May blessings of every description be bestowed upon my very dear son and beloved daughter for this new year and for always, so that after having lived long and happily together here on earth they may continue in the enjoyment of one another in eternal glory. This is my wish of wishes for you, dearest son, and for that most charming little wife whom God has given you and whom I love so tenderly for your sake. I long for news as to the health of both of you and of the dear little daughter,[A] whom may God also make altogether His own if it please Him.
I still look forward to visiting you next summer, as Mother de Châtel, who is Superior here (at Annecy), desires me to go to Orleans, and you are so near that I hope to be able to see you and your little family. This consolation I promise myself with the help of divine Providence which I unceasingly invoke for you, that it may lead you securely through all the miseries and temptations of this wretched life, beset as it is with occasions of separating us from God's holy fear and love. My beloved son, never put a foot outside the safe keeping of this love and fear. Think of the eternal life to which we are all journeying and of the instability of this one, which is but a roadway on which we pass from one sorrow to another. In the name of God let us so live here that we may live together eternally in everlasting happiness and glory. This desire consumes the heart of your unworthy Mother, who loves you beyond words.
[A]Marie de Chantal, afterwards Madame de Sévigné.
LXIX. _To M. de Coulanges, Junior, at Paris._
I bless God with all my heart for the good news you give me of your happy marriage and of the complete recovery of my son. Indeed, I am allied to your honourable family by so many obligations and so close an affection that I cannot but share in a large measure all the good and evil fortune that befalls you; therefore have I every reason, seeing you so happy in this marriage, to rejoice with you and to congratulate your family. Thanking God, as I do with all my heart, for this great blessing, I beg of Him in His infinite goodness to spread an abundance of graces upon your union and to give you many prosperous years. Such, Sir, are the wishes of my heart for you and for your wife, whom I pray to believe me to be her very humble servant.