in her heart and
that came to her mind--what she did, wished to do, saw and learned,
news of court, city, Brittany, army, everything--sadly or gayly,
according to the subject, always with the most keen, ardent, delicate,
and touching sentiments of tenderness and sympathy. She amuses,
instructs, interests, moves to tears or laughter. All that passes
within or before her, passes within and before us. If she depicts
an object, we see it; if she relates an event, we are present at its
occurrence; if she makes a character talk, we hear his words, see his
gestures, and distinguish his accent. All is true, real, living: this
is more than talent--it is enchantment. Generations pass away in turn;
a single one, or, rather, a group escapes the general oblivion--the
group of friends of Mme. de Sevigne."

A woman with characteristics the very opposite of those of Mme.
de Sevigne, but who in some respects resembled her, was Mme. de La
Fayette. Of her life, very little is to be said, except in regard to
her lasting friendship and attachment for La Rochefoucauld. She
was born in 1634, and, with Mme. de Sevigne, was probably the best
educated among the great women of the seventeenth century. She was
faithful to her husband, the Count of La Fayette, who, in 1665, took
her to Paris, where she formed her lifelong attachment for the great
La Rochefoucauld, and where she won immediate recognition for her
exquisite politeness and as a woman with a large fund of common sense.

After her marriage, she seemed to have but one interest--La
Rochefoucauld, just as that of Mme. de Maintenon was Louis XIV. and
that of Mme. de Sevigne--her daughter. These three prominent
women illustrate remarkably well that predominant trait of French
women--faithfulness to a chosen cause; each one of the three
was vitally concerned in an enduring, a legitimate, and sincere
attachment, which state of affairs gives a certain distinction to the
society of the time of Louis XIV.

Mme. de La Fayette, like Mme. de Sevigne, possessed an exceptional
talent for making and retaining friends. She kept aloof from
intrigues, in fact, knew nothing about them, and consequently never
schemed to use her favor at court for purposes of self-interest. Two
qualities belonged to her more than to any of her contemporaries--an
instinct which was superior to her reason, and a love of truth in all
things.

Compared with those of Mme. de Rambouillet, it is said that her
attainments were