ncy against the educational methods of the day, her
chief work of real literary worth being mostly in the form of
sound advice to a child. Being a reasonable, careful, and sensible
woman,--in spite of the defects in her moral life,--she desired to
show the possibilities of a moral revolution against the habits and
customs of the time, of which she herself had been a most unfortunate
victim. She was relieved of actual want by means of this work, which
gained for her a pension from Catherine II. of Russia, who adopted
her methods for her own children, and the award of the Montyon prize,
which was given her in a competition with a large number of aspirants,
the most famous of whom was Mme. de Genlis. It was her ability to gain
and retain the respect of great men which won that honor for her.

The memoirs of Mme. d'Epinay leave one of the most accurate and
faithful pictures of the polished society of the France of about 1750.
"Her salon was the centre about which circled the greatest activity;
it was filled with men who ordered events, thinkers whose minds were
bent upon untangling the knotty problems of the age; it was her salon,
more than any other, that quickened the philosophical movement of
the day." Mme. d'Epinay made her reputation not so much through her
_esprit_, intelligence, or beauty, possibly, as through the strength
of her affection. Timid, irresolute, and highly impressionable,
and amiable in disposition, she was constantly influenced by
circumstances--a quality which led her on to the two principal
occupations of her later life, education and philosophy. To-day,
her name is recalled principally for its association with that of
Rousseau, whose mistress and benefactress she was; it is to her that
the world owes his famous _Nouvelle Heloise_.

The last of the great literary and social leaders of the eighteenth
century was Mme. de Genlis, a prodigy in every respect, an amateur
performer upon nearly every instrument, an authority on intellectual
matters as well, a fine story teller, a consummate artist,
entertainer, and general charmer. Authoress, governess of
Louis-Philippe, councillor of Bonaparte, her success as a social
leader established her reputation and places her in the file of great
women, although she was not a salon leader such as Mme. Geoffrin or
Mme. du Deffand.

She was born in 1746, and at a very early age showed a remarkable
talent for music, but her general education was much neglected. At th