= 
Charles in- 
vades 
France 
fer e:noodempiatnnily: se excuse, in order to break them, 
after. 
of the French army, is said to have expired 
with terror; and every thing to promise a ra- 
pid fulfilment of the wishes of Francis. Again, > 
ever, he was destined to be disappointed. The Pope 
would not second his enterprise. of England 
. The 
princes of Germany, to whom, as the natu- 
of Charles, he next turned his attention, 
renounced his alliance, because he persecuted their 
brethren in France. He therefore was convinced, that 
on his own resources and vigour alone he must d 
in his war with Charles. But this consideration failed 
8 he ne Rite arene conduct. Instead of pro- 
fiting by state of Charles, he suffer- 
cae dig ee tg get sa eg) et se At last he 
saw his folly. em was amusing him 
France, he entered Piedmont with an army of 40,000 
i , and 10,000 cavalry. This country soon yield- 
ed to him ; and Francis next saw him direct his atten- 
tion and his march against the southern provinces of 
his ki On this occasion, Francis conducted him- 
self with a of prudence, which could not have 
_ of to the frontiers to give his opponent bat- 
tle, he to act entirely on the defensive; to gar- 
unsuccess- 
fully. 
i 
the strongest towns; and to lay waste the coun 
e diitiekd. po ai 2S deptiva bien of wl. 
i was entrusted to Montmorency ; 
entrusted, 
8 
5 
8 
ah 
ut 
Hh 
1 
: 
: 
ay 
iF 
Fi 
: 
com: 
came forth, and OA teva trode arpa 
Perhaps the emperor and his army might have to- 
~~ of armis was 
- B6E 
a most poignant disaster overtook , 
died sud denly, not without suspicion of being poison< 
__In the beginning of 1537 a curious scene was exhi- 
bited, which seems to prove, that the natural foibles of 
Francis’ character were too deeply implanted to be en< 
tirely extirpated by age and experience. He summon- 
ed iD ateecta to aciske eke the parliament of Pa- 
ris, to answer as his vassal for the counties of Artois 
and Flanders ; and on his refusal, declared them for- 
feited to the crown of France. He even marched into 
the Low Countries ; but either not being sincere, or 
not able to carry his purpose into effect, a suspension 
upon, which was afterwards follow- 
ed, A. D. 1538, by a truce for ten years. Shortly af- 
ter this truce was agreed upon, Charles, on his: voyage 
to Barcelona, was driven to take refuge in a small 
island on the coast of Provence, As soon as Francis 
heard of this, he proposed a personal interview, to 
which the emperor consented ; and thus these two ri- 
vals, after twenty years of hostilities, met each other, 
and vied in expressions of respect and friendship. 
In the following year they had another interview. 
In consequence of the revolt of the people of Ghent, 
it was necessary for Charles to pass into the Nether- 
lands from Spain. _As expedition was necessary, he did 
not wish to pass through Germany, in which country, 
he must have travelled with so much ceremony and 
pocp, as must have delayed his progress. He did not 
ike the uncertainty and risk of a voyage; he there- 
fore resolved to through France ; and, in order 
to induce Francis to permit this passage, and not 
to take advantage of it, by detaining him, he repre- 
sented to that monarch, that he would cede the Mi- 
lanese to him. Francis agreed to the proposal, and 
received and treated Charles with the utmost respect 
and magnificence, during his six days abode in Paris. 
A bon mot of Triboulet, the fool at the court of Fran- 
cis, on this occasion, is recorded; He wrote on his ta- 
blet, that Charles was a greater fool than himself, 
thus to himself in pee through the territo- 
ries of his rival, ‘“ But w wail :you say, ge me 
Francis, ) if I let him pass unmolested?” ‘I shall.ef- 
+ hey sare ac gies in its stead,” replied the 
As soon as the emperor had arrived in Flanders, the 
ambassadors of Francis required that the Milanese 
should be restored to their master. At first Charles 
ot gag tec gy an 4a till at, last having re- 
uced the Flemings to submission, he ly averred 
Interviews 
between 
Charles and 
Francis. 
Charles 
agrees to 
cede the 
Milanese, 
that he had never given any promise to restore the Mi- put breaks 
lanese. Francis was, completely ashamed at his own his pro- 
folly, in thus being the dupe of the emperor, and at mise. 
the same time was filled with indignation and the spi- 
rit of revenge; but he could not immediately com- 
mence a war, for, by his interview with Charles, he 
had excited the suspicion, or produced the indifference, 
of the king of England. The pope seemed resolved to 
maintain his neutrality, The sultan alone listened to his 
schemes of revenge and warfare. Still, however, Fran- 
cis could scarcely feel himself justified in the eyes of 
‘Eufope to commence ‘hostilities, merely because the 
Se promise to restore the 
M had not that promise ; but a more 
solid reason was not ft pr Two French amy 
AD. 
