ated quite a little talk at the time, but
which eventually brought upon her the condemnation of the philosophers
and Encyclopaedists, because in it she opposed liberty of conscience.
When, on the occasion of the first communion of the Duc de Valois,
she wrote her _Religion Considered as the Only True Foundation of
Happiness and of True Philosophy_, all the Palais-Royal place hunters,
philosophers, and her political enemies, in a mass, opposed and
ridiculed her. Rivarol declared that she had no sex, that heaven had
refused the magic of talent to her productions, as it had refused the
charm of innocence to her childhood.

One of the best portraits of her is in the memoirs of the Baroness
d'Oberkirch (it was she who disturbed Mme. de Genlis and the Duc
d'Orleans while they were walking in the gardens one night):

"I did not like her, in spite of her accomplishments and the charm of
her conversation; she was too systematic. She is a woman who has laid
aside the flowing robes of her sex for the costume of a pedagogue.
Besides, nothing about her is natural; she is constantly in an
attitude, as it were, thinking that her portrait--physical or
moral--is being taken by someone. One of the great follies of this
masculine woman is her harp, which she carries about with her; she
speaks about it when she hasn't it--she plays on a crust of bread and
practises with a thread. When she perceives that someone is looking
at her, she rounds her arm, purses up her mouth, assumes a sentimental
expression and air, and begins to move her fingers. Gracious! what
a fine thing naturalness is!... I spent a delightful evening at the
Comtesse de La Massais's; she had hired musicians whom she paid dear;
but Mme. de Genlis sat in the centre of the assembly, commanded,
talked, commented, sang, and would have put the entire concert in
confusion, had not the Marquise de Livry very drolly picked a quarrel
with her about her harp, which she had brought to her. Decidedly, this
young D'Orleans has a singular governor. She holds too closely to her
role, and never forgets her _jupons_ [skirts] except when she ought
most to remember them."

During her visit to England she was petted by everyone; but even in
England there was a widespread prejudice against her--a feeling which
the mere sight of her immediately dissipated. An English lady wrote
about her:

"I saw her at first with a prejudice in her disfavor, from the cruel
reports I had heard; but the momen