at the beginning of her career in 1728, the other at its end
in 1774.

"Mme. la Marquise du Deffand is an enemy of all falseness and
affectation. Her talk and countenance are always the faithful
interpreters of the sentiment of her soul. Her form is not fine nor
bad. She has _esprit_, is reasonable and has a correct taste. If
vivacity at times leads her off, truth soon brings her back. After she
falls into an ennui which extinguishes all the light of her mind, she
finds that state insupportable and the cause of such unhappiness, that
she blindly embraces all that presents itself, without deliberation."

(1774.) "They believe Mme. du Deffand to possess more _esprit_ than
she really has; they praise and fear her, but she merits neither the
one nor the other. As far as her _esprit_ is concerned, she is what
she is; in regard to her form, to her birth and fortune--nothing
extraordinary, nothing distinguished. Born without great talent,
incapable of great application, she is very susceptible to ennui, and,
not finding any resource within herself, she resorts to those that
surround her and this search is often without success."

Mme. du Deffand arouses our curiosity because she was such an
exceptional character, led such a strange life, made and retained
friends in ways so different from those of the noted heroines of the
salons. In her youth, she was beautiful and fascinating, with numerous
lovers and numberless suitors, but she grew even more famous as her
age increased; when infirm and blind, and living in a convent, she
ruled by virtue of her acknowledged authority and was still able
to cope with the greatest philosophers, the chief and dean of whom,
Voltaire, wrote the following four lines:

"Qui vous voit et qui vous entend
Perd bientot sa philosophie;
Et tout sage avec Du Deffand
Voudrait en fou passer sa vie."

[He who sees and hears you,
Soon loses his philosophy.
Wise he who with Du Deffand
Insane would pass his life.]

Living long enough to witness the reigns of three kings and one
regent, she was brilliant enough to reign over the intellectual and
social world for over fifty years, by virtue of her intellectuality,
keenness, and wit; yet, among all the great women of France, she is
truly the one who deserves genuine pity and sympathy.

The salon of Mlle. de Lespinasse, her rival, was of a different type,
being exclusively intellectual, but permitting absolute liberty of
expression of op