_To M. l'Abbé Gobelin_ [her confessor].
CHAMBORD, October 10, 1685.
I am very glad that you are satisfied with what you have seen at
Noisy, and you will give me very great pleasure by going there again
before the cold weather; but I would like you to confess, or at any
rate converse in private with, all those who desire to enter our
community. I have sent word to Mme. de Brinon to examine them all, and
to begin nothing for the novitiate until my return. [This refers to
the selection of mistresses, not pupils, for the establishment on its
removal to Saint-Cyr.]
When you go again, I beg you to make a few familiar exhortations to
the whole community. I approve, with you, that these ladies should
make a year's trial, but it seems to me that it would be more useful
if, instead of shutting them up to learn the rule and only know their
obligations by speculation, they were to spend that year in performing
the duties they will afterwards have to fulfil; above all, those of
governing and instructing children, which is the foundation of the
Institution.
I know well that this must not be done so exclusively that they will
have no time for prayer, orisons, silence, acts, and conferences; but
a mingling might be made which would make known to others, and also
to themselves, of what they are capable. Concern yourself about this
affair, I beg of you, inasmuch as you hope it may be useful; since
God and the king have laid it upon me, you ought to help me to acquit
myself well.
Humility cannot be preached too strongly, both in public and in
private, to our postulants; for I fear that Mme. de Brinon may inspire
them with a certain grandeur which she has herself, and that the
neighbourhood of the Court, this royal foundation, the visits of
the king and mine, may give them the idea of being chanoinesses, or
important persons; which would not fail to swell their hearts, and
counteract strongly the good we are seeking to do. All the rest is
going on, it seems to me, very well; there is a very solid piety in
the house; but we must take a medium course between the true splendour
of our devotion and the puerilities and pettiness of convents, which
we have tried to avoid. I do not yet know by what name the community
will be called. If you have read the Constitution you will have seen
that Mme. de Brinon calls them "Dames de Saint-Louis." But this could
hardly be, for the king would not canonize himself, and it is he who
will name them when founding them. [They were so named, however.] They
wish to be called Dames to distinguish them from the young ladies;
send me your opinion on this. As for their costume, it must be black,
of a shape now worn, but without hair, or any adornment; such, I
think, as Saint Paul demands for Christian widows. Adieu; write to me,
I entreat you, whenever you can do so without inconvenience.
_To Mlle. de Butéry_ [pupil-mistress at Noisy].
January, 1686.
I am very glad to be in communication with you, Mademoiselle, and I
judge by the office Mme. de Brinon has given you that she thinks you
have much benevolence and exactitude. You can address yourself to me
for all your wants, asking, however, only for those it is impossible
to avoid having; for as you will have everything new at Saint-Cyr you
must be patient at Noisy. When you write to me again, leave rather
more interval between your lines, that I may correct your orthography
on days when I have leisure; the best way of learning to spell is to
copy books. Your handwriting is very handsome, and I see with pleasure
that several of the novices write very well. I am now going to correct
your letter, but I shall not finish mine without assuring you of my
esteem and friendship.
Take care to notice the difference between my corrections and what you
have written; for that is how you will learn better.
_To Mme. de Brinon._
June, 1686.
They are working hard about Saint-Cyr. Your Constitution and rules
have been examined; they have been admired, cut down, and added to.
Pray God that he will inspire all those who touch them. I must inform
you of a visit I have received from the king this morning; he is
none the better for it; still we were delighted to see him out of
his room. [Louis XIV. had lately undergone a surgical operation.] He
has corrected the choir of Saint-Cyr, and several other parts; the
young ladies are to be placed on four benches as at Noisy; therefore
we must again change the colours. He talked yesterday with the
controller-general about the foundation, and all will be settled soon.
One never has all good things at once; proximity to Versailles will
give you many advantages and as many restraints; praise God for all
things. I shall go, please God, to Noisy next Sunday and give you an
account of all that has then happened.
Rejoice, my very dear; you are spending your life for God and a great
work.
_To the Dames de Saint-Louis._
August 1, 1686.
God having willed to use me to assist in this establishment which
the king undertakes for the education of poor young ladies in his
kingdom, I think I ought to communicate to the persons destined to
bring them up what my experience has taught me about the means of
giving a good education; to do that is assuredly one of the greatest
austerities that can be practised, because there is no other without
some relaxation; whereas in the education of children the whole life
must be employed upon it.
When the object is merely to adorn their memories, it suffices to
instruct them for a few hours a day,--it would even be a great
imprudence to burden them longer; but when we seek to form their
reason, waken their hearts, elevate their minds, destroy their
evil inclinations, in a word, make them know and love virtue, we
must always be at work, for at all moments opportunities present
themselves. We are just as important to pupils in their amusements
as in their lessons, and we cannot leave them for a moment except to
their injury.
As it is not possible that a single person can conduct a large number
of children, it will be necessary to have several mistresses for each
class; but they must act together in great union and with the very
greatest uniformity of sentiments; their maxims must be alike, and
they must endeavour to instil them with the same manners.
In this employment, more than in any other, there is need to forget
one's self entirely; or, at least, if any credit is hoped for it must
only be after success, using the simplest means to obtain it. When I
say that we must forget ourselves I mean that we must aim only to make
ourselves understood and thus convince; eloquence must be abandoned,
for that may attract the admiration of listeners; it is even well
to play with, children on certain occasions and make them love us in
order to acquire a power over them by which they will profit. But we
must make no mistake as to the means we may use to make ourselves
loved; none but upright intentions will draw down the blessing of God.
We should think less of adorning their minds than of forming their
reason; this system, it is true, makes the knowledge and ability of
the mistresses less apparent; a young girl who knows a thousand things
by heart will shine in company and gratify her relatives more than one
whose judgment has been formed, who knows how to be silent, who is
modest and reserved, and is in no haste to show her cleverness.
It is right to let them sometimes follow their own will in order to
know their inclinations, to teach them the difference between what it
good, what is bad, and what is indifferent. I think that all persons
who give themselves the trouble to read this will know as well as I
what is meant by indifferent things. Give them, for instance, one
companion in place of another; a walk in one direction rather than
in another, a game or other trifles, to let them see we are only
mistresses when we must be, and that they might be so themselves in
all things if they were reasonable. A companion may be dangerous, a
walk may have some impropriety, a game may be out of place; but I wish
that in refusing them they be told the reason, as far as prudence
will allow, trying always to grant them frequently what they want, in
order to refuse what is bad with a firmness that never yields. It is
wonderful how much such methods make governing easy and absolute.
It is good to accustom them to have nothing granted to importunity.
You must be implacable on vices, and punish them either by shame or by
chastisements, which must be very rigorous, but as rare as possible.
Guard yourselves from the dangerous principle of some persons who, out
of a scrupulous fear that God will be offended, avoid all occasions
when children's inclinations can appear; we cannot know too much about
them in order to inspire a horror of vice and a love of virtue, in
which we should confirm the young by giving them principles which will
prevent their going wrong through ignorance. We should study their
inclinations, observe their tempers, and follow their little contests
in order to train them in every way. For experience shows us only too
well how often faults are committed without knowing it, and how many
persons fall into crime without being more wicked than others who live
innocently.
They should be taught all the delicacies of honour, integrity,
discretion, generosity, and humanity; and virtue should be described
to them as being both beautiful and agreeable, as it is. A few
little stories suited to this purpose will be very proper and
useful,--amusing, yet all the while instructing them; but they must
be convinced that if virtue does not have religion for its basis it
is not solid, and God will not sustain it, but will rebuke such pagan
and heroic virtues, which are only the result of susceptible pride
insatiable for praise.
It is not necessary to make long disquisitions on such matters; it is
better to place them as occasions occur.
You must make yourselves esteemed by the children; and the only means
of doing so is not to show them defects; for it is hard to believe how
intelligent they are in perceiving them. The study to appear perfect
in their eyes is of great utility to ourselves.
Never scold them from ill-humour, and never give them reason to think
there are times more favourable than others to obtain what they want.
Treat fine natures with affection, be stern with bad ones, but harsh
with none. Make them like the presence of their mistresses through
amiable kindness, and let them do before you exactly what they would
do if left alone.
We should enter into the amusements of children, but never adapt
ourselves to them by childish language or puerile ways; and as they
cannot be too reasonable, or too soon be made so, we should accustom
children to reason from the moment they can talk and understand,--all
the more because they will never reject the healthy amusements we give
them.
The external accomplishments of foreign languages and the thousand
other things with which young ladies of quality are expected to be
adorned have their inconveniences; for such studies are apt to take
time which might be more usefully employed. The young ladies of the
house of Saint-Louis ought not to be brought up, more than can be
helped, in that way; because, being without property, it is not well
to uplift their hearts and minds in a manner so little suitable to
their fortunes and state of life.
But Christianity and reason, which are all that we wish to inspire,
are equally good for princesses and paupers; and if our young ladies
profit by what I believe they will be taught, they will be capable of
sustaining all the good and all the evil that God may be pleased to
send them.
_To Mme. du Pérou._
October 25, 1686.
I am convinced of your zeal and your capacity; and both must be
employed for our dear house. It is true that I am very keen for all
its interests; I think I sometimes go as far as impatience; but it
seems to me that there are reasons why we should hasten, and use well
the favourable moment in which we now are. God knows that I never
thought to make so grand an establishment as yours, and that I had no
other view than to do a few good works during my lifetime; not feeling
myself obliged to do more, and thinking that there were already too
many nunneries. The less part I had in this plan, the more I see in
it the will of God; which makes me love it much more than if it were
my own work. God has led the king to found this school, as you know,
although he does not like new institutions.
It is true that just as much as I should have trembled in governing
Saint-Cyr had it been my own work, so much on the other hand do I find
myself emboldened by the sense that it is done by the will of God, and
that that same will has laid this duty upon me. Therefore I can say
to you with truth that I regard it as the means God has granted me
for my salvation, and that I would sacrifice my life with joy to make
it glorious. What is now urging me on, sometimes perhaps too eagerly,
is the desire I have that all should be firmly established before the
death of Mme. de Brinon, my own, and that of the Abbé de Gobelin, so
that the spirit of the house may always last, in spite of oppositions
it may meet with in the future. You will never have an abler or more
commanding Superior than Mme. de Brinon, a friend more zealous for the
house than I, a director more saintly than the one you have now.
We have, moreover, all authority, temporal and spiritual, in our
hands. The king and the bishop [Godet of Chartres] are ready to do all
that we desire; it is for us to put things in that state of perfection
in which we desire them to remain forever.
In examining your girls [for the novitiate] seek for true piety, an
upright mind, the liking they may have for the Institute, the desire
they have to be useful, their attachment to the rules, their spirit of
community, their detachment from the world; these are the principal
things for a Dame de Saint-Louis. As for tempers a little too quick,
remember that we all have the vices and virtues of our temperament;
that which makes us hasty makes us active, vigilant, eager for the
success of what we undertake; that which makes us gentle makes us
nonchalant, lazy, indifferent, slow, insensible; piety rectifies both
in the long run, and surely that is the essential thing. Who can be
hastier than Mme. de Brinon and I? but do you love us less? You will
tell me, perhaps, and with reason, that subordinates suffer from such
tempers; to that I reply that everybody has to suffer; and, after all,
you will only have such Superiors as you elect yourselves. But while I
excuse hasty people (from self-love perhaps), I exhort you to correct
that disposition as much as you possibly can in your novices.
You can show what I write to you to whom you please; would to God it
were good enough that all might draw some profit from it.
_To a young lady in class Blue._
December, 1690.
I have heard of your disobedience to Mme. de Labarre, and I have
stopped the punishment they intended to give you. How can you suppose
that we should allow such rebellion? What exception could there be
to our rules? Do you think yourself necessary because you have a
fine voice? Can you know me and yet think that the representation
of "Athalie" goes before the regulations established at Saint-Cyr?
No, certainly not; and you will leave the establishment if I hear
anything more about you. Submit, if you wish to remain; but, if you
wish to leave, it will be more honourable to you to do so by agreement
with me than to get yourself dismissed. You are lax and cold towards
God; it is that which makes you fall into all these faults. Reflect, I
beg of you, on what you might hope of yourself on the occasions which
you will find to fail. You are becoming grown-up; this is the time to
make serious reflections. It is for God, my dear child, to touch your
heart, but it is for us to rule your conduct. You will be very unhappy
if it is good only externally. I wished to give you this advice before
punishing you, and I hope that you will give me the joy of seeing you
profit by it; I ask this of you with all my heart; for I am as sorry
to have to treat you with rigour as I am resolved to establish in your
class an absolute obedience to the regulations.
_To Mme. de Fontaines._
September 20, 1691.
The pain I feel about the daughters of Saint-Cyr can only be relieved
by time and by a total change in the education we have given them up
to this time. It is very just that I should suffer because I have
contributed to the harm more than any one; I shall be happy if God
does not punish me more severely. My pride has been in everything
concerning the establishment; and its depth is so great it carries
the day against my own good intentions. God knows that I wanted to
establish virtue at Saint-Cyr, but I have built on sand,--not having
that which alone can make a firm foundation. I wanted that the girls
should have intelligence, that their hearts should be uplifted, their
reason formed. I have succeeded in my purpose: they have intelligence,
and they use it against us; their hearts are uplifted, and they
are prouder and more haughty than is becoming in the greatest
princesses--speaking as the world thinks; we have formed their reason,
and we have made them disputatious, presumptuous, inquisitive, bold,
etc. Thus it is that we succeed when the desire of excelling [shining]
makes us act. A simple, Christian education would have made good
girls, out of whom we could have made good wives and good nuns; we
have made _beaux-esprits_, whom we ourselves who made them cannot
endure: there is our blame, in which I have a greater share than any
one.
Let us come to the remedy; for we must not be discouraged. I have
already proposed some to Balbien [Mme. de Maintenon's waiting-maid
mentioned in "Saint-Simon" as Nanon]. They may seem to you rather
petty, but I hope, by the grace of God, they will not be without
effect. As many little things have fomented pride, so many little
things will subdue it. Our girls have been too much considered, too
petted, too often deferred to. They must now be ignored in their
classes; they must be made to keep the rules of the day; and little
else must be talked of. They should not be forced to feel that I am
angry with them; it is not their grief that I want; I am more to
blame than they; I desire only to repair by another line of conduct
the harm that has been done. The best girls have done more to show me
the excess of pride which we must now correct than the bad ones; I
have been more alarmed at seeing their self-conceit and the arrogance
of Mlles. de ----, de ----, and de ---- than at all that I have
heard of the insubordinate members of the class. These are girls
of good intentions who wish to be nuns, but with that desire they
have a language and manners too proud and haughty to be tolerated
at Versailles among young ladies of the highest rank. You see by
this that the evil has sunk into their natures, so that they are not
themselves aware of it. Pray God, and make others pray that He will
change their hearts, and give us all humility. But, madame, do not
discourse to them too much. All Saint-Cyr is turning to discourses;
much is said there just now of simplicity; they seek to define it, to
comprehend it, to discern what is simple and what is not; and then
in practice they say: "Out of simplicity, I take the best thing; out
of simplicity I praise myself; out of simplicity I want something at
table that is far away from me." Truly, this is turning into ridicule
all that is most serious. We must now correct in our girls that turn
for witty satire which I myself have given them, and which I now see
to be opposed to simplicity; it is a refinement of pride that says in
jest what it dares not say openly. But, once more, do not talk to them
of pride or satire; we must destroy all that without fighting it, by
stopping the use of it; their confessors will talk to them of humility
better than we. Do not preach to them,--try that silence that I have
so long urged upon you; it will have more effect than all our words.
I am very glad that Mlle. de ---- has at last humbled herself; let us
praise God for it, but do not praise her; it is another of our faults
that we have praised too much. Do not irritate their pride by too
frequent corrections; but when you are obliged to make one, do not
admire the girl who is corrected for taking it properly.
As for you, my dear daughter, I know your intentions; you have, it
seems to me, no personal blame in all this; it is only too true that
the great harm has come from me; but take care, with the others,
to have no part in that pride which has been so firmly established
everywhere that we are scarcely conscious of it. We wanted to
avoid the pettiness of certain convents, and God has punished our
assumption. There is no house in the world more in need of external
and internal humility than ours: its situation so near the Court,
its grandeur, its wealth, its nobleness, the air of favour that
pervades it, the attentions of a great king, the care of a person of
influence, the example of vanity and manners of the world which she
gives you in spite of herself by force of habit,--all these dangerous
traps ought to make us take measures quite the contrary of those we
have hitherto taken. Let us bless God for having opened our eyes. It
is he who inspires your piety; it will daily increase; but establish
it solidly. Let us not be ashamed to retract; to change our fashions
of acting and speaking; and let us ask our Lord fervently to change
our hearts within us, to take from our house the spirit of loftiness,
of satire, of subtlety, of curiosity, and of freedom in judging and
giving our opinion about everything, and of meddling in the duties
of others at the risk of wounding charity. Let us pray also that He
will take from us that prevailing over-delicacy, that impatience of
small inconveniences; silence and humility are the best means. Show my
letter to our Mother Superior; all must be in common among us.
_To Mme. de Radouay_ (mistress-general of the classes).