George Sand we esteem to be a person of strong passions, but of
original nobleness and a love of right sufficient to guide them all to
the service of worthy aims. But she fell upon evil times. She was
given in marriage, according to the fashion of the old regime; she was
taken from a convent, where she had heard a great deal about the law
of God and the example of Jesus, into a society where no vice was
proscribed, if it would only wear the cloak of hypocrisy. She found
herself impatient of deception, and loudly appealed to by passion; she
yielded, but she could not do so, as others did, sinning against what
she owned to be the rule of right and the will of Heaven. She
protested, she examined, she "hacked into the roots of things," and
the bold sound of her axe called around her every foe that finds a
home amid the growths of civilization. Still she persisted. "If it be
real," thought she, "it cannot be destroyed; as to what is false, the
sooner it goes the better; and I, for one, would rather perish by its
fall, than wither in its shade."
Schiller puts into the mouth of Mary Stuart these words, as her only
plea: "The world knows the worst of me, and I may boast that, though I
have erred, I am better than my reputation.
Pages:
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279