The battle of Thionville, which was fought in 1639, and terminated in the defeat of the French, and the death of Feuquieres, their general, gave two prisoners to the Bastile; not foreign enemies, or rebellious Frenchmen, but officers who had combated for their country—the count de Grancé and the marquis de Praslin. At Thionville, the troops under their orders refused to advance, and finally ran away. It appears, from the testimony of Bassompierre, that no blame was attributable to the count or the marquis; they were nevertheless immured in the Bastile, though it does not seem easy to discern how the cowardice of soldiers is to be cured by imprisoning their officers. It was, however, in a similar kind of spirit, only somewhat more barbarous, that in England, more than a century afterwards, admiral Byng was sacrificed (murdered is the proper word); not, as Voltaire sarcastically observes, “to encourage the others,” but to divert public indignation from its proper objects. The system was carried to a horrible length in France, during the reign of terror. Less sanguinary, in this instance, than his imitators, Richelieu contented himself with inflicting a short deprivation of liberty. The two captives were restored to favour, and Grancé rose, in the next reign, to the rank of marshal. The next two cases which are on record, afford a striking proof of the contempt in which Richelieu held justice and the law of nations, whenever they chanced to stand in the way of his political schemes, and the gratification of his vindictive spirit. On the death of the gallant warrior, Bernard of Saxe Weimar, which took place in the summer of 1639, the possession of his admirably trained army became an object which all the belligerent powers were eager to obtain. Among those who sought the prize was the Prince Palatine, a son of the unfortunate Frederic, who lost the crown of Bohemia and his own hereditary states. The prince was passing through France, from England, to enter on the negociation, when he was arrested, and sent to the Bastile, under pretence of his being an unknown and suspected person. Richelieu, meanwhile, pushed on his treaty with the officers of the deceased duke, and succeeded in purchasing their services for France. When this was accomplished, it was discovered that the arrest of the Prince Palatine was a mistake, and he was consequently set free.