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

A Heroine of Conzjufgal Love.
for our first publication. In the rapid
analysis we will try to make from
these documents, we will present the
most striking traits of the character
and life of Madame de La Fayette.
Adrienne de Noailles, second daugh ter of the Duchess of Ayen, was of
an ardent temperament, of deep
sensibility, with a lively imagination
and a mind well informed. She ever
refused to adopt any idea imposed
upon her, that could not be subject
to a free discussion. She seized dif ficulties and penetrated to their
depths. While still a child, she was
troubled by doubts of her religion,
even when, at the age of twelve, she
was prepared for her first commu nion. She does not give us the na ture of these doubts, but it is clearly
seen they never interfered with the
practice of piety; on the contrary,
her thirst for truth increased her fer vor. Her pious mother was not
alarmed at this state of her soul;
she divined the source, and wait ed with confidence for grace to
dissipate the clouds. Only, she
believed it best to defer the first
communion of her daughter until,
calm and reassured, she could enjoy
her supreme happiness in all its
plenitude. And she did not presume
too much on the integrity of her
dau,ghter; never was more solid
piety or firmer faith implanted in a
heart of deeper conviction.
If we were to study anew the perfect model of a mother which the
Duchess of Ayen presents in the
portrait drawn of her by Madame de
La Fayette, a portrait depicted, too,
with a sincerity that does not fear to
let us penetrate the shadows, and so
prove its reality, we should dwell
upon the profoundly Christian spirit
that directed her in the choice of her
sons-in-law. We there see her rising
above all worldly considerations,
seeking above all things in them the
moral qualities which may assure the
happiness of her daughters; for she
did not look upon marriage, as is too
often done, as a simple affair of inte rest, of fortune, or of vanity, but it
was, in her eyes, the sacred tie in
which love should bear the greater
part. God, who united man and
woman, and who said, "Man shall
leave father and mother, and cleave
to his wife, and they two shall be one
flesh," has he not made love the duty
of Christian marriage? Under the
old rigimie and among the nobility,
marriages were contracted early, and
Mesdemoiselles de Noailles were
scarcely twelve or thirteen years old
when the first proposition for their
hands were made for them to their
mother. One of these candidates,
the Marquis de La Fayette, was him self only fourteen years old. "His
extreme youth, his isolated position,
having lost all his near relations, an
immense fortune suddenly acquired,
which the Duchesse d'Ayen looked
upon only as a temptation," all these
considerations, which in a purely
worldly view would have seduced
many a mother, decided her at first
to refuse him, notwithstanding the
good opinion she entertained of his
character. The Duke d'Ayen strongly insisted on an alliance which
combined every advantage of rank
and wealth, but the duchess for several months none the less persisted in
her refusal; and it was only after a
more attentive examination of the
character of M. de Lafayette had
reassured her of the future of her
daughter, that, demanding a delay of
two years, she finally gave her consent. The idea of the moment when
she must resign her daughters into
the keeping of another, filled her
with apprehension; evidently, she
desired for them a felicity that she
had not enjoyed herself, that of entire
conformity of tastes, thoughts, anti
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