228 LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC MEN.
visits to her daughter in Provence . "But such was thevivacity of her mind, and the sensibility of her heart,that these changes, including separations from andmeetings with her daughter, assume the guise of im.portant events, bringing in their train heart-breakinggrief, or abundant felicity.
When she accepted M. de Grignan as her son-in-law,she fancied that, by marrying her daughter to a courtier,they would pass their lives together. But, soon after,M. de Grignan, who was lieutenant-general to theduke de Vendome, governor of Provence , received anorder to repair to the government, where he commandedduring the almost uninterrupted absence of the duke.This was a severe blow. Her child torn from her, shewas as widowed a second time : her only consolationwas in the hope of reunion, and in a constant andvoluminous correspondence. Mother and daughter in-terchanged letters twice a week. As their lives areundiversified by events, we wonder what interest canbe thrown over so long a series, which is often a merereiteration of the same feelings and the same thoughts.Here lie the charm and talent of madame de Sevigne .Her warm heart and vivacious intellect exalted everyemotion, vivified every slight event, and gave the in-terest of talent and affection to every thought and everyact. Her letters are the very reverse of prosy; andthough she writes of persons known to her daughterand unknown to us, and in such hints as often leavemuch unexplained, yet her pen is so graphic, her styleso easy and clear, pointed and finished, even in itssketchiness, that we become acquainted with her friends,and take interest in the monotonous course of her life. Togive an idea of her existence, as well as of her corre-spondence, we will touch on the principal topics.
In the first place, we must give some account of theperson to whom they were addressed. Madame lacomtesse de Grignan was a very different person fromher mother. From some devotional scruples she de-stroyed all her own letters, so that we cannot judge of