quâ solutus et in libertatem vindicatus esset, violasse conditiones, atque in suos receptum quam primo id egisse ut illa pace tam feliciter confectum de integro exardesceret bellum. Quid? foedus alterum propter res male gestas ab ipso petitum et apud Camaricum ictum pari eum violasse infidelitate. Mox, id quod maximè civitati periculosum esset, optimates Germanorum sceleratissimos ab eo solicitatos fuisse, ut tranquillitatem quâ frueretur civitas perturbarent. Nonne etiam nuperrimè ducem Sabaudiensem fidum Hispanorum socium, et qui uxoris suæ in matrimonium duxisset sororem, a finibus suis poene expulsum? Itaque tot tantisque congestis injuriis, tantâ sæviente discordiâ, nullam esse spem amicitiæ aut voluntatum inter se consensionis. Se quidem haudquaquam nolle cuilibet e Gallorum primoribus Mediolanum deferre possidendum: minimè tamen verisimile esse hoc fieri posse. Franciscum enim nunquam ea facturum esse videri quæ ad pacem apud gentes Europeas conservandam necessaria forent, neque se ipsum illud aut æquum aut sibi in tuto fore arbitrari si omnia quæ petisset, nullis exceptionibus adversario in arbitrium cessisset. "At cives" inquit "innocuos ne tantâ cum sævitiâ in apertam mortem projiciamus. Ipsis inter nos ferro decertandum est: isti per me licebit quæcumque velit deligere arma: quolibet loco, in insulâ aliquâ aut ponte aut super navi ripa applicatà, gladiatorio modo nudi pugnemus. Iste pignori agros deponat Burgundiorum; ego Mediolanum: victori præmia. Tum demum copiæ Germanorum, Hispanorum, Gallorum inter se junctæ id agant ut Turcorum evertant potestatem atque e gentibus Christianis omnes expellant hæreticos. Sin autem isto hunc certaminis finem detrectante, bellum ultra gerendum est, mihi quidem nihil obstabit quin eo id acriter geram ut alteruter nostrum pauperrimo quoque cive suo pauperior evadat. Neque equidem vereor ne hoc mihi potius accidat. Maximâ enim cause, the union of my subjects, the number and valour of my troops, the experience and fidelity of my generals all combine to ensure it. Of all these advantages the king of France is destitute, and were my resources no more certain and my hopes of victory no better founded than his, I would instantly throw myself at his feet, with folded hands, and a rope about my neck, implore his mercy." This long harangue the Emperor delivered with an elevated voice, a haughty tone and the greatest vehemence of expression and gesture. The French ambassadors, who did not fully comprehend his meaning, as he spake in the Spanish tongue, were totally disconcerted, and at a loss. how they should answer such an unexpected invective: when one of them began to vindicate his master's conduct, Charles interposed abruptly and would not permit him to proceed. The pope, without entering into any particular detail, satisfied himself with a short but pathetic recommendation of peace, together with an offer of employing his sincere endeavours to procure that blessing to Christendom: and the assembly broke up in the greatest astonishment at the extraordinary scene which had been exhibited. In no part of his conduct indeed did Charles ever deviate so widely from his general character. Instead of that prudent recollection, that composed and regular deportment so strictly attentive to decorum and so admirably adapted to conceal his own passions, for which he was at all other times conspicuous, he appears on this occasion before one of the most august assemblies in Europe, boasting of his own powers and exploits with insolence; inveighing against his enemy with indecency, and challenging him to combat with an ostentatious valour, more becoming a champion in romance, than the first monarch in Christendom. spe rem gesturus sum: victoriamque haud dubiam esse confirmant quum jus, tum civium consensus, quum copiæ virtute ac numero eximiæ, tum duces peritissimi atque fideles: quæ omnia regi Gallorum desunt, et confiteor me ipsum nisi opes mihi majores, nisi spes essent certiores quam ei in præsentiâ adsunt, statim ad pedes ejus me projecturum esse, veniamque, manibus supplicis more junctis, colloque jam in laqueum inserto (1) ab eo imploraturum. Talia magnâ voce, insolenti oratione et maximâ quâ vultu quâ gestu poterat vehementiâ, locutus est princeps. Gallorum autem legatis, qui vocem Hispanice frementis vix intelligere poterant, orationis tam acris et subitæ admiratio incluserat vocem (2). Dicere deinde incipientem quendam et regis acta excusantem subito interpellat Carolus, prohibetque ne ultra loquatur. Pontifex autem, haudquaquam singula quæque persecutus, quum paucis verbis, ita tamen ut animos moveret, pacem adhortatus esset, pollicitusque se omnia quæ posset facturum esse ut eandem pacem inter gentes Christianas conservaret, dimissa est concio, omnibus quæ vidissent maxime mirantibus. Nunquam profecto per totam vitam tantopere a se ipso defecit Carolus: Aberat enim promptum illud consilium et prudentia: aberat placidus ille vultus corporisque habitus, adeo omnibus quæ convenientia sint intentus, qui suas sententias aptissime celaret, et quo alibi clarissimus exstitit. In præsentia enim coram concione omnium gravissimâ, suam potestatem, sua facta insolentissimè jactabat, et in hostem impudentius invectus, eum in pugnam provocabat virtutis suæ quadam jactatione, quæ magis heroem aliquem in fabulis celebratum, quam primum inter principes Christianos deceret. (1) Cf. Cic. Verr. iv. 17. (2) Cf. LIVY ii. 2. |