The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-10-29
a LIFT ~ BszUrFPUB As IT was
NESTING.
The story Of Madame De LAFAYETTE, wife Of
the Friend Of Wsshinafon.

lIOt-Illls
One of those charming books which can
perhaps be written only In France-and, at all
events, cannot be written anywhere excepting
for private and domestic purpose fell into our
| hands some time AGO. 1t Is life OF Madame dc
Lafayette, by her daughter, Madame de Lasteyrie,
| preceded by shorter life OF her mother, the
| Duchesse d'Ayen, written by Madame de Lafay-
cite herself 1t seems that Madame de Lafav-
1 cites little notice Of her mother, written In
the prison at Olmutz, was privately printed In
! France after her return, and a few copies OF II
were circulated among hor friends. copy Of
| this biography, corrected by Madame do Lafay-
| cite. remained among her papers after her death
Madame de Lasteyrie, the daughter Of Madame
| de lafayette, left Ia manuscript life Of her
mother, which, preceded by the life OF her grand
mother, was published by her descendants In
| Paris In 1869. The book has not been translated
! In this country or IN England, 80 far as we
| aware. We shall render our readers tho service
| OF drawing from It a sketch Of the remarkable
woman whom 1t portrays, In whose character
and history Americans must feel strong In
| terest.
Adrlenne de NoailIes, Marouiso de Lafayette,
was the second daughter Of tho Duchcsse
d'Ayen, who was a granddaughter Of the great
Chancellor d'Aguesseau. Nine. do Lafavette's
] father, Jean Paul Francois dc Noailles, was
|
son OF the second Marechal de Noailles, and a
son of the third Marechal OF that name. Anne
| Louise Henrietta d'Aguesseau tue mother OF
| Mime. de Lafayette, was born Feb. L. 1877. Her
| mother, Anne Louise FRANCHISE Dupre, died
within few days after her birth, and her father,
| the Chancellor's son. placed her with a nurse In
| the Convent Of tho Visitation OF ~. Denis un-
| der the special charge OF Nine. d'Henrlcourt,
one of the ladies OF the convent, by whom she
was educated The result was that q disposition,
naturally serious, received a culture 80 judclous
| Mat the most scrupulous pioty and the strong
eat religious feeling became the marked traits
Of her char. cter, without any II the Dairowness
and lit'lene.s which a convent education some
Iimes produces. As a child she manlfested a
remarkable strength Of principle. Accordiog to
| her d ughter's account, having great powers OF
| application, she became very fond OF chess but
finding that the game occupied her mind long
after II was over aud that II she PLAYED on Sat
urday It distracted her thoughts at the mass on
Sunday, she gave up playing n on Saturdays.
OF the merely literary culture OF this convent
education we get no account from the little book
before us: but the kind OF woman who was formed
by 1t will abundantly appear from the manner
in which she herself educated her daughters.
At the age OF fourteen her father withdrew
her from the convent. He had married u sec
ond wife, to whose and TO that OF q
MAIDEN oiselle Aufroy, he committed bis eldest
daughter She con iuued to live verv happily In
her fathers house until she was eighteen. Dur
ing this period, her maternal grandfather, NJ.
Dupre, died and left her large fortune. She
already possessed the estate OF Lagrange Bile
neau, in Brie, more commonly known since as
Lagrange" after II became tho residence OF
Gen. Lafayette. whose wife inherited It from her
mother. Nine. de Lafayette says that the only
| faaliuV which euch wealth excited In her
mother was terror: that from her youth she
avoided accumulation, and throughout her
long life, treated her fortune as trust.
and acted rs stewardess for the good OF
others. During the four wears which she
passed In her fathers house, which Is described
as "tres serleuse ct loin de tous divertisse-
ments," she devoted herself to tue nnish-
Ing OF her education and to further religious
culture, In which she had the teachings OF tho
celebrated Curate Of ST. Paul At the age OF
eighteen, IN 1855, she was Married TO the eldest
son OF the third Marecnal de Noailles, a youth
two years Younger than herself who bore the
title OF Due dAyon. Tho marriage
was on the whole happy one, notwithstanding
the difference OF age, and good deal OF differ
ence II character. The young couple took up
their abode at the old Hotel de Noailes In Paris,
which stood in the Rue ST. Honore, on ground
which has since become the Rue d'AlRer The
|
Maurice, the third Marechal de Noallles, father
OF the young Bridegroom. Two years after the
marriage OF these young people. son was
born to them, who died In infancy. A
year afterward, November IL 1853, Madame
d'Ayen Ravo birth to a daughter, Louise
de Nosiiles, who became, by marriage
with her cousin, the Vicomtesse de Noailles
and who persisted with her mother on the scat
fold Of the revolution IA 1884,. with Chrsuan
fortitude and grace that would have Justified
her oanonlz ,tlon. In the same patrlarchal
house the second daughter, Adri nne, who he
came the wlfc Of I. fayette was born on the
I'd OF November 1889. In 1859 there camo
: third daughter, who married, ntst, NJ. Du Roure,
and afterward NJ. de The-ln. Pauline, the
fourta daughter, born In 1895, married the Eng
hsh Marquis OF Montagu, and died In 1859
Resale, the nth, married the Marquis de Gram
mont. and died In 1852.
Louise and Adrienne do Noailles, the tive
eldest daughters, were educated together anC
at home Their nurse had been In early life II
r the same convent with their mother and, per
, haps, we need not tell our readers that in France
and In such families as this, a nurse means
, great deal more than the term or the Once
would signify in American or English house
holds. In the cid aristocratic houses in France
It has not been uncommon for successive gen
, erations OF two families TO remain Ia the rela
tion Of master and servant and In such case
the domestic IS regarded AZ more Of fren'
than servant, although never rising beyon'
, the latter condition. We do not understan,
that In all the revolutions and CONFUSION
through which French society has passed In tn
last hundred years. this state Of domestic man
ners has been much affected at least among thu
territorial families that have preserved thet
landed property But Il Is the past an,
not the present with which wo have to dc
Madame de Lafayette describes the nurse Of he
childhood ~ a person who had an oxtraordinar
talent for teaching little children In the manne
In which her mother desired to h We their earl
education conducted. The good Duchess, fl
her mode OF training her girls gave a decide,
preference to the undersl anding over the mag
inatlon, and her selection Of a nurse appears t
have been guided by tins principle.
She" uhe bunne), says Madame do LAFAYETTE
: "never needed to resort to fairy or ghost storie
, and other absurdltics Of that kind 10 order L
a amuse US. A history from the Old Testament
AN adventure OF the little girls Of the conyen
where she had been win my mother a nn
action true aud simple, was rel ted by her Will