He had gems engraved with appropriate legends,
hortatory or threatening: "DIEU LE SCET," God knows it; or
"SOUVENEZ-VOUS DE - " Remember! (1) It is only towards the
end that the two stories begin to differ; and in some points
the historical version is the more tragic. Hamlet only
stabbed a silly old councillor behind the arras; Charles of
Orleans trampled France for five years under the hoofs of his
banditti. The miscarriage of Hamlet's vengeance was
confined, at widest, to the palace; the ruin wrought by
Charles of Orleans was as broad as France.
(1) Michelet, iv. App. 179, p. 337.
Yet the first act of the young duke is worthy of honourable
mention. Prodigal Louis had made enormous debts; and there
is a story extant, to illustrate how lightly he himself
regarded these commercial obligations. It appears that
Louis, after a narrow escape he made in a thunder-storm, had
a smart access of penitence, and announced he would pay his
debts on the following Sunday. More than eight hundred
creditors presented themselves, but by that time the devil
was well again, and they were shown the door with more gaiety
than politeness. A time when such cynical dishonesty was
possible for a man of culture is not, it will be granted, a
fortunate epoch for creditors. When the original debtor was
so lax, we may imagine how an heir would deal with the
incumbrances of his inheritance.
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