Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 1.djvu/20

vi made for special and perhaps obvious reasons. They at least give occasional variety and color and afford a change from politics and reform. Especially for the period 1852-66, when the youthful Schurz was finding and cultivating fields for usefulness, biographical details were needed to supply the proper setting. These were all the more necessary as most of his manuscripts of that time were destroyed by fire. Happily, he had a large correspondence in German with relatives and intimate friends in which he described his aims and activities. Much of it has been published in Volume III of his Lebenserinnerungen, and translations from many of these letters have been made for this work by Miss Schurz and Miss Juessen, jointly.

Mr. Schurz's letters to Presidents and Presidential candidates from Lincoln to Roosevelt, both inclusive, and to others conspicuous in public affairs between 1857 and 1906, were numerous and often of great moment. Many answers he received were illuminating and instructive. As fully as circumstances would permit, this latter material also has been drawn upon for its inherent value and be cause it makes Mr. Schurz's letters more perspicuous. And the needs of the student and of the historian have been kept in mind. The historian rightly demands perfect frankness and the avoidance of all concealment. Nothing could be easier in the present case than to grant these, for in the life of Carl Schurz there was nothing to conceal.

In order to make the best use of the space, it has been found necessary not only to choose between documents but also to leave out unimportant sentences and paragraphs in the documents chosen. Where the choice had to be made between speeches of about equal value, the speech that is unprinted or less accessible has been preferred. Of the twelve speeches printed in the collection of 1865, four have been reprinted; and of the speeches in