Arlington, of December 27, 1668. He is the General who should have
accompanied Marsilly to the Diet.

The substance of the letter (given in full in Note I.) is to the
following effect. P. du Moulin (Paris, May 19/29, 1669) writes to
Arlington. Ever since Ruvigny, the late French ambassador, a
Protestant, was in England, the French Government had been anxious
to kidnap Roux de Marsilly. They hunted him in England, Holland,
Flanders, and Franche-Comte. As we know from the case of Mattioli,
the Government of Louis XIV. was unscrupulously daring in breaking
the laws of nations, and seizing hostile personages in foreign
territory, as Napoleon did in the affair of the Duc d'Enghien. When
all failed, Louis bade Turenne capture Roux de Marsilly wherever he
could find him. Turenne sent officers and gentlemen abroad, and,
after four months' search, they found Marsilly in Switzerland. They
took him as he came out of the house of his friend, General
Balthazar, and carried him to Gex. No papers were found on him, but
he asked his captors to send to Balthazar and get 'the commission he
had from England,' which he probably thought would give him the
security of an official diplomatic position. Having got this
document, Marsilly's captors took it to the French Ministers.
Nothing could be more embarrassing, if this were true, to Charles's
representative in France, Montague, and to Charles's secret
negotiations, also to Arlington, who had dealt with Marsilly. On
his part, the captive Marsilly constantly affirmed that he was the
envoy of the King of England. The common talk of Paris was that an
agent of Charles was in the Bastille, 'though at Court they pretend
to know nothing of it.' Louis was overjoyed at Marsilly's capture,
giving out that he was conspiring against his life. Monsieur told
Montague that he need not beg for the life of a would-be murderer