Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/83

1544.] and quiet of Christendom than to his own benefit; 'he was satisfied for himself, but the Emperor must be satisfied also; and until he had received assurance to that effect, the war must continue, and the siege be pressed.

On the day that Arras entered the camp a mine exploded under the last important outwork held by the French. They were driven back, and three days after the town surrendered. So far, the army was set free. Mottreul, however, still held out, nor was there present prospect of its capture. It was defended by an army rather than a garrison. The lines were too extensive for the Duke of Norfolk successfully to invest it. The Netherlands transport department, so far from having been adequate to supply the army on a march into France, had broken down under the easy duty of attending upon a stationary camp but a few miles from the frontier. The English had been forced to find their own supplies from the adjoining country; and the radius within which they could be obtained was continually extending. The army suffered from sickness, and unless the enemy were in a worse condition than himself, Norfolk could not promise success before the winter. To cross the Somme was therefore as impossible as ever, and Arras was instructed to tell the Emperor that, if his situation made peace necessary to him, he had Henry's consent, provided the treaty was reserved, and the conditions of it, in all parts, remained intact. The English terms were those which had been offered by Cardinal du Bellay. If it would facilitate the Emperor's arrangement, however,