Excerpt from La Grande Mademoiselle: 1627-1652 LA grande mademoiselle was one of the most original persons of her epoch, though it cannot be said that she was ever of the first order. Hers was but a small genius; there was nothing extra ordinary in her character; and she had too little influence over events to have made it worth while to devote a whole volume to her history - much less to prepare for her a second chronicle - had she not been an adventurous and picturesque prin cess, a proud, erect figure standing in the front rank of the important personages whom Emerson called representative. Mademoiselle's agitated existence was a marvel lous commentary on the profound transformation accomplished in the mind of France toward the close of the seventeenth century, - a transforma tion whose natural reaction changed the being of France. I have tried to depict this change, whose traces are often hidden by the rapid progress of historical events, because it was neither the most salient feature of the closing century nor the result of a revolution. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.