Born in the Castle of Semeac, on the banks of the
Garonne, the fame of two fair ancestresses, Corisande and Menadame, had
entitled the family of De Grammont to expect in each successive member
an inheritance of beauty. Wit, courage, good nature, a charming address,
and boundless assurance, were the heritage of Philibert de Grammont.
Beauty was not in his possession; good nature, a more popular quality,
he had in abundance:
'His wit to scandal never stooping,
His mirth ne'er to buffoonery drooping.'
As Philibert grew up, the two aristocratic professions of France were
presented for his choice: the army, or the church. Neither of these
vocations constitutes now the ambition of the high-born in France: the
church, to a certain extent, retains its _prestige_, but the army, ever
since officers have risen from the ranks, does not comprise the same
class of men as in England. In the reign of Louis XIII., when De
Grammont lived it was otherwise. All political power was vested in the
church. Richelieu was, to all purposes, the ruler of France, the
dictator of Europe; and, with regard to the church, great men, at the
head of military affairs, were daily proving to the world, how much
intelligence could effect with a small numerical power.
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