etiquette, tone of conversation; it taught how to praise without bombast and insipidness, to reply to a compliment without disdaining or accepting it, to bring others to value without appearing to protect them; it prevented all slander.  If it did not impart modesty, goodness, indulgence, nobleness of sentiment, it at least imposed the forms, exacting the appearances and showing the images of them.  It was the guardian of urbanity and maintained all the laws that are derived from taste.  It represented the religion of honor; it judged, and when it condemned a man he was socially-ruined.”

A type of what may be called the social mistress of the nobility—­the personification of good taste, elegance and propriety such as it should be—­was the Comtesse de Boufflers, mistress of the Prince de Conti, intimate friend of Hume, Rousseau, and Gustave III., King of Sweden.  The countess was one of the most influential and spirituelle members of French society, her special mission and delight being the introduction of foreign celebrities into French society.  She piloted them, was their patroness, spoke almost all modern languages, and visited her friends in their respective countries.  She was the most travelled and most hospitable of great French women, hence the woman best informed upon the world in general.

She was born in Paris in 1725, and in 1746 was married to the Comte de Boufflers-Rouvrel; soon after, becoming enamored of the Prince de Conti, she became his acknowledged mistress.  To give an idea of the light in which the women of that time considered those who were mistresses of great men, the following episodes may be cited:  One day, Mme. de Boufflers, momentarily forgetting her relations to the Prince de Conti, remarked that she scorned a woman who avait un prince du sang (was mistress of a prince of the blood).  When reminded of her apparent inconsistency, she said:  “I wish to give by my words to virtue what I take away from it by my actions....”  On another occasion, she reproached the Marechale de Mirepoix for going to see Mme. de Pompadour, and in the heat of argument said:  “Why, she is nothing but the first fille (mistress) of the kingdom!” The marechale replied:  “Do not force me to count even unto three” (Mme. de Pompadour, Mlle. Marquise, Mme. de Boufflers).  In those days, the position of mistress of an important man attracted little more attention than might a petty, trivial, light-hearted flirtation nowadays.

After the death of M. de Boufflers, in 1764, the all-absorbing question of society, and one of vital importance to madame, was, Will the prince marry her?  If not, will she continue to be his mistress?  In this critical period, Hume showed his friendship and true sympathy by giving Mme. de Boufflers most persuasive and practical advice in reference to morals—­which she did not follow.  Her relations with Rousseau showed her capable of the deepest and most profound