The Women of the French Salons [2]
Pastor's Daughter--Her Social Ambition--Her Friends Mme. De Marchais--Mme. D'Houdetot--Duchesse de Lauzun--Character of Mme. Necker--Death at Coppet--Close of the Most Brilliant Period of the Salons
CHAPTER XVII. SALONS OF THE REVOLUTION--MADAME ROLAND Change in the Character of the Salons--Mme. De Condorcet--Mme. Roland's Story of her Own Life--A Marriage of Reason--Enthusiasm for the Revolution--Her Modest Salon--Her Tragical Fate
CHAPTER XVIII. MADAM DE STAEL Supremacy of Her Genius--Her Early Training--Her Sensibility--A Mariage de Convenance--Her Salon--Anecdote of Benjamin Constant-- Her Exile--Life at Coppet--Secret Marriage--Close of a Stormy Life
CHAPTER XIX. SALONS OF THE EMPIRE AND RESTORATION--MADAME RECAMIER A Transition period--Mme. De Montesson--Mme. De Genus--Revival of the Literary Spirit--Mme. De Beaumont--Mme. De Remusat--Mme. De Souza--Mme. De Duras--Mme. De Krudener--Fascination of Mme. Recamier--Her Friends--Her Convent Salon--Chateaubriand Decline of the Salon
CHAPTER I. SALONS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY Characteristics of French Woman--Gallic Genius for Conversation --Social Conditions--Origin of the Salons--Their Power--Their Composition--Their Records.
"Inspire, but do not write," said LeBrun to women. Whatever we may think today of this rather superfluous advice, we can readily pardon a man living in the atmosphere of the old French salons, for falling somewhat under the special charm of their leaders. It was a charm full of subtle flattery. These women were usually clever and brilliant, but their cleverness and brilliancy were exercised to bring into stronger relief the talents of their friends. It is true that many of them wrote, as they talked, out of the fullness of their own hearts or their own intelligence, and with no thought of a public; but it was only an incident in their lives, another form of diversion, which left them quite free from the dreaded taint of feminine authorship. Their peculiar gift was to inspire others, and much of the fascination that gave them such power in their day still clings to their memories. Even at this distance, they have a perpetual interest for us. It may be that the long perspective lends them a certain illusion which a closer view might partly dispel. Something also may be due to the dark background against which they were outlined. But, in spite of time and change, they stand out upon the pages of history, glowing with an ever-fresh vitality, and personifying the genius of a civilization of which they were the fairest flower.
The Gallic genius is eminently a social one, but it is, of all others, the most difficult to reproduce. The subtle grace of manner, the magic of spoken words, are gone with the moment. The conversations of two centuries ago are today like champagne which has lost its sparkle. We may recall their tangible forms--the facts, the accessories, the thoughts, even the words, but the flavor is not there. It is the volatile essence of gaiety and wit that especially characterizes French society. It glitters from a thousand facets, it surprises us in a thousand delicate turns of thought, it appears in countless movements and shades of expression. But it refuses to be imprisoned. Hence the impossibility of catching the essential spirit of the salons. We know something of the men and women who frequented them, as they have left many records of themselves. We have numerous pictures of their social life from which we may partially reconstruct it and trace its influence. But the nameless attraction that held for so long a period the most serious men of letters as well as the gay world still eludes us.
We find the same elusive quality in the women who presided over these reunions. They were true daughters of a race of which Mme. De Graffigny wittily said that it "escaped from the hands of Nature when there had entered into its composition only air and fire. They certainly were not faultless; indeed, some of them were very faulty. Nor were they, as a rule, remarkable for learning. Even the leaders
CHAPTER XVII. SALONS OF THE REVOLUTION--MADAME ROLAND Change in the Character of the Salons--Mme. De Condorcet--Mme. Roland's Story of her Own Life--A Marriage of Reason--Enthusiasm for the Revolution--Her Modest Salon--Her Tragical Fate
CHAPTER XVIII. MADAM DE STAEL Supremacy of Her Genius--Her Early Training--Her Sensibility--A Mariage de Convenance--Her Salon--Anecdote of Benjamin Constant-- Her Exile--Life at Coppet--Secret Marriage--Close of a Stormy Life
CHAPTER XIX. SALONS OF THE EMPIRE AND RESTORATION--MADAME RECAMIER A Transition period--Mme. De Montesson--Mme. De Genus--Revival of the Literary Spirit--Mme. De Beaumont--Mme. De Remusat--Mme. De Souza--Mme. De Duras--Mme. De Krudener--Fascination of Mme. Recamier--Her Friends--Her Convent Salon--Chateaubriand Decline of the Salon
CHAPTER I. SALONS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY Characteristics of French Woman--Gallic Genius for Conversation --Social Conditions--Origin of the Salons--Their Power--Their Composition--Their Records.
"Inspire, but do not write," said LeBrun to women. Whatever we may think today of this rather superfluous advice, we can readily pardon a man living in the atmosphere of the old French salons, for falling somewhat under the special charm of their leaders. It was a charm full of subtle flattery. These women were usually clever and brilliant, but their cleverness and brilliancy were exercised to bring into stronger relief the talents of their friends. It is true that many of them wrote, as they talked, out of the fullness of their own hearts or their own intelligence, and with no thought of a public; but it was only an incident in their lives, another form of diversion, which left them quite free from the dreaded taint of feminine authorship. Their peculiar gift was to inspire others, and much of the fascination that gave them such power in their day still clings to their memories. Even at this distance, they have a perpetual interest for us. It may be that the long perspective lends them a certain illusion which a closer view might partly dispel. Something also may be due to the dark background against which they were outlined. But, in spite of time and change, they stand out upon the pages of history, glowing with an ever-fresh vitality, and personifying the genius of a civilization of which they were the fairest flower.
The Gallic genius is eminently a social one, but it is, of all others, the most difficult to reproduce. The subtle grace of manner, the magic of spoken words, are gone with the moment. The conversations of two centuries ago are today like champagne which has lost its sparkle. We may recall their tangible forms--the facts, the accessories, the thoughts, even the words, but the flavor is not there. It is the volatile essence of gaiety and wit that especially characterizes French society. It glitters from a thousand facets, it surprises us in a thousand delicate turns of thought, it appears in countless movements and shades of expression. But it refuses to be imprisoned. Hence the impossibility of catching the essential spirit of the salons. We know something of the men and women who frequented them, as they have left many records of themselves. We have numerous pictures of their social life from which we may partially reconstruct it and trace its influence. But the nameless attraction that held for so long a period the most serious men of letters as well as the gay world still eludes us.
We find the same elusive quality in the women who presided over these reunions. They were true daughters of a race of which Mme. De Graffigny wittily said that it "escaped from the hands of Nature when there had entered into its composition only air and fire. They certainly were not faultless; indeed, some of them were very faulty. Nor were they, as a rule, remarkable for learning. Even the leaders