it usually comes from a certain egotism which causes us to love
that which is similar to ourselves, however imperfect we may be."
She dwells also upon the mutual offices and permanent nature of
true friendship, adding, "He who loves his friend more than
reason and justice, will on some other occasion love his own
pleasure and profit more than his friend."

The Abbe Esprit, Jansenist and academician, wrote an essay upon
"Des Amities en Apparence les Plus Saints des Hommes avec les
Femmes," which was doubtless suggested by the conversations in
this salon, where the subject was freely discussed. The days of
chivalry were not so far distant, and the subtle blending of
exalted sentiment with thoughtful companionship, which revived
their spirit in a new form, was too marked a feature of the time
to be overlooked. These friendships, half intellectual, half
poetic, and quite platonic, were mostly formed in mature life, on
a basis of mental sympathy. "There is a taste in pure friendship
which those who are born mediocre do not reach," said La Gruyere.
Mme. de Lambert speaks of it as "the product of a perfect social
culture, and, of all affections, that which has most charm."

The well-known friendship of Mme. de La Fayette and La
Rochefoucauld, which illustrates the mutual influence of a
critical man of intellect and a deep-hearted, thoughtful woman
who has passed the age of romance, began in this salon. Its
nature was foreshadowed in the tribute La Rochefoucauld paid to
women in his portrait of himself. "Where their intellect is
cultivated," he writes, :"I prefer their society to that of men.
One finds there a gentleness one does not meet with among
ourselves; and it seems to me, beyond this, that they express