第 48 节
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车水马龙01 更新:2021-03-11 18:31 字数:9321
from these in the life…long friendship of Saint…Lambert; for whom Mme。 Necker has usually a gracious message。 It is a curious commentary upon the manners of the age that one so rigid and severe should have chosen for her intimate companionship two women whose lives were so far removed from her own ideal of reserved decorum。 But she thought it best to ignore errors which her world did not regard as grave; if she was conscious of them at all。
One finds greater pleasure in recalling her ardent and romantic attachment to the granddaughter of the Marechale de Luxembourg; the lovely Amelie de Boufflers; Duchesse de Lauzun; whose pen… portrait she sketched so gracefully and so tenderly; whose gentle sweetness and shy delicacy; in the rather oppressive glare of her surroundings; suggest a modest wild flower astray among the pretentious beauties of the hothouse; and whose untimely death on the scaffold has left her fragrant memory entwined with a garland of cypress。 But we cannot dwell upon the intimate phases of this friendship; whose fine quality is shown in the few scattered leaves of a correspondence overflowing with the wealth of two rare though unequally gifted natures。
At a later period her husband's position in the ministry; and the pronounced opinions of her brilliant daughter; gave to the salon of Mme。 Necker a marked political and semi…revolutionary coloring。 Her inclinations always led her to literary diversions; rather than to the discussion of economic questions; but as Mme。 de Stael gradually took the scepter that was falling from her hand; she found it difficult to guide the conversation into its old channels。 Her pale; thoughtful face; her gentle manner; her soft and penetrating voice; all indicated an exquisitely feminine quality quite in unison with the spirit of urbanity and politeness that was even then going out of fashion。 Her quiet and earnest though interesting conversation was somewhat overshadowed by the impetuous eloquence of Mme。 de Stael; who gave the tone to every circle into which she came。 〃I am more and more convinced that I am not made for the great world;〃 she said to the Duchesse de Lauzun; with an accent of regret。 〃It is Germaine who should shine there and who should love it; for she possesses all the qualities which put her in a position to be at once feared and sought。〃
If she was allied to the past; however; by her tastes and her sympathies; she belonged to the future by her convictions; and her many…sided intellect touched upon every question of the day。 Profoundly religious herself; she was broadly tolerant; always delicate in health; she found time amid her numerous social duties to aid the poor and suffering; and to establish the hospital that still bears her name。 Her letters and literary records reveal a woman of liberal thought and fine insight; as well as scholarly tastes。 If she lacked a little in the facile graces of the French women; she had to an eminent degree the qualities of character that were far rarer in her age and sphere。 Though she was cold and reserved in manner; beneath the light snow which she brought from her native hills beat a heart of warm and tender; even passionate; impulses。 Devoted wife; loyal friend; careful mother; large…minded and large…souled woman; she stands conspicuous; in a period of lax domestic relations; for the virtues that grace the fireside as well as for the talents that shine in the salon。
But she was not exempt from the sorrows of a nature that exacts from life more than life can give; and finds its illusions vanish before the cold touch of experience。 She had her hours of darkness and of suffering。 Even the love that was the source of her keenest happiness was also the source of her sharpest griefs。 In the days of her husband's power she missed the exclusive attention she craved。 There were moments when she doubted the depth of his affection; and felt anew that her 〃eyes were wedded to eternal tears。〃 She could not see without pain his extreme devotion to her daughter; whose rich nature; so spontaneous; so original; so foreign to her own; gave rise to many anxieties and occasional antagonisms。 This touches the weak point in her character。 She was not wholly free from a certain egotism and intellectual vanity; without the imagination to comprehend fully an individuality quite remote from all her preconceived ideas。 She was slow to accept the fact that her system of education was at fault; and her failure to mold her daughter after her own models was long a source of grief and disappointment。 She was ambitious too; and had not won her position without many secret wounds。 When misfortunes came; the blows that fell upon her husband struck with double force into her own heart。 She was destined to share with him the chill of censure and neglect; the bitter sting of ingratitude; the lonely isolation of one fallen from a high place; whose friendship and whose favors count no more。
In the solitude of Coppet; where she died at fifty…seven; during the last and darkest days of the Revolution; perhaps she realized in the tireless devotion of her husband and the loving care of Mme。 de Stael the repose of heart which the brilliant world of Paris never gave her。
With all her gifts; which have left many records that may be read; and in spite of a few shadows that fall more or less upon all earthly relations; not the least of her legacies to posterity was the beautiful example; rarer then than now; of that true and sympathetic family life in which lies the complete harmony of existence; a safeguard against the storms of passion; a perennial fount of love that keeps the spirit young; the tranquility out of which spring the purest flowers of human happiness and human endeavor。
There were many salons of lesser note which have left agreeable memories。 It would be pleasant to recall other clever and beautiful women whose names one meets so often in the chronicles of the time; and whose faces; conspicuous for their clear; strong outlines; still look out upon us from the galleries that perpetuate its life; but the list is too long and would lead us too far。 From the moving procession of social leaders who made the age preceding the Revolution so brilliant I have chosen only the few who were most widely known; and who best represent its dominant types and its special phases。
The most remarkable period of the literary salons was really closed with the death of Mme。 du Deffand; in 1780。 Mme。 Geoffrin had already been dead three years; and Mlle。 de Lespinasse; four。 Some of the most noted of the philosophers and men of letters were also gone; others were past the age of forming fresh ties; the young men belonged to another generation; and no new drawing rooms exactly replaced the old ones。 Mme。 Necker still received the world that was wont to assemble in the great salons; Mme。 de Condorcet presided over a rival coterie; and there were numerous small and intimate circles; but the element of politics was beginning to intrude; and with it a degree of heat which disturbed the usual harmony。 The reign of esprit; the perpetual play of wit had begun to pall upon the tastes of people who found themselves face to face with problems so grave and issues so vital。 There was a slight reaction towards nature and simplicity。 〃They may be growing wiser;〃 said Walpole; 〃but the intermediate change is dullness。〃 For nearly half a century learned men and clever women had been amusing themselves with utopian theories; a few through conviction; the majority through fashion; or egotism; or the vanity of saying new things; just as the world is doing today。 The doctrines put forth by Montesquieu; vivified by Voltaire; and carried to the popular heart by Rousseau had been freely discussed in the salons; not only by philosophers and statesmen; but by men of the world; poets; artists; and pretty women。 The sparks of thought with which they played so lightly filtered slowly through the social strata。 The talk of the drawing room at last reached the street。 But the torch of truth which; held aloft; serves as a beacon star to guide the world towards some longed for ideal becomes often a deadly explosive when it falls among the poisonous vapors of inflammable human passions。 Liberty; equality; fraternity assumed a new and fatal significance in the minds of the hungry and restless masses who; embittered by centuries of wrong; were ready to carry these phrases to their immediate and living conclusions。 They had found their watchwords and their hour。 The train was already laid beneath this complex social structure; and the tragedy that followed carried to a common ruin court and salon; philosophers and beaux esprits; innocent women and dreaming men。
That the salons were unconscious instruments in hastening the catastrophe; which was sooner or later inevitable; is undoubtedly true。 Their influence in the dissemination of thought was immense。 The part they played was; to a limited extent; precisely that of the modern press; with an added personal element。 They moved in the drift of their time; directed its intelligence; and reflected its average morality。 As centers of serious conversation they were distinctly stimulating。 It is quite possible that