CHAPTER XXVIII.
"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.