Life, Letters, and Epicurean Philosophy of Ninon de LEnclos, the Celebrated Beauty of the Seventee | Page 3

and to erect models out of those who, while they may be
derelict in their ethical duties, are still worthy of being imitated in other
respects. Our standards and patterns of morality are so high as to be
unattainable, not in the details of the practice of virtue, but in the
personnel of the model. Royal and noble blood permeated with the odor
of sanctity; virtuous statesmanship, or proud political position attained
through the rigid observance of the ethical rules of personal purity, are
nothing to the rank and file, the polloi, who can never hope to reach
those elevations in this world; as well expatiate upon the virtues of
Croesus to a man who will never go beyond his day's wages, or expect
the homeless to become ecstatic over the magnificence of
Nabuchodonosor's Babylonian palace. Such extremes possess no

influence over the ordinary mind, they are the mere vanities of the
conceited, the mistakes of moralists.
The history of Ninon de l'Enclos stands out from the pages of history as
a pre-eminent character, before which all others are stale, whatever
their pretensions through position and grandeur, notwithstanding that
one great quality so much admired in women--womanly purity--was
entirely wanting in her conduct through life.
While no apology can be effectual to relieve her memory from that one
stigma, the other virtues connected with it, and which she possessed in
superabundance, deserve a close study, inasmuch as the trend of
modern society is in the direction of the philosophical principles and
precepts, which justified her in pursuing the course of life she preferred
to all others. She was an ardent disciple of the Epicurean philosophy,
but in her adhesion to its precepts, she added that altruistic
unselfishness so much insisted upon at the present day.

CHAPTER II
Considered as a Parallel
The birth of Ninon de l'Enclos was not heralded by salvoes of artillery,
Te Deums, or such other demonstrations of joy as are attendant upon
the arrival on earth of princes and offspring of great personages.
Nevertheless, for the ninety years she occupied the stage of life, she
accomplished more in the way of shaping great national policies,
successful military movements and brilliant diplomatic successes, than
any man or body of men in the seventeenth century.
In addition to that, her genius left an impress upon music and the fine
arts, an impress so profound that the high standard of excellence both
have attained in our day is due to her efforts in establishing a solid
foundation upon which it was possible to erect a substantial structure.
Moreover, in her hands and under her auspices and guidance, languages,
belles lettres, and rhetoric received an impetus toward perfection, and

raised the French language and its literature, fiction, poetry and drama,
to so high a standard, that its productions are the models of the
twentieth century.
It was Ninon de l'Enclos whose brilliant mentality and intellectual
genius formed the minds, the souls, the genius, of such master minds as
Saint-Evremond, La Rouchefoucauld, Molière, Scarron, La Fontaine,
Fontenelle, and a host of others in literature and fine arts; the Great
Condé, de Grammont, de Sévigné, and the flower of the chivalry of
France, in war, politics, and diplomacy. Even Richelieu was not
unaffected by her influence.
Strange power exerted by one frail woman, a woman not of noble birth,
with only beauty, sweetness of disposition, amiability, goodness, and
brilliant accomplishments as her weapons! It was not a case of the moth
and the flame, but the operation of a wise philosophy, the precepts of
which were decently, moderately and carefully inculcated; a philosophy
upon the very edge of which modern society is hanging, afraid to
accept openly, through too much attachment to ancient doctrines which
have drawn man away from happiness and comfort, and converted him
into a bitter pessimism that often leads to despair.
As has already been suggested, had Ninon de l'Enclos sat upon a throne,
or commanded an army, the pages of history would teem with the
renown of her exploits, and great victories be awarded to her instead of
to those who would have met with defeat without her inspiration.
Pompey, in his vanity, declared that he could raise an army by
stamping his foot upon the ground, but the raising of Ninon de l'Enclos'
finger could bring all the chivalry of Europe around a single standard,
or at the same gentle signal, cause them to put aside their arms and
forget everything but peace and amity. She dominated the intellectual
geniuses of the long period during which she lived, and reigned over
them as their absolute queen, through the sheer force of her personal
charms, which she never hesitated to bestow upon those whom she
found worthy, and who expressed a desire to possess them, studiously
regulated, however,