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THE GUARDIAN .
N° 46 .
renown ; ſuch as have diſtinguiſhed themſelves in the world by ſurpriſing actions, or by any great and ſhining qualities, fo as to draw upon them ſelves the envy of their own ſex, and the admi ration of ours. My lady has been curious in col lecting the lives of the moſt famous, of which ſhe has a conſiderable number, both in print and manufcript. This naturally led me to ſpeak of madam Maintenon ; and, at the requeſt of my
lady and her daughters, I have undertaken to put together ſuch circumſtances of her life, as I had
formerly gathered out of books, and picked up from converſation in my travels .
“ Madam Maintenon was born a gentlewo
man, her name is Frances Daubigné. Monſieur Daubigné, her grandfather, was not only a per
fon of condition,but likewiſe of great merit. He was born in the year 1550, and died in 1630, in
the 80th year of his age. A little before his death he writ his own epitaph, which is engraven upon his tomb -ſtone in the cloiſter of St. Peter's
church at Geneva, and may be feen in Spon's hiſtory of that republic.
He was a leadingman
among the Proteſtants in France, and much
courted to come over to the oppoſite party .
When he perceived there was no fafety for him any longer in his own country he fled for refuge
to Geneva, about the year 1619. The magif trates and the clergy there received him with great marks of honour and diſtinction ; and he
paſſed the remaining part of his life amongſt
them in great eſteem . Mezeray (the French hif torian) ſays that he was a man of greatcourage
and boldneſs, of a ready wit, and of a fine taſte
