standing, princely blood, genuine intelligence, and literary
ability ever assembled from motives other than those of politics
or intrigue; here was a gathering purely social and for purposes of
mutual refinement. The nobility went through a process of polishing,
and the men of letters sharpened their intelligence and modified their
manners and customs.

Julie, Duchess of Montausier, and Angelique, daughters of Mme. de
Rambouillet, were popular, but the former lost much of her charm after
she sacrificed her independence of thought and action by becoming
governess of the children of the queen. Julie was the centre of
attraction for all perfumed rhymesters, all sighers in prose and
verse, who thronged about her. The stern and unbending Duke of
Montausier was so under her influence that in 1641 he arranged and
laid before her shrine the famous _guirlande_ which was illustrated by
Robert and to which nineteen authors contributed. After her marriage
to the duke, the Hotel de Rambouillet may be said to have ceased to
exist, as madame, who was seventy years of age, had for a number
of years kept herself in the background, and Julie had become the
acknowledged leader.

With the outbreak of the Fronde, friends were separated by their
individual interests and the reunions at the salon were interrupted
from about 1650 to 1652. After the death of her husband, Mme. de
Rambouillet retired, to reside with her daughter, Mme. de Montausier;
after that, she seldom appeared in public. She hardly lived to see the
spirit of the salon changed to the real _preciosite_--the direction
and aim she gave to it being gradually abandoned.

In her salon, for nearly fifty years, no pedantry, no loose manners,
no questionable characters, no social or political intrigues, no
discourtesies of any kind, were recorded; hers was a reign of dignity
and grace, of purity of language, manners, and morals. She died in
1665, at the advanced age of seventy-seven, esteemed and mourned by
the entire social and intellectual world of France. Her influence
was incalculable; it was the first time in the history of France
that refined taste, intellectuality, and virtue had won importance,
influence, and power.

It must be remembered that in the first period of the salon there were
no blue-stockings, no pedants: these were later developments. It was,
primarily, a gathering which found pleasure in parties, excursions,
concerts, balls, fireworks, dramatic performances,