impose upon such a crime the
heaviest possible penalty. So in the minds of the people the
prince appeared as a fanatical soldier to whom the Prus
sian army was a very idol; who saw in it the " sword of God,"
the bulwark of the order of the universe; in whose eyes the
Prussian subject that fought against the Prussian army com
mitted an unpardonable crime not less accursed than patricide
itself, and from whom such a criminal could expect no grace.
We natives of Prussia, therefore, if we fell into the hands of
that prince, had the best possible prospects of being con
demned to death by a drumhead court-martial and of being
shot. With these dismal thoughts I went to bed. Neverthe
less I slept soundly and awoke long after sunrise.
The duties assigned to me by the governor were not oner-
jous, I had to spend certain hours on the highest gallery of the
tower of the castle, armed with a telescope, to observe the
enemy and to make report of what I might see. Then I had,
periodically, to visit certain bastions and gates, and to inspect
certain watches, and in addition to do such other things as the
governor might see proper to entrust to meJ[To fit me for
that duty I donned the uniform of a regular infantry lieuten-
[ 206 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
ant of the Badish army, which transformed me into a respecta
ble-looking officer and gave me a sort of military consciousness
which until then I had not possessed.
Colonel Tiedemann succeeded in maintaining among the
garrison — which was composed partly of regular Badish
soldiers and partly of volunteers — pretty good discipline.
Only once, as far as I can remember, I Avitnessed a serious
breach of order. Some soldiers thought they had detected
a spy, and soon a furious crowd rushed after the poor
fellow, who tried to save himself by flight, but who succumbed
after a few steps to the saber thrusts and stones hurled at him.
It was aU the work of a moment. The officers who accidentally
were near, among them myself, succeeded, after a while, in
quieting the soldier mob, but we were unable to save the
victim. We had also other excitements.
One morning, shortly after break of day, I was awakened
by a violent explosion on the street immediately under my
window. As I jumped out of bed the thought struck me that
the Prussians might, during the night, have penetrated into
the city, and that there was now a street fight going on. A
second explosion, immediately above the house, and the rat
tling noise of heavy objects falling upon* the roof, taught
me that the fortress was being bombarded, and that a shell had
, knocked down the chimney of my house. One explosion came
after another, and the guns of our fortress boomed in response.
I hurried as quickly as possible to headquarter in the castle and
there I beheld a heartrending spectacle. The court of the
castle was crowded with citizens, among them many women
and children who had fled out of their houses and instinctively
sought in the vicinity of the commander, protection against
the threatening catastrophe. Most of the grown-up people,
and even some of the children, carried beds or boxes and aU
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THE EEMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
other house belongings on their heads or under their arms.
As often as a shell rushed oVer the castle yard or exploded in
the vicinity, the poor people, overcome by terror, threw down
all they were carrying and ran toward shelter, screaming and
wringing their hands. Then a moment of silence would inter
vene and they picked up their goods and chattels from the
ground ; but as soon as another shell came along the same scene
repeated itself. We staff officers had our hands full in trying to
quiet the people, and as far as possible to place them in safety
in the bomb-proof casemates of the fortress. Meantime the
church-beUs began to peal and a multitude — ^women with
their children, and not a few men — ^ran across the market-place
to the church, where, with loud lamentations, they prayed God
to save them.
The bombardment, however, was not very serious. It
lasted only a few hours, and did very little damage. A few
fires caused by it were speedily extinguished. The Prussians
probably intended only to let us know that the surrender of
the fortress must not be too long delayed, if we would avoid
greater discomfort. Thus we were bombarded only with field
pieces and a few mortars. The heavy siege guns were to be
brought on if it should be necessary to compel surrender
by extreme means. The governor preferred, however, for the
time being, to continue defense, and the next day a sortie was
undertaken to drive away the battery that had annoyed us.
The officer who commanded that sortie afterwards reported
that the mortars had been taken and spiked by our men.
Beyond this nothing of great importance happened.
With the higher officers of the garrison I came into contact
as a member of the staff, but as I was still a very young man
our intercourse was not intimate. The principal figures that I
remember were Colonel Biedenfeld, a stiff old soldier who had
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
been an officer in the regular army of Baden; Colonel
Bohning, a white-haired, venerable-looking free corps com
mander; Major HeUig, the chief of artillery, about six and a
half feet in height, a kindly and very popular officer; Lieuten
ant Colonel Otto von Corvin, a strikingly handsome young
soldier, who had been a lieutenant in the Prussian army, and
who, if I remember rightly, like myself, had remained in the
fortress accidentally; and Major Mahler, a former lieutenant
in the regular army of Baden, a young, gay infantry officer
who, many years afterwards, fought for the Union under my
command as a Colonel of the Seventy-fifth Pennsylvania, and
who was killed at Gettysburg.
The duty which most interested me was that of the look
out, from the height of the castle tower. From there I had a
magnificent view — toward the east the mountains in which
Baden-Baden is nestled; toward the north the smiling
Rhine valley with its rich fields and vineyards, its shady
forests and the church steeples of many villages hidden
among the fruit trees; toward the south the Black Forest;
to the west Alsatia on the opposite side of the Rhine,
with far-away blue mountain lines. How beautiful was all
this! How benevolent Nature in her rich, lavish goodness!
And over there, in these apparently peaceful surroundings,
lay "The Enemy," who had us firmly in his grasp. There I
saw the outposts regularly relieved, and the patrols of horse
men busily moving to and fro, keeping a sharp eye upon us
so that not a soul of us should escape them. There I saw the
batteries of the enemy ready to hurl destruction and death at
us. There I saw their camps teeming with human beings,
many of whom, aye, perhaps a large majority, thought as we
thought and desired what we desired — possibly among them
children of neighbors in my native village — and yet, all pre-
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
pared at the command of their superiors, to fire the deadly
bullet into our breasts. And over aU this there streamed down
in those summer days the beautiful sunhght of heaven, so
warm and so peaceably radiant, as if there were nothing but
harmony and happiness in the world. AU this so crueUy
unnatural, and yet so cruelly true!
A strange hfe that was in the besieged fortress. With
the exception of one sortie, there being no further fighting ex
citement, we soldiers did our routine service day after day
with mechanical precision, and the burghers pursued what
occupation there stiU remained to them, all in a state of
strained expectation, waiting for the fate that could not be
averted. The world outside lay far, far away from us in un-
measurable distance. There we sat within our ramparts, ex
cluded from all humanity, as if we did not belong to it. Not
a sound of it penetrated to us except a distant roUing of the
drum or the trumpet signals of the enemy besieging us. From
time to time mysterious rumors arose, of which nobody knew
whence they came. Our troops, it was once said, had won a
great victory in the upper country and driven the Prussians
before them. Then a fresh revolution had broken out in
France, and aU Germany was in new commotion. Then the
Hungarians had disastrously defeated the united Austrians
and Russians, and were ready to send their victorious legions to
the aid of the German revolutionists. Once the higher officers
of the garrison rushed up to me on the observation tower be
cause somebody had actually heard, in the direction of the
upper country, a long continuing thunder of cannon, con
stantly approaching; and now they had come to see the
clouds of dust raised by the colimans advancing to our relief.
But the imagined thunder of artillery was inaudible to us; aU
remained still, and we sank back into our dull hopelessness,
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
Sometimes we tried to amuse ourselves with frolics in the
wine houses — for the town was stiU well provided with wine.
Then there was occasionally an effort at gayety, but it
was little more than an effort, for everybody knew that be
hind his chair stood the dark specter of the inevitable catas
trophe. Suddenly one day — ^it was in the third week of the siege — ¦
a Prussian officer, under a flag of truce, came into the fortress
with a summons to surrender, bringing the news that the revo
lutionary army had crossed the Swiss frontier, and had
therefore ceased to exist; that not a single armed insur
gent remained on German soil, and that the Prussian com
mander would consent to permit any man whom the garrison
of Rastatt would entrust with such a mission, to convince him
self of these facts with his own eyes, and to this end they would
give him safe conduct wherever he might wish to go. This
caused tremendous excitement. At once the governor called
a general council of war, l^which, if I remember rightly, con
sisted of aU officers of the garrison from captain upward. The
council met promptly in the great hall of the castle^ After a
stormy discussion it was resolved that the offer of the Prus
sian commander should be accepted, and Lieutenant Colonel
Corvin* received the commission to explore the condition of
things outside; and in case he found it to be as the Prussian
flag of truce had represented, to negotiate for a capitulation
on conditions as favorable as could be obtained.
The hall in the castle in which that council of war was
held, had been, during the siege, always accessible to me, and
one of the big lounges, upholstered with yellow silk damask,
had been my accustomed resting place when I returned from
my observations on the castle tower, or from my rounds
through the f ortr^.i I had selected this sofa because from it
^ [211]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
I had an especiaUy good view of a fresco on the ceiling whiph
had a peculiar charm for me. It was an allegorical group, in
which probably some ancestor of the grand ducal family of
Baden was portrayed in the shape of Jupiter, or Mars, or
Apollo. The subject of the picture did not attract me. But I
found therein the face of some goddess which reminded me
vividly of Betty, and when I looked up from my sofa the eyes
of Betty looked kindly down upon me. No wonder, therefore,
that I loved to rest upon this spot and that I indulged myself
in all sorts of waking dreams, forgetting my dismal situation,
until my eyes closed in sleep.
On the second morning after Corvin's departure, in
the gray dawn I lay down upon the sofa for a short
rest. Soon I was awakened by the noise of heavy steps, rat
tling sabers and a confusion of voices. From what I saw
and heard I concluded that Corvin had returned from his
mission and that the great council of war was reassembling.
The governor entered, demanded silence and asked Corvin,
who stood at his side, to make his report orally to the whole
assembly. Corvin then told us that, accompanied by a Prus
sian officer, he had traveled down to the Swiss frontier and
had convinced himself on the spot that no revolutionary force
was left in Baden, the revolutionary army having crossed into
Switzerland, surrendered its arms, and dissolved. He had also
satisfied himself from the newspapers, that in the rest of Ger
many there was not the slightest vestige of a revolutionary
movement. Everywhere submission and quiet. The Hun
garians, too, had suffered decisive defeats in consequence
of the Russian intervention and would undoubtedly soon suc
cumb. In short, the garrison of Rastatt was entirely forsaken,
and could not hope for any relief; and finally, Corvin added,
he had been informed at Prussian headquarters that the com-
[212]

"'yn^MtHMtmifHrtr

a K,

7 I'^-'m

A PRUSSIAN OFFICER, UNDER A FLAG OF TRUCE
SURRENDER "

. WITH A SUMMONS TO

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
mander of the besieging army would insist upon a surren
der of the fortress at discretion, without conditions of any
kind. Deep silence followed this speech. Every one of the hear
ers felt that Corvin had told the truth. Finally, somebody — I
do not remember who — asked to be allowed to put some ques
tions. Then there was a confusion of voices in which some hot
heads talked of " dying to the last man " ; whereupon the
governor gave the floor to a former Prussian soldier,
who had become an officer in the forces of the Palatinate.
This officer said that he was as ready as anyone to sacrifice
to our cause his last drop of blood, and that those of us
who were Prussians, when they fell into the hands of the be
sieging army, would have to die in any case. Nevertheless
he advised the immediate surrender of the fortress. If we did
not surrender to-day, we would be obliged to do it to-morrow.
We ought not to expose the citizens of the town, with their
wives and children, to famine, or to another bombardment, and
aU in vain. It was time to make an end, whatever might hap
pen to us personally. A murmur swept through the hall ap
proving this advice, and then it was resolved that Corvin
should try once more to secure, at the Prussian headquarters,
for the officers and men of our garrison as favorable condi
tions as possible. But if after a reasonable effort he saw the
impossibility of obtaining such conditions, he should agree
with the Prussian headquarters upon the necessary arrange
ments for a surrender at discretion. When we left the hall
most of us undoubtedly felt that nothing else could be hoped
for. That afternoon I mounted once more my tower of obser
vation upon which I had spent so many watchful and dreamy
hours. The magnificent landscape lay before me in the beauti-
[213]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
ful sunshine. It appeared to me even more beautiful than
ever. I felt as if I must take a last leave of it.
" We Prussians will probably have to die in any case."
These words echoed in my ear, and I was convinced of their
truth. To these Prussians I belonged. I remember vividly
the thoughts which then on that tower of observation went
through my head. One recollection forced itself again and
again upon my mind, how a few years before my father had,
with me, visited Professor Piitz in Cologne; how the pro
fessor had put his hand upon my shoulder and smilingly said
to my father, " A hopeful boy " ; and how proudly then my
father had nodded his head and looked at me. " Of that
hopeful boy there is now an end," I said to myself. Many
of the bold dreams of a great and fruitful activity which
I had formerly cherished recurred to me, and it seemed
hard, very hard, to depart from the world before I had been
permitted to render it any worthy service. A sensation of pro
found sorrow came over me, not on account of myself alone,
but also on account of my parents who had expected so much
of me, to whom I was to be the support of old age, and who
now saw all their hopes shattered and destroyed forever.
Finally, nothing remained to me but the determination if I
was so to end, to look my fate in the eyes with courage and
dignity. I remained on the gallery of the observation tower until
the sun was down. Then I descended atnd reported myself to
the governor, whether he still had orders for the night, " To
night," he said, " every one of my officers ought to be on the
ramparts. I apprehend that the men know that we shall sur
render to-morrow, and will leave their posts. That should not
be." I was glad to have something to do that would occupy
my thoughts. In the fortifications and in the town there was
[214]

THE REMINISCFNCES' OP CARL SCHUEZ
now a great deal of noise and confusion. Many of the men re
garded it as superfluous to take further care of the service;
it would be all over anyhow the next day. There was also
much hubbub in the wine houses, when the soldiers would have
have their last cup together. But the admonitions addressed
by the officers to the men who were running about or drinking
did not find any vicious resistance. The number of those who
still continued to do their duty was sufficient to maintain tol
erable order.
Toward daybreak I stretched myself once more on my
accustomed sofa, and after several hours of profound sleep
woke up with the thought, " To-day you will be taken by the
Prussians, to be shot dead." Then I went to headquarters,
where I learned that Corvin had not succeeded in nego
tiating any conditions, and that the surrender at discretion
was a certain thing. At twelve o'clock noon the troops were to
march through the gates to lay down their arms between two
lines of Prussians outside on the glacis of the fortress.
The orders had already been issue^, I went to my quarters
to write a last letter to my parents.' I thanked them for all
the love and care they had devoted to me, and asked them to
forgive me if I had disappointed their hopes. I told them that
following my honest convictions I had taken up arms for a
cause that I believed to be right, for the liberty and unity of
the German people, and if it should be my lot to die for that
cause, it would be an honorable d^ath of which they would
never have reason to be ashamed, i This letter I put into the
hands of good Mr. Nusser, my host, who, with tears in^is eyes,
promised to put it into the mail as soon as communications
should be opened again. In the meanwhile the hour of noon
approached. Already I heard the signals calling the troops on
the ramparts and in the barracks to the rally, and I prepared
[ 215 ] \^

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
myself to go up to headquarters. Then a new idea suddenly
flashed through my head. I remembered that only a few days
previously my attention had been attracted to a subterranean
sewer for the waters of the street gutters which, near the
Steinmauerner gate, led from the interior of the city, under the
fortifications, into an open field outside. This sewer was prob
ably a part of an uncompleted drainage system. The entrance to
it in the interior of the city was situated in a trench near a gar
den hedge. Outside it emptied into a ditch overgrown with
shrubbery, which bordered a corn field. When these circum
stances had first come to my knowledge, it had occurred to me
that if the opening as well as the exit of that sewer were not well
watched, spies might easily pass through it from the outside
into the town. I had reported the matter to the governor, but
immediately afterwards came the negotiations with the enemy,
the mission of Corvin, and the excitement about the impend
ing capitulation, which drove the affair of the sewer out of my
mind. Now at the last moment before the surrender the re
membrance came back to me hke a ray of light. Would it not
be possible for me to escape through that sewer? Would it not,
if I thus gained the open in this way, be possible in some man
ner to reach the Rhine, there to procure a boat and to cross
the river to the French side^ My resolution was promptly
taken — I would at least try.
I caUed my servant, who had prepared my belongings for
the surrender. " Adam," I said, " you are a Palatinate man, a
volunteer. I believe if you surrender to the Prussians you will
soon be sent home. I am a Prussian, and us Prussians they
wUl probably shoot dead. I wUl therefore try to escape, and I
know a way. Let us therefore say good-bye."
" No, Herr Lieutenant," Adam exclamied, " I shaU not
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
leave you. Where you go, I go." The eyes of the good boy
sparkled with pleasure.
" But," said I, " you have nothing to gain, and we shaU
probably have to incur great dangers."
" Danger or no danger," replied Adam, with decision, " I
remain with you."
At this moment I saw an artiUery officer of the name of
Neustadter, whom I knew well, pass by my window. He, like
myself, was born in Rhenish Prussia, and had formerly served
in the Prussian artillery.
" Where are you going, Neustadter? " I called to him
through the window.
" To join my battery," he answered. " We are to surren
der in half an hour."
" The Prussians will shoot you dead," I replied; " go with
me and let us try to escape."
He stopped, came into the house and listened to my plan,
which I explained to him in a few words.
" Good," he said; " I wiU go with you."
There was now no time to be lost, Adam was sent out to
purchase a loaf of bread, two bottles of wine and some
sausages. Then we put our pistols under our clothes, and
rolled up our cloaks. In mine, a large dark cape lined with
scarlet, received recently from our stores, I wrapped up a
short carbine which I possessed. The bottles and the eatables
which Adam had bought were packed up as well as we knew
how. In the meantime the garrison began to march in close
columns across the market-place. We followed the last column
a short distance, and then turning into a side lane soon reached
the inner mouth of our sewer. Without hesitation we slipped
into it. It was between one and two o'clock in the afternoon of
the 23d of July, [WJ

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
The sewer was a tube of brick masonry, sufficiently high
and wide for us to move through it with bent knees and
curved backs, half walking, half crawling. The water run
ning through the sewer covered our feetand ankles. As we
penetrated into the interior we found, h^e and there, narrow
manholes covered on top with iron gratings, through which
air and, during the day, some light came down. At such places
we rested a moment and stretched ourselves out so as to get
our spines into shape again. According to our calculation we
should have reached about the middle of the sewer, when I
happened to strike my foot against a piece of board lying in
the water, which was just long enough to be squeezed between
the walls of the sewer so that it served us as a sort of bench to
sit upon. Upon this bench, which made our condition a little
more comfortable, we huddled together for a longer rest.
Until then the constant movement to which we had been
compelled had hardly permitted us to survey our situation.
Now, sitting on the bench, we had leisure eriough to coUect our
thoughts and to hold council as to what was further to be done.
During the siege I had had frequent opportunity to observe
the immediate surroundings of the fortress, and I therefore
pretty well knew the ground on which the sewer emptied out
side, I proposed to my companions that we should remain on
the bench until about midnight, then leave the sewer, and seek
cover in a field planted with corn, which I knew to be in the
neighborhood. From there we could, if the sky was tolerably
clear, overlook a little part of the road to Steinmauern, a village
distant about an hour's walk from Rastatt, on the bank of the
Rhine, and assure ourselves whether we might leave the protec
tion of the cornfield without danger. And so, seeking cover
from time to time in order to reconnoiter the road ahead of us,
we might hope before daybreak to reach Steinmauern and there
[218]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ j
to finji a boat that might carry us to the French side of the
river. This plan was approved by my companions.
While we were thus engaged in taking counsel, we heard
above us a dull, rumbling noise as from the wheels of vehicles
and the heavy tread of great masses of men, from which we
concluded that the Prussians were now entering the fortress
and occupying the gates and the ramparts. We also heard the
striking of a church clock which gave the hour, our bench
being near one of the manholes, so that the sounds of the up
per world reached us without much difficulty. About nine
o'clock in the evening it began to rain so heavily that we could
clearly hear the splashing of the water as it poured down. At
first it seemed to us that the bad weather would be favorable
to our plan of escape. But before long the matter appeared
in a different light. We felt that the water was rising in our
sewer, and soon it began to shoot through it with great ve
hemence like a mountain stream. After a while it flooded the
bench upon which we were sitting and reached up to our
chests. We also perceived living creatures which suddenly,
with great activity, rushed and crawled around us. They were
undoubtedly rats. " We have to get out," I said to my com
panions, " or we shall be drowned." We left our bench and
pushed forward. I had hardly advanced a few steps when in
the darkness I ran my head against a hard object. I touched
it with my hands and discovered that the obstacle was an iyon
railing. At once the thought came to me that this railing* had
been put there for the purpose of cutting off, in time of siege,
communication through the sewer between the interior of the
town and the outside. This thought, which I communicated
at once to my companions, brought us almost to despair. But
when I grasped the railing with both hands, as a prisoner may
sometimes shake the iron rods of his dungeon window, I no-
[219]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
ticed that it could be moved a little, and a further examination
proved that it did not reach quite down to the bottom, but left
a free space of about two feet. It was probably so arranged
that it could be pulled up or let down, so that the sewer might
be opened for purposes of cleaning and then shut again. For
tunately, nobody had, during the seige, known anything of this
railing, and thus the possibility of escape stiU remained open
to us. Now, in order to slip through the low aperture under it
we were obliged to crawl with our whole bodies through the
water; but that circumstance, although disagreeable, did not
disturb us. We pushed vigorously on, and when we beheved
ourselves to be near the outward opening of the sewer, we
stopped a minute to gather strength and presence of mind for
the dangerous moment of our issuing forth from our conceal
ment. Then a terrible sound struck our ears. Close ahead of us,
distant only a few paces, we heard a voice call, " Who goes
there? " and at once another voice answered, " Good friend."
We stood still as if struck by lightning. In a short time we
heard the same calls repeat themselves at a somewhat greater
distance, and again and again. It was clear that we were close
to the opening of the sewer, that outside there was a dense
chain of Prussian guard posts, and that just then a patrol or
round had been passing along that chain. Softly I ventured a
step or two further on. Really, there was the mouth of the
sewer overgrown with brush so thick that I stood in darkness
almost as dense as was that in the interior of the canal. But
when I raised myself up a little I could distinctly perceive the
dark figures of a Prussian double sentinel immediately before
me, as well as some camp fires at a short distance. Had we
been able to get into the open without being noticed, which
[ 220 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
seemed almost impossible, still the road to Steinmauern was
evidently closed to us.
Softly as we had come we crawled back into our sewer and
sought safety there, at least for the moment. Fortunately the
rain had ceased. The water was, indeed, still high, but it did
not rise any more, " Back to our bench," I whispered to my
companions. We crawled again under the railing and found
our bit of plank. There we sat close together. Our next coun
cil of war had a certain solemnity about it. There were few
words, but a good deal of thinking. It was clear, we could not
venture into the open. To remain a longer time in the sewer
was not to be thought of, because there was the danger that if
it rained again we might be drowned. There was therefore
nothing to be done but to go jback into the town. But how
¦ could we go back into the towii without falling into the hands
of the Prussians? After we bald exchanged these thoughts in
a whisper, a long pause followed. At last I interrupted the
silence, saying, "Let us eat and drink a little; good counsel
may come then." Adam unpacked our provisions, and as we
had eaten nothing since breakfast time of the preceding day —
midnight was now long past — hunger and thirst were keen.
Our bread was, indeed, quite wet, but it tasted good; also the
sausages. We remembered, in time, that we must not consume
our whole store, for we did not know when and where we
should get the next meal. Moreover, we were more troubled
by thirst than by hunger, as is always the case under such cir
cumstances. For nearly twelve hours our feet had been in the
water, and were therefore as cold as ice. This had driven the
blood to our heads, Adam now opened one of the two bottles
which he had bought for us, and we discovered that they con
tained rum instead of wine. Although rum had always been
repugnant to me, still I drank like my companions, in eager
[221]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
draughts, and my brain remained entirely clear in spite
of it. After we had finished our meal Adam took the floor. " I
have a widowed cousin in the town," he said. " Her house is
not far from the entrance to the sewer. To reach it we have
only to go through a kitchen garden or two. We might hide
ourselves there in the barn untU we flnd something better."
This proposition had our approval, and we resolved to
make the attempt. At the same moment something occurred
to me that was depressing in the extreme. I remembered that
during the siege our garrison had a sentinel close to the en
trance of the sewer. If this post was occupied by the Prussians
too, then we sat in the sewer between two Prussian guards. I
communicated my apprehension to my companions. But what
was to be done? Possibly the Prussians had not occupied that
post. Perhaps we might slip by. In any case, nothing else
remained to us than to make the attempt.
When we left our bench to begin our retreat, we heard
the church clock outside strike three. I went ahead and soon
reached the last manhole. I availed myself of the opportunity
to stretch myself out a little, when something happened that
at the first moment appeared very unfortunate. I had used
my short carbine in moving through the canal in a bent posi
tion, as a sort of crutch. When I lifted myself up the carbine
fell from my arm into the water and caused a loud splash,
"Hello!" cried a voice just above me. "Hello! There is
something in this hole ; come here," At the same moment a bayo
net descended like a probe through the grating which covered
the manhole. I heard it strike against the iron rods in time to
duck myself and thus avoid being touched by it. " Now out
quickly!" I whispered to my companions, "or we are lost."
With a few hasty paces we reached the end of the sewer,
[222]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
Without looking around we jumped over a hedge into the
nearest kitchen garden, and gained, with a rapid run, a second
hedge, which we cleared in the same way. Then we halted,
breathless under cover of some shrubs, to listen whether any
body was foUowmg us. We heard nothing. It is probable
that the faUing of my carbine into the water attracted the at
tention of the guard post in the immediate vicinity, and di
verted it from the mouth of the sewer. Thus our escape may
have been facUitated by the accident, which at first seemed so
unfortunate. When Adam looked around from our halting place he
found that we were close by the house of his cousin. We leaped
another hedge which separated us from the kitchen garden
belonging to that house, but there we were greeted by the loud
barking of a dog. To pacify the anknal we sacrificed the last
remnant of our sausages. Finding the door of the barn open,
we entered it, stretched ourselves out on a pile of hay, and soon
feU into a profound sleep.
But this rest was not to last long. I awoke suddenly and
heard the church clock strike six. Adam had already risen and
said he would now go into the house to ask his cousin what she
could do for us. After a few minutes he returned and the
cousin with him. I stiU see her before me — a woman of about
thirty years, with a pale face and wide-open, anxious eyes.
"For God's sake," she said, "what are you doing here? You
cannot remain. This morning some Prussian cavalrymen wiU
be quartered here, and they wiU surely look in the barn for
htter for their horses. Then they wiU find you and we shaU all
be lost." " But be reasonable, cousin," said Adam; " where can we
go now? You certainly wiU not dehver us up."
But the poor woman was beside herself with fear. "If
[223]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
you do not go," she replied, with decision, " I must tell the
soldiers that you are here. You cannot expect me to sacrifice
myself and my children for you."
There was more talk, but all in vain. We had no choice;
we must leave the barn. But where to go? The woman showed
us through the open door a ditch covered with high and thick
shrubbery on the other side of the little yard, in which we might
hide ourselves. Our situation became desperate. There we
stood, all three in the military uniform of Baden, easily recog
nizable as the soldiers of the revolutionary army. Now we were
to have no other refuge but some shrubbery covering a ditch
in the midst of a town teeming with hostile troops! Of course,
we hesitated to leave the barn, although it was a dangerous
resting place for us, but at any rate it offered us a roof over
our heads, and perhaps it might be possible to find in it some
hiding corner. We still hoped that Adam's cousin would yield
to our prayers. She went to the house, as she had to expect
every moment the arrival of the cavalrymen. After about half
an hour she came back and said the cavalrymen were there
and were just sitting at their breakfast. Now was the moment
for us to pass through the yard without being seen by them.
She insisted on this with such determination that we had to
submit. Then we ran across the yard to the ditch, which on the
opposite side was separated from the street by a tall board
fence. It again rained hard, and in the immediate vicinity
nobody seemed to be stirring. Thus we could, with some assur
ance, explore our new refuge. We found that at the end of
the ditch cord wood was heaped up in the form of a hoUow
square, open on the side toward us. We could slip through
the brush into the square and were in that close space pretty
weU protected from the eyes of the passerby. There we sat
down on blocks of wood. [ 224 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
But what was to become of us now? The discomfort of
our miserable situation, as well as our sitting there wet to the
skin, we might easUy have borne had we had the slightest pros
pect of escape. My faithful Adam, otherwise so good-natured,
was much wrought up over the conduct of his cousin. Neu
stadter regarded our situation as hopeless, and asked whether
it was not better to put an end to our distress by a voluntary
surrender to the soldiers in the house. I must confess that my
sanguine temperament, too, was severely tested. Still I gath
ered up courage, and we then resolved to trust to luck.
So we sat there hour after hour waiting for something to
turn up, with the heavy rain mercilessly streaming down on
us, pictures of misery. About noon we heard steps in the gar
den near our place of concealment. Cautiously I looked out
from the open side of our cord wood square, and perceived
coming from the house a man with a saw in his hand. Accord
ing to his looks and the tool he carried I concluded he
must be a laborer, and as the laboring men throughout were
in favor of the revolutionary cause, I did not hesitate to con
fide myself to him. I threw a little chip of wood at the man,
which hit him on the arm, and as he stood still I attracted his
attention by a low cough. He saw me and came to us. With
as few words as possible I explained to him our situation, and
begged him to find us a place of safety, and also to procure for
us something to eat, as our last morsel was gone. My confi
dence was not misplaced. He promised to do what was pos
sible. Then he left, but returned in half an hour, and showed
us near by a large open shed. At the end of that shed there
was a little closed compartment in which the laborers probably
deposited their tools, and on top of this, under the roof of the
shed, a smaU loft enclosed in boards. " I will break loose one
of these boards," said our man. " You can then climb over the
[ 225 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
cord wood and slip under the roof of the loft and lie down
there. I wiU soon come back and bring you something to eat."
We followed his advice, and succeeded in shpping into
the little loft without being observed. The space we occupied
was just large enough to permit us to lie side by side on our
backs. We lay in a white dust, inches thick, which was, in view
of the wet condition of our clothing, extremely disagreeable.
But at least we felt secure for the time being. It was about
one o'clock of the afternoon when we crawled into our new
asylum. We waited quietly for our friend to bring us the nec
essary food, and would then consult with him about a plan of
escape. But we heard the church clock strike two, three, and
four, and our man did not return. Shortly after four o'clock
a lively noise arose in the shed below. From the talk and the
shouting and the rumbling we heard we concluded that a
troop of cavalrymen must have arrived, and that they were
now occupied in putting the shed in order for their horses.
The horses came soon, and on all sides soldiers swarmed around
us. Through the chinks of the wooden wall of our loft we
could easUy see them. Our situation became extremely critical.
If it had occurred to one of those soldiers to investigate the
compartment and to look into the loft, it would have been all
over with us. Any kind of noise, a cough or a sneeze, would
have betrayed us. We took the utmost pains to breathe softly,
and longed for the night. The night came and we were stiU
undiscovered, but the man on whose assistance we had counted
had not yet shown himself.
We began to be very hungry and thirsty, and had neither
a bit of bread nor a drop of watier. What was left of our rum
had been lost on the hasty run from the sewer to the house.
Now we lay still like corpses. Gradually it became more quiet
in the shed; soon we heard heavy snoring, and from time
[226]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
to time somebody moving around, probably to look after the
horses. We were afraid to sleep ourselves, although very
much exhausted. But at last we came to a whispered agree
ment alternately to sleep and to lie awake, and to shake the
temporary sleeper if he breathed heavily. So the night passed
over and morning came, but not the friend whom we so long
ingly expected. Noon, afternoon, evening, the whole second
day, passed, but of our friend no sign. There we lay, still and
stiff, surrounded by hostile soldiers, and the prospect of succor
growing less every moment. Thirst began to torture us. For
tunately the next night it rained again. Above my head there
was a broken tile in the roof, and through the hole, although it
was small, some of the rain trickled down, I caught it in the
hollow of my hand, and so enjoyed a refreshing draught. My
companions f oUowed my example. Again morning came, and
our hope for the return of our friend sank lower and lower.
The church clock struck one hour after another, and no aid.
My limbs began to ache from the rigid stiffness of our position,
and yet we hardly dared to move. Three days and two nights
we had been without nourishment, and an unwonted feeling of
weakness set in. So the third night arrived. AU hope of the
coming of our friend was gone. We recognized the necessity
of making a new attempt at escape before our strength had
entirely vanished. We thought and thought, without saying a
word, except, perhaps, " He wiU not come any more."
At last I had an idea. When, during the third night, we
heard the soldiers below snoring vigorously, I whispered to my
neighbor, Neustadter, holding my mouth close to his ear,
" Did you not, as we clambered over the cord wood, notice a
little house about fifty paces from here? "
" Yes," said Neustadter.
"There must be a poor man living there," I continued,
[227]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
" probably a laborer. One of us must go to him and see whether
he cannot help us. I should be glad to go myself, but I would
have to clamber over you [Neustadter lay nearest to the open
ing in the board waU], and that might make a noise. You are,
anyhow, the lightest of us. WUl you try? "
" Yes."
I had a httle money, for immediately before the capitu
lation we had received our soldiers' pay.
" Take my purse," I whispered, " and give to the man
who lives in the little house ten florins, or as much as he asks.
Tell him to bring us some bread and wine, or water, and to
inform himself as soon as possible whether or not the Prussian
guard posts are stUl standing outside of the fortress. If those
posts have been drawn in, we can try to-morrow night again
to get through the sewer. Now go and bring us a piece of
bread if you can."
" Good," said Neustadter.
In a minute, lightly and softly like a cat, he had slipped
through the hole in the board wall. My heart beat fast while
he was gone. A false step, an accidental noise, would betray
him. But in less than half an hour he came back just as lightly
and softly as before, and lay down by my side.
" It is aU right," he whispered; " here is a piece of bread,
all he had in the house, and also an apple that in passing by I
picked from a tree, but I am afraid it is stUl green."
The bread and the apple were soon divided among us,
and devoured with avidity; and then Neustadter reported with
his mouth to my ear, that he found in the little house a man
and his wife. The man, to whom he had given the ten gulden,
had promised to bring us some food, and also the desired
information about the condition of things outside of the
fortress. [228]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
This refreshed our spirits, and, much relieved, we slept
alternately until high morning. Now we expected with every
moment our rescuer, but one hour after another passed and
he did not come. Were we again to be disappointed? At last,
about noon, we heard somebody in the compartment immedi
ately below us noisily moving things from one place to
another; then a low cough. The next moment a head appeared
in the opening of our board wall, and a man climbed up to us.
It was our new friend. He brought a basket apparently filled
with tools, but out of the depth of which he took two bottles
of wine, a couple of sausages and a large loaf of bread.
" This is something for hunger and thirst," our friend
whispered. " I have been also all around the city. The Prus
sian guard posts are no longer outside. I shall be glad to help
you; only tell me what I am to do,"
I now asked him to go to Steinmauern and look for a boat
which in the coming night might take us across the Rhine,
Then, about midnight, to be in the cornfield near the Stein
mauern gate, outside of the fortress, and wait for us. He
would hear the signal of a whistle ; this he should answer, and
then join us in order to take us to the boat. He should ask his
wife to have something for us to eat at about eleven o'clock of
the night, I gave him a little more money, and he promised to do all
I had asked, and disappeared again as he had come. Now
we held a royal feast, during which our good humor made
it very difficult for us to preserve the necessary silence. All
the longer appeared to us the ensuing hours that were so full
of hope and at the same time of anxiety. About two o'clock
we heard the rattling of musketry at a distance,
"What is that?" whispered Neustadter. "There, they
are killing somebody." [229]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
So it seemed to me. We took it as an indication of the lot
that would be ours if we were captured. In fact, however, as
we learned subsequently, the executions began only a few
days later.MWhat we had heard was probably some shots fired
in cleaning guns.
Toward three o'clock a great ado began in the shed below.
The cavalrymen were evidently preparing for departure; but
they had hardly gone when another troop took possession of
the premises. We concluded from the conversations overheard
that it was a troop of Hussars. Toward evening a large crowd
of people seemed to gather below, and we distinguished among
them also women's voices. Then the trumpeters began to play
waltzes and the merry company to dance. This was by no
means disagreeable to us, for we expected that after such a
frolic, which could scarcely pass off without some drink,
our Hussars would sleep all the better. But before nine o'clock
the crowd dispersed, and all would have been quiet had not
one of the Hussars held back on the spot a Rastatt maiden.
The couple stood or sat immediately under our hiding place, and
we could understand every word they exchanged. The conver
sation was of a very sentimental character. He assured her
that she was charming; that she had inflamed his heart when
she first looked at him, and that he loved her tenderly. She an
swered he should not trouble her with his bad jests. But he
may have observed that she really did not want to be left un
troubled, and so he continued to vary the theme in all sorts
of bold and flowery figures of speech. At last she seemed to
be really inchned to beheve aU he told her. We should cer
tainly have laughed had we dared. But when this otherwise
interesting conversation would not come to an end, I began
to be a little anxious lest it last until midnight, and, so this
Hussar love might interfere seriously with our plans, I felt,
[230]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
therefore, very much relieved when finally, after ten o'clock,
the wooing vows died away in the distance.
Now we counted the minutes as the decisive moment ap
proached. When it struck eleven Neustadter slipped out of
the opening in the plank wall, stepped upon the pile of wood,
and jumped lightly to the ground. I followed him. My legs
had become very stiff in consequence of my lying for days and
nights immovable on my back, and as I put my foot upon the
wood several sticks fell down with a great noise. A moment
later I heard not far away the tread of a patrol. I only had time
to whisper back to my faithful Adam that he should remain
until the patrol should have passed, and then follow me, I
succeeded in reaching the httle house before the patrol turned
the corner of the lane, Neustadter was already therCj and
Adam came a few minutes later,
" The patrol passed quietly by," said he, " and they snored
so loud in the shed that any other noise would hardly have been
heard," The wife of our friend in the httle house had prepared a
precious repast of beef broth, with rice, for us. After this and a
dish of boiled meat and roast potatoes had refreshed our
strength, we set out through the garden for the sewer. The
moon was shining brightly, and we kept cautiously in the shad
ows of the hedges. But when we arrived at the ditch close by the
mouth of the sewer a new fright awaited us. A sentinel was
pacing to and fro just beyond the sewer, hardly thirty feet
away from it. We halted and stooped under the hedge. There
was but one thing to do. As the man turned his back upon us
and walked to the other side, one of us was to slip cautiously
into the sewer. The two others had to do the same. In a few
minutes we were reassembled in the darkness of our refuge. We
crawled ahead and found our old bench again, where we rested
[231]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
a while. Then pursuing our way we found the raUing in its
old place, dipped under it, and soon perceived a gleam of light
through a mass of dark leaves, which suggested that the open
ing was immediately before us. We stood still once more to
make our pistols ready for action. Whether after having been
so wet, they would have gone off is very questionable. After all
we had suffered, we were now determined to do our utmost.
But the field was clear, the chain of guards had disappeared.
The cornfield lay immediately before us. A low whistle on our
part was promptly answered, and our man joined us a moment
later. He reported that the road was free. We marched vigor
ously on and in less than an hour we reached the village of
Steinmauern, Our friend conducted us to the bank of the
Rhine and showed us a boat in which a man lay fast asleep.
He was quickly roused, and our friend announced to him that
we were the men he was to take across the Rhine. " That wiU
cost five fiorins," growled the boatman, who, upon my question
as to what countryman he was, told me he came from Coblenz.
I gave him the reward asked for, and offered also some more
money to our kind friend. " You have given me already
enough," he said; " what you still have you will be very much
in need of. My name is Augustin Loeffler. Perhaps we may
meet again in this world. God protect you."
Then we shook hands most cordially and parted. We
fugitives stepped into the boat, and our friend wandered back
to Rastatt. Many years later, when I was Secretary of the
Interior in the government of the United States, I received
one day a letter from Augustin Loeffler. It was dated at a
little place in Canada. He wrote me that he had left Germany
a short time after the revolutionary period, and was doing very
well in his new home. He had read in the newspapers that I
[232]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
was one of the three young men who in that July night, 1849,
had been conducted by him from Rastatt to the Rhine. In
answer I expressed my joy at the receipt of his letter, and
requested him to write again, but I have heard nothing from
him since.
In an unexpectedly short time the boatman put us
ashore in a dense growth of willows. It was between two and
three o'clock in the morning, and as the surroundings seemed
to be rather uninviting, we resolved to sit down upon old
stumps of trees and there to await the light of day. At daybreak
we arose to look for the nearest Alsatian village ; but soon we
discovered that we were on an islarfd. A little house which
stood in the middle of the island seemed to be the abode of a
frontier guard of the grand duchy of Baden. So it looked as if
we were still in the enemy's country, and as if the boatman from
Coblenz had deceived us. The shutters and the doors of the little
house were closed. We listened, but heard no sounds inside. A
rapid run over the island convinced us that, excepting us three,
there was no human being on it. We went to the water's edge
opposite Alsatia, and in the rising sunlight saw on the other side
two men whom \^e soon recognized to . be French customs
officers. We called out to them across the water that we were
fugitives and desired to be taken over. One of the men came
over to us in a little skiff and took us across to Alsatian soil. We
gave up our arms to him and assured him and his comrade, amid
great laughter, that we had brought with us from Rastatt
nothing else subject to tariff duty. When I felt myself now
really in freedom and security, my first impulse was, after a
sUence of four days, to shout as loudly as I could. My com
panions had the same feeling, and so we burst forth to our
hearts' content, watched with great astonishment by the
French officers, who may have taken us for madmen. We had
[233]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
landed near a little village called Miinchhausen. The officers
told us that in the town of Selz, near by, there were many Ger
man fugitives, and to Selz therefore we went. On the way we
gazed at one another in the clear sunlight, and discovered that
we looked like savages. For days and nights we had waded or
squatted in wet clothes in water, mud and dust. Our hair was
matted and our faces were streaked with dirt. A near rivulet
furnished us the indescribable luxury of a washing, and thus
retsored to human shape, we soon reached the inn at Selz,
The refugees there from Baden, none of whom had been
in Rastatt, welcomed us heartily, and asked us at once for the
story of our adventures. But our first wish was for a hot bath,
a breakfast, and a bed. All this we obtained, I slept twenty-
four hours with slight interruptions. Then I acquainted the
company of refugees in the inn with the circumstances of our
escape from Rastatt, From them I learned also for the first
time that Kinkel had been captured by the Prussians in a fight
near the fortress, before the beginning of the siege. When we
left the Palatinate and he could no longer make himself useful
in the offices of the provisional government, he had joined a
battalion of volunteers and shouldered his musket as a private
soldier. Thus he would share the lot of the revolutionary army.
In the fight on the line of the Murg River he was wounded in
the head and fell into the hands of the attacking Prussians,
He was then incarcerated in one of the casemates at Rastatt,
together with the captured garrison, in order to have him tried
by court-martial, which would, no doubt, order him to be
shot. This news threw a black veil over my joy at my own
recovered freedom.
On the day after our arrival in Selz a police officer ap
peared at the inn, by the authority of the mayor, to learn our
names, and also whether we expected to remain, or, if not,
[234]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
where we intended to go. "We want to go to Strasburg," I
answered haphazard. The mayor gave us thereupon a sort of
passport, with the instruction that we should report ourselves at
once in Strasburg to the prefect. The depressing serious
ness came over me that I was now really a homeless man, a
fugitive, and under police surveillance. After having written
to my parents and described to them my escape, we started for
Strasburg without further delay. The real goal, however, of
my journey was Switzerland, where, as I learned, Anneke
and many others of my friends might be found, ~
If I had remained only a few days longer in Selz I should
have seen my father in the same inn in which I had slept my
first night in freedom. The mischance happened in this wise:
The letter I had written to my parents on the day of the surren
der at Rastatt, in the expectation that I would be taken prisoner
together with the rest of the garrison, struck them like a clap
of thunder, and at once my father set out to look for his son.
Arrived in Rastatt, he reported himself at the office of the Prus
sian commander, to learn something about my fate. The com
mander received him kindly, but on inquiry could not give him
any further information than that my name was not on the list
of the captives. This surprised my father very much, and he
requested permission to visit the casemates in which the pris
oners were kept. This permission he received, and an officer
accompanied him on this anxious search. From casemate to
casemate they went three days long, and of one man after
another they inquired about me, but all in vain. Many of those
they saw knew me, but nobody knew what had become of me.
Nobody had seen me on the occasion of the surrender. My
father found Kinkel among the crowd. " What," Kinkel cried,
"is Carl here, too? Alas, I believed him to be secure in
Switzerland!" [235]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
In speechless grief the two men pressed each other's
hand. When my father had thus many days looked for me in
vain, a ray of hope dawned upon him that after all I might
have escaped. From citizens in Rastatt he learned that there
were several refugees from Baden on the other side of the
Rhine in Selz. Possibly one of these might be able to give him
tidings about me. A few hours later my father appeared at
the inn in Selz, and there he inscribed his name. Then he
learned the whole story of my flight, and how only a few days
before I had been in Selz and was now gone to Strasburg,
with the intention of traveling further, nobody knew where,
probably to Switzerland, My father burst into tears of joy, and
exclaimed again and again, " That boy! That boy! Now I
must quickly go home to tell his mother," As he could hardly
hope still to find me in Strasburg, and expected to hear from
me before long, he returned without delay to Bonn. One
of the refugees from Baden, who had seen my father in the inn
at Selz, and who had given him the happy news about me, told
me all this a month later in Switzerland, and he could hardly
master his emotion when he described to me my father's joy.

[236]

CHAPTER VIII
r ROM Selz to Strasburg we wandered on foot. It was a beau
tiful Sunday afternoon. For a time we could see from our
road the steeples of Rastatt. This distant view of the prison
from which he had escaped would have been more joyful had
it not reminded us of the unfortunate friends who in this dun
geon awaited a sad fate. As we were still wearing uniforms,
having no other clothes, we were easily recognized as fugitive
revolutionary soldiers, and not seldom the village folk stopped
us and wished to know how we had escaped. Then we were
invited to rest, and were entertained with wine, refreshments
and merry conversation until late in the evening, when we
reached Strasburg. There we stopped at the hotel, the " Reb-
stockl," the host of which was well known for his warm German
sympathies. He gave us a hearty welcome and took especial
care of us after he had heard our story. The next day we were
obliged to report ourselves to the prefect. This officer informed
us that the French government had resolved to send the Ger
man refugees into the interior; we could therefore stay neither
in Strasburg nor in any other place near the frontier. Neither
could he give us passports to Switzerland. But as it was our
special desire to go to Switzerland, we resolved to continue our
journey secretly without the assent of the authorities.
Meantime the news had come that those of the pri
vate soldiers of Baden and the volunteers of the Palatinate,
who had done nothing but simply serve in the revolu
tionary army, were to be sent home without punishment.
Only the officers and other noted transgressors were held
[237]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
back. Nothing therefore stood in the way of Adam's re
turn home, and I urged him to avaU himself of this oppor
tunity. Adam once more gave expression of his warm attach
ment to me, of the sincerity of which I certainly had no reason
to doubt. But he recognized that my advice was good, and
¦ resolved without delay to return to his family in the Palatinate.
I divided the .money I had with him, and thus we parted with
the sincerest emotion and with the promise occasionally to write
to one another. Only when Adam was gone it occurred to me
that I had never known his family name, so that my efforts
to find him out remained unsuccessful. I could not write
to him; and thus it happened, that, as he did not write to
me, I have never heard from him again since that day of
parting. After having spent some hours in visiting the Strasburg
Cathedral, Neustadter and I prepared for departure. We pur
chased alpaca dusters to conceal our military uniforms, and
then took a railway train for Basel, which, however, we left at
a way-station shortly before reaching the Swiss frontier. It
was near evening. We went into a village near by and found a
little tavern, through the open door of which we saw a woman
busy at the cooking stove. We entered and asked for some
thing to eat. In her Alsatian idiom, hard for us to understand,
she promised us some ham and eggs. While she was preparing
our meal a man entered, whom we took to be her husband and
the landlord of the inn. As his face inspired confidence, I
thought it best to acquaint him frankly with our situation, as
well as with our wish to cross the frontier into Switzerland
without meeting any official person who might demand a pass
port. Our host seemed to be highly interested, and showed a
surprising familiarity with the bypaths and trails used by the
smuggling fraternity on the Swiss frontier. We suspected
[ 238 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
directly that he was of that fraternity himself. After dark
he accompanied us part of the way, and then instructed us
how we could avoid contact with all the customs officers
and reach the Swiss village of Schonebiihl, where we would
find, at a certain minutely described spot, a barn which would
probably be open, and where we would have a good night's rest
on the stored hay. We followed the advice, and about midnight
we reached the barn and stretched ourselves out to sleep.
Soon after sunrise we were on our feet again and inquired
of some peasants, who seemed to be going to their work, the
road to Bern — for I had heard in Strasburg that Anneke and
the other friends whom I wished to join were in that city. The.
road led us first through fertile Valleys. The fields teemed with
men and women busy gathering their crops. I remember well
the emotion experienced on that march. It was a joyful picture
I beheld, but again and again the thought arose in me, " How
much happier those toilers are than I! When they have done
their hard work they return to their homes. They have a home,
and I have none." I could not get rid of those somber refiec
tions until we reached the Miinsterthal, that magnificent cleft
in the Jura Mountains. After a short rest I could not restrain
the desire to take a look directly at the high Alps. So we
climbed up the Monto, which rises to an elevation of about
4000 feet, and there we beheld for the first time in the distance
the marvelous sublimity of the snowy mountain heads. It ^s
a strange, invigorating and inspiring sight.
In a deep valley, on the other side of the Monto, we
stopped at a wayside tavern, in which we found an inteUi-
gent-looking man, and a boy, who were refreshing themselves
with wine and bread and cheese. The man, when we asked for
the road and the distances from place to place, informed us
kindly that he lived at Bern, and was just enjoying a little
[239]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
excursion with his son. Pushing our inquiries further, we
learned that he knew several of the German refugees, among
others my friends, and that these had indeed spent some time
in Bern, but about a week ago had left that city to go to Dor-
nachbruck, near Basel, where he was sure I could now find
them. This was disagreeable news to me. In order to join
them I had to retrace my steps the way we had come. I re
solved at once to do so. But Neustadter, who did not know my
friends, and who hoped to find some occupation in Bern, pre
ferred to continue his journey in that direction. Thus we
parted in the little tavern, and did not meet again until eight
een years later, in St. Louis, on the Mississippi River, where
he occupied a modest but respected position, and where we
then pleasantly rehearsed the common adventures of our youth
ful days. My arrival at Dornachbruck brought me a new disap
pointment. In the village inn I learned that Anneke and
others of my friends had indeed been there a few days before,
but after a short stop had left for Ziirich. I would gladly have
traveled after them at once had I been sure that those whom
I sought had not left Ziirich again. My purse, too, was nearly
empty, and, moreover, I felt physically very much exhausted.
So I concluded it would be best, for the time being, to remain in
Dornachbruck. I took a room in the inn, wrote home for some
money and the clothes I had left behind, and went to bed. The
great excitements and fatigues of the past days began to tell
on me. I was thoroughly tired out, and felt myself lonely and
forsaken. Sleep refreshed me but little. In very low spirits I
wandered about in the village and surrounding country, and
spent many an hour in the crumbling tower of a castle ruin,
lying in the grass or sitting on moss-covered masonry. My
melancholy grew deeper and darker. The future lay like a
[240]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
black cloud before me. I imagined myself at last seriously ill,
and then spent the larger part of the day lying on my bed in a
drowsy condition. It may have been on my tenth day in Dor
nachbruck when, one morning, I heard a remarkably loud
voice downstairs calling my name. " That must be old Strodt
mann," I exclaimed, and jumped from my bed. Indeed it was
he, my Schleswig-Holstein friend. He had come from Bonn,
to bring me a letter from my parents and dozens of them
from my riniversity friends. Also a purse bursting with
gold, and whatever else I stood in need of. My escape from
Rastatt had created in Bonn a most joyful sensation, which
in the letterij brought by Strodtmann found lively expression,
and of which Strodtmann could not teU me enough. My
melancholy was gone at once. Suddenly I felt perfectly well,
and after having celebrated our reunion with the best dinner
that the inn in Dornachbruck could furnish, we resolved to
set out on the next day for Ziirich, where Strodtmann prom
ised to remain with me for a while.
Thus we marched forth, student-fashion, frequently stop
ping by the way, and then resuming our journey with con
stantly increasing gayety. On the River Aar, in view of the
ruins of Hapsburg, not far from the spot where centuries ago
the Emperor Albrecht had been killed by his nephew, Johann
von Schwaben, we lay down in the grass, lost ourselves in his
toric contemplations and poetic outbursts, and fell asleep. It
was evening when a Swiss policeman woke us. We found good
quarters in an inn near byj and the next day secured seats
on top of the mail coach for Ziirich. When we arrived at
Ziirich, whom should I see? There, at the halting-place of
the mail, stood my friends: Anneke, Techow, Schimmel-
pfennig and Beust, the very friends that I had been pur
suing on my journey hither and thither — there they stood,
[ 241 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
just as if they had expected me. Their surprise was no less
than mine. When I jumped down among them, as if I had
dropped from the clouds, they hardly trusted their eyes. They
had heard nothing of my escape from Rastatt. Neither had
they found my name in the newspapers that gave an account
of the revolutionary officers imprisoned in the casemates. No
body had been able to tell them about me. Thus they had come to
beheve that I had been lost, perhaps in one of the last engage
ments, perhaps in an attempt to pass the Prussian lines. As
they now saw me before them, alive and well, there was no end
to their exclamations of astonishment.
Before evening I was lodged in the house of a baker's
widow, in the Dorf Enge, a suburb of Ziirich. Strodtmann
found quarters in a neighboring inn. My other friends lived
near by in the house of the schoolmaster. All this was very
convenient and comfortable, although extremely simple.
While Strodtmann was with me my thoughts moved in the
atmosphere of the old conditions and surroundings, and my
sojourn in Ziirich appeared almost like part of a student's
jaunt. But ten days later my dear good friend returned
to Bonn, and what now began for me was the life of a
refugee in its true reality. I had not become quite conscious of
it all when the iUness, which had threatened in Dornachbruck
and had then been interrupted by the happy meeting with
Strodtmann, developed into a violent fever, which kept me
in bed two weeks. The viUage physician, as well as the
baker's widow and her daughter, took care of me, and after a
time I fully recovered. But when I rose from my bed I found
myself in a strange world. It came over me that I had abso
lutely nothing to do. My first impulse was to look for a regular
bccupation. But soon I convinced myself that a young man
like myself, who might have given lessons in Latin, Greek or
[242]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
music, had little to hope for in a population which, although it
had hospitably received a great mass of fugitives, did, after all,
not like them much. The other refugees were in the same con
dition, but many of them looked down upon such endeavors
with a certain contempt, so long, at least, as their pecuniary
resources were not exhausted. They firmly believed that a new
upheaval would occur in the old Fatherland before long. No
body cultivates the art of deceiving himself with the windiest
illusions more cleverly, more systematically and more untiringly
than the political refugee. We succeeded easily in finding in
newspapers some news that clearly indicated to us the inevita
ble and fast-approaching outbreak of a new revolution. We
were certain that we would soon return triumphantly to Ger
many, there to be the heroes of the day, the true champions of
a victorious cause. Why should we therefore trouble ourselves
with cares for the future? It appeared to us much more impor
tant and appropriate to discuss and determine the part each
should play in the coming action. With the profoundest
seriousness we debated the question who should be a mem
ber of the provisional government, or minister, or military
leader. We gravely sat in judgment over each other's char
acter, capabilities, and especially fidelity to revolutionary
principles, and but few forgot in this respect the positions
to which they beheved themselves entitled. In short, we
disposed of the glorious future as if we had actually held the
power over it in our own hands. Such delusions were well
apt to develop among us a light-hearted and idle tavern
existence, to which many of our companions gave themselves
without restraint, I heard some of my refugee friends say,
with a sort of lofty condescension, that the Fatherland looked
to us as its great helpers and leaders ; that we had to devote our
[243]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
lives solely to this exalted duty, and that therefore we should
not fritter away our time and our strength in commonplace
philistine occupations.
I must admit that in a simple-hearted, naive way I shared
this illusion — I was still only twenty years old — as to the immi
nence of a new revolutionary uprising. But the tavern had no
charm for me whatever, and soon the life of a refugee began
to yawn at me like a horrible void. A restless craving for sys
tematic mental activity seized upon me. First I thought of the
tasks which, as a young man, I would have to perform in the
anticipated new struggles in Germany. With my nearest
friends, who had aU been officers in the Prussian army, and
were exceUent teachers, I reviewed and studied the military
operations in Baden on a map specially drawn by us for that
purpose. Then followed a series of military studies, of tactics
and strategy, for which my friends furnished me the necessary
material and instruction, and which I carried on with great
zeal. Who could have thought that the knowledge thus gath
ered would be of use to me on a field of operations far away
from Giermany, and that one of my teachers, Schimmelpfen-
nig, would then be a brigadier in my command!
This work, however, did not altogether satisfy me. My
old love for historical studies was as strong as ever, and as I
succeeded in gaining access to a good library, in which I found
the works of the historian Ranke and many other books of
value, I was soon again profoundly immersed in the history of
the Reformation. When winter came my lodgings in the house of the
of the good baker's widow became uncomfortable on account
of the cold. Then I took, with a companion in the Palatinate
revolution, an old Prussian head forester by the name of Em-
mermann, two cosy rooms in the house of a merchant on the
[244 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHURZ
Schanzengraben. My chum had the typical face of an old
forester, weather-beaten, illumined by keen eyes, furrowed with
a network of deep wrinkles, and ornamented with a gigantic
gray mustache. He was an old bachelor, an amiable, benevo
lent soul, and we hved together in cheerful peace and friend
ship. He told me often that his forest-house had been situated
in the neighborhood of a place called Tronegg, which had
been in the immemorial past the seat of the gloomy hero of the
Nibelungen Lied, Hagen von Tronje.
Thus I lived in agreeable domestic conditions and contin
ued diligently my military and historical studies. Although I
avoided the tavern as much as possible, I did not keep entirely
aloof from intercourse with a larger circle of refugees. We
had a political club that met once a week, and in the transactions
of which I took an interested part. This club was in corre
spondence with democratic friends in the Fatherland, informed
itself about the state of the public mind and about everything
that could be considered symptomatic of the coming new revolu
tion, and endeavored to put in its own work here and there —
an activity of which I learned only some time later how utterly
illusory it was. From time to time it occurred to me that the
revolution might delay its coming much longer than we be
lieved, and I began to make plans for my own future. There
was a rumor that the federal government of Switzerland
intended to found a great university at Ziirich. I thought if the
new German revolution kept us waiting all too long, I might
establish myself at the university as a " Privat-Docent " of
history, and then win for myself by-and-by a regular professor
ship. For the time being I gladly accepted the proposition of
my friend. Dr. Hermann Becker, dubbed the " red Becker "
at the university, to write articles for the newspaper edited by
him in Cologne, the remuneration for which was sufficient to
[245]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
keep me above water until something better could be found.
Thus I believed to perceive some bright spots in the fogs of the
future. My most remarkable acquaintance of those days was Rich
ard Wagner, who, in consequence of his participation in the
revolutionary uprising in Dresden, had been obliged to leave
Germany, and now lived as one of the refugees in Ziirich. He
had then already written some of his most important creations,
but his greatness was appreciated only by a very small circle of
friends. Among the refugees at Ziirich he was by no means
popular. He passed for an extremely arrogant, domineering
character, with whom nobody could long associate, and who
treated his wife, the first one — a stately, good-natured, but
mentaUy not highly gifted woman— very neglectfully. If any
one among us had then prophesied his magnificent career he
would have found little credence. As an insignificant and
reticent young man, of course, I did not come close to him.
Although I met him and spoke with him occasionally, he prob
ably never noticed me sufficiently to remember me.
In the course of time I should probably have suc
ceeded in obtaining some position as teacher, if not at the
university, at least at some other minor institution, had not
my life of quiet study had been interrupted by an event that
was destined to turn it into very different channels. The un
happy lot of my friend, Professor Kinkel, was constantly in
my mind, all the more as it had taken an unexpected and
particularly shocking turn. After having been wounded in
the head and taken prisoner by the Prussians, Kinkel was
carried first to Karlsruhe, and then after the surrender of
Rastatt, to that fortress, where he was to be tried by a court-
martial. On the 4th o£ August Kinkel appeared before that
tribunal, which was composed of Prussian officers. Sentences
[ 246 ]

GOTTFRIED KINKEL IN CHAINS

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ)
of death were at that time the order of the day. And there is
no doubt that, at army headquarters as well as at the seat of the
Prussian government, Kinkel's condemnation to death was
desired and expected. But Kinkel conducted his defense him
self, and even the warriors composing the court-martial, men
educated in the strictest allegiance to royal absolutism, could
not resist the charm of his wonderful eloquence. Instead of
condemning him to death, they sentenced him to confinement
for life in a fortress.
-^To Kinkel's friends, to the admirers of the poet, I may
say, to a large majority of the German people, this sentence ap
peared cruel enough. But the Prussian government at once
manifested its dissatisfaction with it, for the reason that it was
too mild, A rumor arose that the verdict would be set aside
on account of some neglected formalities, and that Kinkel was
to be put before a new court-martial,' For weeks the poor pris
oner, with alternate hope and fear, looked forward to the con
firmation or rejection of the sentence, until at last, on the 30th
of September, the following public announcement appeared :
"Warning. The late professor and member of a free corps,
Johann Gottfried Kinkel of Bonn, having fought among the Insurgents
In Baden with arms In his hands against Prussian troops, has been
sentenced by the court-martial Instituted at Rastatt to lose the Prussian
cockade and instead of the penalty of death only to confinement for life
In a fortress. For examination of the legality of this sentence. It was
submitted by me to the royal auditor-general, and by him to his Majesty,
the king, for rejection on account of Illegality. His majesty has gra
ciously deigned to aiBrm the sentence, with the qualification that Kinkel
shall undergo Imprisonment in a civil penitentiary. According to this
most high order, I affirm the verdict of the court-martial, to the efi^ect
that Kinkel Is to be punished on account of treason with the loss of the
Prussian cockade and with Imprisonment for life, and that in execution
[247 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
of this sentence he shall be taken to a house of penal servitude; all of
which Is herewith brought to public knowledge.
"Headquarters, Freiburg, 30 September, 1849.
" The Commanding General von HIrschfeld."
This monstrous proceeding called forth, even from many
of those who did not share Kinkel's political opinions and who
disapproved of his acts, expressions of the profoundest indig
nation. The sentence pronounced by a regular court-martial
was called illegal simply because it was not a sentence of death.
It was called an " act of grace," that the king, nominally ac
cepting that so-called illegal sentence of the court-martial,
changed the confinement in a fortress into imprisonment
in a penitentiary. What was confinement in a fortress? It
was imprisonment in a fortified place under military sur
veillance, which permitted the prisoner to retain all the signs
of his civU identity, his name, his clothes, his character
as a man, and had treatment on the part of his guards not
unworthy of that character — a kind of imprisonment in which
he could continue his accustomed mental occupations — im
prisonment, to be sure, but not disgrace, not degradation
to the level of the common felon. And what was confine
ment in a house of penal servitude? Imprisonment in an
institution intended for the ordinary criminal, where the
prisoner was on the same level with the thief, the forger, the
highwayman ; where his head was shorn, his ordinary dress ex
changed for the striped jacket, where he lost his name and
received in its stead a number, where, in case of a breach of
disciplinary rules, he was punished with flogging, where he had
to abandon his whole mental life to do menial labor of the lowest
kind. And this was called an act of grace ! It was not to miti
gate a sentence of death, because there was no such sentence,
[248 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
but to change the sentence of confinement in a fortress, such
as I have described, into something infinitely more cruel, some
thing loaded with debasement and infamy — a sentence of
penal servitude — and this to Kinkel, the art-historian, who had
opened the realms of the beautiful to so many a youthful mind ;
the poet, who had cheered and lifted up so many a German
heart; the genial, refined, amiable, warm-hearted gentleman,
whom only enthusiasm for liberty and fatherland had made
to do what they called his crime ! Even if he had, according to
the law, deserved punishment after fighting in a lost cause,
the sound sense and the human sympathy of many of his oppo
nents revolted at the brutal arbitrariness which, overriding the
obvious sense of a court-martial verdict, would not only punish,
but degrade him and bury him amid the dregs of the human
kind. Even death, which would have left to him his dignity as
a man, would have seemed less inhuman than such an " act
of grace." Kinkel was first taken to the prison at Bruchsal in Baden,
and soon afterwards to the penitentiary at Naugard in Pome-
rania. It was evidently intended to remove him as far as possi
ble from the Rhineland, where sympathy for him was warmest.
With shorn head, clothed in a gray prison jacket, he spent his
days in spinning wool. On Sundays he had to sweep his cell.
He was denied, so far as possible, all mental activity. His diet
was that of the criminal in the penitentiary. From the day of
his arrival in Naugard, October 8, 1849, until April, 1850,
he received altogether only one pound of meat. But he moved
the heart of the director of the penitentiary, and his treatment
assumed gradually a more considerate character, a few small
favors being granted to him. He was permitted more frequent
correspondence with his wife, his letters being opened and read,
however, by the officers; and he was relieved of the task of
[249]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
cleaning his ceU. A httle gift of sweetmeats, which his family
sent at Christmas-time, was delivered to him. But he was
still obhged to spin wool; and when our good Strodtmann, at
that time a student in Bonn, appealed to the popular heart in
Kinkel's behalf, in a poem caUed the "Spinning Song," the
young poet was promptly dismissed from the university.
In the meantime the preparations for the trial of those
who had taken part in the attack upon the Siegburg armory in
May, 1849, went on in Cologne, and early in the year 1850 there
was a rumor that the government intended to transport Kin
kel from Naugard to Cologne in the spring, for the purpose
of having him also tried for that revolutionary attack.
In February, 1850, I received a letter from Kinkel's
wife. In burning colors she described to me the terrible situa
tion of her husband and the distress of the family. But this
high-spirited and energetic woman did not speak to me in the
tone of that impotent despair which pusillanimously submits to
an overpowering fate. The thought that it must be possible to
find ways and means for the liberation of her husband gave her
no rest day and night. For months she had been corresponding
with friends in whose character she had confidence and whose
energy she hoped to excite. Some of them had discussed with
her plans for the rescue of her husband, and others had put
sums of money at her disposal. But, so she wrote, nobody
had shown himself ready to undertake the dangerous enter
prise himself. What was needed, she said, was a friend who had
sufficient tenacity of purpose, and who would devote his whole
strength to the work until it should have succeeded. She herself
would make the attempt did she not fear that her appearance
in the vicinity of her husband's prison would at once excite
suspicion and stimulate the watchfulness of his keepers. But
it was necessary to act promptly, before the gnawing tortures
[250]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
of prison life should have completely destroyed Kinkel's men
tal and bodily strength. Then she informed me that Kinkel,
according to rumor, would be taken to Cologne for trial on
account of the Siegburg affair, and that there might then pos
sibly be a favorable opportunity for his deliverance. She asked
now for my advice^ as she confided in my friendship as well
as in my knowledge of the situation.
The night after the arrival of this letter I slept but little.
Between the lines I could read the question whether I would
not be the one to undertake the venture. It was this ques
tion that kept me awake. The spectacle of Kinkel in his prison
jacket at the spinning-wheel was constantly before my eyes,
and I could hardly endure the sight. I loved Kinkel dearly. I
believed also that with his great gifts, his enthusiasm and his
rare eloquence, he might still do great service to the cause of
the German people. The desire to restore him if I could to
Germany and to his family became irresistible. I resolved that
night to try and make the attempt.
The next morning I began to consider the matter in de
tail. I remember that morning very clearly. Two doubts
troubled me much. The one was whether I would be capa
ble of carrying so difficult an undertaking to a happy end. I
said to myself that Frau Kinkel, who after all had most to win
and most to lose, seemed to believe me capable, and that it was
not becoming in me to put my ability in doubt in the face of
her confidence. But would those whose cooperation in so dan
gerous a risk was necessary give their confidence to so young
a man as I was? I might perhaps gain it by a bold attitude.
I cheered myself with the thought that as a young, insignifi
cant and little known person I might better succeed in remain
ing unnoticed than would an older and more widely known
man, and that therefore I might trust myself with less dan-
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THE EEMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
ger in the jaws of the lion. Finally, would older, more expe
rienced, and more careful men be wiUing to do and dare aU
that might be required for the purpose of the task? Perhaps
not. In short, this was, aU things considered, a piece of work
for a young man, and my youth appeared to me at last rather
in the hght of an advantage than of a hindrance.
My second doubt touched my parents. Could I with
regard to them take the responsibihty, after having just es
caped from a terrible catastrophe, to put my hfe and free
dom again in such jeopardy? Would they approve? One
thing was clear: I must not in this case ask my parents for
their permission, for I would then have to correspond with
them about my project, and such a correspondence, subject
to aU possible chances of detection, might thwart the whole
plan. No; in order to succeed, the undertaking must remain
a profound secret, of which only those engaged in it were to
have knowledge, and even then, if possible, only in part. To
my family I could not confide it, for a conversation among
them, accidentally overheard by others, might betray it. There
fore the question as to the approval of my parents I must
answer myself, and I answered it quickly. They were among
Kinkel's warmest admirers and devoted to him in loyal friend
ship. They were also good patriots. My mother, I thought,
who the year before had given my sword to me with her own
hands, would say: " Go and save our friend." And thus aU
my doubts were overcome.
On the same day I wrote to Frau Kinkel that in my opin^^
ion she would probably only aggravate the lot of her husband
if she permitted an attempt to liberate him in Cologne on the
occasion of the Seigburg trial, because then the authorities
would doubtless take the most comprehensive precautions. She
should hold her pecuniary means together without thinking of
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
anything to be undertaken soon, and Wait patiently and
silently until she heard again from her friend. My letter was
so worded that she could understand it, while it would not be
tray my intentions if it fell into wrong hands. As she also
was familiar with my handwriting, I signed with a different
name and directed the address to a third person whom she had
mentioned to me. I conceived at once the plan to get secretly
to Bonn for the purpose of talking over with her further steps,
instead of risking such communications to paper.
Without delay I began my preparations, I wrote to my
cousin, Heribert Jiissen, in Lind, near Cologne, whose outward
appearance corresponded in all essential points with mine,
asking him to procure from the police a traveling passport
in his name and to send it to me, A few days afterwards the
passport was in my hands, and now I could like an ordinary
unsuspected mortal travel without difficulty wherever I was
not personally known. Then I gave the officers of our club
to understand that I was ready as an emissary to visit various
places in Germany for the purpose of organizing branch clubs
and to put them into communication with our committee in
Switzerland. This offer was received with great favor, and I
obtained, together with minute instructions, a long list of per
sons in Germany who could be depended upon. Of course of
my real plans I did not give the slightest intimation. All was
ready for my departure, and as I went on a secret expedition
as an emissary, my friends found it quite natural that about
the middle of March I should suddenly and entirely unnoticed
disappear from Ziirich.

[253]

CHAPTER IX
On my errand I had to pass through the grand duchy of
Baden, and saw from the window of my railroad carriage the
castle tower of Rastatt, on which I had spent so many an hour.
My first stopping place was Frankfurt-on-the-Main, where
I was to find several persons who had been designated to me
by the directors of my club at Ziirich as worthy of confidence.
From them I obtained various information about the condition
of things in "the western and middle part of Germany, and
reported back what I learned to my friends in Switzerland.
In general I faithfully carried out the instructions which I
had received from them, and succeeded in keeping up the im
pression with regard to the object of my journey so com
pletely that not one of my Ziirich friends suspected me in the
least of ulterior designs. Next I visited a number of cities,
Wiesbaden, Kreuznach, Birkenfeld, Trier, where I found
friends of our cause and established new communications.
There were still among them people who hoped to bring on
new revolutionary upheavals by means of secret conspira
cies. This is one of the usual afterthroes of miscarried revo
lutionary movements, I traveled down the Moselle to Coblenz,
where I passed a quiet day, intending to take the night mail
coach to Bonn, In this I succeeded without trouble. As I
approached my home, however, the journey became more pre
carious. At about two o'clock in the morning I arrived in
Godesberg, where I decided to leave the coach. The remainder
of the way to Bonn I did on foot. The house of my parents
was outside of the city on the Coblenzer Strasse, and I reached
[254]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
it by three o'clock in the morning. By a fortunate accident I
still possessed the latchkey which I had used as a student, and
it opened the back door. In this way I got into the house and
soon stood in the bedroom of my parents. Both were sleeping
profoundly. After having sat for a while quietly on a chair
until the light of dawn crept in through the windows I woke
them up. Their surprise was indescribable. For some moments
they could not persuade themselves that I was really there.
Then their astonishment passed into the liveliest joy. My
mother thought that I looked indeed a httle fatigued, but
otherwise very well. At once she would see to the breakfast.
After I had given them the most necessary explanations about
my sudden appearance, my father, who was beyorid measure
proud of me, wanted to know whom I desired to see in the
course of the day, I had hard work to convince him that above
aU things my presence must be kept absolutely secret, and
that therefore I did not wish to come into contact with any
body except the most trustworthy intimates.
Very fortunately it so happened that Frau Johanna Kin
kel visited my parents that same morning, and I had opportu
nity for a confidential talk with her. I told her that I was
ready to devote myself to the liberation of her husband if she
would put the enterprise entirely into my hands, speak to
nobody about it, and not ask me for more information than
I might voluntarily give her. With touching enthusiasm she
thanked me for my friendship and promised everything. After
having agreed upon what was at the time to be done or to be
left undone, I gave her a receipt for a magic ink which I had
obtained in Ziirich. With that ink our correspondence was
to be carried on. It was simply a chemical solution, which, when
used as ink, made no mark on the paper, A letter containing
indifferent subject-matter was to be written over this in or-
[255]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
dinary ink ; the person receiving the letter then was to cover
the paper, by means of a brush or sponge, with another chem
ical solution, which made what had been written in ordinary
ink disappear. Thereupon the paper was to be warmed near
a stove or a lamp to make the communication written with the
magic ink become legible, Kinkel's eldest son, Gottfried, at
that time a little boy, told me later that he had often looked
on while his mother washed sheets of paper and then dried
them near the stove.
When I had seen Frau Kinkel my most important busi
ness in Bonn was finished and I could give myself for some
days, or so long as I could hope to remain undiscovered, to
the joy of living once more with my family. With some of
my oldest student friends I came together in the rooms of one
of them, and there I met also a young student of medicine,
Abraham Jacobi. Jacobi was a zealous democrat who after
wards won in America a great name for himself as a physician
and scientist — so great, indeed, that many years later, when
he had become one of the most prominent physicians of
America, this revolutionary exile was distinguished by the
university of Berlin with a call to a professorship. His invalu
able friendship I have enjoyed down to this moment, and hope
to enjoy it to the last.
In the darkness of night I went out to take my accus
tomed walks once more; and on one of those nightly expedi
tions I could not refrain from passing Betty's window in
order, perhaps, to catch a gleam of hght which might issue
through the shutters ; but all was dark. The next morning, how
ever, I received more than an accidental gleam of light. One
of my best friends, who also knew Betty, came to the house
of my parents bringing a bouquet of flowers. " This bouquet,"
he said to me, " is sent to you by a girl whom I could safely
[256]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
tell that you are here," I blushed over and over in accepting
the flowers and expressed my thanks, I put no further ques
tions, for I did not doubt who the girl must be.
Before many days the number of my friends who had
been informed of my presence was so large, and the danger
that I might be betrayed by some accidental conversation be
tween them became so great, that I thought it necessary to
disappear. In response to my request my cousin, Heribert
Jiissen, whose passport and name I bore, came to Bonn with
his vehicle to take me during the night to Cologne, The part
ing from my parents and sisters was very sad, but after all
they let me go in a comparatively cheerful state of mind, I
left with them the same impression I had left with my friends
in Switzerland — that I was exclusively engaged in business
entrusted to me in Ziirich. But we often talked about Kin
kel's dreadful lot, and my parents repeatedly and emphatically
expressed the hope that someone might be found to make an
attempt to rescue' him. Although they probably did not have
me in mind when saying this, still it was sufficient to convince
me that they would approve of my being that one. When I
left Bonn nobody knew of my purpose except Frau Kinkel.
In Cologne I found quarters in the upper story of a
restaurant which was kept by a zealous democrat. My friend
the " Red Becker," the democratic editor, was there my spe
cial protector and confidant. I had made his acquaintance at
the university. He was indeed at that time no longer a student.
His examinations he had passed long before, but he was fond
of visiting his Burschenschaft, the AUemania, in the old way;
and nobody possessed a merrier humor and a more inex
haustible sitting power at the convivial meetings than he.
Everybody knew and loved him. His nickname, the "Red
Becker," he owed to a peculiarity of appearance. He had thin
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THE EEMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
gold-red hair and a thin gold-red beard; he also suffered from
a chronic inflammation of his eyehds so that his eyes seemed
to have been framed in red. Not only his amiable disposition
and his bubbling wit, but also his keen, critical mind and his
comprehensive knowledge made him a most agreeable and
much-desired companion. Nobody would have anticipated at
that time that this jolly comrade who found so much enjoy
ment in continuuig his university hfe beyond the ordmary
measure of years, and who had already, in a high degree, ac
quired the oddities of an incorrigible student loiterer, would
later distinguish himself as a most exceUent pubhc administra
tor, as a popular burgomaster of Cologne, and as a member of
the Prussian House of Lords.
We had become close friends in consequence of our com
mon pohtical sympathies. He was not only at that time the
editor of a democratic paper, but also the leader of the demo
cratic club in Cologne, and I could safely count upon it that
if anybody cherished a purpose to liberate Kinkel during the
impending trial for the Siegburg affair, he would certainly
know it aU. Becker told me with the utmost frankness what
had been planned and that all the world talked about " some
thing that must be done." It became clear to me at once that
if aU the world talked about it, an attempt could not possibly
succeed, and I was rejoiced to hear Becker himself share this
conviction. Thus I was satisfied that nothing would be done in
Cologne that might be apt to render later attempts more diffi
cult of success.
The secret of my presence in Cologne was communicated
to my nearest friends and to many others with such unconcern
that I thought it was time to leave. Therefore I took a night
train by way of Brussels to Paris. My intentions with regard
to Kinkel I had confided to nobody in Cologne. Becker knew
[258]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
no more than that I had gone to Paris for the purpose of
putting myself into communication with the German refugees
living there, to write some letters about the situation of things
in the French capital for his newspaper, and that I perhaps
would spend some time in historical studies. In fact, aU I had
in view was to sit still in a secure place until the trial of the
Siegburg affair, with all its excitements, was over, and Kinkel
had been transported back to Naugard or to some other peni
tentiary, so that I might find him fixed at a certain place, and
there begin my venturesome work.
Some impressions I received on the day of my arrival
in Paris will always remain indelible in my mind, I was
well versed in the recent history of France with its world-mov
ing revolutionary events. Since the days of March, 1848, I
had studied them with especial interest, hoping thus to learn
more clearly to judge what was passing in my own surround
ings, and now I had arrived at the theater of these great revo
lutionary actions in which the elementary forces of society in
wild explosions had demolished the old and opened the way to
the new order of things. From the railway station I went
to the nearest little hotel, and soon, map in hand, I set out to
explore the city. Eagerly I read the names of the streets on
the corners. Here they were, then, those battlefields of the
new era, which my excited imagination peopled at once with
historic figures — ^here the Square of the Bastile, where the
people won their first victory — there the Temple, where the
royal family had been imprisoned; there the Faubourg Saint-
Antoine, which on the days of great decision had sent the
masses of the Blousemen upon the barricades into the bloody
confiict; there the Carre Saint-Martin, where the first barri
cades of the February rising had been raised; there the Hotel
de Ville, where the commune had sat and where Robespierre
[259]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
with a bloody head had lain upon the table; there the Palais
Royal where Camille Desmoulins, standing upon a chair, had
fulminated his fiery speech and stuck a green leaf as a cockade
on his hat; there the Place de la Concorde, where on the
10th of August the royal power of Louis XVI. feU into the
dust. Thus I wandered about for several hours as if entranced,
when at a shop window I heard two men speaking German
together. This woke me out of my reverie, and it occurred to
me that it was time to look up the German refugees whose
addresses I possessed, I therefore accosted the German-speak
ing men and asked them where I could find a certain street.
I received a polite response and found myself soon in the room
of a friend whose acquaintance I had made in the Palatinate
— ^the Saxon refugee Zychlinski, He procured for me a fur
nished room in the neighborhood of the Church Saint-Eus-
tache and instructed me quickly in the art of living in Paris
on little money.
My sojourn in the French capital lasted about four weeks.
My first care was to practice myself in the language of the
country, I had appreciated already in Brussels that the in
struction in French which I had received at the gymnasium
hardly enabled me to order a breakfast. Now I began at once
with a pocket dictionary in hand to read newspapers, including
the advertisements, and then to avail myself of every opportu
nity to put the words and phrases I had thus learned to use
in conversation with the concierge of my house or the waiter at
the restaurant or with anybody who would listen to me. After
a few days I found that I could get along measurably well
as to the everyday requirements of life, I did not make any
important acquaintances in Paris at that time. Indeed I saw
the leading men of the legislative bodies, but only from the
[ 260 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
distance of the gallery. Fellow-refugees brought me into con
tact with some Frenchmen who belonged to the extreme revo
lutionary class. From them I heard little more than the
ordinary tirades against Louis Napoleon, who at that time was
still president of the republic, but who gave significant indi
cations of ulterior ambitions. In the circles in which I moved
it was regarded as certain that this " Napoleonic business "
could not possibly last long and that the new revolution doing
away with the president would inevitably spread over the larger
part of Europe. Although I took all possible pains to form
a sober and impartial judgment of the condition of things in
France, reading attentively to this end the journals of all
parties, my conclusions did not escape from the influence of
my wishes and illusions. If I should now in the light of his
torical events see again the letters which then I wrote in good
faith as correspondent of Becker's newspaper, the reading
would not be welcome. The errors of judgment which I then
committed and which in less than two years I learned correctly
to estimate, have been to me a lasting and salutary lesson. A
large part of my time I spent in studying the treasures of
art collected in Paris, which opened to me a world of charming
vistas. I remember an occurrence which, although unimportant
in itself, has frequently in later times risen up in my mind and
set me to thinking. I was in the habit of meeting Zychlinski
and some other Germans in a certain Quartier Latin cafe.
One evening I failed to find my friend there. This was espe
cially disagreeable to me, for I had wished to ask Zychhnski
to lend me some money. A remittance due me from Becker
had not come, and all the change in my pocket consisted of a
few sous, which were sufficient only for a cup of coffee and the
tip to the waiter. I sat down and ordered my cup as usual,
[261 ]

THE EEMINISCENCES QF CARL SCHURZ
with the confident expectation that either one or the other of
my friends would soon appear, I drank my coffee as slowly as
possible, but when I had emptied the cup not one of my ex
pected friends was there, I put the remainder of my sugar
into a glass of water, and prepared my " eau-sucre " in the
manner of the thrifty guests of the French cafes. I read one
journal after another, sipping my sugar- water with painful
slowness, but nobody came. I may have sat there more than
two hours and it began to be very late. The " dame du comp-
toir," to whom payment was made, yawned, and even Monsieur
Louis, the attendant of the billiard table, who for more than
an hour had been unoccupied, became sleepy. I still see the
amiable Monsieur Louis before me, from time to time rolling
the ivory balls on the billiard table with his finger from one
spot to another and then looking- at me. I felt as if both had
become annoyed at the long time that I devoted to my cup
of coffee. So I resolved to pay with my last sous and to go
home. But when I got up from my chair an accident hap
pened. By an awkward movement I pushed the coffee cup
off the little table upon the marble floor, and it broke into many
pieces, I thought that as a matter of course I must pay for the
broken cup, I had money enough for the coffee, but not for the
broken cup. The dame du comptoir exchanged glances with
Monsieur Louis, Those glances darted into the depth of my
guilty conscience. What should I do? At this moment several
new guests came in, French students, of whom two or three
began to joke with the dame du comptoir. Could I now step
into this group and in my clumsy French make to the Dame
du Comptoir a confession of my embarrassment? Would I
not expose myself to the laughter of the whole company? In
the excitement of the moment I recklessly resolved to order
another cup of coffee, taking a last chance of my friends stiU
[262]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
turning up, I waited long, but not in vain. Zychlinski really
came. The terrible burden fell from my soul, I had to restrain
myself not to cry out for delight, I told him my story, and
we laughed heartily about it, but with all this I did not feel
at ease. Zychlinski lent me the needed money, but when I got
up to leave and asked the dame du comptoir how much I
owed for the broken cup, she replied with a gracious con
descending smile that in this cafe no payment was ever ac
cepted for accidentally broken crockery. My anguish had
therefore been altogether superfluous. When I returned to
my quarters I found a letter from Becker containing the de
layed check.
This little adventure has in later life frequently come to
my mind again. As a result of my ruminations I give to those
who read this story the serious advice not to follow my ex
ample under similar circumstances and never to add to one
obligation an unnecessary new one, trusting to a happy chance
for payment. It was a cause of that false pride which has led
so many men, originally honest, down the inclined plane of
mischief. Many a man has gone to destruction for not having
the moral courage to face embarrassing situations or on occa
sion frankly to confess : " I have not money enough to do
that which others do."
While I was in Paris the trial of the participants in the
Siegburg affair took place in Cologne. At an early hour on
the 10th day of April, Kinkel left the penitentiary at Naugard
accompanied by three police officers and arrived in Cologne
on the 13th. On the journey, which was made in great secrecy,
he was permitted to wear an ordinary overcoat and a little
black hat, but as soon as he arrived in the penitentiary in
Cologne he had to don the penitentiary garb again. A few
days later Frau Kinkel was permitted to see her husband in
[263]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
the prison, but only in the presence of the turnkeys. She took
with her her six-year-old Gottfried, who did not recognize his
father with his closely clipped hair, his drawn features, and
his convict dress, until he heard his voice.
The public trial before a jury of burghers opened on the
29th of April. Ten persons were -accused " of an attempt
to upset the present constitution of the kingdom, to excite
the citizens or inhabitants of the state to sedition, to arm them
selves against the royal authority, and to bring about a civU
war by arming the citizens or inhabitants of the state against
one another, or by inciting them so to arm themselves." Of
the defendants, four were present, six having fled the kingdom,
of whom I was one.
The population of Cologne was in feverish excitement.
The court house was surrounded by an immense multitude
eager to see Kinkel and to manifest their sympathy for him,
the captive defender of hberty, the poet condemned to the peni
tentiary. The authorities had taken the most extensive meas
ures to prevent any possibility of his being liberated. The car
riage in which Kinkel rode from the prison to the court house
was surrounded by a strong force of cavalry with drawn sa
bers. The streets he passed through, as well as all the ap
proaches to the court house, were bristling with bayonets. On
the court house square stood two cannon with an ammuni
tion wagon, and the artillerymen ready for action. When Kin
kel appeared he was, in spite of all this, received by the as
sembled multitude with thundering cheers. He had again been
put into ordinary citizen's dress. On the way he appeared
stolid and impassive^/The aspect and the acclaim of the people
revived him.^oldly and proudly he lifted up his closely
clipped head as he strode from the carriage between lines of
soldiers into the hall of justice. There his wife had, early in
[ 264 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
the morning, secured a place which she continued to occupy
every day throughout the trial. The public prosecutor moved
in Kinkel's case the penalty of death. The testimony of the
various witnesses brought out the facts of the case as they were
generally known ; the public prosecutor, as well as the attorneys
of the defendants, pleaded their causes with coolness and skill.
My friend and fellow-student, Ludwig Meyer, made a manly
speech in his own defense, and at last, on the 2d of May, Kin
kel himself asked to be heard.
The assembled audience, aye, the whole nation, were in
a state of anxious expectancy. People asked one another:
" What will he say? WiU he humiliate himself, and bow his
head like a penitent sinner? Will he present the picture of a
broken and thenceforth harmless man in order to purchase
grace? Or will he defy those in power by maintaining all his
former professions, by standing by what he has said and done,
and thereby forfeit the last claim to a mitigation of his awful
lot? " The grievously suffering man would probably have been
forgiven by public opinion had he by a yielding attitude sought
an alleviation of his misery.
Kinkel's speech in his own defense was a full answer to
aU these questions, in the highest degree imposing, and touching
at the same time. He began with a concise description of the
public situation in Germany after the revolution in March,
1848. " The people," he said, " had then won their sovereignty.
This sovereignty of the people had been embodied in the con
stituent assembhes elected by universal suffrage — in the Prus
sian assembly in Berlin, as well as in the national parliament
in Frankfurt. It had so been understood by all the world. The
national parhament had proceeded with signal moderation; it
had created a magna charta of popular rights in a constitu
tion for the empire, and it had elected as the head of the em-
[265]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
pire and the protector of that magna charta the king of Prus
sia, the same king who on the 18th of March had put himself
at the head of the movement for German unity and freedom.
The realization of this idea had been the great hope of the na
tion. But the king of Prussia had refused to complete the
work of national unity by declining the imperial crown. He
had dissolved the Prussian constituent assembly, which had
urged him to accept the charge, and thereby annihilated the
possibility of an agreement with the people, and with it also
aU hope of the accomplishment of social reforms. Then noth
ing had remained but an appeal to arms. He too, the accused,
had taken up his musket, and he declared now in the presence
of his judges his belief that he had done right. He stood to-day
by the acts he had committed in the preceding May, What
he had done, he had done as a patriot and a man of honor."
He went still farther in his avowal. He called himself a so
cialist — although in the now-accepted party sense Kinkel had
really never been that. He had never been an adherent of any
of those systems which contemplate a complete subversion of
the traditional institutions of society. When he called himself
a socialist he meant only that, as he said, " his heart was always
with the poor and oppressed of the people, and not with the
rich and powerful of this world." He expressed, therefore,
only those sympathies which had taken possession of so many
hearts, and in order to designate them he chose the name of
socialist because it was nearest at hand. " And because I am
a socialist," Kinkel continued, " therefore I am a democrat, for
I beheve that only the people themselves can feel their own
deep wounds and cleanse and heal them. But because I am a
democrat, because I consider the democratic state as the onlyj
and certain possibility to banish misery from the world, there
fore I also believe that when a people have once won demo-
[266]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
cratic institutions they have not only the right; but also the
duty to defend those institutions to the last with all means
within their reach, even with musket and pointed steel. In this
sense I profess to accept the principle of revolution for which
my own blood has flowed, and even to-day, wholly in the power
of my adversaries, I confess with the pale lips of the prisoner
that this principle is mine. And therefore I also believe that
together with the friends at my side I was right when I took
up the battle and offered to my principles the highest sacri
fice. A high aim was before our eyes. Had we conquered we
would have saved to our people peace within itself; the unity
of the Fatherland, this fundamental idea of the German revo
lution, and with it the key to all future developments of pros
perity and greatness. Gtentlemen, we have not conquered. The
people have not carried this struggle through, but have aban
doned us, us who advanced in the lead. The consequences fall
upon our heads."
Now he declared how in this struggle he had not hesitated
to associate himself with persons without education and even
of doubtful repute. " For," he said, " no great idea had ever
been disgraced because the populace and the publicans accepted
it." Then he explained how the penal provisions of the Code
Napoleon, which was still the law in the Rhineland, could not
be applied to the public conditions of 1848; that this code
had been designed for an absolute military monarchy; that
after the revolution the Germans were entitled to arm them
selves as a people with free choice of their leaders — and this
for the purpose of enabling the people to protect their rights
against encroachments. "We are told that we attempted to
subvert the existing constitution of the kingdom. What con
stitution is meant? The new Prussian? Who ever thought of
that? Or the Frankfurt national constitution? To protect this
[267]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
we took up arms. Upon your conscience, gentlemen, are we
the men that made attempts upon that constitution? But we
are charged to have incited civil war. Who dares to assert
this? Who will deny that in the face of the uprising of the whole
people in arms, a grand solemn uprising, the crown would have
been urged upon the path of progress, without civil war?
Yes, if all were true that is asserted in the indictment, if Ave
had really conspired to oppose force to force, if we had armed
ourselves to storm an armory, if we had put arms into the
hands of citizens for such an enterprise, even then, yes, even
then, we would, after a defeat, be only unfortunates, but not
punishable culprits. We would have done it, not to destroy a
constitution, but to support one that was attacked; we would
have done it not to incite civil war, but to prevent civil war,
that horrible civil war, which drove the Landwehr of Iserlohn
into the deadly fire of the German riflemen on the tower of
Durlach, that condemned, in consequence, Dortu to be shot
and Corvin to penal labor. What has become of the Father
land now that we have not conquered? That you know. But
if we had conquered in this struggle, before God, gentlemen,
instead of the guillotine with which the prosecuting attorney
threatens us, according to the law of the French tyrant, we
would receive from you to-day the civic crown," This part
of his speech was heard by all those assembled in the hall with
astonishment and by many with admiration. The presiding
officer found it difficult to suppress the storm of applause
which at times would break out, but everybody felt that this
accused man who faced so boldly and proudly those in power,
even if he escaped a new sentence, had now forfeited all hope
for a mitigation of tjie punishment already imposed upon hun.
But what now followed overwhelmed the audience to an uut
expected degree. In a few sentences Kinkel pointed out the
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL -SCHURZ
contradictions and weak points in the testimony of the wit
nesses, and then he continued:
" The only thing that remains is that I have incited citi
zens to take up arms, I will tell you how this incitement came
about, I am glad to tell you, because in my action there is only
one thing that might appear ambiguous, and that is, that I
endeavored rather to dissuade others from the enterprise
which I myself undertook. With perfect clearness that 10th
of May still stands before my mind, for that day on which I, a
happy man, took leave of all the happiness of my life, has
etched itself into my soul with burning needles of pain. The
strain and stress of that time tore piece after piece from my
heart ; but at five o'clock in the afternoon I had not yet formed
a final resolution, I went to the university, I delivered my
lecture with quiet composure. It was my last. At six o'clock
arrived the tidings from Elberfeld and Diisseldorf, They
struck hot fire into my breast, I felt that the hour had come
for me when honor commanded to act. From the meeting of
citizens I went to my dwelling to say farewell, I took leave
of the peace of my house ; of the office which for twelve years
had made me happy, and which I beheve I had faithfully admin
istered; leave of my wife, for whose possession I had already
once risked my life ; leave of my sleeping children, who did not
dream that in this hour they lost their father. But when I
crossed my threshold and stepped into the darkening street, then
I said to myself, ' You have taken this resolution prepared for
whatever may follow; for you know what the consequences
may be. You will always have the consolation of the ideas and
convictions you cherish. You have no right to persuade an
other husband, another father, to the same terrible decision,'
In this state of mind I mounted the platform of the citizens'
meeting; and I warned every one of my hearers whose heart
[ 269 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
was not firm like mine — and out of this speech the public prose
cutor makes an incitement to revolt! Do not think, gentle
men, that I wish to appeal to your emotions and to awaken
your pity. Yes, I know it, and the ' acts of grace ' of the
year 1849 have taught me that your verdict of guilty means
a sentence of death; but in spite of this, I do not want your
compassion; not for my fellow-defendants, for to them you
owe not pity, but satisfaction for the long and undeserved
imprisonment; not for me, for however inestimable your sym
pathy as citizens and men may be to me, your compassion for
me would have no value. The sufferings I have to bear are
so terrible that your verdict can have no added terrors for
me. Beyond the measure of the punishment at first imposed
upon me, the authorities have increased mine by the horrible
solitude of the isolated cell, the desolate stillness, in which np^
trumpet call of the struggling outside world will penetrate,
and no loving look of faithful friends. They have condemned
a German poet and teacher who in more than one breast has
hghted the flame of knowledge and beauty, they have con
demned a heart full of sympathy slowly to die in soulless
mechanical labor, in denial of aU nfental atmosphere.VThe
murderer, the lowest, most hideous criminal, is permitted as
soon as the word of grace and pardon has descended upon him
to breathe the air of his Rhenish home, to drink the water
of his beloved river. The fourteen days I have been here have
taught me how much consolation there is in the air and light
of the homeland. But I am kept in the far-away gloomy
north, and not even behind the iron bars of my prison I am
allowed to see the tears of my wife, to look into the bright eyes
of my children, I do not ask for your commiseration, for how
ever bloody this law may be you cannot make my lot more ter
rible than it is. The man whom the public prosecutor has in-
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THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
sinuatingly dared to accuse of cowardice has in this last year
looked death in its various forms into the eyes so often, so
nearly, so calmly, that even the prospect of the guillotine can
no longer shake him, I do not want your compassion, but I
insist upon my right. My right I put upon your consciences,
and because I know that you citizens, jurymen, will not deny
this right to your Rhenish compatriot. Therefore I expect
with quiet confidence from your lips the verdict of not guilty,
I have spoken; now it is for you to judge! "
The impression produced by these words has been de
scribed to me by eyewitnesses. At first the audience listened in
breathless silence, but before long the judges upon the bench,
the jurors, the densely crowded citizens in the hall, the prose
cuting attorney who had conducted the case, the police officers
who watched the accused, the soldiers whose bayonets gleamed
about the door, burst out in sobs and tears. It took several
minutes after Kinkel concluded his speech before the presid
ing judge found his voice again. At last the case was given to
the jury. The jury instantly returned a verdict of " Not
guilty." Then a thundering cheer broke forth in the hall, which
was taken up by the multitude outside and resounded in the
streets far into the city. Frau Kinkel pressed through the
crowd to her husband. A police officer ordered his subordinates
who surrounded Kinkel to hold her back, but Kinkel, rising
to his full height, cried out with a commanding voice, " Come,
Johanna! Give your husband a kiss. Nobody shall forbid
you," As if yielding to a higher power the police officers
stepped back and made way for the wife, who threw herself
into her husband's arms.
The other defendants were now free to go home; only
Kinkel, stUl under the former sentence imposed upon him
by the court-martial in Baden, was again quickly sur-
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THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
rounded by his guards, taken to the carriage amid the resound
ing acclamations of the people and the roUing of the drums
of the soldiers, and carried back to the jail.
As was to be expected, the authorities had taken every
possible measure to prevent an attempt to liberate Kinkel in
Cologne. The government had meanwhile also resolved not
to take him back to the penitentiary at Naugard, but to im
prison him in Spandau, probably because in Naugard warm
sympathies with the sufferer had manifested themselves.
To mislead Kinkel's friends and to avoid aU difficulties on
the way, he was not, as generally expected by the public, trans
ported by rail, but in a coach, accompanied by two police
officers. The departure took place on the day after the trial in
all secrecy, but just these arrangements had made possible
an attempt at escape which Kinkel undertook of his own mo
tion and without help from the outside, and which he narrated
to me later as follows:
One evening the police officers stopped the coach at a way
side tavern of a Westphahan village where they intended to
take supper. Kinkel was placed in a room in the upper story,
where one officer remained with him, while the other went down
to make some arrangements. Kinkel noticed that the door of
the room was left ajar and that the key was in the lock outside.
The idea to take advantage of this circumstance occurred to
him instantly. Standing near the window he directed the at
tention of the police officer who guarded him, sitting near the
door, to a noise outside on the street. As soon as the police
officer stepped to the window, Kinkel sprang with a rapid
jump through the door and turned the key in the lock outside.
Then he ran as fast as he could down the stairs through the
back door into the yard, into the kitchen garden, and in the
direction that was open to him, into the fields. Soon the fugi-
[272]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
tive heard voices behind him and turning saw lights in the
distance moving to and fro. He ran with furious speed,
spurred on by the pursuit, which was evidently at his heels.
Suddenly he struck his forehead against a hard object and
fell down stunned.
The pursuers also had their difficulties. The police officer
who had been in the room with Kinkel jumped for the door,
and finding it locked, he hurried back to the window, which in
the excitement of the moment he did not succeed in opening
quickly. He smashed it with his fist and shouted into the street
that the " rogue " had escaped. The whole house was promptly
alarmed; the police officers told the servants that the fugitive
was one of the most dangerous criminals of the Rhineland, and
offered a reward of at least a hundred thalers for his capture.
Of course, the viUage folk believed all they were told. The
postilion who had driven the coach, not suspecting that his
passenger was Kinkel, showed hunself especially active. At
once lanterns were brought to look for the tracks of the fugi
tive. The postilion soon discovered them, but Kinkel had
gained considerable headway by these delays, and only his
running against a pile of wood, a projecting log of which
struck his forehead, had neutralized this advantage. In less
than a quarter of an hour he was in his benumbed condition
discovered by the postilion, who really believed that he had be
fore -him an escaped highwayman, and soon the police officers,
hurrying on, again laid their hands upon him. These now re
doubled their watchfulness until finally the door of the peni
tentiary of Spandau closed upon the unfortunate man.
When the excitement caused by the trial in Cologne had
subsided, and Kinkel, sitting quietly in the Spandau peniten
tiary, had temporarily ceased to occupy public attention in an
extraordinary degree, I left Paris for Germany, I had in the
[273]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
meantime received new instructions from the Ziirich commit
tee which I faithfully carried out. To this end I visited sev
eral places in the Rhineland and in Westphalia, and even
attended a meeting of democratic leaders which took place in
July in Braunschweig, where I hoped to establish useful con
nections. There I made the acquaintance of the Mecklenburg
deputy, Moritz Wiggers, with whom soon I was to have very
interesting transactions.
At the beginning of August I returned to Cologne, where
I had another meeting with Frau Kinkel. She reported that
the sum collected for the liberation of her husband had grown
considerably, and I was rejoiced to hear that it was sufficient
to justify the beginning of active workJHWe agreed that the
money should be sent to a confidential person in Berlin from
whom I might receive it according to my requirements. Frau
Kinkel also told me that she had found a method to convey
to Kinkel information in a manner not likely to excite sus
picion, if anything were undertaken in his behalf. She had
written to him about her musical studies and put into her let
ters long explanations about the word " fuge." Kinkel had
made her understand by words which were uninteUigible to
the officers who reviewed his letters, that he appreciated the
significance of the word " fuge," Latin, " fuga," Enghsh,
" flight," and that he was anxious to correspond more with
her upon that subject.raTrau Kinkel promised me to be very
circumspect with her letters and not to cause him any unneces
sary excitement, also not to become impatient herself if she
should hear from me but seldom. So we parted and I started
for the field of my operations.
At the railroad station I found my friend Jacobi, who
was on his way to Schleswig-Holstein, to offer his services
as a physician to our struggling brethren. A part of the way
[274]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
we could journey together. This was an agreeable surprise,
but a much less agreeable surprise was it when in the coupe
in which we took seats we found ourselves directly opposite to
Professor Lassen of the University of Bonn, who knew me.
We were greatly startled. Professor Lassen looked at me with
evident astonishment, but as Jacobi and I began to chat and
laugh as other young men would have done with apparent un
concern, the good orientalist probably thought that he was
mistaken and that I could not possibly be the malefactor whom"
I resembled in appearancekpn the 11th of August I arrived '
at Berlin. My passport, bearing the name of my cousin, Heri
bert Jiissen, and fitting me admirably in the personal descrip
tion, was in exceUent order, as the passports of political of
fenders venturing upon dangerous ground usually are, and
thus I had no difficulty in entering Berlin, the gates and rail
road stations of which were supposed to be closely watched by
an omniscient police bent upon arrestirig or turning away all
suspicious characters. Without delay I looked up some student
friends who had been with me members of the Burschen
schaft Franconia at the university of Bonn, and they gave
me a hearty welcome, although they were not a little astonished
to see me suddenly turn up in Berlin. They were discreet
enough not to ask me for what purpose I had come, and thus
made it easy for me to keep my own secret. Two of them, who
occupied a small apartment on the Markgrafen Strasse, in
vited me to share their quarters ; and as I went out and in with
my friends the police officers on that beat no doubt regarded
me as one of the university students, a good many of whom
Hved in that neighborhood.
It was at that period customary in Berlin, and perhaps it
is now, that the tenants of apartment houses were not furnished
with latchkeys for the street doors, but that such keys were
[275]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
entrusted to the night-watchman patroUing the street, and that
a tenant wishing to enter his house during the night had to
apply to the watchman to open the door for him. Having been
seen by our watchman once or twice coming home with my
friends, I was regarded by him as legitimately belonging to
the, regular inhabitants of the street; and as it happened several
times that, returning late in the night alone from my expe
ditions to Spandau, where I was preparing for the deliv
erance of a man sentenced to imprisonment for life, I called
upon this same police officer to open for me — for me, who was
then virtually an outlaw — the door of my abode, which he
always did without the slightest suspicion. This afforded me
and my friends much amusement, and, indeed, considering the
great reputation of the Berlin police for efficiency, the situation
was comical enoughllt is, therefore, not surprising that I be
came a little reckless and did not resist the temptation to see the
famous French actress, Rachel, who at that period, with a com
pany of her own, was presenting the principal part of her rep
ertoire to the Berlin public.
Rachel had then reached the zenith of her fame. Her his
tory was again and again rehearsed in the newspapers: how
that child of poor Alsatian Jews, born in 1820 in a small' inn
of the canton of Aargau in Switzerland, had accompanied her
parents on their peddling tours through France; how she had
earned pennies by singing with one of her sisters in the streets
of Paris ; how her voice attracted attention ; how she was taken
into the Conservatoire; how she soon turned from singing to
elocution and acting, and how her phenomenal genius, suddenly
blazing forth, at once placed her far ahead of the most re
nowned of living histrionic artists. We revolutionary youths
remembered with especial interest, the tales that had come from
Paris after those February days of 1848, when King Louis
[276]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
Philippe was driven away and the republic proclaimed, describ
ing Rachel as she recited the " Marseillaise " on the stage, half
singing, half declaiming, and throwing her hearers into parox
ysms of patriotic frenzy.
Some of my student friends having witnessed Rachel's
first performance in Berlin, gave me extravagantly enthusias
tic reports. My desire to see her became very great. Indeed,
the attempt would not be without risk. In thus venturing into
a public place I might fall into the hands of the police and go
from there straightway to prison. But my friends told me that
the government detectives would hardly look for state crim
inals in a theater, and that I would be safe enough in the large
crowd of Rachel enthusiasts. I could put myself into some
dark corner of the parterre without danger of meeting a detec
tive for one night at least. Finally, with the light-heartedness
of youth, I resolved to take the risk.
So I saw Rachel. It was one of the most overpowering
impressions of my life. The play was Racine's " Phedre." I
had read most of the tragedies of Corneille, Racine and Vol
taire, and was well enough acquainted with them to follow the
dialogue. But I had never liked them much. The stilted arti
ficiality of the diction in the tedious monotony of the rhymed
Alexandrine verse had repelled me, and I had always won
dered how such plays could be made interesting on the stage.
That I was to learn. When Rachel stepped upon the scene, not
with the customary stage stride, but with a dignity and majes
tic grace all her own, there was first a spell of intense astonish
ment and then a burst of applause. She stood still for a
moment, in the folds of her classic robe like an antique statue
fresh from the hand of Phidias. The mere sight sent a thriU
through the audience: her face a long oval, her forehead, shad
owed by black wavy hair, not remarkably high, but broad and
[ 277 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
strong; under her dark arched eyebrows a pair of wondrous
eyes that glowed and blazed in their deep sockets like two
black suns; a finely chiseled nose with open, quivering nos
trils; above an energetic chin a mouth severe in its lines, with
slightly lowered corners, such as we may imagine the mouth
of the tragic Muse. Her stature, sometimes seeming taU,
sometimes httle, very slender, but the attitude betraying elas
tic strength; a hand with fine tapering fingers of rare beauty;
the whole apparition exciting in the beholder a sensation of
astonishment and intense expectancy.
The applause ceasing, she began to speak. In deep tones
the first sentences came forth, in tones so deep that they
sounded as if rising from the innermost cavities of the chest,
aye, from the very bowels of the earth. Was that the voice of
a woman? Of this you felt certain — such a voice you had never
heard, never a tone so hollow and yet so full and resonant, so
phantomlike and yet so real. But this first surprise soon
yielded to new and greater wonders. As her speech went on
that voice, at first so deep and cavernous, began, in the change
ing play of feelings or passions, to rise and roll and bound
and fly up and down the scale for an octave or two without
the slightest effort or artificiality, like the notes of a musical
instrument of apparently unlimited compass and endless va^
riety of tone color. Where was now the stiffness of the Alex
andrine verse? Where the tedious monotony of the forced
rhymes? That marvelous voice and the effects it created on
the listener can hardly be described without a seemingly ex
travagant resort to metaphor.
Now her speech would flow on with the placid purl of a
pebbly meadow brook. Then it poured forth with the dashing
vivacity of a mountain stream rushing and tumbling from rock
to rock. But her '^ -ission aroused, how that voice heaved and
[278]

RACHEL
From the Painting by Edouard Dubyfe

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
surged like the swelhng tide of the sea with the rising tempest
behind it, and how then the thunderstorm burst, booming and
pealing, and crashing, as when the lightning strikes close, mak
ing you start with terror! All the elementary forces of nature
and aU the feelings and agitations of the human soul seemed to
have found their most powerful and thrilling language in the
intonations of that voice and to subjugate the hearer with super
lative energy. It uttered an accent of tender emotion, and
instantly the tears shot into your eyes; a playful or caj oiling
turn of expression came, and a happy smile lightened every face
in the audience. Its notes of grief or despair would make every
heart sink and tremble with agony. And when one of those ter
rific explosions of wrath and fury broke forth you instinctively
clutched the nearest object to save yourself from being swept
away by the hurricane. The marvelous modulations of that
voice alone sufficed to carry the soul of the hstener through aU
the sensations of joy, sadness, pain, love, hatred, despair, jeal
ousy, contempt, wrath, and rage, even if he did not understand
the language, or if he had closed his eyes so as not to observe
anything of the happenings on the stage.
But who can describe the witcheries of her gestures and
the changeful play of her eyes and features? They in their
turn seemed to make the spoken word almost superfluous.
There was, of course, nothing of that aimless swinging of
arms and sawing of the air and the other perfunctory doings
of which Hamlet speaks. Rachel's action was sparing and sim
ple. When that beautiful hand with itsi slender, almost trans
lucent, fingers, moved, it spoke a language every utterance of
which was a revelation to the beholder. When those hands
spread out with open palms and remained for a moment in
explanatory attitude — an attitude than which the richest fancy
of the artist could not have imagined anything more beauti-
[ 279 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
fully expressive — ^they made everything intelhgible and clear;
at once you understood it all and were in accord with her.
When those hands stretched themselves out to the friend or
the lover, accompanied by one of those smiles which were rare
in Rachel's acting, but which, whenever they appeared, would
irradiate aU surroundings like friendly sunbeams breaking
through a clouded sky — a tremor of happiness ran all over the
house. When she hfted up her noble head with the majestic
pride of authority, as if born to rule the world, everyone felt
like bowing before her. Who would have dared to disobey
when, the power of empire on her front, she raised her hand
in a gesture of command? And who could have stood up
against the stony glare of contempt in her eye and the haughty
toss of her chin, and the disdainful wave of her arm, which
seemed to sweep the wretch before her into utter nothingness?
It was in the portrayal of the evil passions and the fiercest
emotions that her powers rose to the most tremendous effects.
Nothing more terrible can be conceived than was her aspect in
her great climaxes. Clouds of sinister darkness gathered upon
her brow; her eyes, naturally deep-set, began to protrude and
to flash and scintillate with a truly hellish flre. Her nostrils
fluttered in wild agitation as if breathing flame. Her body
shot up to unnatural height. Her face transformed itself into
a very Gorgon head, making you feel as if you saw the ser
pents wriggling in her locks. Her forefinger darted out like
a poisoned dagger against the object of her execration; or
her fist clenched as though it would shatter the universe at a
blow; or her fingers bent like the veriest tiger's claws to lacer
ate the victim of her fury — a spectacle so terrific that the be
holder, shuddering with horror, would feel his blood run cold,
and gasp for breath, and moan, " God help us all,"
This may sound hke wild exaggeration, like an extrava-
[280]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
gant picture produced by the overheated imagination of a
young man charmed by a stage-goddess. I must confess that
I was at first somewhat suspicious of my own sensations. I,
therefore, at that as well as at later periods, repeatedly asked
persons of ripe years who had seen Rachel, about the impres
sions they had received, and I found that theirs hardly ever
materially differed from mine. Indeed, I have often heard
gray-haired men and women, persons of cultivated artistic
judgment, speak of Rachel with the same sort of bewildered
enthusiasm that I had experienced myself. I am sure, there
was in my admiration of Rachel nothing of the infatuation of
an ingenuous youth for an actress which we sometimes hear or
read of. If anybody had offered to introduce me personally
to Rachel, nothing would have made me accept the invitation,
Rachel was to me a demon, a supernatural entity, a mysterious
force of nature, anything rather than a woman with whom one
might dine, or speak about every-day things, or take a drive
in a park. My enchantment was of an entirely spiritual kind,
but so strong that in spite of the perils of my situation in
Berlin I could not withstand it. So I visited the theater to
see Rachel as often as the business I had in hand, which then
required occasional night drives to Spandau, permitted such
a luxury. Of course, I was not altogether unmindful of the
danger to which I was exposing myself, I always managed to
have a seat in the parterre near the entrance. While the cur
tain was up, I was sure that all eyes would be riveted on the
scene. Between the acts, when people in front of me would
turn around to look at the audience, I kept my face well cov
ered with an opera glass examining the boxes. And as soon
as the curtain f eU after the last act, I hurried away in order to
avoid the crowd.
But one night, when the closing scene enchained me in an
[281 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
unusual degree, my exit was not quick enough. I found my
self wedged in among the multitude pressing for the street,
and suddenly in the swaying throng, a face turned toward
me which I knew but too well for my comfort. It was that of
a man who two years before had been a student at the univer
sity at Bonn, who had been a member of our democratic club,
and who, by some exceedingly questionable transaction, had
become suspected of acting for the police as a spy. I had heard
of his presence in Berlin, and there, also, he was talked of
among my friends as one whom it would be well to avoid.
Now he looked at me in a manner clearly indicating that he
recognized me, but as if he were astonished to see me there.
I returned his gaze, as if I resented the impertinence of a
stranger looking at me so inquisitively. So we stood face to
face for a few moments, both unable to move. When the pres
sure of the crowd relaxed, I made the greatest possible haste
to disappear among the passersby on the street. That was my
last Rachel night in Berlin.
But I saw her again later in Paris, and still later in Amer
ica. In fact, I have seen her in all her great characters, in not
a few of them several times, and the impression was always
identically the same, even during her American tour when her
fatal ailment had already seized upon her, and her powers
were said to be on the wane. Endeavoring to account more
clearly for those impressions. I sometimes asked myself, " But
is this really the mirror held up to nature? Did ever a woman
in natural life speak in such tones? Have such women as
Rachel portrays ever lived? " The answer I uniformly arrived
at was that such questions were idle; if Phedre, Roxane, Vir
ginia ever lived, so they must have been as Rachel showed
them; or, rather, Rachel in her acting was happiness, misery,
love, jealousy, hatred, revenge, anger, rage — aU these things
[282]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
in an ideal grandeur, in their highest poetic potency, in gigan
tic reality. This may not be a very satisfactory definition, but
it is as precise as I can make it. It was to see, to hear, and to
be carried away, magically, irresistibly. The waves of delight
or of anguish or of horror with which Rachel fiooded the souls
of her audiences baffled all critical analysis. Criticism floun
dered about in helpless embarrassment trying to classify her
performances, or to measure them by any customary standard.
She stood quite alone. To compare her with other actors or
actresses seemed futile, for there was between them not a mere
difference of degree, but a difference of kind. Various actresses
of the time sought to imitate her; but whoever had seen the
original simply shrugged his shoulders at the copies. It was
the mechanism without the divine breath. I have subsequently
seen only three actresses — Ristori, Wolter, and Sarah Bern
hardt — who now and then, by some inspired gesture or intona
tion of voice, reminded me of Rachel ; but only at passing mo
ments. On the whole, the difference between them was very
great. It was the difference between unique genius which
irresistibly overpowers and subdues us and to which we in
voluntarily bow, and extraordinary talent which we simply
admire. Rachel has therefore remained with me an overshad
owing memory, and when in later years in my familiar circle
we discussed the merits of contemporaneous stage perfor
mances, and someone among us grew enthusiastic about this or
that living actor or actress, I could seldom repress the remark
— in fact, I fear I made it often enough to become tiresome —
" All this is very fine, but, ah! — you should have seen Rachel,"
A few days after the meeting with the spy a real misfor
tune befell me, I went with my friends Rhodes and Miiller
to a public bath, I slipped and fell on the wet fioor, injuring
my left hip so much that I was unable to rise. After I had
[283]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
been carried to my quarters in the Markgrafen Strasse, two sur
geon friends examined my injury. It turned out that I was
suffering only from a strong contusion, which threatened to
keep me in bed a considerable time. There I lay immovable
and helpless while the city teemed with police agents to whom
the catching of an insurrectionist from Baden or the Palati
nate, who was, moreover, prosecuted on account of other polit
ical sins and now engaged in a further mischief, would have
been an especial pleasure. My invalid condition lasted two
weeks. As soon as I could leave the house again I took up
with redoubled zeal my task, the story of which I shall now
endeavor to give in a coherent report.

[ 284 ]

CHAPTER X
Immediately after my arrival in Berhn I put myself
in communication with several persons, who had been desig
nated to me as trustworthy by Frau Kinkel, and by my dem
ocratic friends. I spent some time in studying them carefully,
as I could not confide the purpose of my presence in Berlin to
anyone of whom I might not be convinced that he would be
useful in its accomplishment.^ After this review I told my
secret to one of themjjnly. Dr. Falkenthal, a physician who
practiced and lived the life of an old bachelor in the suburb of
Moabit. Falkenthal had already been in correspondence with
Frau Kinkel. He had an extended acquaintance in Spandau
and conducted me there to an innkeeper by the name of
Kriiger, for whom he vouched as a thoroughly reliable and
energetic man. Mr, Kriiger occupied in Spandau a highly re
spected position. He had for several years served his town
as a member of the common council; he conducted the best
hotel; he was a man of some property, and was also gen
erally liked on account of his honorable character and his
amiable disposition. Although much older than myself, we
gradually became true friends. I found in him not only quali
ties of heart and soul thoroughly sympathetic to me, but also
clear judgment, great discretion, unflinching courage, and a
noble, self-sacrificing devotion. He offered me his hotel as
headquarters for my enterprise.
I preferred, however, not to live in Spandau, as the pres
ence of a stranger in so small a town could rfot well remain a
[285]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
secret. To dweU in the great city of Berhn appeared to me
much less dangerous, at least during the long time of prepa
ration which my undertaking would probably require.
From Berhn to Spandau and from Spandau back to
Berlin I did not avaU myself of the railroad, because at the
Berlin station the police examined the passcards of every trav
eler, even on the way-trains, and if my passport, with the
name of Heribert Jiissen, issued in Cologne, appeared too fre
quently, it might have excited suspicion. I therefore always
hired a street cab, a " droschke," and each time a different
one, on going and coming to and from Spandau, usually mak
ing the short journey during the night.
The first point to be considered was whether it would be
feasible to liberate Kinkel by force. I soon convinced myself
that there was no such possibility. The armed guard of the
penitentiary itself consisted only of a handful of soldiers and
the turnkeys on duty. It would therefore have been possible
for a number of resolute men to storm the building. But it
was situated in the center of a fortified town filled with sol
diers, and the first signal of alarm would have attracted an
overpowering force. Such a venture would therefore have
been hopeless. On the other hand, we knew of cases in which
prisoners, even more closely watched than Kinkel was, had
escaped by breaking through barred windows and tunneling
waUs, and then being helped to a safe place by their friends.
But this, too, seemed hardly possible in our case for several
reasons, among which Kinkel's lack of skill in the use of his
hands was not the least serious. In any event, it seemed pru
dent to try first whether or not one or the other of the officers
of the penitentiary could be induced to help us. This sort of
business was extremely repugnant to me. But what would I
not do to save a dear friend, who had been So badly and cruelly
[286]

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;-j^!S:,g,,^,^,

'ir^-, ---£1^'

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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
treated, and a champion of liberty who might still be so useful
to a great cause?
Kriiger selected two young men, well known to him, who
were in friendly intercourse with some of the officers to be
taken into our confidence. Their names were Poritz and Led
dihn, vigorous, strong, and true men, who confessed them
selves willing to render any aid required of them in so good'a
work as the liberation of such a prisoner as Kinkel, They
agreed to bring to me the one of the penitentiary guards
who, they believed, might be most easily persuaded. Thus they
introduced to me in a little beerhouse, in which I had a room
to myself, a turnkey who had been, like most of his colleagues,
a non-commissioned officer in the army and was now support
ing a large family upon a very small salary. Poritz and Led
dihn had vouched to him for my good faith, and he listened
quietly to what I had to say, I presented myself as a traveler
for a business house, who was closely related to the Kinkel
family. I described to him the misery of the wife and the
children, and how anxious they were, lest with the poor convict
fare he would gradually waste away in body and mind. Would
it not be possible to smuggle into Kinkel's cell from time to
time a bit of meat or a glass of wine to keep up in a meas
ure his strength, untU the king's grace would take pity on
him? The turnkey thought Kinkel's lot indeed very deplorable.
It would be a good work to alleviate it a little — perhaps not
impossible, but perilous. He would consider what might be
done. At the close of our conversation I slipped a ten-thaler
note into his hand with the request that he buy with it some
nourishing food for Kinkel if he could transmit it to him with
out danger, I intimated that business affairs required me to
leave Spandau, but that I would return in a few days, to hear
[287]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
what report he could give about the condition of the prisoner.
He could be certain of my gratitude.
Thus we parted. Three days later I went again to Span
dau and met the turnkey in the same way as before. He told
me he had succeeded in handing to Kinkel a sausage and a
little loaf of bread, and that he had found the prisoner in com
paratively good condition. He was also wilhng to do still more
in a similar way. Of course I did not wish him to do so at his
own expense, and therefore gave him a second ten-thaler note
which I accompanied with the request that he deliver into
Kinkel's hands a few words written on a slip of paper, and
bring back to me from Kinkel a word in reply. This too he
promised to do, I wrote down a few words without a signature,
containing about the following: "Your friends are true to
you. Keep up your courage," It was less important to me to
inform Kinkel of my presence than to satisfy myself that the
turnkey had really carried out my instructions, and whether
I could go farther with him.
Again I left to return in a few days. In the same manner
as before my man turned up and brought me my slip of paper,
which bore a word of thanks in Kinkel's hand. The turnkey
had evidently kept his promise, and had thereby taken a step
which compromised him greatly. Now it appeared to me time
to come to the point. Thus I told him that the thought had
crossed my brain what a splendid deed it would be to deliver
Kinkel entirely from his dreadful situation, and, that before
returning to my home on the Rhine, I thought it my duty to
ask him whether this thing could not be accomplished through
his aid. The man started and at once exclaimed this would be
impossible; with such an attempt he could and wovdd have
nothing to do.
The mere suggestion had evidently terrified him, and I
[288 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
saw clearly that he was not the man whom I needed. Now I
had to get rid of him and assure myself at the same time of his
silence. I expressed to him my regret at his unwillingness, and
added, that if he, who had been represented to me as a com
passionate and at the same time courageous man, thought such
an attempt hopeless, I had to accept his .opinion and abandon
the idea. I would therefore without delay depart for my home
and not return. Then I hinted, to him something about a secret
and mysterious power which, if it could not liberate Kinkel,
might become very dangerous to those who betrayed him, I
succeeded indeed in intimidating him to such a degree that he
begged me most earnestly not to bear any ill-will against him,
I assured him that if he would bury in silence all that had hap
pened, he might expect me to remain his friend. He might
count even upon my further gratitude if, also, after my de
parture he would continue to furnish Kinkel from time to time
with some nourishment. This he promised to do with demon
strative earnestness. Then I handed him another ten-thaler
note and took leave of him forever.
So my first attempt had failed. I remained quiet for some
days until Kriiger, Leddihn and Poritz, who in the meantime
had been watching the penitentiary people very carefully,
communicated to me their conviction that my man had not
disclosed anything. Thereupon my Spandau friends brought
to me another turnkey. I began with him in the same manner
as with the first, and everything seemed to progress favorably
until I put the question whether or not he was willing to lend
his hand in an attempt to set Kinkel free. The second man
showed no more courage than the first, whereupon I dismissed
him. A third man was brought, but he seemed so frightened
by the first word that I did not put the decisive question to
him at aU. [ 289 ]'

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
Now it appeared to me prudent to let the affair rest for
a while, at least until we could be perfectly assured that the
three disquieted souls in the penitentiary had preserved silence.
My sojourn in Berlin, too, began to become uncomfortable
to me. The number of friends who knew of my presence in
the Prussian capital had grown a little too large, and I
was confronted too often by the question why I was there and
what were my intentions. I therefore requested one of my
friends to bid good-bye to the others in my behalf. I had de
parted not to return. Where I went, nobody knew. In fact, I
went for a week or two to Hamburg, There I met my friend
Strodtmann and got into communication with some people of
our way of thinking. But the most agreeable society could
not hold me Ipng, By the end of September I returned to
my work, but I did not go back to Berlin, thinking it safer
to live with my friend. Dr. Falkenthal, in the suburb of
Moabit. At Spandau I received the report that everything had re
mained quiet. In general my secret had been well kept. To
my friends in Berlin I had disappeared into regions unknown.
Only one of them, a law student, by the name of Dreyer, once
accidentally ran against me in Moabit. He may have had a
suspicion as to what my business was, but I could firmly count
upon his discretion. At a later period many persons who were
entire strangers to me have stated that they were at that time
in confidential relations with me, but such statements were un
founded. Even Dr, Falkenthal and Kriiger did not at that
time know my true name. To them I was, as my passport in
dicated, Heribert Jiissen, and among Dr, Falkenthal's neigh
bors, who sometimes saw me, I passed for a young physician
assisting the doctor in his studies. To strengthen this impres
sion I always carried a little kit of surgical instruments with
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
me as they are frequently seen in the hands of physicians.
From Moabit I made my nightly excursions as before.
After my return from Hamburg I did not at once suc
ceed in finding among the penitentiary officials the man I
wanted. A fourth was introduced to me, but he too would
undertake nothing more than to smuggle into Kinkel's cell
some eatables and perhaps a written communication, I began
to entertain serious doubts as to whether the plan so far pur
sued could be successfully carried out, for the list of the turn
keys was nearly exhausted. Then suddenly and unexpectedly
I found the helper whom I had so long looked for in vain. My
Spandau friends made me acquainted with Officer Brune,
At the first moment of our meeting I received from him
an impression very different from that which his colleagues
had made upon me. He too had been a non-commissioned offi
cer in the army ; he too had wife and children and a miserable
salary hke the others. But in his bearing there was nothing of
the servile humility so frequently found among subalterns.
When I talked to him of Kinkel and of my desire to alleviate
his misery at least a little by conveying to him additional fare,
Brune's face expressed none of the pitiable embarrassment of
the man who is vacillating between his sense of duty and a
ten-thaler note, Brune stood firmly upright like a man who
is not ashamed of what he is willing to do. He talked with
astonishing frankness without waiting for the gradual ad
vance of my suggestions.
" Certainly," he said, " I will help as much as I can. It
is a shame and a disgrace that so learned and worthy a gentle
man should sit here among common rogues in this peni
tentiary. I would gladly help him out myself, if I had not to
take care of my .wife and children."
His indignation at the treatment Kinkel had received
[291]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
appeared so honest, and the whole manner of the man ex
pressed so much courage and self-respect that I thought I
might come to the point with him without circumlocution.
And thus I told him point-blank that if the support of his
family was his greatest trouble, I would be able to overcome
that difficulty. Assured of this, would he then, I asked, be
wiUing to lend a hand to Kinkel's escape?
" If it can be done," he answered; "but you know it is
a difficult and dangerous thing. I will consider whether and
how it may be done. Give me three days' time to think it

over."

" Good," I replied, " do think it over; to judge from your
accent you are a Westphahan."
" Yes, born near Soest."
" Then we are near neighbors; I am a Rhinelander. In
three days then."
Those were three long days which I passed in Dr. Falken
thal's quarters. I sought to soothe my impatience by reading
Dumas' " Three Musketeers " and a large part of Lamar-
tine's history of the Girondists, But the book would fall again
and again into my lap and my thoughts roam abroad.
On the evening of the third day I went again to Spandau
and a heavy burden fell from my heart at Brune's first word.
" I have thought it over," he said. " I think we can
do it." I had to restrain myself for joy. Brune explained how
some night in the near future, when the watch in the upper
story of the penitentiary would be his and a certain other offi
cer would be in the lower story, he might possess himself of
the necessary keys and conduct Kinkel to the gate of the
buUding. The plan, as he laid it before me, the details of which
I shall return to later, appeared feasible.
[292]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
But not until the night from the 5th to the 6th of No
vember would the night watches be as he would have them.
This suited me, for I too wanted some time for necessary prep
arations. Then I informed Brune what provision I would be able
to make for his family. A sum of money was at my disposal
which was contributed partly by German democrats, partly
by personal admirers of Kinkel, among them the Russian
Baroness Briinjng, of whom I shall have more to say. This
enabled me to offer to Brune a decent compensation. Brune was
content. The question whether it would be best to ship him
and his family to America he rejected at once. Perhaps he
hoped to remain undiscovered as a participant in our enter
prise or he preferred, in case of discovery, to suffer his punish-
ment and to keep his family in the Fatherland.
Thus we were agreed. Now the important preparations
were taken in hand. Frau Kinkel had instructed me to call
personally for the sum of money at my disposal at the resi
dence of a lady in Berlin, a friend of hers who was a relative of
the celebrated Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. It was in the dusk
of evening that I arrived at this lady's house. I was received by
a somewhat solemn footman to whom I gave my name Heri
bert Jiissen. He showed me into a large drawing-room, in
which everything — furniture, pictures, books, musical instru
ments — ^breathed comfort and refinement. I had to wait a little
whUe, and the contrast between my own wild business and these
peaceable and elegant surroundings became very sensible to
me. At last a lady clad in black entered, whose features I
could just discern in the twihght. She was no longer young
nor altogether beautiful. But her presence radiated a rare
charm. In her hand she carried a large pocketbook,
" You bring me greetings from a Rhineland friend? " sJie
[293]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
said with one of those mellow voices that touch the soul like
a benefaction. " Yes, cordial greetings," I replied, " from a friend who
asked me to beg you for a package of valuable papers which
she had put into your hands for safe-keeping."
" I knew that you would come at about this time," the
lady rephed, " In this pocketbook you will find all. I do not
know your plans, but they must be good. You have my warm
est wishes ; God protect and bless you." Then she reached out
to me her slender hand with a warm pressure, and I felt, after
having left her, that her blessing had already become a reality.
That money was a heavy care to me. Never had I borne
any resporisibility of this kind for the property of others. In
order not to expose this precious treasure to any accident, I
carried it constantly with me tightly sewed in the inside pocket
of my waistcoat.
The difficult task which I had still to perform before the
decisive hour consisted in arranging for means of transporta
tion to a safe place of refuge. Where should we turn after the
escape of the prisoner? The frontiers of Switzerland, Belgium
and France were too far away. We could not venture upon so
long a journey through a hostile country. Nothing remained,
therefore, but to try to reach the seacoast somewhere in order
to cross over to England. After due consideration I con
cluded that the government would certainly take all pre
cautions to watch every outgoing vessel in the harbors of
Bremen and Hamburg. It appeared therefore prudent to
choose another seaport, and so I turned to Mecklenburg. We
had an influential and true friend in Rostock in the eminent
jurist and president of the house of delegates, Moritz Wig
gers, with whom I had become personally acquainted at the
democratic congress in Braunschweig. I might also hope to
[294 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
reach Rostock more quickly than any other port— for we could
not trust ourselves to the railroads — and the journey to Ros
tock offered the advantage that if we left Spandau about mid
night, we might hope to cross the Mecklenburg frontier and
thus to be beyond the immediate pursuit by the Prussian police
about daybreak. I had also on my list of reliable persons a
very considerable number of Mecklenburgers to whom I could
apply for assistance.
I now set out to travel along the road which I had re
solved to take, in order to make the necessary arrangements
as to relays of horses and carriages for the decisive night and
the day foUowing. Of course, we could use only private car
riages with, if possible, the owners on the box. Until then I
had succeeded in keeping my secret within a very narrow circle
of participants. But now it was necessary to draw a larger
number of persons into confidence, and thus the danger grew
in proportion. What I feared most was not malicious treach
ery, but excessive and indiscreet zeal. Everywhere I was met
with hearty cordiality, and this cordiality was not confined to
persons of the same political belief.
Of this I had a surprising example. My democratic
friends had designated as specially trustworthy and helpful a
gentleman living in the interior of Mecklenburg who was not
on my hst, I visited him and was very kindly received. He
also assured me without hesitation of his willing assistance in
the arrangement for relays. Then our conversation turned
upon politics, and to my indescribable astonishment, my new
friend declared to me that he considered our democratic ideas
as well meant but as vain phantasies. He became quite elo
quent in setting forth his opinion that human society would
appear most delightful and would also be most happy if it
were as variegated and checkered as possible in its division into
[295]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
estates and classes and ranks and conditions and callings, with
princes, knights, merchants, clergymen, tradesmen, peasants,
each and aU with different rights and duties. Even monas
teries he would have preserved with their abbots and abbesses,
monks and nuns. In short, of aU phases of human civilization
the Middle Ages seemed to him the most congenial. "You
see," he added with a kindly smile, "I am what you would
caU a full-blooded reactionary, and I don't beheve at aU in your
liberty and equality and that sort of thing. But that they have
put Kinkel, a poet and a sage, into a penitentiary on account
of his ideahstic imaginings, that is a revolting scandal, and
although I am a good conservative Mecklenburger, I am at aU
times ready to help Kinkel out."
So we parted in the warmest agreement. But after all I
did not feel quite comfortable about my new friend, and I
talked afterwards with my democratic associates in Mecklen
burg of the curious speeches of this gentleman and of my
anxiety about him, " Do not borrow any trouble on that
score," was the answer, " He is indeed a very curious saint and
talks amazing stuff. But when there is a good deed to be done,
he is as true as gold," And so he proved to be.
After a journey of several days my relays were arranged,
and I could hope that a drive of less than thirty hours would
take us from Spandau to Rostock. There we might confide
ourselves to our good friends until a vessel should be ready to
take us across the sea. To carry us from Spandau to the first
relay, Kriiger applied to a well-to-do farmer in the neighbor
hood by the name of Hensel, who had fast horses and would
be glad to put them and his carriage and himself as driver at
our' disposal. On November 4 I took leave of Dr. Falkenthal. He
was acquainted with my plans in general, but I had not
[296]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
thought it necessary to initiate him into all the details. So he
did not know the exact night in which the attempt was to be
made, and he was also discreet enough not to ask me about it.
But in bidding me farewell, he gave me a brace of pistols,
which might serve me in close quarters. Arrived in Spandau
on the evening of November 4, I had a conversation with
Brune, in which we talked over the details of our scheme, in
order to assure ourselves that nothing had been neglected.
Everything seemed to be in order.
Our programme disposed of, Brune said: "There is one
more thing of which I do not like to speak."
I listened with some surprise, " What is it? "
" You have my fullest confidence," Brune continued.
" What you have promised to do for my family that you will
honestly do — ^if you can."
" Certainly I can. I have the means in my possession."
" That is not what I mean," Brune objected. " If every
thing goes well to-morrow night, then I am as sure of the
money as if I had it in my pocket. That I know. But maybe
aU will not go well. The thing is dangerous. Accident may
have its play. Something human can happen to you and to
me too, in fact, to both of us. And what will then become
of my family, my wife and my children? "
He was silent for a moment and so was I. " Now, what
further? " I asked.
" Considering the matter calmly," Brune slowly an
swered, " you will see yourself that the money must be in the
hands of my family before I risk my head."
" You tell me yourself that I must consider this thing," I
said with some hesitation. " Let me do so and I shall give you
my answer as soon as possible. In the meantime ^iU you pre
pare everything according to our agreement? "
[ 297 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
" you may depend upon it,"
Then we wished each other good-night.
The hour I spent after this in the sohtude of my room in
Kriiger's hotel, taking counsel with myself, I have never for
gotten. The money, according to my notions an enormous sum,
had been confided to me for a specific purpose ; should it be lost
without having accomplished this purpose, then it was all over
with Kinkel, for such a sum could hardly be raised for him a
second time. My personal honor would also be lost, for I
would then have upon me a suspicion of dishonesty or at least
a reproach of guilty recklessness. And was it not really great
recklessness to confide this trust fund, upon a mere promise,
without further guarantee, to a man who after all was a
stranger to me? What did I really know of Brune? Nothing
but that his face and his utterances had made upon me a most
favorable impression and that he was held in good repute by
his acquaintances. And these acquaintances had told me that
they would have brought Brune first to me had they not
thought that a man like him would hardly consider such a
proposition. Indeed, they had added, that if he did it, he
might be absolutely trusted. But was not the opportunity to
appropriate to himself such a sum of money and then to mani
fest his official fidelity by delivering me up to the police, to a
person in his situation, in the highest degree seductive? And
would not he, if he contemplated such a treachery, act exactly
as Brune had done? Had he not by the most positive promises
and by apparent preparations excited my hopes to the utmost,
to this end of inducing me by some clever pretext to deliver
to him the money, and then to ruin me all the more easily?
On the other hand, could Brune, were he ever so honest,
really act differently? Could he expose his wife and his chU-
[298 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
dren to the chance of accident? Was he not obliged in order
to secure the future of his family to demand the money in
advance? Would I not do the same in his situation? Further
more, did Brune seem like a traitor? Could a traitor look into
my eyes and speak to me as Brune had done? Was his straight
forward, frank, candid, even proud bearing that of a man
who would entice another into an ambush to rob him? Im
possible. And finally, how could I hope to win if I did not dare?
Should I abandon the liberation of my friend because I would
deny to Brune the request which everybody else would make
to me under similar circumstances? Yes, it was clear, if I
would save Kinkel from his dreadful fate, I had to risk if
necessary even my honor.
The thought to deposit the money for Brune in a third
person's hand had occurred to me, but I rejected it, partly be
cause that might have led to further complications ; partly, also,
because if I must dare, I preferred to dare in a manner which
Brune would take as proof of my absolute confidence in his
integrity. I reminded myself that the war in Schleswig-Holstein
was still going on. In the Schleswig-Holstein army, I
thought, I might enlist as a volunteer under an assumed name
and seek my fate on the field of battle, should the enterprise
in Spandau miscarry, and the money be lost, and I at the same
time escape. My friends would then at least believe in my
honesty. This was the reasoning that led me to the decision to
hand over the money to Brune before the fulfillment of his
promise, I had just formed this conclusion when Kriiger
knocked at my door and said that Poritz and Leddihn were
below; was there still anything more they could do for me?
" Yes," I answered, " I would ask them to bring Brune
[299 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
to me once again in a quarter of an hour to the Heinrich
Platz," Brune came with my friends, I took him aside.
" Mr. Brune," I said, " I will not let you go to bed with
a load of doubt on your heart. We have spoken about the
money. That money is a treasure confided to me. My honor
hangs on it. Everything I trust to you — money, honor, free- ,
dom, all. You are a brave man, I wish to say to you still this
night that to-morrow evening at five o'clock I shall bring the
money to your quarters,"
Brune was silent for a moment. At last he heaved a sigh
and replied : " I would probably have done it without this. To
morrow at midnight your friend Kinkel will be a free man."
I passed the larger part of the following day with
Kriiger, Leddihn, and Poritz, in going over the chances of our
enterprise, in order to make provision for all not yet foreseen
accidents. At last the evening came, I put the money for
Brune into a cigar box and went to his dwelling, I found him
alone in his scantily furnished but neat hving-room, and
handed the cigar box to him with: " Here it is; count it."
"There you do not know me," he answered; " if between
us a mere word were not sufficient, we should not have begun
together. What comes from you, I don't count,"
" Is there anything to change in our plan? "
" Nothing,"
" To-night, then,"
" To-night, and good luck! "
Indeed, we had good reason to be confident of the success
of our plan, barring incalculable accidents. The penitentiary
building was situated in the center of the town, a large, bar
rack-like edifice, the bare walls of which were pierced by one
large gate and a multitude of narrow slits of windows. On all
[ 300 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
four sides it was surrounded by streets. The entrance was on
the main street. It led into a large gateway. Inside of that
gateway there was, on the right, a door opening into the official
dwelling of the director of the institution, and on the left a
door leading into the guardroom of the soldiers on duty in the
prison. At the end of the passage a third door opened upon an
inner court. A stone staircase leading up from the hall united
the lower with the upper stories. High up on the second story
was Kinkel's cell. It had a window towards the rear of the
edifice. This window was guarded by a screen which opened
upwards so that a little daylight fell in from above and only
a small bit of sky could be seen, but nothing of the surround
ings below. The window was also guarded by strong iron
bars, wire lattice and a wooden shutter, which was closed at
night — ^in short, by all the contrivances that are usually em
ployed to shut off a prisoner from all communication with
the outside world. Moreover, the cell was divided into two
compartments by a strong wooden railing, which reached from
the fioor to the ceiling. One of the compartments contained
Kinkel's bed; in the other, during the day, he did his work.
The two compartments were united by a door in the wooden
railing, which every evening was securely fastened. The en
trance to the cell from the corridor was guarded by two heavy
doors, with several locks. In the street, under Kinkel's cell,
stood day and night a sentinel. Another sentinel watched dur
ing the daytime the door of the building on the main street,
but he was transferred to the inner court during the night —
a regulation which proved very important to us. Had it not
been for this stupid arrangement we would never have at
tempted what we did. The cell, the doors, the locks on the
railings, were all examined sevei^al times every twenty-four
hours by the turnkeys on duty, [301 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
The keys to Kinkel's ceU, as weU as those to the door in
the inside wooden railing, were during the night, after Kinkel
had been locked up in his compartment, kept in a locker in the
room of the inspector, the so-called Revier room. As Brune
had no access to the Revier room during the night, and the key
had been confided to another superior officer, he had availed
himself of some opportunity to procure a wax impression of
that key, from which a duplicate key was made, enabhng
Brune to enter the Revier room during the night. The key
to the locker containing the keys to Kinkel's cell was, as Brune
knew, in the evening negligently put on top of that locker,
so that without difficulty he could possess himself of the keys
to the cell. Thus Brune believed himself fully able to enter
the cell during the night and to take the prisoner out. It had
been agreed that Brune, who had the watch of the night of
the 5th to the 6th of November on Kinkel's corridor, should
bring Kinkel down the stairs into the gateway. He was sure
that he could take him without danger past the turnkey watch
ing the lower floor. Whether he intended to interest that man
in our affair, or to divert his attention in some manner, Brune
did not tell me. He only assured me I might depend upon
there being no difficulty about this. As soon as Kinkel was
conducted into the gateway below, I was to be there to receive
him. In one of the wings of the great door that opened upon
the main street there was a little postern gate to facilitate the
daily passage in and out. Of the key of this postern gate we had
also procured a wax impression, and from it a duplicate key.
Now, it was to be my task, shortly after midnight, after the
town night watchman — for in Spandau there was at that time
still a night watchman with spear and rattle — ^had passed
by the building on the street, to open the postern gate, to step
into the interior of the gateway, there to await Brune and
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
Kinkel, to wrap Kinkel up in a cloak, to take him through the
postern gate into the street and to hurry with him to Kriiger's
hotel, where he was to put on a suit of clothes, and then step
with me into Hensel's carriage — and away.
I had asked Brune to provide Kinkel with a plentiful sup
ply of food, so that he might be in a good physical condition.
But to avoid long excitement, Kinkel was to be informed only
on the evening of the 5th of November, the night of the at
tempt, that something was being done for him, and that he
should go to bed at the accustomed hour, rise immediately be
fore midnight, dress himself and be ready for the venture.
On the same day Leddihn and Poritz had entrusted two
good, able-bodied friends with the charge of guarding the
street corners nearest to the penitentiary during the night and
to come to our aid if necessary. About midnight all my people
were at their posts, and after the night watchman had passed
down the street I approached the door of the penitentiary, I
had covered my feet with rubber shoes, so as to make my step
inaudible, A second pair of rubber shoes I had with me for
Kinkel. In my belt I carried the pistols given to me by Dr,
Falkenthal; in one pocket a well-sharpened dirk and in another
a slungshot, with which to arm Kinkel in case of stress. I had
thrown across my shoulders a large cloak with sleeves, which
should serve Kinkel as a first wrap. So equipped I softly
opened the postern gate to step into the gateway of the prison,
I left that little gate ajar and the key sticking in the lock. The
gateway was dimly lighted by a lantern hanging from the
ceiling. My first task Was to prevent the opening from the
inside of the director's door on the right, and of the guard
room door on- the left, and I did so by tying the doorhandles
to the iron fastening of the bell rope with stout strings. This
was the most dehcate piece of work I had to do. Nothing
[303]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
moved. My gaze was riveted on the end of the passage oppo
site where Brune was to appear with Kinkel.
So I waited. One minute elapsed after another, but aU
remained still. I waited a full quarter of an hour, but nothing
stirred. What did this mean? According to all calculations
they ought to have joined me some time ago. My situation
began to appear to me very precarious. Was Brune after all
faithless? I took one of my pistols out of my belt and held it
in my left hand ready to fire, and my dirk in the right. But
I resolved to remain at my post until I could say to myself
that the last chance of success was gone. Half an hour had
passed and still everything was quiet as the grave. Suddenly I
heard a faint rustle, and at the other end of the gateway I
saw a dark figure appear like a specter as if it had stepped out
of the wall. My hands closed more tightly on my weapons.
The next moment I recognized in the dim light the form of
Brune. There he was at last, but alone. He put his finger upon
his lips and approached me. I awaited him ready for the
worst. " I am unfortunate," he whispered with his mouth at my
ear. " I have tried everything, I have failed. The keys were
not in the locker. Come to me to-morrow and get your money
back." I said nothing in reply, but quickly untied the strings
from the door handles, right and left, and then stepped out
through the postern gate, locked it, and put the key into my
pocket. I was hardly on the street when Leddihn and Poritz
hastened to join me. With a few words I told them what had
happened. " We were afraid you had been trapped," said
Leddihn. " You stayed so long inside that we were on the
point of coming after you to fetch you out."
Soon we reached Kriiger's hotel, where Hensel stood
[304]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
ready with his carriage to take Kinkel and me away. The dis
appointment that followed my report was terrible,
" But there is something more to do this night," said
I, " for my relays stand on the road deep into Mecklenburg.
We must order them off."
I stepped into the carriage, an open vehicle with a top
over the back seat. Hensel took the reins, and so we drove
away. It was a melancholy journey. We were on the road
something over three hours when we observed sparks of fire
sputtering from a black object that came toward us. We
quickly recognized it to be a carriage. I had steel and flint
at hand and also struck sparks. This was the signal of recog
nition that I had agreed upon with my Mecklenburg friends.
The carriage coming toward us stopped and so did we.
"Is this the right one?" asked a voice. This was the
concerted question.
" It is the right one," I rephed, " but our enterprise has
failed. Pray turn back and advise the next relay and re
quest our friends there to pass on the word in this way. But
for Heaven's sake keep silent about the rest, lest all may be
lost," "Of course, but what a confounded disappointment!
How did the failure happen? "
" Another time. Good-night.^'
The two carriages turned. We drove back in the direction
of Spandau, but very slowly, almost as if a part of a funeral
procession, both sitting silenKlI tormented myself with the
gravest reproaches. Could not the unfortunate accident that
had crossed our plan easily have been prevented? Could we
not have duplicated the keys to the cell as well as those to the
postern gate and the Revier room? Certainly. But why had
this not been done? Why had Brune not thought of it? But
[ 305 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
as Brune had not done so, was it not my duty to see to it? I
had neglected that duty. Mine, mine only, was the fault of this
terrible miscarriage. Mine the responsibility that Kinkel was
not now a free man hurrying to the seacoast behind fleet horses.
The fruit of long and dangerous labor had recklessly been
jeopardized by my neghgence. Would I ever be able again to
reknit the torn threads of the scheme? And, if so, was it not
probable that through the improvidence of some one of the
participants rumors of what had happened would get abroad
and Kinkel would be surrounded with the severest measures
of precaution and even carried into another and more secure
dungeon? But if nothing of this did happen — where was the
money entrusted to me? No longer in my possession — in the
hands of another man who might keep it if he would, and I
perfectly powerless to recover it. And thus Kinkel's horrible
lot might be sealed forever through my guilt. Thus my con
science put itself to the rack in that terrible night.
At last Hensel interrupted the silence. " How would it
be," he said, " if we stopped for a few hours in Oranienburg?
We could there feed our horses, sleep a little, and then com
fortably drive on."
I was content. I began to feel very much exhausted ; and
then, if of last night's happenings anything had got abroad
in Spandau and thereby any danger threatened, the prudent
and watchful Kriiger, I felt sure, would send somebody to find
us on the road and to give warning.
It was very dark when we arrived at a hotel in Oranien
burg. After I had permitted my thoughts to torment me a
little longer, I fell asleep at lastMWhen I awoke light shone
through the windows of my room, and with me awoke also the
consciousness of the whole weight of our failure, with even
greater clearness than during the past night. Such awaken-
[306]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
ings belong to the unhappiest moments of human life. We
breakfasted late, and it was on this occasion that for the first
time I saw my companion, Mr. Hensel, in clear daylight. I
had met him at Kriiger's and on our night drive only in the
dark. The stately broad-shouldered figure and the long dark
beard had then struck my attention; but I could now see the
clear, shrewd, and at the same time bold, sparkle of his eyes,
and the expression of his face, which betokened a strong will
as well as sincerity and kindness of heart. Hensel observed
that I was in low spirits and tried to put a pleasant face upon
things. He thought that our friends in Spandau were not only
faithful, but also discreet, that the officers of the penitentiary
in their own interest would keep silent, and that a new attempt
would soon be possible. I willingly agreed with him. In fact
I was busily thinking of what was now to be done, and such
a thought is always the most effective antidote for discourage
ments, I have frequently in" life had the experience that when
we are struck by an especially heavy blow, we can do nothing
better than to present to our minds all, even the worst, possible
features of trouble that may still be in store for us, and so
in our imagination drink the* cup of bitterness down to the last
drop; but then to turn our thoughts to the future and to oc
cupy them entirely with that which must be done to prevent
further misfortune, to repair the damage done, and to replace
what has been lost by something equally desirable. This is a
sure and rapid cure; for the consequences of the misfortune
hardly ever will be as disastrous as imagined. Of course, I do
not apply this to the loss of one very dear.
f^ In returning to Spandau we were in no hurry. We even
thought that it would be more prudent to arrive there in the
dark, and therefore started only after noon at a slow trot.
Arrived in Spandau, I learned from Kriiger that aU had re-
[307]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
mained quiet. I forthwith went to Brune's rooms. I found
him there, evidently expecting me. The httle cigar box stood
on the table.
" That was cursed Ul-luck last night," he said, " but it
was not my fault. Everything was in the best of order, but
as I opened the locker in the Revier room I could not find the
keys to the cell. I searched and searched for them, but they
were not there. This morning I learned that Inspector Semm-
ler had accidentally, instead of placing them in the locker, put
them into his pocket and carried them with him to his home."
For a moment he was silent. " There is the money," he
continued, pointing to the cigar box; " take it; coimt it first; no
thaler is missing."
I could not refrain from shaking the man's hand and in
my heart asking his pardon for my doubts.
" What comes from you," I answered, repeating his words
of yesterday, " will not.be counted. But what now? I do not
give up. Must we wait until you have the night watch again? "
" We might wait," he rephed, " and in the meantime du
plicate all the keys that we need so that this difficulty may not
arise again; but," he added, " I have thought over the matter
to-day. It is a disgrace that that man should sit in the convict's
cell a day longer — I will try to help him this very night, if he
has courage enough for a break-neck feat."
" What, this night? "
" Yes, this night. Now hsten." Then Brune told me that
the officer who during the coming night should have the watch
on the upper stories, had been taken ill, and he, Brune, had
offered to take his place. Thereupon he had thought he might
without much difficulty take Kinkel into the loft under the
roof and let him down with a rope from out of one of the dor
mer windows on the street. To this end he would of course
[ 308 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
again require the keys to the cell, but after the accident of last
night, when the inspector took them home with him through
mere thoughtlessness, they would certainly be again in their
accustomed place. I should only see to it that the street below
was kept free, while Kinkel was let down from the roof, and
that he then be promptly received and carried off. "It is a
somewhat perilous undertaking," Brune added; "from the
dormer window down to the street it may be sixty feet, but if
the Herr Professor has courage, I think we may succeed,"
" I vouch for Kinkel's courage," I said; " what does not
a prisoner dare for liberty? "
The details were rapidly considered and determined upon.
I undertook to procure the necessary rope for Brune. He was
to wind it about his body under the overcoat and take it into
the penitentiary building in that way. About midnight I was
to be in the dark recess of the door of the house opposite the
gate of the penitentiary, from which I could observe the dor
mer windows of the building; when in one of them I should
see the light of a lantern move up and down perpendicularly,
three times, that would be a sign that everything was in
order for the descent. If standing in my sheltered place
I then struck sparks with my steel and flint, Brune would
understand from this signal that everything was in safe order
on the street.
With a hearty handshake I took leave of Brune and hur
ried to Kriiger's hotel, Poritz and Leddihn, whom I had
quickly sent for, procured at once a rope of the necessary
length and strength, and carried it to Brune's dwelling. But
after freeing Kinkel how should we get him away from
Spandau? I had no relays of horses and carriages on the road;
the preceding night everything had fltted in so excellently, but
now? Fortunately Hensel was still in Kriiger's house. When
[309]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
I told him what was to happen in the next few hours, he broke
out in loud jubilation.
" I will take you with my own horses as far as they can
travel," he exclaimed.
"But our nearest friend is in Neu-Strelitz," I replied;
" that is a good many miles from here. WiU your horses hold
out that distance? "
J'i " The devU take them if they don't," said Hensel. We
resolved then to risk it and to confide ourselves to benignant
fate. A short conversation with Poritz and Leddihn followed
about the measures necessary to keep the streets clear of un
welcome intruders, while Kinkel was swinging down on his
rope. Those measures were simple. My friends were to occupy ,;
the street corners with their stalwart fellows whom they had
already employed last night, and if some belated reveler
should show himself, they were to simulate intoxication and
use all sorts of means to divert the unwelcome person from
our path. In case of necessity they were to use force. Poritz
and Leddihn vouched for everything.
" Happy coincidence," chuckled Kriiger. " This evening
some of the officers of the penitentiary are to celebrate a birth
day in this hotel. There will be a bowl of punch, and I will
make that punch especially irresistible."
" And you will detain those officers long enough? "
" You may be sure of that. Not one of them will cross
your way." This prospect put us into the best of huirior,
and we had a cosy little supper together. Our thoughts were,
however, constantly directed to the accidents that might again
play mischief with us, and fortunately an important possi
bility occurred to us.
At the time of Kinkel's descent from the dormer window
hanging on his rope, the rubbing of the rope against the edge
[310]

^r- it-^* ^ /a.

FREDERICK WILLIAM III

KINKEL S ESCAPE

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHURZ
of the brick wall might easily loosen tiles and brick which
then would fall down and produce a loud clatter. We there
fore resolved that Hensel should take his carriage immediately
after midnight slowly along the street so that the rattle of
the vehicle on the rough cobblestone pavement might drown
all other noises.
Shortly before midnight I stood, equipped as on the night
before, well hidden in the dark recess of the house door oppo
site the penitentiary. The street corners right and left were,
according to agreement, properly watched, but our friends
kept themselves as much as possible concealed, A few minutes
later the night watchman shuffled down the street and when im
mediately in front of me swung his rattle and called the hour
of twelve. Then he slouched quietly on and disappeared. What
would I have given for a roaring storm and a splashing rain!
But the night was perfectly still. My eye was riveted to the
roof of the penitentiary building, the dormer windows of which
I could scarcely distinguish. The street lights fiared dimly.
Suddenly there appeared a light above by which I could ob
serve the frame of one of the dormer windows; it moved three
times up and down; that was the signal hoped for. With an
eager glance I examined the street right and left. Nothing
stirred. Then on my part I gave the signal agreed upon, strik
ing sparks, A second later the light above disappeared and I
perceived a dark object slowly moving across the edge of
the wall. My heart beat violently and drops of perspiration
stood upon my forehead. Then the thing I had apprehended
actuaUy happened: tiles and brick, loosened by the rubbing
rope, rained down upon the pavement with a loud clatter.
" Now, good Heaven, help us! " At the same moment Hensel's
carriage came rumbling over the cobblestones. The noise of
the f aUing tiles and brick was no longer audible. But would
[311]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
they not strike Kinkel's head and benumb him? Now the dark
object had almost reached the ground. I jumped forward and
touched him; it was indeed my friend, and there he stood alive
and on his feet. " This is a bold deed," were the first words he
said to me. " Thank God," I answered. " Now off with the
rope and away." I labored in vain to untie the rope that was
wound around his body,
" I cannot help you," Kinkel whispered, " for the rope
has fearfully lacerated both my hands," I pulled out my dirk
and with great effort I succeeded in cutting the rope, the long
end of which, as soon as it was free, was quickly pulled up.
While I threw a cloak around Kinkel's shoulders and helped
him get into the rubber shoes he looked anxiously around.
Hensel's carriage had turned and was coming slowly back.
" What carriage is that? " Kinkel asked.
" Our carriage."
Dark figures showed themselves at the street corners and
approached us.
" For Heaven's sake, what people are those? "
" Our friends."
At a httle distance we heard male voices sing, " Here we
sit gayly together."
" What is that? " asked Kinkel, whUe we hurried through
a side street toward Kriiger's hotel.
" Your jailers around a bowl of punch."
" Capital!"" said Kinkel. We entered the hotel through a
back door and soon found ourselves in a room in which Kinkel
was to put on the clothes that we had bought for him — a black
cloth suit, a big bear-skin overcoat, and a cap like those worn
by Prussian forest officers. From a room near by sounded the
voices of the revelers. Kriiger, who had stood a few minutes
looking on while Kinkel was exchanging his convict's garb
[ 312 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
for an honest man's dress, suddenly went out with a peculiarly
sly smUe. When he returned carrying a few filled glasses,
he said, " Herr Professor, in a room near by some of your
jailers are sitting around a bowl of punch, I have just asked
them whether they would not permit me to take some for a few
friends of mine who have just arrived. They had no objection.
Now, Herr Professor, let us drink your health first out of
the bowl of your jailers," We found it difficult not to break
out in loud laughter, Kinkel was now in his citizen's clothes,
and his lacerated hands were washed and bandaged with hand
kerchiefs. He thanked his faithful friends with a few words
which brought tears to their eyes. Then we jumped into Hen
sel's vehicle. The penitentiary officers were still singing and
laughing around their punch bowl.
We had agreed that our carriage should leave Spandau
through the Potsdam gate which opens upon the road to Ham
burg, and then turn in a different direction in order to mislead
the pursuit that was sure to follow. So we rattled at a fast trot
through the gate, and this ruse succeeded so weU that, as we
learned later, we were really the next day, in accordance with
the report of the guard at the gate, pursued in the direction
of Hamburg, Before we reached the little town of Nauen
we turned to the right on a field road and reached the Berlin
Strelitz turnpike near the Sandkrug, Our bays made the best
of their speed.
Only when the keen night air touched his face, Kinkel
seemed to come to a clear consciousness of what had happened.
" I would like to hold your hand in mine," he said, " but I
cannot; my hands are too much torn."
He then put his arm around me and pressed me once and
again. I would not let him express his gratitude in words, but
told him how the night before everything had been so well ar-
[313]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
ranged, and how our plan had been crossed by an unfortunate
accident, and what a mournful ride I had had in the same
carriage only twenty-four hours before.
" That was the most terrible night of my life," said Kin
kel. " After Brune had instructed me to hold myself ready, I
waited for the appointed hour with the most confident expecta
tion. Before midnight I was up, I listened as only an ear
practiced in long isolation can listen. Now and then I heard
a distinct noise of steps in the corridors, but they would
not approach, I heard the clocks outside strike the hours.
When midnight was past the thought first rose in me : ' Is it pos
sible that this should fail? ' Minute after minute went by, and
all remained quiet. Then I was seized by an anguish which I
cannot describe. The perspiration dropped from my forehead.
Until one o'clock I had still a httle hope, but when even then
Brune did not come I gave up everything for lost. The most
gruesome pictures rose in my imagination. The whole design
had surely been discovered. You were in the hands of the
police and also imprisoned for many years, I saw myself a
miserable wreck in convict's garb. My wife and my children
perished in misery, I shook the rails in my cell like a madman.
Then I dropped exhausted upon my straw bed. I believe I
was nearly insane."
" WeU, and this night? "
" Oh, this night," Kinkel exclaimed, " I could hardly trust
my eyes and ears when Brune with a lantern in his hand came
into my cell and whispered to me, ' Get up quickly, Herr Pro
fessor; now you shall get out.' That was an electric shock.
In a moment I was on my feet, but do you know that to-night
again everything was on the point of going wrong? "
I listened eagerly, and again and again a cold shiver ran
down my back as Kinkel proceeded with his story. Half an
[ 314 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
hour before midnight Brune was in Kinkel's cell. This tiine
he had found the keys in the locker and had opened with two* of
them the cell doors. After having called Kinkel up, he at
tempted to open, with a third key, the door in the wooden
raihng. He tried and tried, but in vain. The key did not fit.
Afterwards it appeared that the key with which Brune tried
to open the cell door belonged to the window shutters, but that
one of the keys for the doors of tbe cell also opened the door
of the wooden railing. Thus Brune had the true key in his
hand without knowing it or without thinking of it in the excite
ment. So Kinkel stood on one and Brune on the other side of
the wooden railing, baffled and for a moment utterly bewil
dered. Then Kinkel grasped with the strength of despair one
of the wooden rails, trying to break it by throwing the whole
weight of his body against it, but in vain. Brune worked hard
with his sword to the same end, also in vain. Then he said:
" Herr Professor, you shaU get out to-night even if it costs
me my life." He left the cell and in a minute returned with
an ax in his hand. With a few vigorous blows two of the
rails were cut loose. Using the ax as a lever he effected an
opening which just permitted Kinkel's broad-shouldered body
to pass through. But had not the blows of Brune's ax
alarmed the whole house? The two listened with suspended
breath. All remained quiet. In fact, Brune had been no less
prudent than daring. Before he swung his ax he had care
fully closed the two thick doors of the cell. The sound of the
blows which filled the interior of the cell was, as to the outside,
very much deadened by the thick walls and by the heavy doors.
They not only had not wakened any of the sleepers, but had
not reached those that were awake, or if they did make any
impression, it was as if the noise had come from the outside
of the building. [315]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
Now Brune left the cell with Kinkel, the doors of which
he again locked. Then they had to walk through corridors, up
and down various stairways, and even to pass a night watch
man. By Brune's clever management they succeeded in doing
this. At last they reached the loft under the roof and the
dormer window, through which the dangerous ride through the
air had to be undertaken. Kinkel confessed to me that he was
seized with a dizzy horror when he looked down upon the
street below and then upon the thin rope which was to bear
him; but when he saw my sparkling signal, the meaning of
which Brune explained to him in a whisper, he regained his
composure and boldly swung out over the precipice. At once
the tiles and bricks began to rain about his head, but none of
them struck him, only the hands which at first had taken too
high a hold on the rope and through which it had to glide, suf
fered grievously. That was, however, a slight wound for so
hard a struggle and so great a victory.
When Kinkel finished his narrative, Hensel took out of
the hamper one of the bottles of precious Rhine wine that
Kriiger had provided us with for our journey, and we
drank to the health of the brave Brune, without whose reso
luteness and fidelity all our plans and labors would have come
to nothing. It was a happy, enthusiastic moment, which made
us almost forget that so long as we were on German soU the
danger was not over, and our success not yet complete.

[316]

CHAPTER XI
At a sharp trot we sped on through the night, I still hear
Hensel's commanding call, " Boom up ! Boom up ! " as often
as on the turnpike we reached a toll gate. Through Oranien
burg, Teschendorf, Lowenberg, we flew without stop, but
when we approached the little town of Gransee, nearly thirty-
five miles from Spandau, it became clear that our two good
bays would soon break down unless we gave them rest and some
refreshment. So we stopped at a wayside tavern, near Gransee,
and fed them — ^then forward again.
As daylight appeared I could for the first time look at
Kinkel with leisure. How he was changed! He whom a little
more than a year ago I had known as a youthful man, the very
picture of health and vigor! His closely clipped hair was
now tinged with gray, the color of the face a dead yellow,
the skin like parchment, the cheeks thin and flabby, the nose
sharp, and the face deeply furrowed. If I had met him on the
street unexpectedly I should scarcely have recognized him.
" They have dealt hard with you," I said.
" Yes, it was the highest time for me to breathe free air
again. A year or two more of that kind of life and I should
have been burned to ashes, devastated body and soul. Nobody
who has not himself suffered it knows what solitary confine
ment means and the debasement of being treated like a com
mon criminal. But now," he added gayly, "now human life
begins once more."
And then he described in his humorous way how at that
very moment in the penitentiary in Spandau they would be
[317]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
discovering that Kinkel, like a bird, had escaped from his cell,
and how one turnkey after another with a troubled face would
run to the director and the whole gang of them would put
their heads together and notify the higher authorities; and how
they would then examine the guards of the city gates, and
how they would hear of a carriage that between twelve and
one o'clock had rattled through the Potsdam gate, and how
then a troop of mounted constables would be hurried after us
in the direction of Nauen and Hamburg, while we were paying
a visit to our friends in Mecklenburg.
" I only wish," remarked Hensel anxiously, " that we
could make that visit a little more quickly." The sun was up
when we greeted the boundary pole of Mecklenburg. Even
there we did not by any means feel quite safe, although a little
safer than on Prussian territory. The trot of our horses became
slower and slower. One of them appeared utterly exhausted.
So we had to stop at the nearest Mecklenburg inn, in Dannen-
walde. There Hensel washed the horses with warm water,
which helped a little, but only for a short time. In the town
of Fxirstenberg we had to unharness them for a longer stop
because they could go no farther, having put over fifty miles
behind them. But at last we reached Strelitz safely, where in
the person of Judge Petermann, a city magistrate, we had an
enthusiastic friend and protector, who already on the preced
ing night had been on the road with one of the relay carriages,
Petermann received us with so demonstrative a joy that I
feared he would not refrain from proclaiming the happy event
from the windows of his house to the passersby. In fact, he
could not deny himself the pleasure of bringing in some
friends. Soon we sat down to a plentiful meal, and with mer
rily clinking glasses we waited for another carriage and fresh
horses. There we took a cordial leave of our friend Hensel.
[ 318 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
His two fine bays had lain down as soon as they reached the
stable, one of them, as I learned later, never to rise again.
Honor to his memory!
Petermann accompanied us on the further drive, which
now went on with uninterrupted rapidity. In Neubrandenburg,
as well as in Teterow, we changed horses, and by seven o'clock
the next morning, the 8th of November, we arrived at the
" White Cross Inn," on the Neubrandenburg turnpike near the
city of Rostock. Petermann went at once to fetch our friend
Moritz Wiggers, whose turn it now was to take the management
of affairs. Without delay he sent us in a wagon, accompanied
by a Rostock merchant by the name of Blume, to Warnemiinde,
a seaside resort on a fine harbor, where we were cared for in
Wohlert's Hotel. Petermann, happy beyond measure, that his
part of the adventure was so successfully accomplished, turned
back to Strelitz. On our journey we had accustomed ourselves to
caU Kinkel by the name of Kaiser and me by the name of Hen
sel, and these names we inscribed upon the hotel register.
Wiggers had recommended Warnemiinde to us as a place
of patriarchal customs and conditions, where there existed
police only in name and where the local authorities, if they
should discover us, would make it their business to protect,
rather than betray us. There, he thought, it would be safe to
remain untU a more secure asylum or a favorable opportunity
to cross the sea could be found. From the shore of Warne
miinde for the first time in my life I saw the sea, I had longed
for that spectacle, but the first view of it was disappointing.
The horizon appeared to me much narrower and the waves
which rushed on white-capped, as the northeast wind drove
them in, much smaller than I had pictured them in my imagina
tion. I was soon to make better acquaintance with the sea and
to learn to look at it with greater respect and higher enjoyment.
[319]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
However, we were little disposed to give ourselves to the con
templation of nature, Kinkel had spent two, and I three nights
in a carriage on the highroad. We were extremely fatigued
and in a few minutes lay sound asleep.
The next day Wiggers returned with the news that there
was only one brig on the roads, but that she was not ready to
sail. A friend of his, Mr. Brockelmann, a merchant and manu
facturer, thought it safest to send us across the sea on one of
his own ships and to shelter us in his own house until that ship
could be started. Thus we left our hotel, and a Warnemiinde
pilotboat carried us up the Warnow River. We landed near a
little village, where Brockelmann awaited us with his carriage.
We saw before us a stalwart man of about fifty years, with
gray hair and whiskers, but with rosy complexion and youthful
vivacity in expression and movement. He welcomed us with
joyous cordiality, and after the first few minutes of our ac
quaintance, we were like old friends. In him we recognized a
self-made man in the best sense of the term, a man who had
carved his own fortune, who could look back with self-respect
upon what he had accomplished and who found in his successes
an inspiration for further endeavor and for an enterprising
and self-sacrificing public spirit. His broad humanity, which
recognized the right of everyone to a just estimation of his true
value and his claim to a corresponding chance of advancement,
had made him from his early youth a liberal, and after the
revolution of 1848, a democrat. He had practically carried out
his principles and theories as far as possible, and he was
therefore widely known as a protector of the poor and op
pressed. But especially his employees, his working people, of
whom there was a large number in his factories, revered and
loved him as a father. When he offered us his house as an
asylum he could well assure us that he had workingmen enough
[320 J

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
who at his request would fight for us and in case of need hold
possession of our asylum long enough to give us time for
escape. However, it would not come to this, he said, as the
arrival of such guests as " the Herren Kaiser and Hensel " in
his house would attract no attention, and even if our secret were
suspected by any of his people, there were no traitors among
them. In short, he could vouch for everything. Thus we drove
to his house, which was situated in a suburb of Rostock.
There we had some days of rest and plenty. Brockelmann,
his wife, his eldest daughter, her fiance, the merchant
Schwartz, and a little circle of friends, overwhelmed us
with the most lavish attentions. How can I describe the care
with which the mistress of the house herself washed Kinkel's
wounded hands and bandaged and nursed them! And the
meals which, according to Mecklenburg notions of hospitality,
were necessary! The indispensable first breakfast and second
breakfast and sometimes third breakfast, and the noon re
past, and the afternoon coffee with cake, and the suppers, and
the "little something" before going to bed, and the night
caps, which succeeded one another at incredibly short inter
vals; and the evenings, during which Wiggers played to us
Beethoven's sonatas with a masterly hand, reminding Kinkel
of the musical language of his Johanna! And the occasional
surprises when Brockelmann had the revolutionary hynrn, the
" Marseillaise," played by a brass band in the house !
With all this, however, the more serious side of our situa
tion was not forgotten. Brockelmann had ordered one of his
own vessels, a little schooner of forty tons, which had proved
a good sailer, to be prepared for us. The " Little Anna " — ^this
was the name of the schooner — ^received a cargo of wheat for
England, which was put on board as rapidly as possible, and
Sunday, the 17th of November, was the day fixed for our
[321]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
departure, if by that time the long-prevailing northeaster
should have changed into a more favorable wind.
In the meantime the news of Kinkel's flight had gone
through all the newspapers and caused everywhere a great
stir. Our friends in Rostock informed themselves with minute
care of all that was printed and said and rumored about the
matter. The " warrant of capture," which the Prussian Govern
ment had published in the newspapers concerning the " escaped
convict," Kinkel, our friends brought to us at tea-time, and
it was read aloud with aU sorts of irreverent comments, amid
great hilarity. Of the part I had in the liberation of Kinkel
the authorities and the public knew at that time nothing.
Especial pleasure we derived from the newspaper reports
which announced Kinkel's arrival at several different places
at the same time. The liberal Pastor Dulon in Bremen, follow
ing a true instinct, described in his journal with much detail
when and how Kinkel had passed through Bremen and sailed
for England. Some of my friends reported his arrival in
Ziirich and in Paris. One paper brought a circumstantial re
port of a banquet that had been tendered to Kinkel by the
German refugees in Paris, and even the speech he had made on
the occasion. Thus nothing remained untried to confuse the
Prussian police and to mislead its searches.
But there were also some alarm signals of a disquieting
nature. Wiggers received on the 14th of November a letter,
without signature, from the neighborhood of Strelitz in an
unknown handwriting, as follows : " Expedite as much as pos
sible the shipment of goods entrusted to you. There is danger
in delay." Probably the authorities had discovered our tracks
between Spandau and Strelitz, and were pursuing them fur
ther. Then on Friday, November 15, a stranger called upon
Wiggers, who represented himself to be our friend, " Farmer
[322 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
Hensel," and inquired whether Kinkel, whom he had taken in
his carriage from Spandau to Strelitz, was still in Rostock.
Wiggers had indeed heard us speak of him with expressions of
the highest confidence, but he apprehended the stranger might
not be Hensel himself, but a spy in disguise. So he feigned
the utmost astonishment at the news that Kinkel was in Ros
tock, but promised to gather information, and to communicate
the result to the stranger, whom he requested to call again the
next day. The occurrence was at once reported to us, and the
description given by Wiggers of the appearance of the man
persuaded us that the stranger was the true Hensel, who, as
he had said to Wiggers, had come to Rostock merely to quiet his
anxiety about our safety. Kinkel and I wished very much to
see him and to press once more the hand of our brave and faith
ful friend, but Wiggers, who had become seriously worried by
the warning received from Strelitz, counseled the utmost cir
cumspection and promised us to transmit to Hensel, who had
said that he was to remain in Rostock until the 18th, our warm
est greetings after we should have reached the open sea.
Thus we found in spite of aU agreeable surroundings
considerable comfort in the report that the northeast wind
had gone down; that the "Little Anna" was anchoring at
Warnemiinde, and that everything would be ready for our
departure on the 17th of November.
On a frosty Sunday morning we sailed, in the company
of an armed escort, which our friends had composed of relia
ble men in sufficient numbers, as they believed, to resist a pos
sible attack by the police, in two boats across the bay to the
anchorage of the " Little Anna." Arrived on board, Mr.
Brockelmann gave the captain, who was not a little astonished
at receiving a visit from so large a company, his instructions:
" You take these two gentlemen," he said, pointing to Kinkel
[323 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
and myself, " with you to Newcastle. You pass Helsingoer
without stopping, and pay the Sound dues on your return. In
stress of weather you will beach the vessel on the Swedish
shore rather than return to a German port. If the wind suits
you better for another harbor than Newcastle on the English
or Scottish coast, you wUl sail there. The important thing is
that you reach England as quickly as possible, I shall remem
ber you if you carry out my orders punctually," The captain,
whose name was Niemann, may have received these instruc
tions with some amazement, but he promised to do his best.
Some of our friends remained with us until the steam tug
hitched to the " Little Anna " had carried us a short distance
into the open sea. Then came the leave-taking. As Wiggers
tells in an elaborate description of the scene in a German peri
odical, Kinkel threw himself sobbing into his arms and said : " I
do not know whether I shall rejoice at my rescue, or shall mourn
that like a criminal and an outcast I have to flee my dear father
land! " Then our friends descended into the tug, and with
grateful hearts we bade them farewell. They fired a salute
with their pistols and steamed back to Warnemiinde, where,
according to Wiggers, they celebrated the accomplished rescue
with a joyous feast.
Kinkel and I remained on the poop of our schooner and
gazed after the little steamboat that carried our good friends
away. Then our eyes rested upon the shore of the fatherland
until the last vestige had disappeared in the dusk of the even
ing. In our halting conversation now and then the question
would recur: " When shall we return? " That a victorious up
rising of the people would call us back, we both hoped fer
vently. It was a hope born of ardent desire and nursed by
fond illusions. What would we have answered the prophet
who at that moment had told us that first I, but only after
[324]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
eleven years, would again put my foot on German soil, and
then not as a German, but as the Minister of the United States
of America to Spain on my return to my new home, and that
Kinkel would have to wait until, after the war between Prus
sia and Austria in 1866, the former Prince of Prussia and
commander of the forces that had taken Kinkel prisoner near
Rastatt, now king and president of the North-German Con
federation, would open to him once more, by an amnesty, the
door of the Fatherland!
We did not quit the deck until it was dark. The cabin of
the schooner was very small. Its first aspect destroyed in me
a fond imagining. I had until then only once seen a seagoing
ship, a brig, which at the time when I attended the gymnasium
had been brought from Holland up the Rhine and anchored
near Cologne ; but I could see that ship only from the outside.
My conception of the interior of the ship I had derived from
novels and descriptions of maritime wars which I had read as
a boy, and so the main cabin of a ship stood before my eyes
as a spacious room weU-fitted out with furniture and the walls
decorated with trophies of muskets and pistols and cutlasses.
Of all this there was nothing in the cabin of the " Little Anna."
It measured hardly more than eight feet between the two
berths, one on each side, and in the other direction hardly more
than six. It was so low that Kinkel, standing upright, touched
the ceiling with his head. In the center there was a little table
screwed to the floor, and behind it a small sofa covered with
black haircloth; just large enough to hold Kinkel and me,
sitting close together. Above the table was suspended a lamp
which during the night faintly illumined the room. The berths,
which had been hastily prepared for us, were a foot or two
above the floor and open, so that when we were in bed we
could see one another. These arrangements appeared to be
[ 325 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
very different from those of the proud East India ships, or
of the frigates which I had found so enticingly described in
my books; but when I considered that this was after all an
unusually smaU trading schooner, I found that they were as
practical as they were simple.
Captain Niemann, who had so unexpectedly been stirred
up from his winter's rest by the sudden order of his master,
probably did not know at first what to think of his two remark
able guests on the " Little Anna," One of our friends, who
had accompanied us on board, had by some hint given him rea
son to believe that we were bankrupt merchants forced by
unfortunate circumstances to run away from home; but the
skipper told us afterwards he could not make his theory agree
with the manifestations of respect and of warm, aye, even
enthusiastic, attachment with which our friends had treated us.
However, he had nothing to do but to execute orders received.
In case of necessity he would really have run his vessel on
shore at the risk of losing her. In the meantime he took very
good care of us. The captain had a crew of seven men: a mate,
a cook, a boy, and four seamen. Frau Brockelmann had amply
provided us with aU sorts of delicacies, foreseeing that the
biU of fare of the schooner's kitchen would be very limited.
At first the sea voyage was agreeable enough. A gentle
breeze filled the sails, and the ship glided along pleasantly.
But as morning dawned, wind and sea became more lively
and Kinkel reported himself seasick. The wind increased, the
sea ran higher, and Kinkel grew more and more miserable as
the day progressed. He gathered himself up to go on deck,
but sodfa returned to his berth. I tried to lift him up, but
in vain. After a few hours of acute suffering he became quite
desperate in his torment and he felt that he was going to die.
He had a mind to tell the captain to carry him to the nearest
[326]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
port. His agony seemed to him intolerable. Had he escaped
from prison to die such a wretched death? It is recognized
as one of the peculiarities of seasickness that those who do not
suffer from it do not appreciate the sufferings of those who
do, and that the sufferer considers the indifference of the well
person as especially hardhearted and exasperating. That was
the case with us. I felt myself uncommonly well. The more
the " Little Anna " bobbed up and down in the waves, the
higher rose my spirits. I felt an inordinate appetite which
did the fullest justice to the accomphshments of our cook.
This joyous feehng I could not entirely conceal from Kinkel,
although I deplored very sincerely his sufferings, which
probably were aggravated through the nervous condition re
sulting from his long imprisonment. I thought I could raise
him up by making fun of his fear of immediate death, but
that would not do at all, as Kinkel believed in all seriousness
that his hfe was in danger. My jokes sounded to him like un
feeling recklessness, and I had soon to change my tone in
order to cheer him.
In this condition we passed Helsingoer, the toll-gate of
the Sound dues, and with it the last place in which our liberty
might possibly have been in danger, and so we entered the
JCattegat. The sea had been wild enough in the Sound, but in
the Kattegat it was much wilder. The winds seemed to blow
alternately from all points of the compass, and we cruised two
days between the Skagen, the projecting headland of Den
mark, and the high rocks of Sweden and Norway, until we
reached the more spacious basin of the Skagerack, But there
too, and as we at last entered the open North Sea, thjp " dirty
weather," as our sailors called it, continued without change.
At times the wind grew so violent that Captain Niemann
recognized it as a real gale. Like a nutshell the " Little
[ 327 ]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHURZ
Anna " jumped up and down on the angry billows. The sea
constantly washed the deck, where I kept myself all the time
that Kinkel did not need me below; and in order not to be
washed overboard, I had the mate bind me fast to the main
mast. So I gained a vivid impression of the constantly chang
ing grandeur of the sea, which at the first view from Warne
miinde had failed to impress me. Now I was fascinated by the
sensation to such a degree that I could hardly tear myself
away, and every minute I had to stay below appeared to me
like an irretrievable loss.
Kinkel continued seasick several days, but he gradually
became aware of how much seasickness a man can endure with
out fatal result. By degrees his suffering diminished; he went
on deck with me and began to appreciate the poetry of the sea
voyage and then forgave me that I had refused to believe in
the deadly character of the malady. The bad weather continued
without interruption ten days and nights. At times the fury
of the elements made cooking impossible. The most that could
be done was to prepare some coffee, and beyond that we lived
on biscuits, cold meats and herring, but we remained in good
spirits and began to enjoy the humor of our situation. Two
things impressed me especially — ^the one repeated itself every
morning during the stormy time: Shortly after daybreak the
mate regularly came to the cabin to bring us our coffee while
we were still lying in our berths. When the sea thundered fu
riously against the sides of the ship and crashed down on the
deck so that we could hardly hear our own words, and when
then the " Little Anna " bounced up and down and rolled to
and f ro,^ like a crazy thing, so that we had to hold on to some
thing in order not to be tumbled out of Our berths, the brave
seaman stood there in a dripping suit of oilskin, spread his
legs far apart, held on with one hand to the little table, and
[328 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
balanced in the other, with astonishing skill, a bowl of coffee
without spilling a drop, and screamed at us to the utmost of
his power to make us understand the surprising intel
ligence that the weather was still bad and we could not
expect to have any cooking done. We had therefore to be sat
isfied with what he then offered us. Thirty years later, when
I was Secretary of the Interior in the government of the
United States, I visited, during the presidential campaign of
1880, the town of Rondout on the Hudson, where I had to
deliver a speech. After the meeting I crossed the river on a
ferryboat in order to take the railroad train to New York
at the station of Rhinebeck opposite. In the dusk of the even
ing a man approached me on the ferryboat and spoke to me
in German. " Excuse me," he said, " that I address you. I
should like to know whether you recognize me,"
I regretted not being able to do so.
" Do you not remember," he asked, " the mate on the ' Lit
tle Anna,' Captain Niemann, on which you and Professor
Kinkel, in November, 1850, sailed from Rostock to England? "
"What!" I exclaimed, "do I remember the mate who
every morning stood in the cabin with his bowl of coffee and
executed such wonderful dances? Yes,"
"And you always made such funny remarks about it
which set me laughing, if I could understand them in the ter
rible noise. That mate was I,"
I was much rejoiced, and we shook hands vigorously. I
asked how he was doing and he replied, " Very well, indeed,"
I invited him to visit me in Washington, which he promised
to do. I should have been glad to continue the conversation
longer, but in the njeantime we had reached the eastern bank
of the Hudson. My railroad train stood ready and in a few
minutes I was on the way to New York. The mate did not
[329]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHURZ
keep his promise to visit me in Washington and I have never
seen him again.
The other picture still present to my mind was more serious
in its involuntary ludicrousness. While we were driven about on
the North Sea by violent gales the sky was constantly covered
with dense clouds, so that no regular observation could be
had to determine where we were. The captain indeed endeav
ored to ascertain our whereabouts as. well as he could by the
so-called dead reckoning; but after we had been so going on
for several days he declared to us quite frankly that he had
only a very vague idea of our latitude and longitude. Now
we saw him frequently in the cabin sitting on the little sofa
behind the table with his head bent thoughtfully over his chart,
and as the matter was important to us, too, we tried to help
him in his calculations. Kinkel, after he had overcome the
seasickness, and myself spent almost the whole day on deck
in spite of the storm, and as we had observed the drifting
of the vessel from its true course we formed an opinion on
that matter, to which the captain listened with great ap
parent respect; and when during the night he sat under the
lamp over his chart, Kinkel and I stuck our heads out of our
berths, holding fast to some object so that we could not fall
out, and looking at the chart in this position, discussed
with the captain the' question of latitude and longitude, of the
force of the wind, of the current, of the water, and so on.
Finally we would agree upon some point at which the ship
ought to be at that time, and that point was then solemnly
marked with a pencil on the chart. Then the "navigation
council," as we called it, adjourned. The captain mounted
again to the deck and Kinkel and I crept back intq our berths
to sleep. On the tenth day of our voyage the sky cleared at last,
[ 330 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
and the first actual observation showed that our calculations
had not been so very wrong and that three or four days would
bring us to the English coast. So we headed for the port of
Newcastle, Kinkel had in the meantime recovered all his bright
humor, and would not permit me to remind him of his out
breaks of seasick despair. We were of good cheer, but rejoiced
with our whole hearts when we saw the first strip of land rising
above the horizon. Then the wind turned toward the south
and the captain declared that we would have to cruise a consid
erable time against it in order to reach the port of Newcastle.
The navigation council therefore met once more and resolved
to steer in a northerly direction toward Leith, the harbor of
Edinburgh. This was done, and the next evening we saw the
mighty rocks that guard the entrance of that port. Then the
wind suddenly died away and our sails flapped. Kinkel and I
quoted for our consolation various verses from Homer: how
the angry gods prevented the glorious sufferer Odysseus, by
the most malicious tricks, from reaching his beloved home,
Ithaca, but how at last, while he was asleep, he was wafted by
gentle breezes to the hospitable shores of his island. And so
it happened to us. After we had gone to bed in a somewhat
surly state of mind, a light wind arose that carried us with the
most gentle movement toward the long-wished-for port, and
when we awoke next morning the "Little Anna" lay at anchor.
Now the good captain, Niemann, learned for the first
time what kind of passengers he had carried across the North
Sea under the names of Kaiser and Hensel, He confessed to
us that the matter had appeared to him from the beginning
quite suspicious, but he expressed in the heartiest manner his
joy that, even ignorantly, he had contributed his part to Kin
kel's liberation. Kinkel and I were impatient to get to land.
Fortunately Mr. Brockelmann had not only given us letters
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
to his correspondent in Newcastle, but also to a merchant in
Leith, by the name of McLaren. These letters we wished to
present at once, but the captain reminded us that the day was
Sunday, on which a Scottish merchant would certainly not be
found in his counting-house, and he did not know how we
could find his residence. This difficulty we recognized. How
ever, we were heartily tired of the " Little Anna," with its
narrow cabin and its many smeUs. We resolved, therefore, to
make our toilet and to go ashore, in order at least to take a
look at Edinburgh. We also hoped to find shelter in some
hotel. It was a clear, sunny winter morning. What a delight
as we ascended the main street of Leith to feel that we had
at last firm ground under our feet again and that we could
look everyone in the face as free men! At last — all danger past,
no more pursuit, a new life ahead! It was glorious. We felt like
shouting and dancing, but bethought ourselves of the prob
able effect such conduct would have on the natives. We
wandered from the harbor up into the streets of Edin
burgh. These streets had on their Sunday look. AU the shops
closed; not a vehicle breaking the stillness. The people walked
silently to church. We soon noticed that many of the passersby
looked at us with an air of surprise and curiosity, and before
long a troop of boys collected around us and pursued us with
derisive laughter. We looked at one another and became aware
that our appearance contrasted strangely indeed with that of
the weU-dressed church-goers. Kinkel had on his big bearskin
overcoat, which reached down to his feet; his beard, which he
had permitted to grow, looked like a rough stubblefield — and
at that time a full beard was, in Scotland, regarded as an im-
possibUity among respectable people. On his head he wore a
cap hke that of a Prussian forester. Regulation hats we did
not possess. I was in a long brown overcoat with wide sleeves
[332 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
and a hood lined with light blue cloth, a garment which in
Switzerland a tailor had evolved from my large soldier's cape.
We suddenly became conscious of making very startling
figures on a Sunday morning on the streets of this Scottish
capital, and were no longer surprised at the astonishment of
the sober church-goers and the mockery of the boys. However,
there we were. We could make no change, arid so sauntered
on without troubling ourselves about the feelings of the others.
We looked up the celebrated Walter Scott monument and
several of the famous edifices, and then went on and up to the
castle, where the first view of soldiers in the splendid Scottish
Highland uniform burst upon us. We enjoyed to our hearts'
content the aspect of the city and its wonderfully picturesque
surroundings. In short, we found Edinburgh beautiful beyond
compare. In the meantime it had become high noon, and we
began to feel that the contemplation of the most magnificent
view does not satisfy the stomach. The imperious desire for
a solid meal moved us to descend from the castle and to look
about for a hotel, or at least a restaurant. But in vain. From
the outside some buildings looked like public houses, but no
where an open door. One or two we tried to enter, but without
success. Now our utter ignorance of the English language be
came very embarrassing. Of words of English sound we knew
only two — " beefsteak " and " sherry," We addressed some of
the passersby in German and also in French, but they all re
sponded after a long and astonished stare in an idiom entirely
uninteUigible to us, although we both had remarked that when
we heard these Scottish people talk at a distance, their language
sounded very much like German, When we pronounced our
two English words, " beefsteak " and " sherry," those whom we
addressed pointed toward the harbor. Our situation became
more and more precarious, as the sun was setting. We were
[333]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ.
very tired from our long wanderings, and hunger began to
be tormenting. Nothing seemed to remain to us but to return
to the " Little Anna."
So we walked back to the harbor. Unexpectedly we came
upon a large house in the main street of Leith, the front of
which bore the inscription " Black Bull Hotel," and an open
door. We entered at once, and ascended a flight of stairs to the
upper story. There we reached a spacious hall with several
doors, one of which was ajar. We looked through it into a
little parlor lighted by an open coal fire. Without hesitation we
entered, sat down in comfortable armchairs near the fireplace,
pulled the bell-rope and waited for further dispensations of
fate. Soon there appeared in the door a man in the dress of
a waiter, with a napkin under his arm. When he saw the two
strange figures sitting near the fireplace, he started and stood
a moment, mute and immovable, with staring eyes and open
mouth. We could not keep from laughing and when we
laughed, he too smiled, but with a somewhat doubtful expres
sion. Then we pronounced our two English words : " Beef
steak, sherry! " The waiter stammered an unintelligible reply.
He then moved back toward the door and disappeared. Soon
he returned with another man, also a waiter. Both stared at
us and exchanged a few words between themselves. We
laughed and they smUed. Then one of them said something in
English which sounded like a question. Again we spoke our
two words — ^beefsteak and sherry. Thereupon both nodded
and both left the room. After a little while a third man ap
peared, who wore a double-breasted coat — evidently the land
lord. He examined our appearance with a knowing look and
talked to us in a friendly tone. Again we repeated our speech
about beefsteak and sherry and tried to signify by gestures
that we were hungry. At the same time Kinkel had the f ortu-
[334]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
nate idea of putting his hand in his pocket and taking out a
few gold pieces, which he showed to the landlord on his open
palm. The landlord smiled stiU more, made a httle bow, and
took himself away.
After a while the waiter whom we had first seen set the
table in fine style. Now we sat down at the hospitable board.
Thereupon the waiter hfted the silver cover from the soup tu
reen he had brought in, with a mighty swing, pointed a fore
finger of his other hand into the open dish, and said slowly and
emphaticaUy, seeming to give a dab to the contents of the tu
reen with each syllable, " ox — tail — soup." Then he looked at us
triumphantly and stepped behind Kinkel's chair. This was my
first lesson in English. Judging from the similarity with Ger
man words, we could weU imagine what the words " ox " and
" soup " signified, but the meaning of the word " tail " became
clear to us only when we saw the contents of the tureen on our
plates. We found the soup delicious, and thus our English
vocabulary had been enriched by a valuable substantive. The
landlord had been sensible enough not to confine himself to
beefsteak and sherry in the execution of the desire we ex
pressed, but to give us a complete dinner, to which, after our
long sea voyage and the Sunday walk in the Scottish capital,
we did full justice.
By all sorts of ingenious gestures we made our landlord
understand that we wanted paper and ink and pens, and that
we would then wish to go to bed. All our requests were under
stood and complied with. We now added postscripts to the
letters, which we had written to our families during the last
days of our voyage on the " Little Anna," giving further news
of 'our happy arrival on British soil. Kinkel invited his wife
to meet him in Paris, and then wrote a long letter to my parents,
in which he said to them many kind things about me.
[335]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
After this was done the waiter conducted us into a spa
cious sleeping apartment with two beds, the enormous size of
which astonished us. The next morning we bade fareweU to
our kind host, grateful to him for having tolerated in his house
two such uncanny looking guests, without luggage and with
a vocabulary of only two English words.
Now we called at, the counting-house of Mr. McLaren,
in whom we found a very pleasant and polite gentleman, speak
ing German fiuently. Letters from Mr. Brockelmann had told
him everything about Kinkel and myself ; he therefore greeted
us with much cordiality, insisted on having our luggage taken
from the " Little Anna " to his residence, and upon devoting
himself entirely to us so long as we might choose to remain
in Edinburgh, In McLaren's counting house we took leave of
the good Captain Niemann, I have never seen him again, but
many years afterwards I learned that he had perished on the
North Sea in a heavy winter gale.
After having bought some presentable clothing and de
cent hats, thus acquiring an appearance similar to that of other
men, we accepted Mr. McLaren's invitation to see Holyrood
and to dine at his house, whereupon we took the night train
for London. There we were accredited by Brockelmann to the banking
house of Hambro & Son. The chief of the house placed one
of his clerks at our disposal, a young gentleman from Frank
furt, Mr. Verhuven, who during our sojourn in London was
to devote his whole time to us. He was an exceedingly agree
able companion, and with him we hurried during several days
from morning until night from place to place to see the great
sights of London. In this way we missed the many visitors
who left their cards at our hotel, the " London Coffee House."
Among these we found that of Charles Dickens. His ac-
[ 336 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
quaintance we should have been especially proud to make, but
to our great regret we did not find him at home when we
returned his visit.
In those days I received the first distinct impression of
the English language, an impression, which now, after long
acquaintance with it, I can hardly explain to myself.
The celebrated tragedian Macready was playing several
Shakespearian parts in one of the London theaters. We saw
him in " Macbeth " and " Henry VIII." Although I did not
understand the spoken words, I was sufficiently conversant with
those dramas to follow the dialogue, but I had hardly any en
joyment of it, as the impure vowels and the many sibilants,
the hissing consonants, in fact, the whole sound and cadence
of the English language, fell upon my ear so unmusically, so
gratingly, that I thought it a language that I would never
be able to learn. And, indeed, this disagreeable first impres
sion long prevented me from taking the study of English
seriously in hand.
After a few days of overfatiguing pleasure we started
for Paris, To witness the meeting of Kinkel and his wife, after
so long and so painful a separation, was hardly less delight
ful to me than it was to them. But with this delight our ar
rival in Paris imposed upon me also a heavy burden, which
consisted in sudden " fame," Although I had received in
Rostock, in Edinburgh, and in London, in small circles of
friends, praise of the warmest kind, I was not a little astonished
and embarrassed when I learned in Paris of the sensation
created by the liberation of Kinkel, While Kinkel and I had
been crossing the North Sea in the cabin of the " Little Anna,"
holding navigation councils with Captain Niemann, it had
become generally known that I, a student of the university of
Bonn, had taken a somewhat important part in that affair. The
[337]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
detaUs of it were of course stiU unknown to the general pubhc,
but that sort of mystery is notoriously favorable to the formation
of legends, and the Liberal newspapers in Germany had vied
with one another in romantic stories about the adventure. The
favorite and most accredited, of those fables represented me
like Blondel before the dungeons of Richard Cceur de Lion,
attracting the attention of the imprisoned friend, not indeed
with the lute of a troubadour, but m my case with a barrel
organ, and thus detecting the window of his cell, and then
effecting his escape in a marvelous way. Another myth
brought me in communication with a Prussian princess, who, in
a mysterious, and to herself very perilous, manner, had ad
vanced my undertaking. Several newspapers put before their
readers my biography, which consisted in great part of fan
tastic inventions, inasmuch as there was but little to say
of my young life. I even became the subject of poetic effu
sions, which celebrated me in aU sorts of sentimental exaggera
tion. My parents, as they afterwards wrote me, were fairly
fiooded with congratulations, which in great part came from
persons entirely unknown to them.
Of course, the praise I received from my parents and the
gratitude expressed by Frau Kinkel and her chUdren were a
real and a great satisfaction to me, but the extravagances
which I had to read in German papers and to hear in the con
stantly extending circle of our acquaintance in Paris, dis
quieted me seriously. What I had done had appeared to me
as nothing so extraordinary as to merit all this ado. Then
there was also constantly present to my mind the thought,
that without the help of a group of faithful friends, and
especially without Brune's bold resolution at the decisive
moment, all my efforts would have been in vain. And of
Brune, who in those days was subject to a sharp and dan-
[338]

A MYTHICAL PORTRAIT OP SCHURZ

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
gerous investigation, I could not speak without seriously
compromising him. Thus I felt in submitting to praise as one
who accepts credit for some things, at least, done by others,
and this feeling was in a high degree painful to me. Moreover,
in every company in which I showed myself I was asked time
and again: " How did you succeed in carrying out this bold
stroke? TeU us," Inasmuch as I could not tell the whole
truth, I preferred to teU nothing. New legends were invented
which if possible were still more fantastic than the old ones.
This was so oppressive to me that I became very much averse
to going into society, and I fear that I sometimes repelled those
who came to me and pressed me with questions in an almost
unfriendly manner.
To bring the narrative of this episode to a conclusion, I
must add something about the further fortunes of those who
cooperated with me in the Kinkel rescue. On the day after
Kinkel's escape from Spandau, suspicion fell at once upon
Brune. He was forthwith arrested and subjected to close
examination. At first nothing could be proved against him;
but then, so it was reported, they placed with him in his cell
a detective whom he did not suspect and to whom in a careless
way he confided his story. He was thereupon tried and con
demned to three years' imprisonment. After he had served his
term he removed with his family to his old home in Westphalia,
where, with the money he had received from me, and which
had not been discovered, he could comfortably live with his
family, and where he enjoyed the respect of his neighbors.
When in 1888 I visited Germany I was informed by a friend
of Brune's, that Brune was at the time a janitor in a great
iron-works in Westphalia, that he was doing well, although he
began to feel the infirmities of old age, and that he would
Uke to know something about me, I answered at once, giving
[339]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
him all the desired information about myself, and asked him
for his photograph. The same friend wrote again that my
letter had given Brune much pleasure, but that he was in his
i^d age still more stubborn than he had been before, that he
had always refused to be photographed, and that he even now
could not be moved to do it, I desired much to see him again
and had already made arrangements for the journey when,
to my intense regret, uncontrollable circumstances prevented
it. In 1891 I received in America a letter from Brune's daugh
ter in which she informed me of the death of her brave father.
My friends in Spandau had rejoiced so much at the suc
cess of our enterprise that they could not conceal their joy;
and so Kriiger was involved in the investigation and was
brought to trial. It has been reported that he willingly con
fessed the reception he had accorded to me in his hotel, remark
ing at the same time that it was his business as a hotel-keeper
to open his house to all decently appearing strangers who
could pay their bills; that he could not always investigate
who those strangers might be, and what were their circum
stances and their intentions. For instance: immediately after
the revolution in Berlin on the 18th of March, 1848, a very
stately looking gentleman with some friends had arrived in a
carriage at the door of his inn. Those gentlemen had been in
great excitement and hurry, and he had noticed several ex
traordinary things in their conduct. In great haste they had de
parted, as he had afterwards heard, for England. It had not
occurred to him for a single moment to deny to them as un
known people the hospitality of his house. Only later he had
been informed that the most distinguished looking of these gen
tlemen had been His Royal Highness, the Prince of Prussia
(later Emperor William I,), This narrative, recounted with
the quiet smile peculiar to Kriiger, is said to have put the au-
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
dience present at the trial into the gayest humor, which even
the court could not entirely resist, Kriiger was pronounced not
guilty, continued to hve quietly in Spandau, and died in the
seventies, much esteemed and mourned by all his fellow-
citizens, Poritz, Leddihn, and Hensel also were acquitted, there
being no conclusive proof against them, Poritz and Hensel
died not many years afterwards, I saw Leddihn again in 1888
in Berlin, He had been living for several years in the capital,
was a well-to-do citizen and a member of the city council. Three
years afterwards the newspapers reported his death.
It is remarkable how the memory of that adventure has
remained alive in various parts of Germany. Hardly a year
has passed since 1850 without bringing me in newspaper arti
cles or letters new versions of the old story, some of them
extremely fantastic. When early in this century the peniten
tiary buUding in Spandau in which Kinkel had been impris
oned was taken down to make room for another structure,
some citizens of Spandau sent me a photograph of it, showing
the part of the building from which Kinkel escaped, Kinkel's
cell, and his and my portrait, taken from a daguerreotype
made in Paris, in December, 1850. In January, 1903, nearly
fifty-three years after our drive from Spandau to Rostock, I
received a pictorial postal card signed by a member of the
German Reichstag and several other gentlemen, who sent me
cordial greetings and a picture of the " White Cross Inn,"
near Rostock, marked " Kinkel's Corner," where we had
stopped in our flight, and where the room in which we took an
early breakfast stiU seems to be pointed out to guests.

[341]

CHAPTER XII
The Kinkel family resolved to settle down in England.
Kinkel occupied himself for a httle whUe with the study
of the most important architecture, picture galleries, and other
art coUections in Paris, and then left for London. I preferred '
to stay in Paris for a while, partly because I hoped there to find
special f acUities for continuing my favorite studies, partly for
the reason that Paris was regarded as the great focus of liberal
movements on the continent, and I believed it was the most
convenient point for one wishing to work as a newspaper cor
respondent. Thus we parted.
Now I had to begin an orderly method of life and active
self-support. My journalistic connections in Germany were
quickly resumed, and I found that I could earn 180 francs a
month by letter-writing for newspapers, I resolved to limit my
regular expenses to 100 francs a month, and thus to lay by a
little reserve for emergencies. This presupposed a careful econ
omy, but I soon learned with how little money a person may
decently get along in Paris, This school of economy has always
remained useful to me. I shared the quarters of my friend,
Strodtmann, who had already been in Paris for some time and
who occupied a spacious room in a hotel garni in the Faubourg
Montmartre. But this common housekeeping did not last long,
Strodtmann was not able to preserve order among his things,
and as I, too, had my weaknesses in that direction, our room,
which served at the same time as a living and sleeping apart
ment, often presented the picture of most wonderful confusion.
It is an old experience, that a person who is not himself very
orderly finds the disorderliness of another sometimes quite un-
[342]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHURZ
endurable. So it was with us. Of course it appeared to me that
Strodtmann was the greater sinner, and in this I was not alto
gether wrong. He was somewhat of a gourmet; he would study
the delicacies exposed in the show-windows of restaurants with
great enthusiasm and discernment, and he imagined that he him
self could prepare fine dishes. He therefore made on our grate-
fire all sorts of experiments in roasting and frying and filled
the room with very unwelcome odors. He insisted also on pre
paring our coffee, for he was sure that he knew much better
to do that than I or anybody else. To this assumption I should
have offered no resistance whatever; but as he handled the
burning alcohol of his machine very carelessly it happened
that he set on fire papers and clothes that were lying around
everywhere, and finally he burnt a big hole into the most valu
able article of my wardrobe, namely, that large cloak with the
hood, belonging to my Baden officer's period. We laughed
together about his awkwardness, but after this catastrophe we
agreed in the most amicable spirit that there was not room
enough in one apartment for two persons as disorderly as our
selves. I therefore rented a room on the Quai Saint-Michel,
No. 17, and Strodtmann settled down in the Latin Quarter
in my neighborhood.
The house No. 17 Quai Saint-Michel was kept by a widow,
Mme. Petit, and her daughters, two unmarried ladies no longer
young. The house was in all things decent, respectable, and
strictly regulated. In this regard it distinguished itself advanta
geously from most of the hotel garnis in the Latin Quarter.
Those of Mme. Petit's tenants whose conduct was especially
correct were rewarded with invitations, from time to time, to
take tea in her httle salon, where the presence of the two faded
daughters and some friends of the f anally created an atmosphere
of extraordinary duUness. After having gone through that
[ 343 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
experience once we avoided a repetition. My room in the house
was, according to my notions, quite comfortable. To be sure,
the windows did not open on the side of the Seine, but they
looked into a narrow and dirty side street. In order to reach
my room I had to go up several stairs and to go down several
other stairs, and to wander through a long, dark corridor and
to turn various corners; but that did not disturb me. It
was rather spacious, had a floor of red tiles, upon which there
were a few diminutive pieces of carpet, several chairs flt for use,
a round table, a fireplace, a wardrobe for my clothes, and even
a piano, which was indeed very old and bad, bnt might have
been worse. My bed stood in an alcove, and by means of chintz
curtains I could hide it from the gaze of visitors, so that my
room looked not like a bedchamber, but like a little salon,
which I was quite proud of. For this dwelling I had
to pay a rent of thirty francs a month, a sum rather high
for me; but I thought that the character of the house
would otherwise help me to save. My first breakfast con
sisted of a cup of coffee, which I prepared myself, or a glass
of wine and a piece of bread, sometimes with butter. After
having worked at my writing-table until noon I took a second
breakfast or lunch that never was to exceed one-half franc in
cost, in some restaurant of the Latin Quarter, and in the even
ing I dined in an eating-house kept in the Rue Saint-Germain
I'Auxerois near the Louvre, that was kept by a socialistic
association of cooks, the Association Fraternelle des Cuisiniers
reunis. Cooks, waiters, and guests addressed one another ac
cording to the model of the French Revolution, "Citoyen," and
this pride of civic equality showed itself also in the circum
stance that the citoyen- waiter accepted no tip from the citoyen*
guest. These citoyens furnished for one franc a very simple
but very substantial and good meal, including even a " confi-
[344 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
ture" as a dessert and a glass of wine. The company was
mixed, but this made it easier for us to imagine ourselves during
the meal as living in the ideal state of general fraternity.
Other expenses, of laundry and of an occasional fire in my
room, brought the amount of the whole budget to not quite
three francs a day, less than sixty cents in American money, or
ninety to ninety-three francs a month. I could permit myself
even some luxuries : the purchase of a few books, some of which
are still in my possesion; also occasional tickets for the par
terre in the Odeon or in a Faubourg theatre; now and then a
cup of coffee on the Boulevard and — only now and then, to be
sure — I could afford to see Rachel at the Theatre Fran9ais.
Thus I managed to incur no debts, to save a small reserve, to
be obliged to nobody for anything, and to feel myself quite
independent and comfortable.
Of course I could not, under such circumstances, indulge
in expensive social enjoyments. Aside from an occasional visit
to the salon of the Countess d'Agoult, the well-known friend of
Franz Liszt, my intercourse remained mainly confined to Ger
man exiles, some students and young artists who pursued their
studies in Paris, and also some young Frenchmen who attended
lectures at the Sorbonne or other institutions of learning, and
in this circle I found very agreeable companions. We had
every week a " musical evening " ; sometimes in my room, in
which young musicians — among them Reinecke, who after
wards became the famous director of the well-known " Ge-
wandhaus Concerts" in Leipzig — ^reviewed the most recent
composers, and now and then produced their own compositions,
while I and others served as an enthusiastic public. On such
occasions we used to drink a punch which, for reasons of econ
omy, left nothing to be desired in point of weakness.
In this circle my good comrade, Adolph Strodtmann, was
[345 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
a general favorite. He had at that time plunged deep into the
sociahstic poetry of that period, in which he saw a promising
symptom of a new mental and moral revival of the human race.
Some French poems of that kind he translated with extraordi
nary skill into sonorous German verse, which he read to us at
our social meetings to our great delight. He was also a gener
ous listener, and although very deaf, professed great interest
in our musical performances, giving his sometimes starthng
judgment in a thundering voice. We all loved him for his high
enthusiasms, his ardent sympathies, the frank honesty of his
nature and the robust ingenuousness with which he promul
gated his occasionally very eccentric opinions of men and
tilings. At times his oddities afforded us much amusement,
which he good-naturedly shared, frequently laughing loudest
with childlike astonishment at the queer exhibitions he had made
of himself. He might well have served as the original to many
caricatures of the " absent-minded professor," who is a favor
ite subject of funny pictures in German periodicals.
Now and then he was seen on the street smoking a long
German student's pipe, as he had done in Bonn. In Paris the
passersby would stand stiU with amazement when they beheld
so unaccustomed an apparition, and soon he was known in the
Latin Quarter as " I'homme a la longue pipe." One day he
came into my room with a hairbrush under his arm, and when
I asked him, " Strodtmann, what are you carrying there? " he
looked at the thing at first with great surprise, and then laughed
boisterously and said, with his loud voice, " Why, this is my
hairbrush. I thought it was a book from which I wished to
read to you." Another time when he visited me I noticed that
his face bore the expression of extraordinary seriousness, if not
trouble. " I have only one pair of boots," he said; " one of the
boots is stiU pretty good, but the other, you see " — and here he
[ 346 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
pointed to his right foot — " the other is bursting in the seams.
Have you not a boot that you can lend me? " Indeed, I possessed
two pairs, and it so happened that of one pair one boot was a
little damaged and the other in a perfectly serviceable condition.
This sound boot I gladly put at Strodtmann's disposal. When
we undertook to make the exchange we noticed at once that the
two good boots, his and mine, belonged to two different fash
ions. His was pointed at the toe and mine was broad-cut, and
both were for the left foot. These unfortunate circumstances
did not disturb Strodtmann in the least, and although he may
have suffered at times considerable inconvenience, he walked
about in these two left boots, one of which was pointed and the
other broad, until his own footgear had had the necessary
repairs. I felt the necessity of perfecting myself in the French
language in order to speak and write it with ease, and with that
dehcacy which constitutes one of its characteristic charms. One
of my friends recommended to me a teacher who bore the high-
sounding name of Mme, La Princesse de Beaufort, Accord
ing to rumor, she belonged to an old noble family, but was
impoverished to such a degree by the political revolutions, that
she had to earn her bread as a teacher of language. Whether
this was all true in reality I do not know, but when I sought
her out I found her in a modest apartment of a hotel garni,
an elderly lady of very agreeable features and a quiet, refined
and somewhat courtly manner that permitted me to believe she
had really moved in distinguished circles. She accepted me as
a pupil and declared herself wiUing to give me two lessons a
week, each of which should cost one franc. We began the next
day. My teacher allowed me the choice of the method of in
struction, and I proposed to her, instead of following the usual
custom of memorizing rules of grammar, that I would write
[347]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
for her little letters or essays on subjects that interested me.
She was then to correct my mistakes and to instruct me in the
idiomatic forms of speech. In following this method we were
to have a grammar at hand for the purpose of pointing out the
rules which I had violated. This pleased her, and as I was
already able to make myself somewhat understood in French,
we set to work without delay.
This method proved very successful. My letters or short
essays treated of real happenings that had occurred to me, or
of what I had seen in museums, or of books, or of the
political events of the day. Now, as I did not merely link
together grammatically constructed sentences as the pupils
of so many educational institutions usually do when writing
their Latin themes, but as I set forth my experiences and my
views with great freedom and thereby tried to give my exercises
some intrinsic interest, my teacher did not confine herself to the
mere correction of my grammatical mistakes, but she entered
into animated conversations with me, in which she encouraged
me further to enlarge upon the subjects narrated or discussed
in my papers. These conversations, in which she showed, aside
from a thorough knowledge of French, much independent
thought and comprehension, became to both of us so agreeable
that not seldom the passing of the hour escaped our attention,
and when I rose to take leave she insisted that I stay in order to
pursue the discussion a little farther. Aside from these lessons
I read much and never permitted myself to skip over words or
forms of speech which I did not understand. My progress was
encouraging, and after a few weeks it happened sometimes
that my teacher returned my paper to me with the assurance
that she found nothing in it to correct.
This way of learning a foreign language proved no less
effective than agreeable. One may begin the attempts of free
[348]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
expression, and thus an independent use of the language, with
a comparatively small vocabulary. Conscientious reading and
well-conducted conversations will then quickly enlarge the vo
cabulary and develop the facility of expression. But I cannot
lay too much stress upon the fact that the free and exact ren
dering of one's own thoughts in writing is the most efficient ex
ercise in acquiring a language. In mere conversation we are apt
to skip over difficulties by permitting ourselves vaguenesses and
inaccuracies of expression which would sternly demand correc
tion — and correction, too, easily kept in mind — when the written
word looked us in the face. To quicken the efficacy of this exer
cise requires, of course, a teacher able not only to pound gram
matical rules into the head of the pupil, but also to stir up, "
through study of the language, a mentally active interest in the
subjects spoke or written about, Mme, La Princesse de Beau
fort filled these requirements to a high degree, and the hours
which I passed with her have always remained with me an
especially agreeable memory.
Another similarly effective method of acquiring foreign
languages without a teacher I will explain later in connection
with my study of English. Thanks to my teacher, I rapidly
acquired such fluency and ease in the French language,
that I could, and did, write short letters to French jour
nals, which were published without correction, I regret to
say that in the course of time I have lost some of that facility
in consequence of a want of practice. For this I reproach my
self, because one may without difficulty, also without constant
opportunity for conversation, retain a complete possession of a
language once learned by simply reading to one's self every day
aloud a few pages of some good author,
I continued with zeal to study French history, especially
that of the time of the great revolution, and as France was still
[349]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
regarded as the revolutionary leader, and we expected the most
important results from the developments there, I took a lively
interest in French politics and pursued with the intensest con
cern the struggle going on at that time between the Republi
cans and the President, Louis Napoleon, who was suspected of
usurpatory designs. But I had to confess to myself that many
of the things which, as a critical observer, I witnessed around
me seriously modified my conception of the grandeur of the
events of the revolutionary period, and shook my faith in the
historic mission of France as to the future of the civihzed world,
I frequently visited the gallery of the National Assembly when
debates of importance were announced, I had studied the his
tory of the " Constituent Assembly " of 1789, of the " Legisla
tive Body " and of the " Convention " of the first revolution
with great diligence and thoroughness, knew by heart some of
the most celebrated oratorical performances of Mirabeau and
others, was well acquainted with the parliamentary discussions
of that period, and hoped now to hear and see something simi
lar to that which had moved me so powerfully in reading and
which lived in my imagination as a heroic drama. My disap
pointment in visiting the National Assembly with this expecta
tion was great. Indeed, high-sounding speeches and scenes of
stormy and tumultuous excitement were not lacking ; but with
all this, as it seemed to me, there was too little of an earnest and
thoughtful exchange of opinions between eminent men, and
too much of theatrical attitudinizing and of declamatory
phrasemongery. It happened to me — as it frequently happens
— that the disappointment of expectations which had been
pitched too high, will, in the conclusions we draw, lead us to
underestimate the character and value of existing things and
conditions as we see them before us. What in fact I did witness
was the French way of doing things. That way did not corre-
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUIIZ
spond with my ideals; but it was, after all, the French way,
which, with all its histrionic superficialities, had in the past,
especially in the great revolution, proved itself very real and
serious and had produced tremendous results.
However, what I saw of pohtical action on the public
stage had a sobering effect on me, and this effect was intensi
fied and confirmed by my observations in the Latin Quarter
and in public places of amusement of the dissoluteness of
student life — the habitual life of young men who might be
considered the flower of French youth. I shall never forget
the impression made upon me and my friends by a masked ball
at the opera which some of us young Germans visited during
the carnival season of 1851. Everybody was admitted who
could pay for his ticket and provide himself with the pre
scribed attire, that is to say, the ordinary evening dress or some
fancy costume. The ball began about midnight. The multi
tude present consisted of all ranks and conditions, among whom
I recognized a good many students living in the Latin Quarter,
with their grizettes or " petites femmes," and of other persons
who had come, not all to take part in the dance, but to witness
this characteristic spectacle of Parisian hfe. The anterooms
were teeming with women in- dominos, who approached men
walking about in a very confidential way. The great auditory
of the opera and the stage were arranged as a ballroom. Danc
ing began in comparatively decent manner, but degenerated
soon into the ordinary cancan. Police agents moved through
the room to prevent the grossest violations of decency. At first
they seemed to succeed in a degree — at least the dancers seemed
to keep themselves in check in their immediate presence. But as
the hours advanced, the temperature of the room rose, and the
blood of the dancers became heated, the business of the guar
dians of order grew more and more hopeless. At last all
[351]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
restraint was at an end and bestiality would have its own
way. Men and women, some of whom in the fury of the dance
had torn their clothing from their shoulders, raved like crazed
beings. The scene beggared description. The programme an
nounced as the last dance a galop, called the " Hell Galop."
The orchestra played an especially furious measure, accompan
ied with the ringing of bells. In truth, the crowd whirling in the
wildest reel of sensuality looked very much like a pandemonium
rushing straight into the bottomless pit. While this galop was
going on — ^it was about four o'clock in the morning — the rear
of the big room filled itself With soldiers, who formed in line.
Suddenly the music of the orchestra was drowned by a rattling
roll of drums, and the infantry line, bayonets fixed but arms
trailed, advanced slowly, step by step crowding the dancers and
the onlookers out of the hall.
To drink the cup to the dregs, we went to one of the res
taurants on the Boulevard near by to take some refreshments —
" petit souper," as it was called. The spectacle we beheld there
surpassed all we had seen before. The most unbridled fancy
could not imagine a picture more repulsive.
I had often tarried in the gallery of the Luxembourg in
contemplation of Couture's great canvas, called " La deca-
dance des Romains," which so eloquently portrays the moral
decline of a mighty people and a great civilization; but what
we here saw before us lacked even the reminiscence of past
greatness, which in Couture's picture is so impressive. It was
moral decay even to putrescence in its most vulgar form, its
most repulsive aspect, its most shameless display.
My friends and myself consoled ourselves with the reflec
tion that we had seen the worst, an exceptional extreme, and
that this could not possibly be representative of the whole
French people ; and to this thought we clung all the more read-
[352 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
ily as our hopes of the new democratic revival in Europe hung
upon the part which we expected the French Republic to play.
But I had to confess to myself that on the whole the
atmosphere of Paris was not congenial to me, and with sincere
pleasure I accepted an invitation of the Kinkel family, urging
me to visit them in London and to spend at least a week or two
in their happy home.
Here I must mention an occurrence which at the time
caused me astonishment. Strodtmann had made me acquainted
with a marine painter by the name of Melbye, a Dane. He
was much older than we, an artist of considerable skiU, who
talked about his art as well as various other things in an
agreeable manner. He was greatly interested in clairvoyance,
and told us he knew a clairvoyante whose performances were
most extraordinary. He requested us several times to accom
pany him to a " seance " and to convince ourselves of her
wonderful abihties. At last an evening was fixed for this enter
tainment, but it so happened that at about the same time I
received an invitation from Kinkel, which I resolved to accept
without delay. When I packed my valise Strodtmann was with
me in my room and he expressed his regret that I could not
attend the seance that evening. He went away for a httle while,
to return to my room later in the day and to accompany me to
the railroad station. In the meantime the thought struck me
that I might furnish a means for testing the powers of the
clairvoyante, I cut off some of my hair, wrapped it in a piece
of paper and put this into a letter-envelope, which I closed with
sealing-wax. Then I tore a little strip from a letter I had re
ceived that morning from the Hungarian G^eneral Klapka, the
celebrated defender of the fortress Komorn, and put this strip
containing the date of the letter also into a folded paper and
enclosed it likewise in an envelope sealed with wax. When
[353]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL BCHun/i
Strodtmann had returned to me I gave him the two envelopes,,
without informing him of their contents, and instructed him
to place them in the hands of the clairvoyante, with the request
that she give a description of the appearance, the character,
the past career and the temporary sojourn of the person from
whom the objects concealed in the envelopes had come. Then
I left for London.
A few days later I received a letter from Strodtmann, in
which he narrated the results of the seance, as follows: The
clairvoyante took one of my envelopes in her hand and said this
contained the hair of a young man who looked thus and so. She
then described my appearance in the most accurate way, and
added that this young man had won notoriety by his connection
with a bold enterprise, and that at the present time he was on
the other side of a deep water, in a large city and in the circle
of a happy family. Then she gave a description of my charac
ter, my inclinations and my mental faculties, which, as I saw
them in black and white, surprised me greatly. Not only did
I recognize myself in the main features of this description,
but I found in it also certain statements which seemed to give
me new disclosures about myself. It happens sometimes when
we look into our own souls that in our impulses, in our feelings,
in our ways of thinking, we find something contradictory,
something enigmatical, which the most conscientious self-exam
ination does not always suffice to make clear. And now there
flashed from the utterances of this clairvoyante gleams of light
which solved for me many of those contradictions and riddles,
I received, so to speak, a revelation about my own inner self, a
psychological analysis which I had to recognize as just as soon
as I perceived it.
What the clairvoyante said about the other envelope, which
contained Klapka's viritmg, was hardly less astonishing. She
[354]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
described the writer of the letters and figures contained in that
envelope as a handsome, dark-bearded man, with sparkling
eyes, who had once governed a city full of armed men and be
sieged by enemies. The description of his person, of his past,
and also of his character as far as I knew it, was throughout
correct; but when the clairvoyante added that this man was at
the time not in Paris, but in another city, where he had gone to
meet a person very dear to him, I thought we had caught her
in a mistake, A few days later I returned to Paris, and had
hardly arrived there when I met General Klapka on the street.
I asked him at once whether, since he had written his last letter
to me, he had been constantly in Paris, and I was not a little
amazed when he told me that he had a few days ago made an
excursion to Brussels, where he had stopped not quite a week,
and the " dear person " whom he was to have seen there, I
learned from an intimate friend of Klapka, was a lady whom
it was said he would marry. The clairvoyante was therefore
right in every point.
This occurrence mystified me very much. The more I con
sidered the question, whether the clairvoyante could possibly
have received knowledge of the contents of my envelopes, or
whether she could have had any cue for guessing at them, the
more certain I became that this coiUd not be, Strodtmann him
self did not know what I had put into the envelopes. Of
Klapka's letter to me he had not the slightest information. He
also assured me that he had put the envelopes into the hands of
the clairvoyante, one after the other, in exactly the same condi
tion in which he had received them, without for a moment con
fiding them to anybody else and without telhng to anyone
from whom they came; and I could absolutely depend upon
the word of my thoroughly honest friend. But even if — which
was quite unthinkable to me — there had been some coUusion
[356]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
between him and the clairvoyante, or if he had, without know
ing it, betrayed from whom the envelopes had come, it would
not have solved the riddle how the clairvoyante could have de
scribed my character, my inclinations, my impulses, my men
tal qualities, much more clearly and truthfully and sagaciously
than Strodtmann or Melbye ever could have done. In fact,
Melbye knew me only very superficially. In our few conversa
tions he had always done the most talking ; and a deep insight
into the human soul did not at all belong to Strodtmann's
otherwise excellent abilities. In short, I could not in the whole
incident find the slightest reason for the suspicion that here we
had to do with a merely clever juggler. The question arose:
Was not here a force at work which lay outside of the ordinary
activity of the senses and which we could indeed observe in the
utterance of its effects, and which we perhaps could also set in
motion, but which we could not define as to its true essence or
its constituent elements? In later years I have had similar expe
riences, which I intend to mention in their proper places.
I shall now return to my visit in London. Kinkel had
rented in the suburb of St. John's Wood a little house, where I
was most heartily welcomed as a guest. He had already found
a profitable field of work as a teacher, and Frau Kinkel gave
music lessons. I found the whole family in a very cheerful
state of mind, and we spent some happy days together. In fact
¦ I felt myself so much at home that Kinkel could easily per
suade me to give up Paris and to come over to London, where
I, as it seemed to me, would be able to make a comfortable liv
ing as a teacher without great difficulty. I then returned to
Paris, as I thought only for a few weeks but my departure
from the French capital was to be delayed by an unexpected
and very disagreeable incident.
One afternoon I accompanied on a walk the wife of my
[356]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
friend Reinhold Solger, a fellow-German refugee, a man of
great knowledge and acquirements, who later was to occupy a
respected position in the service of the United States. We
were in the neighborhood of the Palais Royal when an un
known man stopped me and asked to have a word with me
aside, as he had something very confidential to communicate to
me. As soon as we were out of the hearing of Mrs. Solger he
told me that he was a police agent, ordered to arrest me and
to take me at once to the "Prefecture de Police." I excused
myself to Mrs. Solger as best I could and accompanied the un
welcome stranger.
He conducted me first to a police commissioner, who in
quired after my name, my age, my nativity, and so on. I was
astonished that the police, who seemed to know my name, did
not know where I hved. I declared to the commissioner that I
had absolutely no reason for concealing anything, and ac
quainted him with the number of the house in which I lived,
as weU as with the place in my room where the keys to all my
belongings could be found; but I wished to know for what
reason I had been taken into custody. The commissioner
mysteriously hfted his eyebrows, talked of higher orders, and
thought I would learn of this soon enough. Another pohce
agent then conducted me to the "Prefecture de Police."
There I was turned over to a jailer, who after I had surren
dered the money I had with me and my pocket-knife to a
subordinate turnkey, took me into a cell and locked me in. To
the question whether I would not soon be informed of the
reason of my arrest I did not receive any answer. My ceU
was a little bai^e room, sparingly lighted by a narrow window
with iron bars high up in the waU. There were two small, not
very clean, beds, two wooden chairs and a little table.
I expected every moment to be called to a hearing, for I
[357 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
thought that in a repubhc, such as France was at that time,
they would not incarcerate anybody without teUing him the
reason therefor at once; but I waited in vain. Evening came
and the turnkey informed me that I might have a supper, con
sisting of various dishes which he enumerated, if I were able
and willing to pay for it; otherwise I would have to be content
with the ordinary prison fare, which he described to me in a
manner not at all alluring. I ordered a modest meal, and in
eating it I thought with melancholy longing of my good
Citoyens in the Rue Saint-Germain I'Auxerois.
Late in the evening, when I had already gone to bed,
another prisoner was brought to my cell. In the dim light of
the turnkey's lantern I saw in the newcomer a man still young,
in shabby clothes, with a smooth-shaven face and dark, restless
eyes. He at once began a conversation with me and informed
me that he had been accused of theft, and upon that accusation
had been arrested. The charge, however, was entirely un
founded, but as he had been arrested before on similar sus
picions, the authorities would not accept his assurances of
innocence, I thus had a common thief as my companion and
roommate. He seemed to see in me a fellow-laborer in the
vineyard, for he asked me in a rather confidential tone what
accident I had been caught in. My short and entirely truthful
response did not appear to satisfy him; he may have even re
garded it as unfriendly, for he did not say another word, but
lay down upon his bed and was soon in a profound sleep.
During the still night I thought over my situation. Had
I really done anything in Paris that might have been consid
ered punishable? I examined all the corners of my memory
and found nothing. Of course the reason for my arrest could
only be a political one, but however my opinions and senti
ments might displease the government of President Napoleon,
[358 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
I certainly had not taken part in any political movement in
France. In Paris I had only been an observer and a student.
I did not doubt that while I was in prison the police would
search the papers in my room, but that could not disquiet me,
as I knew that nothing could be found there except some histor
ical notes, a few hterary sketches and some letters from friends
of an entirely harmless nature. All the papers which might in
any way have been considered questionable, as well as the pistols
which I had carried with me during the Kinkel affair, I had
been cautious enough to entrust to one of my friends for safe
keeping. Nothing remained but the suspicion that I had been
taken into custody at the instance of the Prussian govern
ment. But would the French Republic be capable of surren
dering me to Prussia? This I deemed impossible; and thus I
looked the future calmly in the face. But I was stung by
a feeling of the degradation inflicted upon me by shutting me
up in the same room with a common thief. It revolted my self-
respect. And this could happen in a republic!
My indignation rose the following morning when I still
failed to receive information about the cause of my arrest. At
an early hour the thief was taken out of the cell and I re
mained alone. I asked the turnkey for paper, pen and ink, and
in my best French I wrote a letter to the prefect, in which, in
the name of the laws of the country, I demanded that I be in
formed why I had been deprived of my liberty. The turnkey
promised to transmit the letter, but the day passed without an
answer, and so another day, and still another. Neither did I
receive a word from my friends, and I hesitated to write to
any of them, because the receipt of a letter from me might have
embarrassed them. In those few days I learned to understand
something of the emotions which may torment the soul of a
prisoner — a feehng of bitter wrath against the brutal power
[359]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
that held me captive; the consciousness of complete impotency
which rose in me like a mockery of myself; the feverish imag
ination that troubled me with an endless variety of ugly pic
tures; a restless impetus that compelled me to run up and
down for hours in my cell hke a wild animal in its cage; then a
dreary emptiness in mind and heart which finally ended in duU
brooding without any definite thought.
On the morning of the fourth day I addressed a second
letter to the prefect still more vehement and pathetic than the
first, and shortly afterwards the turnkey told me that I would
be taken to the bureau of the chief. In a few minutes I found
myself in a comfortably furnished office-room and in the pres
ence of a stately gentleman, who kindly asked me to sit down.
He then complimented me elaborately upon the correctness of
the French of my letters, which he called quite remarkable,
considering my German nationahty; and he expressed in the
politest phrases his regret that I had been incommoded by my
arrest. There was really no charge against me. It was only
desired by the government that I select a place of residence
for myself outside of the boundaries of France, and to this end
leave Paris and the country as soon as might be convenient to
me. In vain I tried to move this pohte gentleman to a state
ment of the reasons which might make my removal from
France so desirable. With constantly increasing politeness he
told me that it was so desired in higher places. At last I
thought to appease his evident trouble about my lacerated feel
ings by the remark that in fact the desire of the government
did not incommode me at aU, inasmuch as I had intended to
go to London, and that my arrest had only delayed me some
what in my preparations for departure. The polite gentleman
was enchanted at this happy coincidence of my intentions with
the desire of his government, and he told me finaUy not to be
[ 360 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHURZ
in too great a hurry with my preparations for leaving. He
would be delighted if I felt myself under his especial protec
tion while in Paris, where I might still remain two, three, four,
even six weeks, if that would amuse me. He would then put
at my disposal a passport for any foreign country ; but after
my departure he hoped that I would not embarrass him by
returning to Paris without his special permission. Then he bade
me farewell with a friendliness bordering on actual affection,
and I left him with the impression that I had made the ac
quaintance of the politest and most agreeable police tyrant in
the world. I hurried back to my quarters and found the Petit family
in great tribulation on my account, Madame and the two
faded daughters told me in a shrill trio how a few days ago
two police agents had searched my room and examined my
papers, but had left everything behind them in the best of
order. The police had also tried to inform themselves of my
conduct by putting questions to the Petit family, and I might
be assured that the Petit family had given me the most excel
lent character; but then the Petit family had become very
much disquieted about my lot, and had informed my friends
who had called upon me of aU that had happened, and re
quested them to set in motion every possible influence that
might help me. Subsequently I learned, indeed, that several of
my friends had made proper efforts in my behalf, and it is
quite possible that this had hastened my discharge from im
prisonment. The reason of my arrest, however, soon became quite clear
to me, Louis Napoleon had begun the preparations for his
coup d'etat which was to do away with the repubhcan form of
government and to put him in possession of monarchical power.
While the repubhcans deceived themselves about the danger
[361]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
that was looming up, and tried to ridicule the pretender as an
" inane ape " of his great uncle, this man set all means in
motion to win the army and the masses of the people for him
self and his schemes. The Napoleonic propaganda was organ
ized in all parts of the country in the most varied forms, and
this agitation fell especially with the peasant population on
very fertile soil. The legend of the Napoleonic Empire, with
its wars and victories, and its tragic end, was the heroic lay of
the country people, in the glamor of which every peasant
family sunned itself and felt itself great. Each could tell of
some ancestor who at Rivoli, or at the Pyramids, or at Ma
rengo, or at Austerlitz, or at Jena, or at Wagram, or at Boro
dino, or at Waterloo, had fought under the eyes of the mighty
chief, and in this heroic epic there stood the colossal figure of
the Great Emperor enveloped in myth, hke a demigod, un-
equaled in his achievements, gigantic even in his fall. Every
cabin was adorned with his picture, which signified the great
past history of power and glory embodied in this one superior
being. And now a nephew of the Great Emperor presented
himself to the people, bearing the name of the demigod and
promising in this name to restore the magic splendor of that
period. Numberless agents swarmed through the country, and
pamphlets and hand-bills passed from house to house and from
hand to hand, to make known the message of the nephew and
successor of the great Napoleon, who stood ready to restore all
the old magnificent grandeur. Even the barrel-organ was
pressed into the service of that agitation to accompany songs
about the Emperor and his nephew in the taverns and the mar
ket-places of the country. The more intelligent populations of
the cities did indeed not reverence the Napoleonic legend with
the same naive devotion; but that legend had, even before the
nephew began his career as a pretender, been nourished in a
[362]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
hardly less effective manner. Beranger's songs and Thiers'
"History of the Consulate and the Empire" had stimulated
the Napoleonic cult, and even the government of Louis PhUippe
had paid its homage to it, by transporting Napoleon's remains
with great pomp from St. Helena to the Church of the Inval-
ides. The field so prepared was incessantly tiUed by Louis Napo
leon, while he stood as president at the head of the executive
power. As the barrel-organ did service in the country dis
tricts, the theater was made to serve in the cities. I remember
a spectacular drama, which was produced on one of the Fau
bourg stages with great pomp and starthng realism. It was
called " La Barriere de Clichy," and represented the campaign
of 1814, the exile of Napoleon on the Isle of Elba, and his re
turn to France in 1815. Napoleon appeared on the boards in
an exceUent mask, on foot and on horseback, and all the en
gagements of that campaign in which he was successful passed
before the eyes of the multitude ; the French infantry, cavalry,
and artillery in the historic unifornis of the Empire; the ene
mies, Prussians and Russians, barbarous-looking feUows, un
couth and rude, and constantly running away from French
heroism. Bliicher appeared in person as a boisterous barbarian,
indulging in the most horrible blackguardism, constantly smok
ing a short pipe, blowing forth tremendous clouds of smoke,
and incessantly spitting around him. The enemies were regu
larly defeated, so that it was difficult for the impartial beholder
to understand why Napoleon, after aU these splendid victories,
succumbed, and was forced to go into exile. At any rate, he
soon returned amid the enthusiastic acclamation of the people.
The army went over to him promptly, and this piece concluded
with his triumphal entry into Grenoble. The public a^jplauded
with enthusiasm, and the cry of " Vive I'Empereur " was heard,
not only on the stage, but not seldom also in the galleries, in
[363]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
the parterre, and in the boxes. Thus the city populations were
being labored upon.
The so-called " Prince-President " sought to win the army
by appearing at parades and maneuvers in a general's uni
form, by showing the soldiers all possible favors, and by
drawing to himself the most adventurous spirits among the
officers. In the spring of 1851 he began also to prepare the
prospective battlefield of the intended " coup d'etat." The
bourgeois of Paris were made to apprehend that the city was
full of the most dangerous elements from which every moment
an attempt at a complete subversion of the social order was
to be feared; that " society " was in imminent danger and must
be " saved." The " Prince-President," so the word went forth,
was ready to undertake that work of salvation, but the parlia
mentary power sought to bind his hands. However, he was
doing what he could, and would first undertake to deliver
Paris of the dangerous characters infesting it. One of the
measures taken to that end consisted in the driving away from
the city aU foreigners who might be suspected of an inclination
to take part in forcible resistance to the intended " coup
d'etat," and in that category I too was counted,
A police agent, who described the threatening dangers in
a pamphlet written for the purpose of terrifying the timid
bourgeois, called me an especially daring revolutionist, who in
his old fatherland had already committed the most frightful
outrages. To illustrate this, he narrated the liberation of Kin
kel, describing him with the most fabulous fabrications as
an uncommonly detestable criminal. To these circumstances
I owed my arrest and my exile from France, in spite of
my modest and retired conduct during my stay there. It is
indeed not at all improbable that if I had been in Paris
at the time of the coup d'etat I should have seen in the
popular resistance to the Napoleonic usurpation the decisive
[364]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
struggle for and against liberty in Europe, and I might have
taken up the musket and fought with the republicans on the
barricades on the 2d of December, So it may be, that, if it
had otherwise been my intention to remain in Paris, the police
saved me from participating in a hopeless enterprise, and possi
bly from a miserable end.
The last weeks of my sojourn in Paris were devoted to
visits to galleries, museums, and interesting architectures, and
to merry conviviality with my friends. To one of them, a
young Frenchman from Provence who had studied medi
cine in Paris, my departure was especially hard, I had
made his acquaintance as one of the lodgers of the Petit house,
and I mention him because he furnished a remarkable ex
ample of the effect of German philosophy upon a French
brain, which I would not have deemed possible had I not
personaUy witnessed it. Soon after we had become acquainted
he attached himself to me and to several others among my
German friends, and as he was a modest, agreeable, and able
young man taking life seriously, we reciprocated his friendly
feelings. He loved Germans, so he said, because they were
the nation of thinkers. He had made the acquaintance of some
products of German literature in translations, and tried to
possess himself of the language, mainly for the purpose of
studying the works of German philosophers; but he seemed
to find it very difficult. Thus he had to content himself with
French renderings of German philosophical works, and he
frequently came to us for the explanation of phrases which he
did not understand. Sometimes we could give him such ex
planations, but many of the dark expressions we did not un
derstand ourselves. Suddenly we became aware that our young
Proven9al, whose conduct of hfe had always been very regular
and irreproachable, visited the German beerhouses, of which
there were a great many in Paris, and drank heavily. This went
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THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
SO far that one day Mme, Petit and her daughters asked me
to visit him in his room, as he had come home the night before
much intoxicated, and was now, it seemed, seriously ailing, I
complied with this request at once and found my friend in that
condition which at the German university is designated as a
deep " Katzenjammer," The young man confessed to me that
he was heartily ashamed of his behavior, but he thought if
I knew the cause of it I would not think so ill of him. Then
he told me, with great gravity, that he had for some time
tried to study the German philosopher Hegel, and he had
found in his works many things that had tormented him with
doubts as to the soundness of his own mind. Therefore he had
tried to amuse himself, and as the Germans, of whom he be
lieved that Hegel's philosophical works were their favorite
reading, liked to drink beer, he had also made an effort to
facilitate the Hegel studies by accustoming himself to the same
beverage. The good boy talked so seriously and so honestly
that I refrained from laughing, and assured him with equal
seriousness that many a German, too, had nearly become in
sane in studying Hegel, and that the drinking of beer did not
help them. Now, if Hegel, in the German language, produced
such effects upon German heads, what effect could be expected
upon my friend of a French decoction of Hegel? This seemed
to quiet my good Proven9al very much, I advised him now
to give up Hegel, as well as the excessive drinking of beer, and
to devote hunself again to the study of medicine, like the weU-
behaved, serious, and dUigent man he had been before. He
promised this, and he did it really; and on the day of my fare
weU from Paris we took leave of one another with the sincerest
regret. As this story may seem somewhat extravagant and im
probable, I cannot refrain from concluding it with the assur
ance that it is literally true,
[366]

CHAPTER XIII
About the mldle of June I arrived in London. Kinkel had
already selected rooms for me on St. John's Wood Terrace, not
far from his house, and he had also found pupils for me to
whom I was to give lessons in the German language and in
music, the proceeds of which would be more than sufficient
to cover my modest wants. The weU-known paradox that you
can have more in London for a shilling and less for a pound,
than anywhere else, that is to say, that you can live very cheaply
and comparatively well in modest circumstances, while life on
a grand scale is very expensive, was at that time as well founded
as imdoubtedly it stiU is. I could have found a great many
more pupils if I had been able to speak English. But, strange
as this appeared to myself in later life, my musical ear still
rebeUed against the sound of the English language, and could
not conquer its repugnance. The pecuhar charm of its cadence
I began to appreciate only as I learned to speak it with fluency.
In the social circles to which I was admitted, and of which I
shaU say something later, German and French were sufficient.
In teaching German to others the Princess De Beaufort's
method in teaching me French proved of great use to me.
Some of my pupUs took a very lively interest in old Ger
man literature, and requested me to read with them the
Nibelungenhed; and, as not seldom happens, in my role of
teacher I learned more of the subject I had to teach than I
had known before, and than I would have learned otherwise.
I taught and learned with real enthusiasm, for— I may per-
[367]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUKZ;
mit myself here to remark, by the way— the Nibelungenhed is,
in my opinion, certainly not in elegance of diction, but surely
in dramatic architecture, the grandest and most powerful epic
presented by any medieval or modern literature.
In my social intercourse, the Kinkel family occupied nat
urally the first place. Their house was small, and modestly
furnished. But in this house dwelled happiness. Kinkel had
regained the whole cheerful elasticity of his being. His hair
and beard were, to be sure, touched with gray, but the morbid
pallor which his imprisonment had imparted to his face had
yielded to the old fresh and healthy hue. With cheerful cour
age he had undertaken the task of founding for his family in
a foreign country a comfortable existence, and his efforts were
crowned with success. To the private lessons he gave were
added lectures and other engagements at educational institu
tions. During the first months he had earned enough to give his
wife an Erard grand piano, and Frau Kinkel won in a large
social circle an excellent reputation as a teacher of music. The
four chUdren promised well as they grew up. There could have
been nothing more pleasant and instructive than to see Frau
Kinkel occupied with the education of her two boys and two
girls. They not only began to play on the piano as soon as they
were physically able, but they also sang with perfect purity
of tone and naive expession, quartets composed by their mother
especially for them.
The joy I felt when I observed the new life of this family
I cannot well describe. I learned to understand and appreciate
one great truth: there is no purer or more beautiful happiness
in this world than the consciousness of having contributed some
thing toward the happiness of those one loves, without de
manding any other reward than this consciousness.
The gratitude of Kinkel and his wife was so sincere and
[368]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
untiring that it frequently embarrassed me. They constantly
were looking for something that they could do to please me. At
the time when I was thinking of settling down in I^ondon it ,
was hard work for me to induce them to accept my declination
when they uttered the wish that I should live in their house.
Now I had at least to consent to their pressing proposition that
my youngest sister should come over from Germany to be
educated in their home, like a child of the family. This turned
out happily, as my sister was also blessed with that cheerful
Rhenish temperament that radiates sunshine. Then Frau Kin
kel insisted upon giving me further lessons upon the piano, and
I resumed my musical studies with renewed zest. My teacher
taught me fully to appreciate Beethoven, Schubert, and Schu
mann, and conducted me through the enchanted gardens of
Chopin, But more than that, she familiarized me with the rules
and spirit of thorough-bass and thereby opened to me a knowl
edge which in the course of time I learned to value as an
enrichment of musical enjoyment. Then she put at my dis
posal her Erard grand piano, which was reverenced in the
family like a sacred thing, and upon which, aside from herself,
I was the only one privileged to practice and to improvise, al
though there was, for such things, another instrument of less
value in the house.
The Kinkels, naturally, introduced me also in the social
circles which were open to them. Of course my ignorance of
the English language I felt as a great drawback. But I
had the good fortune of establishing relations of something
like friendship with several English families in which German
or French was spoken. There I learned to understand how
much sincere warmth of feeling there may be hidden in Eng
lish men and women who often appear cold, stiff and formal. I
was soon made to feel that every word of friendly sympathy
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THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHuRZ
addressed to me, and every invitation to more intimate inter
courses-words which with other people pass as mere superficial
expressions of pohteness — was to be taken as perfectly honest
and seriously meant. Theirs was true hospitality, without pre
tension and without reserve, in which one breathed the atmos
phere of assured confidence. I have also not infrequently been
surprised in such friendly intercourse with persons who at first
acquaintance seemed to be rather dull, by the reach of thought,
the treasures of knowledge, the variety of experiences, and the
comprehensive views of life and of the world, which came forth
in familiar talks.
At that period, the German language was much in fashion
in England, probably owing to the circumstance that the
popularity of Prince Albert, whose merit as the patron of
the great International Exposition of 1851 was universally
recognized, had reached its highest point. It had become a
widespread custom to sing German songs at evening parties
and the German " Volkslieder," seemed to be especial favorites.
I could not but be amused when in great company a blushing
miss was solemnly conducted to the piano " to give us a sweet
German folk song," and she then, in slow time and in a tone
of profound melancholy, which might have indicated a case
of death in the family, sang the merry German tune, " Wenn i'
komm, wenn i' komm, wiederum komm," etc., etc.
In later years I have often regretted that at that time I
did not take more interest in the political life of England and
did not seek acquaintances in political circles. But even without
this, I received a deep impression of the country and the people.
How different was the restless commotion in the streets of
London in its mighty seriousness and its colossal motive power,
from the gay, more or less artistically elegant, but more than
half frivolous activity that entertains the visitor on the streets
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
of Paris ; and how different from the half military, half philis
tine appearance presented by Berlin, which at that time had
not yet become a world city! How well justified, how natural,
appeared to me the national pride of the Briton, when in West
minster Hall I beheld the statues and busts, and in the Abbey
the tombs of the great Englishmen, which stood there as monu
ments of mighty thoughts and deeds! How firmly founded
appeared to me the free institutions of the people to whom civil
liberty was not a mere phrase, a passing whim, or a toy, but a
life-principle, the reality of which the citizen needed for his
daily work, and that lived in the thoughts and aspirations of
every Englishman as something that is a matter of course! I
saw enough of the country and of the people to feel all this,
although we refugees in London lived separate lives as on an
island of our own in a great surrounding sea of humanity.
A large number of refugees from ahnost all parts of the
European continent had gathered in London since the year
1848, but the intercourse between the different national groups
— Germans, Frenchmen, Italians, Hungarians, Poles, Rus
sians — was confined more or less to the prominent personages.
All, however, in common nourished the confident hope of a
revolutionary upturning on the continent soon to come. Among
the Germans there were only a few who shared this hope in
a less degree. Perhaps the ablest and most important person
among these was Lothar Bucher, a quiet, retiring man of great
capacity and acquirements, who occupied himself with serious
political studies, and whom I was to meet again in later life
as Bismarck's most confidential privy-councilor. In London,
as in Switzerland, the refugees zealously discussed the ques
tion to whom should belong the leadership in the coming revo
lution. Of course this oversanguine conception of things gave
rise to all sorts of jealousies, as wiU always happen among
[ 371 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
people similarly situated, and the refugees therefore divided
into parties which at times antagonized one another with con
siderable bitterness.
When Kinkel arrived in London he occupied, naturally, a
very prominent position among the refugees and became, so
to speak, the head of a large following. But he also had his
opponents who would recognize in him only a poet, a learned
man and a pohtical dreamer, but not a " practical revolution
ist " fit to be a real leader in a great struggle. Many of these
opponents gathered, strange to say, around Arnold Ruge, a
venerable and widely known philosopher and writer, to whom
the name of a mere learned man and political dreamer might
have been applied even more justly. Then there were groups of
socialistic workingmen who partly gathered around Karl Marx
and partly around August Willich ; and finally, many neutrals,
who did not trouble themselves about such party bickerings,
but went individually each his own way,
Kinkel certainly was not free from ambition, nor from
illusory hopes of a speedy change in the Fatherland, But his
first and most natural aim was to make a living for his family
in London, This claimed his activity so much that he could
not, to so great an extent as he might have wished, take part
in the doings of the refugees, a great many of whom had no
regular occupation. Neither was it possible for him to keep
open house for his political friends and to put his working
hours at their disposal, and to make the home of his family the
meeting place of a debating club for the constant repetition of
things that had been told many times before.
Kinkel was therefore reproached with giving to the cause
of the revolution too little, and to his family interests too much
of his time and care, and it was said that he was all the more to
blame, as he owed his liberation in a high degree to the helpful-
[372]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
ness of his democratic friends. However unjust such a re
proach, it touched Kinkel deeply. He was in this state of mind
when a scheme was proposed to him, characteristic of the fever
ish imagination of the political exiles. The scheme was to raise
a " German National Loan," of I do not remember how many
mUhon thalers, to be redeemed at a certain time after the
estabhshment of the German Republic. The money thus raised
was to be at the disposal of a central committee to be expended
in Gtermany for revolutionary ends. To expedite the levying
of that national loan Kinkel was to go to America without
delay, and by means of public agitation, in which his personal
popularity and eminent oratorical gifts were expected to prove
highly effective, induce the Germans living in America, and
also, if possible, native Americans, too, to make liberal contribu
tions. In the meantime some of his friends were, through
personal efforts, to win the assent of other prominent refugees
to this plan, and thus, if possible, to unite all refugeedom in
one organization. But Kinkel was to leave for America forth
with without exposing the project to the chance of further con
sultation, so that the refugees, who otherwise might have
doubted or criticised the plan, would have to deal with it as
an accomphshed fact.
In later years it must have appeared to Kinkel himself as
rather strange, if not comical, that he could ever have believed
in the success of such a plan. At any rate this project was one
of the most striking illustrations of the self-deception of the
pohtical exUes. But there can hardly be any doubt that the
reproaches directed against Kinkel, as to his giving more care
to the weU-being of his family than to the revolutionary cause,
and as to his owing a debt of gratitude to one of his friends in
further efforts for the revolutionary movement, was to him one
of the principal motives for accepting this plan without hesita-
[373 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
tion. Only a few days after the matter had been resolved upon
in a confidential circle Kinkel broke off his activity as a teacher
in London — a very great sacrifice for him thus to expose his
family to new hazards — and departed for America. I, being
still quite young and inexperienced, was sanguine enough to
consider the success of such an undertaking possible, and went
into it with zeal. I was considered capable of doing some dip
lomatic service and therefore charged with the task of trav
eling to Switzerland in order to win the assent of the promi
nent refugees living there, and so to prepare the foundation
for a general organization. This task I assumed with pleasure,
and on the way paid a visit to Paris, of which I did not, how
ever, advise the polite prefect of police, and soon met my old
friends in Ziirich.
For these, I had become, because of the liberation of
Kinkel, an entirely new person since my departure a year be
fore. They now attributed to me a great deal more insight and
skill than I possessed, and my diplomatic mission, therefore,
met with but little difficulty — that is to say, the prominent refu
gees, in the expectation that a national loan would, through
Kinkel's agitations in Americaj turn out a great success, readily
declared their willingness to join the proposed movement.
The most important man, and at the same time the most
stubborn doubter, I found there, was Loewe von Calbe, As the
last president of the German National Parliament he had gone
in the spring of 1849 with the remnant of that assembly from
Frankfurt to Stuttgart and there he had, arm in arm with the
old poet Uhland, led the procession of his colleagues to a new
meeting place, when it was dispersed by a force of Wiirtemberg
cavalry. He was a physician by profession, and had acquired
a large treasure of knowledge in various directions by extensive
studies. He made the impression of a very calm, methodical
[374 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
thinker, who also possessed the courage of bold action. There
was something of well-conditioned ease in his deportment, and
when the sturdy, somewhat corpulent man sat down, looked at
the listener with his uncommonly shrewd eyes, and then ex
posed his own opinion in well-formed, clear sentences, pro
nounced in slow and precise cadence, he made the impression of
authority, the very presence of which was apt to convince, even
before the argument had been conducted to its last conclusions.
Loewe was not nearly as sanguine as most of us with regard to
the possibility of a speedy change of things in Germany, al
though even he was not entirely untouched by the current illu
sions of the exiles' life. He expressed to me his doubts as to
the chances of the projected national loan; but as he did not al
together repel the plan, and as I was anxious to win him for
this enterprise by further conversations about it, I accompanied
him on a tramp through the " Berner Oberland."
Until then I had seen the snowy heads of the Alps only
from afar. Now for the first time I came near to them and,
so to speak, sat down at their feet. We walked from Bern to
Interlaken and then by way of Lauterbrunnen and the Wen-
gern Alp to Grindelwald; then we ascended the Faulhorn,
and finally turned to the lakes by way of the Scheideck. We
stopped at the most beautiful points long enough to see the
fmest part of this range. Of all the wonderful things that I
saw, the deepest impression was produced upon me not by the
vast panoramas, as from the top of the Faulhorn, where large
groups and chains of the Alps are embraced in one view, but it
was the single mountain peak reaching up into the blue sunny
ether from a bank of clouds that separated it from the nether
world, and standing there as something distinct and individual.
It was the image of the eternally firm, unchangeable, cer
tain, looking down as from a throne in serene sunhght upon
[375]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHURZ
the eternally unstable and untrustworthy. This picture became
especially impressive when behind a veil of cloud the dull mys
terious thunder of the plunging avalanches was heard. As we
were favored by constantly beautiful weather I enjoyed this '
spectacle frequently and always with a feeling that I cannot
designate otherwise than devotional.
I was so deeply touched by all this magnificence that I
envied every peasant who could spend his life in such surround
ings. But my enthusiasm was sobered by an enlightening experi
ence. On the village street of Grindelwald I noticed one day a
man of an intelligent face, who was saluted by the children
playing on the street, with especial interest. From his appear
ance I concluded that he must be the schoolmaster of the village,
and I was not mistaken. I stopped and asked him for some in
formation about local conditions, and found him amiably com
municative. He told me that in the Valley of Grindelwald, a
valley covering hardly more than four or five square miles,
there were people who had never passed its boundaries. The ,
whole world as seen by them was therefore enclosed by the
Schreckhorn, Monch, Eiger, Jungfrau and Faulhorn. In
my enthusiasm I remarked that the constant sight of so mag
nificent a landscape might perhaps satisfy the taste of any man.
The schoolmaster smiled and said that the ordinary peasant was
probably least conscious of this grand beauty. He saw, in the
phenomena of nature which he observed, rather that which
was to him advantageous or disadvantageous, encouraging
or troublesome, or even threatening. The cloud formations,
which caused us a variety of sensations and emotions, sig
nified to him only good or bad weather; the thunder of
the avalanches reminded him only that under certain cir
cumstances they might do a great deal of damage; he saw
in the fury of the mountain hurricane, not a grand spectacle,
[ 376 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
but destructive hail storms and the danger of inundations,
and so on.
I asked the schoolmaster whether it was not true what
we frequently heard of the famous Swiss' homesickness, that
those born and reared in these mountains could not be satisfied
or happy elsewhere, and if forced to live in foreign parts, were
consumed by a morbid longing for their mountain home. The
schoolmaster smiled again and thought such cases of homesick
ness did occur among the Swiss, but not in larger number nor
with greater force than with the inhabitants of other regions.
Everywhere he supposed there might be people that adhere to
the habits and conditions of life of their homes with a warm
and even morbid attachment. But he knew also of a large num
ber of Swiss who in foreign countries, even on the flat prairies
of America, had settled down and felt themselves well satisfied
there, " Am I to understand from you," I asked, " that as a rule
the Swiss himself does not appreciate the beauty of his
country?" "No, not that," answered the schoolmaster; "the more
educated people know everywhere how to appreciate the beau
tiful because of its beauty; but the laboring man, who here is
always engaged in a struggle with nature, must be told that
the things which are to him so often troublesome and dis
agreeable, are also grand and beautiful. When his thought has
once been directed to that idea, he will more and more famil
iarize himself with it, and the Swiss," added the schoolmaster
with a sly smile, " also the uneducated Swiss, have now learned
to appreciate the beauty of their country very highly,"
This sounded to me at first like a very prosaic philosophy,
but as I thought about it, I concluded that the schoolmaster was
right. The perception of natural beauty is not primitive,
[377]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
but the result of education, of culture. Naive people sel
dom possess it or at least do not express it. The aspects of
nature, mountain, vaUey, forest, desert, river, sea, sunshine,
storm, etc, etc, are to them either beneficent, helpful, or dis
agreeable, troublesome, terrible. It is a significant fact that in
Homer with all the richness of his pictures there is no descrip
tion of a landscape or of a natural phenomenon from the point
of view of the beautiful. We remark the same in the primitive
literature of other countries. In the same spirit spoke the
farmer from one of the flat prairies of the west of America, who
once traveled on a steamboat on the magnificent Hudson, and
when he heard an enthusiastic fellow-traveler exclaim, " How
beautiful these highlands are," answered dryly, " It may be a
pretty good country, but it's a little too broken."
My diplomatic mission in Switzerland was quickly accom
phshed. I soon had the assent of almost aU the prominent exiles
to the plan of the national loan and I thought I had done a good
service to the cause of liberty. Then I returned to London.
Frau Kinkel asked me to live in her house during the absence
of her husband, and I complied with her wish, but life in that
house was no longer as cheerful as before Kinkel's departure.
I then felt how great the sacrifice was that Kinkel had made
by undertaking the mission to America. Frau Johanna had
seen him go with sadness and anxiety. She could not be blamed
for thinking that the burden imposed upon her by the political
friends was all too heavy. She accepted her lot, but not without
serious dejection. Her health began to suffer, and conditions of
nervousness appeared, and it is probable that then the begin
ning of that heart disease developed which a few years later
brought her to an early grave. The news which we received from
Kinkel, was indeed, as far as he himself was concerned, very
satisfactory ; but it did not suffice to cheer the darkened soul of
[378]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
the lonely woman, however heroically she tried to seek courage
in her patriotic impulses and hopes.
Kinkel had much to tell in his letters of the cordiality with
which the Germans in America had welcomed him. Wherever
he appeared his countrymen gathered in large numbers to listen
to the charm of his eloquence. As he traveled from city to
city one festive welcome followed another. The enthusiasm of
the mass meetings left nothing to be desired. Although Kinkel
at that period spoke English with some difficulty, he was obliged
to make little speeches in that tongue, when native Americans
took part in the honors offered to him. So he visited all the
important places in the United States, north, south, east, and
west. He also paid his respects to President Filhnore and was
received with great kindness. These happenings he described
with bubbling humor in his letters, which breathed a keen
enjoyment of his experiences, as well as a warm interest in
the new country. In short, his journey was successful in all
respects, except in that of the German National Loan. Indeed,
committees were organized everywhere for the collection of
money and for the distribution of loan certificates; but the
contributions finally amounted only to a few thousand dollars,
a small sum with which no great enterprise could be set on foot.
Kossuth, who visited the United States a few months later for
a similar purpose, and who enjoyed a greater prestige, and was
received with much more pomp, had the same experience. And
it was really a fortunate circumstance that these revolutionary
loans miscarried. Even with much larger sums hardly anything
could have been done but to organize hopeless conspiracies and
to lead numbers of patriotic persons into embarrassment and
calamity without rendering any valuable service to the cause of
liberty. At that time, however, we thought otherwise. Emissaries
[379]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
were sent to Germany to investigate conditions there and to
build up the revolutionary organization — that is to say, to
find people who lived in the same illusions as the exiles,, and
to put these in correspondence with the London Committee
preparatory to common action. Some of these emissaries ex
posed themselves to great dangers in traveling from place to
place, and most of them returned with the report that there
was general discontent in Germany and that an important dis
turbance might soon be lookqd for. That there was much dis
content in Germany was undoubtedly true. But of those who
really dreamed of another general uprising there were only a
few. The revolutionary fires had burned out; but the exile was
so unwUling to accept this truth as to be inchned to look upon
everybody that expressed it as a suspicious person. He there
fore worked steadily on.
At that time I was favored by what I considered a mark
of great distinction. One day I received a letter from Maz-
zini, written in his own hand, in which he invited me to visit
him. He gave me the address of one of his confidential friends
who would guide me to him. His own address he kept secret,
for the reason, as was generally believed, that he desired to
baffle the espionage of monarchical governments. That the
great Italian patriot should invite me, a young and insig
nificant person, and so take me into his confidence, I felt
to be an extraordinary distinction, Mazzini was looked upon
in revolutionary circles, especially by us young people, as
the dictatorial head of numberless secret leagues, as a sort
of mysterious power which not only in Italy, but in all Europe,
was felt and feared. Wonderful stories were told of his secret
journeys in countries in which there was a price on his head;
of his sudden, almost miraculous, apearance among his faith
ful followers here and there; of his equally miraculous disap-
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
pearance, as if the earth had swallowed him; and of the un-
equaled skill with which he possessed himself of the secrets
of the governments, while he knew how to conceal his own
plans and acts. By us young men he was regarded as the em
bodied genius of revolutionary action, and we looked up to his
mysterious greatness with a sort of reverential awe. I therefore
felt, when I was called into his presence, as if I were to enter
the workshop of the master magician.
The confidential friend designated by Mazzini conducted
me to the dwelling of the great leader, situated in an unfash
ionable street. In the vicinity of his house we met several
black-eyed, bearded young men, manifestly Italians, who
seemed to patrol the neighborhood. I found Mazzini in an
extremely modest little apartment, which served at the same
time as drawing room and office. In the middle of the room
there was a writing table covered with an apparently confused
heap of papers. Little models of guns and mortars served for
paper weights; a few chairs, and, if I remember correctly, a
hair-cloth sofa, completed the furniture. The room as a whole
made the impression of extreme economy.
Mazzini was seated at the writing table when I entered,
and, rising, he offered me his hand. He was a slender man of
medium stature, clad in a black suit. His coat was buttoned
up to the throat, around which he wore a black silk scarf, with
out any show of linen. His face was of regular, if not classic,
cut, the lower part covered with a short, black beard, streaked
with gray. The dark eyes glowed with restless fire; his dome-
hke forehead topped with thin, smooth, dark hair. In speak
ing, the mouth showed a fuU, but somewhat dark row of teeth.
His whole appearance was that of a serious and important
man. Soon I felt myself under the charm of a personahty of
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THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
Our conversation was carried on in French, which Mazzini
spoke with perfect ease, although with some of the accent pecu
liar to the Italians. He was constantly smoking while he spoke.
He developed even in this confidential conversation between
two men an eloquence such as in my long life I have hardly
ever heard again — warm, insinuating, at times vehement, en
thusiastic, lofty, and always thoroughly natural. The three
greatest conversationalists with whom it has been my good for
tune to come into touch were Mazzini, Dr, Oliver WendeU
Holmes and Bismarck, Of these Dr, Holmes was the most
spirited in the " bel esprit " sense ; Bismarck the most impos
ing and at the same time the most entertaining in point of wit,
sarcasm, anecdote, and narratives of historical interest, brought
out with rushing vivacity and with lightning-like illumination
of conditions, facts and men. But in Mazzini's words there
breathed such a warmth and depth of conviction, such enthu
siasm of faith in the sacredness of the principles he professed,
and of the aims he pursued, that it was difficult to resist such a
power of fascination. While looking at him and hearing him
speak I could well understand how he could hold and constantly
augment the host of his faithful adherents, how he could lead
them into the most dangerous enterprises and keep them under
his infiuence even after the severest disappointments.
Mazzini had undoubtedly given up, if not formally,
yet in fact, his membership in his church. But there was
in him, and there spoke out of him, a deep religious feel
ing, an instinctive reliance upon a higher Power to which he
could turn and which would aid him in the liberation and uni
fication of his people. That was his form of the fatalism
so often united vrith great ambitions. He had a trait of pro
phetic mysticism which sprung from the depths of his convic
tions and emotions, and was free of aU charlatanism, and all
[382]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
affectation, all artificial solemnity. At least that was the im
pression made upon me. I never observed in him any sugges
tion of cynicism in his judgment of men and things— that
cynicism in which many revolutionary characters pleased them
selves. The petty and usuaUy ridiculous rivalries among the
leaders of the exiles did not seem to touch him; and discord and
quarrehng among those who should have stood and worked to
gether, instead of eliciting sharp and offensive criticism on his
part, only called from him expressions of sincere and painful
regret. The revolution he aimed at was not merely the attain
ment of certain popular rights, not a mere change in the consti
tution of the state, not the mere liberation of his countrymen
from foreign rule, not the mere reunion of aU Italy in a national
bond; it rather signified to him the elevation of the liberated
people to higher moral aims of life. There vibrated a truthful
and noble tone in his conception of human relations, in the mod
est self-denying simplicity of his character and his life, in the
unbounded self-sacrifice and self-denial which he imposed upon
himself and demanded of others. Since 1839 he had passed a
large part of his life as an exile in London, and in the course
of this time he had established relations of intimate friendship
with some English families. It was undoubtedly owing to the
genuineness of his sentiments, the noble simplicity of his nature,
and his unselfish devotion to his cause, not less than to his
brilliant personal qualities, that in some of those families a
real Mazzini-cult had developed which sometimes showed itself
capable of great sacrifices.
The historic traditions of his people, as well as the circum
stance that to the end of liberating his fatherland he had to
fight against foreign rule, made him a professional conspirator.
As a young man he had belonged to the " Carbonari," and then
there f oUowed — instigated and conducted by him — one conspir-
[383]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
acy upon another, resulting in insurrectionary attempts which
always faUed. But these failures did not discourage him; they
rather stimulated his zeal to new efforts. In the course of our
conversation he gave me to understand that he had preparations
going on for a new enterprise in upper Italy, and as he probably
considered me a person of influence in that part of German
refugeedom which would control the disposition of our pros
pective national loan, he wished to know whether we would
be inclined to support his undertaking with our money. At
any rate, he evidently desired to create among us a dis
position favorable to such cooperation. He no doubt took
me for a more influential person than I was. I could only
promise him to discuss the matter with Kinkel and his asso
ciates, after his return from America, But I did not con
ceal from Mazzini that I doubted whether the responsible
German leaders would consider themselves justified in using
moneys which had been collected for employment in their
own country for the furtherance of revolutionary uprisings
in Italy. This remark gave Mazzini an opportunity for some
eloquent sentiments about the solidarity of peoples in their
struggle for liberty and national existence. At that time neither
of us knew yet how small would be the result of the agitation
for a German national loan.
I was honored with another meeting that has remained to
me hardly less memorable. In October, 1851, Louis Kossuth
came to England. After the breakdown of the Hungarian
revolution he had fled across the Turkish frontier. His remain
ing on Turkish soil was considered objectionable by the Aus
trian government, and unsafe by his friends. The Sultan, in
deed, refused his extradition. But when the repubhc of the
United States of America, in general sympathy with the unfor
tunate Hungarian patriots, offered them an American ship-of-
[384]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
war for their transportation to the United States that offer was
unhesitatingly accepted. But Kossuth did not intend to emi
grate to America for the purpose of estabhshing there his per
manent residence. He was far from considering his mission as
ended and the defeat of his cause as irretrievable. He, too, with
the sanguine temperament of the exile, dreamed of the possi
bility of inducing the liberal part of the old and also of the new
world to take up arms against the oppressors of Hungary, or
at least to aid his country by diplomatic interference. And,
indeed, could this have been accomplished by a mere appeal to
the emotions and the imagination, Kossuth would have been the
man to achieve it. Of all the events of the years 1848 and 1849,
the heroic struggle of the Hungarians for their national inde
pendence had excited the liveliest sympathy in other countries.
The brave generals, who for a time went from victory to victory
and then succumbed to the overwhelming power of the Russian
intervention, appeared like the champions of a heroic legend,
and among and above them stood the figure of Kossuth like
that of a prophet whose burning words kindled and kept
alive the fire of patriotism in the hearts of his people. There
was everything of heroism and tragic misfortune to make this
epic grand and touching, and the whole romance of the revolu
tionary time found in Kossuth's person its most attractive em
bodiment. The sonorous notes of his eloquence had, during the
struggle, been heard far beyond the boundaries of Hungary
in the outside world. Not a few of his lofty sentences, his poetic
iUustrations and his thrilling appeals had passed from mouth to
mouth among us young people at the G^erman universities.
And his picture, with thoughtful forehead, the dreamy eyes
and his strong, beard-framed chin, became everywhere an ob
ject of admiring reverence.
When now, delaying his journey to America, he arrived
[385]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
in London the enthusiasm of the English people seemed to
know no bounds. His entry was hke that of a national hero
returning from a victorious campaign. The multitudes crowd
ing the streets were immense. He appeared, in his picturesque
LIungarian garb, standing upright in his carriage, with his
saber at his side, and surrounded by an equally picturesque' reti
nue. But when he began to speak, and his voice, with its reson
ant and at the same time mellow sound, poured forth its har
mony over the heads of the throngs in classic Enghsh, deriving
a peculiar charm from the soft tinge of foreign accent, then
the enthusiasm of the listeners mocked aU description.
Kossuth had been offered the hospitality of the house of
a private citizen of London who took an especial interest in
the Hungarian cause; and there during his sojourn in the Brit
ish capital he received his admirers and friends. A kind of
court surrounded him; his companions, always in their Hun-
;garian national dress, maintained in a ceremonious way his
i pretension of his still being the rightful governor of Hungary.
,He granted audiences like a prince, and when he entered the
room he was announced by an aide-de-camp as "the Gov
ernor." AU persons rose and Kossuth saluted them with grave
solemnity. Among the exiles of other nations these somewhat
undemocratic formalities created no little displeasure. But it
was Kossuth's intention to produce certain effects upon public
opinion, not in his own, but in his people's behalf, and as to that
end it may have seemed to him necessary to impress upon the
imagination of the Enghshmen the picture of Hungary under
her own Governor, and also to illustrate to them the firm faith
of the Hungarians themselves in the justice of their cause, it
was not improper that he used such picturesque displays as
means for the accomplishment of his purpose.
Our organization of German refugees also sent a deputa-
[ 386 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
tion to Kossuth to pay their respects, and of that deputation I
was one. We were ushered into the reception-room in the cus
tomary way and there salutued by aides-de-camp with much
gold lace on their coats — handsome fellows, with fine black
mustaches and splendid white teeth. At last Kossuth appeared.
It was the first time that I came near to him. The speaker of our
deputation introduced us each by name, and as mine was called
Kossuth reached out his hand to me and said in German: " I
know you. You have done a noble deed. I am rejoiced to take
your hand." I was so embarrassed that I could not say any
thing in response. But it was, after all, a proud moment. A
short conversation followed, in which I took but small part. A
member of our deputation spoke of the socialistic tendencies of
the new revolutionary agitation. I remember distinctly what
Kossuth answered. It was to this effect: " I know nothing of
sociahsm. I have never occupied myself with it. My aim is to
secure for the Hungarian people national independence and
free political institutions. When that is done my task wiU have
been performed."
On public occasions, wherever Kossuth put forth his whole
eloquence to inflame the enthusiasm of Enghshmen for the
Hungarian cause, his hearers always rewarded him with frantic
applause; but his efforts to induce the British government to
take active steps against Russia and Austria in behalf of Hun
gary could not escape sober criticism, and all his attempts to
get the ear of official circles and to come into confidential touch
with the Pahnerston ministry came to nothing. In fact, the
same experience awaited him in the United States: great en
thusiasm for his person and for the heroic struggles of his peo
ple, but then sober consideration of the traditional policy of the
United States, and an unwillingness to abandon that traditional
pohcy by active intervention in the affairs of the old world.
[387 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
Before Kossuth began his agitation in America, Kinkel
had returned from there. He had much to tell of the new world
that was good and beautiful, although he was obliged to con
fess to himself that the practical result of his mission was
discouragingly trifling. With robust energy he resumed his
interrupted activity as a teacher, and with him the old sunshine
returned to the Kinkel home.

[388]

CHAPTER XIV
IN the autumn of 1851 the refugees in London, especially the
Germans, found a common meeting-place in the drawing-room
of a born aristocrat, the Baroness von Briining, nee Princess
Lieven, from one of the German provinces of Russia. She
was then a little more than thirty years old ; not exactly beauti
ful, but of an open, agreeable, winning expression of face, fine
manners and a stimulating gift of conversation. How, with
her aristocratic birth and social position, she had dropped into
the democratic current I do not know. Probably the reports of
the struggles for liberty in Western Europe, which crossed the
Russian frontier, had inflamed her imagination, and her viva
cious nature had indulged itself in incautious utterances against
the despotic rule of the Emperor Nicholas, In short, she found
hfe in Russia intolerable, or, may be, she was in danger of
arrest had she not left her native country. For some time she
lived in Germany and in Switzerland, and there became ac
quainted with various liberal leaders. She had also corresponded
with Frau Kinkel and contributed a portion of the money
which was employed in Kinkel's liberation. But on the Euro
pean continent she beheved herself constantly pursued by Rus
sian influences ; and no doubt the police, at least in Germany,
made itself quite disagreeable to her. So she sought at last
refuge on Enghsh soU, and in order to be in constant contact
with persons of her own way of thinking she settled down in
the midst of the Colony of German refugees in the suburb
of St. John's Wood. She was most cordially received by the
[ 389 J

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
Kinkel family, and attempted to manage the social part of their
establishment. This, however, soon proved impossible. The rich
woman, reared in affluent circumstances, could hardly under
stand that a family obliged to work for its daily living with the
most strenuous activity had to husband its time as well as its
means with the strictest economy, and could aUow itself the
luxury of an agreeable social intercourse only to a limited
extent. The industry and devotion to duty of the Kinkels could
hardly accord with the weU-meaning but somewhat extravagant
intentions of Baroness Briining. She hired a spacious house
on St, John's Wood Terrace, opened her salon with great hos
pitality to her friends, and a numerous circle of refugees met
there almost every evening.
The Baroness was surrounded by her husband and her
children, and the sociability of her house was that of agreeable
family life. Baron Briining indeed did not seem to feel him
self quite at home with the friends that visited his drawing-
room. He was a distinguished-looking, quiet gentleman, of fine
breeding and manners, who, if his ideas did not harmonize with
the pohtical principles and teachings that found voice around
him, did not make the guests of his house feel his dissent. When
the pohtical opinions uttered in his presence happened to be too
extreme a somewhat ironical smile would play about his lips;
and he met the constantly recurring prophecy, that soon all
dynasties on the European Continent would be upset and a
family of republics take their place, with the quiet question:
" Do you really think that this will soon happen? " But he was
always pleasant and obliging, and never failed to fill his place
in the social circle and welcomed everybody who was welcome to
his wife. The more thoughtful among the guests, and those who
had mental interests outside of revolutionary politics, recognized
it as a matter of good breeding to reciprocate the amiability
[390 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
of the Baron with every possible attention; and they found
in him a well-meaning and well-informed man, who had read
much and had formed very clear opinions about many subjects.
Thus relations of a certain confidentiality developed themselves
between him and some of his guests, of whom I was one ; and if
he ever talked about his domestic conditions the impression was
conveyed that he looked upon the democratic enthusiasms of
his wife, with all its consequences, as a matter of fate which
must be submitted to. The cause of his compliance with all her
eccentricities was by some of us supposed to be that the fortune
of the family had come from her side, but it is just as hkely that
it was the usual helplessness of the weaker will against the
stronger, and that the Baron permitted himself to be whirled
from place to place and from one social circle to another,
although undesirable to him, because the power of resistance
was not one of his otherwise exceUent qualities. However, the
two spoke of one another always with the greatest and most
unaffected esteem and warmth, and the Baron made the educa
tion of his children the special object of his care and endeavor.
Baroness Briining was almost entirely absorbed with the
society of the exiles. She was not a woman of great mental
gifts. Her knowledge was somewhat superficial and her think
ing not profound. She possessed the education of " good so
ciety," and with it true goodness of heart in the most amiable
form. As is usuaUy the case with women whose views and opin
ions spring more from the emotions of the heart than from a
clear and sober observation of things and proper conclusions
drawn by the understanding, she devoted her enthusiasms and
sympathies more to persons than to principles, endeavors and
objects. Such women are frequently accused of an inordinate
desire to please, and it may indeed have flattered the Baroness
to be the center of a social circle in which there were many men
[391 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
and women of superior mind and character, but her enthusiastic
nature was so genuine, her desire to offer a home to the exiles
so indefatigable, her sympathy with every case of suffering so
self-sacrificing, and her character, with all the freedom of per
sonal intercourse, so perfectly spotless and unassailable, that
she would easily have been forgiven much greater vanity. For
many of the refugees she was really a good fairy. One she
enabled at her own expense to send for his long-betrothed bride
from Germany; for another she procured a decent dwelling,
and made a secret agreement with the landlord according to
which she paid part of the rent ; she ran about to procure occu
pation as a teacher for a third ; for a fourth, an artist, she got
orders; to a fifth she was the sister of mercy in illness. With
watchful providence she sought to learn from one what the
other might want and what she might do to help, for she was
always careful to hide the helping hand. Her self-sacrificing
lavishness went so far that she imposed upon herself all sorts
of privations to help others with her savings. Thus she had only
one gown in which to appear in the salon. This was of purple
satin and had in bygone times doubtless appeared very elegant ;
but as she constantly wore it there was visible on it not only
threadbare spots, but even patches. Some of the ladies of our
circle talked to her about it, and she replied: "Ah, yes, it is
true I must have a new gown ; I have been frequently on my
way to a dressmaker, but every time something more necessary
occurred to me and I turned back." The old gown had there
fore to do service throughout another entire winter. There
could have been nothing more charming than the zeal with which
in her drawing-room she sought to cheer the depressed and to
minister consolation and courage to the downcast, and I still
see her, as with her sparkling blue eyes she sat among us and
talked eloquently about the great change that was to take place
[392]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
and the good time which must inevitably soon come, and would
triumphantly carry us all back into the fatherland. And with
all this she was tormented with a disease of the heart which
caused her sometimes great suffering and the foreboding of an
early death. One day, when I accompanied her on a walk, she
suddenly stood still and clutched my arm. Her breath seemed
to stop. I looked at her in terror. She had closed her eyes with
an expression of pain. At last she opened her eyes again and
said: " Did you hear my heart beat? I shall soon die. I can live
hardly more than a year. But do not tell anybody. I did not
mean to speak of it, but it has just now escaped me." I tried to
quiet her apprehensions, but in vain. " No," she said, " I know
it, but it does not matter. Now let us talk about something else."
Her presentiment was to come true only too quickly.
In the circle of the Briining house there were some inter
esting and able men who had already proved their worth or were
destined to prove it in later life. There was Loewe, who, shortly
after I had met him in Switzerland, had left the Continent and
sought a secure asylum in England. There was Count Oscar
von Reichenbach of Silesia, a man of much knowledge and a
thoroughly noble nature. There was Oppenheim, a writer of
uncommon wit and large acquirements. There was Willich,
the sociahst leader, and Schunmelpfennig, two future Ameri
can generals. The good Strodtmann, who had followed us to
London, was frequently seen there. We also met there birds
of passage of a different kind. One day a Frenchman from
MarseUles, by the name of Barthelemi, was introduced, I do not
remember by whom, in the Briining salon and pointed out as
a specially remarkable personage. His past had indeed been
remarkable enough. Already before the revolution of 1848 he
had taken part in a secret conspiracy, the so-caUed " Marianne,"
had, after being designated by lot, killed a police officer, and
[393]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
had been sentenced to a term in the galleys. In consequence
of the revolution of 1848 he was set free, then fought on the
barricades in the socialist rising in Paris, in June, 1848— the
bloody " June Battle " — whereupon he succeeded in escaping
to England, It was said of him that he had killed several per
sons: some in duels, some without that formality. Now he
passed as a " workingman," whose principal occupation was
that of the professional conspirator. He stands before my eyes
now as he entered the Briining salon and took his seat near the
fireplace: a man of a little more than thirty years, of sturdy
figure, a face of dusky paleness with black mustache and
goatee, the dark eyes glowing with piercing fire. He spoke in
a deep, sonorous voice, slowly and measuredly with dogmatic
assurance, waving off contrary opinions with a word of com
passionate disdain. With the greatest coolness he explained to
us his own theory of the revolution, which simply provided that
the contrary minded without much ado be exterminated. The
man expressed himself with great clearness, hke one who had
thought much and deliberately upon his subject and had drawn
his conclusions by means of the severest logic. We saw before
us, therefore, one of those fanatics that are not seldom pro
duced in revolutionary times — men perhaps of considerable
ability, whose understanding of the moral order of the universe
has been thoroughly confused by his constant staring at one
point ; who has lost every conception of abstract right ; to whom
any crime appears permissible, nay, as a virtuous act, if it serves
as a means to his end; who regards everybody standing in the
way as outside of the protection of the law; who consequently is
ever ready to kill anybody and to sacrifice also his own life for
his nebulous objects. Such fanatics are capable of becoming as
cruel as wild beasts and also of dying like heroes. It was quite
natural that several of those who listened to Barthelemi in the
[394]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
Briining salon felt uneasy in his company. Never was Bar
thelemi seen there again, A few years later, in 1855, he came
to a characteristic end. He had been living constantly in Lon
don, but retired more and more from his friends because, as
was said, he lived with a woman to whom he was passionately
attached. It was reported also that he was acquainted with a
wealthy Englishman whom he often visited. One day he called
at the house of that Englishman with the woman mentioned.
He carried a traveling satchel in his hand, like one who was on
his way to a railroad station. Suddenly the report of a pistol shot
was heard in the apartment of the Englishman, and Barthelemi,
pursued by the cries of a woman servant, ran out of the house
with his mistress.. The Englishman was found dead in a pool
of blood in his room, A police officer who tried to stop Bar
thelemi on the street also feU mortally wounded by Barthelemi's
pistol, A crowd rapidly gathering stopped the murderer, dis
armed him and delivered him to the authorities. The woman
escaped in the confusion and was never seen again. All at
tempts to make Barthelemi disclose his curious relations with
the murdered Englishman were vain. He wrapped himself in
the deepest silence, and, so far as I know, the mysterious story
has never been cleared up. There was only a rumor that Bar
thelemi had intended to go to Paris and kill Louis Napoleon,
that the Enghshman had promised him the necessary money,
but had refused it at the decisive moment, and that at their last
meeting Barthelemi had shot him, either in order to get posses
sion of the money or in a rage at the refusal. Another rumor
had it that the woman was only a spy of the French govern
ment, sent to London with instructions to watch Barthelemi
and finally to betray him. Barthelemi was tried for murder in
the first degree, sentenced to death, and hanged. He met death
with the greatest composure, and exclaimed, in the face of the
[395 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHUEZ
gallows, " In a few moments, now, I shaU see the great mys
tery! " and then died with calm dignity.
My dear old friend, Fraulein Malwida von Meysenbug,
has told the story with great warmth in her remarkable book,
"The Memoirs of an Ideahst," The reader will find there
a very striking example of the impression which a personahty
like Barthelemi's, whatever the cool judgment of the under
standing and the voice of justice about him may be, could make
upon the soul of a woman of a superior mind and of a suscep
tible imagination. The execution of Barthelemi revolted her
feelings and moved her to tears, but nothing could be more cer
tain than that if a pardon had liberated him his insane fanati
cism which made him speak of a murder as of a breakfast would
have led him to other bloody deeds, and would finally again
have placed him in the hands of the hangman,
Malwida von Meysenbug was one of my most valued
friends in the Briining circle. She was the daughter of Herr
von Meysenbug, a minister of the Elector of Hesse-Cassel,
who, probably unjustly, had been regarded as a stiff aristocrat
and absolutist. After long inward struggles, in which a pro
found attachment to a young democrat, the brother of my
friend, Friedrich Althaus, played an important part, Malwida
openly declared herself an adherent of democratic principles;
found it impossible to remain longer with her family ; went in
the year 1849-50 to Hamburg to co-operate with some kindred
spirits of liberal sentiments in founding a high school for
young women ; came into some conflict with the police through
her acquaintance and correspondence with democrats, and, espe
cially attracted by the Kinkels, landed in London in our circle.
She has herself described her development and the vicissitudes
of her hfe with characteristic frankness and in an exceedingly
interesting fashion in the book already mentioned — " The
[396 ]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
Memoirs of an Ideahst." When we met in London she may
have been about thirty-five, but she looked older than she really
was. In point of appearance, she had not been favorfed by
nature, but her friends soon became accustomed to overlook
that disadvantage in the appreciation of her higher qualities.
She had read much and had many opinions, which she main
tained with great energy. With the most zealous interest she
followed the events of the time on the political as well as on the
literary, scientific and artistic field. She was animated by an
ahnost vehement and truly eloquent enthusiasm for all that
appeared to her good and noble and beautiful. She felt the
impulse, wherever possible, to lend a hand, and pursued her
endeavors with a zeal and an earnestness which made her occa
sionally a severe judge of what seemed to her a light-minded
or frivolous treatment of important things. Her whole being
was so honest, simple and unpretending, the goodness of her
heart so inexhaustible, her sympathies so real and self-sacri
ficing, her principles so genuine and faithful, that everybody
who learned to know her well readily forgave her that trait of
imaginative eccentricity which appeared sometimes in her views
and enthusiasms, but which really was to be attributed to the
excitability of her temperament and the innate kindness and
nobility of her heart. The tone of conversation in the Briining
salon did not always please her. When she carried on serious
discourse with a member of our circle about important subjects
the lighthearted merriment of others was apt to jar upon her.
The Baroness herself could not follow her much in the grave
treatment which Malwida bestowed upon all questions of conse
quence, but their personal sympathies still held them together.
The books written by Malwida von Meysenbug, long after
the time of which I speak, reveal a human soul of the finest
instincts and ipipulses, and, in spite of many disappointments,
[397]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHURZ
of touching faithfulness to high principles and aspirations.
One of them, the " Memoirs of an Idealist," owed to its exquis
ite charms of noble sentiment and genuine sincerity the rare
good fortune of reappearing in literature after a long period of
seeming oblivion. She lived to a high old age, the last thirty
years in Rome, as the center of a large circle of friends, many
of them distinguished characters, who clung to her inspiring
personality with singular affection. We remained warm friends
to the end.
Now to return to my narrative — an event occurred which
essentially darkened the horizon of refugeedom, and which
also gave to my fate an unexpected and decisive turn.
The reports which we had received from our friends in
Paris made us believe that Louis Napoleon, the president of
the French republic, was an object of general contempt, that
he played a really ridiculous figure with his manifest ambition
to restore the empire in France and to mount the throne, and
that every attempt to accomplish this by force would inevitably
result in his downfall and in the institution of a strong and
truly republican government. The tone of the opposition pa
pers in Paris gave much color to this view. Suddenly, on the
2d of December, 1851, the news arrived in London that
Louis Napoleon had actually undertaken the long-expected
coup d'etat. He had secured the support of the army, had occu
pied the meeting-place of the national assembly with troops,
had arrested the leaders of the opposition, as well as General
Changarnier, who had been intrusted by the national assem
bly with its protection, had laid his hand upon several other
generals suspected of republican sentiments, had published a
decree restoring universal suffrage, which had been restricted
by the national assembly, and issued a proclamation to the
French people. In this he accused the parliamentary parties of
[398 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
criminal selfishness and demanded the establishment of a con
sulate, the consul to hold office for ten years. Exciting reports
arrived in rapid succession. Members of the national assem
bly had met in considerable numbers and tried to organize re
sistance to the coup d'etat, but were soon dispersed by military
force. At last the news came that the people, too, were begin
ning to " descend into the streets " and to build barricades.
Now the decisive battle was to be fought.
It is impossible to describe the state of mind produced
among the exiles by these reports. We Germans ran to the
meeting-places of the French clubs, because we expected to
receive there the clearest and most reliable tidings, perhaps from
sources which might not be open to the general public. In these
clubs we found a feverish excitement bordering upon mad
ness. Our French friends shouted and shrieked and ,gestic-
ulated and hurled opprobrious names at Louis Napoleon and
cursed his helpers, and danced the Carmagnole and sang " Ca
Ira." All were sure of a victory of the people. The most glorious
buUetins of the progress of the street fight went from mouth
to mouth. Some of them were proclaimed by wild-looking
revolutionary exiles, who had jumped upon tables, and frantic
screams of applause welcomed them. So it went on a night, a
day and again a night. Sleep was out of the question. There
was hardly time for the necessary meals. The reports of victory
were followed by others that sounded less favorable. They could
not and would not be believed. They were " the dispatches of the
usurper and his slaves " ; " they lied " ; " they could not do other
wise than lie " ; but the messages continued more and more
gloomy. The barricades which the people had erected in the
night of the 2d and 3d of December had been taken by the army
without much trouble. On the 4th a serious battle occurred on
the streets of the Faubourgs St. Martin and St, Denis, but
[399]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
there, too, the troops had remained masters of the field. Then
the soldiery rushed into the houses and murdered without dis
crimination or compassion. At last there was the quiet of the
graveyard in the great city. The popular rising had been com
paratively insignificant and powerless. The usurper who had
but recently been represented as a weak-minded adventurer, the
mere " nephew of his uncle," had succeeded in subjugating
Paris, The departments did not move; there was no doubt the
Republic was at an end, and with its downfall vanished also
the prospect of the new revolutionary upheaval, which, on the
impulse coming from France, was expected to spread over the
whole European continent.
Stunned by all these terrible reports, and mentally as weU
as physically exhausted, we quietly returned to our quarters.
After I had recuperated from this consuming excitement by a
long sleep I tried to become clear in my mind about the changed
situation of things. It was a foggy day, and I went out be
cause I found it impossible to sit stiU within my four walls.
Absorbed in thought, I wandered on without any definite
aim, and found myself at last in Hyde Park, where, in
spite of the chilly air, I sat down on a bench. In whatever
light I might consider the downfall of the repubhc and the
advent of a new monarchy in France, one thing seemed to me
certain: All the efforts connected with the revolution of 1848
were now hopeless; a period of decided and general reaction
was bound to come, and whatever the future might bring of
further developments in the direction of liberal movement
must necessarily have a new starting-point.
With this conviction my own situation became equaUy
clear to me. It would have been childish to give myself up to
further illusory hopes of a speedy return to the Fatherland. To
continue our plottings and thereby bring stUl more mischief
[400 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
upon others, appeared to me a reckless and wicked game, I
had long recognized the exUe's life to be empty and enervating.
I felt an irresistible impulse not only to find for myself a well-
regulated activity, but also to do something reaUy and truly
valuable for the general good. But where, and how? The
fatherland was closed to me. England was to me a foreign
country, and would always remain so. Where, then? "To
America," I said to myself. " The ideals of which I have
dreamed and for which I have fought I shaU find there, if
not fuUy realized, but hopefully struggling for full realization.
In that struggle I shall perhaps be able to take some part. It
is a new world, a free world, a world of great ideas and aims.
In that world there is perhaps for me a new home. Ubi libertas
ibi patria — I formed my resolution on the spot. I would remain
only a short time longer in England to make some necessary
preparations, and then — off to America !
I had sat perhaps half an hour on that bench in Hyde Park,
immersed in my thoughts, when I noticed that on the other
end of the bench a man was sitting who seemed likewise to be
musingly staring at the ground. He was a little man, and as I
observed him more closely, I believed I recognized him. Indeed,
I did. It was Louis Blanc, the French socialist leader, a former
member of the provisional government of France, I had re
cently in some social gathering been introduced to him, and he
had talked with me in a very amiable and animated way. In
deed, I had found him uncommonly attractive. When I was
through with my own thoughts I arose to go away without
intending to disturb him, but he lifted his head, looked at me
with eyes that seemed not to have known sleep for several
nights, and said, "Ah, c'est vous, mon jeune ami! c'est fini,
n'est ce pas? C'est fini! " We pressed one another's hands. His
head sank again upon his breast, and I went my way home to)
[401]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
inform my parents at once, by letter, of the resolution I had
taken on that bench in Hyde Park. Some of my feUow-exiles
tried to dissuade me from it, picturing to me all sorts of won
derful things which would happen very soon on the European
continent and in which we refugees must take an active part;
but I had seen too thoroughly through the unreality of these
fantastic imaginings to be shaken in my resolve.
Now something happened that infused into my appar
ently gloomy situation a radiance of sunshine and opened to
my life unlooked-for prospects. A few weeks previous to Louis
Napoleon's coup d'etat I had some business to transact with
another German exile, and visited him in his residence in Hamp-
stead. I vividly remember how I went there on foot, through
rows of hedges and avenues of trees, where now, probably, is
a dense mass of houses, not anticipating that a meeting of far
greater importance than that with him was in store for me. My
business was soon disposed of and I rose to go, but my friend
stopped me and called out into an adjacent room, " Margare-
tha, come in, if you please, here is a gentleman with whom I
wish you to become acquainted. This is my sister-in-law," he
added, turning to me, " just arrived from Hamburg on a visit."
A girl of about eighteen years entered, of fine stature, a curly
head, something childlike in her beautiful features and large,
dark, truthful eyes. This was my introduction to my future
wife. On the 6th of July, 1852, we were married in the parish
church of Marylebone in London. I have put down in writing
how it all came to pass in those otherwise gloomy days ; but that
part of my story naturally belongs to my children only and
to our inner home circle.
In August we were ready to saU for America. Before my
departure Mazzini invited me to visit him once more. He con-
[402]

%Mm!m//mMiim'mmm'A)my'r,};s\-:ui;

THE REMINISCENCES OF CARL SCHURZ
fided to me the secret of a revolutionary enterprise which he
had in hand and which, as he said, promised great results.
There was to be a new uprising in Lombardy. With his glowing
eloquence he pictured to me how the Italian soldiers of hberty
would crowd the Austrians into the Alps, and how then similar
movements would spring from this victorious insurrection in aU
other countries of the European Continent, and that then such
young men as I should be on the spot to help carry on the
work so prosperously begun. " AU this will happen," he said,
" before you will reach America, or shortly after. How you
wiU wish not to have left us! You will take the next ship to
return to Europe. Save yourself this unnecessary voyage." I
had to confess to him that my hopes were not so sanguine as
his; that I did not see in the condition of things on the Continent
any prospect of a change soon to come, which might caU me
back to the Fatherland and to a fruitful activity; that, if in the
remote future such changes should come they would shape
themselves in ways different from those that we now imagined,
and that then there would be other people to carry them
through. Mazzini shook his head, but he saw that he could
not persuade me. Thus we parted, and I never saw him
again. A short time after my arrival in America I did indeed hear
of the outbreak of the revolutionary enterprise which Mazzini
had predicted to me. It consisted of an insurrectionary attempt
in MUan, which was easily suppressed by the Austrian troops
and resulted only in the imprisonment of a number of Itahan
patriots. And Mazzini's cause, the unity of Italy under a free
government, seemed then to be more hopeless than ever.
Kossuth returned from America a sorely disappointed
man. He had been greeted by the American people with un
bounded enthusiasm. Countless multitudes had hstened to his
[ 403 ]

THE REMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
enchanting eloquence and overwhelmed him with sympathy and
admiration. The President of the United States had reveren
tially pressed his hand and Congress had received him with
extraordinary honors. There had been no end of parades and
receptions and festive banquets. But the government of the
United States, with the approval of the American people,
steadfastly maintained the traditional policy of non-interfer
ence in European affairs. Kossuth's appeal for " substantial
aid " to his country in its struggle for independence had been
in vain. When he returned to England he found that the popu
lar enthusiasm there, which had greeted him but a few months
before, was burned out. He still tried to continue the advocacy
of his cause by delivering addresses in various Enghsh cities^
and was listened to with the most respectful and sympathetic
attention as a very distinguished lecturer. When he appeared
on the streets he was no longer cheered by multitudes surging
around him. Persons recognizing him would take off their hats
and whisper to one another : " There goes Kossuth, the great
Hungarian patriot." His cause, the independence of his coun
try, seemed to be dead and buried.
Mazzini and Kossuth — ^how strangely fate played with
those two men! Mazzini had all his life plotted, and struggled,
and suffered for the unification of Italy under a free national
government. Not many years after the period of which I
speak the national unity of Italy did indeed come, first partially
aided by the man Mazzini hated most, the French Emperor
Louis Napoleon, and then greatly advanced by the marvelous
campaign of Garibaldi, which is said to have been originaUy
planned by Mazzini himself, and which reads in history like a
romantic adventure of the time of the Crusades. Finally the
unification of Italy was fully achieved under the auspices of
the dynasty of Savoy; and Mazzini the repubhcan at last died
[404]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
in an obscure corner in unified Italy, where he had hidden him
self under a false name, an exile in his own country.
Kossuth had agitated with his wonderful eloquence and
then conducted a brilliant though unfortunate war for the na
tional independence of Hungary. A defeated man, he went
into exUe. In the course of time, much of the political auton
omy, of the substantial independence of Hungary as a self-
governing country, was accomphshed by peaceable means, and
the Hungarian people seemed for a while to be contented with
it. But it was accomplished under the kingship of the house of
Hapsburg ; and Kossuth, who never would bow his head to the
Hapsburg, inflexibly resisted every invitation of his people
calling him back to his country whose legendary national hero
he had not ceased to be ; and he finally died as a voluntary exile
at Turin, a very old and lonely man.
A large part of what those two men had striven for was
at last won — ^but it then appeared in a form in which they
would not recognize it as their own.
The German revolutionists of 1848 met a similar fate.
They fought for German unity and free government and were
defeated mainly by Prussian bayonets. Then came years of
stupid political reaction and national humihation, in which aU
that the men of 1848 had stood for seemed utterly lost. Then
a change. Frederick Wilham IV., who more than any man
of his time had cherished a mystic belief in the special divine
inspiration of kings — Frederick Wilham IV. fell insane and
had to drop the reins of government. The Prince of Prussia,
whom the revolutionists of 1848 had regarded as the bitterest
and most uncompromising enemy of their cause, followed him,
first as regent and then as king — destined to become the first
emperor of the new German Empire. He called Bismarck to
his side as prime minister — Bismarck, who originally had been
[ 405 ]

THE EEMINISCENCES OF CAEL SCHUEZ
the sternest spokesman of absolutism and the most ardent foe
of the revolution. And then German unity, with a national;,
parliament, was won, not through a revolutionary uprising, but
through monarchical action and foreign wars.
Thus, if not all, yet a great and important part of the ob
jects struggled for by the German revolutionists of 1848 was
after aU accomplished — ^much later, indeed, and less peaceably
and less completely than they had wished, and through the in
strumentality of persons and forces originaUy hostile to them,
but producing new conditions which promise to develop for the
united Germany political forms and institutions of govern
ment much nearer to the ideals of 1848 than those now existing
And many thoughtful men now frequently ask the question—
and a very pertinent question it is — whether aU these things
would have been possible had not the great national awakening
of the year 1848 prepared the way for them.
But in the summer of 1852 the future lay before us in a
gloomy cloud. In France, Louis Napoleon seemed firmly
seated on the neck of his submissive people. The British gov
ernment under Lord Pahnerston had shaken hands with him.
AU over the European Continent the reaction from the liberal
movements of the past four years celebrated triumphant
orgies. How long it would prove irresistible nobody could tell.
That some of its very champions would themselves become the
leaders of the national spirit in Germany even the most san
guine would in 1851 not have ventured to anticipate.
My young wife and myself sailed from Portsmouth in
August, 1852, and landed in. the harbor of New York on a
bright September morning. With the buoyant hopefulness of
young hearts, we saluted the new world.
END OF VOLUME I
[406]

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 01483 1979

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