; and to make sure of this the
king gave Rochelle so many special rights that it became almost a free
city. After that, whenever a Protestant in any part of France found that
he could not live peaceably in his own home, he went to Rochelle, and
that is the way the place came to be called the city of refuge.

For a good many years the people of Rochelle went on living quietly.
They had a fine harbor of their own, their trade was good, and they were
allowed to manage their own affairs. At last the new King of France made
up his mind that he would not have two religions in his country, but
would make everybody believe as he did. This troubled the people of
Rochelle, but the king sent them word that he only meant to make them
change their religion by showing them that his was better, and that he
did not intend to trouble them in any way.

In those days promises of that kind did not count for much; but the
king's prime-minister, Cardinal Richelieu, who really managed
everything, knew very well that Rochelle could give a great deal of
trouble if it chose, and so, perhaps, he really would have let the town
alone if it had not been for the meddling of the English prime-minister,
Buckingham.

This Buckingham, with an English fleet and army, sailed into the harbor
of Rochelle in the middle of July, 1627, and undertook to help the
people against the French king. If Buckingham had been either a soldier
or a sailor, he might have made himself master of the French king's
forts near Rochelle at once; but, although he had command of a fleet and
an army, he really knew nothing about the business of a commander, and
he blundered so badly that the generals of the French king got fresh
troops and provisions into the forts, and were able to hold them in
spite of all that the English could do.

Seeing how matters stood, Richelieu at once sent an army to surround
Rochelle, and at daylight on the 10th of August the people found a
strong force in front of the town. Rochelle had not made up its mind to
join the English, and the magistrates sent word to the French general
that they wanted peace. They said they were loyal to the French king,
and even offered to help drive the English away, if their king would
promise not to break the treaty that had been made with them many years
before.

It was too late to settle the matter in that way, however. The French
general meant to make the town surrender, and so, while the English were
fighting to