[*] /Lettres a l'Etrangere. This contradicts the statement of S. de Lovenjoul, /Bookman/, that Balzac had a horror of tobacco and is known to have smoked only once, when a cigar given him by Eugene Sue made him very ill. He evidently had this excerpt of a letter in mind: "I have never known what drunkenness was, except from a cigar which Eugene Sue made me smoke against my will, and it was that which enabled me to paint the drunkenness for which you blame me in the /Voyage a Java/." This visit to George Sand was made five years after this letter was written. Or S. de Lovenjoul might have had in mind the statement of Theophile Gautier that Balzac could not endure tobacco in any form; he anathematized the pipe, proscribed the cigar, did not even tolerate the Spanish /papelito/, and only the Asiatic narghile found grace in his sight. He allowed this only as a curious trinket, and on account of its local color. George Sand and Balzac discussed their work freely and did not hesitate to condemn either plot or character of which they did not approve. Some of Balzac's women shocked her, but she liked /La premiere Demoiselle/ (afterwards L'Ecole des Manages), a play which Madame Surville found superb, but which Madame Hanska discouraged because she did not like the plot. She aided him in a financial manner by signing one of his stories, /Voyage d'un Moineau de Paris/. At that time, Balzac needed money and Stahl (Hetzel) refused to insert in his book, /Scenes de la Vie privee de Animaux/ (2 vols., 1842), this story of Balzac's, who had already furnished several articles for this collection. George Sand signed her name, and in this way, Balzac obtained the money. Madame Dudevant not only remained a true friend to Balzac in a literary and financial sense, but was glad to defend his character, and was firm in refuting statements derogatory to him. In apologizing to him for an article that had appeared without her knowledge in the /Revue independente/, edited by her, she asked his consent to write a large work about him. He tried to dissuade her, telling her that she would create enemies for herself, but, after persistence on her part, he asked her to write a preface to the /Comedie humaine/. The plan of the work, however, was very much modified, and did not appear until after Balzac's death. Balzac dined frequently with Madame Dudevant and political as well as social and literary questions were discussed. He enjoyed opposing her views; after his return from his prolonged visit to Madame Hanska in St. Petersburg (1843), George Sand twitted him by asking him to give his /Impressions de Voyage/.