Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1854-09-30


Madame de Seyign6 for his illustration, NJ suard dis
courses with much force and as we think TO good pur
pose
at is easy to be conceived he observes that women
Of sense aud of cultivated understanding needs
write letters better than of the capacity for
capacity is not always synonymous with faculty Nature
has given to the Imagination mobile and an
organization delicate Their mind, less cultivated
by reflection, has yvacity and sponaneity it is
primesauisr, Montagne expresses it. Moving as
il were in the interior Of society and less distracted by
business and study they become obseryant OF cha
aoter and Of manners they take interest in Gil the
little events which occupy amuEe what is called the
world Their sensiblity is prompt, more lively
and attaches greater number Of objects They have
naturally fcility in expressing themselves The
very which education and manners eDoin upon
them serves but to whet tho keenness Of their acumen
and inspires them with turns of expression only the more
subtle and delicate If their thoughts display less of re-
Fiction, their opinions closely related to their
feelings and their mind is always modified by the i'm
preston of the momen hence suppeness OF thought
and that variety of tone which commonly remarked
in their letters that facility Of passing from object
others very different and this without effort and by
transitions unexpected but natural hence too those ex
pressions and associations of words which and
piquant without being aretched those views acute
and often profound which have the air Of inspiration in
fine, those happy negigences which are more pleasing
than the most faultless exactitude."
These views OF the French critic find their fullest
frmaon in the letters Madame de Seyigne as every
tuihS tutAs hotnliS lohB, iSSiinS "
feeling and from event with mobility and vi
vacy that defy the most subtle analysis catch the train
of her thought. Her mind sensitive cleo
trometer all outward impressions and all internal i'm
pulses; at acute and naoe sedate and gay, pro-
found and witty she is the most charming Of mentors
and the most discreet Of gossps Her episoary style is
model Of its kind Graceful in its abandon, arch in its
naveG and replete with salies Of wit picturesque de-
scrions bodstrokes of fancy and sentiments Of deepest
pahos pety and humor it charms less by its variety
than by its excellence in all The heart Of the whole
woman all it's depth of affection and tenderness is
posed view while peruse the letters addressed
to her idoized daughter Madame de drgnan, the most
charming Of France, as she was rather fatter
ingly called in her day.
But these Letters reveal not only the intellectual
endowmens aud gentle qualities of heart possessed by
their author but pour flood Of light upon the very
age and body of the tines in which she lived and her
LOT was in what for many may be justly called
the grand steele of France This collection Of letters be-
comes repertory Of facts most interesting and often
most signifcantfacs to which the dignity Of history
has not always stopped but facts whose historical
value is often greater than much that Voaire has deem
ed worth recording in his history of the grand moargue
who swaycd the desnes Of France during the
century and overawcd for time the continent Of Europe
IT. from the "loophole other retreat at Rochers, Qhe
coun,ry-seat Of Mad dc 81 she sends forth letters which
give us key the very sancuares Of her heart she
tcrains us the less at Paris she introduces us
into the very midst Of Louiss brilliant court where she
chats with the Queen and hob-anobs with MONSIEUR the
royal brother AS her 'shome letters unfold to us
tableau Of her daily life and domestic concerns from the
ovescrapes Of her hopeful to the misortunes of
Maphise, her lapdog from her kinsman and friend the
Able de Couanges, always called the besdoa in her
missyes) to the faithful chamber-maid Helen and He
bert the rusty valet the letters which she dates from
Paris disclose to moving panorama Of the great anu
little events which agitaed the Court from the pompous
ceremonial and pageanry Of royal ls,6s to the petty
scandal and gossip of the hour 60 that we read oy turns
of nation in tears the bier of the great Turennc
and Of King in the dumps because the sweet La Val
Here has left his bed and board" to bury herselfin the
Convent Of Chaiot while re Dcum for victory over the
allies is recorded in haste to make for the prghty
correspondent tell how the King cried for JOY when
the fair pentent came back from Chaillot, and how
the jealous Madame de Montespan cried Tor spite and
wished her nun again.
al am disgusted with history said the clever Madame
du Defiant, when think that what to-day will
day be accounted history" If there Is any point IN
the epigramac saying, it would have come with even
greater force from the lips Of Madame de Seygne for
her social position brought her into daily contact and in
tmacy with the great personages OF her time both at the
court and in the camp. Reserving for another day
inspection of the historical bearing Of her letters
on the literature and politics Of France during the
century, we conclude with brief outline OF
1 her biography.
Marie de Rabutin- Chantal, afterwards Marquise de
Sevgne was born in Burgundy, in the year 1926 The
Rabutins OF ancient and noble ancestry, point to
which Mad de Seygne more than once adverts With i'll
disguised complacency and pride On her mothers side
she sprung from the family of Coulanges which,
though high in official place and responsibility Mad but
little boast Of heraldry Marie de Rabutn left
an orphan at the age six years. but the tuteage
Of her maternal grandmother and of her unce the ba
bon Able de Couanges she experienced oil that kindness
could do to make her insensble Of her loss She was
educated by the best masters In all branches of study
and in all the accomplishments of her day. The poet
Menage private tutor taught her Latin italian, and
Spanish and in her studies she enjoyed the gull
dance of the learned but rather pedantc Chapeain Her
literary tastes thus early formed chung her during all
her after e shall have occasion to remark when
we come to examine her letters Besides, her manners
were formed and her mind was polished by nm early
enree into the Court Of Anne dAutriche " which then
first began to model to the rest of Europe.
She was married in 1914 while yet in her 18th year.
Her husband the Marquis de SGygne, had neither the
qualities of head Of heart which could form the hap
1piness of
IN "a perfect woman molly planned
/ To warn, to comfort, and command"
He wa,prodga and dissolute affecting smaller SCALE
the and righteousness Of his royal master
at VersaleN The Marquis, told, used to soy to
his wife that.e believed she would be agreeable to
other, but that sAe could please him. There was
this difference remarked between them that he esteemed
Madame de Sevigne bn did love her. while she loved
her husband but could MT esteem him.
But this incongruous uGon did not last long, for in
1861 the Marquis killed ina duel of which Madame
de Gendrnn the final cause After his decease she
devoted herself to tho nurture and EDUCATION Of her child
rem, and daughter, of whom ne former too often
proved, in after years. ga heavness his MOTHER while
the latter though cold in her temperament seems better
to have repaid the wealth Of affection pronsey lavish