a cannon-shot from his quarters at St Felix, 'when there fell such a snow-storm as had not been seen for a century, so thick that they could not see one another;' and in consequence, the pope's prime-minister came and said to him: 'Holy father, it is impossible to cross the country while this lasts; it is necessary, and also your duty, to return. The pope accordingly assented; 'and, as ill-luck would have it,' says our author quaintly, 'as the fugitives were returning, and the good knight spurring in pursuit, just as he arrived at St Felix, the pope was entering the castle, and hearing the cry, was so frightened, that he leaped from his litter without assistance, and himself helped to raise the drawbridge, which was done like a man who had his senses about him for, had he tarried the saying of a paternoster, he had certainly been caught!' Pope Julius, it would seem, knew when to pray and when to act; and, by virtue of this knowledge, he escaped the present peril.

Mirandola was subsequently taken by the pope's forces, though it is stated that it never would have been taken but for the accident of another snow-storm. 'It snowed so fast for six days and nights without ceasing, that the snow was five feet deep; and it then froze so hard, that the moats of Mirandola were two feet thick of ice, and a cannon, with its carriage, falling from the edge of the moat on the ice, did not break it." There were evidently hard frosts in those days. After two wide breaches had been made in the walls, the garrison, 'seeing no prospect of relief, surrendered upon terms.' When the place was captured, the Duke of Ferrara retired to his capital, resolving to defend it to the last day of his life.

From Mirandola, the pope despatched an army to attack the town of La Bastide, about five-and-twenty miles from Ferrara. 'He had been advised, that if this place were once taken, Ferrara would be deprived of supplies, and would be reduced by famine in the course of two months.' The prowess of the good knight, however, prevented that catastrophe. To save the place, it was necessary to relieve the commandant within four-and-twenty hours; and this duty, in the face of great difficulties, Bayard undertook. We have no space to state particulars; but the pope's forces were surprised; and the result was, that between 4000 and 5000 foot were slain, and above sixty men-at-arms, and more than 300 horses were taken, together with all their baggage and artillery; so that every one had difficulty in carrying off his booty.' The chronicler affirms, that there had not been a battle for a hundred years better fought or gained at so great hazard.

We pass over various smaller exploits, simply noting by the way, that, in an assault upon the town of Brescia, the good knight was severely wounded, and for some time considered himself as next to dead; though by skilful surgery and good-fortune he eventually recovered. Brescia was taken by the French; but it is said to have been the ruin of their cause in Italy, for the men got

so much plunder, that the greater part of them returned to France, and left the war to take its chance. After being several times repulsed with considerable loss, and losing their commander, the Duke de Nemours (nephew of Louis XII.), in the cruel and furious battle of Ravenna,' those that remained returned in a state of great discomfiture to Milan, and were finally driven out of Lombardy.

When wounded before Brescia, Bayard was carried, after the citadel was taken, by a couple of archers to a respectable-looking house hard by, that he might be laid somewhere to rest until his wound could be attended to. The house was the abode of a very rich gentleman, who had fled from the town, and taken refuge in a monastery; his wife being meanwhile left without protection, with two lovely daughters, who were concealed in a loft under some hay. You may judge that, in such circumstances, she was not without alarm: nevertheless, when the archers knocked at the door, she opened it in person, and saw the good knight brought in wounded. From the first, his bearing was gentle and considerate towards the household. He made them shut the door, and placed the two archers at it, charging them on their lives to suffer none to enter but his own people, and promising that they should lose nothing by not joining in the pillage. The story goes on to say:

The lady of the house conducted him into a handsome chamber, and throwing herself on her knees before him, besought him to save the honour and the lives of herself and her two young girls, who were just of marriageable years. The good knight, who never entertained a wicked thought, replied: "Madam, I know not whether I shall recover from my wound; but whilst I live, no insult shall be offered to you or your daughters-only keep them out of sight. And I assure you, that you have here a gentleman who will not plunder you, but shew you any courtesy in his power." He then prayed her to send for a surgeon quickly, to dress his wound. She went herself, with one of the archers, to seek him, for he lived but two doors off. When he came, he examined the wound, which was deep and wide; and having extracted the iron, which was a most painful operation, he assured the good knight that it was not dangerous. At the second dressing, came the surgeon of the Duke de Nemours, who afterwards attended him, and treated him so skilfully, that in less than a month he was ready to mount on horseback.'

While confined to his bed, he was much chagrined at his prolonged inaction; for every day news came from the French camp, how they were approaching the Spaniards, and daily expecting to have a battle. At length, one morning, he got up, and walked about the room, to see if he could support himself; and though still weakly, he sent for the surgeon, and asked him, if there would be any danger in his travelling. The surgeon, knowing how impatient he was to be at the approaching battle, told him, that though the wound was not closed, it was healed

within; and if his barber would, every morning and night, apply a bandage, with a plaster he would give him, there would be no danger. The good knight, hearing this, was overjoyed, and thereupon ordered his servants to be ready for starting in two days.

On the morning of his departure, the lady of the house entered his room with a casket containing 2500 ducats, which, with many compliments, she begged him to accept, as a trifling consideration for the great kindliness which she and her family had received from him. Bayard, with a pleasant laugh, declined the present, and proceeded, in return, to thank the lady for the good cheer and many attentions which he had enjoyed at her expense. Much astonished at his refusal, she persisted that she should be a very unhappy woman if he would not receive her little offering, which she declared to be a quite inadequate acknowledgment of his exceeding courtesy. Seeing her so resolute, he at length replied: “Well, madam, I accept it for love of you; but seek me your two daughters, for I must bid them adieu.' When they appeared, Bayard had divided the ducats into three portions; and now, addressing the girls, he presented each with 1000 ducats as a wedding-present; saying to the mother: 'I will take these five hundred for myself, to apportion them amongst the poor religious houses which have been pillaged, and request you to undertake the charge, as you will best know where the need is greatest; and so I take my leave of you.' He then took their hands in the Italian fashion; and having accepted from the damsels a pair of 'bracelets of hair, beautifully worked with gold and silver,' and ( a purse of crimson satin, curiously embroidered,' he mounted his horse about noon, and rode to the French camp, where, on his arrival, it is said, the men-at-arms displayed such joy, that it seemed as if his coming had reinforced the army by 10,000 men.'

In the battle of Ravenna, which soon followed, the Duke de Nemours, as already said, lost his life; and not long afterwards the French sustained some further severe reverses. The pope, in fact, had induced the emperor to withdraw from the French alliance; and a numerous army of the Venetians, Swiss, and Papal troops, coming down upon their reduced and enfeebled force, obliged them to retire to the town of Pavia; from which place also they were subsequently expulsed, and had to abandon nearly the whole of their possessions in the country. The reader will be concerned to hear, that in the retreat from Pavia, the good knight was 'wounded between the neck and shoulder by a ball, which carried away the flesh, and laid bare the bone.' Some thought he was killed; but he, nowise frightened, assured his companions that there was no great harm done. The surgery in this case was rather of a rude description. They stanched the wound as best they could, with moss from the trees, and bound it with linen, which the soldiers tore from their shirts; for they had no surgeon with them by reason of the bad weather.' However, through

good-fortune, he was soon in a condition fit for travelling; and having now no further work in Italy, he seems to have journeyed back to his native country.

On returning to France, the good knight went to Grenoble, to visit his uncle the bishop, whom he had not seen for a long time. Here he was attacked by a violent fever, and was so ill, that his life was despaired of. During his sickness, he manifested a considerable deal of piety, sadly bewailing himself on account of his sins, and thereby melting the bystanders to tears. The good bishop was continually in prayer for him, as were likewise all the 'nobles, citizens, merchants, monks, and nuns,' that were resident in the neighbourhood. And it could not be,' says the chronicler, 'but amongst so many people there must have been some person whose prayer the Lord would hear; as was sufficiently apparent, for by degrees the fever left him, he began to sleep and recover his appetite, and in a fortnight or three weeks was quite recovered, and as lusty as ever, taking his pleasure in visiting his friends and the ladies, and banqueting from house to house." But it would scarcely be charitable for the reader to conclude from this, that the good knight's piety did not survive his sickness, for, as piety went in those days, he would seem to have been ordinarily as pious as any man of his generation.

After remaining some time in Dauphiné, Bayard was despatched by the king, his master, to assist in the recovery of the kingdom of Navarre, which the king of Aragon had usurped, on no other reason than that the rightful ruler was in friendship with the king of France. In this expedition, siege was laid to Pampeluna; from which, however, after a good deal of hard fighting, the French were finally repulsed. It was reckoned an unfortunate expedition, 'for the French, on entering Navarre, destroyed and wasted everything, broke the wind-mills, and did many such-like things, which occasioned such a scarcity and famine, that much people died; and the army was in such want of shoes, that a wretched pair for a lackey cost a crown.' The soldiers suffered very much from hunger; but, nevertheless, the retreat was conducted handsomely; and in this the good knight acquired no small honour, he being always in the rear till danger was past; and indeed it appears to have been a compliment invariably paid to him, of placing him first in an advance, and among the last in a retreat.

The course of events has now brought us down to the year 1513, when Henry VIII. of England, having allied himself with the Emperor Maximilian, disembarked at Calais with a powerful army to invade Picardy. The English, under the command of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and Captain Talbot, laid siege to Touraine, and were shortly afterwards joined by the king in person. On his way thither, he was attacked by the good knight, who captured from him a piece of cannon, forming one of the twelve pieces which his majesty called the Twelve Apostles.' But in the battle which shortly followed, and which was called

the Battle of the Spurs,' the French suffered a desperate defeat; and the good knight, for once in his life (being overpowered by numbers), had to surrender to the enemy. He was conducted to the English camp, where he remained for three or four days, and was treated by his captor with marked distinction. The emperor, moreover, sent for him to his quarters, and after some gracious observations, remarked jestingly: 'We were formerly at the wars together, and I remember it was then said, that the Captain Bayard never fled.'

"Sire,' replied the knight, 'I was never in that school where I learned to flee: had I fled, I should not have been here.' The English monarch gave him a more courteous reception, saying: "Truly, my Lord Bayard, if all resembled you, I should soon be compelled to raise the siege.' After a brief detention, he was liberated on his parole not to bear arms for six weeks; and in compliance with that arrangement, he went to spend the time in visiting certain towns in Flanders.

In less than two years after the Battle of the Spurs, so called because of the speed which the French made in retreat, the good king, Louis XII., fell sick and died, and was buried at St Denis with his ancestors. His successor, as is not unknown to readers of French history, was Francis I., at that time a handsome prince of twenty, and but lately married to the Lady Claude of France, eldest daughter of the late king, and Duchess of Brittany in her own right. Soon after his coronation, the new king made preparations for reconquering the duchy of Milan; in which enterprise the good knight was sent forward with a detachment, and rendered the king good service, by surprising the Lord Prosper Colonna in the town of Villafranca, and making him and several captains prisoners, capturing an immense booty in money, horses, gold and silver vessels, and other movables, which the Lord Prosper himself declared was a loss to him of 50,000 crowns.' This capture was considered a great affair; for had not the Lord Prosper been taken, he would have been at the subsequent battle, and by his means the Spaniards and the remainder of the pope's army would have been there too, mustering together 1000 men-at-arms; which would have given the French such troublesome work as they could well dispense with.'

The passes of the country were in possession of Swiss soldiers, who, however, on hearing of the capture of Lord Prosper, abandoned them, and retreated to Milan. Thence they subsequently sallied forth, and made a sudden irruption on the French camp at Marignano. The king was on the point of going to supper, but he left it untasted, and went straight with his forces to meet the enemy. After a sharp skirmish, the Swiss were broken by his cavalry. During the combat, the good knight had a narrow escape. 'In the last charge upon the Swiss, in the dusk of the evening, he was mounted on a gallant steed, his second horse, for the first had been killed under him in the first charge. The pikes