ve her an opportunity of playing a considerable part in
taking under her protection the persecuted party of the Jansenists.
Madame de Longueville, on whom was bestowed the designation of "Mother
of the Church," and who in that quality recovered some reputation at the
Court of France, and acquired a very great one at the Court of Rome,
rendered an eminent service to the Jansenists by obtaining for them from
the Pope, in 1668, that theological transaction which was called "The
Peace of Clement the Ninth." It would, however, be unjust to tax her
with hypocrisy. All that was extreme in the pious practices to which she
devoted herself must be attributed to her exalted nature, which mingled
passion with every sentiment of her soul.

When the Duke de Longueville died in 1663, the Duchess availed herself
of the state of independence in which her widowhood placed her to give
herself up wholly to exercises of piety and penitence, and the education
and care of her children. The latter occupation caused her much
grief--the Count de Dunois, by his bad conduct and imbecility, and the
Count de Saint Paul himself, the son so dearly beloved, by his
precocious debaucheries and fiery impatience of character. Then, as by
degrees they had less need of her care, she devoted herself deeper and
deeper to expiation, lavishing her fortune to repair in the provinces
ruined by civil war the evils she had helped to inflict, weeping and
humbling herself in her efforts to subdue that pride which was the
characteristic of her race, receiving outrages and insults
uncomplainingly, accepting them as the just chastisement of her sins,
and forgiving those who dealt her the most cruel wounds. And so, in
austerities and self-mortification she ended her days, sharing them
between the Carmelites, in whose convent she had an apartment, and
Port-Royal des Champs, where she had built a wing--having a preference
for Port-Royal. She was always naturally disposed to favour the
rebellious, and these rebels, it must be remembered, were the persecuted
for conscience' sake. Madame de Longueville's protection was extended to
the principal Jansenists, whom she sheltered in her chateau, and her
influence at length brought about that peace in the Church, which, so
long as she lived, gave calm and security to the sacred community.
Notwithstanding her predilection for Port-Royal, she continued to
inhabit her hotel, which she did not quit until after the death of the
Count de