only marked its boundary, was nothing but a plain covered with
gravel, where all manoeuvres must be equally difficult for horse and
infantry. Besides, on the western slope of the hills there was a little
wood which extended from the enemy's army to the French, and was in the
possession of the Stradiotes, who, by help of its cover, had already
engaged in several skirmishes with the French troops during the two days
of halt while they were waiting for the king.

The situation was not reassuring. From the top of the mountain which
overlooked Fornovo, one could get a view, as we said before, of the two
camps, and could easily calculate the numerical difference between
them. The French army, weakened by the establishment of garrisons in the
various towns and fortresses they had won in Italy, were scarcely eight
thousand strong, while the combined forces of Milan and Venice exceeded
a total of thirty-five thousand. So Charles decided to try once more the
methods of conciliation, and sent Commines, who, as we know, had joined
him in Tuscany, to the Venetian 'proveditori', whose acquaintance he
had made when on his embassy; he having made a great impression on these
men, thanks to a general high opinion of his merits. He was commissioned
to tell the enemy's generals, in the name of the King of France, that
his master only desired to continue his road without doing or receiving
any harm; that therefore he asked to be allowed a free passage across
the fair plains of Lombardy, which he could see from the heights where
he now stood, stretching as far as the eye could reach, away to the foot
of the Alps. Commines found the confederate army deep in discussion: the
wish of the Milanese and Venetian party being to let the king go by, and
not attack him; they said they were only too happy that he should leave
Italy in this way, without causing any further harm; but the ambassadors
of Spain and Germany took quite another view. As their masters had no
troops in the army, and as all the money they had promised was already
paid, they must be the gainer in either case from a battle, whichever
way it went: if they won the day they would gather the fruits of
victory, and if they lost they would experience nothing of the evils of
defeat. This want of unanimity was the reason why the answer to Commines
was deferred until the following day, and why it was settled that on the
next day he should hold another conference with a plenipotentiary to be
a