teries, that of one
mind taking possession of another mind. We have come into contact with
great minds which have made no impression on us, whilst other minds, of
secondary intelligence, perhaps, and it may be inferior to our own, have
governed us.

By the side of a Lamennais, this Pierre Leroux was a very puny
personage. He had been a compositor in a printing works, before founding
the _Globe_. This paper, in his hands, was to become an organ of
Saint-Simonism. He belonged neither to the _bourgeois_ nor to the
working-class. He was Clumsy, not well built, and had an enormous shock
of hair, which was the joy of caricaturists. He was shy and awkward, in
addition to all this. He nevertheless appeared in various _salons_,
and was naturally more or less ridiculous. In January, 1840, Beranger
writes: "You must know that our metaphysician has surrounded himself
with women, at the head of whom are George Sand and Marliani, and that,
in gilded drawing-rooms, under the light of chandeliers, he exposes his
religious principles and his muddy boots." George Sand herself made fun
of this occasionally. In a letter to Madame d'Agoult, she writes:

"He is very amusing when he describes making his appearance in your
drawing-room of the Rue Laffitte. He says: 'I was all muddy, and quite
ashamed of myself. I was keeping out of sight as much as possible in a
corner. _This lady_ came to me and talked in the kindest way possible.
She is very beautiful.'"(35)

(35) _Correspondance_: To Madame d'Agoult, October 16, 1837.

There are two features about him, then, which seem to strike every one,
his unkemptness and his shyness. He expressed his ideas, which were
already obscure, in a form which seemed to make them even more obscure.
It has been said wittily that when digging out his ideas, he buried
himself in them.(36) Later on, when he spoke at public meetings, he was
noted for the nonsense he talked in his interminable and unintelligible
harangues.

(36) P. Thureau-Dangin, _Histoire de la Monarchie de Juillet._

And yet, in spite of all this, the smoke from this mind attracted George
Sand, and became her pillar of light moving on before her. His hazy
philosophy seemed to her as clear as daylight, it appealed to her heart
and to her mind, solved her doubts, and gave her tranquillity, strength,
faith, hope and a patient and persevering love of humanity. It seems as
though, with that marvellous faculty that she had for idealizing