A Heroine of Conjugal Lover, Madame de La Fayette [pp. 781-794]

7A Heroinie of CoJjugal Love.
in some sort the type of the Christian mother in modern society.
Indeed, maternal love was in
truth the terrestrial passion of her
heart, and would entirely have occupied it, had not the care of this
dear flock borne with it higher duties, and rendered greater her accountability. The marvellous gift
had been given her to form souls;
to develop the budding good within
them, and, while respecting the originality peculiar to each, to arm them
with incomparable strength.
We need not return to what, four
years ago, we have already published
of the Christian discipline, the simple and retired life to which the
Duchess of Ayen had accustomed her
daughters, realizing in them her type
of true womanhood, making the heart
superior to destiny, neither dazzled by
fortune or success, nor cast down by
the ills of life. When the life of Madame de Montagu was first published,
only in episode we recognized those
of the noble daughters of the Duchess
d'Ayen, reserved by Providence for
the rudest trials, or destined for a
bloody immolation. We speak of
the Viscountess de Noailles, who
with her mother and grandmother,
the old Marchioness of Noailles,
perished on the scaffold, and Madame de La Fayette, thevoluntary prisoner of Olmutz, in truth one of the
most touching heroines of conjugal
love. In the life of their sister they
are but secondary figures; but as it is
permitted even among the saints of
paradise to have a preference, we
must confess that, in this beautiful
group of heroic figures, our predilection has always been for the two
eldest. It will be readily understood,
then, with what respect and emotion
we have opened the book, in which
we would not only find the abridged
recital of the actions of Madame de
La Fayette, but could see her act, hear
her speak herself of her dearly loved
mother, listen to the passionate accents of hervoice, and, indeed, almost
feel the very beatings of her heart.
This volume, printed by Techener
with great typographical care, contains the life of the Duchess of Ayen,
written by Madame de La Fayette,
in the fortress of Olmnutz, on the margin of a Buffon, with a little India-ink
and a.tooth-pick, and subject to the
hateful inspection of the Austrian
jailers. Wle could not find a more
touching relic. Nowadays we mount
distinguished autographs in gold
should this ever pass into public sale,
would it not justify unheard-of extravagances? And we have now this
life of Madame de La Fayette compiled by a daughter worthy of her, Madamede Lasteyrie, herself the representative of the virtue and charity of
a race of which, according to an expression applied to an eminent royal
family, all the daughters were chaste
and the sons valiant. And to these
two recitals we add another document, that we had the good fortune
to publish in April, 1847, in which the
good Abb6 Carrichon, an ecclesiastic full of zeal, but timid in character, and who only by the grace of the
holy ministry could rise to intrepidity, relates, in the most perfect good
faith, the anguish he endured, when
to his lot it fell to give to the three
condemned ones the peace and consolation of last pardon. Those who
may be astonished to find in a whole
generation of the same family so
many and such extraordinary virtues,
may rest assured of its truth. Imagination has added nothing to the
edifying recital of these beautiful
lives. The original documents that
we give to-day in their sublime nakedness, bear an accent of austere heroism and holy enthusiasm that
strengthens the heart and penetrates
it with the love of good; they vouch
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