[181] Henri Auguste de Loménie, Comte de Brienne, was the son of Antoine de Loménie and of Anne d'Aubourg, and was born in 1594. In 1609 he attracted the attention of Henri IV, who occasionally admitted him to his councils, in order to familiarize him with public affairs; and Marie de Medicis continued, after the death of that monarch, to honour him with her regard. In 1617 he became Master of the Ceremonies and Provost of the King's Orders. In 1621 he followed Louis XIII to Languedoc, where he distinguished himself at the siege of Clérac; and in the following campaign he served under the Prince de Condé with equal credit. After struggling successfully throughout the long and stormy administration of Richelieu, he incurred the displeasure of Louis XIII a short time after the death of that minister, and disposed of his office as secretary of state; but during the regency of Anne of Austria he was recalled; and until Louis XIV undertook to govern the nation in his own person, he retained great influence in the Council. Age was, however, creeping upon him; and a short time subsequent to the marriage of that monarch, having attained his sixty-seventh year, he retired from the Government. He died in 1666. [182] Petitot, _Notice sur le Comte de Brienne_, p. 278. [183] This privilege rendered the financial and judicial offices hereditary, on the payment of an annual tax of one-tenth of the sum at which they had been originally purchased; and the nobility were jealous of this hereditary tenure of the most lucrative civil appointments under the Crown, all of which were thus, as a natural consequence, engrossed by the _tiers-état._ The _paulette_ owed its name to Charles Paulet, who was the inventor of this extraordinary source of revenue. [184] _Tiers-état,_ or middle state, was the name given to that portion of the French people who belonged neither to the aristocracy nor to the Church. [185] Pierre de Roncherolles, Baron du Pont Saint-Pierre. [186] Robert Miron, Provost of the Merchants, an able politician, whose zeal and talents were recompensed by the confidence and favour of Louis XIII, by whom he was, in 1625, entrusted with the embassy to Switzerland. [187] Bonnechose, vol. i. pp. 451, 452. Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 73-78. Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 298-302. [188] Marville, _Mélanges d'Histoire et de Littérature_. [189] Nicolas Le Fèvre was born at Paris, in 1544, and devoted himself to literature. Henri IV entrusted to him the education of the Prince de Condé; and he subsequently became, under Marie de Medicis, the preceptor of Louis XIII. He died in 1612. [190] David de Rivault, Sieur de Flurance, was born at Laval in 1571, and died at Tours in 1616. He was the author of several works, which elicited the admiration of Malherbe and other distinguished writers. [191] Guy, Comte de Laval, was the brother of the Duc de la Trémouille. [192] Bernard, _Hist, de Louis XIII_, book i. [193] Sismondi, _Hist. des Français_, vol. xxii. p. 296.