a prince of the church it must have been bitter for him to have to
ally himself with the Protestant princes of Germany, with Protestant
Holland, and Protestant England, but he has done so. It is true that he
has captured La Rochelle, and broken the power of the Huguenot lords of
the south, but these new alliances show that he is ready to sacrifice
his own prejudices for the good of France when France is endangered,
and that it is on account of the danger of civil broils to the country,
rather than from a hatred of the Huguenots, that he warred against them.
Here am I, whom he deigns to honour with his patronage, a Huguenot; my
brother, Bouillon, was also a Huguenot, and strangely enough the quarrel
between him and the cardinal did not break out until my brother had
changed his religion.

"He was more rigorously brought up than I was, and was taught to look
upon the Catholics with abhorrence; but he married, not from policy but
from love, a Catholic lady, who is in all respects worthy of him, for
she is as high spirited and as generous as he is, and at the same time
is gentle, loving, and patient. Though deeply pious, she is free from
bigotry, and it was because my brother came to see that the tales he
had been taught of the bigotry and superstition of the Catholics
were untrue, at least in many instances, that he revolted against the
intolerance of the doctrines in which he had been brought up, renounced
them, and became an adherent of his wife's religion.

"Nigh four years ago the Duke of Soissons, a prince of the blood,
incurred the enmity of Richelieu by refusing, with scorn, his proposal
that he should marry the Countess of Cobalet, Richelieu's niece. The
refusal, and still more the language in which he refused, excited the
deep enmity of the cardinal. Soissons had joined the party against him,
but as usual Richelieu had the king's ear. Soissons was ordered to
leave the court, and went to Sedan, where he was heartily received by
my brother, who had a warm affection for him. Bouillon wrote to the king
hoping that he would not be displeased at his offering a retreat to a
prince of the blood, and the king wrote permitting the count to stay
at Sedan. After a time Richelieu again endeavoured to bring about the
marriage upon which he had set his heart, but was again refused, and,
being greatly exasperated, insisted on Bouillon obliging the count to
leave Sedan. My brother naturally replied that the king having at first