The question of carrying the city by assault, though often debated in the council of the king, had been always rejected. In the first place, La Rochelle appeared impregnable. Then the cardinal, whatever he said, very well knew that the horror of bloodshed in this encounter, in which Frenchman would combat against Frenchman, was a retrograde movement of sixty years impressed upon his policy; and the cardinal was at that period what we now call a man of progress.
A királyi tanács gyakran latolgatta, nem volna-e jó rohammal venni be a várost, de sosem szánták rá magukat, először is úgy ítélték: La Rochelle bevehetetlen, meg aztán, bármint vélekedjenek is, a bíboros jól tudta, hogy aki vállalja az iszonyatot, hogy ezúttal francia kard ontson francia vért, az hatvan évvel visszafelé forgatja a politika kerekét, a bíboros pedig az volt a maga korában, akit manapság a "haladás emberének" szoktak nevezni.