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Show Carl Schurz. Carl Schurz died in New York last Sunday morning. He was in some respects a marvelous man. He had a sovereign intellect. He was a fine scholar, orator, writer and brave soldier; but altogether impractical. He had the temperament of tho artist; he had the egotism of Lucifer himself, him-self, and a vanity that would have made a peacock pea-cock blush. He was such a mixture of the great and the little that his life fell far short of the splendors which should have been his. He was an earnest champion of freedom and the inherent inher-ent rights of men; was ready at all times to offer his life on the altars of liberty; but at tho same time he wanted to boss the job. He wanted liberty under tho law, but he wanted to dictate the law. He was always impatient of all restraint; ho was envious of all who overmatched him, and his prejudices were so violent that he could not be just to those who differed with him. A failure, save in personal courage as a soldier, he did not hesitate to criticise others who were carrying on the burden of the great war. He wrote an open letter let-ter of criticism to Mr. Lincoln of his management of the mighty war. He was more impatient than Mr. Greeley, and if possible had a less sound judgment judg-ment and none of Mr. Greeley's magnanimity. Mr. Greeley made his acknowledgements when convinced con-vinced he was wrong. Schurz was never convinced con-vinced that he was wrong. He always carried the idea that, low down, his belief was that had the Almighty called him into consultation when He made the world, there would have been Improvements Im-provements on the original plan and on ten thousand thou-sand of the details. He joined the great band of goodie-goodies, such as George William Curtis, Wayne McVeigh and the rest, to down the stalwarts, those led by Roscoe Conkling, and thenceforth was never out of the circle. To spite James G. Blaine, he championed cham-pioned the cause of Grover Cleveland, and they became great friends. He was long an editorial writer on the Post and Nation of New York, and the papers, under "!. Godkin and himself, were more English than American. Still, he was a powerful writer and clear reasoner. His great trouble was that never jjH after the war opened was he able to adjust his mind to conditions in this country, and he clashed . with tho stalwarts that had been the giants on field and forum amid the great upheaval. He meant to be an honest man, but his own fl self-esteem and etovy always .stood in his own way and kept from him the reverence which his great intellect should have commanded. His great lack was want of level-headedness; worse still, he believed himself the only real level- , headed man in America. |