for the injury.” And he never used this kind of apologies to any person, but he granted some favour to the person to whom he made it, and it was always of considerable amount. It is certainly a great blessing from God upon any prince to have experienced adversity as well as prosperity, good as well as evil, and especially if the good outweighs the evil, as it did in the king our master. I am of opinion that the troubles he was involved in, in his youth, when he fled from his father, and resided six years[134] together with Philip Duke of Burgundy, were of great service to him; for there he learned to be complaisant to such as he had occasion to use, which was no slight advantage of adversity. As soon as he found himself a powerful and crowned king, his mind was wholly bent upon revenge; but he quickly found the inconvenience of this, repented by degrees of his indiscretion, and made sufficient reparation for his folly and error, by regaining those he had injured, as shall be related hereafter. Besides, I am very confident that if his education had not been different from the usual education of such nobles as I have seen in France, he could not so easily have worked himself out of his troubles; for they are brought up to nothing but to make themselves ridiculous, both in their clothes and discourse; they have no knowledge of letters; no wise man is suffered to come near them, to improve their understandings; they have governors who manage their business, but they do nothing themselves: nay, there are some nobles who, though they have an income of thirteen livres, will take pride to bid you, “Go to my servants, and let them answer you;” thinking by such speeches to imitate the state and grandeur of a prince; and I have seen their servants take great advantage of them, giving them to understand they were fools; and if afterwards they came to apply their minds to business, and attempted to manage their own affairs, they began so late, they could make nothing of it. And it is certain that all those who have performed any great or memorable action, worthy to be recorded in history, began always in their youth; and this is to be attributed to the method of their education, or some particular blessing from God. CH. XI.—How the Burgundians, being drawn up near Paris, and in Expectation of a Battle, mistook high Thistles for a Body of Lances.—1465. I have dwelt long upon this subject, but indeed it is of such a nature I could not easily leave off when I would. However, to return to the war.