FOOTNOTES:
[84] The earl of Warwick was killed at the battle of Barnet,—and the prince of Wales was ungenerously murdered after the fatal battle of Tewkesbury, for a spirited answer to an insolent demand from Edward IV.
[85] Never was the proverb of 'like master like man'—'tel mâitre, tel valet,' so truly exemplified as in Louis XI. and Olivier le Diable, Olivier le Mauvais, or, as the king ordered him to be called in his letters of nobility, Olivier le Daim. I copy from the 222d number of Proofs to Comines what M. Godefroy said of this infamous character.
'Philip de Comines cries out justly against the choice the king made of a man of such a character as his ambassador to the princess of Burgundy. Master Olivier (for thus he was called in the low countries, where, to this day, the masters of any trade are called by their Christian names only) was born in the little town of Thielt, a dependancy on the castlewick of Courtray in Flanders. He went to France and became barber to the king, whose confidence he gained by his intrigues.
'Having acquired great riches, the desire of appearing with eclat in the country of his birth, which is the usual presumption of persons suddenly raised from the dregs of the people to high rank, blinded him so much that he accepted of an embassy, which he naturally should have refused, if he had not been devoured with pride.
'The magnificence of his equipage only served to make him more despised by his countrymen—and the barber was plainly seen under the dress of a prince. The ghent men would have made his time pass unpleasantly, and, if he had not avoided it by a precipitate retreat, would have suffered what he afterward could not escape from.
'He was one of the most profligate and unprincipled men in the world.'
Here follows what a french author, named Boitel, relates of the latter end of his life, in the 321st page 'des intentions morales, civiles, et militaires d'Antoine le Pipre,' printed at Antwerp in the year 1625.
'You must know that Louis XI. king of France, bewitched with friendship for Olivier le Daim, (whose first trade was that of barber) made him governor of the castle of Loches, which was and is at this moment, a handsome establishment, appointed him to the government of St Quentin, in Picardy, and made him one of the gentlemen of his bed-chamber. He had purchased considerable lordships from the great riches he possessed, and plunged into all kinds of luxuries, as well during the king's life as after his death.
'It happened one day that a young gentleman committed a crime, for which the provost of the king's household had him confined. His wife, fearing the consequences might be fatal to her husband, solicited every one whom she thought had credit with king Charles VIII. Thinking that Olivier le Daim might enjoy the same favour as with the late king, from seeing him richly dressed, followed by many of the courtiers, and having admittance to the king's apartments when he pleased, she addressed herself to him, and entreated that he would obtain her husband's liberty. Olivier observing that the suitress was young, handsome, and elegantly made, promised the deliverance of her husband, provided she would yield to his desires, which after many difficulties, she consented to.