The Memoirs of Philip de Commines, Lord of Argenton

and the conquest of Naples was undertaken without funds, and almost without an army. Notwithstanding his opposition to the projected expedition, Commines was one of the first on horseback. He attended his master as far as Asti, whence he was despatched on a mission to Venice, for the • purpose of aiding by diplomacy the progress of the king's arms. He remained in Venice for eight months, using every effort to prevent the formation of a league of the States of Italy against Charles VIII. In this he might have succeeded, had not the affairs of France and the position of the invading army been so unfavourable as to frustrate all his efforts. The league was formed, and when Commines received orders to rejoin the king at Sienna, the French army was in retreat. He at once advised the king to hasten his return to France; but his prudent counsel, far from being favourably received, was greeted with incredulous laughter and boastful jeers. Much precious time was wasted in frivolous amusements; and when at length, Charles VIII. began his homeward march, he foolishly left garrisons in many of the towns through which he passed, thus seriously diminishing his own army without opposing any effectual barrier to the progress of his enemies.

The presentiments of Commines were soon realised. Όχι the 5th of July, 1495, the French king, on arriving at the village of Fornova, found 40,000 Italians drawn up in an excellent position, to bar his further advance. The chances of success were not on the side of the French, and at the suggestion of Commines, it was resolved to parley with the enemy. The negotiation was entrusted to our historian, but before it could be commenced, the two armies came to blows. Victory at first seemed to incline to the Italians, but French impetuosity and discipline eventually carried the day. Notwithstanding this unexpected victory, however, Commines received orders to continue his negotiations; and mainly by his exertions, the treaty of Verceil was signed, which restored the Duke of Orleans to liberty, by raising the siege of Novara, and enabled Charles VIII. and his army to return into France with all the honours of war.

Commines was next sent to Venice to obtain the ratification of this treaty by the senate of that powerful republic. But after a fortnight's deliberation, the signiory refused to

accede to the treaty, and offered, in its stead, propositions which Commines undertook to submit to the king. From Venice, he proceeded to Milan, to require the duke to execute certain clauses in the treaty which he had signed. But that prince evaded giving a categorical answer, and forced the envoy to take his leave before he had obtained anything more than a false promise that the duke would speedily fulfil all his engagements.

This was the end of Commines' active career. On his return to France, he continued his attendance on Charles VIII., but took no part in the management of affairs beyond speaking and voting in the council. During a temporary visit to his Chateau of Argenton, he received the news of the king's unhappy death. He hastened with all speed to Amboise, and passed five or six hours in prayer by the body of his deceased sovereign. On the following day, he went to pay his homage to the new king, from whom he anticipated a favourable reception. But on ascending the throne, the Duke of Orleans had forgotten past services as well as past injuries; and Commines merely remained a member of the grand council, as during the previous reign. He soon ceased even to attend the meetings of this body, for his name appears on its registers for the last time on the 26th of July, 1498. After this date he seems to have retired into private life, and although he made a great effort in 1505 to obtain public employment, through the influence of the queen, he was obliged to remain, for the rest of his days, mere spectator of the scenes and conflicts of political life.

His activity meanwhile displayed itself in the conduct of his private affairs. On the 13th of August, 1504, his daughter Jeanne de Commines was contracted in marriage to René de Brosse, Count of Penthièvre, and heir to the duchy of Bretagne; by which union the blood of Commines has passed into the veins of more than one sovereign of the royal lines of France, Spain, Portugal, and Savoy,

The last years of Commines were occupied and embittered by vexatious lawsuits relating to the property of his wife, and to other matters, into which it would be tedious to enter. He died at his Chateau of Argenton on the 18th of October, 1511, at the age of about 64 years. In other times, his death would have constituted almost a political event;

but times had changed. It was, however, sufficiently noticed to induce one writer, whose name is unknown to us, to compose a sort of poem, deploring his decease.

The mortal remains of Commines were conveyed to Paris, and interred in the chapel which he had built in the Convent des Grands Augustins. Those of the Countess de Penthièvre were soon laid by his side; and ere long Helène de Chambes joined her husband and daughter in their last resting-place. A splendid monument was erected by René de Bretagne to the memory of his wife's parents. The chapel has long since been destroyed, but the statues of its founder and his wife, which formed part of their monument, are still preserved in the Gallery of the Louvre.

To conclude this sketch in the words of his old biographer, Sleidan: "Commines was tall, fair, well shaped, and of a comely personage. He spoke Italian, Dutch, and Spanish incomparably well; but his excellence consisted chiefly in the French, and he had read all the histories that were. extant in that language, especially that of the Romans. he grew in years, he extremely lamented his deficiency in the Latin tongue, and complained of the little care that had been taken of his education in that respect. He had a prodigious memory, and such a wonderful facility in expressing his thoughts, that he would at the same time dictate to four secretaries different things, all of them of great importance, and with the same ease and dexterity as if there had been but one. His conversation was chiefly among foreigners, as he was desirous to inform himself of all things and places, and very careful of employing his time well; so that he was never known to be idlo."

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