John Harrison Wilson, The life of Charles Henry Dana

[62] read for so young a man, it may be fairly assumed that he took a hand in every important question before the public. As he was in later days often heard to declare, he had already come to regard the world as a “mighty interesting place,” and nothing which concerned it at large, or his own country in particular, could well be a matter of indifference to him.

It had been a desire of Dana's during the whole of his student life to travel in Europe, especially in Germany. He was greatly interested in the language, literature, and philosophy of that country, and wished above all things to broaden his acquaintance with them. Fortunately the political discussions which began in 1847, culminated in 1848, and finally ended nearly a quarter of a century later in a federated German empire, afforded him the opportunity he was so anxiously looking for. The wish to go abroad was strengthened by the fact that a revolution had broken out in France, which ended in the expulsion of Louis Philippe and the establishment of a republic with Louis Napoleon as president. In view of this troubled condition of affairs, his desire to visit Europe became irresistible. He therefore told Greeley frankly he wanted to go. The interview that took place was related by him many years afterwards substantially as follows:

Greeley said that would be no use, as I did not know anything about European matters, and would have to learn everything before I could write anything worth while. Then I asked him how much he would give me for a letter a week. He said ten dollars. On this I went, about the middle of the year, and wrote one letter a week to the Tribune for ten, one to McMichael's Philadelphia American for ten, one to the New York Commercial Advertiser for ten, one for the Harbinger at five, and one for the Chronotype at five. That gave me forty dollars a week for five letters till the Chronotype went up, and then I had thirty-five. On this I lived in Europe