historian, to whom, of all the ancients, we are most obliged; it is only
intended to authorize the manner in which I have treated a life far more
extraordinary than any of those he has transmitted to us. It is my part
to describe a man whose inimitable character casts a veil over those
faults which I shall neither palliate nor disguise; a man distinguished
by a mixture of virtues and vices so closely linked together as in
appearance to form a necessary dependence, glowing with the greatest
beauty when united, shining with the brightest lustre when opposed.

It is this indefinable brilliancy, which, in war, in love, in gaming, and
in the various stages of a long life, has rendered the Count de Grammont
the admiration of his age, and the delight of every country wherein
he has displayed his engaging wit, dispensed his generosity and
magnificence, or practised his inconstancy: it is owing to this that the
sallies of a sprightly imagination have produced those admirable
bons-mots which have been with universal applause transmitted to
posterity. It is owing to this that he preserved his judgment free and
unembarrassed in the most trying situations, and enjoyed an uncommon
presence of mind and facetiousness of temper in the most imminent dangers
of war. I shall not attempt to draw his portrait: his person has been
described by Bussi and St. Evremond, authors more entertaining than
faithful.

[Voltaire, in the age of Louis XIV., ch. 24, speaking of that
monarch, says, "even at the same time when he began to encourage
genius by his liberality, the Count de Bussi was severely punished
for the use he made of his: he was sent to the Bastile in 1664.
'The Amours of the Gauls' was the pretence of his imprisonment; but
the true cause was the song in which the king was treated with too
much freedom, and which, upon this occasion, was brought to