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MOT. MOW.

and developed by the peculiar teachings of her sect, took a wider range than has yet been usual with her sex.

MOTTEVILLE, FRANCES BERTRAND DE,

Was born in Normandy, in 1615. Her wit and agreeable manners recommended her to Anne of Austria, Regent of France, who kept her constantly near her. The jealousy of Cardinal Richelieu, however, caused her disgrace, and she retired, with her mother, to Normandy, where she married Nicolas Langlois, Lord de Motteville, an old man, who died two years after. On the death of Richelieu, Anne of Austria recalled her to court. Here she employed herself in writing memoirs of Anne of Austria, giving an apparently correct account of the minority of Louis the Fourteenth, and the interior of a court. She died at Paris, in 1689, aged seventy-five.

MOWATT, ANNA CORA,

Was born in France. Her father, Mr. Ogden, was a wealthy and highly respected citizen of New York. On her mother's side, she is descended from Francis Lewis, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Mr. Ogden having involved his fortune in the well-known Miranda expedition, embarked in mercantile business, which obliged him to remove to Bordeaux, where he resided several years. He was the father of seventeen children, of whom Mrs. Mowatt was the tenth. These young people possessed histrionic talent in a remarkable degree, which developed itself during this residence in France. The fine old chateau in which they resided, a short distance from the town, possessed, as many of those old French houses do, a little theatre, and it was here that they early began to exercise their talents.

When Anna was about six years old, Mr. Ogden returned to his native land. The children, however, continued to pursue their theatrical amusements, and the little Anna became remarkable for her skill in reading aloud. At thirteen, she was an insatiable reader. Among other works, she studied a great number of French plays, altering several of Voltaire's for private theatricals, in which she took a part. When scarcely more than fourteen, she attracted the attention of Mr. Mowatt, a wealthy lawyer of New York, a visitor in her father's family, who soon after proposed for her. The proposal was accepted by all parties, her father stipulating that the marriage should be deferred till Anna had attained her seventeenth year.

Meanwhile, the youthful fiancée continued her studies, attending school as formerly. Domestic clouds, however, soon began to darken, as is proverbially the case, around this "course of true love." There was some danger of the match being broken off, and to prevent any further difficulty, an elopement was decided upon. This was effected during the bustle and confusion attending the preparations for a play, which the young people were to act, in honour of their father's birthday. The youthful bride was soon pardoned and received by her affectionate parents; her husband's residence, a fine estate about four miles from New York, allowing her still, from its near neighbourhood, to form a part of the family circle. Here, surrounded by wealth and every indulgence, Mrs Mowatt continued her studies with untiring ardour, devoting herself