The sun., 1893-11-05

her brother. The suicide OF La Frenaye
which preceded this event. had already added
| new scandal TO that ssoeinted with her name
| This gentleman. who had beon one Of her ia
vored lovers. shot himself at her house in flt
OF jealousy or despair. In an incoherent doc
ument, which he left behind him. he declared
her to be the cause OF his denth. The occusa-
tion was taken in q literal sense. and Nine. de
Tencin was incsrcerated In the Bastile. She
vas however. soon released; although IL was
evident that she had behaved uniustinably to-
ward the unhappy La Frenaye. there did not
exist the least proof OF her supposed guilt.
Neither the scandal caused by this event
nor her total want Of moral sense seems to
have prevented Nine. do Tencin from being
well received In society. She was prof ound
dissem bier. and even those who knew her
best were unable to resist the soothing charm
OF her manner The author OF this book has
read the writings with which she amused her
old age and which were published aftor hcr
death. and wo are assured that thoy arc calcu-
lated not only to give high idea OF her intel
lect, but also to suggest a delicacy and noble-
ness OF mind which seem contradicted by tn o
whole tenor OF her life The close OF her tale
entitled Memories dc Comminges" is pro-
nounced beautiful and pathetic. and we are
reminded that NJ. Villemain did not hesitate
10 pronounce II sublime. At the same time
the morality OF her productions is OF q con-
ventional kind. and to that extent charactcris-
tic OF the writer. whose apparent gentleness.
but real want OF heart. justified the Abb6
TruLlets comm ent whom he heard her mild
ness praised. "Ay. II she wanted to poison
you. she would choose the mildest poison"
There is no DOUBT that Nine. de Tencin pos
sesssd deep knowledge OF human nature,
especially OF its evil side: her keen perception
OF character explains one source OF her power.
for II is easy to govern that which we under
stand. Her observation respecting Fonten ellie.
that his heart was only second brain. was
sinRularly incisive One Of her sayings has
been repeatedly quoted under divers forms:
Clever people," she remarked. often COM
init mistakes from not believing tho world to be
as stupid as 1t Is" 1t is acknowledged. how
ever. that It was not through the charms OF
her intellect alone or BY tact and sagacity
that Nine. de Tencin drew around her
such mon as MontesQuieu. Fontenelle
Marian. Helvetius and Marivaux. With all
her faults she was capable OF friend
ship and almost as ready to intrigue for her
acquaintance as for her brother or herself.
One Of the great seductons OF her society was
that her wit never took q dictatorial accent
her flnesse itself was admirably veiled by an
appearance Of quiet simplicity and good sense.
Few women understood we'll as she did
tho art OF gathering together men Of the ost
varied tastes and opinions OF influencing them
without letting them even suspect her power
and Of exercising 1t for the enjoym ent OF oil.
It was not so much directly as indirectly.
through her long and intimate relations with
Voltaire. that Nine. du ChAtelet can be said to
have Influenced the drift OF opinion In the
French capital. A Paris salon she did not caro-
for. and most OF her life was spent in her coun-
try house at Grey. She was but 10 whom her
parents married her to an honest but common
place man considerably her senior. She had
received a classical education. to which was
united every p,ishment then in fashion: :
she possessed an excellent knowledge Of Eng
lish and italian as we'll as Latin. Her mind
was OF a breadth and depth that ena bled her to
understand and comment upon Newton and
Leibnitz and caused Ampere to proclaim her
o genius in geometry. She was tall and
graceful woman. and her blue eyes,
dark hair and expressive countenance en-
titled her to tho epithet OF handsome
Her great talents long remained unsus
pected. the world seeing In her only fine
woman who sang and played exquisitely. and
who seemed passionately fond OF hunting and
OF dress. Her ideas OF morality were those Of
a transient liaison with tho Duo de Richelieu
But. although she loved pleasure she was not
fitted for O merely worldly life. Soon weary OF
dissipation. she entered with ardor on the
study OF the exact sciences. 1t was while she
was immersed In the works OF Newton that she
met Voltaire who had recently returned from
England. and who. like her. was an erthusi-
astic admirer OF Newton's discoveries. At this
time Mmc du Chatelet was In her twenty
eighth year. Voltaire being twelve years
her senior. Tho loose maxims OF the
time justified the connection which they
formed and maintained for many years. No
ono expressed any surprise when Voltaire
took up his residence at Grey. a splendid
chateau which NJ. du Chatelet possessed in the
province OF Lorraine. The owner OF the
chateau either did not suspect the truth or
was Indifferent to 1t, for he certainly raised no
objection to the sojourn Of Voltaire under his
roof but was rather fattared at being con-
sidered the host and patron OF a man already
enjoying European fame. The fifteen years
which Noltare spent at Grey were un-
doubtedy the happiest Of his life. notwth-
standing the occasional differences which
arose between him and Nine. du Chatelet.
To 0 man SO eminently intellectual
and 80 much attached to every ele-
gance and refinement of private life. no
woman. unless one almost as highly gifted as
himself. could have long proved attractive.
The requisite gifts. however. his mistress un-
questionably possessed. 1t seems certain that
the mind Of Nine. du Chatelet was greatly
superior to her learning and even to her per-
sonal attractions. considerable as those were.
No attempt 10 made by the author OF these
volumes to exclude the laxity OF her morals.
but 1t 10 admitted that. notwithstanding her
errors. she possessed great qualities. AS q
friend. for instance. she was devoted and sim
cere. Her attachment for Voltaire was full Of
truth and earnestness. She made 1t her con-
stant task to soothe his susceptible vanity.
concealing from him the libels OF his enemies.
to which he was SO keenly sensitive Nine. du
Chatelet herself was nobly Indifferent to
such attacks. On being shown one day
pamphlet in which she had not been spared.
she calmly observed: III tho author has lost
his time in writing such nonsense / cannot
lose mine In reading It," She learned tho next
day that the guilty individual had been i'm
prisoned. and Immediately wrote to obtain his
release She succeeded. but never let him
know from whom he had obt aimed this favor.