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MADAME BE STAEL. 373
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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« Science Tells Us That There Is No Such...
that unfortunate queen whom she had formerly blanied for her imprudent follies in the zenith of her prosperity . Thus it was
that Madame de Stael , in every phase of her writing , remained a true womanand never was one to value the requirements of the
head above , the feelings of the heart . She said she should have hated herself if she could have amused herself _Tby literature when
her country was suffering : — " Wohl ! N"icht denen niit dein die Herzen des Wissens Zahlen Grut . " ,
Indeed , the powers of her mind had ripened and expanded during the sufferings through which she had passed : " walls must get
their weather-stain before they grow the ivy . " As soon as it was safe to quit the shelter of Coppet she returned to Paris ; but no
longer with vain dreams of personal fame . Self -was utterly forgotten in the burning and generous desire to consolidate the new
government by bringing together men of different parties and denominations , and persuading them that there might be unity
without uniformity . To serve her country as her father had done was the cherished
dream of her life ; she conceived it to be her peculiar mission to conciliate Royalists , Directors , and Moderates ; and for this task she
was wonderfully fitted by uniting the " elegance and good breeding of the past with the daring genius of the new era . "
From the period of her return , however , she had distrusted the overpowering influence of the First Consul . She detected the
secret of Napoleon ' s inherent dislike to liberty , of his scornful op She inion was of wounded mankind , and and of mortified his disbelief by his in contempt truth and for righteousness intellectual .
power . He liked talent ; but only when he could use it as a cat ' s and keep it in control . The province of women , in his opinion ,
was paw , only in the nursery ; and their opinions were best confined to the arrangements of their dress . Madame de Stael -was an
advocate for free discussion , but she had yet to learn that " there is no discussion possible except between persons who are of the same
opinion This . " state of things could not long continue . Napoleon was
puzzled ; he could admit of no rival in the popular favor , but he was at a loss to comprehend this high and independent character .
" What does she want ? " said he ; " will she have the two millions owed by the State to her father ? "
" It is not what I want , but what I think" impetuously answered the " Stael . "
The woman who had sufficient courage to undertake the defence of a calumniated and hated queen in the face of the furious
in peop behalf le who of had his condemned kingcould Andr not f Chenier ail to be a death powe for rful politi appeal cal
opponent . Nothing , could daunt her indomitable will . Her
energy "would not allow her to p ractise a refined policy , or to remain
Madame Be Stael. 373
MADAME BE STAEL . 373
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Aug. 1, 1862, page 373, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01081862/page/13/
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