gne, of an ancient family
of Brittany. Her letters written during the first years of her
marriage are full of gayety; there is no trace of misfortune or
sorrow. But her husband was fond of pleasure, extravagant in his
expenses, heedless, and gay--a character not likely to escape the
contagion of that universal depravity of manners which prevailed at
the French court. His conduct threw a cloud over their happiness.
Madame de Sevigne bore her misfortunes with dignity and patience. In
spite of his misconduct, she loved him deeply; and his death, not long
afterwards, in a duel, caused her the most profound sorrow.

Her uncle, the abbe, resumed his former office of protector and
counsellor. He withdrew her from the contemplation of her grief, and
drew her attention to her duties, the chief and dearest of which was
the education of her two children, a son and a daughter. To this
object, and to rendering the life of her uncle happy, she resolved to
devote herself. Of her obligations to her uncle she thus speaks in a
letter written many years afterwards, on the occasion of his death: "I
am plunged in sorrow: ten days ago I saw my dear uncle die; and you
know what he was to his dear niece. He has conferred on me every
benefit in the world, either by giving me property of his own, or
preserving and augmenting that of my children. He drew me from the
abyss into which M. de Sevigne's death plunged me; he gained lawsuits;
he put my affairs in good order; he paid our debts; he has made the
estate on which my son lives the prettiest and most agreeable in the
world."

Time restored to the young widow her lost gayety, and she was the
delight of the circles in which she was intimate. The Hotel de
Rambouillet, at Paris, where she resided, was the resort of all who
were celebrated for wit or talent, and her presence was always hailed
with joy. _Euphuism_ was the fashion of the day, and in this _coterie_
it had reached the highest degree of perfection. Common appellations
were discarded; water became "_l'humeur celeste_," and a chaplet "_une
chaine spirituelle_." The use of names was banished, and each was
addressed as "ma chere" or "ma precieuse." "_Les Precieuses
Ridicules_" of Moliere at length put an end to the affectation. Many
of the _coterie_ were present at its first representation, and were
obliged to swallow the vexation which the delight evinced by the
public at seeing them held up to ridicule, could not fail to excite.

The