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366 MADAME DE STAEL.
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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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
« Science Tells Us That There Is No Such...
Louisa have necessarily to contend with , the disadvantages of a punctilious style , and the reserve of Court etiquette . But to
counterbalance these drawbacks we have some interesting remarks in the preface of the book on the _" Society of the Salo ? is ; " whilst
the jewels of thought or of anecdote , with which the letters are but sparingly interspersedare rendered more attractive by their
, careful setting , and by touches of historical interest , which are valuable as recalling the main features of the career of a
remarkable woman . Altogether , Madame Lenormant ( who cannot hide herself by an anonymous inscription ) has accomplished her task as
faithfully and lovingly as present circumstances will permit . But let us hope that the interesting correspondence which is still
"withheld from the public by the scruples of relations and friends , may one day be given to the world ; and meanwhile the meagre
biographical details before us may be prized as throwing further light on the personal history of an authoress whose works are familiar to the
majority of English readers . The principal events of Madame de Stael ' s life have already been
painted in detail by the Duke de Broglie and Madame Necker de Saussure , so that we need only recall these incidents by sketching
the leading outlines of her biography . The parents of Madame de Stael were both persons of good understanding , and animated by
thoughts and principles far above the level of those which usually found favor in the French society of this epoch . There is a comical
story which represents Gibbon the historian as—ugly and corpulent with advancing years—falling in love whilst at Lausanne with a
young lady of surpassing attractions , throwing himself at her feet to declare his admirationand being unable to rise from the ground
, till the laughing beauty extricated him from his humiliating position . Poets have made themselves merry on this episode , which
proves to be somewhat apocryphal . Gibbon , whilst a slender stripling , did fall in love at Lausanne with Mdlle . Susan Curchod
, daughter of the pastor of Grassy , and afterwards mother of Madame de Stael . Her father had instructed her in the sciences and
learned languages . " Her wit , beauty , and erudition , " says Gibbon" were the theme of universal applause . The report of
such a prodi _^ gy awakened my curiosity ; I saw her , and loved . I found her learned without pedantry , lively in conversation , and
elegant in manners . " In fact , the young people were engaged ; till on his return to England Gibbon found his father objected to this
strange alliance , and threatened to cut him off without a penny if he persisted in it . A strong sense of right , and a disdain for
the weaknesses of other women , were amongst the leading characteristics of Mdlle . Curchod ' s mind . The engagement was surrendered
with admirable prudence on either side ; and Gibbon relates that his cure was accelerated by the report of the tranquillity and
cheerfulness of the lady herself . After the death of her father , she maintained
a hard subsistence by teaching , till a rich "banker of Paris had the
366 Madame De Stael.
366 MADAME DE STAEL .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Aug. 1, 1862, page 366, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01081862/page/6/
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