The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-05-28

| liable industry. and the insatiable Gu
riosity OF man. AS We lay down
these letters. in which she speaks from her
heart. we can see that she was prompted
by wise instinct In assuming mas
cullne nom dc plume She had mans virtues
and his vices. and in the role OF comrade she
went far to atone for her glarlng deficiencies In
parts more commonly assigned to women.
When we contrast the vigor Of her intellect
and the correctness Of her artistic sympathles
and ideas. with the deplorablc blemishes upon
her private life. 10 seems to as II Athene, the
| goddess Of wisdom had been invited to preside
exclusively at the birth OF George Sand. but
that the sighted Aphrodite had appeared
unbidden. and turned the good gifts all
awry by an abnormal development OF the
sexual craving
1t would seem from these letters that. what
ever may have been George Sands connubial
shortcomings. NJ. Dudevant had little right to
complain OF them. The life which she led with
him at Nohant. before their informal separa-
ton. which took place In 1881. must have been
one long agony. He sauandercd his own prop
erty and did his best to dlssipate the portion
which she brought him upon her marriage; his
own infldelities were Of the most open. vulgar.
and insulting kind. and his treatment OF her
was not only spiteful and tyrannlcal but often
took the bruta, form OF kicks and blows. But
they had two children. and he probably evinced
at times a CLEAN OF contrition and
a species OF resuscitated fondness for she con-
tinued to live with him until she was twenty
seven years OF age. She was irrevocably fixed
In her resolve to leave him by discovering
among his papers sealed package addressed
to her with the direction. Not TO be opened un-
til after my DEATH" I had not" she writes.
the patience to wait till was o widow. II is
,.,;t1 ,t,o 4,
on surviving anybody" The package being nd
dressed to her, she felt that she might
open 1t without indiscretlon. and. mas
much as her husband was In excellent
health. she could read his last will and
testament quite coolly. Vive Dieu !"
she continues. what q testament Curses.
and nothing more! Here he had amassed all
his angers and spiteful impulses. all his rehec-
tions on my ingrained perversty. all his feel
ings Of contempt for my character. This he
left me as pledge OF his affection. thought
Unjust be dreaming. I. who up to that moment
kept my eyes shut. and refused to see that was
despised. The reading Of that letter wrenched
me at last from slumber. told myself that to
go on living with man who neither esteems
his wife nor trusts her would be like trying to
bring the dead to life. My mind was made up.
| and, venture to say irrevocably."
fiau biho. DuucNdut kINoh uubuduu uuy
ground for suspecting her fidelity to him dur
ing the years which preceded her entrance on
Bohemian life at Parish The letters printed
| in this volume supply almost no evidence upon
| this point nor could they be expected TO do so,
| since most Of them are addressed to her son.
her mother. her brother. or old friends Of her
own or her husbands family. But II appears
that NJ. Dudevant had been jealous OF NJ.
Jules Boucoran. who had been tutor in his
family. and the suspicion does not seem to us
altogether misdrected when we find Nine. Du-
devant engaged In secret and most conlden-
tial correspondence with this young man.
Indeed. the letter from which we have
just quoted was addressed to NJ. Bou-
colran. and made known TO him her
intention of leaving her husband. She addresses
him as her SOD. but. inasmuch as she could not
| have been at most more than two or three years
older. 1t is difficult for her TO sustain the ma
| ternal tone. and his devotion to her consider
| ably passed the normal bounds OF flial atfec-
| ton. At her request he threw up much more
! lucrative appointment. and. returning TO No
| hant. subjected himself to the unpleasant COM
partnership Of NJ Dudevant in order that while
| George Sand was leading an adventurous life
| in Paris her son might be under the care of
some one in her interest. 1t strikes us that in
| this action OF the young tutor affection was
of martyrdom. Many rumors OF Mme Du-
| devant's escapades reached Nohant and
| NJ. Boucoiran seems TO have felt him
self entitled to address to her some jealous re.
proaches on the subject, for she alludes to them
| in q playful way We are afraid that Nine
| Dudevant made use OF the young man and did
not for him particularly for It is plain that
during the two years he remained at Nohant
| he had a good many successors in her affec-
! tons. Singularly enough. when NJ. Boucoiran.
! tired OF the serviceable role to which he had
condemned himself. sought to console himself
elsewhere. and became engaged to a young
woman. the news was received with q good
deal Of annoyance by the mother of his pupil.
who urged him to reconsider the serious step
| he had purposed taking. and at all events 10
conclude nothing until he had visited her in
! Paris. We do not know whether the visit was
made. but it would seem that the engagement
was broken Off.
! number OF the letters here printed were
written from Italy during the famous journey
to that country which she made in company
with Alfred de Musset But Of De Musset We
hear nothing except in a letter written from
Venice in April. 1894. to NJ Boucoiran. What
ever may have been the cause OF the rupture
between the lovers. it had now taken place.
Alfred" she writes. has departed for Paris,
! ana 1 snail remain mere some time. he was
still very delicate to undertake such a long
journey. ] am not without anxiety as to the
way in which he will bear IT. but 1t would
have been worse for him 10 remain than
to depart, and every day devoted to
awaiting the return OF health seemed
| to delay rather than advance him. He
has gone ut last In the charge of an extremely
careful and devoted servant. The doctor an
swers for his lungs so long as he takes care OF
them, but am not completely treasured. We
have taken leave OF each other. perhaps for
some months. perhaps forever. God knows
what will now become OF my head and OF my
heart but | feel myself strong enough to live, to
work to suffer" There is reason to surmse.
although there is no intimation Of such thing
in these letters. that George Sand must
have entirely deprived herself of money
in order TO send De Musset back to
France in comfort. At all events. We
find her subjected to great straits and hard
ships after his departure and pending the ar