ness or pleasure, gave himself
entirely up to the ardour of the chase, Louis, unrestrained by his
presence, sought and found the means of speaking secretly and separately
to many of those who were reported to have most interest with Charles,
among whom D'Hymbercourt and Comines were not forgotten; nor did he fail
to mix up the advances which he made towards those two distinguished
persons with praises of the valour and military skill of the first, and
of the profound sagacity and literary talents of the future historian of
the period.

Such an opportunity of personally conciliating, or, if the reader
pleases, corrupting the ministers of Charles, was perhaps what the King
had proposed to himself as a principal object of his visit, even if
his art should fail to cajole the Duke himself. The connection betwixt
France and Burgundy was so close that most of the nobles belonging to
the latter country had hopes or actual interests connected with the
former, which the favour of Louis could advance, or his personal
displeasure destroy. Formed for this and every other species of
intrigue, liberal to profusion when it was necessary to advance his
plans, and skilful in putting the most plausible colour upon his
proposals and presents, the King contrived to reconcile the spirit of
the proud to their profit, and to hold out to the real or pretended
patriot the good of both France and Burgundy as the ostensible motive;
whilst the party's own private interest, like the concealed wheel of
some machine, worked not the less powerfully that its operations' were
kept out of sight. For each man he had a suitable bait, and a proper
mode of presenting it; he poured the guerdon into the sleeve of those
who were too proud to extend their hand, and trusted that his bounty,
thought it descended like the dew, without noise and imperceptibly,
would not fail to produce, in due season, a plentiful crop of goodwill
at least, perhaps of good offices, to the donor. In fine, although he
had been long paving the way by his ministers for an establishment of
such an interest in the Court of Burgundy as should be advantageous
to the interests of France, Louis's own personal exertions, directed
doubtless by the information of which he was previously possessed,
did more to accomplish that object in a few hours than his agents had
effected in years of negotiation.

One man alone the King missed, whom he had been particularly desirous
of conciliating, and that