Charles, gave each other the lie direct, and were
desirous of deciding their differences hand to hand, in single combat.

Charles of Burgundy, the most hasty and impatient, nay, the most
imprudent prince of his time, found himself, nevertheless, fettered
within the magic circle which prescribed the most profound deference to
Louis, as his Suzerain and liege Lord, who had deigned to confer upon
him, a vassal of the crown, the distinguished honour of a personal
visit. Dressed in his ducal mantle, and attended by his great officers
and principal knights and nobles, he went in gallant cavalcade to
receive Louis XI. His retinue absolutely blazed with gold and silver;
for the wealth of the Court of England being exhausted by the wars of
York and Lancaster, and the expenditure of France limited by the economy
of the Sovereign, that of Burgundy was for the time the most magnificent
in Europe. The cortege of Louis, on the contrary, was few in number, and
comparatively mean in appearance, and the exterior of the King himself,
in a threadbare cloak, with his wonted old high crowned hat stuck full
of images, rendered the contrast yet more striking; and as the Duke,
richly attired with the coronet and mantle of state, threw himself
from his noble charger, and, kneeling on one knee, offered to hold the
stirrup while Louis dismounted from his little ambling palfrey, the
effect was almost grotesque.

The greeting between the two potentates was, of course, as full of
affected kindness and compliment as it was totally devoid of sincerity.
But the temper of the Duke rendered it much more difficult for him to
preserve the necessary appearances, in voice, speech, and demeanour;
while in the King, every species of simulation and dissimulation seemed
so much a part of his nature that those best acquainted with him could
not have distinguished what was feigned from what was real.

Perhaps the most accurate illustration, were it not unworthy two such
high potentates, would be to suppose the King in the situation of a
stranger, perfectly acquainted with the habits and dispositions of the
canine race, who, for some, purpose of his own, is desirous to make
friends with a large and surly mastiff that holds him in suspicion and
is disposed to worry him on the first symptoms either of diffidence or
of umbrage. The mastiff growls internally, erects his bristles, shows
his teeth, yet is ashamed to fly upon the intruder, who seems at the
same time so