VI. 1541. down and died; many perished by famine, as the whole BOOK army subsisted chiefly on roots and berries, or the flesh of horses, killed by the emperor's order, and distributed among the several battalions; many were drowned in brooks, which were swollen so much by the excessive rains, that, in passing them, they waded up to the chin; not a few were killed by the enemy, who, during the greatest part of their retreat, alarmed, harassed, and annoyed them night and day. At last they arrived at Metafuz; and the weather being now so calm as to restore their communication with the fleet, they were supplied with plenty of provisions, and cheered with the prospect of safety. mind. During this dreadful series of calamities, the emperor His fortidiscovered great qualities, many of which a long conti-tude of nued flow of prosperity had scarcely afforded him an opportunity of displaying. He appeared conspicuous for firmness and constancy of spirit, for magnanimity, fortitude, humanity, and compassion. He endured as great hardships as the meanest soldier; he exposed his own person wherever danger threatened; he encouraged the desponding, visited the sick and wounded, and animated all by his words and example. When the army embarked, he was among the last who left the shore, although a body of Arabs hovered at no great distance, ready to fall on the rear. By these virtues, Charles atoned, in some degree, for his obstinacy and presumption in undertaking an expedition so fatal to his subjects. Europe. The calamities which attended this unfortunate enter- Returns to prise did not end here; for, no sooner were the forces got on board, than a new storm arising, though less furious than the former, scattered the fleet, and obliged them, separately, to make towards such ports in Spain or Italy as they could first reach; thus spreading the account of their disasters, with all the circumstances of aggravation and horror which their imagination, still under the influence of fear, suggested. The emperor himself, after 1541 of BOOK escaping great dangers, and being forced into the port VI. Bugia in Africa, where he was obliged, by contrary winds, to remain several weeks, arrived at last in Spain, in a condition very different from that in which he had returned from his former expedition against the infidels '. Decem. 2. ་ Carol. V. Expeditio ad Argyriam, per Nicolaum Villagnonem Equitem Rhodium, ap Scardium, vol. ii, 365. Jovii Hist. 1. xl, p. 269, &c. Vera y Zuniga Vida de Carlos V. p. 83. Sandov. Hist. ii, 299, &c. BOOK VII. BOOK Renewal of and his mo tives for it. THE calamities which the emperor suffered in his unfortunate enterprise against Algiers were great; and the account of these, which augmented in proportion as it 1541. spread at a greater distance from the scene of his disasters, hos lities encouraged Francis to begin hostilities, on which he had by Francis, been for some time resolved. But he did not think it prudent to produce, as the motives of this resolution, either his ancient pretensions to the duchy of Milan, or the emperor's disingenuity in violating his repeated promises with regard to the restitution of that country. The former might have been a good reason against concluding the truce of Nice, but was none for breaking it; the latter could not be urged without exposing his own credulity as much as the emperor's want of integrity. A violent and unwarrantable action of one of the imperial generals furnished him with a reason to justify his taking arms, which was of greater weight than either of these, and such as would have roused him, if he had been as desirous of peace as he was eager for war. signing the treaty of truce at Nice, without consulting Solyman, gave (as he foresaw) great offence to that haughty monarch, who considered an alliance with him as an honour of which a Christian prince had cause to be proud. The friendly interview of the French king with the emperor in Provence, followed by such extraordinary appearances of union and confidence which distinguished Francis, by VII. 1541. BOOK the reception of Charles when he passed through the dominions of Francis to the Low Countries, induced the sultan to suspect that the two rivals had at last forgotten their ancient enmity, in order that they might form such a general confederacy against the Ottoman power as had been long wished for in Christendom, and often attempted in vain. Charles, with his usual art, endeavoured to confirm and strengthen these suspicions, by instructing his emissaries at Constantinople, as well as in those courts. with which Solyman held any intelligence, to represent the concord between him and Francis to be so entire, that their sentiments, views, and pursuits would be the same for the future. It was not without difficulty that Francis effaced these impressions; but the address of Rincon, the French ambassador at the Porte, together with the manifest advantage of carrying on hostilities against the house of Austria in concert with France, prevailed at length on the sultan, not only to banish his suspicions, but to enter into a closer conjunction with Francis than ever. Rincon returned into France, in order to communicate to his master a scheme of the sultan's for gaining the concurrence of the Venetians in their operations againt the common enemy. Solyman having lately concluded a peace with that republic, to which the mediation of Francis and the good offices of Rincon had greatly contributed, thought it not impossible to allure the senate by such advantages, as, together with the example of the French monarch, might over balance any scruples, arising either from decency or caution, that could operate on the other side. Francis, warmly approving of this measure, dispatched Rincon back to Constantinople, and directing him to go by Venice along with Fregoso, a Genoese exile, whom he appointed his ambassador to that republic, empowered them to negociate the matter with the senate, to whom Solyman had sent an envoy for the same purpose". The marquis del Guasto, governor a Mem. de Ribier, tom i, p. 502. VII. 1541. der of his pretext for of the Milanese, an officer of great abilities, but capable BOCK of attempting and executing the most atrocious actions, got intelligence of the motions and destination of these ambassadors. As he knew how much his master wished to discover the intentions of the French king, and of what consequence it was to retard the execution of his measures, he employed some soldiers belonging to the garrison The murof Pavia to lie in wait for Rincon and Fregoso as they ass sailed down the Po, who murdered them and most of dors his their attendants, and seized their papers. Upon recei-hi ving an account of this barbarous outrage, committed, during the subsistence of a truce, against persons held sacred by the most uncivilized nations, Francis's grief for the unhappy fate of two servants whom he loved and trusted, his uneasiness at the interruption of his schemes by their death, and every other passion, were swallowed up and lost in the indignation which this insult on the honour of his crown excited. He exclaimed loudly against Guasto, who, having drawn upon himself all the infamy of assassination without making any discovery of importance, as the ambassadors had left their instructions and other papers of consequence behind them, now boldly denied his being accessary in any wise to the crime. He sent an ambassador to the emperor to demand suitable reparation for an indignity, which no prince, how inconsiderable or pusillanimous soever, could tamely endure; and when Charles, impatient at that time to set out on his African expedition, endeavoured to put him off with an evasive answer, he appealed to all the courts in Europe, setting forth the heinousness of the injury, the spirit of moderation with which he had applied for redress, and the iniquity of the emperor in disregarding this just request. Notwithstanding the confidence with which Guasto asserted his own innocence, the accusations of the French gained greater credit than all his protestations; and Bellay, the French commander in Piedmont, procured, at length, by his industry and address, such a minute detail VOL. VI. |