That in itself would have been an incident calling for some special acknowledgment from the Protector; but hardly had the embassy arrived when there came news of the great event which both Louis XIV.

and Cromwell had for some time been intently expecting--the capture of Dunkirk.

On the 15th of June the keys of the captured town had been handsomely delivered to Sir William Lockhart by Louis XIV.

himself, so that the Treaty with Cromwell had been fully kept in that particular.
Louis had sent a special Envoy with letters to announce the event to Cromwell formally; and this Envoy shared in the magnificent hospitalities which Cromwell showered upon the Duke de Crequi, M.
Mancini, and their retinue.

The four following letters all relate to this glorious occasion, and date themselves between June 16, when the French ambassadors arrived in London, and June 21, when they took their departure.