John Harrison Wilson, The life of Charles Henry Dana

[66] door to the soldiers, and their amiability was not increased by the discovery of an improved gunlock which he had taken over in his baggage to oblige a friend. After a prolonged parley he succeeded in satisfying his suspicious visitors that he was really an American and not a conspirator. He describes most graphically what he saw of the actual insurrection, but as soon as order was restored he devoted himself to the study of what the revolution meant, what had brought it about, and what its objects were. To this end he visited the Assembly, and the bureaus of government where discussions were carried on, and took ample notes of all he saw and heard. His first letter gives a comprehensive account of the course adopted by General Cavaignac, M. Thiers, M. Carnot, M. Considerant, M. Walewski, and many others, who afterwards became prominent or disappeared entirely from public life. He also describes the part played by the working-classes and the conservatives, the stagnation of trade and manufactures, the violence of class hatred, the intense activity of the leading journals, and the re-establishment of social order on a progressive and permanent basis. All this is set forth with unusual lucidity and vigor.

Another letter treats of the condition of the working-classes, and the plans under consideration for their amelioration as set forth in the discussions which took place in the Assembly, where, among other things, it was promised to encourage associations of workmen with their former employers, by allowing them to undertake jobs on the public works without giving bonds, as was required from individual contractors. This proposition was debated with “agitation.” Many amendments were proposed, and much was said about the elevation of the laborer and his emancipation from the wage system. The miseries of these people and the selfishness of the middle classes were described at large. The Assembly devoted itself with deep