Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1855-07-07
Miscellaneous.
GEORGE SAND.

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George Sand to most people has Iecomc a typc
Of the eccentric which has no point of similarity
with the original. A foreigner whom Nine. War
dot had promised to introduce to the authorcss
found on being ushertd into the work.room Of the
genial singer, u little woman who was diligently
cutting out a dress, The busy little woman caught
the iuquiring look which the stranger cast toward
Nine. Niardot, and cried out with comic earnest
ness, Yes. it is | docs this astonish you % 1t.
did not astoniSh tue stranger, who had been warn
cl ct it, but it will ustonish very many readers to
hear that Nine. George Sand understands herself
in houscwifery; that she makes clothes c~apitally,
(thc wardrobe Of her private theatcr at Nohaut
was made by her and her daugItcr); that she
sometimes embroiders as a pastimc; and that she
makes tue most exquisite confectionery that ever
busy housewife set before her guests. She lacks
nothing but time TO be a most perfect housckeepcr
and II shc who has received thousands for her
works, has but Just now written to q lady.triend
"lhaye not q sou" this only shows her uncxam-
pied generosity. With Il reason for it, our au-
thoress can calculate as CLOSELY as the best book
keeper; but n, the sight of suffering poverty she
torgets this positive talent; she gives "a long as
she has, and in extraordinary eases more than she
has.
GEORGE Sand Is a little. plump woman. Her
black hair lies simply and smoothly parted on her
broad, high brow, which is still without y wrinkle
and as clear as the surface Of an unruiicd sea
Her Large eye beams with m expression Of mild
salness-of modest womanhood-which can only
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rather large, rendering her face somewhat mascu-
line; bat this is countcractcd by her graceful smil-
ing mouth, and still more ly tho soft melody of
her %nothcriy, ringing tones. Her face is rather
long and has an expression of great kindness; but
her rounded temples give some Indication of the
mind that works within. George Sand SAYS her.
self that she is like a lamb, and is quite willing TO
hear her intimate friends say that she seems really
stupid. Her appearance may be described in n
few words; A good, gentle, modest, natural, sen
ElHlD woman. lacking none of tho cttribIItag of tho
tendereSt womanhood. That she has in addition
taken the liberty to be a great genius is not per-
celyei FROM her outward appearance at first sight.
Distorted as are the sketches of her character
and life, those of her family arc not less so. We
can see from her memoirs, now commenced, that
even her name has been talsifed, that it is not
Marie Amantino Aurore Dupin, but Amantine
iucile Aurore Dupin; and that her husband, Fran
co.'s Dndeyant, is no baron, nor even an old colo
mel. lie has never passed the grade of sublieu-
tenant and he was only twenty seven years old
when Ie married Mdle Dupin.
Nine. Sand tells us that she inherited from her
mother as her mother did from her grandfather, a
great love of birds, and at tho same time a certain
power Of facinatiou over the winged song-world.-
The Chapter on the Endowments Of Birds could
have been written only by a soul full Of sympa-
thy and goodness like George Sand. No one can
read it without loving the writer.
The separation from her grandmother, whom
the girl loved best of all, was still harder to bear
on account of her love for the Castle Of NohRut.-
In the letters OF a Traveller, which has been re-
ferred to by George Sand herself as ono of those
books IN which she has written out her reminis-
cences z,ogc or less idealized, we find a passage
drawR from her childhood in Nohaut.
"WhO Of u.s." says she, docs not remember
with love the first words which he devourcd or
slowly relished (saroareS)? Has the cover of a
dusty book on the shelf of Il forgotten case never
called up the sweet image of your young years?-
Have you not believed that you saw the broad
meadows lying before you, bathed in the ruddy
glow of evening, just as they were when you reaC
it for the first time? All, how quickly night feI
on those divine pages? How cruelty the da-ken
ing twilight made the letters swim to and fro ovel
the fading leaf!
at is over; the lambs bleat; The sheep are il
their folds; the cricket takes possession of the cot
tage and the plain. 1t is time to go.
The path is stony; the bridge narrow and slip
You are covered with sweat, but your haste is
all in vain; you will come too late; the supper vii
have been begun,
I'm vain will the old servant who loves you put
of ringing the bell as long as he Canyon will have
the humiliation of coming last, and the grand
mother, memorable on a point of etiquette, will
give you, with sad, soft voice, q very gentle, very
tender reproach. You think it would be easier t.
bear a harsher Ieprimand.
But when, at evening, she asks the story o.
your day, and you have to blush and confess tha
you fargat yourself reading in Z meadow, and she
asks tor the book, and you tTembie, and draw GU
of your p~ocket-what? Estelle and Nemorin.-
o then the grandmother smiles. BE comforted
your treasure will be given you again; but never
more will you larc forget the supper-hour.
"Lappy timcsl o my dark valley! OCorine
o Bcnardin de st. Pierre o Had o Mile
voye! o Alfalfa !! o meadows by the river! {
youth that has passed away! o my old dog, VIII,
never forgot the supper-hour, and used to answe
the distant sound of the bell with a painful bark
full of regret and daintinessW
She left the cloistcr to close the eyes OF her 10y
ed grandmother; returned again after her death
take leave of it forever, a girl of seventeen, tn
bride of VI, Francois Dudevant.
How unfortunate this marriage became is we
known; a renowned lawsuit has borne witness
that. Since George Sand has obtained her d
vorce, she defends her husband against the attacl
Of her friends. She does this out Of regard f
her children, or from Il feeling of wounded priC
at heing justified and Gommiserated at the expenl
Of another.
Mime. SIND had nothing to reproach herself f
when, in the year 1881; she, with both her childrt
left the house of her husband and came to Pari
The Separation took place with the consent Of J
Dudevant, AMI he settled on the woman who hi
brought him Il large estate, an annuity of twel
hundred francs. This pitiful sum, Of course; W
not sufficient for the maintenance of woman wi
tw1~ children, although she took a wretched att
tenement ia the Quai st. Michel.
The literary activity Of the young woman cor
PEELED her to seek mental recreation, Of which 81
hsl asEsr thought Of before. A passion for Il
theatsF aroke within her and political aSitatiO
whiehat that time was prevalent in Paris, can
TO have great attractions for her. From the pit
the thester-shich alone was within the reach
her Retger shanees-ss we'll as from the polite
club, she woman was excluded; and remembers
her experience at Nohaut, she siippe ! on male q
ire without any great reougnance. Ons eveniI
she was present ia this dress at a democrat
meetins over which GOdefriO Cavaignac preside
Several speakers whO showed more zeai than u
derstanding bereft her Of all patience, and s.
arose to speak She spoke without ornament u
with great clearRess aad reason. When che "a
finished the President cried out, "The little fell,
las more sense than all Of you, my good friends
" Il atAurhO YseNrn eSudAd EearuR Sand IN RuIo, :