t d'estime, de
respect et d'affection pour vous, qu'il me semble que vous devez le
connoitre a cent lieues de distance d'ici, encore que je ne vous dise
pas un mot. C'est ce que me donne le courage de vous ecrire a cette
heure, mais non pas ce qui m'en a empeche si longtemps. J'ai
commence, a faillir par force, ayant eu beaucoup de maux, et depuis
je l'ai faite par honte, et je vous avoue que si je n'avois a cette
heure la confiance que vous m'avez donnee en me rassurant, et celle
que je tire de mes propres sentimens pour vous, je n'oserois jamais
entreprendre de vous faire souvenir de moi; mais je m'assure que vous
oublierez tout, sur la protestation que je vous fais de ne me laisser
plus endurcir en mes fautes et de demeurer inviolablement, Madame,
votre, etc."

Was not the woman, who could unite the ease and grace indicated by this
letter, with an intellect that men thought worth consulting on matters of
reasoning and philosophy, with warm affections, untiring activity for
others, no ambition as an authoress, and an insight into _confitures_ and
_ragouts_, a rare combination? No wonder that her _salon_ at Port Royal
was the favorite resort of such women as Madame de la Fayette, Madame de
Montausier, Madame de Longueville, and Madame de Hautefort; and of such
men as Pascal, La Rochefoucauld, Nicole, and Domat. The collections of
Valant contain papers which show what were the habitual subjects of
conversation in this salon. Theology, of course, was a chief topic; but
physics and metaphysics had their turn, and still more frequently morals,
taken in their widest sense. There were "Conferences on Calvinism," of
which an abstract is preserved. When Rohault invented his glass tubes to
serve for the barometrical experiments in which Pascal had roused a
strong interest, the Marquis de Sourdis entertained the society with a
paper entitled "Why Water Mounts in a Glass Tube." Cartesianism was an
exciting topic here, as well as everywhere else in France; it had its
partisans and opponents, and papers were read containing "Thoughts on the
Opinions of M. Descartes." These lofty matters were varied by
discussions on love and friendship, on the drama, and on most of the
things in heaven and earth which the philosophy of that day dreamt of.
Morals--generalizations on human affections, sentiments, and
conduct--seem to have been the favorite theme; and the aim was to reduce
these