He signed with enthusiasm that treaty of Arras,
which left France almost at the discretion of Burgundy. On
December 18 he was still no farther than Bruges, where he
entered into a private treaty with Philip; and it was not
until January 14, ten weeks after he disembarked in France,
and attended by a ruck of Burgundian gentlemen, that he
arrived in Paris and offered to present himself before
Charles VII. The king sent word that he might come, if he
would, with a small retinue, but not with his present
following; and the duke, who was mightily on his high horse
after all the ovations he had received, took the king's
attitude amiss, and turned aside into Touraine, to receive
more welcome and more presents, and be convoyed by torchlight
into faithful cities.
(1) Monstrelet.
And so you see, here was King Arthur home again, and matters
nowise mended in consequence. The best we can say is, that
this last stage of Charles's public life was of no long
duration. His confidence was soon knocked out of him in the
contact with others. He began to find he was an earthen
vessel among many vessels of brass; he began to be shrewdly
aware that he was no King Arthur. In 1442, at Limoges, he
made himself the spokesman of the malcontent nobility. The
king showed himself humiliatingly indifferent to his
counsels, and humiliatingly generous towards his necessities.
Pages:
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279