Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 4.djvu/539

Rh move forward by great leaps; but he knows also that they do not stand still.

In obedience to the law to which all earthly things are subject, the inheritance left by Kaiser William will have further to develop itself in order to be in accord with the character and the needs of the time. Nobody will dare to say that he looks clearly into the future. But one thing appears certain, the new German Empire, which honors Emperor William as its father and its first head, will stand all the firmer the more it can say of itself that it has created what is the true aim and end of all government—a people united, strong and happy in liberty, peace and progress. 

 &emsp; I begin to fear now that I shall not find time to go to Washington before my departure for Europe. The request I intended to make orally, comes therefore to you in writing. Considering myself completely retired from active public life, I am going to undertake a literary work of some magnitude. I purpose to write a political history of the civil war—beginning with the election of Pierce in 1852; and as our international relations played a very important part in the history of that period, I wish, if such a thing is possible, to get access to the state archives of several foreign Governments, especially those of England, France, Spain, Belgium and Holland. Now I would ask you whether you would consider it consistent with your official responsibilities to give me letters to the United States Ministers in those countries, requesting them to aid me to that end with their influence as much as their relations with the Governments to which they are accredited will conveniently permit? I do not know