Leclerc

Leclerc is characterized after his death through Richard Cantwell’s unsparing recollections. Cantwell’s account holds together two sides of his reputation: exceptional courage and fighting ability, alongside arrogance and ambition.

Identity and Reported Death

In a conversation with an interlocutor who asks to hear more about him, Cantwell confirms that Leclerc is dead. The exchange supplies no circumstances of his death; Leclerc enters the narrative as an absent figure whose character must be reconstructed from what Cantwell says.

Character and Military Ability

Cantwell describes Leclerc as high-born, brave, arrogant, and extremely ambitious. The appraisal does not reduce him to those faults: Cantwell also acknowledges that he could fight exceptionally well. Courage and military competence therefore coexist with a forceful, self-regarding personality in the portrait.

Retrospective Judgment

Cantwell presents frank speech about the dead as a reason to speak plainly about Leclerc. He compares him with Dante, judging Dante still more conceited, while distinguishing personal character from artistic achievement: Dante’s writing, Cantwell allows, was not bad, and Leclerc’s fighting was excellent. These comparisons make Leclerc’s reputation distinctly double-edged—his vanity invites criticism, but his ability remains beyond dismissal.