ing
of musicus for magnificus in the published copy of the document, its
trustworthiness has been doubted elsewhere, but, I believe, without
sufficient cause. The strongest argument that could be urged against
the acceptance of the date would be the long interval between birth and
baptism, which did not take place till late in April, and the consequent
possibility of an error in the registration. This, however, could only
affect the day, and perhaps the month, not the year. It is certainly
a very curious circumstance that Fontana, a friend of Chopin's in his
youth and manhood, Karasowski, at least an acquaintance, if not an
intimate friend, of the family (from whom he derived much information),
Fetis, a contemporary lexicographer, and apparently Chopin's family, and
even Chopin himself, did not know the date of the latter's birth.

Where the character of persons and works of art are concerned, nothing
is more natural than differences of opinion. Bias and inequality of
knowledge sufficiently account for them. For my reading of the character
of George Sand, I have been held up as a monster of moral depravity; for
my daring to question the exactitude of Liszt's biographical facts, I
have been severely sermonised; for my inability to regard Chopin as one
of the great composers of songs, and continue uninterruptedly in a state
of ecstatic admiration, I have been told that the publication of my
biography of the master is a much to be deplored calamity. Of course,
the moral monster and author of the calamity cannot pretend to be an
unbiassed judge in the case; but it seems to him that there may be some
exaggeration and perhaps even some misconception in these accusations.

As to George Sand, I have not merely made assertions, but have earnestly
laboured to prove the conclusions at which I reluctantly arrived. Are
George Sand's pretentions to self-sacrificing saintliness, and to purely
maternal feelings for Musset, Chopin, and others to be accepted in spite
of the fairy-tale nature of her "Histoire," and the misrepresentations
of her "Lettres d'un Voyageur" and her novels "Elle et lui" and
"Lucrezia Floriani"; in spite of the adverse indirect testimony of
some of her other novels, and the adverse direct testimony of her
"Correspondance"; and in spite of the experiences and firm beliefs of
her friends, Liszt included? Let us not overlook that charitableness
towards George Sand implies uncharitableness towards Chopin, place. Need