By Van der Meulen (Adam Franz); painted by order of the king; in the Louvre. III. MARIE-ANNE-VICTOIRE DE BAVIÈRE, DAUPHINE, WIFE OF MONSEIGNEUR, WITH HER SONS 96 The Duc de Bourgogne carries a lance; the Duc d'Anjou (Philippe V.) holds a dog; the Duc de Berry is on his mother's lap; by Mignard (Pierre); in the Louvre. IV. LOUISE DE BOURBON, "MME. LA DUCHESSE" 124 By Largillière (Nicolas de); Versailles. V. MARIE-THÉRÈSE, INFANTA OF SPAIN, WIFE OF LOUIS XIV. 154 By Velasquez (Diego Rodriguez da Silva y); in the Prado gallery, Madrid. V. RENÉ DESCARTES 168 By Franz Halz; in the Louvre. VI. MARIE ADÉLAÏDE DE SAVOIE, DUCHESSE DE BOURGOGNE 182 Painter's name not obtained; probably Santerre; in the Royal palace at Turin; photographed by permission from the original for this edition. VII. MADAME DE MAINTENON 216 Head of the portrait painted for Saint-Cyr by Mignard; now in the Louvre. X. LOUIS XIV. AT MARLY 300 By Geuslain (Charles); Versailles. CORRESPONDENCE OF MADAME, ÉLISABETH-CHARLOTTE, PRINCESS PALATINE, MOTHER OF THE REGENT. INTRODUCTION BY C.-A. SAINTE-BEUVE. "I am very frank and very natural, and I say all that I have in my heart." That is the motto that ought to be placed upon the correspondence of Madame, which was chiefly written in German and published from time to time in voluminous extracts at Strasburg and beyond the Rhine. This correspondence, translated by fragments, was made into a volume and called, very improperly, the "Memoirs of Madame." Coming after other memoirs of the celebrated women of the great century, it ran singularly counter to them in tone, and caused great surprise. Now that the Memoirs of Saint-Simon have been published in full, I will not say that the pages of the chronicle we owe to Madame have paled, but they have ceased to astonish. They are now recognized as good, naïve pictures, somewhat forced in colour, rather coarse in feature, exaggerated and grimacing at times, but on the whole good likenesses. The right method for judging of Madame's correspondence, and thus of gaining insight to the history of that period, is to see how Madame wrote, and in what spirit; also what she herself was by nature and by education. For this purpose the letters published by M. Menzel in German, and translated by M. Brunet, are of great assistance to a knowledge of this singular and original personage; to understand her properly it is not too much to say that Germany and France must be combined.