SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Notice in this column does not necessarily preclude, subsequent review.] A Gallant of Lorraine. By IL Noel Williams. 2 vols. (Hurst and Blackett. 28s. net.)—The Marechal de Bassompierre, as courtier, politician, and soldier, was a prominent figure in the reigns of Henri IV. and Louis XIII., until he follfoul of Richelieu and was committed to the Bastille in 1631, there to remain for twelve long years. He left some interesting memoirs, which Mr. Noel Williams has made the basis of a, readable and instruc- tive book. The period abounded in dramatic episodes, like the conspiracy of Biron, the murder of King Henri, the fall of Concini, and the siege of La Rochelle, in which Bassompierre took an active-part. The polities of the day were governed largely by personal intrigues and cannot be understood except through memoirs such as these. Bassompierre was a picturesque and on the whole an engaging personality. As a friend of Queen Henrietta Maria, he was sent to London in 1626 to settle the dispute about the Queen's Roman Catholic attendants. He was noted, even in the courts of Henri IV. and Louis XIII., for his profligacy, and also for his discretion. When he knew that he was to be arrested, his first act was, he says, to burn " more than six thousand love letters, these being the only papers I possessed which might be able to injure anyone a little." One feels sorry for the Marechal in gaol, but it is clear that France needed a Richelieu to free her government from the control of such irresponsible nobles. The book is illustrated with a number of portraits.
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