la passion des places, the race for office

P. xiii, 1. 5. plus. ..plus, the more unhappy her position became, the more clearly she felt the necessity of banishing from her immédiate surroundings the evils of her situation.

1. 24. Chaumont-sur- Loire, in the department of Loir-et-Cher. — Georges d'Amboise (1460 — 15 10), distinguished as a statesman; occupied with the greatest skill the post of prime minister to Louis XIL King of France. — Diane de Poitiers, Duchess de Valentinois (1499 — 1 566}, mistress of Henri IL The magnificent château of Anet was built forher by Philibert Delorme. — Catherine de Médicis(i5i9 — 1589), queen of France. " La ruse et la dissimulation furent ses principaux moyens de gouvernement." (Bouillet.) — Michel de Nostredame, better knownunder his Latinized name oî Nostradajnus (1503 — 1566), a distinguished physician, fancied himself endowed with the spirit of prophecy; he published a recueil of prédictions, to which he gave the title of centuriœ, and which obtained the greatest success.

P. xiv, 1. 22. 07tt écrit sur cet intéressant sujet. See Sainte-Beuve, Portraits de femmes, ^xiÔl Nouveaux lundis, vols. II. V. xil. ; — Baudrillart, Éloge de madame de Staël ;...Vintt, Études sur la littérature Française au XIX' siècle ; — Villemain, Tableau de la littérature du XVI II' siècle.

1. 34. style... parole: the contrast is between the somewhat heavy style of her writings, and the brilliancy of her conversation.

L 37. naturel, spontaneity.