History has long since rendered her verdict as to which of these two candidates was apt to be the fittest leader of the nation in the hour of its greatest need. Seward for the Presidency, Koerner was equally emphatic as a supporter of Abraham Lincoln. Thus, while in the National Convention of 1860, Shurz was one of the leading advocates of the nomination of William H. Stallo may have been greater, he surpassed both in a thorough understanding of constitutional limitations as applied to American institutions, and was a far better judge of the needs of the nation in measures and men than either of them. Coomparing him with the fremost of his contemporaries of German lineage, it may justly be said, that while he lacked the forensic eloquence of Carl Shurz, and while the erudition of John B.
An indomitable energy, however, and a sincere desire to be of use to his fellowmen, enabled him to overcome these obstacles, until both in the ranks of the legal profession, and among the statesmen of the land, he gained an eminence attained by few. In common with others of his contemporaries who attained eminence, Koerner had to overcome the disadvantages of a foreign birth and of very limited means. The domestic life of German families of culture in the Fatherland the emigrants' trials and struggles in the primeval forests of theįar West the struggle of the young lawyer to make a precarious living at a time when judges and preachers rode the circuit, must be of interest to the careful student of the history and growth of a young nation. The details of student life at the German universities in the beginning of the last century its intense idealism, which dealt with a world of dreams, yet which, when properly utilized by the great chancellor, a man utterly devoid of sentiment, made the creation of a vast empire possible, are sketched in these memoirs with a charming simplicity. Yet how much more thorough would be our understanding of their lives and actions, were we permitted to lift the curtain, and get the occasional glimpses of what lies hidden by its folds! It is probably due to the fact that the writers regard it as a sanctuary to be wirhdrawn from the public gaze, the key to which, when they are gone, is forever lost. It is a source of regret that so few of the autobiographies of our prominent men deal with the details of their domestic and social life. During the closing years of a long and eventful life, his children urged the octogenarian to write the history of his life, realizing, as he himself fully realized, that the most valuable heritage which one can leave to one's descendants is one's own history, provided it is the history of an active, unselfish, and useful life. Had such been the design, many details relating to his domestic and social life had probably been omitted. The personal memoires of Gustavus Koerner were not written for publication.
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