Amongst  the  circle  whom  La  Eochefoucault  loved  to
assemble  was  Boileau,  Despreaux,  and  Madame  de  Sevigne —
the  one  whose  wit  and  the  other  whose  grace  completed  the
delights  of  that  salon.  A  life  so  prosperous  as  La  Eoche-
foucault's  had  but  one  cloud — the  death  of  his  son,  who  was
killed  during  the  passage  of  the  French  troops  over  the
Ehine.  We  attach  to  the  character  of  this  accomplished
man  the  charms  of  wit ;  we  may  also  add  the  higher  attrac-
tions of  sensibility.  Notwithstanding  the  worldly  and  selfish
character  which  is  breathed  forth  in  his  '  Maxims  and  Eeflec-
tions,'  there  lay  at  the  bottom  of  his  heart  true  piety.  Struck
by  the  death  of  a  neighbour,  this  sentiment  seems  even  on
the  point  of  being  expressed  ;  but,  adds  Madame  de  Sevigne,
and  her  phrase  is  untranslatable,  '  il  n'est  pas  effleureJ

All  has  passed  away !  the  Fronde  has  become  a  memory,
not  a  realized  idea.  Old  people  shake  their  heads,  and  talk
of  Eichelieu ;  of  his  gorgeous  palace  at  Eueil,  with  its  lake
and  its  prison  thereon,  and  its  mysterious  dungeons,  and  its
avenues  of  chestnuts,  and  its  fine  statues ;  and  of  its  cardinal,
smiling,  whilst  the  worm  that  never  dieth  is  eating  into  his


316  SAINT-SIMON'S  YOUTH.
