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368 MADAME DE STAEI,.
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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...
the most fastidious parents require ? It never occurred to tlie wisest heads at this time that happy marriages must satisfy the needs of
minds iC cherishes and hearts a divine , and element that every within one that who can . is never _consekais be shared of a soul with ,
any human "being on light grounds . , " Mdlle . Neckerwith her vehement affections and impetuous
, nature , seems to have faintly remonstrated against the greatness of this sacrifice ; "but her objections were speedily overruled by the
prudent arguments of her mother . In excuse for her it may be said , she had not yet fathomed the depths of her own nature . It
is scarcely possible that a few years later any maternal arguments could so have biassed her better judgment . From this period to
the Revolution began the first reign of Madame de Stael , * whilst gratified vanity , which made her delight in recounting her successes
, and the whirl of excitement and notoriety which was her natural atmosphere , compensated her in great measure for the absence of
domestic affection . Her triumph was a singular one , as it was simply the result of genius and enthusiasm . She was destitute of
personal beauty , and was not even skilled in that art of dress which is admitted to be so _all-jDOwerful with her countrywomen ; it
"being often remarked with chagrin by her friends that Madame de Stael appeared at Court with torn flouncesor left her cap in
the carriage when she paid a visit . " This sensible , form , " said Cicero , "is not I . It is the soul which makes the manand not the
features which we can touch ! Like the eternal God who , moves the eorrLiptible universe , the immortal soul moves the perishable body . "
This reflection would perhaps have comforted Madame de Stael ,, who was wont to grieve with childish frankness over her large and
clumsy features , and her complexion , which was the color of mahogany . Her greatest charm consisted in her thorough
geniality , and her love for her country and her father . Her impulsive warmth of character and her enthusiasm for independence were
often carried to imprudent extremes , and were first manifested in her early letters to _Bousseati . " In the eighteenth century , " remarks
Mr . Mill , _" when the generality of men were lost in admiration at the wonders of civilizationthe paradoxes of Rousseau exploded
like bombshells , ' disturbing , the quiet atmosphere , and ' a violent reaction commenced . " Madame de Stael had not then learnt the
true comfort of a stedfast creed to supply us with a sure footing amidst the wrecks of our earthly hopes ; but seizing at the
sentiment of the thing , she would have been one of the first to exclaim , ct Dieu "benit l'liomme ,
_Non pour avoir trouve , mais pour avoir cherche . " The object of society is to broaden our sympathiesto teach us to
adapt ourselves to the exigencies of the moment , , and to tear us away from that narrowness of thought which leads us to connect
everything with our own ideas . In the excitement of Parisian life
Madame de Stael had little time for private reflections , but she soon ,
368 Madame De Staei,.
368 MADAME DE STAEI ,.
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Aug. 1, 1862, page 368, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01081862/page/8/
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