"From this, sire, I am of opinion," continued the Cardinal Bishop of
St. Malo, after having given a long exposition of his views in regard
to the state of Italy, "that it would be wise for your Majesty to send
some high dignitary of the Church to confer with the pope, and
endeavour to detach him from the League, of which people speak so
much, and of which Monsieur de Commines is so much afraid. His
Holiness can hardly be supposed to be sincerely attached to it, and
will doubtless yield to some slight inducements. At the same time, I
will send messengers to Monsieur de Commines, instructing him to
negotiate with the Venetians concerning a commercial treaty and a
guarantee of the coasts of Italy against the invasion of the Turks.
There is nothing, to my eye, very formidable in the treaty between the
Italian powers, which was fairly and openly published at the Vatican,
and in which his Majesty was invited to take part. It is not usual for
monarchs to be asked to fight against themselves, and I cannot but
believe that the objects of the confederation have been plainly and
candidly stated, notwithstanding the terrors of Monsieur de Commines,
who has now somewhat of the timidity of age about him."
The prelate looked round the council-board, at which were seated some
of the most distinguished soldiers of France, and it was evident, from
the self-satisfied features of his countenance, that he thought he had
made a very effectual and convincing speech. He was destined to be
much disappointed, however; for, though Montpensier and several others
held their tongues, a somewhat sarcastic smile curled the lips of the
old soldiers, and La Tremouille probably spoke the universal
sentiment, though in rather an abrupt and discourteous way.
"There spoke a priest," he said, "my lord the king; this is a council
of war, I think, and though I could not probably celebrate mass as
well as monseigneur here can cook a ragout, yet I think I know
somewhat more of war than he does, and perhaps as much of policy.
Commines is not alarmed without cause.
"Put by paltering with naked facts, and you will find the case to
stand thus: The most formidable league, probably, that ever was formed
against a King of France, has been entered into by the Venetians, the
Duke of Lombardy, all the petty princes of the North of Italy, the
King of Spain, the Emperor of Germany, and the King of the Romans. All
these are jealous of your Majesty's conquest of Naples, and the pope,
knowing that he has given you good cause of offence, hates you because
he has done you wrong, has broken his treaty with you, and fulfilled
not one single promise that he made, except giving cardinals' hats to
the Bishop of St. Malo and the Archbishop of Rouen. He also has joined
the league against you. There is one plain fact.
"Now for another, sire. Your enemies are in an active state of
preparation. The Venetians have levied large forces, both of
men-at-arms, of infantry, and of light Albanian cavalry. These
Stradiotes are scouring all Lombardy. The Duke of Milan alone has a
force in the field superior in numbers to any your Majesty can bring
against him. The houses of Este and Gonzaga are both in arms; the
fleets of Genoa and Venice are both upon the sea to cut off your
reinforcements, and the King of Spain is hurrying his preparations,
not alone to bar your passage into France, but to attack your French
dominions.
"Now, sire, it does not behove the high officers of your Majesty's
crown and army to risk the perdition of their monarch for an old
woman's tale or a churchman's delays. What is the advice we are bound
to give you? To remain here shut up in this remote corner of Italy
till your enemies gather strength every day, attack you on all sides,
and sweep us up, as one of these Neapolitan fishermen sweeps up the
fish in his net? Certainly not. The only course, then, is for you to
return to France. Can you return by sea? It is impossible; we have no
ships at hand to carry us, and if we had, there are superior fleets
upon the water. By land, then, is the only way--I was going to
say--still open, but I can hardly say that, for De Vitry here tells me
that troops are gathering fast upon the Taro. But they are not yet in
sufficient numbers to be of much account."
"But, Monsieur de la Tremouille," said the king, interrupting him,
"would you have me abandon Naples, after all it has cost us to acquire
it?"
"That does not follow, sire," replied La Tremouille; "You can garrison
the principal strong places of this kingdom, and then, with the rest
of the army, march, lance in hand, to the frontier of France. I will
undertake, upon my head, that we cut our way through if we set out at
once; if we delay, God only knows what will be the result. Our
junction once effected with the Duke of Orleans, we have nothing more
to fear, and may then either turn upon this Ludovic the Moor and
chastise his many crimes, or gathering fresh forces in France, return
to Naples, and set all our enemies at defiance. This is my advice. I
know not what is the opinion of the other lords here present."
"I go with my good cousin, sire," said Montpensier: "and if it be
needful, and your Majesty so commands, I am ready to remain here in
Naples, and do my best to keep the kingdom for you till you can return
yourself or send me reinforcements."
Every member of the council, with the exception of the
bitterly-mortified Cardinal of St. Malo, concurred in the views of La
Tremouille.
Charles still hesitated, and ended by endeavouring to combine the
advice of his minister with that of his generals. He gave orders to
prepare for immediate departure, and sent prelates to the pope, and
letters to his ambassador at Venice. The appearance of the first in
Rome served to warn Alexander to fly from the approach of the French
army; the receipt of the latter in Venice only served to hasten the
preparations of the Venetians to oppose the king's passage. But still
with some vacillation of purpose, before the council rose he
questioned De Vitry as to the nature and source of the intelligence he
had received regarding the concentration of troops upon the Taro.
"I have got the man here without, sire," replied De Vitry; "shall I
call him in, that your Majesty may examine him yourself?"
The king bowed his head, and a moment after Antonio was in his
presence. The scene was somewhat imposing, for all the greatest men of
France--those who had served their country--those who had made
themselves a name in history, were present round that council-board;
but I fear, Antonio's was not a very reverent nature. It was not alone
that he had but small respect for dignities, but that he had as little
for what are generally considered great actions. Doughty deeds were to
him but splendid follies; and he felt more reverence in the presence
of a woman suckling her babe than he would have felt for Cæsar in his
hour of triumph. If he was a philosopher, it was certainly of the
school of the cynics.
On the present occasion he appeared before the King of France with
perfect unconcern; perhaps there was a little vanity in it, for he
argued, "They may know more about some things, but my mother-wit is as
good as theirs, and may be better. Why should I stand in awe of men,
many of whom are inferior to myself, and few superior?"
"Well, sir, tell what you know of this matter," said the king, taking
it for granted that De Vitry had told him why he was brought within.
"Of what matter, sire?" asked Antonio; "I know a good deal of several
matters."
"I mean of what is taking place beyond the mountains," said the king.
"I thought Monsieur De Vitry had explained."
"He merely told me to come to your Majesty's presence," replied
Antonio. "As to what is taking place beyond the mountains, sire, there
are many things I wish were not. It is now the month of May, and the
prospects of the harvest are but poor. There is plenty of it, but the
crop is likely to be bad--spears and bucklers instead of wheat and
furrows, sire, and blood and tears instead of gentle rain and light
airs."
"Be more precise, sirrah," said the Cardinal of St. Malo, sharply; "we
want facts, and not any more moralizing."
"Heaven forbid that I should moralize in your Eminence's presence,"
replied Antonio, with great gravity; "but if his Majesty wishes to
know what I saw on my journey from this place to Florence and back
again, I will deliver it at large."
"Pray spare yourself that trouble," said De Vitry, interposing;
"merely tell, and that as briefly as possible, my good friend, what
you told me just now about the state of the country, especially on the
other side of the Apennines."
"Why, my lord, the people are arming all through Romagna and the Papal
States," replied Antonio. "I have never seen such an arming in Italy
before. There is not a small baron or a vicar of the Church who is not
getting men together; and had it been know I was in the French
service, I could not have passed; from which I argue that all this
preparation bodes no good to France. Then, as to the other side of the
mountains, I saw nothing with my own eyes. But I heard from a
muleteer, who had been plundered of his packs by the Albanians, that
about Fornovo and Badia there is a Venetian force of several thousand
men--a thousand lances, he said, at the least, besides foot-soldiers,
and that the Stradiotes were scouring the country right and left, and
bringing in food and fodder to a camp they are forming near Badia on
the Taro. Another told me that on the road near Placenza he had passed
a force of some five thousand men marching towards the mountains; and
the report ran that his Highness of Orleans had been stopped near
Novara by a superior army and forced to throw himself into that
place."
"That accounts for there being no letter, sire," said La Tremouille.
"He surely could have found means of sending us intelligence," said
Charles; "it is always customary, I believe, my lords, to send more
couriers than one, and by different routes."
"No French courier could pass, sire," said Antonio; "there are
barriers across the whole of Italy, whose sole business is to cut off
all communication between your Majesty and your French dominions."
"Then how did you pass?" exclaimed the king, somewhat irritated by the
man's boldness.
"Because I can be a Frenchman when I like and an Italian when I like,
may it please your Majesty," replied Antonio; "this time I thought fit
to be an Italian, and that saved me."
"I would fain have the man asked," said La Tremouille, "if he knows by
whom those bands are commanded, led, or instigated."
"I know nothing but by common report," replied Antonio, "and she is a
stumbling jade upon whom it is not well to rest weighty matters.
However, she sometimes stumbles right, and the general rumour
throughout the whole country was that his Eminence the Cardinal Cæsar
Borgia was at the bottom of the whole. Certain it is that the men who
stopped and robbed the muleteer professed themselves to be his
soldiers."
"I cannot believe it," said the king; "he was wrong in leaving our
camp it is true, when he had voluntarily surrendered himself as a
hostage, but in all our communications he showed reverence for the
crown of France, and professed respect and affection for our person."
A slight smile came upon the lips of several of the counsellors, who
had learned by experience the difference between professions and
realities, but no one ventured to assail the king's opinion, and
shortly after Antonio was dismissed; but it was only to give place to
the king's provost, who came to report very unmistakable signs of
mutiny and sedition in the city of Naples itself. From his account it
appeared that even those who had been most discontented with the
Arragonese princes, and had greeted most warmly the entrance of
Charles into Naples, longed for the restoration of the old dynasty,
and were, step by step, advancing towards revolt.
"They are an ungrateful people," said Charles; "have I not freed them
from taxes and burdens insupportable?"
"Yes, sire," replied bluff La Tremouille; "but I must say in their
favour that if _you_ have freed them, some of our good friends have
burdened them sufficiently. In fact, your Majesty, it has been but a
change in the nature, not in the weight of the load, and the old story
goes, if I recollect right, that the ass who carried the gold, found
his pack quite as heavy as the ass who carried the hay."
"You are somewhat bold," replied the king, with a frowning brow.
"I am, sire," replied the undaunted soldier; "perhaps too bold, and I
can crave your pardon on the plea that I am rendered bold by my zeal
for your Majesty's service. The people of the whole kingdom we know to
be discontented at the end of three short months. Now, as your Majesty
has shown yourself full of the kindest and most liberal feelings
towards them, this discontent can only be produced by the exactions
and peculations of inferior persons. I mention it now, whatever it may
produce, because I sincerely hope and trust that Naples may ever
remain a dependency of the French crown; and it will be necessary that
these things be examined into very closely, in order that the country
may be rendered a willing and attached dependency, rather than a
hot-bed of mutiny and discontent--a sore in the side of France."
"You mean well, I know," said the king, rising; "let all preparations
be made with speed to commence our march at the earliest possible day.
Montpensier, we will confer with you privately on the defence and
maintenance of the kingdom at the hour of noon--that is to say," he
continued, with a faint smile, "if you can contrive to rise so early
in the morning."
Thus saying, Charles quitted the council chamber with a sad feeling of
the weight and difficulty, the care and anxiety, the duty and
responsibility of a crown.