IV INTRODUCTION

accept a position in a government department He was soon sent to Auberive, the small town referredto in our story. The country amidst which Auberive lies is beautiful; it is traversed in ail directions by prattling brooks and verdant valleys. Inspired by such surroundings, Theuriet soon resumed his writing. The first work that brought him be fore the public eye was published in the Revue des Deux Mondes ; it was entitled, " In Memoriam," From that time on, and for the last forty years, Theuriet has kept on work ing. If ail his books are not equally good, they are ail noted for their lofty sentiments and their purity of style.

Although he would well nigh scorn the idea of being called a ^'^ réaliste ^'^ it is, nevertheless, safe to say that his Works "hold the mirror up to nature'' more closely than many of those of the writers of the realistic school.

Critics hâve compared André Chénier to Pfudhon, Casimir Delavigne to Paul Delaroche, Victor Hugo to Eugène Delacroix, Emile Zola to Courbet. Theuriet's descriptive talent might well be compared with Jules Breton's graceful and tender genius, as both love natiure, look upon it with kindred feelings, and idealize it

When after years of faithful labor Theuriet relinquished his governmental clerkship, he retired to Talloires on the bank of the Annecy Lake in Savoy, where he now résides.

Among the works of the novelist, there is none whose pathos more directiy appeals to one*s feelings than " Bigarreau," in which the author gives a glimpse of the need of penitentiary reform, and shows that kindly, womanly influ-