ria delle Grazie. Then he
told the loyal citizens of Como that he would soon return at the head of
a German army, and rode along the banks of the lake to the mountains of
the Valtellina. Often on the road he looked back at the blue waters and
lovely shores of that native land which he had been so proud to call his
own, and, at last, addressing his companions in the words of the Roman
poet, said sorrowfully, "_Nos patriam fugimus et dulcia linquimus
arva_."

"Only think, reader," moralizes Marino Sanuto, "what grief and shame so
great and glorious a lord, who had been held to be the wisest of
monarchs and ablest of rulers, must have felt at losing so splendid a
state in these few days, without a single stroke of the sword.... Let
those who are in high places take warning, considering the miserable
fall of this lord, who was held by many to be the greatest prince in the
world, and let them remember that when Fortune sets you on the top of
her wheel, she may at any moment bring you to the ground, and then the
closer you have been to heaven, the greater and the more sudden will be
your fall."

Already Ligny's horsemen were scouring the country round Como in pursuit
of the fugitive, and reports reached Venice that the duke had been
captured and Galeazzo slain. By this time, however, Lodovico had crossed
the frontier and was safe on Tyrolese soil. At Bormio he met 2000 German
troops, who were marching to his relief; and when he reached Innsbruck,
he found that the Empress Bianca had prepared rooms for his reception,
and received kindly messages from Maximilian, promising him more
efficient support as soon as he had settled his quarrel with the Swiss.

Meanwhile Pavia had opened her gates to the French, upon hearing news
of the duke's flight, Trivulzio had taken possession of the Castello,
and Ligny was occupying the Certosa, while Jean d'Auton knew not whether
to wonder most at the rich marbles and sumptuous chapels of the great
church, or the vast herds of red deer which roamed in the park.

"Truly," the good Benedictine exclaimed, as he wandered through these
flowery meadows with their banks of roses and myrtles, and clear springs
of running water--"truly, this is Paradise upon earth!"

On the 6th of September, after a feeble effort on the part of the
Milanese nobles to preserve the rights and liberties of the city, the
keys were given up to Trivulzio, who entered by the Porta Ticinese with
Ligny and two hundred horse,