Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1870-09-28
METZ In THE OLDEN TIME.
The siege u 1s52-Appearance of the
Piace, and Scenes at the Timc-A
koat from an Old, Rare History.

The Siege u 1552-Appearance of I'll,
Place, and Scenes at the Time.
Leaf from an Old, Rare History.
The following interesting sketch of Met
at the time of the siege Of 1862 will be rea
with peculiar interest at the present nc
ment. 1t Is from an old and somewha
rare history:
Charles v, unable to resist the Protes
tants. made peace with them, assemble
all his forces against France, and lai
siege to Metz with 100000 men. Whe
his army reached the place, the General
proposed to begin by summons
"No," said the Emperor, 'that is
stop [ will not take. Francis, Duk
of Guise, did not shut himself III
with the flower of the nobility for the pur
pose of capitulation. We can only succeed
in our project by force of courage, activit,
ana intelligence" During the first day
of the siege, slave Of @ cavalry officer
Don Louis d'Avila, stole an excellent hors,
from his master, and took refuge in tn,
place. Don Louis besought Guise to sent
back the horse, which he valued highly
and the slave, whom he wished to punisl
as he deserved. The Duke did not hesi
! tate 10 send back the horse; but, as to The
| slave, he sent him word that under the
laws of France, every man who set foot Oh
Freich soil became free.
The Governor, finding himself hare
pressed. adrcitly caused o letter, writer
/ to the King, his master, to fall into the
hands of The Spaniards, in which he re-
marked that he felt no more anxiety since
the enemy had decided upon attacking the
| fortifications on the strongest side and
where it would take them long time to
| make a breach This article deceived the
5esiegers, who directed their batteries
against part of the Notifications better
| defended than shat at first attacked
These changes protracted the siege, and
| consumed great deal of time. When
Charles v, whose infirmities had kept
him away from the place, arrived in camp,
he was received with great rejoicing by his
troops, for they hoped that his presence
would insure the success of the undertak-
ings. On the other hand, the garrison was
equally delighted under the persuasion
that resisting the Emperor would be the
more glorious. This prince, seeing the
breach largo enough, said to his officers:
Goods wounds how is it they don't force
an entrance? The breach is so great and
the ditch leveled. In Gods name, what are
they waiting for ?'' They told him that the
Duke of Guise had contrived broad ram
parts behind the breach, filed with mines
and formidable artillery. and defended
by 10, 600 of the most Intelligent and brav-
est troops in Christendom. This reply
set Charles raving. s'Ah," he cried, Il
see we'll that have no more men. [ may
as we'll give up my empire, all my under
takings, and the world, and shut myself UP
in monastery, for | am sold and betray-
ed, and certainly am as badly served as
ever was Prince that bore a monarch's
title. Gods death before three years 1
will turn monk.
The monarch's dispIeasure produced no
result. Tho imperial army, destroyed by
hunger, by the sword, and by the weather,
was compelled to raise the siege. Il retir-
ed in the night time, secretly, abandoning
its eQuippage, tents, artillery, munitions
of war, and provisions. The Prince OF
Iarochesur- Yon, in the ardor OF pursuit,
overtak king some companies of horse, offer
ed battle. The officer in command turn
ing to him, said: "Ah how do you sup
pose we can have the strength to fight p
You see we have not strength enough to
aee" Touched by this remark, the Prince
let them continue their flight.
In the ssige Metz lost its ancient spIen-
dor. During the defence, it became neces-
sary to destroy, within and without, more
than thirty magnificent churches, some of
which contained the tombs of the Kings of
the Carlovingian race. Several medals
were struck off in memorial Of the deliver
a,aoo Of Metz. One represented e device
of the Emperor 's-the Columns of Hercules,
with the Latin word ultra, signifying that
by his expedition into Africa, this Prince
had carried his arms gloriously far beyond
tho country where Hercules had been. To
this device they added q chained eagle,
bound to the column, with these words:
Non ,,ltra noetds.. The play upon the word
q,aetas was very annoying to Charles v, for
it signitied both the city of Metz and the
columns of Hercules.
Charles v, after having seen the best ar
my he ever had waste away before Metz,
came near making himself master OF the
place the year following, by singular
stratagem. The monks had convoked a
general assembly, to which the religious
people of several nations were invited. In
order to provide for their subsistence, it
was necessary to bring in q large amount
of provisions from the surrounding coun-
try. Among the cas- KS of vine and beer,
they brought in good many flied with
arms, and q large number OF German SOL
diers found their way in under the disguise
Of monks. The garrison of Thionville,
which was numerous, had to ap-
pear before Metz on o given day,
The Frenchmen would certainly come out
to meet them. The plot WAS an attack up
on the remnant left in the place by the
soldiers disguised as monks, and by large
number Of inhabitants who joined IN tho
plot. They were at once to seize the gates
and hand them ever TO the Emperor s
troops. Vielievilie, who commanded in
Metz, got wind of the conspiracy, and OBJ
tanned possession of all its details. AS he
was a man both of head and heart, he al
lowed the signals to be given to the Ger
mans who came on, to the number of 4
900, and fell into the ambush he had pre-
pared for them. The whole force was
killed, made prisoner, or dispersed. These
traitors met the fate they deserved.
SUMMING Up THE CAsE-A Georgia
friend, who has laughed over some of the
we're extra judicial decisions Of learne
Judges that have found their way into the
Drawer, sends the following as having ac-
tualIy occurred in one of the cities OF that
State:
Our friend is fill of the dignity of hif
office, and entirely convinced that the at
fairs of the country would como to full
stop but for his efforts. Not long since
man was brought before him on warrant
for vagrancy. A palmer case conld not be
presented, and as the evidence was giver
IN, the young lawyer who was defending
! him thought it hopeless. On arising tC