I will resist such entertainment, till
My enemy has more power.
_The Tempest._
"That blast was but feebly blown," said De Hagenbach, ascending to the
ramparts, from which he could see what passed on the outside of the
gate. "Who approaches, Kilian?"
The trusty squire was hastening to meet him with the news.
"Two men with a mule, an it please your excellency; and merchants, I
presume them to be."
"Merchants? 'Sdeath, villain! pedlars you mean. Heard ever man of
English merchants tramping it on foot, with no more baggage than one
mule can manage to carry? They must be beggarly Bohemians, or those
whom the French people call Escossais. The knaves! they shall pay with
the pining of their paunches for the poverty of their purses."
"Do not be too hasty, an please your excellency," quoth the squire;
"small budgets hold rich goods. But, rich or poor, they are our men,
at least they have all the marks--the elder, well-sized and
dark-visaged, may write fifty and five years, a beard somewhat
grizzled;--the younger, some two-and-twenty, taller than the first,
and a well-favoured lad, with a smooth chin and light-brown
mustaches."
"Let them be admitted," said the Governor, turning back in order again
to descend to the street, "and bring them into the folter-kammer of
the toll-house."
So saying, he betook himself to the place appointed, which was an
apartment in the large tower that protected the eastern gateway, in
which were deposited the rack, with various other instruments of
torture, which the cruel and rapacious Governor was in the habit of
applying to such prisoners from whom he was desirous of extorting
either booty or information. He entered the apartment, which was dimly
lighted, and had a lofty Gothic roof which could be but imperfectly
seen, while nooses and cords hanging down from thence announced a
fearful connection with various implements of rusted iron that hung
round the walls or lay scattered on the floor.
A faint stream of light through one of the numerous and narrow slits,
or shot-holes, with which the walls were garnished, fell directly upon
the person and visage of a tall swarthy man, seated in what, but for
the partial illumination, would have been an obscure corner of this
evil-boding apartment. His features were regular, and even handsome,
but of a character peculiarly stern and sinister. This person's dress
was a cloak of scarlet; his head was bare, and surrounded by shaggy
locks of black, which time had partly grizzled. He was busily employed
in furbishing and burnishing a broad two-handed sword, of a peculiar
shape, and considerably shorter than the weapons of that kind which we
have described as used by the Swiss. He was so deeply engaged in his
task, that he started as the heavy door opened with a jarring noise,
and the sword, escaping from his hold, rolled on the stone floor with
a heavy clash.
"Ha! Scharfgerichter," said the Knight, as he entered the
folter-kammer, "thou art preparing for thy duty?"
"It would ill become your excellency's servant," answered the man, in
a harsh deep tone, "to be found idle. But the prisoner is not far off,
as I can judge by the fall of my sword, which infallibly announces the
presence of him who shall feel its edge."
"The prisoners are at hand, Francis," replied the Governor; "but thy
omen has deceived thee for once. They are fellows for whom a good rope
will suffice, and thy sword drinks only noble blood."
"The worse for Francis Steinernherz," replied the official in scarlet:
"I trusted that your excellency, who have ever been a bountiful
patron, should this day have made me noble."
"Noble!" said the Governor; "thou art mad--Thou noble! The common
executioner!"
"And wherefore not, Sir Archibald de Hagenbach? I think the name of
Francis Steinernherz _von_ Blut-acker will suit nobility, being fairly
and legally won, as well as another. Nay, do not stare on me thus. If
one of my profession shall do his grim office on nine men of noble
birth, with the same weapon, and with a single blow to each patient,
hath he not a right to his freedom from taxes, and his nobility by
patent?"
"So says the law," said Sir Archibald, after reflecting for a
moment,--"but rather more in scorn than seriously, I should judge,
since no one was ever known to claim the benefit of it."
"The prouder boast for him," said the functionary, "that shall be the
first to demand the honours due to a sharp sword and a clean stroke.
I, Francis Steinernherz, will be the first noble of my profession,
when I shall have despatched one more knight of the Empire."
"Thou hast been ever in _my_ service, hast thou not?" demanded De
Hagenbach.
"Under what other master," replied the executioner, "could I have
enjoyed such constant practice? I have executed your decrees on
condemned sinners since I could swing a scourge, lift a crowbar, or
wield this trusty weapon; and who can say I ever failed of my first
blow, or needed to deal a second? Tristrem of the Hospital, and his
famous assistants, Petit André and Trois Eschelles, are novices
compared with me in the use of the noble and knightly sword. Marry, I
should be ashamed to match myself with them in the field practice with
bowstring and dagger; these are no feats worthy of a Christian man who
would rise to honour and nobility."
"Thou art a fellow of excellent address, and I do not deny it,"
replied De Hagenbach. "But it cannot be--I trust it cannot be--that
when noble blood is becoming scarce in the land, and proud churls are
lording it over knights and barons, I myself should have caused so
much to be spilled?"
"I will number the patients to your excellency by name and title,"
said Francis, drawing out a scroll of parchment, and reading with a
commentary as he went on,--"There was Count William of Elvershoe--he
was my assay-piece, a sweet youth, and died most like a Christian."
"I remember--he was indeed a most smart youth, and courted my
mistress," said Sir Archibald.
"He died on St. Jude's, in the year of grace 1455," said the
executioner.
"Go on--but name no dates," said the Governor.
"Sir Miles of Stockenborg"----
"He drove off my cattle," observed his excellency.
"Sir Louis of Riesenfeldt"--continued the executioner.
"He made love to my wife," commented the Governor.
"The three Yung-herren of Lammerbourg--you made their father, the
Count, childless in one day."
"And he made me landless," said Sir Archibald, "so that account is
settled.--Thou needest read no further," he continued: "I admit thy
record, though it is written in letters somewhat of the reddest. I had
counted these three young gentlemen as one execution."
"You did me the greater wrong," said Francis; "they cost three good
separate blows of this good sword."
"Be it so, and God be with their souls," said Hagenbach. "But thy
ambition must go to sleep for a while, Scharfgerichter, for the stuff
that came hither to-day is for dungeon and cord, or perhaps a touch of
the rack or strappado--there is no honour to win on them."
"The worse luck mine," said the executioner. "I had dreamed so surely
that your honour had made me noble;--and then the fall of my sword?"
"Take a bowl of wine, and forget your auguries."
"With your honour's permission, no," said the executioner; "to drink
before noon were to endanger the nicety of my hand."
"Be silent, then, and mind your duty," said De Hagenbach.
Francis took up his sheathless sword, wiped the dust reverently from
it, and withdrew into a corner of the chamber, where he stood leaning
with his hands on the pommel of the fatal weapon.
Almost immediately afterwards, Kilian entered at the head of five or
six soldiers, conducting the two Philipsons, whose arms were tied down
with cords.
"Approach me a chair," said the Governor, and took his place gravely
beside a table, on which stood writing-materials. "Who are these men,
Kilian, and wherefore are they bound?"
"So please your excellency," said Kilian, with a deep respect of
manner, which entirely differed from the tone, approaching to
familiarity, with which he communicated with his master in private,
"we thought it well that these two strangers should not appear armed
in your gracious presence; and when we required of them to surrender
their weapons at the gate, as is the custom of the garrison, this
young gallant must needs offer resistance. I admit he gave up his
weapon at his father's command."
"It is false!" exclaimed young Philipson; but his father making a sign
to him to be silent, he obeyed instantly.
"Noble sir," said the elder Philipson, "we are strangers, and
unacquainted with the rules of this citadel; we are Englishmen, and
unaccustomed to submit to personal mishandling; we trust you will
have excuse for us, when we found ourselves, without any explanation
of the cause, rudely seized on by we knew not whom. My son, who is
young and unthinking, did partly draw his weapon, but desisted at my
command, without having altogether unsheathed his sword, far less made
a blow. For myself, I am a merchant, accustomed to submit to the laws
and customs of the countries in which I traffic; I am in the
territories of the Duke of Burgundy, and I know his laws and customs
must be just and equitable. He is the powerful and faithful ally of
England, and I fear nothing while under his banner."
"Hem! hem!" replied De Hagenbach, a little disconcerted by the
Englishman's composure, and perhaps recollecting, that, unless his
passions were awakened (as in the case of the Swiss, whom he
detested), Charles of Burgundy deserved the character of a just though
severe prince,--"Fair words are well, but hardly make amends for foul
actions. You have drawn swords in riot, and opposition to the Duke's
soldiers, when obeying the mandates which regulate their watch."
"Surely, sir," answered Philipson, "this is a severe construction of a
most natural action. But, in a word, if you are disposed to be
rigorous, the simple action of drawing, or attempting to draw a sword,
in a garrison town, is only punishable by pecuniary fine, and such we
must pay, if it be your will."
"Now, here is a silly sheep," said Kilian to the executioner, beside
whom he had stationed himself, somewhat apart from the group, "who
voluntarily offers his own fleece to the clipper."
"It will scarcely serve as a ransom for his throat, Sir Squire,"
answered Francis Steinernherz; "for, look you, I dreamed last night
that our master made me noble, and I knew by the fall of my sword that
this is the man by whom I am to mount to gentility. I must this very
day deal on him with my good sword."
"Why, thou ambitious fool," said the esquire, "this is no noble, but
an island pedlar--a mere English citizen."
"Thou art deceived," said the executioner, "and hast never looked on
men when they are about to die."
"Have I not?" said the squire. "Have I not looked on five pitched
fields, besides skirmishes and ambuscades innumerable?"
"That tries not the courage," said the Scharfgerichter. "All men will
fight when pitched against each other. So will the most paltry
curs--so will the dunghill fowls. But he is brave and noble who can
look on a scaffold and a block, a priest to give him absolution, and
the headsman and good sword which is to mow him down in his strength,
as he would look upon things indifferent; and such a man is that whom
we now behold."
"Yes," answered Kilian, "but that man looks not on such an
apparatus--he only sees our illustrious patron, Sir Archibald de
Hagenbach."
"And he who looks upon Sir Archibald," said the executioner, "being,
as yonder man assuredly is, a person of sense and apprehension, looks
he not upon sword and headsman? Assuredly that prisoner apprehends as
much, and being so composed as he is under such conviction, it shows
him to be a nobleman by blood, or may I myself never win nobility!"
"Our master will come to compromise with him, I judge," replied
Kilian; "he looks smilingly on him."
"Never trust to me, then," said the man in scarlet; "there is a glance
in Sir Archibald's eye which betokens blood, as surely as the dog-star
bodes pestilence."
While these dependants of Sir Archibald de Hagenbach were thus
conversing apart, their master had engaged the prisoners in a long
train of captious interrogatories concerning their business in
Switzerland, their connection with the Landamman, and the cause of
their travelling into Burgundy, to all which the senior Philipson gave
direct and plain answers, excepting to the last. He was going, he
said, into Burgundy, for the purpose of his traffic--his wares were at
the disposal of the Governor, who might detain all, or any part of
them, as he might be disposed to make himself answerable to his
master. But his business with the Duke was of a private nature,
respecting some particular matters of commerce, in which others as
well as he himself were interested. To the Duke alone, he declared,
would he communicate the affair; and he pressed it strongly on the
Governor, that if he should sustain any damage in his own person or
that of his son, the Duke's severe displeasure would be the inevitable
consequence.
De Hagenbach was evidently much embarrassed by the steady tone of his
prisoner, and more than once held counsel with the bottle, his
never-failing oracle in cases of extreme difficulty. Philipson had
readily surrendered to the Governor a list or invoice of his
merchandise, which was of so inviting a character that Sir Archibald
absolutely gloated over it. After remaining in deep meditation for
some time, he raised his head and spoke thus:--
"You must be well aware, Sir Merchant, that it is the Duke's pleasure
that no Swiss merchandise shall pass through his territories; and
that, nevertheless, you having been, by your own account, some time in
that country, and having also accompanied a body of men calling
themselves Swiss Deputies, I am authorised to believe that these
valuable articles are rather the property of those persons, than of a
single individual of so poor an appearance as yourself, and that,
should I demand pecuniary satisfaction, three hundred pieces of gold
would not be an extravagant fine for so bold a practice; and you might
wander where you will with the rest of your wares, so you bring them
not into Burgundy."
"But it is to Burgundy, and to the Duke's presence, that I am
expressly bound," said the Englishman. "If I go not thither my journey
is wrecked, and the Duke's displeasure is certain to light on those
who may molest me. For I make your excellency aware, that your
gracious Prince already knows of my journey, and will make strict
inquiry where and by whom I have been intercepted."
Again the Governor was silent, endeavouring to decide how he might
best reconcile the gratification of his rapacity with precaution for
his safety. After a few minutes' consideration he again addressed his
prisoner.
"Thou art very positive in thy tale, my good friend; but my orders are
equally so to exclude merchandise coming from Switzerland. What if I
put thy mule and baggage under arrest?"
"I cannot withstand your power, my lord, to do what you will. I will
in that case go to the Duke's footstool, and do my errand there."
"Ay, and my errand also," answered the Governor. "That is, thou wilt
carry thy complaint to the Duke against the Governor of La Ferette,
for executing his orders too strictly?"
"On my life and honest word," answered the Englishman, "I will make no
complaint. Leave me but my ready money, without which I can hardly
travel to the Duke's court, and I will look no more after these goods
and wares than the stag looks after the antlers which he shed last
year."
Again the Governor of La Ferette looked doubtful, and shook his head.
"Men in such a case as yours," he said, "cannot be trusted, nor, to
say truth, is it reasonable to expect they should be trustworthy.
These same wares, designed for the Duke's private hand, in what do
they consist?"
"They are under seal," replied the Englishman.
"They are of rare value, doubtless?" continued the Governor.
"I cannot tell," answered the elder Philipson; "I know the Duke sets
great store by them. But your excellency knows, that great princes
sometimes place a high value on trifles."
"Bear you them about you?" said the Governor. "Take heed how you
answer--Look around you on these engines, which can bring a dumb man
to speak, and consider I have the power to employ them!"
"And I the courage to support their worst infliction," answered
Philipson, with the same impenetrable coolness which he had maintained
throughout the whole conference.
"Remember, also," said Hagenbach, "that I can have your person
searched as thoroughly as your mails and budgets."
"I do remember that I am wholly in thy power; and that I may leave
thee no excuse for employing force on a peaceful traveller, I will own
to you," said Philipson, "that I have the Duke's packet in the bosom
of my doublet."
"Bring it forth," answered the Governor.
"My hands are tied, both in honour and literally," said the
Englishman.
"Pluck it from his bosom, Kilian," said Sir Archibald; "let us see
this gear he talks of."
"Could resistance avail," replied the stout merchant, "you should
pluck forth my heart first. But I pray all who are present to observe
that the seals are every one whole and unbroken at this moment when it
is forcibly taken from my person."
As he spoke thus he looked around on the soldiers, whose presence De
Hagenbach had perhaps forgotten.
"How, dog!" said Sir Archibald, giving way to his passion, "would you
stir up mutiny among my men-at-arms?--Kilian, let the soldiers wait
without."
So saying, he hastily placed under cover of his own robe the small but
remarkably well-secured packet which Kilian had taken from the
merchant's person. The soldiers withdrew, lingering, however, and
looking back, like children brought away from a show before its final
conclusion.
"So, fellow!" again began De Hagenbach, "we are now more private. Wilt
thou deal more on the level with me, and tell me what this packet is,
and whence it comes?"
"Could all your garrison be crowded into this room, I can only answer
as before.--The contents I do not precisely know--the person by whom
it was sent I am determined not to name."
"Perhaps your son," said the Governor, "may be more compliant."
"He cannot tell you that of which he is himself ignorant," answered
the merchant.
"Perchance the rack may make you both find your tongues;--and we will
try it on the young fellow first, Kilian, since thou knowest we have
seen men shrink from beholding the wrenched joints of their children,
that would have committed their own old sinews to the stretching with
much endurance."
"You may make the trial," said Arthur, "and Heaven will give me
strength to endure"----
"And me courage to behold," added his father.
All this while the Governor was turning and re-turning the little
packet in his hand, curiously inspecting every fold, and regretting,
doubtless, in secret, that a few patches of wax, placed under an
envelope of crimson satin, and ligatures of twisted silk cord, should
prevent his eager eyes from ascertaining the nature of the treasure
which he doubted not it concealed. At length he again called in the
soldiers, and delivered up the two prisoners to their charge,
commanding that they should be kept safely, and in separate holds, and
that the father, in particular, should be most carefully looked
after.
"I take you all here to witness," exclaimed the elder Philipson,
despising the menacing signs of De Hagenbach, "that the Governor
detains from me a packet, addressed to his most gracious lord and
master, the Duke of Burgundy."
De Hagenbach actually foamed at the mouth with passion.
"And should I _not_ detain it?" he exclaimed, in a voice inarticulate
with rage. "May there not be some foul practice against the life of
our most gracious sovereign, by poison or otherwise, in this
suspicious packet, brought by a most suspicious bearer? Have we never
heard of poisons which do their work by the smell? And shall we, who
keep the gate, as I may say, of his Grace of Burgundy's dominions,
give access to what may rob Europe of its pride of chivalry, Burgundy
of its prince, and Flanders of her father?--No! Away with these
miscreants, soldiers--down to the lowest dungeons with them--keep them
separate, and watch them carefully. This treasonable practice has been
meditated with the connivance of Berne and Soleure."
Thus Sir Archibald de Hagenbach raved, with a raised voice and
inflamed countenance, lashing himself as it were into passion, until
the steps of the soldiers, and the clash of their arms, as they
retired with the prisoners, were no longer audible. His complexion,
when these had ceased, waxed paler than was natural to him--his brow
was furrowed with anxious wrinkles--and his voice became lower and
more hesitating than ordinary, as, turning to his esquire, he said,
"Kilian, we stand upon a slippery plank, with a raging torrent beneath
us--What is to be done?"
[Illustration: THE EXAMINATION.
Drawn and Etched by R. de Los Rios.]
"Marry, to move forward with a resolved yet prudent step," answered
the crafty Kilian. "It is unlucky that all these fellows should have
seen the packet, and heard the appeal of yonder iron-nerved trader.
But this ill luck has befallen us, and the packet having been in your
excellency's hands, you will have all the credit of having broken the
seals; for, though you leave them as entire as the moment they were
impressed, it will only be supposed they have been ingeniously
replaced. Let us see what are the contents, before we determine what
is to be done with them. They must be of rare value, since the churl
merchant was well contented to leave behind all his rich mule's-load
of merchandise, so that this precious packet might pass unexamined."
"They may be papers on some political matter. Many such, and of high
importance, pass secretly between Edward of England and our bold
Duke." Such was the reply of De Hagenbach.
"If they be papers of consequence to the Duke," answered Kilian, "we
can forward them to Dijon.--Or they may be such as Louis of France
would purchase with their weight of gold."
"For shame, Kilian!" said the Knight. "Wouldst thou have me betray my
master's secrets to the King of France? Sooner would I lay my head on
the block."
"Indeed? And yet your excellency hesitates not to"----
Here the squire stopped, apparently for fear of giving offence, by
affixing a name too broad and intelligible to the practices of his
patron.
"To plunder the Duke, thou wouldst say, thou impudent slave? And,
saying so, thou wouldst be as dull as thou art wont to be," answered
De Hagenbach. "I partake, indeed, in the plunder which the Duke takes
from aliens; and reason good. Even so the hound and the hawk have
their share of the quarry they bring down--ay, and the lion's share
too, unless the huntsman or falconer be all the nearer to them. Such
are the perquisites of my rank; and the Duke, who placed me here for
the gratification of his resentment, and the bettering of my fortune,
does not grudge them to a faithful servant. And, indeed, I may term
myself, in so far as this territory of La Ferette extends, the Duke's
full representative, or, as it may be termed, ALTER EGO--and,
thereupon, I will open this packet, which, being addressed to him, is
thereby equally addressed to me."
Having thus in a manner talked himself up to an idea of his own high
authority, he cut the strings of the packet which he had all this
while held in his hand, and, undoing the outer coverings, produced a
very small case made of sandalwood.
"The contents," he said, "had need to be valuable, as they lie in so
little compass."
So saying he pressed the spring, and the casket, opening, displayed a
necklace of diamonds, distinguished by brilliancy and size, and
apparently of extraordinary value. The eyes of the avaricious
Governor, and his no less rapacious attendant, were so dazzled with
the unusual splendour, that for some time they could express nothing
save joy and surprise.
"Ay, marry, sir," said Kilian, "the obstinate old knave had reasons
for his hardihood. My own joints should have stood a strain or two ere
I surrendered such sparklers as these.--And now, Sir Archibald, may
your trusty follower ask you how this booty is to be divided between
the Duke and his Governor, according to the most approved rules of
garrison towns?"
"Faith, we will suppose the garrison stormed, Kilian; and in a storm,
thou know'st, the first finder takes all--with due consideration
always of his trusty followers."
"As myself, for example," said Kilian.
"Ay, and myself, for example," answered a voice, which sounded like
the echo of the esquire's words, from the remote corner of the ancient
apartment.
"'Sdeath! we are overheard," exclaimed the Governor, starting and
laying his hand on his dagger.
"Only by a faithful follower, as the worthy esquire observes," said
the executioner, moving slowly forward.
"Villain, how didst thou dare watch me?" said Sir Archibald de
Hagenbach.
"Trouble not yourself for that, sir," said Kilian. "Honest
Steinernherz has no tongue to speak, or ear to hear, save according to
your pleasure. Indeed, we must shortly have taken him into our
counsels, seeing these men must be dealt upon, and that speedily."
"Indeed!" said De Hagenbach; "I had thought they might be spared."
"To tell the Duke of Burgundy how the Governor of La Ferette accounts
to his treasurer for the duties and forfeitures at his custom-house?"
demanded Kilian.
"'Tis true," said the Knight; "dead men have neither teeth nor
tongue--they bite not, and they tell no tales. Thou wilt take order
with them, Scharfgerichter."
"I will, my lord," answered the executioner, "on condition that, if
this must be in the way of dungeon execution, which I call cellar
practice, my privilege to claim nobility shall be saved and reserved
to me, and the execution shall be declared to be as effectual to my
claim, as it might have been if the blow had been dealt in broad
daylight, with my honourable blade of office."
De Hagenbach stared at the executioner, as not understanding what he
meant; on which Kilian took occasion to explain, that the
Scharfgerichter was strongly impressed, from the free and dauntless
conduct of the elder prisoner, that he was a man of noble blood, from
whose decapitation he would himself derive all the advantages proposed
to the headsman who should execute his function on nine men of
illustrious extraction.
"He may be right," said Sir Archibald, "for here is a slip of
parchment, commending the bearer of this carcanet to the Duke,
desiring him to accept it as a true token from one well known to him,
and to give the bearer full credence in all that he should say on the
part of those by whom he is sent."
"By whom is the note signed, if I may make bold to ask?" said Kilian.
"There is no name--the Duke must be supposed to collect that
information from the gems, or perhaps the handwriting."
"On neither of which he is likely to have a speedy opportunity of
exercising his ingenuity," said Kilian.
De Hagenbach looked at the diamonds, and smiled darkly. The
Scharfgerichter, encouraged by the familiarity into which he had in a
manner forced himself, returned to his plea, and insisted on the
nobility of the supposed merchant. Such a trust, and such a letter of
unlimited credence, could never, he contended, be intrusted to a man
meanly born.[7]
"Thou art deceived, thou fool," said the Knight; "kings now use the
lowest tools to do their dearest offices. Louis has set the example of
putting his barber, and the valets of his chamber, to do the work
formerly intrusted to dukes and peers; and other monarchs begin to
think that it is better, in choosing their agents for important
affairs, to judge rather by the quality of men's brains than that of
their blood. And as for the stately look and bold bearing which
distinguish yonder fellow in the eyes of cravens like thee, it belongs
to his country, not his rank. Thou think'st it is in England as in
Flanders, where a city-bred burgher of Ghent, Liège, or Ypres is as
distinct an animal from a knight of Hainault as a Flanders wagon horse
from a Spanish jennet. But thou art deceived. England has many a
merchant as haughty of heart, and as prompt of hand, as any noble-born
son of her rich bosom. But be not dejected, thou foolish man; do thy
business well on this merchant, and we shall presently have on our
hands the Landamman of Unterwalden, who, though a churl by his choice,
is yet a nobleman by blood, and shall, by his well-deserved death,
aid thee to get rid of the peasant slough which thou art so weary of."
"Were not your excellency better adjourn these men's fate," said
Kilian, "till you hear something of them from the Swiss prisoners whom
we shall presently have in our power?"
"Be it as you will," said Hagenbach, waving his hand, as if putting
aside some disagreeable task. "But let all be finished ere I hear of
it again."
The stern satellites bowed obedience, and the deadly conclave broke
up; their chief carefully securing the valuable gems, which he was
willing to purchase at the expense of treachery to the sovereign in
whose employment he had enlisted himself, as well as the blood of two
innocent men. Yet, with a weakness of mind not uncommon to great
criminals, he shrank from the thoughts of his own baseness and
cruelty, and endeavoured to banish the feeling of dishonour from his
mind, by devolving the immediate execution of his villany upon his
subordinate agents.
FOOTNOTE:
[7] Louis XI. was probably the first king of France who flung aside
all affectation of choosing his ministers from among the nobility. He
often placed men of mean birth in situations of the highest trust.