Of the Abbe de S A D E. 153 



a daughter of one of that family, namely of John de Sade. At 

 this time, therefore, when it may be prefumed the relation in 

 which this celebrated perfon ftood to their houfe, if there was 

 any truth in it at all, mud have been better known than it is 

 now, we find there is not the fmallefl idea of that hypothecs, 

 which the prefent reprefentatives of this family are fo anxious 

 to eftabliih, namely, that fhe was connected with them by mar- 

 riage. Inftead of being the wife of a M. de Sade, and the 

 mother of a numerous progeny, we find, on going back two 

 centuries, that the family themfelves believe her to have been 

 a daughter of one of that houfe ; nor is it difcovered till the 

 prefent age, which is above 400 years after this lady's death, 

 that fhe was the wife of their anceftor, the mother of all the fur- 

 viving branches of that houfe ; and confequently, that from 

 her illuftrious blood is fprung the whole race, now exifting, of 

 that family, and among the reft the ingenious Abbe, the author 

 of this important difcovery, which it has been the labour of his 

 life to prove and authenticate. 



One fhould have naturally imagined, that this gentleman, fo 

 proud of his anceftry, might have remained content with that 

 portion of renown which appears to have fatisfied the vanity of 

 his forefathers, the attributing to their houfe the honour of ha* 

 ving produced this illuftrious lady. And indeed it is not eafy 

 to conceive how, in any juft balance of moral eftimation, the 

 one fpecies of adfcititious merit fhould outweigh the other. On 

 the contrary, a rigid moralift would infallibly decide, that there 

 was more real honour that accrued to a family from having pro- 

 duced the pure, the chafte, the coy, the maiden Laura, the 

 model of female dignity and propriety, the object of an ardent, 

 but virtuous affection to the mod illuftrious character of the 

 age ; than from having acquired by marriage, a connection 

 with a lady, who, whatever were her perfonal charms, had no 

 title to the praife of exalted virtue, or of true female dignity ; 



who, 



