Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 1.djvu/217

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&emsp; These lines may show you that I am still alive and well, although not half as proud of our fighting brethren in the United States as I was when we met at New York. These are indeed dark days for American pride, but if the war brings about the final destruction of the slavery-system, as it bids fair to do, the price we are paying is not too heavy. I am homesick and wish I had never taken this mission. It is easier work to fight in America than to disguise our defeats in Europe. But let us hope for brighter days.

This letter is written for an object. You can do me a great service if you are willing, of which I have no doubt. I have considerable property interests in the city of Hamburg which want looking after. For this purpose it is exceedingly desirable that I should spend a few days there some time this fall. In order to get there I have to pass through Prussia, unless I take the circuitous route by London. You are probably aware that in consequence of my connection with the revolutionary trouble of '48 and '49 my relations with the Prussian Government are not of the most friendly nature. Some time ago the King of Prussia granted an amnesty to the political offenders of that period, but whether its provisions apply to my case I do not know.

Now I would not undertake to set my foot upon Prussian soil without having previously come to some understanding with that Government, and in no case would I avail myself of the privileges of my present position for the purpose of giving offense in that way. I would not even go to Hamburg by way of London if my presence there could be disagreeable to Prussia. In my present