The letters of Madame de Sévigné

I had no doubt that you would take some opportunity of bidding me adieu, either at my own house or from the camp at Landrecy. As I am not a woman of ceremony, I am content with...

Will you always disgrace your relations? Will you never be weary of making yourself the subject of conversation in every campaign? Do you imagine it can give us pleasure to hear...

This is the third time I have written to you since you left Paris, a sufficient proof that I have nothing upon my mind against you. I received your farewell letter from Landrecy...

You affect great things, M. le Comte: under the pretense that you write like a second Cicero, you think yourself entitled to ridicule people. The passage you remarked, in realit...

I received a letter from you, my dear cousin, when I was in Brittany, in which you talked of our ancestors, the Rabutins, and of the beauty of Bourbilly. But as I had heard from...

I wrote to you the last; why have you not answered my letter? I have been expecting to hear from you, and have at length found the Italian proverb true: _chi offende non perdona...

I begin by thanking you, my dear cousin, for your letters to the king. They would afford me pleasure even if they were written by a stranger. They have awakened in me sentiments...

Rise, count; I will not kill you while prostrate at my feet, and take your sword to resume the combat. But it is better that I should give you life, and that we should live in p...

Have you not received the letter, sir, in which I gave you life, disdaining to kill you at my feet? I expected an answer to this noble action; but you have thought it unworthy y...

It is as true that I did not receive an answer to the letter in which I gave you life, as that I was in pain, lest, with the best intention possible to pardon you, I had uninten...

I receive your letters in the same way in which you received my ring. I am in tears while I read them. My heart seems ready to burst. Bystanders would think that you had treated...

I have received but three of those delightful letters that so affect my heart. One is still on the road. If I were not so fond of them, and loth to lose any thing that you write...

Yesterday the president, Amelot, after having made a great number of visits, toward night found himself a good deal out of order, and was soon afterward seized with a violent ap...

If you were here, my dear child, you would certainly laugh at me. I am set down to write beforehand, but from a very different reason to that which I once gave you for writing t...

I have received two packets at once, which have been delayed for a considerable time. By these I am at length informed from yourself, of your entry into Aix, but you do not ment...

I returned yesterday from St. Germain with Madame d’Arpajon. Every one at court inquired after you; among the rest, it will not be amiss, I think, to distinguish the queen, who...

and witty, she must needs saddle you with the other qualification, without which, according to her rule, there is no being perfect. I am greatly concerned for the harm she does...

I wrote to you on Wednesday by the post, yesterday by Magalotti, and to-day again by the post; but last night I lost a charming opportunity. I went to walk at Vincennes, _en Tro...

I make up my packet at Monsieur de la Rochefoucault’s, who embraces you very heartily; he is delighted with your answer about the canons and Father Desmares. There is some pleas...

Here, then, I make up my packet. I had intended to tell you that the king arrived yesterday evening at Chantilly: he hunted a stag by moonlight; the lamps did wonders; the fire-...

This is Sunday, April 26th, and this letter will not go out till Wednesday; but it is not so much a letter as a narrative that I have just learned from Moreuil, of what passed a...

At last, my dear child, I am just ready to step into my carriage: there!--I am in--adieu! I never shall use that word to you without real grief. I am now on my way for Brittany....

At last, my child, I am at the Rocks. Can I behold these walks, can I view these ornaments, this little closet, these books, these rooms, and not die with grief? Some recollecti...

I am going to entertain you to-day, my dear child, with what is called rain and fine weather. I had not your letters till Friday, and I answered them the Sunday following. I beg...

You have amply made up to me my late losses; I have received two letters from you which have filled me with transports of joy. The pleasure I take in reading them is beyond all...

It is a great proof of your love, my dear child, that you can bear with all the nonsense I send you from hence. You defend Mademoiselle de Croqueoison extremely well. In return,...

I have received but one letter from you, my dear child, which vexes me; I used generally to have two. It is a bad thing to use one’s self to such dear and tender cares as yours;...

You describe very humorously the disorder my perfumed paper occasioned you. Those who saw you read my letters must have thought I was dead, and could never imagine that they con...

You were with the president of Charme’s lady, then, when you wrote to me. Her husband was the intimate friend of Monsieur Fouquet. Am I right in this? In short, my dear, you wer...

I am wicked to-day, my child. I am just in the same humor as when you used to say, “_You are wicked_.” I am very dull and spiritless: I have not heard from you. “Warm affections...

I believe the _Leonic_ opinion is now the most ascertained. He understands the subject completely, can tell whether matter reasons or not, what kind of intelligence God has give...

You know I am always carried away by what I read, so that it is for the interest of those I converse with, that I should read none but the best books. I can think of nothing at...

Let us talk of M. Nicole, it is a long time since we have said a word about him. There is a great deal of justice in your observation respecting the indifference he requires us...

For Heaven’s sake, my dear child, what do you mean? What pleasure can you take in thus abusing your person and understanding, vilifying your conduct, and saying, that one must h...

I send you M. de Rochefoucault’s Maxims, revised and corrected, with additions; it is a present to you from himself. Some of them I can make shift to guess the meaning of; but t...

You talk to me of my departure: alas! my dear, I languish in the pleasing hope of it; nothing now stops me, but my poor aunt,[57] who is dying with violent pain and dropsy: it b...

It is impossible, my dear child, to tell you how much I pity, how much I praise, and how much I admire you: thus I divide my discourse into three heads. First, _I pity you_ in b...

I had no letter from you yesterday, my poor child. Your journey to Monaco had put you quite out of sorts. I was afraid some little disaster of this kind would befall me. I now s...

I can not reflect upon the situation you have been in, without great emotion; and though I know you are out of danger, yet I can not turn my eyes on what has passed without a ho...

I must begin, my dear child, by telling you of the death of the Count de Guiche: this is the chief subject of conversation at present. The poor youth died of sickness and fatigu...

I am just returned from St. Germain, where I have been two whole days with Madame de Coulanges at M. de la Rochefoucault’s. In the evening we went to pay our court to the queen,...

A piece of political news is just come into my head, and, contrary to my custom, I shall give it you. You know the King of Poland[85] is dead. The grand marshal,[86] the husband...

M. de Luxembourg is a little pressed near Maestricht, by the army of M. de Monterei[88] and the Prince of Orange; he dares not venture to remove his camp, and he must perish whe...

I wish you a happy year, my child; and in this wish I comprehend so many things, that I should never have done if I were to enumerate them. I have not yet asked leave for you to...

It is a year ago this very day since we supped with the archbishop: at this moment perhaps you are supping with the intendant: I am afraid, my dear child, your mirth is feigned....

Well, your peace is then concluded at last. The Archbishop of Rheims and Brancas received their letters before I did mine; M. de Pomponne sent to inform me of this important eve...

Saturday last I dined with M. de Pomponne, as I told you, and was there till five o’clock, enchanted, transported, enraptured with the beauties of Despréaux’s Art of Poetry. D’H...

It is many years ago, to-day, that there came into the world a creature destined to love you beyond every other thing in existence.[105] I beg you not to suffer your imagination...

I have received only your first letter yet, my dear child; but that is invaluable. I have seen nothing since your absence, and every fresh person reminds me of it; they talk to...

I have not received any of your letters since that from Sens; you will therefore easily conceive how anxious I am to be informed of your health and safety. I am fully persuaded...

Instead of visiting you in your apartment, my dear child, I sit down to converse with you by letter; when I am so unfortunate as not to have you with me, the most natural consol...

Madame de Vins expressed herself very affectionately about you yesterday, my dear; that is, in her way, but it is not a bad one; there seemed no _interlineations_ in what she said.

I sit down, my dear, to talk to you a little of our good cardinal. I send you a letter he has written to you. Pray advise him to write his history, it is what all his friends pr...

Guess from whence I write to you, my dear--from M. de Pomponne’s, as you will perceive by the few lines which Madame de Vins sends you with this. I have been with her, the Abbé...

The weather is so extremely hot, my dear, that instead of tossing and tumbling in my bed the whim took me to get up (though it is but five o’clock in the morning) and chat a lit...

I could wish all you write to me of M. de Turenne inserted in a funeral oration. There is an uncommon beauty and energy in your style; it has all the force of eloquence that can...

At length, my dear, M. de la Trousse is found. I admire his good fortune in this affair: after having performed wonders at the head of his battalion, he was surrounded by two sq...

If I had the means of sending letters to you every day I could easily contrive to write them. I sometimes do so even now, though my letters do not go; but the pleasure of writin...

for the water is so very low, and we are so often aground, that I heartily wish for my carriage again, but that is out of reach for some time. The water becomes dull when one is...

I can not sufficiently admire the diligence and fidelity of the post. I received on the 18th your letter of the 9th, that is, in nine days only after date, which is all that can...

What a delightful letter have you written to me, my dear child! What thanks do I not owe you for employing your hand, your eyes, your head, your time, in composing so agreeable...

Well, my dear, it seems now settled that I am to receive two of your packets together, and miss one post; you should see the faces I make, and how I receive it in comparison wit...

A little patience, my dear child, brings us to the accomplishment of our wishes: I have received the two packets of letters from you that I should have received before; but they...

You may fill your letters with whatever you please, and still be assured that I read them with great pleasure and equal approbation; no one can write better than you do, and it...

Guess, my dear child, what it is that comes the quickest, and goes off the slowest; that brings you nearest to health, and removes you the furthest from it; that throws you into...

I am very melancholy, my dear; my poor boy is just gone; he has so many little social virtues that are the charm of society, that were he only an acquaintance I should regret hi...

I must begin by telling you that Condé was taken by storm on Saturday night. The news at first made my heart beat; I feared the victory had cost us dear, but it does not prove s...

At length it is all over: La Brinvilliers is in the air; after her execution her poor little body was thrown into a large fire, and her ashes dispersed by the wind, so that when...

Nothing can be more true than the proverb which says, that liberty is destroyed by uncertainty. Were you under any sort of restraint, you would have determined what to do long a...

Surely there never was so brilliant a letter as your last; I had some thoughts of sending it back, that you might have the pleasure of perusing it. I could not help wondering wh...

At length you inform me that you are arrived at Grignan. The pains you have taken to keep our correspondence uninterrupted, is a continual mark of your affection. I can assure y...

Alas, how grieved I am at the death of your poor child![147] it is impossible not be affected at it. Not that I was ever of opinion he could live; the description you gave convi...

I wish, my dear child, that you had a tutor for your son; it is a pity his mind should be left uncultivated. I doubt whether he is yet of an age to eat all sorts of food promisc...

Love Paulina, love Paulina, my child! indulge yourself in that amusement; do not destroy your peace of mind by depriving yourself of her; what are you afraid of? You may still s...

I have here, my beloved child, received your letter of the 11th, which I expected with so much impatience; I am not used to such delays; it renders my whole journey uncomfortabl...

I have just received a letter of the 15th. I fancy it has taken a trip to Paris. The chevalier has received one from the handsome abbé, of the same date, which shows me you were...

We have been at Livri for these two days; Madame de Coulanges, who is quite well, doing the honors of the house, and I the company. We had the Abbé Têtu and Corbinelli with us....

I shall no longer, my child, ask you why. In three words, my horses are thin, my tooth is loose, and my preceptor has got the king’s evil. All this is dreadful. One might well m...

I am here alone; I was loath to suffer any irksomeness but my own. No company tempts me to begin my winter so soon. If I chose it, I could assume an air of solitude; but after h...

I am no longer a shepherdess, my poor child; I have left with regret my solitary conversation with your letters, and your image, aided by _Louison_, our cows and sheep, and the...

What I am going to tell you, my dear child, will both surprise and vex you. M. de Pomponne is out of favor; he had orders on Saturday evening, as he was returning from Pomponne,...

What a charming letter have I just received from you! what exquisite pleasure is it to hear you reason thus! What you say on the subject of medicine delights me. I am persuaded...

I begin with the state of your health, as the subject nearest my heart. It is without disparagement to this favorite idea, that I see and hear what passes in the world. Events a...

It is impossible for me to see your hand-writing without emotion. I well know the injury writing does you; and though you say the most affectionate and most amiable things to me...

So, my child, you sometimes play at chess. For my own part, I am an enthusiast in this game, and would give the world if I could learn to play it like my son or you. It is the f...

I see you are in the midst of the pleasures of the carnival, my beautiful dear; you give little _private_ suppers to eighteen or twenty ladies; I am well acquainted with your mo...

I think you extremely fortunate in the society of Madame du Janet, who is come on purpose for you; this is a friendship that pleases me. I am fully persuaded her whole employmen...

Indeed, my child, this has been a very pretty week for the Grignans; should Providence favor the elder brother in proportion as it has the younger, we might soon expect to see h...

I am much afraid we shall lose M. de la Rochefoucault. His fever still continues. He received the sacrament yesterday. The tranquillity of his mind is really worthy of admiratio...

Though this letter will not go till Wednesday, I can not help beginning it to-day, to inform you that M. de la Rochefoucault died last night. I am so much engrossed with this mi...

My dear child, poor M. Fouquet is dead,[179] and I am affected at the intelligence: I never knew so many friends lost in a manner at once, and it overwhelms me with sorrow to se...

You mention the dauphiness to me; the chevalier can tell you more about her than I can. However, I think she does not seem to attach herself much to the queen. They have been to...

I know not what weather you may have in Provence, but we have had for these weeks past such horrible weather here that several journeys have been delayed by it, and mine among t...

You observe with great humor, that, if the human heart is left to itself, it will always find something to comfort itself with, and that its disposition is to be happy. I hope m...

Notwithstanding this letter will not go till Sunday, I am resolved to begin it to-day, that I may date once more in the month of May. I fear that of June will appear still longe...

At length I have the pleasure, at this immense distance from each other, to receive your letters on the ninth day after they are written, with the prospect of happier times befo...

So, I have written a sermon without thinking of it! I am as much surprised at this as the Count de Soissons,[198] when he was told he had made prose. It is true, I feel myself d...

I shall make no answer to what you say of my letters. I am extremely happy that they please you; had you not told me so I should have thought them unbearable. I never can muster...

What infinite obligations does my heart owe you, and how happy have you made it, by permitting me to hope for your presence this winter! I have read over and over again the deli...

You are so much of a philosopher, my beloved child, that there is no such thing as giving vent to the transports of the heart with you. You are continually anticipating hopes; a...

So much the worse for you, my dear child; if you do not read over your letters, your indolence robs you of a great pleasure, which is not one of the least of the evils it may oc...

Ah, my child! was ever any thing so ill-timed as the death of the King of England,[216] just at the eve of a masquerade? My poor little marquis[217] is very unfortunate to have...

You see, my dear, that we are now come to reckon by days only, not by months! not even by weeks! But, alas! what you say is very true: there could not be a more cruel damp to ou...

What a tremendous rain, just, my child, as you are going to descend that frightful mountain of Rochepot! How numberless are the vexations of those who love with any degree of fe...

Oh! what a letter, my child! It well deserves that I should come here on purpose to receive it, as I did. At length, then, you are arrived safe at Grignan, and are in perfect he...

_Philipsburg is taken, and your son is well!_ I have only to turn this phrase in every possible way, for I will not change my text. Learn then again from this note, that _your s...

This is the day, my dear child, on which you are to begin your journey; we follow you step by step. The weather is delightful; the durance will not be so terrific as it sometime...

I have to inform you to-day that the king made yesterday seventy-four knights of the order of the Holy Ghost, of which I send you the list. As he has done M. de Grignan the hono...

Your last letter has an air of gayety and expansion of heart which convinces me that Franckendal is taken, and that he is safe, I mean the marquis. Enjoy this pleasure, my belov...

I can not answer your letters to-day, as they came so late, and I answer two on a Monday. The marquis[234] is a little rustic, but not enough so to render him ridiculous; he wil...

_Per torner dunque al nostro proposito_,[238] I must tell you, my child, that all the uncertainties of the day before yesterday, which seemed to be fixed by the assurances M. de...

Your dear son arrived this morning. We were delighted to see him and M. du Plessis; we were at dinner when they came, and they ate very heartily of our repast, which was already...

I took the marquis with me yesterday; we began by visiting M. de la Trousse, who was so obliging as to put on the dresses of the novice and professor, as on the ceremonial day;...

We often stumble upon the same ideas, my dear child; even think that I wrote to you from the Rocks what you say in your last letter respecting time. I now consent that it should...

You retired then at five o’clock in the afternoon; you drew king and queen at dinner; you were in as good company as at Paris. It will not be my fault if the archbishop (of Aix)...

I have dined, my dear child, and am now in the chevalier’s apartment; he is in his chair, with a thousand little aches and pains that fly about him. He has slept well; but this...

My letter, then, is dignified with a title; this is a proof of its singular merit. I am glad my story amused you. I can never guess at the effect my letters will produce, but th...

The chevalier is still at Versailles, but I expect him this evening. The marquis dined with me the other day; I conversed a good deal with him, and I can assure you, with much s...

It is certain that we are separated from each other by a grievous distance: this is enough to make us shudder; but what would it have been if I had added to it the road from hen...

My dear child, the life you lead at Marseilles delights me. I love that city, which resembles no other in the world. Ah! how well I understand Paulina’s admiration! How natural,...

The chevalier went yesterday to Versailles to know his fate; for, not finding himself in the lists that have appeared, he is anxious to know whether he is reserved for the dauph...

Shrove-Tuesday is not an indifferent day to Paulina. I can not help scolding you, my dear child, for not having sent her prettily to the good Langlée’s, to dance a little with M...

I shall not retract the praises I have bestowed on the tragedy of Esther; I shall be delighted with the harmony and novelty of this spectacle as long as I live; I was in rapture...

Paulina is too fortunate in being your secretary; she learns, as I told you, to think, and express her thoughts, by seeing how you express yours. She is learning the French lang...

It is nine months this third of July, reckoning from day to day, and from Sunday to Sunday, since I left you with a deluge of tears, and more than you perceived, at Charenton. S...

It had never entered my brain to accuse certain iron wires in the head-dress of being the cause of long faces; this hint would be very useful to certain persons of our acquainta...

Your letter is not yet arrived; this is always a grief to me; though I have in some degree got the better of the apprehensions I formerly suffered from the delay; it is the whim...

Good heavens! what a new year’s gift! what wishes! what could be more calculated to charm me? I will tell you a feeling I have just discovered in myself; if it could repay yours...

You are right, I can not reconcile myself to the date of this year; it has, however, been already begun for some time; and you will find, that, let us pass it as we may, we shal...

Good heavens, what a situation you are in! how pressing a one! and how much and sensibly I am grieved at it! But, my child, how weak and futile are wishes upon such occasions! a...

I could not have believed that I should have wept so much for La Chau; but it is impossible to read your account of his poor wife’s unfeigned and violent affliction without bein...

To-day, Monday, November the 17th, 1664, M. Fouquet was brought a second time before the chancellor. He seated himself without ceremony upon the sellette,[264] as he had done th...

M. Fouquet was examined this morning respecting the gold mark; he answered extremely well; several of the judges bowed to him; the chancellor reproved them and said that, as he...

If I know my own heart, it is I who am the party obliged, by your receiving so kindly the information I send you. Do you think I have no pleasure in writing to you? Believe me,...

The examination upon the subject of the grants was resumed to-day. The chancellor kindly endeavored to drive M. Fouquet to extremities, and to embarrass him, but he did not succ...

Two days ago every one believed that it was intended to protract M. Fouquet’s affair as much as possible; but now the reverse of this appears to be the case, and the interrogati...

At length the examinations are over. M. Fouquet entered the chamber this morning. The chancellor ordered his _project against the state_ to be read throughout. M. Fouquet spoke...

I assure you the days pass very tediously; suspense is extremely painful: but it is an evil to which the whole family of the unfortunate prisoner is habituated. I have seen, and...

M. d’Ormesson has not yet finished. When he came to the article of the gold mark, Puissort said, “This speaks strongly against the accused.” “It may be so,” said M. d’Ormesson,...

You languish, my dear friend, after intelligence, and so do we. I was sorry I sent you word that judgment would be pronounced on Tuesday; for, not hearing from me, you must have...

This is a day which gives us great hopes; but I must go back in my story. I told you that M. Puissort had, on Wednesday, voted for the death of our friend; on Thursday, Nogués,...

At length, the mother, the daughter-in-law, and the brother have obtained leave to be together; they are going to Montluçon in the heart of Auvergne. The mother had permission t...

While I am expecting your letters, I must relate to you a very amusing little history. You remember how much you regretted Mademoiselle de ***, and how unfortunate you thought y...

And so you are at our poor Rocks, my dear children, experiencing there the sweets of tranquillity, exempt from all duties and all fatigues, and our dear little marchioness can b...

You have written me the most charming letter in the world. I should have answered it much sooner, had I not known that you were traversing your province. I should likewise have...

Is it not true that I have given you the prettiest wife in the world? and can any one be more prudent, more regular in her conduct? Can any one love you more, have more Christia...

When I write to you so frequently, you must remember that it is on condition that you do not answer me. Relying on this, I shall proceed to tell you that I am heartily rejoiced...

Madame de Coulanges has told me several times that you love me sincerely, that you talk of me, that you wish me with you. As I made the first advances toward this friendship, an...

Alas! the poor dear child is still with me, for it was utterly impossible for her, do what she would, to have set out the 10th of this month, as she all along hoped and intended...

You alone, my dear count, could have prevailed on me to give my daughter to a Provençal; this is truth, as Caderousse and Merrinville will witness for me; for if I had liked the...

Come hither, my son-in-law. So, then, you are resolved to send my daughter back to me in the first coach; you are displeased with her, and quite angry that she admires your cast...

You flatter me too much, my dear count; I shall accept of but one part of your fine speeches, and that is the thanks you return me for having given you a wife, that constitutes...

Count, I am delighted to hear that my daughter is satisfied with you. Allow me to thank you by reason of the great interest I take in your affairs, and which I entreat you to pr...

I should be very sorry, sir, if our correspondence were to end with the temple of Montpellier; and all you say to this effect, in doing the honors of your letters, by supposing...

If you are alarmed at the appearance of my neglect, be assured, sir, it is a false alarm, and that appearances are deceitful; you do not suffer yourself to be forgotten; Rocheco...

Were you not very much surprised, sir, to see M. de Vardes slip through your fingers, whom you had held so firmly for nineteen years? This is the time Providence had marked out...

You are going to hear a beautiful and an admirable story; pay great attention to every circumstance attending it. The Prince de Conti having expressed himself dissatisfied with...

Word was sent me from Languedoc that I had a law-suit pending there, that M. de Grignan was prosecuted with rigor, and that the judges were strange people. I cursed them heartil...

I have received no letter from you for more than fifteen months; I know not whether our enraged and jealous friend[305] has intercepted any; it is not, however, like him to do s...

I have received your letter, sir; it presented itself to me as if you wished to make me ashamed of my silence, and to believe I had been ill, for the purpose of entering into co...

I thought, sir, that in purchasing an office, nothing was necessary but to find money; but I see that the manner of giving and receiving it is also to be considered. You will so...

I wrote you a long letter, sir, more than a month ago, full of friendship, secrets, and confidence. I know not what became of it; it lost its way, perhaps, in seeking for you at...

So you like my letters, sir. I am delighted that you do; this is one which will be worth a hundred. My robust health was slightly attacked, about a month ago, by a little colic,...

What things, sir, may not be said! what a period in the history of our monarch is the manner in which he has received the king of England! the presents with which he has loaded...

Where do you think I am, sir? Did you not know I was in Brittany? Our Corbinelli must have told you so. After having been there sixteen months with my son, I thought it would be...

I intend, sir, to bring an action against you, and thus I set about it. I wish you to judge it yourself. I have been here for more than a year with my daughter, for whom I have...

I was right, sir, when I supposed you would be concerned at my anxiety, and would use all the diligence in your power to relieve it. M. Barbeirac’s prescription and your letter...

I am going to tell you a thing the most astonishing, the most surprising, the most marvelous, the most miraculous, the most magnificent, the most confounding, the most unheard o...

What is called “falling from the clouds,” happened last night at the Tuileries; but I must go further back. You have already shared in the joy, the transport, the ecstacies of t...

You are now perfectly acquainted with the romantic story of mademoiselle and of Monsieur de Lauzun. It is a story well adapted for a tragedy, and in all the rules of the theater...

I have received your answers to my letters. I can easily conceive the astonishment you were in at what passed between the 15th and 20th of this month; the subject called for it...

What a melancholy date, my amiable cousin, compared with yours! It suits a recluse like me, and that of Rome suits one whose fate is to wander uncontrolled, and “who stalks his...

We have received a letter dated the 31st of March from our dear embassador. It came in less than a week. This expedition is delightful, but what he tells us is still more so. It...

“Short reckonings make long friends:” I have received all your letters, my dear neighbor; that of May 20, that of June 4, about which you were uneasy, and the last of July 4; wi...

I am so astonished at the news of the sudden death of M. de Louvois,[317] that I know not how or where to begin the subject to you. This great minister then, this man of consequ...

Come hither, that I may embrace you, caress you, and tell you that my daughter, whose approbation you so highly value, is delighted with your two little couplets on the holy fat...

Madame de Chaulnes sends me word that I am fortunate in being here in the sunshine; she thinks all our days are woven with silk and gold. Alas! my dear cousin, it is a hundred t...

I have received your two letters from Chaulnes, my dear cousin! we found some verses in them that delighted us; we have sung them with extreme pleasure, and more than one person...

I shall write you only a very short and poor letter, my dear friend, to thank you for yours, which has given us great pleasure. I shall never change my opinion with respect to l...

I have just been writing to our Duke and Duchess de Chaulnes; but I excuse you from reading my letters; they are not worth reading. I defy all your emphasis, all your points and...

I know not how the affairs of England go on; the Countess de Fiesque is the only one who has a good opinion of them, and is still certain that they will end well. I have taken t...

[329] As the death of Madame de Sévigné happened in the beginning of April, it is probable that this letter is the last she wrote. We consider its recovery as a fortunate circum...

Your politeness, sir, need not lead you to fear the renewal of my grief,[357] in speaking to me of the afflicting loss I have sustained. This is an object which my mind bears co...

Far from taking it unkindly, madam, that you did not write to me with your own hand, I am very much surprised that you even thought of me at a time so cruel and so fatal as the...

I am truly obliged to you, madame, for still thinking of me. I knew all your excellences; but the affection of your heart, and the regard you have felt for a person so worthy of...

You, sir, can understand better than any one the magnitude of the loss we have sustained, and my just grief. Madame de Sévigné’s distinguished merit was perfectly known to you....