Respecting Olivier de la Marche, whom the king would have sent to him, for having first uttered the words the king complains of and the preacher who published them from the pulpit at Bruges,—the duke replied, that the preacher was a churchman whom he would not touch, as it was unbecoming him so to do; and that there be preachers who are neither wise nor prudent, and who go from place to place, so that no one knows where to find them; 'but for my part,' he continued, 'I do not believe that any preacher has preached such language. As to Olivier de la Marche, he is of the household of my son; and I do not think that he has done any thing but what he ought to have done or said: should it be otherwise, I shall make proper inquiries, and punish him according to his deserts.
'With regard to not keeping my word, I will that all the world know that I have never promised any thing by my mouth to any one alive, but what I have kept to the very utmost of my power.' This he said rather in a passion; and then, smiling, he said, 'I never failed in my promises but to the ladies, and wish that you may know it; and tell my lord your king, that when I last took leave of him, I indeed said, that if affairs, or any other matters, did not require my presence elsewhere, I should not quit Hêdin until I saw him again, if he wished it; this, and nothing else, did I promise him. Now at the moment of my setting out, news was brought me of the arrest of the bastard de Reubempré, and of other affairs, that made my departure necessary; but I made no very great haste,—for I only travelled four leagues a day until I came to Lille.'
The chancellor of France then said, that considering the great respect and affection he had always borne to the crown of France, and the marked attention the king had shown by selecting for this embassy his relative, the count d'Eu, and himself, who was chancellor of France, he hoped the bastard of Reubempré would be given up, and begged of the duke to weigh this in his mind.
The duke instantly replied, that, in truth, he had ever exerted himself to pay the king every honour and love; 'but of all the things I have asked,' added he, 'he has not only never granted one, but he has failed to keep the promises he made me. Of the lands which he has regained, he promised me the enjoyment during my life; but no sooner were the payments made than he forgot what he had promised, and deprived me of the enjoyment of them, for which I am not the better.'
At these words, master Pierre de Goux, knight and doctor of laws, advanced, and said aloud to the ambassadors, that all might hear him, 'My lords, the duke, my lord, does not hold all his territories from the king of France: he holds from him, indeed, the duchy of Burgundy, the counties of Flanders and of Artois; but he has many fine dominions out of the kingdom of France,—such as the duchies of Brabant, of Luxembourg, of Lembourg, of Austria, together with the counties of Burgundy, Hainault, Holland, Zealand and Namur, and other countries, which he holds from God alone, although he be not a king.'
The duke interrupted him, and said, 'I will that all who hear may know, that if I had wished it, I might have been a king!' without declaring how, or by what means, and then simply added, that before three days were passed, he would give a more ample answer to the ambassadors. They then departed to their lodgings; but on this day, the duke wrote a letter to the king, and sent it by a pursuivant, who delivered it in person, and brought the duke an answer from the king. The pursuivant was not more than ten days in going and returning,—but what the contents of these letters were I am ignorant.
FOOTNOTES:
[36] This embassy consisted of the count d'Eu, Charles d'Artois, a prince of the blood, who had been twenty-three years prisoner of war in England, Pierre de Morvillier, chancellor of France,—and Anthony du Bec-Crespin, archbishop of Narbonne.
The count de Charolois was only restrained by the presence of his father from using severe language; but when the ambassadors took their leave, he said to the archbishop, who went out the last, 'Recommend me most humbly to the good graces of the king, and tell him that he has had me well dressed by his chancellor,—but that, before a year pass, he shall repent of it!'
It was probably from these intemperate speeches of the chancellor that the war of the public good had its origin.