Her Bohemian Environments
The daily and nightly doings at Ninon's house in the Rue des
Tournelles, if there is anything of a similar character in modern
society that can be compared to them, might be faintly represented by
our Bohemian circles, where good cheer, good fellowship, and freedom
from restraint are supposed to reign. There are, indeed, numerous
clubs at the present day styled "Bohemian," but except so far as the
tendency to relaxation appears upon the surface, they possess very few
of the characteristics of that society of "Birds" that assembled
around Mademoiselle de l'Enclos. They put aside all conventional
restraint, and the mental metal of those choice spirits clashed and
evolved brilliant sparks, bright rays of light, the luster of which
still glitters after a lapse of more than two centuries.
Personally, Ninon was an enemy of pedantry in every form, demanding of
her followers originality at all times on penalty of banishment from
her circle. The great writer, Mynard, once related with tears in his
eyes that his daughter, who afterward became the Countess de
Feuquières, had no memory. Whereat Ninon laughed him out of his
sorrow:
"You are too happy in having a daughter who has no memory; she will
not be able to make citations."
That her society was sought by very good men is evidenced by the grave
theologians who found her companionship pleasant, perhaps salutary. A
celebrated Jesuit who did not scruple to find entertainment in her
social circle, undertook to combat her philosophy and show her the
truth from his point of view, but she came so near converting him to
her tenets that he abandoned the contest remarking with a laugh:
"Well, well, Mademoiselle, while waiting to be convinced that you are
in error, offer up to God your unbelief." Rousseau has converted this
incident into an epigram.
The grave and learned clergy of Port Royal also undertook the labor of
converting her, but their labor was in vain.
"You know," she told Fontenelle, "what use I make of my body? Well,
then, it would be easier for me to obtain a good price for my soul,
for the Jansenists and Molinists are engaged in a competition of
bidding for it."
She was not bigoted in the least, as the following incident will show:
One of her friends refused to send for a priest when in extremis, but
Ninon brought one to his bedside, and as the clergyman, knowing the
scepticism of the dying sinner, hesitated to exercise his functions,
she encouraged him to do his duty:
"Do your duty, sir," she said, "I assure you that although our friend
can argue, he knows no more about the truth than you and I."
The key to Mademoiselle de l'Enclos' character is to be found in her
toleration and liberality. Utterly unselfish, she had no thoughts
beyond the comfort and, happiness of her friends. For them she
sacrificed her person, an astounding sacrifice in a woman, one for
which a multitude have suffered martyrdom for refusing to make, and
are cited as models of virtue to be followed. Yet, notwithstanding her
strange misapplication or perversion of what the world calls "female
honor," her world had nothing but the most profound respect and
admiration for her. It requires an extremely delicate pencil to sketch
such a character, and even then, a hundred trials might result in
failing to seize upon its most vivid lights and shades and bring out
its best points.
Standing out clearly defined through her whole life was a noble soul
that never stooped to anything common, low, debasing or vulgar.
Brought up from infancy in the society of men, taught to consider them
as her companions and equals, and treated by them as one of
themselves, she acquired a grace and a polish that made her society
desired by the proudest ladies of the court. There is no one in the
annals of the nations of the earth that can be compared to her. The
Aspasia of Pericles has been regarded by some as a sort of prototype,
but Aspasia was a common woman of the town, her thoughts were devoted
to the aggrandizement of one man, her love affairs were bestowed upon
an open market. On the contrary, Mademoiselle de l'Enclos never
bestowed her favors upon any but one she could ever after regard as an
earnest, unselfish friend. Their friendship was a source of delight to
her and she was Epicurean, in the enjoyment of everything that goes
with friendship.
Saint-Evremond likens her to Leontium, the Athenian woman, celebrated
for her philosophy and for having dared to write a book against the
great Theophrastus, a literary venture which may have been the reason
why Saint-Evremond gave Ninon the title. Ninon's heart was weak, it is
true, but she had early learned those philosophical principles which
drew her senses away from that portion of her soul, and her
environments were those most conducive to the cultivation of the
senses which are so easily led away into seductive paths. But however
far her love of pleasure may have led her, her philosophical ideas and
practices did not succeed in destroying or even weakening any other
virtue. "The smallest fault of gallant women," says de la
Rochefoucauld, "is their gallantry."
The distinguished Abbé Châteauneuf expresses a trait in her character
which drew to her side the most distinguished men of the period.
"She reserved all her esteem, all her confidence for friendship, which
she always regarded as a respectable liaison," says the Abbé, "and to
maintain that friendship she permitted no diminution or relaxation."
In other words she was constant and true, without whims or caprice.
The Comte de Segur, in his work on "Women, their Condition and
Influence in Society," says: "While Ninon de l'Enclos was fostering
and patronizing genius, and giving it opportunities to expand, Madame
de Sévigné was at the head of a cabal in opposition to genius, unless
it was measured upon her own standard. In her self-love she wrought
against Racine and sought to diminish the literary luster of Flèchier.
But with all her ability Madame de Sévigné possessed very little
genius or tact, and her lack of discrimination is apparent in the fact
that none of her protégés ever reached any distinction. Moreover, her
virtues must have been of an appalling character since they were not
strong enough to save her husband and son from falling into the
clutches of "That horrid woman," referring to Ninon.
Ninon certainly understood men; she divined them at the first glance
and provided for their bodily and intellectual wants. If they were
deemed worthy of her favors, she bestowed them freely, and out of one
animal desire gratified, there were created a thousand intellectual
aspirations. She understood clearly that man can not be all animal or
all spiritual, and that the attempt to divert nature from its duality
of being was to wreck humanity and make of man neither fish, flesh nor
fowl. Her constant prayer in her younger days, for the truth of which
Voltaire vouches, was:
"Mon Dieu, faîtes de moi un honnête homme, et n'en faîtes jamais une
honnête femme." (My God, make me an honest man, but never an honest
woman).
Count Segur, in his book already referred to, has this to say further
concerning Ninon:
"Ninon shone under the reign of Louis XIV like a graceful plant in its
proper soil. Splendor seemed to be her element. That Ninon might
appear in the sphere that became her, it was necessary that Turenne
and Condé should sigh at her feet, that Voltaire should receive from
her his first lessons, in a word, that in her illustrious cabinet,
glory and genius should be seen sporting with love and the graces."
Had it not been for the influence of Ninon de l'Enclos--there are many
who claim it as the truth--the sombre tinge, the veil of gloominess
and hypocritical austerity which surrounded Madame de Maintenon and
her court, would have wrecked the intellects of the most illustrious
and brightest men in France, in war, literature, science, and
statesmanship. Madame de Maintenon resisted that influence but the Rue
des Tournelles strove against Saint Cyr. The world fluctuated between
these two systems established by women, both of them--shall it be
said--courtesans? The legality and morality of our modern common law
marriages and the ease and frequency of trivial divorces forbid it.
Ninon prevailed, however, and not only governed hearts but souls. The
difference between the two courts was, the royal salon was thronged
with women of the most infamous character who had nothing but their
infamy to bestow, while the drawing rooms of Ninon de l'Enclos were
crowded with men almost exclusively, and men of wit and genius.
The moral that the majority of writers draw from the three courts that
occupied society at that time, the Rue des Tournelles, Madame de
Sévigné, and Versailles, is, that men demand human nature and will
have it in preference to abnormal goodness, and female debauchery.
Ninon never hesitated to declaim against the fictitious beauty that
pretended to inculcate virtue and morality while secretly engaged in
the most corrupt practices, but Molière came with his Précieuses
Ridicules and pulverized the enemies of human nature. Ninon did not
know Molière personally at that time but she was so loud in his praise
for covering her gross imitators with confusion, that Bachaumont and
Chapelle, two of her intimate friends, ventured to introduce the young
dramatist into her society. The father of this Bachaumont who was a
twin, said of him: "My son who is only half a man, wants to do as if
he were a whole one." Though only "half a man" and extremely feeble
and delicate, he became a voluptuary according to the ideas of
Chapelle, and by devoting himself to the doctrines of Epicurus, he
managed to live until eighty years of age. Chapelle was a drunkard as
has been intimated in a preceding chapter, and although he loved Ninon
passionately, she steadily refused to favor him.
Molière and Ninon were mutually attracted, each recognizing in the
other not only a kindred spirit, but something not apparent on the
surface. Nature had given them the same eyes, and they saw men and
things from the same view point. Molière was destined to enlighten his
age by his pen, and Ninon through her wise counsel and sage
reflections. In speaking of Molière to Saint-Evremond, she declared
with fervor:
"I thank God every night for finding me a man of his spirit, and I
pray Him every morning to preserve him from the follies of the heart."
There was a great opposition to Molière's comedy "Tartuffe." It
created a sensation in society, and neither Louis XIV, the prelates of
the kingdom and the Roman legate, were strong enough to withstand the
torrents of invectives that came from those who were unmasked in the
play. They succeeded in having it interdicted, and the comedy was on
the point of being suppressed altogether, when Molière took it to
Ninon, read it over to her and asked her opinion as to what had better
be done. With her keen sense of the ridiculous and her knowledge of
character, Ninon went over the play with Molière to such good purpose
that the edict of suppression was withdrawn, the opponents of the
comedy finding themselves in a position where they could no longer
take exceptions without confessing the truth of the inuendoes.
When the comedy was nearly completed, Molière began trying to think of
a name to give the main character in the play, who is an imposter. One
day while at dinner with the Papal Nuncio, he noticed two
ecclesiastics, whose air of pretended mortification fairly represented
the character he had depicted in the play. While considering them
closely, a peddler came along with truffles to sell. One of the pious
ecclesiastics who knew very little Italian, pricked up his ears at the
word truffles, which seemed to have a familiar sound. Suddenly coming
out of his devout silence, he selected several of the finest of the
truffles, and holding them out to the nuncio, exclaimed with a laugh:
"Tartuffoli, Tartuffoli, signor Nuncio!" imagining that he was
displaying his knowledge of the Italian language by calling out
"Truffles, truffles, signor Nuncio," whereas, what he did say was
"Hypocrites, hypocrites, Signor Nuncio." Molière who was always a
close and keen observer of everything that transpired around him,
seized upon the name "Tartuffe" as suitable to the hypocritical
imposter in his comedy.
Ninon's brilliancy was so animated, particularly at table, that she
was said to be intoxicated at the soup, although she rarely drank
anything but water. Her table was always surrounded by the wittiest of
her friends and her own flashes kept their spirits up to the highest
point. The charm of her conversation was equal to the draughts of
Nepenthe which Helen lavished upon her guests, according to Homer to
charm and enchant them.
One story told about Ninon is not to her credit if true, and it is
disputed. A great preacher arose in France, the "Eagle of the Pulpit,"
as he was called, or "The great Pan," as Madame de Sévigné, loved to
designate him. His renown for eloquence and piety reached Ninon's ears
and she conceived a scheme, so it is said; to bring this great orator
to her feet. She had held in her chains from time to time, all the
heroes, and illustrious men of France, and she considered Père
Bourdaloue worthy of a place on the list. She accordingly arrayed
herself in her most fascinating costume, feigned illness and sent for
him. But Père Bourdaloue was not a man to be captivated by any woman,
and, moreover, he was a man too deeply versed in human perversity to
be easily deceived. He came at her request, however, and to her
question as to her condition he answered: "I perceive that your malady
exists only in your heart and mind; as to your body, it appears to me
to be in perfect health. I pray the great physician of souls that he
will heal you." Saying which he left her without ceremony.
The story is probably untrue and grew out of a song of the times, to
ridicule the attempts of numerous preachers to convert Ninon from her
way of living. They frequented her social receptions but those were
always public, as she never trusted herself to any one without the
knowledge and presence of some of her "Birds," taking that precaution
for her own safety and to avoid any appearance of partiality. The song
referred to, composed by some unknown scribe begins as follows:
"Ninon passe les jours au jeu:
Cours où l'amour te porte;
Le prédicateur qui t'exhorte,
S'il était au coin de ton feu,
Te parlerait d'un autre sorte."