Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 3.djvu/415

Rh not feel that you know just why I do it—and that I have been thoroughly candid. 



&emsp; I intended to reply immediately to your kind note of the 4th inst., but the illness of my mother, who lived with me and died on Tuesday last, rendered me almost unable to think of anything else. This was the third time that the hand of death knocked at my door within the last twelve months, first calling away my father, then my wife, and then my mother. These have been staggering blows from which it was not the easiest thing to rally. But however dreary and lonesome life may become, its duties remain as imperative as ever and thus they afford relief.

The feelings you express in your last letter with regard to the South I appreciate all the more as I share them fully—having long and to the best of my ability struggled against that short-sighted partisan policy which threw away the first great opportunities to put the Southern question in the course of satisfactory solution. But I think you will have a splendid chance to retrieve the mistakes made by others. What is needed above all is the establishment of good understanding, confidence and active coöperation between the intelligence and virtue represented in the Republican party at the North and the corresponding elements of Southern society. Only thus can we break the color line on the white side, secure a just respect for the rights of the negro, and measurably deliver Southern society of the control of its lawless tendencies and an unreasoning party spirit. The importance of some demonstration of the sincerity of your good-will toward all classes of the Southern people is evident, and since this