This text is part of:
Table of Contents:
Chapter
47
: freedmen's aid societies and an act of congress creating a Bureau of refugees, freedmen and abandoned lands
Chapter
55
:
first
appropriation by congress for the bureau; the reconstruction Act,
March
2
,
1867
; increase of educational work
Chapter
60
: opposition to Bureau and reconstruction work became personal; the
Congregational Church of
Washington
Chapter
62
: life in
Washington, D. C.
,
1866
to
1874
; assigned to duty in regular army as commander,
Department of the Columbia
Chapter
63
: in the
Northwest
, among the
Indians
; trip to
Alaska
; life in
Portland, Ore.
;
1874
to
1881
Chapter
64
: superintendent of the
United States military Academy
; commanding
Department of the Platte
,
Omaha, Neb.
Chapter
68
:
French
army maneuvers,
1884
; promotion to
Major General
,
United States army
,
San Francisco
1886
-
88
[529] me in French while he continued his work, became interested in him. He and his wife were sending to school in Evreux their only son, a lad of twelve. They were very fond of him and hopeful that he would make a scholar, and by and by learn a profession or trade more remunerative than shoemaking. Several times I visited the worthy couple and they repeatedly inquired concerning the chances of earning a living in North America. I was careful in my answers not to increase their discontent. One day I asked this workman if he did not have holidays. Shaking his head he said, “I have none except Christmas.” “Why,” I remarked, “you do not work on Sundays” “Oh, yes, I do. I am obliged to work hard seven days in the week to get enough together to give us a decent living.” Poor people Like so many other European workers, L'Amerique du Nord was their constant hope. During one pleasant Sunday I accompanied M. Chauvet and part of his family to a distant village named St. Opportune. Here we attended the anniversary exercises of one of the numerous Evangelical schools. A large congregation, made up principally of the fathers and mothers of the children, was present. As a rule they were dressed in clean blue workday frocks, such as the peasantry in France usually wear. The exercises were similar to what we have on anniversary occasions in our village schools, consisting of literary exercises, examinations, and singing. There were two sessions in this public exhibition. During intermission, while we were at lunch, M. Chauvet asked me to make an address to the school and assembled people that afternoon. I told him that I hardly dared trust myself in French. He smiled and said that I could try. So, mustering courage,
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.