s commission
in the army was purchased at a high price; her rents were not paid
with punctuality, and she was obliged to remit large debts to her
tenants. From all these causes, she found herself, at the age of
fifty-eight, involved in debts, which nothing but a retirement from
Paris, and the practice of a rigid economy, would enable her to pay.
She did not hesitate to withdraw herself from her beloved society in
Paris, and to retire to "The Rocks." The sacrifice was rendered more
complete by the fact that her daughter was at that time residing at
Paris. Her absence was felt bitterly by her friends, and she was at
once mortified and gratified by the offer of a loan of money to
facilitate her return. Madame de la Fayette wrote to make her the
proposition: "You must not, my dear, at any price whatever, pass the
winter in Brittany. You are old; 'The Rocks' are thickly wooded; colds
will destroy you; you will get weary; your mind will become sad, and
lose its tone: this is certain; and all the business in the world is
nothing in comparison. Do not speak of money nor of debts;" and then
follows the proposal. Madame de Sevigne declined the offer, being
unwilling to incur the obligation. Conceived with all possible
kindness, there was a sting in the letter which Madame de Sevigne
confesses to her daughter, that she felt. "You were, then, struck by
Madame de la Fayette's expression mingled with so much kindness.
Although I never allow myself to forget this truth, I confess I was
quite surprised; for as yet I feel no decay to remind me of it.
However, I often reflect and calculate, and find the conditions on
which we enjoy life very hard. It seems to me that I was dragged, in
spite of myself, to the fatal term when one must suffer old age. I see
it--am there. I should at least like to go no farther in the road of
decrepitude, pain, loss of memory, and disfigurement, which are at
hand to injure me. I hear a voice that says, 'Even against your will
you must go on; or, if you, refuse, you must die;' which is another
necessity from which nature shrinks. Such is the fate of those who go
a little too far. What is their resource? To think of the will of God,
and the universal law; and so restore reason to its place, and be
patient. Be you, then, patient, my dear child, and let not your
affection soften into such tears as reason must condemn."

As Madame de Sevigne would not return to Paris, her friends heard with
pleasure that she had