,"
says St. Simon; "for these things accorded marvelously. It was a
rendevous of all that was most distinguished in condition and in merit;
a tribunal with which it was necessary to count, and whose decisions
upon the conduct and reputation of people of the court and the world,
had great weight."

Corneille read most of his dramas here, and, if report be true, read
them very badly. He says of himself:

Et l'on peut rarement m'ecouter sans ennui,
Que quand je me produis par la bouche d'autrui.

He was shy, awkward, ill at ease, not clear in speech, and rather heavy
in conversation, but the chivalric and heroic character of his genius
was quite in accord with the lofty and rather romantic standards
affected by this circle, and made him one of its central literary
figures. Another was Balzac, whose fine critical taste did so much for
the elegance and purity of the French language, and who was as noted
in his day as was his namesake, the brilliant author of the "Comedie
Humaine," two centuries later. His long letters to the Marquise, on the
Romans, were read and discussed in his absence, and it was through
his influence, added to her own classic ideals, that Roman dignity and
urbanity were accepted as models in the new code of manners; indeed,
it was he who introduced the word URBANITE into the language. Armand
du Plessis, who aimed to be poet as well as statesman, read here in his
youth a thesis on love. When did a Frenchman ever fail to write with
facility upon this fertile theme? After he became Cardinal de Richelieu
he feared the influence of the Hotel de Rambouillet, and sent a request
to its hostess to report what was said of him there. She replied with
consummate tact, that her guests were so strongly persuaded of her
friendship for his Eminence, that no one would have the temerity to
speak ill of him in her presence.

Even the Grand Conde courted the muses, and wrote verses which were bad
for a poet, though fairly good for a warrior. If it be true that every
man is a poet once in his life, we may infer that this was about the
time of his sad little romance with the pretty and charming Mlle. du
Vigean, who was one of the youthful attractions of this coterie. Family
ambition stood in the way of their marriage, and the prince yielded to
the wishes of his friends. The Grande Mademoiselle tells us that this
was the only veritable passion of the brave young hero of many battles,
and that he fainted at the f