lery, and seven thousand pioneers. "After one and the
first encounter," says a journal of the siege, "the enemy held our
soldiers in good repute, not having seen them, for any sort of danger,
advance or retreat, save as men of war and of assured courage; which was
an advantage, for M. de Guise knew well that at the commencement of a
war it was requisite that a leader should try, as much as ever he could,
to win." It was only on the 20th of November that Charles V., ill of
gout at Thionville, and unable to stand on his legs, perceived the
necessity of being present in person at the siege, and appeared before
Metz on an Arab horse, with his face pale and worn, his eyes sunk in his
head, and his beard white. At sight of him there was a most tremendous
salute of arquebuses and artillery, the noise of which brought the whole
town to arms. The emperor, whilst waiting to establish himself at the
castle of La Horgne, took up his quarters near the Duke of Alba, in a
little wooden house built out of the ruins of the Abbey of
Saint-Clement: "a beautiful palace," said he, "when the keys of Metz are
brought to me there." From the 20th to the 26th the attack was
continued with redoubled vigor; fourteen thousand cannon-shots were
fired, it is said, in a single day Guise had remarked that the enemy
seemed preparing to direct the principal assault against a point so
strong that nobody had thought of pulling down the houses in its
vicinity. This oversight was immediately repaired, and a stout wall,
the height of a man, made out of the ruins. "If they send us peas," said
Guise, "we will give them back beans" ("we will give them at least as
good as they bring "). On the 26th of November the old wall was
battered by a formidable artillery; and, breached in three places, it
crumbled down on the 28th into the ditch, "at the same time making it
difficult to climb for to come to the assault." The assailants uttered
shouts of joy; but, when the cloud of dust had cleared off, they saw a
fresh rampart eight feet in height above the breach, "and they
experienced as much and even more disgust than they had felt pleasure at
seeing the wall tumble." The besieged heaped mockery and insult upon
them; but Guise "imperatively put a stop to the disturbance, fearing, it
is said, lest some traitor should take advantage of it to give the
assailants some advice, and the soldiers then conceived the idea of
sticking upon the points of their pikes live cat