He compared her to his father, and that was great praise indeed from him.  He admired in her, too, as he admired in his father, that wealth of creative power and immense capacity for uninterrupted work.  As a proof of this admiration, we have only to turn to the preface to Le Fils naturel, in which Dumas is so furious with the inhabitants of Palaiseau.  George Sand had taken up her abode at Palaiseau, and Dumas had been trying in vain to discover her address in the district, when he came across one of the natives, who replied as follows:  “George Sand?  Wait a minute.  Isn’t it a lady with papers?” “So much for the glory,” concludes Dumas, “of those of us with papers.”  According to him, no woman had ever had more talent or as much genius.  “She thinks like Montaigne,” he says, “she dreams like Ossian and she writes like Jean-Jacques.  Leonardo sketches her phrases for her, and Mozart sings them.  Madame de Sevigne kisses her hands, and Madame de Stael kneels down to her as she passes.”  We can scarcely imagine Madame de Stael in this humble posture, but one of the charms of Dumas was his generous nature, which spared no praise and was lavish in enthusiasm.

At the epoch at which we have now arrived, George Sand had commenced that period of tranquillity and calm in which she was to spend the rest of her life.  She had given up politics, for, as we have seen, she was quickly undeceived with regard to them, and cured of her illusions.  When the coup d’etat of December, 1851, took place, George Sand, who had been Ledru-Rollin’s collaborator and a friend of Barbes, soon made up her mind what to do.  As the daughter of Murat’s aide-de-camp, she naturally had a certain sympathy with the Bonapartists.  Napoleon III was a socialist, so that it was possible to come to an understanding.  When the prince had been a prisoner at Ham, he had sent the novelist his study entitled L’Extinction du pauperisme.  George Sand took advantage of her former intercourse with him to beg for his indulgrence in favour of some of her friends.  This time she was in her proper role, the role of a woman.  The “tyrant” granted the favours she asked, and George Sand then came to the conclusion that he was a good sort of tyrant.  She was accused of treason, but she nevertheless continued to speak of him with gratitude.  She remained on good terms with the Imperial family, particularly with Prince Jerome, as she appreciated his intellect.  She used to talk with him on literary and philosophical questions.  She sent him two tapestry ottomans one year, which she had worked for him.  Her son Maurice went for a cruise to America on Prince Jerome’s yacht, and he was the godfather of George Sand’s little grandchildren who were baptized as Protestants.