A Biographical Dictionary of the Celebrated Women of Every Age and Country/Scudery, (Madeline de)
She was looked upon as a prodigy from her childhood; but her person was plain and deformed, which made her a subject of ridicule to the frivolous, though she was amiable, wise, and ingenious. She went very early to Paris, where by her assiduous application to the belles lettres, she made herself amends for the want of education, which the narrowness of her father's circumstances had not permitted. Her fine accomplishments gained her admittance into all assemblies of the wits, and even the learned caressed and were fond of her company; necessity first set her upon writing; and as the taste of that age was for romances, she turned her pen that way; but made a commendable alteration in that kind of writing, by giving more modesty to the heroines, and more tenderness to the heroes. Her books were eagerly bought up, and she was called the Sappho of the age.
The celebrated academy of the Ricovrati, at Padua, complimented her with a place in their society, and she succeeded the learned Helena Cornaro. Several great personages gave her marks of their esteem, by presents and other honours. The celebrated Boileau, who had written a satire on romances, forbore to make it public, out of respect to Mademoiselle Scudery. The prince of Paderborn, bishop of Munster, made her a present of his works, together with a medal. Christina, Queen of Sweden, corresponded with her, settled a pension on her, and sent her her picture. Cardinal Mazarine left her an annuity by his will; and Lewis XIV. in 1683, at the solicitation of Madame de Maintenon, settled also a pension on her, which was always punctually paid. Neither did he stop there; but appointed a special audience to receive her acknowledgments, and paid her many fine complements.
An odd accident befel this lady on a journey with her brother. At the inn they were to lodge at, they after supper fell into discourse on the romance of Cyrus, which they were then writing, and particularly how Prince Mazard should be disposed of. After a pretty warm debate, it was agreed he should be assassinated. Some merchants in the next room, overhearing their discourse, and concluding that these strangers were contriving the death of some prince, whom they concealed under that name, went and gave information to the governor; upon which they were imprisoned; and it was not without a great deal of expence and difficulty that they recovered their liberty.
She held a correspondence with all the learned, and her house at Paris was a kind of little court, where numbers used constantly to assemble.
Her works were very numerous. M. Costar says, she composed eighty volumes out of her own head. As to her real merits, Voltaire says, "she is now better known by some agreeable verses which she left, than by the enormous romances of Clelia and of Cyrus."
It was a pity that her talents should have been thrown away on that species of writing. Her novels are all founded on facts, relative to people in the French court. The French stile was not so good then as it was afterwards, and her writings have much tedious minutia of description, but her fancy was brilliant and her sentiments pure and noble. Besides l'Illustre Bassa, Cyrus, Clelia, &c. she published two volumes of the speeches of illustrious women. Celinte, Mathilde, and Le Promenade de Versailles, were shorter than her first romances, and more near the modern novel. Her discourse on glory, in 1671, won the first prize of eloquence in the French academy. She preserved her powers, her wit and vivacity, to the last, and bore with patience violent pains from a rheumatic affection in her knees. She died as she had lived, with modest hope and piety.