Note 3 — LETTERS OF MADAME DE SÉVIGNÉ, FROM 1655 TO 1669. ADDRESSED TO THE COUNT DE BUSSY.[3]

The Count Bussy de Rabutin, first cousin to the father of Madame de Sévigné, was, on account of his relationship, always on terms of intimacy with her. He was a famous wit and satirist, as his Letters and Memoirs show, but not of principles or character to excite love or esteem in the soul of such a woman as Madame de Sévigné. However, they were cousins, and though she refused his suit, she seems to have felt a deep interest in his welfare. She corresponded with him occasionally till her death, but her letters to him have less interest than those she wrote to others, especially to her daughter. We give a few of her first and best letters to Count de Bussy, as preliminary to the real work of her heart and mind, her correspondence with Madame de Grignan.