red that Cardinal Fleury sent her away from Paris for a short
time. Her disappointments, which it is not the purpose to trace here,
left her one of the disaffected party, and on her return her drawing
room became a rallying point for the radical thinkers of France.

Such was the woman who courted, flattered, petted, and patronized the
literary and scientific men of Paris, called them her menagerie, put
them into a sort of uniform, gave them two suppers a week, and sent
them two ells of velvet for small clothes at New Year's. Of her salon,
Marmontel gives us an interesting glimpse. He had been invited to read
one of his tragedies, and it was his first introduction.

"I saw assembled there Montesquieu, Fontenelle, Mairan, Marivaux, the
young Helvetius, Astruc, and others, all men of science or letters,
and, in the midst of them, a woman of brilliant intellect and profound
judgment, who, with her kind and simple exterior, had rather the
appearance of the housekeeper than the mistress. This was Mme. de
Tencin.... I soon perceived that the guests came there prepared to play
their parts, and that their wish to shine did not leave the conversation
always free to follow its easy and natural course. Every one tried
to seize quickly and on the wing the moment to bring in his word,
his story, his anecdote, his maxim, or to add his dash of light and
sparkling wit; and, in order to do this opportunely, it was often rather
far-fetched. In Marivaux, the impatience to display his finesse and
sagacity was quite apparent. Montesquieu, with more calmness, waited for
the ball to come to him, but he waited. Mairan watched his opportunity.
Astruc did not deign to wait. Fontenelle alone let it come to him
without seeking it, and he used so discreetly the attention given him,
that his witty sayings and his clever stories never occupied more than a
moment. Alert and reserved, Helvetius listened and gathered material for
the future."

Mme. de Tencin loved literature and philosophy for their own sake, and
received men of letters at their intrinsic value. She encouraged,
too, the freedom of thought and expression at that time so rare and
so dangerous. It was her influence that gave its first impulse to the
success of Montesquieu's esprit DES LOIS, of which she personally bought
and distributed many copies. If she talked well, she knew also how to
listen, to attract by her sympathy, to aid by her generosity, to inspire
by her intelligence, to cha