354 EAST PRUSSIA TO THE GOLDEN GATE 



a few years of imprisonment, while the City of Angels 

 will never be able to erase this dark page from her chron- 

 icles. How strangely human justice is sometimes meted 

 out in this free country of ours! 



About two years before the above occurrence the author 

 expressed a great longing to see his fatherland, which 

 was then divided into many principalities, once more 

 united under one supreme head, be it as an empire or as 

 a republic. He longed for it, but dared not hope. On the 

 contrary, he sighed often when what he called the insig- 

 nificance of Germany's power and the consequent dimin- 

 ished respect shown her abroad, was the subject of a con- 

 versation. Lecouvreur loved his native land, and he 

 therefore followed the preliminary negotiations between 

 France and Prussia, which led to the war of 1870-71. He 

 hoped for a German victory, but could scarcely believe a 

 united action of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and the smaller 

 kingdoms would be possible. But the insult which Na- 

 poleon III. through his ambassador, Benedetti, had of- 

 fered the venerable King William I. of Prussia, aroused 

 and united his fellow rulers to action. The war lasted but 

 two months, during which fifteen big battles were fought 

 and won by the German amiies and the crowning events, 

 the taking prisoner of the French Emperor, the proclama- 

 tion of a German Empire under William I. as well as the 

 capitulation of Paris, overpowered our author with glad- 

 ness and surprise. Now, at last, was respect for the Ger- 

 man citizen established at home and abroad. 



Los Angeles, like all Western cities, had to undergo 

 many changes and struggles, with now and then a boom, 

 all of which was shared by the public spirited author of 

 this biography. Being a man of education, such as was 

 rare among the foreign born element of this vicinity, his 

 interest in all matters pertaining to the uplifting of his 

 fellow men was as keen and far-reaching as his percep- 

 tion of public needs, wherefore he welcomed and encour- 

 aged the endeavors of every good man. 



