LXIX.
French.
La grand pitie sera sans long tarder,
Ceux qui donnoient seront contraints de prendre
Nuds affamez, de froid, soif, soy bander,
Passer les Monts en faisant grand esclandre.
English.
What a great pitty will it be e’re-long,
Those that did give shall be constrained to receive,
Naked, famished with cold, thirst, to mutiny,
To go over the Mountains making great disorders.
ANNOT.
The words of the first Verse, before it be long, is the Key of the Stanza, because we infer from thence it was shortly to happen, as in truth it did at the latter end of the year 1556. when the Duke of Guise came into Piemont to joyn with the Marshal of Brissac. Then the troops of the Marshal seeing those of the Duke better paid then they were, forsook the Marshal, the History saith there was above 1500. of them, and that the Marshal paid the Souldiers of his own money to stay them.
The great pitty was, when he had no more to give, he was compelled by the Kings order it self, and against his own inclination to raise some moneys upon the Countreys. Secondly, to take some Towns and give the plunder to the Souldiers. Thirdly, to permit the Souldiers to pillage the Countrey.
The Author was willing to foretell this, because there was never a man more strict in keeping the Martial discipline, then this General was.
The Marshal of Brissac being thus abused, some of his troops forsook him to follow the Duke of Guise, being for the most part naked and starved with cold, hunger and thirst, which makes the Author to specifie hunger, cold and thirst; want having compelled them to disband, they went over the Mountains, not of Piemont, but the Apennines of Montserrat, and whatsoever thing they found was a Fish for their Net.