CAMBRIDGE—A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL 117 
together sometimes and decoy Mother in, too, next 
winter. .. . It seems as if there might be a kind of 
revival of the good drama in Boston with this theatre 
and the interest private people of a good stamp and 
good dramatics take in it. To be sure, Monte Cristo 
does not look like an effort to elevate the public taste, 
for I suppose it’s pure sensation stuff, but still that 
may improve with time... . 
Madame de Chanal’s letter interested us both 
deeply. I hope she is not wholly right about the re- 
publican party. I don’t believe she knows anything 
personally of the people who make the best strength 
of the republicans, — the respectable merchant class, 
the wine dealers, the foremen of factories and such 
people, — among whom there are men of much steadi- 
ness and thoughtfulness and honesty of purpose. At 
least Agassiz thinks so, and yesterday he had a letter 
from a man with whom he has been in negotiation for 
an insect collection —a dealer in objects of Natural 
History in Paris— and he speaks with the greatest 
hopefulness and says the republic has done more in 
eight days than the Empire had been able to do in 
months. I am not sure but that the French will be 
glad in the end that Prussia did not accept peace on 
the conditions they offered. The French may yet be 
able to make peace on their own terms. I must say, 
if Jules Favre’s statement is correct and correctly re- 
ported, I think the Prussians were very ungenerous 
or else they purposely offered what it was impossible 
for France to accept. ... 
