But to return to the constable, who perhaps had a mind that the king should be afraid of him—at least, I suppose he had (for I would not accuse him wrongly, and what I say is only for the information of such as are in the service of great princes, and have not an equal knowledge of the affairs of this world).—Had I a friend in that capacity, I would advise him to carry himself so, that his master might love him, and not dread him; for I never saw any courtier whose authority depended upon the awe he inspired his prince, but some time or other he was ruined, and by his master’s consent. Many examples of this nature have been seen in our time, or not long before, in this kingdom, as in the case of the Lord de La Tremouille[383] and others. In England, the Earl of Warwick and his faction were a remarkable instance; I could name others in Spain, and elsewhere; but perhaps those who shall read this chapter, may know it better than I. This arrogance generally proceeds from some extraordinary service that they have performed, by which they are so strangely puffed up, that they think their merit ought to bear them out in whatever they do, and that their masters cannot live without them. But princes, on the contrary, are of opinion, that the best service their subjects can do them, is no more than their duty: and they like to be told this by their servants, and desire nothing more than to be rid of those who are arrogant in their behaviour. Again, in this place I must insert two things which the king, my master, told me once in a discourse about persons who had done great service (and he named the author from whom he received that information), that to have served too well is sometimes the ruin of the agent; and that most often, great ingratitude is the reward of long and faithful services; usually upon account of the arrogance of those who have performed them, who, presuming too much upon their good fortune, behave themselves insolently towards their master or fellow-subjects; so that princes are not always to be blamed, if their subjects are not rewarded according to their deserts. His majesty told me further, that he thought that person more happy in his preferments at court, whom his prince had advanced beyond his desert, whereby he remained a debtor to his prince, than he who, by any signal service, had put his prince under great obligation to him; for he himself loved those persons with a greater affection who were obliged to him, than those (whoever they were) to whom he was obliged. So that in all conditions of life, it is a difficult matter to live well in this world, and a great blessing it is to those whom God hath naturally endowed with a right understanding. BOOK THE FOURTH. CH. I.—How the Duke of Burgundy, having seized upon the Duchy of Guelders, attempted farther Inroads upon the Germans, and besieged Nuz.—1474.