its increasing grandeur,
took pleasure in the magnificence of its government, and seconded it by
redoubling its own luxury and magnificence. The pleasures of wit
occupied the first rank. The Hotel de Rambouillet, near its decline, was
shedding its last rays. Madame de Longueville reigned there as well as
in all the best circles of Paris; and it must be confessed, with her
good qualities she had also some of the defects of the best
_precieuses_. The following is the picture which Madame de Motteville
has traced of her person, of the turn of her mind, of her occupation, of
her reputation, and of that of the whole house of Conde, at this period,
which may be considered as the most felicitous of her life: "This
princess, who during her absence reigned in her family, and whose
approbation was sought as though she were a real sovereign, did not
fail, on her return to Paris, to appear in greater splendour than when
she left it. The friendship entertained for her by the Prince, her
brother, authorizing her actions and her manners, the greatness of her
beauty and of her mind increased so much the cabal of her family, that
she was not long at Court without almost entirely engrossing it. She
became the object of all desires: her clique was the centre of all
intrigues, and those whom she loved became also the favourites of
fortune.... Her intelligence, her wit, and the high opinion entertained
for her discernment, won for her the admiration of all good people, who
were persuaded that her esteem alone was enough to give them reputation.
If, in this way, she governed people's minds, she was not less
successful by means of her beauty; for although she had suffered from
the small-pox since the Regency, and although she had lost somewhat of
the perfection of her complexion, the splendour of her charms excited a
powerful influence upon those who saw her; and she possessed especially,
in the highest degree, what in the Spanish language is expressed by
those words, _donayre, brio, y bizarrie_ (gallant air). She had an
admirable form, and her person possessed a charm whose power extended
over our own sex. It was impossible to see her without loving her, and
without desiring to please her." Some shadows, however, slightly tone
down this otherwise brilliant portraiture. "She was then too much
engrossed with her own sentiments, which passed for infallible rules
while they were not always so, and there was too much affectation in her
manner of