stripped them of their already fading
glory. Their subtle analysis and etherealized sentiment were declared
antiquated, and fashion ran after new literary idols. It was Boileau who
gave the severest blow. "This Despreaux," said Segrais, "knows how to do
nothing else but talk of himself and criticize others; why speak ill of
Mlle. de Scudery as he has done?"

There has been a disposition to credit the founder of the Samedis with
many of the affectations which brought such deserved ridicule upon
their bourgeois imitators, and to trace in her the original of Moliere's
"Madelon." But Cousin has relieved her of such reproach, and does ample
justice to the truth and sincerity of her character, the purity of her
manners, and the fine quality of her intellect. He calls her "a sort
of French sister of Addison." Perhaps her resemblance to one of the
clearest, purest, and simplest of English essayists is not quite
apparent on the surface; but as a moralist and a delineator of manners
she may have done a similar work in her own way.

Sainte-Beuve, who has left so many vivid and exquisite portraits of
his countrywomen, does not paint Mlle. de Scudery with his usual kindly
touch. He admits her merit, her accomplishments, her versatility, and
the perfect innocence of her life; but he finds her didactic, pedantic,
and tiresome as a writer, and without charm or grace as a woman.
Doubtless one would find it difficult to read her romances today. She
lacks the genius which has no age and belongs to all ages. Her literary
life pertains to the first half of the seventeenth century, when style
had not reached the Attic purity and elegance of a later period. She was
teacher rather than artist; but no one could be farther from a bas bleu,
or more severe upon pedantry or pretension of any sort. She takes the
point of view of her time, and dwells always upon the wisdom of veiling
the knowledge she claims for her sex behind the purely feminine graces.
How far she practiced her own theories, we can know only from the
testimony of her contemporaries. It is not possible to perpetuate so
indefinable a thing as personal charm, but we are told repeatedly that
she had it in an eminent degree. It is certain that no woman without
beauty, fortune, or visible rank, living simply and depending mainly
upon her own talents, could have retained such powerful and fastidious
friends, during a long life, unless she had had some rare attractions.
That she was much