published a collection of poems, with the curious title "Fleas of Miss Deroches," (1582.) They were inseparable in death as during their life. They always expressed a wish that they migth die at the same time; and Providence granted it. They died on the same day at Poictiers, victims of the plague, which prevailed there at that time. Their works were published, in two volumes, in the year 1604.
DERVORGILLE, LADY,
Was the widow of John de Baliol, of Barnard Castle, in the county of Durham, a man of opulence and power in the thirteenth century, on whom devolved the duty of carrying on her husband's design of founding the college called Baliol College, in Oxford, Her husband left no written deed for the purpose; but his widow, in the most honourable and liberal manner, fulfilled his desire.
DESCARTES, CATHARINE,
Daughter of a counsellor of the Parliament of Brittany, and niece of the celebrated philosopher of that name, was, from her learning and talents, so worthy of her origin, that it was said, "The mind of the great Descartes had fallen on a distaff." Her most considerable work was an account of the death of her uncle, in prose and verse. She led a very quiet life in Brittany, and died, in 1706, of a disease brought on by hard study. She was born at Rennes, in 1635.
DESHOULIERES, ANTOINETTE LIGIER DE LA GARDE,
Was born at Paris, in 1638. At that period the education of young ladies was very carefully attended; usage required them to be instructed in many subjects that are not always open to their sex. Mademoiselle de la Garde evinced a brightness of mind, and love for study, at a very early age. Her taste for poetry manifested itself almost in infancy; she "lisped in number." Henault, a poet of some reputation, was a friend of the family, and he took pleasure in instructing this charming damsel in the rules of versification; it has even been said that he sacrificed some poems of his own to add to the celebrity of his pupil. Mademoiselle de la Garde added the charms of beauty, and pleasing manners, to her literary abilities. Perhaps her admirers, who were many, would have expressed it—her beauty rendered her charming in spite of her literary abilities. In 1651 she became the wife of the Seigneur Deshoulières, a Lieutenant-colonel of the great Conde. He participated actively in the civil war of the Fronde, and becoming obnoxious to the Queen-regent, suffered a confiscation of his property. Madame Deshoulières, who had accompanied her husband through the changes and chances of a soldier's life, went to Brussels, where a Spanish court resided, to obtain some claims which the colonel was not himself at leisure to pursue: this step resulted in an arbitrary imprisonment. She was confined in a state prison, for eight months, and at the end of that time with difficulty released, by the exertions of her husband. At the close of the civil wars, M. Deshoulières obtained an office in Guienne, where he retired with his family. At this time Antoinette had the opportunity of visiting Vaucluse: the scene of Petrarch's inspiration; and here it was that she composed her happiest effusions. Her pastorals, particularly "Les Moutons" and "Le Ruisseau," are
