said Julius II., "is light and inconstant, always begging
for other men's money, which he wastes in hunting the chamois."[213]

[Footnote 210: _L. and P._, ii., 1065.]

[Footnote 211: _Ibid._, ii., 1817.]

[Footnote 212: _Ibid._, ii., 1231.]

[Footnote 213: _Ibid._, ii., 1877.]

The envoy selected for this difficult mission was Richard Pace,
scholar and author, and friend of Erasmus and More. He had been in
Bainbridge's service at Rome, was then transferred to that of Wolsey
and Henry, and as the King's secretary, was afterwards thought to be
treading too close on the Cardinal's heels. He set out in October, and
arrived in Zurich just in time to prevent the Swiss from coming (p. 090)
to terms with Francis. Before winter had ended the plans for invasion
were settled. Maximilian came down with the snows from the mountains
in March; on the 23rd he crossed the Adda;[214] on the 25th he was
within nine miles of Milan, and almost in sight of the army of France.
On the 26th he turned and fled without striking a blow. Back he went
over the Adda, over the Oglio, up into Tyrol, leaving the French and
Venetians in secure possession of Northern Italy. A year later they
had recovered for Venice the last of the places of which it had been
robbed by the League of Cambrai.

[Footnote 214: _L. and P._, ii., 1697, 1699, 1721,
1729, 1736, 1754, 1831, 2011, 2034, 2114.]

Maximilian retreated, said Pace, voluntarily and shamefully, and was
now so degraded that it signified little whether he was a friend or an
enemy.[215] The cause of his ignominious flight still remains a
mystery; countless excuses were made by Maximilian and his friends. He
had heard that France and England had come to terms; 6,000 of the
Swiss infantry deserted to the French on the eve of the battle.
Ladislaus of Hungary had died, leaving him guardian of his son, and he
must go to arrange matters there. He had no money to pay his troops.
The last has an appearance of verisimilitude. Money was at the bottom
of all his difficulties, and drove him to the most ignominious shifts.
He had served as a private in Henry's army for 100 crowns a day. His
councillors robbed him; on one occasion he had not money to pay for
his dinner;[216] on another he sent down to Pace, who was ill in bed,
and extorted a loan by force. He had apparently seized 30,000 (p. 0