Note 96 — LETTER XXXII.

Among the old friends of my family, from whom we received particular kindness, I shall be pardoned for naming madame (la ci-devant comtesse) d’H—t, so frequently mentioned in the confessions of Jean Jacques, and the real model on which he formed his imaginary Heloise. We had the pleasure of passing some days at her country seat, in the valley of Montmorency, and several evenings at her hotel at Paris. This accomplished woman, who at the age of thirty, had the talent to attract, and the virtue to resist the affection of Rousseau, has still at seventy, that amiability of manner, that suavity of disposition, and that fund of enlightened conversation, which, notwithstanding the disadvantages of a person far from handsome, gained her the love of that extraordinary man. The latter has been very unjust in the character which he has drawn of the husband of this lady. He is still living, and is a respectable man of ancient family, independent fortune, and irreproachable reputation. St. Lambert, the Thomson of France, resides with Mr. and madame d’H—t, and his extreme old age receives from their attention the comforts and kindness of unvarying friendship.