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 Mancini [unfolds the letter and reads.

"To his Highness Monseigneur the Protector of the Republic of England.

"Monseigneur:—

"The glorious part borne by your Highness's troops in the present war of France against Spain, the valuable assistance which they gave the King my master, in the campaign in Flanders, increase tenfold His Majesty's gratitude to so powerful an ally, who assists so effectively in humbling the haughty insolence of the House of Austria. Therefore has the King thought it well to send, as his Ambassador Extraordinary to your court, Monsieur le Duc de Créqui, who has it in charge from His Majesty to give your Highness to know that the stronghold of Mardyke, of late taken by our troops, has been placed at the disposition of the generals of the English Republic, pending the time when Dunkirk, which, still holds out, shall be delivered to them in accordance with the treaties. Monsieur le Duc de Créqui has the further commission to offer to your Highness a golden sword which the King of France sends you in token of his esteem and affection. Monsieur de Mancini, my nephew, will make known to you the contents of this letter, and will lay at your Highness's feet a trivial gift the which I presume to add, in my own name, to that of the King; it is a tapestry from the new royal factory, called the Gobelins. I trust that this mark of my devotion may be acceptable to your Highness. Were it not that I am ill at Calais, I should myself have journeyed to England, to the end that I might offer my respects to one of the greatest men who have ever lived, whom I should have been most proud to serve