Mr. Schurz is now Secretary of the Interior, and a great personage.  When one thinks that he hardly knew a word of our language when he came to this country (a young man of twenty), and that now he is one of our first orators, one cannot help but admire him.  Because he has entirely identified himself with the politics of our country he has risen to the high position which he now holds.  You said, when you heard him deliver that oration at Harvard College, that you were astonished that any foreigner could have such complete command of the language.  He is integrity itself, with a great mind free from all guile, and is filled with the enthusiasm and vivacity of youth.  During the revolutionary movement in Germany in 1848 he helped a political friend escape from the Schandau prison, and on account of that was himself condemned to death.  However, he managed to evade pursuit and took refuge in America, where he has lived ever since.

Le Chevalier, as we call Senator Bayard, because he is so entirely sans reproche, sent his photograph to Mrs. T. and wrote on the back of it, “Avec les regards de T. Bayard.”  She showed it to her friends with the scathing remark, “People should not write French if they don’t understand the language.”  Others, who understood the language, thought it very clever.

Schloezer has let it be known in the Foreign Office in Berlin that a secretary who has money to spend is more desirable in America than one who has not.  He thinks that it is more advantageous for a young man to travel through the country and learn things than to sit copying despatches in the chancellerie in Washington.

In this respect Count Doenhoff, his new secretary, ought to satisfy him, for never was a person so determined to see everything, know everybody, and do all that is doing.  He begged Mr. Schurz to give him permission to accompany General Adam, who, because he knew the Indians and their little ways and how to deal with them, was sent out to Montana to rescue the family of one of the commissioners who had been captured.

These two gentlemen (Adam and Doenhoff) went to the place where the women and children were concealed, and remained there a week, trying to induce the Indians to give them up.  They were finally successful, but it was known afterward that the Indians during the time they were there were holding council every night to decide whether or not they would hang the two “pale-faces” to the first tree in the morning.

Both Schurz and Schloezer were relieved to see Count Doenhoff when he returned safe and sound.  They reproached themselves for allowing him to start on such an expedition, as it was a very reckless adventure, and a great risk for him.

WASHINGTON, March, 1879.