Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 2.djvu/407

Rh been disappointed by him in some personal way, and politics will be in a far worse condition than they were in the spring of 1872, because the small band of reformers who then inspired the country with some hope, will have fallen into disrepute and become ridiculous. Moreover, Greeley's conduct in taking this nomination, and the arts by which he is seeking to promote his election, satisfy me that he is more dishonest than I thought he was.

I understand perfectly the difference there is in your position and mine. It is very difficult for you, or any man who is practically engaged in politics, to make up his mind to allow himself to be thrown out of the current whatever it be, and thus to be rendered, at least temporarily, powerless. But I cannot divest myself of the idea that you are to some extent sacrificing the future to the present in accepting Greeley under any circumstances. The Cincinnati Convention did a great deal for your reputation and influence, but it was through the fact that you were plainly disappointed—that you were no party to the wretched folly which nominated Greeley, and that you sought really to elevate politics. In fact it carried you far towards that moral position which, when combined with such oratorical gifts as you have, gives a man an unshakable hold on the people and forces him on any party which wishes to succeed. It has given Sumner, donkey as he is, the wonderful weight which he has possessed for twenty years. I am afraid—pardon me as a sincere friend and admirer for saying so—that by taking up “anything to beat Grant,” you are going to set yourself back, for the long run, however successful the expedient may be temporarily. Four years to a man as young as you is nothing, and the foundation of the really new party will not come for four years. Greeley's Administration will be nothing but a series of wretched intrigues, out of which no new organization can grow. It will make a great difference to you, whether when the foundations of the new party come to be laid, as the foundations of all new parties must be laid in solid and positive principle and conviction, you come to the work with an unquestioned reputation for the highest principle, added to your power as an orator, or