Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 1.djvu/284

250 what they like of me. I do not expect thanks nor even appreciation. The only true reward is within ourselves. The satisfaction I crave, I have at all times, to-day as well as formerly; it consists in having my ideas, which I have expressed in my own manner, repeated and disseminated by many persons in their own manner. Whether my patent rights are respected by them, is a matter of indifference to me. Indeed, the real purpose of the propagation of ideas is best attained if their origin is forgotten. In this respect, I have seen and experienced much that afforded me great satisfaction. The signs of the times are now very favorable. The reëlection of the President is almost certain unless some great military misfortune overwhelms us and that is not to be expected. The results of the election will determine the results of the war, and the worst will then be over. I am sending you one of my speeches, which has been published by the Congressional Committee, and in which, if you will take the trouble to read it, you will find my opinion on the nature and real object of the present party strife elucidated more clearly than I could possibly do it in a letter.

I wish to enlighten you on two other points. You are underrating the President. I grant that he lacks higher education and his manners are not in accord with European conceptions of the dignity of a chief magistrate. He is a well-developed child of nature and is not skilled in polite phrases and poses. But he is a man of profound feeling, correct and firm principles and incorruptible honesty. His motives are unquestionable, and he possesses to a remarkable degree the characteristic, God-given trait of this people, sound common-sense. Should you read his official documents and his political letters, you would find this verified to a surprising extent. I know him from personal observation as well as anyone, and better than the majority. I am familiar with his