Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 5.djvu/64

40 better to our dear friends upon whom this cruel blow has fallen, than the earnest wish that they will summon all their fortitude to confront the inevitable; that they will remember the dear ones still left to them, and also those high aims of human endeavor which make life still worth living; that their great sorrow, which is now so sharp and seemingly unbearable, will be mellowed by time and the healing force of work and of duties done; and that they may then find a new happiness in the thought that the memory of having possessed such a child is in itself a great and imperishable possession. And if they can find any comfort in the devotion of true friendship, that surely does not now nor will it ever fail them. 



To be called upon for an expression of opinion on the present state of our public affairs by a society so distinguished for its intelligent public spirit and patriotism as the Massachusetts Reform Club is an honor which I highly appreciate. Permit me to say by way of preface that for a long time I have observed political events and conditions, not from the point of view of one active in party strife, but rather from that of a citizen greatly enjoying the quiet of private station, and having no desire to quit it, but, of course, as warmly as ever interested in the public welfare.

The most conspicuous public question at present before the country is that of the tariff. With regard to that subject, I have never taken an extreme position. In economics, I have an instinctive dread of abstract theories and a priori reasoning. I think it safer to draw my principles from my facts than to evolve my facts from my