and every of them shall swear solemnly that they will take care of, attend, and manage the said affairs as aforesaid, and have a very strict regard to the right of each part, and proceed therein without interruption or delay, and without alleging any excuse, unless in case of death or sickness. And in case of an excuse as aforesaid, the commissioner, whose business it is, shall appoint one to act in his stead, who shall proceed with the rest in the same form and manner as above directed. “The king agrees to the contents of this article.” [The conclusion and ratification of this treaty being matters of form, we omit them.] CH. X.—How the King accompanied the Duke of Burgundy in his Expedition against the Liegeois, who were formerly his Allies.—1468. After the conclusion of the peace, the King and the Duke of Burgundy set out the next morning for Cambray[250], and from thence towards the country of Liege: it was the beginning of winter, and the weather very bad. The king had with him only his Scotch guards and a small body of his standing forces; but he ordered 300 of his men-at-arms to join him. The duke’s army marched in two columns; one was commanded by the Marshal of Burgundy (of whom I have spoken before), and with him were all the Burgundians, the above-mentioned nobility of Savoy, and a great number of forces out of Hainault, Luxembourg, Namur, and Limburg; the other body was led by the duke himself. When they came near the city of Liege, a council of war was held in the duke’s presence, in which it was the opinion of some of the officers, that part of the army should march back, since the gates and walls of that city had been demolished the year before, and no hopes were left them of being relieved; for the king was with us in person, and had made some overtures for them, which was almost as much as was demanded of them: but the duke was not at all pleased with this proposition, and it was well he was not, for never prince was nearer his ruin, and it was only his suspicion of the king which was the occasion of his rejecting it. Certainly they who proposed it, out of an opinion of their too great strength, were very ill-advised; it was a great instance of their folly or pride, and I have often heard of such counsel having been given, but it was always by such officers as were either ignorant of what was fit to be done, or such as had a mind to be esteemed for their courage; but our king (whom God pardon!) understood an affair of this nature excellently well. He was slow and timorous in undertaking any action of importance, but when once he had begun, he provided so well, that it was hardly possible for his designs to miscarry.