Note 655 — Chapter V · : PROUDHON AND THE SOCIALISM OF 1848

Every historian is agreed on this point, which Louis Blanc has dealt with at great length in his Histoire de la Révolution de 1848 (chap. 11). The testimony of contemporaries, especially Lamartine in his Histoire de la Révolution de 1848 (vol. ii, p. 120), is also very significant. “These national workshops were placed under the direction of men who belonged to the anti-socialist party, whose one aim was to spoil the experiment, but who managed to keep the sectaries of the Luxembourg and the rebels of the clubs apart until the meeting of the National Assembly. Paris was disgusted with the quantity and the character of the work accomplished, but it little thought that these men had on more than one occasion defended and protected the city. Far from being in the pay of Louis Blanc, as some people seem to think, they were entirely at the beck and call of his opponents.” É. Thomas in his Histoire des Ateliers nationaux (pp. 146-147) relates how Marie sent for him on May 23 and secretly asked him whether the men in the workshops could be relied upon. “Try to get them strongly attached to you. Spare no expense. If there is any need we shall give you plenty of money.” Upon Thomas asking what was the purpose of all this, Marie replied: “It is all in the interest of public safety. Make sure of the men. The day is not far distant when we shall need them in the streets.”