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Show 416 family wns one of considerable distinction. It had always been dcvotcd1y attached to tho Catholic religion, nor had he ever for a moment faltered in the "':uno faith. Tiis career had been a remarkable one, signn.lizcd by great valor, and the most c:ttrcmo vicissitudes of fortune. Jlc had scrvctl in the :u·mics of France during the long and capricious r;trugglcs in Ttaly, which had been the chief arena for conflict in the reigns of Chadcs the Eighth, of Louis XII., of ]francis the F'irst, and Jmrn to the present period. Here he had MSOciatcd, under the com manti of llri:ssac and others, with tl1at ya!innt brother Gascon, Blaize de Moutluc, who, in his commentaries, would probalJly have told us much about tho prowess of Gourgucs, if he had not been so greatly occupied wilh the narrative of his own. • But the forbcar:mcc of J\fontluc has not deprived us of all the testimony which belongs to the fame +The Chevalier de Gourgucs i ~ only twice mentioned, but both times with favor, in the chronicle' of !\Iontluc. The in,tances occur in Italy, in l:i:56; one of \Thich describes the capture of Gourgues, the other his rescue from captivity. "L« il jut priut do11:t ou quator:oe tltn:aux ltgtr• dt ma compognit, dont It Capitaim Courguu, qui utoit <i Ia mitt dt Straui, ttloit d-. nombrt,'l ~. Montluc was not the Gascon to leave his people iu cap· tivity. He prepares to scale the fort in which they are confined, and, hi9 attempt begun, Gourgue;~ wa~ Gascon enough to he\Jl himself. The Spaniards had a guard of eighteen or twenty men over their prisoners, who were sixty or eighty in number, the latter being tied in paira, to make them more secure. As soon as the prisoner~ heard the cry of "Fra~, Fran.ctl" from their friend~ without, they began the .•truggle within-" ilt com~~Ctrt>lt d u ucouer Itt 11111 tl Itt autrt•, tt mtmurlt Capitaint CourKJifl, qui tt dttlia.lt prtmitr,U t/1:. Tho pri!OnC'rs1 led by Gourguea, U8ail their guard~ with nnked arms, wrC'st from them their weapon~, and where the!le nre wanting, employ paviugatonu, actually killing the greittr numher, and taking the re!t captive. Such was theaucctn of the ;,urpri~e, and the spirit which they di~p\ayed. DOMINIQUE DE GOURGUES. 417 of tho chevalier. Of all the subaltern officers of hill time, no one achieved a more brilliant reputation. Among tho Gaseous, confessedly distinguished above all others by their reckless daring, and headlong eagerness after glory in battle, the courage of Gourgues was such as raised him to the rank of a hero of romance. His youthful eyes had opened upon the latest fields of that race of heroes of whom Bayard was the superior and perhaps tho lasL. He was one of the Sampsons of that wondrous band, wltosc wars, according to Trivulcio--onc not the least remarkable among thorn, -were those of the giants; -the Swiss, in the fullest vigor of their martial fame, and at the height of their insolence ;-the Spaniards, with Hernan de Cordova, the great captain, at their head, and crowning the career of Charles V. with a power and a lustre which l1is own merits did not deserve ;-the Jtalians, und er tho sway of, and deriving their spirit from, the fierc C! martial pontiff, Julius II., and the l?rcnch, boasting of a cavalr'Y, head;:d by Bayard, La Palissc and others, worthy of such associates, and such as the armies of Europe had never beheld before. 1\Iontluc, who had been trained in part in the same house with Bayard, and Boitcres, who, ns a page of the kn ight SM~:~ pet~r et Mm uproche, makes a famous figure in the chronicles of le loyal un:ilcu,r, being among the leaders whom the Chevalier de Gourgues followed into battle. He partook of their spirit, and proved himself \Vorthy to sustain the declining honors of chivalry. But his fortunes were ns adverse as his merits were distinguished. With tJtirty men, ncar Sienna, in Tuscany, he sustained, for a long time, the shock of n.la1·ge division of the Spanish army. He sa\v, at length, every man of his command ftdl around him, and was made a prisoner. The captive of the Spaniard, in that day, wh~n the emperor of the country and his favorite generals showed thcmseh·es utterly 18' |
