492 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1800. 



totle in matters of taste. Not only, 

 as it has been said, did he set him- 

 self and his successors hors de page, 

 hut he did the same by his king- 

 dom. Without striking a blow on 

 his own part, without incurring the 

 expenses or risking the hazards of 

 war, he effected the destruction of 

 a rival more powerful and wealthy 

 than himself, namely, the above- 

 mentioned duke of Burgundy; who, 

 though valorous and high-minded, 

 and at the head of one of the first 

 states in Europe, yet, by unskilful 

 and headlong measures, brought 

 down ruin on himself and his house, 

 and involved his subjects in endless 

 calamities. 



Chap. III. of Book II. (the first 

 of this volume) details the parti- 

 culars of the grand cabinet achieve- 

 ment of Lewis XI. and records the 

 feats of Helvetic valour at Granson 

 and Morat, and the fall of Charles 

 before Nancy. In the battle which 

 takes its name from that city, the 

 ill-fated prince, when he saw that 

 all was lost, resolved to engage in 

 person. 4 



' He rushed among the comba- 

 tants with the fury of a lion, and 

 slew many with his own hand ; but 

 most of his people, especially the 

 cavalry, having now forsaken him, 

 and feeling himself entirely aban- 

 doned, he determined to consult his 

 own safety, and rode fuU speed to- 

 wards the road that leads to Mentz. 

 Being hard pressed by his pursuers, 

 he attempted to leap over a ditch ; 

 but his weary horse being unable to 

 clear it,they both fell into the trench, 

 and here Charles met his fate from 

 hands unconscious of the importance 

 of the life they were abridging. After 

 having been some time missing, his 

 body was found among others dead 

 in the ditch, and conveyed to Nan- 



cy. His head is said to have been 

 cloven asunder, and he had two 

 other wounds, each of which was 

 mortal. He was interred with so- 

 lemn pomp at Nancy; but seventy- 

 three years after, his remains were 

 transferred to Bruges, to be depo- 

 sited in the same tomb with those 

 of his daughter Mary. Most of the 

 Burgundian nobility, who had not 

 fallen at Granson or Morat, were 

 here either killed or taken; and a 

 third Burgundian camp became the 

 prey of the victorious enemy.' 



Thus fell the duke of Burgundy; 

 and thus was brought about an 

 event, the consequences of which 

 Europe feels to this very day. A 

 small part of his territories went to 

 the secret author of his ruin ; but 

 the greater was conveyed by his 

 daughter, on their marriage, to the 

 house of Austria, now growing to a 

 height of- power unequalled since 

 the days of Charlemagne. — It has 

 often been asked why Lewis XI. 

 did not secure the whole of the Bur- 

 gundian territories, by marrying the 

 dauphin to the heiress; but it is not 

 easy to solve this question. Could 

 he have foreseen what has happened 

 since in Europe, with the bloodshed 

 and calamities which these pro- 

 vinces were to occasion, we might 

 have supposed that he sacrificed the 

 interests of his crown to the gratifi- 

 cation of his malignant feelings. 

 What seeds of contention have these 

 provinces nourished! Witness the 

 wars in which Spain exhausted the 

 wealth of the Indies; in which our 

 Elizabeth displayed masterly policy; 

 in which so many great commanders 

 gained immortal fame; and which 

 employed the elegant pens of Ben- 

 tivoglio and Strada. Witness the 

 repeated wars maintained by the 

 different powers of Europe, to pre- 



