He not only inherited all the wealth of his father, but also that of his grandfather Francois de Coligny, a fact which, after his death, caused a lawsuit between the family of La Tremouille and the Duc d'Elboeuf.

His qualities, both physical and mental, were worthy of his extraordinary fortune, and his devotion to literature and the fine arts was unwearied.

M.de Laval had been reared in the Protestant faith, but to the great regret of the reformed party, who had hoped to find in him as zealous a defender as they had found in his ancestors, he embraced the Romish religion.

His valour as a soldier was as remarkable as his attainments, and he had scarcely reached his twentieth year when he asked and obtained from the King the royal permission to serve under the Archduke Matthias in Hungary against the Turks.

Accompanied by fifteen or sixteen gentlemen, and attended by a retinue befitting his rank and wealth, he eminently distinguished himself by the manner in which he effected the retreat after the siege of Strigonia; but his first triumph was fated to be his last, as during the struggle he received a gunshot wound of which he died a few days subsequently, deeply regretted by the Prince in whose cause he had fallen and by the troops, to whom he had already endeared himself by his noble qualities.
[294] Cesar Auguste de St.Larry, Baron de Thermes, was the son of Jean de St.Larry and of Anne de Villemur, and was the younger brother of Roger de St.Larry, Duc de Bellegarde, Grand Equerry of France.