Collected works > Edinburgh edition, 1894-98 - Works of Robert Louis Stevenson > Volume 5, 1895 - Miscellanies, Volume II
(265) Page 249
Download files
Complete book:
Individual page:
Thumbnail gallery: Grid view | List view
CHARLES OF ORLEANS
and by the time he reached Tournay he had a
followmg of 300 horse. Everywhere he was received
as though he had been the king of France.^ If he
did not come to imagine himself something of the
sort, he certainly forgot the existence of any one with
a better claim to the title. He conducted himself
on the hypothesis that Charles vii. was another
Charles vi. He signed with enthusiasm that treaty
of Arras, which left France almost at the discretion
of Burgundy. On December 18 he was still no
farther than Bruges, where he entered into a private
treaty with Philip ; and it was not until January 14,
ten weeks after he disembarked in France, and
attended by a ruck of Burgundian gentlemen, that
he arrived in Paris and offered to present himself
before Charles vii. The King sent word that he
might come, if he would, with a small retinue, but
not with his present following ; and the duke, who
was mightily on his high horse after all the ovations
he had received, took the King's attitude amiss, and
turned aside into Touraine, to receive more welcome
and more presents, and be convoyed by torchlight
into faithful cities.
And so you see here was King Arthur home
again, and matters nowise mended in consequence.
The best we can say is, that this last stage of
Charles's public life was of no long duration. His
confidence was soon knocked out of him in the
contact with others. He began to find he was an
earthen vessel among many vessels of brass ; he
1 Monstrelet.
249
and by the time he reached Tournay he had a
followmg of 300 horse. Everywhere he was received
as though he had been the king of France.^ If he
did not come to imagine himself something of the
sort, he certainly forgot the existence of any one with
a better claim to the title. He conducted himself
on the hypothesis that Charles vii. was another
Charles vi. He signed with enthusiasm that treaty
of Arras, which left France almost at the discretion
of Burgundy. On December 18 he was still no
farther than Bruges, where he entered into a private
treaty with Philip ; and it was not until January 14,
ten weeks after he disembarked in France, and
attended by a ruck of Burgundian gentlemen, that
he arrived in Paris and offered to present himself
before Charles vii. The King sent word that he
might come, if he would, with a small retinue, but
not with his present following ; and the duke, who
was mightily on his high horse after all the ovations
he had received, took the King's attitude amiss, and
turned aside into Touraine, to receive more welcome
and more presents, and be convoyed by torchlight
into faithful cities.
And so you see here was King Arthur home
again, and matters nowise mended in consequence.
The best we can say is, that this last stage of
Charles's public life was of no long duration. His
confidence was soon knocked out of him in the
contact with others. He began to find he was an
earthen vessel among many vessels of brass ; he
1 Monstrelet.
249
Set display mode to: Large image | Transcription
Images and transcriptions on this page, including medium image downloads, may be used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence unless otherwise stated.
Early editions of Robert Louis Stevenson > Collected works > Works of Robert Louis Stevenson > Miscellanies, Volume II > (265) Page 249 |
---|
Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/90447024 |
---|
Dates / events: |
1895 [Date published] |
---|---|
Subject / content: |
Literature (humanities) Essays Criticism Anthologies |
Person / organisation: |
Burns, Robert, 1759-1796 [Subject of text] Villon, François, b. 1431 [Subject of text] Knox, John, ca. 1514-1572 [Subject of text] Pepys, Samuel, 1633-1703 [Subject of text] Hugo, Victor, 1802-1885 [Subject of text] Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 [Subject of text] Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862 [Subject of text] Yoshida, Shōin, 1830-1859 [Subject of text] Charles, d’Orléans, 1394-1465 [Subject of text] |
Form / genre: |
Written and printed matter > Books |
---|---|
Dates / events: |
1894-1898 [Date printed] |
Places: |
Europe >
United Kingdom >
Scotland >
Edinburgh >
Edinburgh
(inhabited place) [Place printed] |
Subject / content: |
Collected works |
Person / organisation: |
Chatto & Windus (Firm) [Distributor] Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894 [Author] T. and A. Constable [Printer] Longmans, Green, and Co. [Publisher] Colvin, Sidney, 1845-1927 [Editor] |
Person / organisation: |
Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894 [Author] |
---|