Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/72

52 conviction that the King would never consent. It was rather for the Emperor, he thought, to use present compulsion, than for the English Government to stoop to treachery. And he had rightly anticipated Henry's feeling. Landenberg was left to enjoy the profit of his villany. The loss of money was submitted to; and it would have been well if no other consequences had followed. But the free lances, though they did not desert to France, established themselves at Liège, professing to be in the English service; and by living at free quarters at the expense of the inhabitants, created an angry difference between the Courts of London and Brussels.

Minor disputes, however, were now absorbed in the larger interests of the war. By the end of June the English army had formed the siege of Boulogne. On the 14th of July Henry crossed the Channel and took the command in person, while the Duke of Norfolk and Lord Russell passed forward and sat down before Mottreul. Ligny, on the other side, surrendered to the Emperor on the 29th of June. On the 3rd of the month following he approached St Dizier, on the Marne. St Dizier, though unimportant as a town, was strong as a military position; the fortifications had been recently increased, and the defence was entrusted to the able La Lande, who had baffled the allies in the preceding autumn at Landrecy. The invading army could not advance till it was taken: the French