Paul Hippolyte Emmanuel De Seytres
(1723 - 1742) France
Soldier, aristocrat
During the French invasion of Bohemia, in 1741, when he was only 18 years of age, Hippolyte met Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues, a youth of noble family who belonged to the same regiment and was about 26 years old. A warm friendship sprang up between the two comrades, but lasted for a brief time only. De Seytres died during the privations of the terrible Siege of Prague in 1742.
Vauvenargues, in his eloge of Hippolyte, speaks of his dead friend as follows:
" By nature full of grace, his movements natural, his manners frank, his features noble and grave, his expression sweet and penetrating - one could not look upon him with indifference. From the first his loveable exterior won all hearts in his favor, and whoever was in the position to know his character could not but admire the beauty of his disposition. Never did he despise or envy or hate any one. He understood all the passions and opinions, even the most singular, that the world blames. They did not surprise him: he penetrated their cause, and found in his own reflexions the means of explaining them."
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