Our researches have enabled us to test the veracity of these _Memoirs_. We found by the records at Geneva how exact is her account of Mademoiselle de Montmorency’s death; and the romantic story of Madame de Choiseul Stainville, as related in the _Mémoires_ of Lauzun, in the _Correspondance_ of Madame du Deffand, and in the _Mémoires_ of Durfort de Cheverny, confirms and explains the narrative of the little Princess, written forty or fifty years before these _Memoirs_ were published. She also describes a taking of the veil, of which we have found an official report in the national Archives.[1] After the names of the Abbess and Prioress and other signatures, appears that of the little Princess as one of the witnesses. Convinced of the exactness of the facts related by Hélène Massalska, it has seemed to us interesting to place before the public this faithful picture of an education in the eighteenth century, with its detailed account of the studies, punishments, rewards, and games of the Convent, and its descriptions, often satirical, but always witty, of the mistresses and scholars; in fact, the complete life of a young girl in a Convent from 1772 to 1779. We must add that all worldly gossip did not stop at the Convent door, that many echoes invaded the cloisters, and that the little Princess does not fail to notice them. This is not the least curious side of the book. After reading these interesting pages, we felt regret at parting so abruptly with the little writer; and we have, thanks to the kindness of our friends and correspondents, been able to reconstruct the history of her life. The Princesse Massalska, later on Princesse de Ligne, though she did not play a prominent part in history, found herself, through her uncle, the Bishop of Wilna, and her father-in-law and husband, the Princes de Ligne, mixed up with many interesting historical events. Besides which, her own life was a most romantic one. The variety of documents we have gathered together, and the brevity of many of the memoranda, have not permitted us to quote them word for word, as we have done in the case of the letters. We have therefore endeavoured to give them a certain unity of style, and to avoid such sudden transitions as might be distasteful to our readers. FOOTNOTES: [1] Portfolio H. No. 3837, Abbaye-aux-Bois. PART I THE ABBAYE-AUX BOIS I Ignace Massalski, Prince and Bishop of Wilna--The Radziwill and the Massalski--The feudal lords in Poland--Civil wars in Poland--The Bishop in exile--His arrival in Paris with his niece--Letters from Madame Geoffrin--Answer of the King Stanislaus-Augustus--The Abbaye-aux-Bois.