and of an artist. The only fault I have to find with it is that the
author of it seems to see calculation and artifice everywhere, and not
to believe sufficiently in sincerity. We must not forget, either, that
as early as the year 1893, all that is essential had been told us by
that shrewd writer and admirable woman, Arvede Barine. The chapter which
she devotes to the Venice episode, in her biography of Alfred de Musset,
is more clear and simple, and at the same time deeper than anything that
had yet been written.

It is a subject that has been given up to the curiosity of people and
to their disputes. The strange part is the zeal which at once animates
every one who takes part in this controversy. The very atmosphere seems
to be impregnated with strife, and those interested become, at once,
the partisans of George Sand or the partisans of Musset. The two parties
only agree on one point, and that is, to throw all the blame on the
client favoured by their adversary. I must confess that I cannot take
a passionate interest in a discussion, the subject of which we cannot
properly judge. According to _Mussetistes_, it was thanks to George
Sand that the young poet was reduced to the despair which drove him to
debauchery. On the other hand, if we are to believe the _Sandistes_,
George Sand's one idea in interesting herself in Musset was to rescue
him from debauchery and convert him to a better life. I listen to all
such pious interpretations, but I prefer others for myself. I prefer
seeing the physiognomy of each of the two lovers standing out, as it
does, in powerful relief.

It is the custom, too, to pity these two unfortunates, who suffered so
much. At the risk of being taken for a very heartless man, I must own
that I do not pity them much. The two lovers wished for this suffering,
they wanted to experience the incomparable sensations of it, and they