ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Orestes A. Brownson asserts that to 'observe the signs of the times' carefully is to perceive that a crisis in the relations between the classes is approaching. In an earlier part of his article, which begins as a review of Carlyle's Chartism, Brownson had already asserted that war was the only means by which a fairer distribution of wealth could be achieved in England. After years of holding aloof from both major parties, Brownson had decided that Democrats were at last becoming truly the party of liberty and humanity. The chapter illustrates Brownson's propensity to follow his logic wherever it lead him, without regard to his readers' sense of propriety. Brownson's articles for O'Sullivan's Review continued to denounce the 'American system' of protective tariffs as a means of enslaving the workers. To O'Sullivan's relief, Brownson's association with the Democratic Review came to an end with the publication of his articles on the theory of government.
