spirit of the old aristocracy, with its hauteur and its lofty patronage, found itself face to face with fresh ideals. The position of the hostess enabled her to break the traditional barriers and form a society upon a new basis, but, in spite of the mingling of classes hitherto separated, the dominant life was that of the noblesse. Women of rank gave the tone and made the laws. Their code of etiquette was severe. They aimed to combine the graces of Italy with the chivalry of Spain. The model man must have a keen sense of honor and wit without pedantry; he must be brave, heroic, generous, gallant, but he must also possess good breeding and gentle courtesy. The coarse passions and depraved manners which had disgraced the gay court of Henry IV. were refined into subtle sentiments, and women were raised upon a pedestal to be respectfully and platonically adored. In this reaction from extreme license familiarity was forbidden, and language was subjected to a critical censorship."
This definition of the salon of "the incomparable Arthenice"—an anagram for Mme. de Rambouillet, devised by two poets of renown—we find confirmed by the words of many distinguished men, who were fortunate enough to be admitted to this circle. Among them were Corneille, Descartes, and all the founders of the Académie Française.
"Do you remember," so said the eminent Abbé Fléchier many years later, "the salons which are still regarded with so much veneration, where the spirit was purified, where virtue was revered under the name of the 'incomparable Arthénice'; where people of merit and quality assembled who composed a select court, numerous without confusion, modest without constraint, learned without pride, polished without affectation?" —
The salon of Mme. de Rambouillet continued till the death of its mistress, the 27th of December, 1665, having been, as Saint-Simon writes, "a tribunal with which it was necessary to count, and whose decisions upon the conduct and reputation of people of the court and the world had great weight."
There were other salons, modeled more or less after the present one. When the Hotel de Rambouillet was closed, Mademoiselle Madeleine de Scudéry held regular reunions by receiving her friends on Saturdays. Among this "Société du Samedi" were many authors and artists, who conversed upon all topics of the day, from fashion to politics, from literature and the arts to the last item of gossip. They read their works and vied with one another in improvising verses.
About the personality of Mlle, de Scudéry Abbé de Pure wrote: "One may call her the muse of our age and the prodigy of her sex. It is not only her goodness and her sweetness,
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