PREFACE

Royal Equerry and Lord of Bourgeferie and Puyraimond, and Lady Anna de Ranfon. He was born in Cognac in the year 1590, and was given the name Jacob. Having reached the age of reason, he was sent to Paris and entrusted to the care of Stefanus Pasquier Étienne Pasquier (1529–1615), a famous French lawyer and man of letters., Advocate General in the Chamber of Accounts, his father’s friend and relative. This learned and excellent man, perceiving a most noble wit in our Favereau, raised him as his own child; so much so that when he reached manhood, he wished to give him in marriage his own granddaughter, Margaret Pasquier, eldest daughter of the Lord of Bussy, his youngest son. However, Lord Pasquier, whose years had already climbed high by that time, did not have the happiness of seeing this marriage bond completed before his death; it took place only two years later, when Favereau had already been promoted to Councilor in the Court of Subsidies The Cour des Aides, a high court dealing with taxes. and had acquired no small fame with his pleading before the bar. Nonetheless, his wisdom and justice shone even brighter within the Court itself, of which he was appointed a member; which office he held with much praise until his death, occurring in the month of May 1638, at the age of 48 years. He left behind two children: a son of great promise, and a daughter married to the Lord de Machault, a man well known among legal scholars.

Favereau was a lover of music and instruments, painting, poetry, and especially Latin poetry: in which language he also published a book containing inscriptions written for a statue of Mercury original: Merkurius that was found during the construction of the Palace of Queen Marie de Medici, under the title Mercury Restored original: Merkurius Redivivus; wherein he indeed brought back to life Mercury, or the eloquence of the Ancients known by the name of Mercury. Later, he sent two more Latin poems to the press which he presented to the King: one concerning the conquest of Rochelle The Siege of La Rochelle (1627–1628), a major military event under Louis XIII., and the other concerning the most remarkable matters occurring during his reign, from which his skill in that style of writing shines forth. He also composed several pieces in French verse, among others one bearing the title France Consoled original: Vrankryk vertroost, being a kind of wedding poem for the marriage of the King and Queen; which he did not publish until the year 1625, with a dedication to the King, one to the Duke of Nemours, and another by way of a Preface to the Lord de Malherbe François de Malherbe, the leading French poet and critic of the era.. His verses were, as he himself admitted, arranged in the style of the Italians, which they call free verse original: Versi Sciolti. While this usually refers to unrhymed verse, the author notes they are irregular in meter., that is, unequal, specifically regarding the meter, but