gave his daughter a learned education. The child having an hereditary brightness of mind, applied herself with diligence, and became remarkable, ere she reached womanhood, for her many-acquirements. She was well acquainted with history, and equal to any of the scholars of the day in the Greek and Latin languages. She married, early in life, Stephen Castel, a gentleman of Picardy. Shortly after this, her father died; and, at the age of twenty-five, having also lost her husband, she was left destitute of all human support, having no relations in France. To add to her distress the inheritance of her husband was litigated by some members of his family, and she had great difficulty to obtain a portion of it. Being a foreigner, she was obliged to rely entirely on her own energies; and she applied herself to a resource never before sought by a female. Christine de Pisc was the first woman who used her literary abilities to support her household, and made her pen procure bread for her children. Louis, Duke of Orleans, brother of Charles the Sixth, was a prince of elegant tastes, and a patron of letters; he discerned the merit of Christine, and invited her frequently to his court, where she met with honourable attention. This unfortunate young man was, as is well known, assassinated by emissaries of the Duke of Burgundy. After his death, and the confusion of parties that ensued, the insanity of the king, the invasion of France by the English, all these national misfortunes darkened the state of literature, and obstructed farther progress in social improvement.
Christine lived to an advanced age in the privacy of domestic life. She died in 1441. Some of her poems, which are full of tenderness, were printed in Paris, in 1529; others remain in manuscript, in the royal library. "The Life of Charles the Fifth," written by desire of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, is considered her best prose performance. One of her first books was called "A Hundred Stories of Troyes." She also wrote several long poems. She had three children, one of whom retired to a convent, where Christine passed the latter part of her life.
Henry the Fourth invited her to the English court; and she was everywhere received with that homage and veneration which her virtues and talents deserved. True feminine purity and refinement prevail throughout her writings. All her works are written in French.
PIX, MARY,
By birth Mary Griffith, was the daughter of a clergyman, and was born in Yorkshire, in the reign of William the Third. She was a contemporary of Mrs. Manley and Mrs. Cockburne, and was satirized with them in a little dramatic piece, called the "Female Wits." She was the author of a number of plays, published between 1696 and 1705.
PIZZOLI, MARIA LUIGIA,
Was born at Bologna, in 1817, the only offspring of Luigi Pizzoli, a gentleman of that city. Her parents perceiving early indications of uncommon abilities, gave her every means of instruction within their reach; these she improved to such advantage that she soon became quite noted for the extent of her information, and the variety of her accomplishments. The most learned men in the society she frequented, would appeal to her in any "historic doubts," and so
