Why, 'tis a boisterous and cruel style,
A style for challengers. Why, she defies us,
Like Turk to Christian.
_As You Like It._
The doors of the hall were now opened to the Swiss deputies, who for
the preceding hour had been kept in attendance on the outside of the
building, without receiving the slightest of those attentions which
among civilised nations are universally paid to the representatives of
a foreign State. Indeed, their very appearance, dressed in coarse grey
frocks, like mountain hunters or shepherds, in the midst of an
assembly blazing with divers-coloured garments, gold and silver lace,
embroidery, and precious stones, served to confirm the idea that they
could only have come hither in the capacity of the most humble
petitioners.
Oxford, however, who watched closely the deportment of his late
fellow-travellers, failed not to observe that they retained each in
his own person the character of firmness and indifference which
formerly distinguished them. Rudolph Donnerhugel preserved his bold
and haughty look; the Banneret, the military indifference which made
him look with apparent apathy on all around him; the burgher of
Soleure was as formal and important as ever; nor did any of the three
show themselves affected in the slightest degree by the splendour of
the scene around them, or embarrassed by the consideration of their
own comparative inferiority of appointments. But the noble Landamman,
on whom Oxford chiefly bent his attention, seemed overwhelmed with a
sense of the precarious state in which his country was placed;
fearing, from the rude and unhonoured manner in which they were
received, that war was unavoidable, while, at the same time, like a
good patriot, he mourned over the consequences of ruin to the freedom
of his country by defeat, or injury to her simplicity and virtuous
indifference of wealth, by the introduction of foreign luxuries and
the evils attending on conquest.
Well acquainted with the opinions of Arnold Biederman, Oxford could
easily explain his sadness, while his comrade Bonstetten, less capable
of comprehending his friend's feelings, looked at him with the
expression which may be seen in the countenance of a faithful dog,
when the creature indicates sympathy with his master's melancholy,
though unable to ascertain or appreciate its cause. A look of wonder
now and then glided around the splendid assembly on the part of all
the forlorn group, excepting Donnerhugel and the Landamman; for the
indomitable pride of the one, and the steady patriotism of the other,
could not for even an instant be diverted by external objects from
their own deep and stern reflections.
After a silence of nearly five minutes, the Duke spoke, with the
haughty and harsh manner which he might imagine belonged to his place,
and which certainly expressed his character.
"Men of Berne, of Schwitz, or of whatever hamlet and wilderness you
may represent, know that we had not honoured you, rebels as you are
to the dominion of your lawful superiors, with an audience in our own
presence, but for the intercession of a well-esteemed friend, who has
sojourned among your mountains, and whom you may know by the name of
Philipson, an Englishman, following the trade of a merchant, and
charged with certain valuable matters of traffic to our court. To his
intercession we have so far given way, that instead of commanding you,
according to your demerits, to the gibbet and the wheel in the Place
de Morimont, we have condescended to receive you into our own
presence, sitting in our _cour plénière_, to hear from you such
submission as you can offer for your outrageous storm of our town of
La Ferette, the slaughter of many of our liegemen, and the deliberate
murder of the noble knight, Archibald of Hagenbach, executed in your
presence, and by your countenance and device. Speak--if you can say
aught in defence of your felony and treason, either to deprecate just
punishment, or crave undeserved mercy."
The Landamman seemed about to answer; but Rudolph Donnerhugel, with
his characteristic boldness and hardihood, took the task of reply on
himself. He confronted the proud Duke with an eye unappalled, and a
countenance as stern as his own.
"We came not here," he said, "to compromise our own honour, or the
dignity of the free people whom we represent, by pleading guilty in
their name, or our own, to crimes of which we are innocent. And when
you term us rebels, you must remember, that a long train of victories,
whose history is written in the noblest blood of Austria, has
restored to the confederacy of our communities the freedom of which an
unjust tyranny in vain attempted to deprive us. While Austria was a
just and beneficent mistress, we served her with our lives;--when she
became oppressive and tyrannical, we assumed independence. If she has
aught yet to claim from us, the descendants of Tell, Faust, and
Stauffacher will be as ready to assert their liberties as their
fathers were to gain them. Your Grace--if such be your title--has no
concern with any dispute betwixt us and Austria. For your threats of
gibbet and wheel, we are here defenceless men, on whom you may work
your pleasure; but we know how to die, and our countrymen know how to
avenge us."
The fiery Duke would have replied by commanding the instant arrest,
and probably the immediate execution, of the whole deputation. But his
chancellor, availing himself of the privilege of his office, rose,
and, doffing his cap with a deep reverence to the Duke, requested
leave to reply to the misproud young man, who had, he said, so greatly
mistaken the purpose of his Highness's speech.
Charles, feeling perhaps at the moment too much irritated to form a
calm decision, threw himself back in his chair of state, and with an
impatient and angry nod gave his chancellor permission to speak.
"Young man," said that high officer, "you have mistaken the meaning of
the high and mighty sovereign in whose presence you stand. Whatever be
the lawful rights of Austria over the revolted villages which have
flung off their allegiance to their native superior, we have no call
to enter on that argument. But that for which Burgundy demands your
answer is, wherefore, coming here in the guise, and with the
character, of peaceful envoys, on affairs touching your own
communities and the rights of the Duke's subjects, you have raised war
in our peaceful dominions, stormed a fortress, massacred its garrison,
and put to death a noble knight, its commander?--all of them actions
contrary to the law of nations, and highly deserving of the punishment
with which you have been justly threatened, but with which I hope our
gracious sovereign will dispense, if you express some sufficient
reason for such outrageous insolence, with an offer of due submission
to his Highness's pleasure, and satisfactory reparation for such a
high injury."
"You are a priest, grave sir?" answered Rudolph Donnerhugel,
addressing the Chancellor of Burgundy. "If there be a soldier in this
assembly who will avouch your charge, I challenge him to the combat,
man to man. We did not storm the garrison of La Ferette--we were
admitted into the gates in a peaceful manner, and were there instantly
surrounded by the soldiers of the late Archibald de Hagenbach, with
the obvious purpose of assaulting and murdering us on our peaceful
mission. I promise you there had been news of more men dying than us.
But an uproar broke out among the inhabitants of the town, assisted, I
believe, by many neighbours, to whom the insolence and oppression of
Archibald de Hagenbach had become odious, as to all who were within
his reach. We rendered them no assistance; and, I trust, it was not
expected that we should interfere in the favour of men who had stood
prepared to do the worst against us. But not a pike or sword
belonging to us or our attendants was dipped in Burgundian blood.
Archibald de Hagenbach perished, it is true, on a scaffold, and I saw
him die with pleasure, under a sentence pronounced by a competent
court, such as is recognised in Westphalia, and its dependencies on
this side of the Rhine. I am not obliged to vindicate their
proceedings; but I aver, that the Duke has received full proof of his
regular sentence; and, in fine, that it was amply deserved by
oppression, tyranny, and foul abuse of his authority, I will uphold
against all gainsayers, with the body of a man. There lies my glove."
And, with an action suited to the language he used, the stern Swiss
flung his right-hand glove on the floor of the hall. In the spirit of
the age, with the love of distinction in arms which it nourished, and
perhaps with the desire of gaining the Duke's favour, there was a
general motion among the young Burgundians to accept the challenge,
and more than six or eight gloves were hastily doffed by the young
knights present, those who were more remote flinging them over the
heads of the nearest, and each proclaiming his name and title as he
proffered the gage of combat.
"I set at all," said the daring young Swiss, gathering the gauntlets
as they fell clashing around him. "More, gentlemen, more! a glove for
every finger! come on, one at once--fair lists, equal judges of the
field, the combat on foot, and the weapons two-handed swords, and I
will not budge for a score of you."
[Illustration: THE DEFIANCE.
Drawn and Etched by R. de los Rios.]
"Hold, gentlemen! on your allegiance, hold!" said the Duke, gratified
at the same time, and somewhat appeased, by the zeal which was
displayed in his cause--moved by the strain of reckless
bravery evinced by the challenger, with a hardihood akin to his
own--perhaps also not unwilling to display, in the view of his _cour
plénière_, more temperance than he had been at first capable of.
"Hold, I command you all.--Toison d'Or, gather up these gauntlets, and
return them each to his owner. God and St. George forbid that we
should hazard the life of even the least of our noble Burgundian
gentry against such a churl as this Swiss peasant, who never so much
as mounted a horse, and knows not a jot of knightly courtesy, or the
grace of chivalry.--Carry your vulgar brawls elsewhere, young man, and
know that, on the present occasion, the Place Morimont were your only
fitting lists, and the hangman your meet antagonist. And you, sirs,
his companions--whose behaviour in suffering this swaggerer to take
the lead amongst you seems to show that the laws of nature, as well as
of society, are inverted, and that youth is preferred to age, as
gentry to peasants--you white-bearded men, I say, is there none of you
who can speak your errand in such language as it becomes a sovereign
prince to listen to?"
"God forbid else," said the Landamman, stepping forward and silencing
Rudolph Donnerhugel, who was commencing an answer of defiance--"God
forbid," he said, "noble Duke, that we should not be able to speak so
as to be understood before your Highness, since, I trust, we shall
speak the language of truth, peace, and justice. Nay, should it
incline your Highness to listen to us the more favourably for our
humility, I am willing to humble myself rather than you should shun
to hear us. For my own part, I can truly say that, though I have
lived, and by free choice have resolved to die, a husbandman and a
hunter on the Alps of the Unterwald, I may claim by birth the
hereditary right to speak before Dukes and Kings, and the Emperor
himself. There is no one, my Lord Duke, in this proud assembly, who
derives his descent from a nobler source than Geierstein."
"We have heard of you," said the Duke. "Men call you the
peasant-count. Your birth is your shame; or perhaps your mother's, if
your father had happened to have a handsome ploughman, the fitting
father of one who has become a willing serf."
"No serf, my lord," answered the Landamman, "but a freeman, who will
neither oppress others nor be himself tyrannised over. My father was a
noble lord, my mother a most virtuous lady. But I will not be
provoked, by taunt or scornful jest, to refrain from stating with
calmness what my country has given me in charge to say. The
inhabitants of the bleak and inhospitable regions of the Alps desire,
mighty sir, to remain at peace with all their neighbours, and to enjoy
the government they have chosen, as best fitted to their condition and
habits, leaving all other states and countries to their free-will in
the same respects. Especially, they desire to remain at peace and in
unity with the princely House of Burgundy, whose dominions approach
their possessions on so many points. My lord, they desire it, they
entreat it, they even consent to pray for it. We have been termed
stubborn, intractable, and insolent contemners of authority, and
headers of sedition and rebellion. In evidence of the contrary, my
Lord Duke, I, who never bent a knee but to Heaven, feel no dishonour
in kneeling before your Highness, as before a sovereign prince in the
_cour plénière_ of his dominions, where he has a right to exact homage
from his subjects out of duty, and from strangers out of courtesy. No
vain pride of mine," said the noble old man, his eyes swelling with
tears, as he knelt on one knee, "shall prevent me from personal
humiliation, when peace--that blessed peace, so dear to God, so
inappreciably valuable to man--is in danger of being broken off."
The whole assembly, even the Duke himself, were affected by the noble
and stately manner in which the brave old man made a genuflection,
which was obviously dictated by neither meanness nor timidity. "Arise,
sir," said Charles; "if we have said aught which can wound your
private feelings, we retract it as publicly as the reproach was
spoken, and sit prepared to hear you, as a fair-meaning envoy."
"For that, my noble lord, thanks; and I shall hold it a blessed day,
if I can find words worthy of the cause I have to plead. My lord, a
schedule in your Highness's hands has stated the sense of many
injuries received at the hand of your Highness's officers, and those
of Romont, Count of Savoy, your strict ally and adviser, we have a
right to suppose, under your Highness's countenance. For Count
Romont--he has already felt with whom he has to contend; but we have
as yet taken no measures to avenge injuries, affronts, interruptions
to our commerce, from those who have availed themselves of your
Highness's authority to intercept our countrymen, spoil our goods,
impress their persons, and even, in some instances, take their lives.
The affray at La Ferette--I can vouch for what I saw--had no origin or
abettance from us; nevertheless, it is impossible an independent
nation can suffer the repetition of such injuries, and free and
independent we are determined to remain, or to die in defence of our
rights. What then must follow, unless your Highness listens to the
terms which I am commissioned to offer? War, a war to extermination;
for so long as one of our Confederacy can wield a halberd, so long, if
this fatal strife once commences, there will be war betwixt your
powerful realms and our poor and barren States. And what can the noble
Duke of Burgundy gain by such a strife? Is it wealth and plunder?
Alas, my lord, there is more gold and silver on the very bridle-bits
of your Highness's household troops than can be found in the public
treasures or private hoards of our whole Confederacy. Is it fame and
glory you aspire to? There is little honour to be won by a numerous
army over a few scattered bands, by men clad in mail over half-armed
husbandmen and shepherds--of such conquest small were the glory. But
if, as all Christian men believe, and as it is the constant trust of
my countrymen, from memory of the times of our fathers,--if the Lord
of Hosts should cast the balance in behalf of the fewer numbers and
worse-armed party, I leave it with your Highness to judge what would,
in that event, be the diminution of worship and fame. Is it extent of
vassalage and dominion your Highness desires, by warring with your
mountain neighbours? Know that you may, if it be God's will, gain our
barren and rugged mountains; but, like our ancestors of old, we will
seek refuge in wilder and more distant solitudes, and, when we have
resisted to the last, we will starve in the icy wastes of the
glaciers. Ay, men, women, and children, we will be frozen into
annihilation together, ere one free Switzer will acknowledge a foreign
master."
The speech of the Landamman made an obvious impression on the
assembly. The Duke observed it, and his hereditary obstinacy was
irritated by the general disposition which he saw entertained in
favour of the ambassador. This evil principle overcame some impression
which the address of the noble Biederman had not failed to make upon
him. He answered with a lowering brow, interrupting the old man as he
was about to continue his speech,--"You argue falsely, Sir Count, or
Sir Landamman, or by whatever name you call yourself, if you think we
war on you from any hope of spoil, or any desire of glory. We know as
well as you can tell us that there is neither profit nor fame to be
achieved by conquering you. But sovereigns, to whom Heaven has given
the power, must root out a band of robbers, though there is dishonour
in measuring swords with them; and we hunt to death a herd of wolves,
though their flesh is carrion, and their skins are naught."
The Landamman shook his grey head, and replied, without testifying
emotion, and even with something approaching to a smile,--"I am an
older woodsman than you, my Lord Duke--and, it may be, a more
experienced one. The boldest, the hardiest hunter, will not safely
drive the wolf to his den. I have shown your Highness the poor chance
of gain, and the great risk of loss, which even you, powerful as you
are, must incur by risking a war with determined and desperate men.
Let me now tell what we are willing to do to secure a sincere and
lasting peace with our powerful neighbour of Burgundy. Your Grace is
in the act of engrossing Lorraine, and it seems probable, under so
vigorous and enterprising a Prince, your authority may be extended to
the shores of the Mediterranean--be our noble friend and sincere ally,
and our mountains, defended by warriors familiar with victory, will be
your barriers against Germany and Italy. For your sake we will admit
the Count of Savoy to terms, and restore to him our conquests, on such
conditions as your Highness shall yourself judge reasonable. Of past
subjects of offence on the part of your lieutenants and governors upon
the frontier we will be silent, so we have assurance of no such
aggressions in future. Nay, more, and it is my last and proudest
offer, we will send three thousand of our youth to assist your
Highness in any war which you may engage in, whether against Louis of
France or the Emperor of Germany. They are a different set of
men--proudly and truly may I state it--from the scum of Germany and
Italy, who form themselves into mercenary bands of soldiers. And, if
Heaven should decide your Highness to accept our offer, there will be
one corps in your army which will leave their carcasses on the field
ere a man of them break their plighted troth."
A swarthy but tall and handsome man, wearing a corselet richly
engraved with arabesque work, started from his seat with the air of
one provoked beyond the bounds of restraint. This was the Count de
Campo-basso, commander of Charles's Italian mercenaries, who
possessed, as has been alluded to, much influence over the Duke's
mind, chiefly obtained by accommodating himself to his master's
opinions and prejudices, and placing before the Duke specious
arguments to justify him for following his own way.
"This lofty presence must excuse me," he said, "if I speak in defence
of my honour, and those of my bold lances, who have followed my
fortunes from Italy to serve the bravest Prince in Christendom. I
might, indeed, pass over without resentment the outrageous language of
this grey-haired churl, whose words cannot affect a knight and a
nobleman more than the yelling of a peasant's mastiff. But when I hear
him propose to associate his bands of mutinous misgoverned ruffians
with your Highness's troops, I must let him know that there is not a
horse-boy in my ranks who would fight in such fellowship. No, even I
myself, bound by a thousand ties of gratitude, could not submit to
strive abreast with such comrades. I would fold up my banners, and
lead five thousand men to seek,--not a nobler master, for the world
has none such,--but wars in which we might not be obliged to blush for
our assistants."
"Silence, Campo-basso!" said the Duke, "and be assured you serve a
prince who knows your worth too well to exchange it for the untried
and untrustful services of those whom we have only known as vexatious
and malignant neighbours."
Then, addressing himself to Arnold Biederman, he said coldly and
sternly, "Sir Landamman, we have heard you fairly. We have heard you,
although you come before us with hands dyed deep in the blood of our
servant, Sir Archibald de Hagenbach; for, supposing he was murdered by
a villanous association,--which, by St. George! shall never, while we
live and reign, raise its pestilential head on this side of the
Rhine,--yet it is not the less undeniable and undenied, that you stood
by in arms, and encouraged the deed the assassins performed under your
countenance. Return to your mountains, and be thankful that you return
in life. Tell those who sent you that I will be presently on their
frontiers. A deputation of your most notable persons, who meet me with
halters round their necks, torches in their left hands, in their right
their swords held by the point, may learn on what conditions we will
grant you peace."
"Then farewell peace, and welcome war," said the Landamman; "and be
its plagues and curses on the heads of those who choose blood and
strife rather than peace and union. We will meet you on our frontiers
with our naked swords, but the hilts, not their points, shall be in
our grasp. Charles of Burgundy, Flanders, and Lorraine, Duke of seven
dukedoms, Count of seventeen earldoms, I bid you defiance; and declare
war against you in the name of the confederated Cantons, and such
others as shall adhere to them. There," he said, "are my letters of
defiance."
The herald took from Arnold Biederman the fatal denunciation.
"Read it not, Toison d'Or!" said the haughty Duke. "Let the
executioner drag it through the streets at his horse's tail, and nail
it to the gibbet, to show in what account we hold the paltry scroll,
and those who sent it.--Away, sirs!" speaking to the Swiss. "Trudge
back to your wildernesses with such haste as your feet can use. When
we next meet, you shall better know whom you have offended.--Get our
horse ready--the council is broken up."
The Maire of Dijon, when all were in motion to leave the hall, again
approached the Duke, and timidly expressed some hopes that his
Highness would deign to partake of a banquet which the magistracy had
prepared, in expectation he might do them such an honour.
"No, by St. George of Burgundy, Sir Maire," said Charles, with one of
the withering glances by which he was wont to express indignation
mixed with contempt,--"you have not pleased us so well with our
breakfast as to induce us to trust our dinner to the loyalty of our
good town of Dijon."
So saying, he rudely turned off from the mortified chief magistrate,
and, mounting his horse, rode back to his camp, conversing earnestly
on the way with the Count of Campo-basso.
"I would offer you dinner, my Lord of Oxford," said Colvin to that
nobleman, when he alighted at his tent, "but I foresee, ere you could
swallow a mouthful, you will be summoned to the Duke's presence; for
it is our Charles's way, when he has fixed on a wrong course, to
wrangle with his friends and counsellors, in order to prove it is a
right one. Marry, he always makes a convert of yon supple Italian."
Colvin's augury was speedily realised; for a page almost immediately
summoned the English merchant, Philipson, to attend the Duke. Without
waiting an instant, Charles poured forth an incoherent tide of
reproaches against the Estates of his dukedom, for refusing him their
countenance in so slight a matter, and launched out in explanations of
the necessity which he alleged there was for punishing the audacity of
the Swiss. "And thou too, Oxford," he concluded, "art such an
impatient fool as to wish me to engage in a distant war with England,
and transport forces over the sea, when I have such insolent mutineers
to chastise on my own frontiers?"
When he was at length silent, the English Earl laid before him, with
respectful earnestness, the danger that appeared to be involved in
engaging with a people, poor indeed, but universally dreaded, from
their discipline and courage, and that under the eye of so dangerous a
rival as Louis of France, who was sure to support the Duke's enemies
underhand, if he did not join them openly. On this point the Duke's
resolution was immovable. "It shall never," he said, "be told of me,
that I uttered threats which I dared not execute. These boors have
declared war against me, and they shall learn whose wrath it is that
they have wantonly provoked; but I do not, therefore, renounce thy
scheme, my good Oxford. If thou canst procure me this same cession of
Provence, and induce old René to give up the cause of his grandson,
Ferrand of Vaudemont, in Lorraine, thou wilt make it well worth my
while to send thee brave aid against my brother Blackburn, who, while
he is drinking healths pottle-deep in France, may well come to lose
his lands in England. And be not impatient because I cannot at this
very instant send men across the seas. The march which I am making
towards Neufchatel, which is, I think, the nearest point where I shall
find these churls, will be but like a morning's excursion. I trust you
will go with us, old companion. I should like to see if you have
forgotten, among yonder mountains, how to back a horse and lay a lance
in rest."
"I will wait on your Highness," said the Earl, "as is my duty, for my
motions must depend on your pleasure. But I will not carry arms,
especially against those people of Helvetia, from whom I have
experienced hospitality, unless it be for my own personal defence."
"Well," replied the Duke, "e'en be it so; we shall have in you an
excellent judge, to tell us who best discharges his devoir against the
mountain clowns."
At this point in the conversation there was a knocking at the entrance
of the pavilion, and the Chancellor of Burgundy presently entered, in
great haste and anxiety. "News, my lord--news of France and England,"
said the prelate, and then, observing the presence of a stranger, he
looked at the Duke, and was silent.
"It is a faithful friend, my Lord Bishop," said the Duke; "you may
tell your news before him."
"It will soon be generally known," said the chancellor. "Louis and
Edward are fully accorded." Both the Duke and the English Earl
started.
"I expected this," said the Duke, "but not so soon."
"The Kings have met," answered his minister.
"How--in battle?" said Oxford, forgetting himself in his extreme
eagerness.
The chancellor was somewhat surprised, but as the Duke seemed to
expect him to give an answer, he replied, "No, Sir Stranger--not in
battle, but upon appointment, and in peace and amity."
"The sight must have been worth seeing," said the Duke; "when the old
fox Louis, and my brother Black--I mean my brother Edward--met. Where
held they their rendezvous?"
"On a bridge over the Seine, at Picquigny."
"I would thou hadst been there," said the Duke, looking to Oxford,
"with a good axe in thy hand, to strike one fair blow for England, and
another for Burgundy. My grandfather was treacherously slain at just
such a meeting, at the Bridge of Montereau, upon the Yonne."
"To prevent a similar chance," said the chancellor, "a strong
barricade, such as closes the cages in which men keep wild beasts, was
raised in the midst of the bridge, and prevented the possibility of
their even touching each other's hands."
"Ha, ha! By St. George, that smells of Louis's craft and caution; for
the Englishman, to give him his due, is as little acquainted with fear
as with policy. But what terms have they made? Where do the English
army winter? What towns, fortresses, and castles are surrendered to
them, in pledge, or in perpetuity?"
"None, my liege," said the chancellor. "The English army returns into
England, as fast as shipping can be procured to transport them; and
Louis will accommodate them with every sail and oar in his dominions,
rather than they should not instantly evacuate France."
"And by what concessions has Louis bought a peace so necessary to his
affairs?"
"By fair words," said the chancellor, "by liberal presents, and by
some five hundred tuns of wine."
"Wine!" exclaimed the Duke. "Heardst thou ever the like, Seignor
Philipson? Why, your countrymen are little better than Esau, who sold
his birthright for a mess of pottage. Marry, I must confess I never
saw an Englishman who loved a dry-lipped bargain."
"I can scarce believe this news," said the Earl of Oxford. "If this
Edward were content to cross the sea with fifty thousand Englishmen
merely to return again, there are in his camp both proud nobles and
haughty commons enough to resist his disgraceful purpose."
"The money of Louis," said the statesman, "has found noble hands
willing to clutch it. The wine of France has flooded every throat in
the English army--the riot and uproar was unbounded--and at one time
the town of Amiens, where Louis himself resided, was full of so many
English archers, all of them intoxicated, that the person of the King
of France was almost in their hands. Their sense of national honour
has been lost in the universal revel, and those amongst them who would
be more dignified and play the wise politicians say, that having come
to France by connivance of the Duke of Burgundy, and that prince
having failed to join them with his forces, they have done well,
wisely, and gallantly, considering the season of the year, and the
impossibility of obtaining quarters, to take tribute of France, and
return home in triumph."
"And leave Louis," said Oxford, "at undisturbed freedom to attack
Burgundy with all his forces?"
"Not so, friend Philipson," said Duke Charles; "know, that there is a
truce betwixt Burgundy and France for the space of seven years, and
had not this been granted and signed, it is probable that we might
have found some means of marring the treaty betwixt Edward and Louis,
even at the expense of affording those voracious islanders beef and
beer during the winter months.--Sir Chancellor, you may leave us, but
be within reach of a hasty summons."
When his minister left the pavilion, the Duke, who with his rude and
imperious character united much kindness, if it could not be termed
generosity of disposition, came up to the Lancastrian lord, who stood
like one at whose feet a thunderbolt has just broken, and who is still
appalled by the terrors of the shock.
"My poor Oxford," he said, "thou art stupefied by this news, which
thou canst not doubt must have a fatal effect on the plan which thy
brave bosom cherishes with such devoted fidelity. I would for thy sake
I could have detained the English a little longer in France; but had I
attempted to do so, there were an end of my truce with Louis, and of
course to my power to chastise these paltry Cantons, or send forth an
expedition to England. As matters stand, give me but a week to punish
these mountaineers, and you shall have a larger force than your
modesty has requested of me for your enterprise; and, in the
meanwhile, I will take care that Blackburn and his cousin-archers have
no assistance of shipping from Flanders. Tush, man, never fear
it--thou wilt be in England long ere they; and, once more, rely on my
assistance--always, thou knowest, the cession of Provence being
executed, as in reason. Our cousin Margaret's diamonds we must keep
for a time; and perhaps they may pass as a pledge, with some of our
own, for the godly purpose of setting at freedom the imprisoned angels
of our Flemish usurers, who will not lend even to their sovereign,
unless on good current security. To such straits has the disobedient
avarice of our Estates for the moment reduced us."
"Alas! my lord," said the dejected nobleman, "I were ungrateful to
doubt the sincerity of your good intentions. But who can presume on
the events of war, especially when time presses for instant decision?
You are pleased to trust me. Let your Highness extend your confidence
thus far: I will take my horse, and ride after the Landamman, if he
hath already set forth. I have little doubt to make such an
accommodation with him that you may be secure on all your
south-eastern frontiers. You may then with security work your will in
Lorraine and Provence."
"Do not speak of it," said the Duke, sharply; "thou forget'st thyself
and me, when thou supposest that a prince, who has pledged his word to
his people, can recall it like a merchant chaffering for his paltry
wares. Go to--we will assist you, but we will be ourselves judge of
the time and manner. Yet, having both kind will to our distressed
cousin of Anjou, and being your good friend, we will not linger in the
matter. Our host have orders to break up this evening and direct their
march against Neufchatel, where these proud Swiss shall have a taste
of the fire and sword which they have provoked."
Oxford sighed deeply, but made no further remonstrance; in which he
acted wisely, since it was likely to have exasperated the fiery temper
of the sovereign to whom it was addressed, while it was certain that
it would not in the slightest degree alter his resolution.
He took farewell of the Duke, and returned to Colvin, whom he found
immersed in the business of his department, and preparing for the
removal of the artillery--an operation which the clumsiness of the
ordnance, and the execrable state of the roads, rendered at that time
a much more troublesome operation than at present, though it is even
still one of the most laborious movements attending the march of an
army. The Master of the Ordnance welcomed Oxford with much glee, and
congratulated himself on the distinguished honour of enjoying his
company during the campaign, and acquainted him that, by the especial
command of the Duke, he had made fitting preparations for his
accommodation, suitable to the disguised character which he meant to
maintain, but in every other respect as convenient as a camp could
admit of.