A Biographical Dictionary of the Celebrated Women of Every Age and Country/Tencin, (Claude Guérin de)
TENCIN (CLAUDE GUÉRIN DE), Canoness de Neuville; Sister of Cardinal Tencin; born at Paris, 1681; died 1749, aged 68;
Was five years a nun, at Montfleuri, in Dauphiny, but she recanted her vows and left the convent. She is said to have had an excellent heart, a strong and yet delicate mind. "One of those superior souls, who find new resources when others would lose all power of action; who may be afflicted, but never cast down or troubled; whom one admires in grief more than one pities; whose sadness is calm and dignified in the greatest misfortunes, and whose gaiety is never intemperate on the most joyful events. She has been seen in all these situations, and has been equal to them all, not forgetting the least thing, or being taken up with any selfish cares, to the neglect of her duty to her friends." Her works are Le Comte de Comminges; Le Siége de Calais; and Les Malheurs de l'Amour, romances, full of interest and feeling.