Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1903-02-28


length exactly ell that Master Fran
co.'s yillon did ano said and thought
during the period Of his astonishing
probation, are unfortunately lost to n
Abbey of Bonnie A"%enture, and. In con-
sequence, to the world. No less than
six foitog consecrated by the careful
pen OF Dom Gregory to this
able epoch have vanished from h
priceless manuscript. The custodian
of the abbey library will tell you with
tears In his Eyes that these pages dis
appeared during the storm and stress
of the French revolution. but ravel-
ers in France are too well aware
Of the readiness of ecclesiastical
~custodians to attribute all things evil
to the time of the great upheaval, to pay
any serious attention to this particular
allegation. However 1t happened, the
pages are lost, and there, as far as we
are concerned, is an end Of them.
But in a way we are able to piece to-
gether from Dom Gregory's later state
ments, n from certain traditions
which still linger here and there in the
highways and byways of Poitou,
enough material to enable us to ascer-
tain with something like sufficient &C
curacy, what Ii was that Master Fran
co.'s Villon did accomplish as Count Of
Montcorbier in those seven days Of
SplSlluOI WIlCh lie DlOChihB Mig O.
corded to him. We know for certain
that the king found him an admirable
counsellor, cool, wary n tudicious,
and that during the period Of his min
istry. Louis followed his advice with a
faith which, If it were founded indeed
upon a superstitious adherence to the
edicts of the stars, proved itself to be
thoroughly justified by his lord con-
stables common sense, foresight and
astonishing knowledge Of human ma
ture. We know, too, that he proved
himself no less skilled as. a soldier than
as a statesman, as capable or pre-em-
inence in the arts OF war as In the arts
of peace. His knowledge Of Caesars
commentaries and his natural inclina-
ton to strategy, interpreted by an elo-
quent tongue fired by a ready mother
wit, earned him the ear and won him
the heart of the kings great captains
and wrung from them at first q re-
luctant but finally such a delighted ad-
herence as their sires had been COM
PEELED to surrender to the Maid OF Or
leans.
yet while our poet was playing these
two parts, he managed his affairs so
dexterously that he seemed to the gen.
eral eye to be playing but one part. and
that the part Of the dazzling magnih-
cent courtier. If his mornings were
given to consultation with the king
and the kings chief soldiers, IL his fore
moons were devoted to the confirming
Of edicts and the p~romulgations OF laws
all tending to alleviate the condition
and tighten the load Of the people OF
Paris, his afternoons and evenings and
shining summer nights were entirely
surrendered to the glittering pleasures
and pastimes Of a nan OF ease. we
near of entertainment after entertain
I ment, banquet and ball and masquer-
IL nn1 nnofin0a
each one of which seemed to be the
last word of wealthy ingenuity until
it was eclipsed by It's still more splen-
did successor. And 1t was this part or
which the Count of Montcorbier chose
to make the most with a very speclal
purpose. He caused, 1t seems, many
emissaries of his to quit Paris and nno
shelter within the Duke of Burgundys
lines. pretending to be deserters from
the waning u of the king, each OF
whom had the same tale to tell to the
%credulous ears of the enemy; namely,
that the kings new favorite was a
wastrel and a fool, who a no better
purpose in life than the rhyming or
madrigals, the tuning of lutes, the
draining Of flagons, and the pressing OF
ladies' fingers in the dance. All OF
which produced, we are assured, upon
the mind of the Duke Of Burgundy the
very effect desired by Villon and LED
to results which luckily we are enable
to know more of, as Dom Gregorys
manuscript happily resumes continuity
on the seventh day Of Master
week of wonder
We further learn-for Dom Gregory,
though a churchman, seems to have q
kindly spot In his heart for the ways OK
lovers-that during those seven days,
the friendship of Villon and Rather
inc grew apace and that he whole
court watched with interest, and Mon
sieur Noel lie Jolys with an ever-in-
creasing fury, the growth Of a great
and beautiful passion. But 1t seems
that Master Villon, whether from fear
to risk too soon or from a deslre 10
leave the loveliest moment OF his reign
to the last, made no attempt directly
to declare himself or directly to learn
how high HI stood in the Lady Kather-
ines heart until the very day whlch
was the last day upon which 1t was
possible for him to assure his own sal
walton.