this salon, and Cousin finds reason for believing that they were
first suggested and discussed here; he even thinks it possible,
if not probable, that the "Discours sur les Passions de L'amour,"
which pertains to his mundane life, and presents the grave and
ascetic recluse in a new light, had a like origin.

But the presiding genius was La Rochefoucauld. He complains that
the mode of relaxation is fatiguing, and that the mania for
sentences troubles his repose. The subjects were suggested for
conversation, and the thoughts were condensed and reduced to
writing at leisure. "Here are all the maxims I have," he writes
to Mme. de Sable; "but as one gives nothing for nothing, I demand
a potage aux carottes, un ragout de mouton, etc."

"When La Rochefoucauld had composed his sentences," says Cousin,
"he talked them over before or after dinner, or he sent them at
the end of a letter. They were discussed, examined, and
observations were made, by which he profited. One could lessen
their faults, but one could lend them no beauty. There was not a
delicate and rare turn, a fine and keen touch, which did not come
from him."

After availing himself of the general judgment in this way, he
took a novel method of forestalling crtiticism before committing
himself to publication. Mme. de Sable sent a collection of the
maxims to her friends, asking for a written opinion. One is
tempted to make long extracts from their replies. The men
usually indorse the worldly sentiments, the women rarely. The
Princesse de Guemene, who, in the decline of her beauty, was
growing devout, and also had apartments for penitential retreat