ism and an
unusual emotional nature, she represented better than any other woman
of her age the peculiar French trait--namely, the emotional perfectly
combined with the mathematical. She was unique; her compatriots
practised the art of studying themselves, in order to be attractive,
and thus accomplished their ends, while her ambition was not to
please merely, but to be of some real, practical value to her troubled
country. She stands out, however, as the product of the end of the
eighteenth century, a natural result of the reading of philosophy
and political pamphlets. Quite naturally, she entertained such
philosophical sentiments as this: "No one will lose in losing me,
and the country may be better off for the sacrifice. Death comes only
once, and let us use it to the good of the country or the greatest
number of people." Thus, her philosophy led her to a complete
detachment from her individual self, and fostered the idea of dying
for her country.

Her decision to rid France of Marat was arrived at by degrees of
silent brooding over the evils which beset her native land; at last
she felt herself called to some great act which would necessitate the
loss of her life. "The time brought forth desperation, intense warmth
of feeling, concentrated upon some purpose or object;" the reasoning
self seemed to be stifled by the intensity of the emotion. Yet,
reason was to conquer in her. When the Girondists returned to Caen
and described Robespierre and Marat in the darkest colors, she at once
felt moved to put forth all her efforts to rid France of that evil
blot--Marat. She was beautiful, strong, and graceful, presenting a
most striking appearance. Loved by all, she felt love and devotion
only for her country. Desperate and determined, she set out to fulfil
her mission. She was a mere expression of the conservative element
which acts only when driven by sheer necessity. Her reason impressed
her with her duty and circumstances; the time acted upon her mind.
"Easy, calm, resigned, she looked upon the angry masses of people who
cursed her," confident that she had done her country a service, and
proud that she had been the fortunate one to render it. This was her
glory, and for this she will be remembered in history.

Possibly the rarest phenomenon in the history of the illustrious women
of France is Mme. Recamier, who, by force of her beauty and social
fascination, and without intellectual gifts or even wit, won for
herself th