of a meadow; and thinks Noah's flood the grestest plague that ever was, not because it drowned the world, but spoiled the grasse. For death he is never troubled; and if he get in but his harvest before, let it come when it will, he cares not."

BIOGRPHICAL MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE SEVIGNE,

Translated from the edition of her works lately published at Paris.

MARIE RABUTIN CHANTAL, was born the 5th of February, 1626. Her father was Cesse Benigne de Rabutin, Baron de Chantal, of the elder branch of the house of Rabutin, and his mother, Marie de Coulanges, of a family scarcely less illustrious. She was not more than a year and a half old, when the English made a descent on the Isle of Rhé, for the purpose of succouring Rochelle and the French protestants. M. de Chantal opposed them at the head of a corps of volunteers. The artillery of the enemy's fleet, which covered the landing, made dreadful havoc among the French. Their leader was slain, with a great number of his followers.

Of the childhood and early youth of Madame de Sevigné we have no particulars. We are perfectly acquainted with her principles relative to the education of young females but we have no details concerning her own.

With respect to the person of the youthful Rabutin, she is represented as a woman perfectly handsome; having more physiognomy than beauty, and features more expressive than imposing, a graceful figure, a stature rather tall than short, rich light hair, extraordinary freshness, a delicate complexion, eyes whose vivacity imparted additional animation to her language, & to the agility of all her motions. She had, moreover, a fine voice, and danced admirably for those days. Such is the idea given of her by her portraits, her friends, or herself, when, at the age of eighteen, she gave her hand to Henri, Marquis de

Sevigné, descended from the ancient house in Bretagne. In addition to the rich treasure of her merits and her charms, she brought him a fortune of one hundred thousand crowns.

M. de Sevigné, who was likewise rich, was allied to the house of Retz, and a near relation of the archbishop and coadjutor of Paris. He was addicted to pleasure and fond of expence, and possessed, if not the taste and superior understanding which distinguished his son, at least all the gaiety, levity, and thoughtlessness, displayed in his youth by the latter.

We are warranted, were it only by the early letters written by Madame de Sevigné, in conjecturing that the first years of this union were happy. It was sometime before it produced any fruit. The first was a son, Charles de Sevigné, born in March, 1647. His sister soon followed him. It appears, that Madame de Sevigné had no more children, and never knew the pain of a loss, which she would have felt more keenly than any other.

In 1651 she lost her husband, who fell in a duel, the cause of which is unknown. Whoever has read Madame de Sevigné, will readily believe what is related of the violence of her grief. But as she herself says, speaking of the Abbe de Coulanges," He extricated me from the abyss in which I was plunged, upon the death of M. de Sevigné." It is easily imagined, that she must soon have abstained from the relief of tears, to fulfil her new duties; to attend to the education of her two young children; and to retrieve their deranged fortunes. The success with which this widow of twenty-five accomplished this two-fold task, appears in a thousand interesting details in her letters.

Her good sense, her natural rectitude, and a just pride, imparted a love of economy; the counsels of her uncle gave her instruction in it. Her mind, though she was accustomed to sacrifice to the graces, felt no dislike of business. She knew perfectly well how to sell or let land; to dun her te

nants; to give directions to her labourers. Nor did she leave it to her beauty alone to plead her causes. Menage relates, that one day, when she was recommending a cause with great freedom, to the President de Bellievre, she perceived she had made some mistake in the terms" At any rate, Sir," said she, "I know the tune perfectly well, but I forget the words."

With respect to education, not only the merit of her son and daughter, as well as their virtues, afford a standard of her ability in that particular; but it would be easy to extract from her letters a series of maxims on that subject, which would shew, that, so far from being attached to the false methods generally adopted in her time, she had devised many improvements, on which the present age justly prides itself.

Many offers of love and marriage were made to Madame de Sevigné, but in vain. She had not been happy as a wife; she was now a widow, possessing a large fortune, and, besides, passionately attached to her children, cultivating with success her own mind, the public esteem, and the society of her friends, and her children: she wished for no other felicity. Her happiness, however, was not unmingled with vexation. She suffered in her friendships; and her reputation was attacked.

The imprisonment, the exile, and generally the merited disgrace, of the Cardinal de Retz, were her first mortificacation. In him she never beheld any thing but his genius, an extremely amiable man, who appreciated her merits more justly than any other, and on whose elevation she had rested the fate of one part of her family, and the hopes of the other. The Cardinal's Memoirs inform us, that his escape from the castle of Nantz was principally favoured by the Chevalier de Sevigné. She mentions, in one of her letters, the disagreeable situation in which she was placed by this circumstance, in 1653, and the following year.

Meanwhile, another friend involved her in still greater un. easiness. The refusal of some service or other, which, undoubtedly, it was not in her power to perform, suddenly embroiled her with her Cousin Bussy. He had often reproached her with being too scrupulously virtuous. "Why," said he, "should you give yourself so much concern about a reputa tion of which any slanderer can rob you?" Such a danger

In resentment

ous character he himself afterwards proved. he wrote an article in which he respects probability only to do the more mischief; in which, for want of vices, he charges her with ridiculous qualities; in which he converts her character into a kind of moral paradox, asserting, that her unsullied conduct disguised an impure heart, and that she had at least a relish for all the follies which she never committed.Though the falseness of this portrait is evinced by its contradictions, yet, no doubt, thanks to the ordinary malignity of the public, it made more impression at that time, than it does at present, and inflicted a cruel wound on a heart formed for the love of virtue. This wound was a long time before it was healed; so far, however, from revenging herself, Madame de Sevigné, forgave Bussy, but not without difficulty, nor perhaps without restriction. Frequent hints at the injury escape her in her letters to him. They want, at least, that flower of confidence, which is discoverable in those written to her other friends, and, on this account alone, this portion of her correspondence appear less worthy of her.

This affliction was succeeded by the reverse, which precipitated the unfortunate Fouquet from the height of power into perpetual imprisonment. She herself depicts her uneasiness on this occasion in her letters, in which she rivals La Fontaine both in her sentiments and in her style. These letters, however, only mention the judicial proceedings, & they did not begin until Fouquet had been three years in confinement. The storm which had burst over his head,surprised his friends, as well as himself, in all the illusions of his fortune.

The secretary of

It had nearly overtaken Madame de Sevigné, who had reason to be apprehensive for her own safety. The amiable widow had entered into a friendly correspondence with him; an innocent and very natural confidence in him, who had given her the strongest proof of a kind of esteem, which, in general, a powerful and liberal man no more cherishes for one sex than for the other. It was soon known, that among Fouquet's papers were found letters, which compromised many females who were known to the Court. Those of Madame de Sevigné could not do her any injury. state, Le Tellier, had declared them the most innocent in the world; but it was not unlikely, that her frank gaiety might have treated certain things, and certain persons, according to their deserts; and there are times when jokes may be construed into conspiracies. One of Bussy's letters shows, that her apprehensions were so serious, that she thought fit to retire some time to a remote part of the kingdom. The cabal, which had overturned Fouquet, wished to encourage the idea, that he had been supported by a powerful party. In these cases vengenance is wreaked on the first objects that present themselves: this is the ordinary method of proceeding in the revolution of courts, as in all others. Nor is the gratification of private revenge unknown there: two reflections which are sufficient to account for the extraordinary alarm and precautions of Madame de Sevigné. She was far, however, from having actually committed herself, for we soon find her shining in the midst of that court, which Louis XIV. began to render so brilliant. Madame de Sevigné, though calculated to adorn this splendid theatre with her own charms, appeared upon it only for the purpose of enjoying the success of her daughter, who, in the flower of her beauty, and possessing superior understanding and talents, was presented in 1663. Mademoiselle de Sevigné acted a part in those ballets, in which the king himself danced before a numerons court. She represented a Shepherdess; and, in the ballet of the following Ff

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