Table Of ContentOxford University Press, Ely House, London W. I  MONTESQUIEU 
GLASGOW NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE WELLINGTON 
CAPE TOWN SALISBURY IBADAN NAIROBI DAR I!S SALAAM LUSAKA ADDIS ·ABABA 
BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS KARACHI  LAHORE DACCA  ..  ' 
KUALA LUMPUR SINGAPORE HONG KONG TOKYO  d  Critical 'Biography 
By 
ROBERT  SHAC.KLETON 
Fellow of Bras(Jfl()se College, Oxford 
. OXFORD  UNIVERSITY PRESS
TO  MY MOTHER 
TO  THE MEMORY OF MY FATHER 
© Oxford University Press 1961 
Set by the Camelot Press 
Reprinted Lithographically in Great Britain by Alden &  Mowbray Ltd 
at the Alden Press, Oxford 
From sheets of the first impression 
r963, r970
PREFACE 
IT  is a rash enterprise, in the twentieth century, to write an 
account of the life and ideas of a man of many interests who 
lived before the age of specialization.  It requires a multiplicity 
of competences,  scientific,  philosophical,  legal,  historical,  and 
literary, rarely to be found today in one man, and to which I could 
certainly not lay claim.  Specialists will find here shortcomings 
which they will feel disposed to censure. I would ask them, in 
the words  of Montesquieu's own Preface to L'E  sprit des  lois, 
'd'approuver ou de condamner le livre entier et non pas quelques 
phrases'. I have tried not to analyse and evaluate the thought of 
Montesquieu, but to write his biography; and his life being a life 
of ideas rather than events, I have tried to study the genesis of 
those ideas and to show how his works grew out of his reading, 
his travels, and his friendships. 
The preparation of this book has taken me into more than 
sixty libraries, public or private, in five countries, and in these, 
almost without exception, I have been courteously and helpfully 
received. My first duty is to acknowledge the gracious permission 
given to me by Her Majesty the Queen to cite documents to be 
found at Windsor Castle, to which my attention was very kindly 
drawn by the Librarian, Sir Owen Morshead, and his successor, 
Mr. R. C. Mackworth-Young. I am grateful for facilities offered 
to me by the Duke of Buccleuch and Sir David Scott in relation 
to documents at Boughton House, by the Duke of Richmond and 
Gordon in relation to documents now deposited in the County 
Record Office at Chichester, by the Earl and Countess Walde 
grave at Chewton, and by the Earl of Harrowby. I am grateful 
for leave to inspect and cite documents in the libraries of the 
Royal Society of London and of the Royal College of Surgeons 
of England,  and in the private collection of the late Dr. and 
Mrs. Manfred Altmann of London, and for the loan of a copy 
of a remote manuscript to Sir Charles Petrie. I have a particular 
debt,  for guiding my steps to English archives, to Mr. L. C. 
Hector of the Public Record Office. 
In  France,  I  gladly  acknowledge  my  indebtedness  to  the 
kindness of Monsieur R. Schuman, who has allowed me access 
to his collection of manuscripts at times when his preoccupations
viii  PREFACE 
were pressing; to Monsieur P. Cornuau, for allowi!lg me to study 
manuscripts passing through his hands; to the Father Superior 
of the College libre  de Juilly,  for  allowing me to inspect the  CONTENTS 
archives of his college; to Madame Latapie of Naujan-et-Postiac 
(Gironde), for a most amiable reception and access to her family  List of plates  .  -.  .  ·  xii 
Note on bibliographical references  xiii 
papers; to Monsieur X. V edere,  for the unfailing courtesy of 
his welcome to the Archives municipales de Bordeaux; and to  Abbreviations  xv 
Monsieur L. Desgraves, Conservateur-en-chef de la Bibliotheque  1 Early  Years 
municipale de Bordeaux, for the waving aside of formalities and  1689-1721 
for the most frequent and tireless assistance.  1 Family and Birth  I 
Almost all Montesquieu scholars, and a very large number of  II Education  s 
eighteenth-century specialists, have become known to me during  III Introduction to Paris  8 
the last few .years, and from none have I had anything but the  IV Private and Public Life in the South-West  13 
most helpful and friendly treatment. To enumerate them would  v The Academy of Bordeaux  20 
be well-nigh  impertinent.  They all  have  my grateful  thanks.  IIL  ettres persanes 
Four of them have pride of place for work and for friendship:  1721 
Jean  Brethe de La Gressaye,  Sergio  Cotta,  Francois Gebelin,  ,, I  The Literary Tradition  27 
and Andre Masson.  ,.-II Society and Goverrurient  34 
For courtesy, kindness, and assistance I am much indebted to  , III Religion, Philosophy, and History  39 
Baron Raoul de Montesquieu of Raymond and to Baron Philippe 
III Paris Society 
de Montesquieu of Agen and Villegongis. To the Comtesse de 
1721--:-8 
Chabannes, chatelaine of La Brede, I have the greatest debt of 
i  The Court 
all, for an invariably amiable welcome at La Brede and for un 
11  Madame de Lambert 
restricted access to the library and manuscripts of her illustrious 
III Private Academies 
ancestor, of whom she is a worthy descendant. 
I wish to thank for financial assistance the Cassel Educational  IV Essays and amlJitions 
1721-8 
Trust, the Board of the Faculty of Modern Languages at Oxford, 
and the French Government's department of Relations cultur  I  The Traite des devoirs  68 
elles. I thank finally my colleagues at Brasenose College for the  II Personal Matters  76 
III The French Academy  85 
grant of sabbatical leave, for the provision of secretarial assistance, 
and by no means least, as individuals, for forgiving and answering  v Travels in Italy 
my importunate questions in fields other than my own.  1728-9 
s. 
R.  I  Art and Archaeology  90 
OXFORD  II The Church  96 
I  January i961  111 Personal Encounters  102 
IV Naples  107 
VI  Travels in England 
1729-31 
I  Royal and Ducal Figures 
II Political Society
CONTENTS  CONTENTS  xi 
111  Frenchmen in London  131  .,.., II Despotism .  269 
IV The Royal Society  135  ·  III The Good Governments Compared  272 
v Freemasonry  139  IV Monarchy  277 
VI Literary Circles  1.p  v Other Criteria  282 
The System of Liberty 
VII Les Romains  XIII 
1731-4  I  The Analysis and its Terms .  284 
II Constitutional Detail  288 
I  La Monarchie uniflerselle  146 
m  The Party System  291 
II Preparation and Publication •  151  ,,,,.  @S eparation of Powers  298 
~~  III Montesquieu and the Historical Tradition  157 
@ 
ffi~  IV Philosophical History  164  Climate and Causes 
>z 
-i 
~E!:  VIII Paris  I  Towards a Doctrine  302 
II The Doctrine of Climate  310 
~;  ~·l~  1734-48 
111 Moral and Physical Causes  313 
"~r; :,  1 The Return to Paris  171 
,:p~  m  II The Great Salons  178  xv  The History of Laws 
..u.  III Guasco  190  I  Roman Law of Succession  320 
·~~~  IX Life in GuymM  IIIII  OOfriiggiinnss  ooff  tFhree nFcrhe nLcahw N obility  332284  
1734-55 
')  IV The Skill of Erudition  333 
ti  1 Home and Family  .  194  (f) 
I~  II Lands and Fortunes  200  Religion 
=c:'tll=l   III Bordeaux  2o8  I  The Causes of Religion  337 
~ IV Clairac  217  11  Morality and Faith  341 
~~/  III Ja nsenism  .  344 
x Pr~aration of L'Esprit des Jois  .,  IV Montesquieu's Personal Faith  349 
1734-48  /  v Religious Toleration  354 
~  Tl  . 
~'  0  1 Isolated Ventures  225  e ·The Quarrel of L'Esprit des lois 
II The Decision  228 
~  .I II The Mode of Working.  229  I  The Earliest Attacks  356 
~~  o~ 
IV The Sequence of Composition  238  11 The Defense  361 
~~  v The Publication  240  III The Skirmish  363 
li<Z  ,,.-._ 
~~  I  IV  Official Attitudes  366 
I  xj Montesquieu's conc~tion of lafD  v The Holy See  370 
"'= 
J 
~~  ~  1 Legal Paradoxes .  •  244  >< xvm Renown 
~  II Natural Law  247 
1748-55 
,:p.I°  III Ulpian and Gravina  253 
1 
IV Spinoziam  261  I  Appearance and Character  378 
1 
<IJIi  Diverse Occupations  .  .  382 
Montesquieu and the philosophes  386 -
265  Death  .  .  .  .  392 
~~ 
!11  '-~ 
-.........::::0 
Gl 
c:'l 
~s /
xii  CONTENTS 
BibHography of Montesquieu 
NOTE ON BIBLIOGRAPHICAL 
I  Original Works by Montesquieu  .  . 
II Extracts and Analyses made by Montesquieu:  REFERENCES 
1  Collections  .  .  .  .  . 
2  Individual Works  J. To the text of Montesquieu 
Index 
The best edition of Montesquieu is: 
<Euvres completes de Montesquieu, publiees sous la direction de M. 
Andre Masson, Paris (Nagel), 3 vols., 1950, 1953, and 1955. 
It is referred to as Nagel I, II, and III. The first volume, which is a 
photographic ·reprint of the 'vulgate' edition of the CEuvres completes, 
Amsterdam  and  Leipzig  (=Paris),  1758,  has  three  sequences  of 
pagination. These are referred to as A, B, and C. 
The most widely diffused edition is: 
<Euvres  completes  de  Montesqui'eu;  texte  presente  et  annote  par 
LIST OF PLATES 
Roger Caillois, Paris (N.R.F.: Bibliotheque de la Pleiade), 2  vols., 
1949 and 1951. 
Montesquieu  .  .  .  .  Frontispiece 
It is referred to as Pleiade I and II. It lacks some material which is 
From a medal executed by Jacques-Antoine 
found in the Nagel edition, notably the correspondence. 
Dassier 
Photo Lacarin, Bordeaux 
References are given as follows : 
CMteau de La Brede 
Facing p. 194 
Lettres persanes  e.g. L.P. 24. 
Photo Moracchini-Viollet 
The number is that of the letter as in 
Library at La Brede  H.  Barckhausen's  critical  edition 
•  Facing p. 230 
Photo Lacarin, Bordeaux  (Paris,  1897),  which  is  followed  by 
most  subsequent  editions  including 
Pleiade I, and which differs little from 
Nagel I. 
Consi'derations  sur !es causes  e.g. Romains, ch. xi, followed by page 
de la grandeur des Romains  references to Nagel I and Pleiade II. 
et de leur decadence 
De l'E  sprit des lois  e.g. Lois, XIX, 4. 
The references are to book and chapter, 
the text used being that of Nagel I 
which is in general use. 
Pensees  e.g. Pensee 2124 (Bkn. 1355). The first 
number is that of the paragraph in the
xiv  NOTE ON BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES 
order of the manuscript, as shown in 
N age! II ; the second number is that 
of the paragraph in Pensees et fragments 
ABBREVIATIONS 
inidits, ed. H. Barckhausen Bordeaux 
1899-1901  (roughly  foiiowed  . 1~ 
Arch. dep. Gironde  Archives departementales de la Gironde. 
Pieiade I). 
Arch. hist. Gironde  The· journal  entitled  Archives  histor-
iques du departement de la Gironde. 
Spidlege  e.g.  Spidlege  331  (MS.,  pp.  293-4). 
Arch. mun. Bx  Archives municipales de Bordeaux. 
The first number is that of the para 
British Museum. 
graph  as  in  Nagel  II;  the  second  B.M. 
Bibliotheque nationale. 
number  is  that  of the  page  in  the  B.N. 
Bodleian Library. 
manuscript as shown in PlCiade II.  Bodi. 
Bibliotheque municipale de Bordeaux. 
Correspondence  e.g.  Montesquieu  to  Venuti,  22  July  Bcoxn gres r955  Actes du  Congres  Montesquieu  reuni a 
Bordeaux  du  23  au  26  mai  r955, 
1749. 
Bordeaux, 1956. 
In the absence of any further indication, 
the letter appears in its chronological  Corton a  Biblioteca  dell' Accademia  etrusca  di 
Cortona. 
place in Nagel III. 
FS  French Studies, Oxford, 1947 sq. 
Historical Manuscripts Commission. 
All other works  e.g. Nagel III, p. 283; Pleiade I, p. 875.  LHeMttrCes  f amilieres  Lettresf  amilibes du president de Montes-
a 
quieu baron de la Brede  divers amis 
II. To other pn"nted material 
d'Italie, s.l., 1767. 
Lettresfamilibes (1768)  Lettres f amilieres de M. le presi.dent de 
The sources and au~ho.rities differing considerably from  chapter to 
Montesquieu,  nouvelle  edition,  Flor 
chapter, no general b1bhography of works consulted is given.I Biblio 
ence et se trouvent a Paris, 1768. 
graphical details of a work are given only, in most cases, in the first 
RHB x  Revue  historique  de  Bordeaux  et  du 
reference to it, and that reference is indexed. 
dipartement de la Gironde,  Bordeaux, 
. In references to articles in periodicals, the year only is normally 
1908 sq. 
given. 
RHLF  Revue d'h istoire littbaire de la France, 
Paris, 1894 sq. 
III. To manuscript material · 
RLC  Revue  de  li.ttbature  comparee,  Paris, 
1921 sq. 
A reference to a manuscript is given only when I have myself seen it 
and I  have  not knowingly failed  to  mention its  publication  whe~  Secondat, Mbnoire  Jean-Baptistea  de  Secondat,  Mbnoire 
pour servir  Nloge historique de M. de 
manuscript material used has been published. 
Montesquieu, as in Vian. 
Vian  L. Vian, Histoire de Montesquieu d'apres 
Eighteenth-century spelling arid punctuation have been modernized. 
des  documents  nouveaux  et  inedits, 
deuxieme edition, Paris, 1879. 
All dates are given in New Style except those of events occurring in 
England, which are in Old Style. 
1 A most useful bibliography of works dealing with Montesquieu is given by 
D. C. Cabeen, Montesquieu: a Bibliography, New York, 1947, and brought up 
~o date by D. C. Cabeen, 'A supplementary Montesquieu bibliography' (Revue 
mternationa/e de philosophic, 1955).
I 
EARLY YEARS,  1689-1721 
I.  FAMILY  AND  BIRTH 
THE  name  Montesquieu  is  of  mixed  Latin and  Frankish 
origin and means a wild or  barren mountain,  and it is of 
fairly frequent occurrence in the south-west of France. There are 
several places of this name in the vicinity of Toulouse; but the 
hamlet which was to make the name famous lies a little further 
north. Nearly ten miles west of Agen, and two miles south of the 
Garonne, stands a small, unimpressive hill, which is still large 
enough to dominate the surrounding flat country. The land is 
not fertile. Poultry and sheep are its most prominent products, 
but some poor vines creep up the side of the hill. The ruins of a 
castle crown the eminence. Walls of stout stone, built on founda 
tions of rock, are  now overgrown with  moss  and thickly girt 
with nettles. Two withered palm trees stand in isolation. Peasants' 
cottages have grown up against the walls. Countless dogs bark at 
the unknown visitor, and children doff their caps to him. This 
dismal  and desolate scene is the village of Montesquieu as  it 
stands today; but when the walls were whole and a lord lived 
within them, the spot was scarcely less remote from civilization. 
It is the south-west of France in its least smiling aspect. 
From the isolation of this barren hill to the refinement  of 
political doctrine and to the glitter of style in L'E  sprit  des  lois 
the distance is not small. 
The founder of the family of Secondat de Montesquieu was 
Jacob  de Secondat,  who  was  born at Agen in  l 576,  and was 
baptized as a Protestant. His family was one of minor noblesse 
d'epee, four of his brothers being killed in battle as young men. 
He was the sixth, but second surviving, son of Jean de Secondat, 
whose ancestors had left their native Berry and settled at Agen 
in the previous century. Jean de Secondat was chamberlain to 
Jeanne D'Albret, Queen of Navarre, who expressed her gratitude 
for his services by giving him, in 1561, the sum of lo,ooo livres 
that he might buy from her the lordship of Montesquieu. In 1606 
this lordship was by Henri IV promoted to a barony, in favour of 
Jacob de  Secondat, with the courtesy title of marquis, which,
EARLY YEARS,  1689-1721 
2  EARLY YEARS, 1689-1721 
3 
however,  was  never used.1  Though the family was  not one of 
homme pour les affaires serieuses, nul gout pour les bagatelles'. 
great eminence,  it had connexions  of unusual interest.  A first 
She had a great affection for her children, a keen sense of duty, 
cousin of Jacob's grandfather had married the renowned philolo 
and was devoted to the succour of the poor. She was a woman of 
gist,  Julius-Caesar Scaliger, who had settled at Agen,  and his 
reat piety; her favourite reading was the New Testament; and 
son,  Josephus-Justus, likewise a celebrated scholar, was thus a 
!hen she died her husband discovered that she had made frequent 
kinsman  of  the  Secondat  family.  Jacob's  mother,  Eleonore 
use of a scourge and an iron girdle. 
de  Brenieu,  was  of English extraction and lineally descended, 
It was she who brought to the family of Secondat the castle of 
through Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, from Edward III. 
La Brede. 
The  blood  of  the  Plantagenets  thus  flows  in  the  house  of 
Secondat. 
To reach La Brede the traveller must proceed south-eastwards 
Jacob's  eldest  son,  Jean-Baptiste-Gaston,  married  Anne 
from Bordeaux along the main road, built by the Romans, which 
J eanne Du Bernet, daughter of a prominent member of the legal 
leads to Agen and eventually to Toulouse, and advances along the 
nobility of the south-west, and used her dowry to buy a legal 
left bank  of the  Garonne  through gently undulating  acres  of 
office for himself. He had ten children, 2 including three sons who 
vines with scattered houses. Ten miles from the city and shortly 
became ecclesiastics and three daughters who became nuns. His 
before reaching the tiny river port of Beautiran, the road passes 
third son, Jacques, was Montesquieu's father. He was an active 
through the hamlet of La Prade. Here a branch road goes off 
soldier, handsome, bronzed, and sensual, if his portrait can be 
westwards  and after two miles  reaches a few  houses  grouped 
relied on; and according to his son he had a noble and charming_ 
around a romanesque church. This is the village of La Brede, 
face, much wit and good sense, and very little wealth. 3 In 1686 
and less than a mile further along the road is the castle which 
he  married Marie-Francoise de Pesnel,  an heiress who owned 
has given its name to the village. 
vast acres of land and who, as well as being of English origin 
The CMteau de La Brede is not a modest country hou~e pre 
throuo-h the noble houses of D'A  lbret and Bourbon, was descended 
tentiously named.  It is a real castle,  built and fortified at 
thf; 
from Saint-Louis. Montesquieu declares that his mother, having 
beginning of the fifteenth century, on the site of a previous con 
much property, had many debts and many lawsuits. 4  He~ hus 
struction. From its oldest recorded owners, the noble family of 
band  in a memoir5 which he wrote after her death, credits her 
La Lande, it passed late in the sixteenth century to the family 
with' an  acute  business  sense:  'elle  avait  !'esprit  d'un habile 
of Pesnel, and from them to the family of Secondat. It is surrounded 
1 O'Gilvy  De  Secondat  de  Montesquieu,  Bordeaux,  1858 (extracted from  by a moat and access is given by three drawbridges.  I ts mass, 
Nobiliaire d; Guienne et de Gascogne); E. de Perceval, 'La Baronne de Montes  solid but graceful,  rises  into four turrets capped with conical 
quieu', in Actes de l'Academie dae  Bordeaux, 1932-3, p. 30; and Jea~-Bapti~te de  roofs,  the largest of them girt with machicolations.  The same 
Secondat Memoire pour servir  l'eloge historique de M. de Montesqmeu. This last 
documen~ which is the primary source of information about Montesquieu, is  conical structure is repeated in outhouses which resemble the 
printed ir: L. Vian, Histoire de Montesquieu, Paris, 1878 (second edition), pp.  trulli of Apulia. The rooms of the castle, whether they look on 
396-407. It wiJI be referred to as Secondat, Memoire, foJlowed by the .P~ge  to tiny courtyards or, through walls of immense thickness, on to 
reference from Vian; but where necessary I correct the text from the ongmal 
manuscript which is at La Brede.  the smooth sheet of water,  are cool in summer,  but far from 
a To the nine listed by O'Gilvy must be added Nicole de Montesquieu, whose  warm in winter. The entrance hall with its twisted columns of 
existence is disclosed by papers at La Brede. She was the superior of the convent  dark  wood,  the  sombre  dining-room  with  elaborately  carved 
of Notre Dame at Agen, a religious house very closely connected with the 
panelling, the l}itchen from which a regiment of retainers can be 
Montesquieu family. 
fed, and the salon hung with ancestral portraits, striking as they 
a Nagel, III, p. 1564.  ' Ibid., p. 1565. 
5 The text of the manuscript, which is at La Brede, has been published  all are, yield in significance to the enormous guardroom with its 
incompletely and inaccurately by Vian (p. 18, second edition only), after Tamise~  gigantic tunnel vault, its antique frescoes about the fireplace, its 
de La Roque (Revue critique, 27 April 1878). 
door leading to the chapel, and its window commanding the inner
4  EARLY YEARS,  1689-1721  EARLY YEARS,  1689-1721  s 
drawbridge. This room, lined with books, is the workshop from  and in the village, being taught to write by the schoolmaster of 
which L' Esprit des lois will emerge. From the loftier rooms one's  La Brede, by name Souvervie.1 In 1700, his father decided to 
glance surveys the countryside. This is one of the last outposts  send him aw~y to sch?ol, and selected the College de Juilly 37
0 
of the fertile vine-growing region of Bordeaux. The dry white  miles  away,  m the d10cese  of Meaux  where  Bossuet  was  still 
wine  of La Brede,  the red wine of Rochemorin,  more highly  bishop. 
reputed in that day, and more widely sold, than Medoc or Saint 
Emilion, constitute the riches of the property, and not far away  IL  EDUCATION 
are the sweet white wines of Sauternes. Beyond the vineyards 
extend the broad,  monotonous,  sparsely  peopled acres  of the  The re~own of _Juilly was  great.  Situated in a most agreeable 
landes, and the forest, on some sides, reaches almost to the moat  park,  with spac10us  grounds and  noble  buildings,  yet near to 
of the castle.  Paris, being _but twe~ty miles distant from  Notre-Dame, Juilly 
In this  castle,  on 18  January 1689,  the  chatelaine,  Marie  had and reta1?s to th~s day a real charm. Established by letters 
Francoise de Pesnel, gave birth to a son, who on the same day was  patent of Loms X!II m 1638, and _controlled by the Congregation 
baptized in the parish church of La Brede, and received the name  of ~~ Orat?ry,  ~t had  alre~dy m  Montesquieu's  day  a solid 
of Charles-Louis.1  His godfather was  a beggar  of the village,  trad1t1on while bemg modern m outlook. Not many schools in the 
Charles by name, selected in order that the child might ever be  no~h-east ~f F~ance attracted pupils from remote provinces, 2 but 
reminded  of his  obligations to the poor.  Montaigne,  likewise,  JU1lly was m different case.  Although it cost 60 livres to travel 
was  held  at the font  by paupers:  the similarity between the  from Bordeaux to Paris in the public coach, 3  many boys from 
careers of the two great Gascon authors begins with the begin  the  south-west of France were sent to Juilly,  as  the  registers 
ning of their lives. And as Montaigne's first years were spent i'n a  testify, 4 partly on account of the decline of the College de Guy 
village house, so the young Charles-Louis was sent to nurse at  enne, where Montaigne had been educated. From Bordeaux there 
the flourmill of La Brede where he passed the first three years of  are found to be at Juilly i? 1700 two brothers called La Boyrie, 
his life, eating simple foods and learning to speak with the rustic  two Loyac brothers, cousins of Montesquieu, Marans who was 
accent which he never forsook.  his kinsman and was eventually to attend him on his death-bed. 
He had two  sisters  who  became  nuns,  Marie who  was  his  One pup!l bears the name ,saucats, which is the property immedi 
elder by sixteen months, and Therese who was born on 3 1 August  ately  adjacent  to  La  Brede.  Jean-Jacques  Bel,  who  until  his 
169i. A younger brother, Joseph, was born on 9 November 1694,  premature death was to remain a close friend of Montesquieu 
and  Charles-Louis  stood  godfather  for  him.  He  became  an  went to Juilly in 1703, and other less known names from Bor~ 
ecclesiastic of some distinction, and will be mentioned again in  deaux are numerous. Nor did the great disdain to send their sons 
these pages. Another brother and sister died in infancy, and in  to ~uilly. The name ~f Trudaine is frequently listed. Three years 
giving birth to the younger of these in 1696 their mother died.  senior _to  Montesqu1e~ was  a scion of the Brancas family;  the 
Charles-Louis  was  then seven,  and  when the  example  of the  Marqms  de  Bassomp1erre  was  matriculated  in  1702;  and  the 
domestic virtues and the  piety for  which  his  mother was  re  Duke of Berwick himself, natural son to James II of England 
nowned in the province was removed from him by her death, he  was an alumnus.  ·  ' 
inherited her wealth and the title of Baron de La Brede. 
Until the age of eleven, Charles-Louis was educated at home  • 1 Bx JYI~· 1913 contains a loose slip of paper, signed by Montesquieu, which 
gives this mformation . 
• 3 F. de Dainville, 'Effectifs des colleges et scolarite aux XVIIe et XVIIIe 
1 The parish registers for 1689 are not eictant. The evidence for the date of  s1ecles dans le nord-est de la France' (Population, 1955). 
birth is the memoir of Secondat, and for the date of baptism, F. de P. Latapie,  3 G. d'Avenel,  Histoireeconomique de  la propriete  Paris  1894-1912  VI 
'Notice de la paroisse de La Brede' in Baurein, Varietes bordeloises (Bordeaux,  p. 632.  '  '  •  ' 
1876, 4 vols.), III, p. 8, of dubious reliability.  'The manuscript dossier des pensions is still preserved at Juilly.