17 SEPTEMBER 1881, Page 13

MADAME DE SEVIGNE

[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]

SIR,—It may, perhaps, be interesting to some of your readers to have recalled to their minds what Napoleon said of the letters and style of Madame de Sevigne. "Her style is undoubtedly full of charm, but you gain nothing by reading her. It is like eating snowballs, with which one can surfeit one's-self, without satisfying the stomach."—I am, Sir, &c.,