of
education to the fullest extent, she abandoned it altogether;
henceforth she took little interest in the talents of her daughter,
and, when she heard her praised, would say, "O, it is nothing,
absolutely nothing, in comparison to what I intended to make her."
This carelessness on the part of her mother, developed in the young
girl an ardent affection for her father, which she dwells upon in her
writings with so much fervor. There existed between them the most
unreserved and open communication of thought. He delighted in her
talents, which she exerted for his entertainment, and to amuse his
hours of leisure. Her superior success in this last particular even
excited the jealousy of her mother, who sought by reproof to check the
outpouring of her wit and imagination. Mademoiselle listened with
respect to the reproof, but took the first opportunity to escape from
her mother's side, and shelter herself behind her father's chair,
where she soon collected the cleverest men in the room to listen to
her sallies, and to be charmed by her eloquence.

As has already been said, her career of authorship began at a very
early age. When a little older, she composed tales and plays, which
were received with rapturous applause by the company to which, in
accordance with French custom, they were read; but which in print
appear flat enough. At the age of fifteen, she made her appearance
before the great public as the author of an anonymous political
pamphlet in defence of an act of her father's, which had excited a
great clamor on the part of the ultra-royalists, and was the cause of
his resignation of office.

The position which her father held in France, during her early years,
exercised a very important influence on the character and feelings of
Mademoiselle Necker. Despised as a plebeian and detested as a reformer
by the queen and the court, he was regarded, by the moderate of all
parties, as the only man who could save France, and was worshipped as
an idol by the people at large. No sooner was it known that he had
resigned, than "all France," as she says,--that is, all who were
eminent for wealth, for talent, or for rank, excepting the few
attached to the court,--came to visit him, and to express to him their
regrets, their fears, and the hope that he would soon return to
office. She heard that consternation pervaded Paris; all fearing ruin
for that country which Necker had abandoned. It is not surprising that
she should conceiv