During Bassompierre’s absence in England, Louis XIII had paid him the very high compliment of nominating him one of the four presidents of the Assembly of the Notables, which was opened at the Tuileries by the King on December 2, 1626, and continued sitting until February 24 of the following year. This assembly, from which Richelieu had systematically excluded all the makers of cabals at the Court--that is to say, practically all the great nobles--voted in accordance with the Cardinal’s desires and recommended the reduction of useless expenditure, pensions, and the King’s Household, the re-organisation of the Army, which, when on a peace footing, was not to exceed 20,000 men, the strengthening of the Navy, the relief of the lower noblesse as a counterpoise to the greater, and the destruction of all the fortifications of towns and châteaux not required for the defence of the frontiers. Bassompierre, being the junior of the four presidents,[103] does not appear to have spoken very often, but a sentence in one of his speeches is worth recording, in the light of subsequent events. Praising Louis XIII for the economy he had shown in not erecting any new buildings and even suspending the completion of these commenced before he came to the throne, he continued:-- “This shows that he had no inclination to build, and that the finances of France will not be drained by sumptuous edifices erected by him; unless someone wishes to reproach him with having built _the sorry Château of Versailles_, of the construction of which even a simple gentleman would not wish to boast.” It was this “sorry Château of Versailles”--then a mere hunting-lodge--which, under Louis XIII’s successor, was to be transformed into the most costly and magnificent royal palace in Europe. During the winter Bassompierre took part in a ballet organised by the King at the Louvre and the Hôtel de Ville, in which his Majesty danced himself. In this ballet, which was entitled _le Sérieux et le Grotesque_, what appeared to be a number of gigantic bottles entered from one wing and a party of Swiss officers from the other. The officers hastened eagerly towards the bottles, which, however, suddenly transformed themselves into women, whereupon the Swiss fled in alarm. But the ladies produced goblets brimming with wine, at the sight of which the officers returned, and Bassompierre, representing the Colonel-General of the Swiss, declaimed several stanzas in praise of Cupid and Bacchus: “Lorsqu, Amour me faisait mourir, Bacchus m’est venu secourir Et rendre à jamais redevable; Et toutesfois ce petit Dieu Dans mon cœur qu’il rend miserable Prétend d’avoir le premier lieu.” And so forth. In the course of the spring an event occurred which created an immense sensation and showed that Richelieu was no respecter of persons and was resolved to enforce obedience to the royal authority, even at the expense of the noblest blood in France.