A headstrong, mutable, ferocious race, As by the midnight torches' lurid light They mark'd their mangled victims writhe convuls'd, Listen'd the deep death groan. Ill-fated scene! Thro' many a dark age drenched with innocent blood, And one day doom'd to know the damning guilt A dreadful slaughter of the Armagnacs had taken place when Lisle Adam entered Paris at midnight, May 18, 1418. This however, was only a prelude to a much greater commotion in the same city some days after. Upon news of what had passed, the exiles being returned to Paris from all quarters, the massacre was renewed June the 12th. The constable Armagnac was taken out of prison, murdered, and shamefully dragged through the streets. The Chancellor, several Bishops, and other persons, to the number of two thousand, underwent the same barbarous treatment. Women and Children died smothered in dungeons. Many of the Nobles were forced to leap from high towers upon the points of spears. The massacre being ended, the Queen and the Duke of Burgundy entered Paris in triumph. Mezeray-Rabin, Of BRISSOT murder'd, and the blameless wife Spread, and strike deep, and soon shall it become In Paris now Triumphed the Invader. On an infant's head In homage to their King, their baby Lord, "Belov'd of Heaven," So spake the Son of Orleans as they pass'd, "Lo these the walls of Chinon, this the abode "Of Charles our monarch. Here in revelry "He of his armies vanquish'd, his fair towns Subdued, hears careless and prolongs the dance. "And little marvel I that to the cares "Of empire still he turns the unwilling ear, "His strong holds taken, and his bravest Chiefs So may thy voice arouse his sleeping virtues !" The mission'd maid reply'd, "go thou Dunois, " Announce my mission to the royal ear. "I on the river's winding banks the while "Would roam, collecting for high enterprize " My thoughts, troubled tho' firm. He who essays "Atchievements of vast import will perforce "Feel his heart heave; and in my breast I feel "Such perturbation." On the banks of Vienne Devious the Damsel turn'd. Thro' Chinon's gates The Son of Orleans press'd with rapid step Seeking the King. Him from the public view The lofty-minded Agnes. "Son of *Orleans !" So as he enter'd cried the haughty fair, * "Charles, in despair of collecting an army which should dare to approach the enemy's entrenchments, not only gave the city of Orleans for lost, but began to entertain a very dismal prospect with regard to the general state of his affairs. He saw that the country in which he had hitherto, with great difficulty, subsisted, would be laid entirely open to the invasion of a powerful and victorious enemy, and he already entertained thoughts of retiring with the remains of his forces into Languedoc and Dauphiny, and defending himself as long as possible in those remote provinces. But it was fortunate for this good Prince, that as he lay under the dominion of the fair, the women who he consulted had the spirit to support his sinking resolution in this desperate extremity. Mary of Anjou, his Queen, a Princess of great merit and prudence, vehemently opposed this measure, which she foresaw would discourage all his partizans, and serve as a general signal for deserting a Prince who seemed himself to despair of "The weak, unmanly, mean despondency "Go then, unworthy of thy rank! retreat success: his mistress too, the fair Agnes Sorel, who lived in entire amity with the Queen, seconded all her remonstrances. Hume. L'on fait honneur à la belle Agnès Sorel, Demoiselle de Touraine, maitresse de ce Prince, d'avoir beaucoup contribué à l'encourager en cette occasion. On lui fait cet honneur principalement au sujet d'un quatrain rapporté par Saint Gelais, comme aiant été fait par le Roi François 1. à l'honneur de cette Demoiselle. Plus de louange et d'honneur tu mérite, La cause étant de France recouvrer, P. Daniel. |