been only too anxious for the matter to be hushed up--and recalled its Ambassador, who, on his return, resumed the cassock, entered the Congregation of the Oratoire and attached himself to the fortunes of Richelieu. In 1625 he was amongst the ecclesiastics who accompanied Henrietta Maria to England, where he rendered himself particularly odious to Charles I and his people by his ill-considered zeal. The King had insisted on his being sent back to France not long after his arrival, but, notwithstanding this, he now reappeared as chaplain to Bassompierre’s embassy. This appointment, which could not be regarded as other than a direct affront to the English Court, had been made, it would seem, at the instance of Marie de’ Medici, and against the advice of Bassompierre, who foresaw the embarrassments to which it was bound to give rise. However, since he had been obliged to bring Sancy to England, the dignity of his sovereign demanded that he should protect him, even at the risk of compromising the success of his mission. After the Lord Chamberlain had taken his departure, Bassompierre received visits from the Danish Ambassador and the agent of the ex-King of Bohemia, the unfortunate Frederick V, Elector Palatine. In the evening Walter Montague supped with him, and the following night he entertained Edward Cecil, Viscount Wimbledon--which the marshal spells “Houemelton”--who, the previous year, had commanded the expedition against the coast of Spain, the failure of which had been mainly due to the gross incapacity which he had displayed. Edward Cecil was an old acquaintance of Bassompierre. He had met him for the first time when a lad in Italy, and again when he visited England with Biron in 1601, upon which occasion, he tells us, Cecil had shown him much courtesy. On the 11th Bassompierre had his first audience of the King: