h in the early Bourbon period furnished France with many officials of high rank, notably Louis de Phelippeaux, Comte de Pontchartrain. His father belonged to a family of southern France whose e

de-camp to Henry IV; Henri de Buade, Frontenac's father, was a playmate and close friend of Louis XIII; [Footnote: As an illustration of their intimacy, there is a story that one day

he inherit large estates. The chief advantage which the Buades possessed came from their personal relations with the royal family. Their property in Guienne was not great, and neither Geoffroy, Antoine, nor Henri had possessed commanding abilities. No

1519 to 1521. In 1521 he granted the Austrian possessions to his brother Ferdinand. Thenceforth Spain and Austria were never reunited, but their association in politics continued to be intimate until the close of the seventeenth century.] stood the Great Cardinal, ready to use the crisis of the Thirty Years' War for the benefit of his nation-even though this meant a league with heretics. At the moment when Frontenac first drew th

impetuosity that drove him into war before the normal age. He first served under Prince Frederick Henry of Orange, who was then at the height of his reputation. After several campaigns in the Low Countries his regiment was transferred to the confines of Spain and France. There, in the year of Richelieu's deat

aly, where in the course of three years he performed the exploits which made him a brigadier-general at twenty-six. Though repeatedly wounded, he survived twelve years of constant fighting with no more serious casualty than

ch sprang in part from the misery of the masses and in part from the ambition of the nobles. As Louis XIV was still an infant when his father died, the burden of government fell in name upon the queen-mother, Anne of Austria, but in reality upon Mazarin. Not eve

de la Grange-Trianon, was a daughter of the Sieur de Neuville, a gentleman whose house in Paris was not far from that of Frontenac's parents. At the time of the elopement she was only sixteen, while Frontenac had reached the ripe age of twenty-eight. Both w

elieu are equally famous.] and first cousin to Louis XIV. This princess, known as La Grande Mademoiselle, plunged into the politics of the Fronde with a vigour which involved her whole household-Madame de Frontenac included-and wrote Memoirs in which her adventures are recorded at full lengt

was a severe hardship in the reign of Louis XIV. Her portrait at Versailles reflects the striking personality and the intelligence which won for her the title La Divine.

rgeau, the country seat to which the duchess had been exiled for her part in the wars of the Fronde. Such evidence as there is seems to show that Madame de Frontenac considered herself deeply wronged by her husband and was unwilling to accept his overtur

ionate. She disliked Frontenac, without concealment. As seen by her, he was vain and boastful, even in matters which concerned his kitchen and his plate. His delight in new clothes was chi

in spirit. It may be that with the Atlantic between them they appreciated each other's virtues more justly. It may have been loyalty to the family tradition. Whatever the cause, they maintained an active correspondence

adviser. At Versailles everything depended on royal favour, and forty-one is an importan

operty and abundant wit.' The bane of Frontenac's life at this time was his extravagance. He lived like a millionaire till his money was gone. Not far from Blois he had the estate of Isle Savary-a, property quite suited to his station had he been prudent. But his plans for developing it, with gardens, fountains, and ponds, were wholly beyond his resources. At Versailles, also, he sought to keep pace with men w

ontecuculli's campaign in 1664 against the Turks in Hungary, and was present at the great victory of St Gothard on the Raab. The regiment of Carignan-Salieres was also engaged on this occasion. In the next year it came to Canada, and Lorin thinks that the association of Frontenac with the Carignan regiment in this campaign may have been among the causes of his nomination to the post of governor.] To Venice defeat meant the end of her glory as an imperial power. The Republic ha

n hope if ever there was one; and Turenne selected Frontenac. Co-operating with him were six thousand French troops under the Duc de Navailles, who nominally served the Pope, for Louis XIV wished to avoid direct war against the Sultan. All that can be said of Frontenac's part in the adventure is that he valiantly attempted the

tenac had won in his youth. And within three years from the date of his retur

not think that a small colony destitute of social gaiety could have possessed attractions to a man of Frontenac's rank and training. The salary amounted to but eight thousand livres

aid that Madame de Frontenac had eagerly sought for him the appointment on the other side of the world. A third theory was that, owing to his fi

lonies in America, New France required protection from the Iroquois. And, as a soldier, Frontenac had acquitted himself with honour. Nor was the post thought to be insignificant. Madame de Sevigne's son-in-law, the Comte de Grignan, was an unsuccessful candidate for it in competition with Frontenac. For some years both the king and Colbert had been giving real attention to the affairs of Canada. The Far West was opening up; and since 1665 the population of the colony had more than doubled. To Frontenac the governorship

llicose qualities of the French aristocracy see also La Noblesse Francaise sous Richelieu by the Vicomte G. d'Avenel.] The more we know about the life of his class in France, the better we shall understand his actions as governor of Canada. His irascibility, for example, seems almost mild when compared with the outbreaks of many who shared with him the traditions and breeding of a priv

untess he did nothing which he was unwilling to talk about. Ladies not less than lords treated their servants like dirt, and justified such conduct by the statement that the base-born deserve no consideration. There was, indeed, no class-not even the clergy-which was exempt from as

incts of a belligerent. But he also possessed a soul which could rise above