one or other should perish, and met in the forest of Faye. And then
there stood between them, under an oak, a priest whose aspect in the
morning sun was so commanding that the foes at his bidding heard Mass
as he performed it under the oak, and at the words of the Gospel they
made friends."--The oak is still shown in the forest of Faye.

This poem, immeasurably superior to _Paquita la Sevillane_, was far
less admired.

After these two attempts Madame de la Baudraye, feeling herself a
poet, had a light on her brow and a flash in her eyes that made her
handsomer than ever. She cast longing looks at Paris, aspiring to fame
--and fell back into her den of La Baudraye, her daily squabbles with
her husband, and her little circle, where everybody's character,
intentions, and remarks were too well known not to have become a bore.
Though she found relief from her dreary life in literary work, and
poetry echoed loudly in her empty life, though she thus found an
outlet for her energies, literature increased her hatred of the gray
and ponderous provincial atmosphere.



When, after the Revolution of 1830, the glory of George Sand was
reflected on Le Berry, many a town envied La Chatre the privilege of
having given birth to this rival of Madame de Stael and Camille
Maupin, and were ready to do homage to minor feminine talent. Thus
there arose in France a vast number of tenth Muses, young girls or
young wives tempted from a silent life by the bait of glory. Very
strange doctrines were proclaimed as to the part women should play in
society. Though the sound common sense which lies at the root of the