WOMAN'S LONG STRUGGLE 91 



But aside from what she achieved indirectly through the 

 habitues of her salon, what has this supremely clever woman 

 left to the world? Only a few love letters to a heartless 

 coxcomh. 



And what have the other noted salonieres from the time 

 of the Marquise de Eamhouillet to that of Mme. Swetchine 

 full two centuries bequeathed to us that is worth pre- 

 serving? With the exception of the works of Mme. de 

 Stael, whom Lord Jeffrey declared to be "the greatest fe- 

 male writer in any age or country," we have little more 

 than certain Memoires and Correspondences whose chief 

 claims to fame rest on the vivid pictures which they pre- 

 sent of the manners and customs of the time and of the 

 celebrities who were regarded as the chief ornaments of 

 the salons which they severally frequented. Most of these 

 works were posthumous; for few women, after Moliere's 

 merciless scoring of learned women, had the courage to 

 appear in print. Even Mme. de Scudery, one of the most 

 gifted and prolific writers of the period, gave her first 

 novel to the world under her brother's name. And so 

 tabooed was female authorship that Mme. de La Fayette, 

 one of the most brilliant of the precieuses, disclaimed all 

 knowledge of her Princesse de Cleves, while her master- 

 piece, Histoire d'Henriette d'Angleterre, was not published 

 until after her death. 



The truth is that the period of the salon was for the 

 most part a period of contrasts and contradictions. At 

 first the better educated salonieres were chiefly interested 

 in belles-lettres. Then they devoted themselves more to 

 science and philosophy, and finally, during the years im- 

 mediately preceding the Revolution, they found their 

 greatest pleasure in politics. As for the men, while pro- 

 fessing to adore women, they had little esteem for them, 

 and still less respect. Often, it is true, the women who 

 frequented the salons were deserving neither of respect nor 

 of esteem. 



