Page:The Works of Francis Bacon (1884) Volume 1.djvu/473

 HISTORY OF Kl.Nc; HENRY VII. now made his almoner, and Sir John Itisley, to Maximilian, to let him know that IK; was in arms, ready to pass the seas into France, and did but fXjH i-i to hear from liim, when and where he did a|&amp;gt;|&amp;gt;&quot;int to join with him, according to his piomise made unto him by Countebalt, his am bassador. Tin- English ambassadors having repaired to Maximilian, did find his power and promise at a very great distance; he being utterly unprovided of men, money, and arms, forany such enterprise. For Maximilian, having neither wing to fly on, for that his patrimony of Austria was not in his hands, his father being then living, and on the other side, his matrimonial territories of Flanders were partly in dowry to his mother-in-law, and partly not serviceable, in respect of the late rebel lions; was thereby destitute of means to enter in to war. The ambassadors saw this well, but wisely thought fit to advertise the king thereof, rather than to return themselves, till the king s further pleasure were known : the rather, for that Maximilian himself spake as great as ever he did be fore, and entertained them with dilatory answers : so as the formal part of their ambassage might well warrant and require their further stay. The king hereupon, who doubted as much before, and saw through his business from the beginning, wrote back to the ambassadors, commending their discretion in not returning, and willing them to keep the state wherein they found Maximilian as a secret, till they heard further from him : and meanwhile went on with his voyage royal for France, suppressing for a time this advertisement touching Maximilian s poverty and disability. By this time was drawn together a great and puissant army into the city of London; in which were Tbomas, Marquis Dorset; Thomas, Earl of Arundell ; Thomas, Earl of Derby ; George, Earl of Shrewsbury ; Edmund, Earl of Suffolk ; Ed ward, Earl of Devonshire; George, Earl of Kent; the Earl of Essex ; Thomas, Earl of Ormond ; with a great number of barons, knights, and prin cipal gentlemen; and amongst them Richard Thomas, much noted for the brave troops that he brought out of Wales. The army rising, in the whole, to the number of five-and-twenty thousand foot, and sixteen hundred horse; over which the king, constant in his accustomed trust and em ployment, made Jasper, Duke of Bedford, and John, Earl of Oxford, generals under his own person. The ninth of September, in the eighth year of his reign, he departed from Greenwich towards the sea; all men wondering that he took that season, being so near winter, to begin the war; and some thereupon gathering, it was a sign that the war would not be long. Nevertheless the king gave out the contrary, thus: &quot;That he, intending not to make a summer business of it, but a resolute war, without term prefixed, until h! had recovered France; it skilled not much VOL. I 14 when he began it, especially having Calais at his back, where lie might wintrr, if the re;is..n ..I tli.j war so required.&quot; The sixth of Ortnhi-r In- em barked at Sandwich; and the same day took l.iml at Calais, which was the rende/vous, w here ;.ll the forces were assigned to meet. But in this his journey towards the sea-side, wherein, for the cause that we shall now speak of, he hovered so much the longer, he had received letters from the Lord Cordes, who the hotter he was against the English in time of war, had the more credit in a negotiation of peace; and besides, was held a man open and of good faith. In which letters there was made an overture of peace from the French king, with such conditions as were some what to the king s taste; but this was carried at the first with wonderful secrecy. The king was no sooner come to Calais, but the calm winds of peace began to blow. For first, the English am bassadors returned out of Flanders from Maxi milian, and certified the king, that he was not to hope for any aid from Maximilian, for that he was altogether unprovided. His will was good, but he lacked money. And this was made known and spread through the army. And although the English were therewithal nothing dismayed, and that it be the manner of soldiers upon bad news to speak the more bravely ; yet nevertheless it was a kind of preparative to a peace. Instantly in the neck of this, as the king had laid it, came the news that Ferdinando and Isabella, Kings of Spain, had concluded a peace with King Charles; and that Charles had restored unto them the counties of Russignon and Perpig- nan, which formerly were mortgaged by John, King of Arragon, Ferdinando s father, unto France for three hundred thousand crowns : which debt was also upon this peace by Charles clearly released. This came also handsomely to put on the peace ; both because so potent a confederate was fallen off, and because it was a fair example of a peace bought: so as the king should not be the sole merchant in this peace. Upon these airs of peace, the king was content that the Bishop of Exeter, and the Lord D Aubigny, governor of Calais, should give a meeting unto the Lord Cordes, for the treaty of a peace. But himself, nevertheless, and his army, the fifteenth of October, removed from Calais, and in four days march sat him down before Bolo.jjn. During this siege of Boloign, which continued near a month, there passed no memorable action, nor accident of war; only Sir John Savage, a valiant captain, was slain, riding about the walls of the town, to take a view. The town was both well fortified and well manned; yet it was dis tressed, and ready for an assault. Which, if it had been given, as was thought, would have cost much blood : but yet the town would have been carried in the end. Meanwhile a peace wts concluded by the commissioners, to continue for