the dissolute lives of many distinguished women of rank who had
no pretension to wit or education. The fluctuation of morals,
which has always existed, must be traced to quite other causes.
Virtue has not invariably accompanied intelligence, but it has
been still less the companion of ignorance.

It was Mme. de Sable who set the fashion of condensing the
thoughts and experiences of life into maxims and epigrams. This
was her specific gift to literature; but her influence was felt
through what she inspired others to do rather than through what
she did herself. It was her good fortune to be brought into
contact with the genius of a Pascal and a La Rochefoucauld,--men
who reared immortal works upon the pastime of an idle hour. One
or two of her own maxims will suffice to indicate her style as
well as to show the estimate she placed upon form and measure in
the conduct of life:

A bad manner spoils everything, even justice and reason. The HOW
constitutes the best part of things, and the air which one gives
them gilds, modifies, and softens the most disagreeable.

There is a certain command in the manner of speaking and acting,
which makes itself felt everywhere, and which gains, in advance,
consideration and respect.

We find here the spirit that underlies French manners, in which
form counts for so much.

There is another, which suggests the delicate flavor of sentiment
then in vogue: