[136] The man of learning is Mabillon (1632-1707), a scholarly Benedictine, and author of _De Re diplomatica_, _De Vetera analecta_, and other works. [137] The original has _homme de bien_. See page 43, note 2. [138] Montaigne, Saint-Evremond, and the latest French writer on Alexander, M. Jurien de la Gravière, happily still alive, and formerly Minister for the French Navy, think more favourably than La Bruyère did of the talents of the youthful king of Macedonia. [139] Æmilius is the Prince de Condé (1621-1686). The whole of the above paragraph is filled with reminiscences from Bossuetʼs _Oraison funèbre du Prince de Condé_, delivered in the year 1687. [140] The battle of Rocroi was won in 1643, when Condé was only twenty-two years old, whilst those of Freiburg, Nordlingen, and Lens were gained, respectively, in 1644, 1645, and 1648. [141] An allusion to the siege of Lerida, raised by Condé in 1647. [142] La Bruyère forgets the wars of the Fronde (1648-1653) and the part Condé took in them, as well as in the wars of Spain against France, from 1652 till 1659. [143] His grandson and his nephew married illegitimate daughters of Louis XIV. [144] An allusion to his bad and hasty temper. [145] La Bruyère adds in a note, “Sons and grandsons, descendants of kings.” This seems a reminiscence of the Homeric Διογενῖς, Διοτρεφεῖς, Βασιλεῖς. [146] This compliment was addressed to the princes of the Condé family, of whom one, the Prince de Conti (1629-1661), was in command of the army in Catalonia, though he had never served. Compare the saying of Mascarille in Molièreʼs _Les Précieuses Ridicules_: “People of quality know everything without ever having learned anything.” [147] Charles Castel, Abbé de Saint Pierre (1658-1743), a member of the French Academy, whence he was ejected in 1718 on account of his _Discours sur la Polysynodie_, a work in which he proposed a kind of Constitution for the French nation. [148] Celsus is the Baron de Breteuil, who was sent in 1682 on a diplomatic mission to the dukes of Parma and Modena, but failed, and was disowned. [149] The “two brothers” are said to have been the counsellors of the parliament, Claude and Michel le Peletier, and the quarrel was about a question of precedence. [150] The “two ministers” were Louvois and de Seignelay, a son of Colbert, and the chief cause of their falling out seems to have been the more or less assistance which should be given to James II. against England. [151] Menippus is the Marshal François de Villeroy (1644-1730), the favourite of the king and of Mademoiselle de Maintenon, only known as a perfect courtier when La Bruyère published his book, but who later on proved himself an incapable general. In the _Mémoires_ of the Duke de Saint-Simon, he is called _glorieux à lʼexcès par nature_. See also page 43, note 1. Some commentators say Menippus was the Marquis de Cavoye (1640-1716), one of the handsomest men and one of the greatest duellists of the court.