which he had already hinted in confidence to some of his friends.  February 16, 1641, he wrote a letter of compliment to Lewis Camerarius[413] on his being recalled from his embassy to Holland, and assures him that it would give him great pleasure to live in such quiet.  He writes to his brother, November 1, 1641[414], “If they threatened to recall me from my embassy I should not be sorry:  it is not a lucrative thing.  I am surfeited with honours; old age comes on, and will soon demand ease.”  A year after, he writes to him[415], “I am come to the age at which many wise men have voluntarily renounced places of honour.  I love quiet, and would be glad to devote the remainder of my life to the service of God and of posterity.  If I had not some hope of contributing to a general peace, I should have retired before now.”

The headstrong and forward temper of the person who was appointed his coadjutor crowned all his uneasiness.  In effect, no body could be more the reverse of Grotius than Cerisante.  The Memoirs of the Duke of Guise have placed this man in a very ridiculous light:  his family indeed complain that the duke of Guise did not do him justice; but we know from others that he was as vain as he was inconsiderate.  He was the son of Duncan, Minister of Saumur, and being perfect master of the Belles Lettres, he had been nominated Governor to the Marquis de Foix, who afterwards made him Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment of Navarre; but a quarrel with the Duke of Candale in the beginning of Anne of Austria’s regency obliged him to quit the kingdom.  He retired into Sweden, in hopes that the Queen, who loved men of wit, would make his fortune.  He was not disappointed:  she gave him a commission to levy a regiment, which he never raised; and sent him into France with the titles of Colonel and Agent of Sweden.

He soon laid aside that regard for Grotius which was recommended to him; and gave on all occasions proofs of his rash and vain-glorious humour.  Grotius tells us that he sent very false intelligence to Sweden, which he affirmed that he had from the first hand:  in short, he was guilty of so many extravagancies, that Queen Christina, being informed how little he was esteemed, and that she was in some sort censured on his account, dismissed him her service; but it was not till after Grotius’s departure from Paris.

It will readily be judged that a man of this character could ill agree with Grotius:  accordingly they were soon at great variance.  Their misunderstanding was quickly known.  Sarrau wrote to Salmasius, June 1, 1644[416], “Duncan the Swedish Agent at this Court gives the Ambassador much uneasiness.”  Grotius’s patience being therefore worn out, he wrote to Sweden, desiring the Queen to recall him:  his request was granted with great readiness.  As she did not dignify to him where he must go[417], he wrote to Baron Oxenstiern, the Swedish Plenipotentiary to the peace of Munster and Osnabrug, and son of the