sels against
Protestantism, France resented the king's attempt to evade his pledge.
Its Court resented yet more the hesitation which Charles showed in face
of his Parliament in fulfilling the promise he had given in the
marriage-treaty of tolerating Catholic worship; and its resentment was
embittered by an expulsion from the realm of the French attendants on
the new Queen, a step to which Charles was at last driven by their
insolence and intrigues. On the other hand, French statesmen were
offended by the seizure of French ships charged with carrying materials
of war to the Spaniards, and by an attempt of the English sovereign to
atone for his past attack on Rochelle by constituting himself mediator
of a peace on behalf of the Huguenots.

[Sidenote: The siege of Rochelle.]

But though grounds of quarrel multiplied every day, the French minister,
Richelieu, had no mind for strife. He was now master of the Catholic
faction which had fed the dispute between the Crown and the Huguenots
with the aim of bringing about a reconciliation with Spain; he saw that
in the European conflict which lay before him the friendship or the
neutrality of England was all but essential; and though he gathered a
fleet in the Channel and took a high tone of remonstrance, he strove by
concession after concession to avert war. But on war Buckingham was
resolved. Of policy in any true sense of the word the favourite knew
nothing; for the real interest of England or the balance of Europe he
cared little; what he saw before him was the chance of a blow at a power
he had come to hate, and the chance of a war which would make him
popular at home. The mediation of Charles in favour of Rochelle had
convinced Richelieu that the complete reduction of that city was a
necessary prelude to any effective intervention in Germany. If Lewis was
to be master abroad, he must first be master at home. But it was hard
for lookers-on to read the Cardinal's mind or to guess with what a
purpose he resolved to exact submission from the Huguenots. In England,
where the danger of Rochelle seemed a fresh part of the Catholic attack
upon Protestantism throughout the world, the enthusiasm for the
Huguenots was intense; and Buckingham resolved to take advantage of this
enthusiasm to secure such a triumph for the royal arms as should silence
all opposition at home. It was for this purpose that the forced loan
was pushed on; and in July 1627 a fleet of a hundred vessels sailed
u