The sun., 1893-11-05
so1Os 1HH 8ooxs
wcusn h Tra.se.

volumes. embellished With . number Of Dor
.t-SGa. tho well-tnown work by JULIA KAvA-
ssNsp. entitled Woman IN NaHcs During the
&! ..,n h Century. It 10 we'll known that
b, ts.-,. ETHICAL influence OF women has been but
T., france under n Republican regime.
~ i""t It wne virtually oxtinRuished under
~ - ,it1tv clne ~ tho FIRST empire. But
Ailn 80" I.u, un the othor hand. played by
ga, ,uttr. n largo portion OF tho eiRh-
-. y. r.,.iaru, il would havo been impos-
-. 49, ..,.r ".,u tho public opinion which
...,t ,'.: the rnuvorntion Of the States
t,...'.t n,d bloGcht on tho revolu-
'Ti'' uM too much TO say
AZ f,f'. '',tlol'lt,s drawing rooms presided
p, $50, t,ir lnr'l"s was freedom OF thought
~ -. a,H that there wero generated tho
scI,rsr.s ni olinton which erontu ally pervaded
'rnl ,-,n.r.,l led ili thu thoughtful and powerful
, E,.,ih'u- q: tho community. tits the role taken
by whr,nn during the nifty years between 1880
. anil ~ which forms the principal subject OF
tho volumes he:ore us. although there are pre-
y. .ltninary chapters which deal with tho In
guence oi women In the reign OF Louis NV.
y aud under the leRency Of the Duo d'Orleans.
3 and again during the closing years OF tho
reign OF Louis XVI and amid the stress OF the
revolution. On the preliminary and sup
elemental chapters 1t is needless to dwell.
sor the greater part OF tho work perform ed Tor
4 krAnC0 Dy women was uOuO tho hhh
r, century whose limits We have indicated. by
such buroaux d'esprit as those opened by
A, llme. dc Tencin. Mime. du Chatelet Nine.
'd'Epinay. Mme du Defrsnd. Mile. de Lespi-
nasse and Nine. Geofrrln. 1t Is from tho draw
ing rooms Of these leaders OF the intellectual
element OF Paris society that We shall be able
to e1emplify the services rendered to the
progress Of philosophy. OF political economy.
and OF political liberalism In France
The story OF Mms. de Tenoin carries Us from
The Regency far into the reign OF Louis XIV.
Tho extraordinary thing about her. whom We
recall the influence she welded In society. 10
that she was an ex-nun. This clever. hand
some. and unprincpled woman had been COM
pelled by her father to take the veil at an early
age, and to entor the convent OF the Augustines
OF MontfeurL The gay and worldly life led by
the inmates Of this sacred asylum. which stood
ut the end Of fashionable promenade In the
town OF Grenoble, had long been source OF
scandal to the faithful. The recluses daily re-
cefved a large and brilliant company. made
I'D OF the young and gay ofboth sexss. and the
visitors did not long remain unconscious OF
the attractions. both mental and physical. OF
= Mile. de Tencin. She is de,cribed however.
as rather fascinating thar strictly beautiful;
III her half closed eyes there vas Bomething
feline and. at first, unpleasant: but the
D., seeming larguor and Incidence contrastod 80
-, strikingy with the vivacity Of her wit rs to
materially enhance the charm Of her appear
ance Her manners were plant and insinuat-
Ing: her tact is said to have been unerrinR.
. She never seemed aware OF her own attrac-
tions. but practised the flattery OF appearing
absorbed in whatever others said and did. The
fascination which she exercised over the
abbess and her confes3or procured her un-
usual freedom: she was allowed to receive
private visitors. and to leave the convent to
return as late as she pleased. But the moro
Z. ,ehe saw OF the world. the mora her ambitious
:, and intriguing spirit, which already sug-
gested to her the advantages she might
derive from her wit and beauty. made
her long to enter it's forbidden pre-
cincts. She adroitly learned from her re-
licious director the steps by which she might
rpgain her liberty. She then protested against
her vows. and succeeded In being transferred
, 10 the Chapter OF Nsuville. Tho obligation OF
celibacy was the only one under which she
still labored the freedom enjoyed by the Sis
ters Of hor order during the last century being
a sufficiently notorious. Some time after this
the young canoness went to reside with her
brother. the Abb6 dc Tencin. and report said
that various scandaous adventures. OF which
she WAS the heroine. had compelled her to
take this step.
Nine. de Tencin. for she henceforth took that
name. was soon surrounded by host OF ad-
mirers. among the most assiduous OF whom
were Bolln ebroke then In France. and Fonte-
nellie. The latter was 80 thoroughly captivated
that. though in general little disposed to exert
himself in favor ofhis friends. he procured from
the Papal Court Nine de Tencin's release from
her vows. in pursuance other ardent wish. Be-
ing now released from every monastic tie. she
= became moro imprudent in her conduct: she
had several notorious fntriGues and. among
i: the rest. one with Canon Destouches. which
" ended in tho birth Of a son. who was exposed
on the steps OF the Church Of Saint Jean-le-
Rond on Nov. II. III. The child thus for
saken by It's mother was found and brought
, up By q poor GLACIERS wife. and eventually be-
came the great math atician. DAlembert.
1t may be said that. residing. as she did, in the
house OF her brother. priest. Mme de
Tencin could not recognize her child without
running the abbe's prospects Of aggrandize-
ment: but as the author OF this book points
out. she might at least have provided for
him: the fear. however. OF future detection
.overbalanced every other. consideration. 1t
was about this time that Nine. de Tepcn
began to take an active share in her brothers.
political intrigues. After vainly trying to In
fiuencs the Regent. she stopped to Dubois. and
entered into degrading connection with him.
which her bioRraphers have vainly sought to
excuse by ascribing 1t to her sisterly Affection
Dubois WAS incapable of loving her. or, indeed
any human being but he admired her talent
and at time when Nine. du Maine was en-
listing society against tho Regent. he felt the
yalue OF Nine. de Tencin's sway over the select
and brilliant company which assembled at her
brothers house. The abbes easy conscience
was also peculiarly acceptable: to him Dubois
fntrusted the task Of converting John Law.
when the Scotchman was disposed to abjure
his original creed with view OF becoming
minister. Tencin retired with his proselyte
TO Murin in order to avoid tho sarcasms OF the
Parsians Law was said to have rewarded his
, com plaisance with a large amount OF paper
money This accusation was coupled with
one OF simony. which was proved against the
Abbe do Tencin in HIS own handwriting at the
very moment that he offered to attest his in
nocence by oath Though this disgraceful
exposure occurred before the Parliament
of Paris Dubois had nevertheless the enront-