er pacific the king's first words had been, and whatever was the
influence of the constable, the proposal of Vieilleville had a great
effect upon the council. The king showed great readiness to adopt it.
"I think," said he to the constable, "that I was inspired of God when I
created Vieilleville of my council to-day." "I only gave the opinion I
did," replied Montmorency, "in order to support the king's sentiments;
let your Majesty give what orders you please." The king loudly
proclaimed his resolve. "Then let every one," he said, "be ready at an
early date, with equipment according to his ability and means, to follow
me; hoping, with God's help, that all will go well for the discomfiture
of so pernicious a foe of my kingdom and nation, and one who revels and
delights in tormenting all manner of folks, without regard for any."
There was a general enthusiasm; the place of meeting for the army was
appointed at Chalons-sur-Marne, March 10, 1552; more than a thousand
gentlemen flocked thither as volunteers; peasants and mechanics from
Champagne and Picardy joined them; the war was popular. "The majority of
the soldiers," says Rabutin, a contemporary chronicler, "were young men
whose brains were on fire." Francis de Guise and Gaspard de Coligny were
their chief leaders. The king entered Lorraine from Champagne by
Joinville, the ordinary residence of the Dukes of Guise. He carried
Pont-a-Mousson; Toul opened its gates to him on the 13th of April; he
occupied Nancy on the 14th, and on the 18th he entered Metz, not without
some hesitation amongst a portion of the inhabitants and the necessity of
a certain show of military force on the part of the leaders of the royal
army. The king would have given the command of this important place to
Vieilleville, but he refused it, saying, "I humbly thank your Majesty,
but I do not think that you should establish in Metz any governor in your
own name, but leave that duty to the mayor and sheriffs of the city,
under whose orders the eight captains of the old train-bands who will
remain there with their companies will be." "How say you!" said the
king: "can I leave a foreign lieutenant in a foreign country whose oath
of fidelity I have only had within the last four-and-twenty hours, and
with all the difficulties and disputes in the world to meet too?" "Sir,"
rejoined Vieilleville, "to fear that this master sheriff, whose name is
Tallanges, might possibly do you a bad turn, is to wrongl