a worthy man; and she consummated this sacrifice with all
the seriousness of reason and without a grain of heartfelt enthusiasm.
Her marriage was to her an act of virtue, which she performed, not
because it was agreeable to her, but because she deemed it sublime.

The pupil of Jean Jacques Rousseau is seen again at this decisive moment
of her existence. The marriage of Madame Roland is a palpable imitation
of that of Heloise with M. de Volmar. But the bitterness of reality was
not slow in developing itself beneath the heroism of her devotion. "By
dint," she herself says, "of occupying myself with the happiness of the
man with whom I was associated, I felt that something was wanting to my
own. I have not for a moment ceased to see in my husband one of the
most estimable persons that exists, and to whom it was an honour to me
to belong; but I often felt that similarity was wanting between
us,--that the ascendency of a dominating temper, united to that of
twenty years more of age, made one of these superiorities too much. If
we lived in solitude, I had sometimes very painful hours to pass: if we
went into the world, I was liked by persons, some one of whom I was
fearful might affect me too closely. I plunged into my husband's
occupations, became his copying clerk, corrected his proofs, and
fulfilled the task with an unrepining humility, which contrasted
strongly with a spirit as free and tried as mine. But this humility
proceeded from my heart: I respected my husband so much, that I always
liked to suppose that he was superior to myself. I had such a dread of
seeing a shade over his countenance, he was so tenacious of his own
opinions, that it was a long time before I ventured to contradict him.
To this labour I joined that of my house; and observing that his
delicate health could not endure every kind of diet, I always prepared
his meals with my own hands. I remained with him four years at Amiens,
and became there a mother and nurse. We worked together at the
_Encyclopedie Nouvelle_, in which the articles relative to commerce had
been confided to him. We only quitted this occupation for our walks in
the vicinity of the town."

Roland, dictatorial and exacting, had insisted from the beginning of
their marriage, that his wife should refrain from seeing her young and
attached friends whom she had loved in the convent, and who lived at
Amiens. He dreaded the least participation of affection. His prudence
outstepped the boun