their advance by the lowings of the bull of Uri and the cow of
Unterwalden, two enormous instruments made of buffalo-horn, and given, it
was said, to their ancestors by Charlemagne, the whole Burgundian army,
seized with panic, had dispersed in all directions, "like smoke before
the northern blast." Charles himself had been forced to fly with only
five horsemen, it is said, for escort, leaving all his camp, artillery,
treasure, oratory, jewels, down to his very cap garnished with precious
stones and his collar of the Golden Fleece, in the hands of the "poor
Swiss," astounded at their booty and having no suspicion of its value.
"They sold the silver plate for a few pence, taking it for pewter," says
M. de Barante. Those magnificent silks and velvets, that cloth of gold
and damask, that Flanders lace, and those carpets from Arras which were
found heaped up in chests, were cut in pieces and distributed by the ell,
like common canvas in a village shop. The duke's large diamond which he
wore round his neck, and which had once upon a time glittered in the
crown of the Great Mogul, was found on the road, inside a little box set
with fine pearls. The man who picked it up kept the box and threw away
the diamond as a mere bit of glass. Afterwards he thought better of it;
went to look for the stone, found it under a wagon, and sold it for a
crown to a clergyman of the neighborhood. "There was nothing saved but
the bare life," says Commynes.

That even the bare life was saved was a source of sorrow to Louis XI.
in the very midst of his joy at the defeat. He was, nevertheless, most
proper in his behavior and language towards Duke Charles, who sent to him
Sire de Contay "with humble and gracious words, which was contrary to his
nature and his custom," says Commynes; "but see how an hour's time
changed him; he prayed the king to be pleased to observe loyally the
truce concluded between them, he excused himself for not having appeared
at the interview which was to have taken place at Auxerre, and he bound
himself to be present, shortly, either there or elsewhere, according to
the king's good pleasure." Louis promised him all he asked, "for," adds
Commynes, "it did not seem to him time, as yet, to do other-wise;" and he
gave the duke the good advice "to return home and bide there quietly,
rather than go on stubbornly warring with yon folks of the Alps, so poor
that there was nought to gain by taking their lands, but valiant and