ommunicative, radiant gayety--is the basis of the character of this
woman who is more witty, seductive, and amusing than is any other.
Mme. de Sevigne shines by imagination--Mme. de Maintenon by judgment.
The one permits herself to be dazzled, intoxicated--the other always
preserves her indifference. The one exaggerates the splendors of
the court--the other sees them as they are. The one is more of a
woman--the other more of a saint."

Mme. de Maintenon may be called "a woman of fate," She was never
daughter, mother, or wife; as a child, she was not loved by her
mother, and her father was worthless; married to two men, both aged
beyond their years, she was, indeed, but an instrument of fate.
Truthful, candid, and discreet she was entirely free from all morbid
tendencies, and was modest and chaste from inclination as well as
from principle. Though outwardly cold, proud, and reserved, yet in
her deportment toward those who were fortunate enough to possess
her esteem, she was kind--even loving. While not intelligent to a
remarkable degree, she was prudent, circumspect, and shrewd, never
losing her self-control. When once interested, and convinced as to the
proper course, she displayed marvellous strength of will, sagacity,
and personal force. Beautiful and witty, she easily adapted herself
to any position in which she might be placed; though intolerant and
narrow in her religious views, she was otherwise gentle, charitable,
and unselfish. Therefore, it is evident that she possessed, to a
greater degree than did any other woman of her time, unusual as
well as desirable qualities--qualities that made her powerful and
incomparable.

CHAPTER VI

MME. DE SEVIGNE, MME. DE LA FAYETTE, MME. DACIER, MME. DE CAYLUS

The seventeenth century was, in French history, the greatest century
from the standpoint of literary perfection, the sixteenth century the
richest in naissant ideas, and the eighteenth the greatest in the way
of developing and formulating those ideas; and each century produced
great women who were in perfect harmony with and expressed the ideals
of each period of civilization.

It is not within the limits of reason to expect women to rival, in
literature, the great writers such as Corneille, Racine, Moliere,
Bossuet, La Fontaine, Descartes, Pascal--most of whom were but little
influenced by femininity; there were those, however, among the sex,
who were conspicuous for elevation of thought, dignity in manner