[117] This author was the Abbé de Villiers, who published in 1682 a poem in four cantos, _LʼArt de Précher_, in which he tried to imitate _LʼArt poétique_ of Boileau, and in 1690 _Réflexions sur les défauts dʼautrui_, which were very successful; some suppose Father Bouhoursʼ _Pensées ingénieuses des anciens et des modernes_ (1689) hinted at; whilst M. G. Servois, the able editor of La Bruyère in the _Grands Ecrivains de la France_ (1865-1878), thinks that possibly the “author” was Jacques Brillon, a lawyer and indefatigable imitator, who in his youth may have been presumptuous enough to have asked La Bruyèreʼs advice on some of his literary works, the _Portraits sérieux_, etc., the _LʼOuvrage nouveau dans le goût des Caractères de Théophraste et des Pensées de Pascal_, the _Théophraste moderne_, etc., which three books appeared, however, after La Bruyèreʼs death, from 1696 to 1700. Adrien Baillet, an erudite scholar and fertile author, is also mentioned by some “Keys.” [118] It is now generally supposed that by the satirist described Boileau is meant, for he sometimes commences grand subjects, as in his satires _Sur lʼHomme_ or _Sur la Noblesse_, but he never enters deeply into the matter, and treats of _Les Embarras de Paris_ or _Le Repas ridicule_. [119] Those names stand for Varillas (1624-1695) and Maimbourg (1610-1686), two voluminous historians, the first of whom is known for the inaccuracy of his facts, the second by his pretentious style, though Madame de Sévigné and Voltaire do not entirely condemn the latter, and Bayle, in his _Dictionnaire_, praises his knowledge and accuracy. “Handburg” is the German for “Maimbourg.” [120] _Glorieux_ in the original, which in La Bruyèreʼs time, and even later, had the meaning “conceited.” One of N. Destouchesʼ (1680-1754) best comedies is called _Le Glorieux_. [121] The original has _un honnête homme_, which meant, in La Bruyèreʼs time, “a gentleman, a well-mannered man,” but never “an honest man,” which is in French _un homme de bien_. [122] “The stammerer” was meant for the son of Achille de Harlay (1639-1712), chief president of the parliament of Paris, and is said not to have stammered, but to have been very idle, and without any oratorical talents. Yet, in 1691, at the age of twenty-three, he was appointed advocate-general, through the influence of his father. Hence his appearance in the sixth edition of the “Characters,” also published in 1691. Mdlle. de Harlay, a daughter of the first president, was sent to a convent in 1686 on account of her affection for Dumesnil, a singer at the Opera. [123] Xanthus was M. de Courtenvaux, the eldest son of the Minister for War, M. de Louvois, and is said not to have excelled either in good looks or bravery.