1809.] 
pleasing manner, the pains she took to 
create difficulties, in order to get md ‘of 
a suitor, of whom she augured unfavour- 
ably. At length in January 1669, she 
was married to the Comte de. Grignan, 
whose character, as wellas the result of 
this union, may be seen in the course of 
her letters. 
Madame de Sevigné then began the 
establishment of her son, by purchasing 
hin a commission, and thus made two 
great sacrifices of fortune at once. By 
marrying her daughter to a courtier, Ma- 
dame de Sevigné flattered herself, that 
she should still enjoy her society: but, 
soon afterwards, M. de Grignan, who was 
lieutenant-general of Provence, received 
orders to repair thither, and, in the se- 
quel, he almost always held the com- 
mand, during the absence of the go- 
vernor, MM. de Vendome. A second 
widowhood, more painful, perhaps, than 
the first, now commenced: for Madame 
de Sevigné; but it is to her absence from 
her daughter, that the world is indebted 
for her letters, ‘These intervals of ab- 
sence, which she considered as unhappy 
seasons, have become fortunate mo- 
ments for posterity; we derive enjoy- 
ment from her privations, and no sooner 
is she restored to pleasure, than we are 
deprived of it in our turn, so that we are 
even tempted to regret, that she was not 
more frequently, and for a longer time, 
aiflicted by this separation, 
The life of Madame de Sevigné, | from 
this period, is described in her letters. 
Her journies, the loss of many friends, 
the campaigns, the dangers, the hopes, 
the levities, and the marriage of her son, 
the various ‘fortunes of her daughter, 
lastly, cértain incidents relative to her- 
own health, constitute the only events of 
that lite. As barren in facts, as it is 
rich in sentiments, 1¢ would furnish but 
a dry narrative; whereas her pen im-. 
parts animation to the most minute de- 
tails, 
{t may still be necessary to notice a 
few particulars, which her letters alone 
would not furnish.—The marriage of M. 
de Sevigné, In 1684, placed this gene- 
rous mother in a situation.that was rather 
ancomfortable, in consequence of the 
sacrifices which she made. It was, ar 
this period, that, either to improve her 
fortune, cr from other motives, her 
friends, and even her daughter, formed 
various plans for her, that they proposed 
to procure her a place at court, and 
even spoke to her on the subject of mar- 
rying again, which she treated as a folly 
destitute of all attraction. 
Mowtucy Mac. No, 189. 
Memoirs of Madame de Sevigné. 18] 
Tt was one of her advantages to rétain 
her personal charms till a late period. 
When Bussy applied to her these bur- 
lesque verses, addressed by Benserade 
to the moon— 
Et toujours fraiche et toujours blonde, 
Vous yous maintenez par le monde=— 
she had attained the age of. forty-sin 
years, and was fifty-two when Madame 
de Scudery wrote to the same Bussy :— 
“ The other day [met Madame de Sevigné, 
whom I still think a beautiful woman.” 
Hence originated the appellation of Mere- 
Beauté, given her by Coulanges. She 
possessed a healthy constitution, which 
she managed with great judgment. For 
some time she was thought to be threat- 
ened with apoplexy, but the cause of 
this alarm again subsided. In thirty 
years she was troubled with no other 
complaint than the rheumatism. : 
She was therefore but little affected by 
that severest of all trials for women, the 
transition from youth to age, of which nae 
ture apprizes them by signs equally pain- 
ful and certain; and for which society 15 
scarcely capable of consoling them. But 
it is to those who have founded their feli- 
city on the influence of their charms to 
women of gallantry, and coquets, ‘that 
this crisis is the most mortifying. Happy 
all her life, from affections natural and 
pure, Madame de Sevigné was less af- 
fected by the ravages of time; and it was 
not in ajlusion to ber, that her friend La 
Rochefoucault observed, that ‘ the hell 
of women is old age.” 
When death, at length, snatched her 
away, at the age of seventy, ber illuess, 
the consequence of the anxiety and fa- 
tigue occasioned by her daughter’s indis- 
position, came suddenly upon her, and 
was not announced: by any previous 
symptoms. It was short. Madame de 
Seviené, in her last moments, displayed 
an understanding as strong as her heart 
was irreproachable. Several letters re- 
present the affliction of her friends on 
this occasion. It is impossible to see 
without emotion how profound was their 
grief, and how lasting their regret. Ma- 
dame de Sevigné, was buried in the col- 
Jegiate church of Grignan. About 
twenty-five years ago, the Marechal de 
Muy, to whom that domam then be- 
longed, caused her coffin to be taken up, 
and to be deposited in a cenotaph, 
erected in the middle of the same church, 
This tomb was violated at the time of 
the search for lead, when the public ne- 
cessities furnished a pretext for many 
other outrages. 
2 A SCARCE 
