Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/301

 DUDEVANT DUDLEY 293 Marshal Saxe, the illegitimate son of Augustus II., king of Poland, and of the countess Aurora de Konigsmark. She received her first educa- tion at the family country seat of Nohant, near La Chatre, where she led a somewhat eccen- tric life. After spending about two years at a boarding school in Paris, she returned to No- hant in 1820, and on the death. of her grand- mother a few months later lived with friends in the vicinity of Melun. Here she became acquainted with Casimir Dudevant, whom she married in September, 1822. The young cou- ple took up their abode at Nohant, but found that their tempers, habits, and tastes could not harmonize, and the estrangement was embit- tered by pecuniary embarrassments. In 1831 Mme. Dudevant, desirous of trying her for- tune as a writer, obtained permission of her husband to pass three months out of every six in Paris. She contributed a few articles to Figaro, but not possessing the extemporaneous facility requisite for a journalist, she found her- self dependent upon the allowance of 1,500 francs paid by her husband. In order to reduce her expenses, and to visit unnoticed the public galleries, libraries, and theatres, she assumed male attire. Meanwhile she wrote a novel in conjunction with her friend Jules Sandeau, en- titled Rose et Blanche, and bearing the name of Jules Sand, which was received favorably enough to encourage the publisher to take an- other from the same hands. Sandeau had nothing ready, but his associate had just com- pleted Indiana, which appeared in May, 1832, under the name of George Sand, and had a brilliant success. A rumor that the author was a woman added to the interest created by Indiana. This was soon followed by Va- lentine, a more perfect production, which was also eagerly received. "George Sand" became then a favorite novel writer for the Revue des Deux Mondes. In 1833 she produced Lelia, which caused a profound sensation by seeming to advocate principles of infidelity and social disorder ; and from this time the author was looked upon with suspicion by many of her former admirers. To recruit her health, she now started for Italy in company with Alfred de Musset, the poet; but they separated in Venice, he returning to France and she remain- ing and writing Jacques, Andre, and Les let- tres d'un voyageur. On her return to France in the beginning of 1835, she met the eloquent lawyer, Michel de Bourges, who drew her into politics, Lamennais, with whom she debated questions of religion, and Pierre Leroux, who initiated her into the doctrines of socialism. Their influence was perceptible in several of her works, such as Simon, Spiridion, and Gon- suelo, and the continuation of the last named work under the title of La comtesse de Rudol- stadt. The difficulties with her husband had increased, and she obtained a decree by which she was separated from him and restored to the management of her own fortune and the guardianship of her children ; after which she made Nohant a resort for her friends, and at- tended to her children's education. In 1838 she spent a winter in Majorca, where she was accompanied by the pianist Chopin, her rela- tions with whom continued till 1847. In 1845 she began to write pastoral novels, in- cluding Francois le Champi (first produced as a play in 1849), La petite Fadette, and Lamare au diable. The revolution of February, 1848, brought her again into the political arena, and she is said to have upheld with her pen many of the measures of Ledru-Kollin, then a member of the provisional government ; but a few months afterward she returned to her country seat and her wonted occupations. In 1854 she published in the Presse newspaper an autobiography, entitled Histoire de ma me, which contains few incidents of her life, but is a history of her mind and heart. She has published, either in book form or in journals, about CO novels, more than 20 plays, some of which are adaptations from her novels, and many minor works. Her plays have met with less favor than her novels; but Francois le Champi, Le mariage de Victorine (1849), Les leaux messieurs de Bois-Dore (1862), and es- pecially Le marquis de Villemer (1864), have been very successful. Many of her novels have been translated and published in the United States. Among her latest publications are Journal d'un voyageur pendant la guerre (1871), a highly interesting diary, first con- tributed in parts to the Revue des Deux Mondes during the late war, and Impressions et sou- venirs (1873). DUDLEY, a town, parish, and parliamentary borough of Worcestershire, England, but locally comprised in Staffordshire, which entirely sur- rounds it; pop. in 1871, 43,781. The town stands on a hill about 8 m. W. N. W. of Bir- mingham, and contains four churches and a number of chapels. The charitable founda- tions, such as free schools, infirmaries, and in- dustrial schools, are numerous. In addition to these it has a grammar school founded in the reign of Elizabeth, many literary and scientific societies, and a museum of natural curiosities. The neighborhood furnishes abundance of coal and almost inexhaustible supplies of iron. Iron founderies, blast furnaces, and iron mills are numerous, employing many thousand persons. The chief manufactures are chains, anvils, vises, fire irons, grates and fenders, edge tools, files, nails, and agricultural implements. There are also brass founderies, glass works, brick and cement works, tanneries, and an extensive brew- ery. The limestone quarries of the neighbor- hood are remarkable. The stone is usually excavated from the solid rock, leaving vast caverns, the roofs of which are supported by limestone pillars. One of these caverns is 2 m. long, and traversed by a canal by which the stone is conveyed away. On an eminence near here are the ruins of a strong castle, said to have been built in the 8th century by Dudo, a Saxon prince. In 1644 it was garrisoned by &