ss amusing than wit of an ill-natured character. And yet,
let us hasten to add, that such a style of wit could not be assigned
to Madame, for her disposition of mind, naturally of the very highest
order, comprised too much true generosity, too many noble impulses
and high-souled thoughts, to warrant her being termed ill-natured. But
Madame was endowed with a spirit of resistance--a gift frequently fatal
to its possessor, for it breaks where another disposition would have
bent; the result was that blows did not become deadened upon her as upon
what might be termed the cotton-wadded feelings of Maria Theresa.
Her heart rebounded at each attack, and therefore, whenever she was
attacked, even in a manner that almost stunned her, she returned blow
for blow to any one imprudent enough to tilt against her.

Was this really maliciousness of disposition or simply waywardness of
character? We regard those rich and powerful natures as like the tree
of knowledge, producing good and evil at the same time; a double branch,
always blooming and fruitful, of which those who wish to eat know how
to detect the good fruit, and from which the worthless and frivolous die
who have eaten of it--a circumstance which is by no means to be regarded
as a great misfortune. Madame, therefore, who had a well-disguised
plan in her mind of constituting herself the second, if not even the
principal, queen of the court, rendered her receptions delightful
to all, from the conversation, the opportunities of meeting, and the
perfect liberty she allowed every one of making any remark he pleased,
on the condition, however, that the remark was amusing or sensible. And
it will hardly be believed, that, by that means, there was less talking
among the society Madame assembled together than elsewhere. Madame hated
people who talked much, and took a remarkably cruel revenge upon them,
for she allowed them to talk. She disliked pretension, too, and never
overlooked that defect, even in the king himself. It was more than a
weakness of Monsieur, and the princess had undertaken the amazing task
of curing him of it. As for the rest, poets, wits, beautiful women, all
were received by her with the air of a mistress superior to her slaves.
Sufficiently meditative in her liveliest humors to make even poets
meditate; sufficiently pretty to dazzle by her attractions, even among
the prettiest; sufficiently witty for the most distinguished persons
who were present, to be listened