Upon the departure of Abbe Galiani from Paris, Mme. d’Epinay and Diderot were intrusted with the revision and printing of his famous Dialogues sur les Bles; Grimm left to them the continuance of his Correspondance Litteraire.  She was known for her wonderful analytical ability and her keen power of observation—­faculties which won the esteem and respect of such men and caused her collaboration to be anxiously sought by them; however, she never attempted to rival them in their particular sphere.  In her writings she displayed a reactionary tendency against the educational methods of the day, her chief work of real literary worth being mostly in the form of sound advice to a child.  Being a reasonable, careful, and sensible woman,—­in spite of the defects in her moral life,—­she desired to show the possibilities of a moral revolution against the habits and customs of the time, of which she herself had been a most unfortunate victim.  She was relieved of actual want by means of this work, which gained for her a pension from Catherine II. of Russia, who adopted her methods for her own children, and the award of the Montyon prize, which was given her in a competition with a large number of aspirants, the most famous of whom was Mme. de Genlis.  It was her ability to gain and retain the respect of great men which won that honor for her.

The memoirs of Mme. d’Epinay leave one of the most accurate and faithful pictures of the polished society of the France of about 1750.  “Her salon was the centre about which circled the greatest activity; it was filled with men who ordered events, thinkers whose minds were bent upon untangling the knotty problems of the age; it was her salon, more than any other, that quickened the philosophical movement of the day.  Mme. d’Epinay made her reputation not so much through her esprit, intelligence, or beauty, possibly, as through the strength of her affection.  Timid, irresolute, and highly impressionable, and amiable in disposition, she was constantly influenced by circumstances—­a quality which led her on to the two principal occupations of her later life, education and philosophy.  To-day, her name is recalled principally for its association with that of Rousseau, whose mistress and benefactress she was; it is to her that the world owes his famous Nouvelle Heloise.

The last of the great literary and social leaders of the eighteenth century was Mme. de Genlis, a prodigy in every respect, an amateur performer upon nearly every instrument, an authority on intellectual matters as well, a fine story teller, a consummate artist, entertainer, and general charmer.  Authoress, governess of Louis-Philippe, councillor of Bonaparte, her success as a social leader established her reputation and places her in the file of great women, although she was not a salon leader such as Mme. Geoffrin or Mme. du Deffand.