University of Virginia Library

“An admirable translation. As to `Mauprat,' with which novel Roberts
Brothers introduce the first of French novelists to the American public, if there
were any doubts as to George Sand's power, it would for ever set them at rest.
... The object of the story is to show how, by her (Edmée's) noble nature, he
(Mauprat) is subsequently transformed from a brute to a man; his sensual passion
to a pure and holy love.”

“The excellence of George Sand, as we understand it, lies in her comprehension
of the primitive elements of mankind. She has conquered her way into the
human heart, and whether it is at peace or at war, is the same to her; for she is
mistress of all its moods. No woman before ever painted the passions and the
emotions with such force and fidelity, and with such consummate art. Whatever
else she may be, she is always an artist.... Love is the key-note of `Mauprat,'
— love, and what it can accomplish in taming an otherwise untamable spirit.
The hero, Bernard Mauprat, grows up with his uncles, who are practically bandits,
as was not uncommon with men of their class, in the provinces, before the
breaking out of the French Revolution. He is a young savage, of whom the best
that can be said is, that he is only less wicked than his relatives, because he has
somewhere within him a sense of generosity and honor, to which they are entire
strangers. To sting this sense into activity, to detect the makings of a man in this
brute, to make this brute into a man, is the difficult problem, which is worked
out by love, — the love of Bernard for his cousin Edmée, and hers for him, — the
love of two strong, passionate, noble natures, locked in a life-and-death struggle,
in which the man is finally overcome by the unconquerable strength of womanhood.
Only a great writer could have described such a struggle, and only a great
artist could have kept it within allowable limits. This George Sand has done, we
think; for her portrait of Bernard is vigorous without being coarse, and her situations
are strong without being dangerous. Such, at least, is the impression we
have received from reading `Mauprat,' which, besides being an admirable study
of character, is also a fine picture of French provincial life and manners.”

“Roberts Brothers propose to publish a series of translations of George
Sand's better novels. We can hardly say that all are worth appearing in English;
but it is certain that the `better' list will comprise a good many which are worth
translating, and among these is `Mauprat,' — though by no means the best of
them. Written to show the possibility of constancy in man, a love inspired before
and continuing through marriage, it is itself a contradiction to a good many
of the popular notions respecting the author, — who is generally supposed to be
as indifferent to the sanctities of the marriage relation as was her celebrated ancestor,
Augustus of Saxony.... The translation is admirable. It is seldom that
one reads such good English in a work translated from any language. The new
series is inaugurated in the best possible way, under the hands of Miss Vaughan
and we trust that she may have a great deal to do with its continuance. It
is not every one who can read French who can write English so well.”