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Journeys. Part 1
Journeys. Part 1
The Journey To Turin. 1537
I will here shew my readers the towns and places where I found a way to
learn the art of surgery: for the better instruction of the young surgeon.
And first, in the year 1536, the great King Francis sent a large army to
Turin, to recover the towns and castles that had been taken by the Marquis de
Guast, Lieutenant-General of the Emperor. M. the Constable, then Grand Master,
was Lieutenant-General of the army, and M. de Montejan was Colonel-General of
the infantry, whose surgeon I was at this time. A great part of the army being
come to the Pass of Suze, we found the enemy occupying it; and they had made
forts and trenches, so that we had to fight to dislodge them and drive them
out. And there were many killed and wounded on both sides, - but the enemy
were forced to give way and retreat into the castle, which was captured, part
of it, by Captain Le Rat, who was posted on a little hill with some of his
soldiers, whence they fired straight on the enemy. He received an
arquebus-shot in his right ankle, and fell to the ground at once, and then
said, "Now they have got the Rat." I dressed him, and God healed him.
We entered pell-mell into the city, and passed over the dead bodies, and
some not yet dead, hearing them cry under our horses` feet; and they made my
heart ache to hear them. And truly I repented I had left Paris to see such a
pitiful spectacle. Being come into the city, I entered into a stable, thinking
to lodge my own and my man`s horse, and found four dead soldiers, and three
propped against the wall, their features all changed, and they neither saw,
heard, nor spake, and their clothes were still smouldering where the
gun-powder had burned them. As I was looking at them with pity, there came an
old soldier who asked me if there were any way to cure them. I said no. And
then he went up to them and cut their throats, gently, and without ill will
toward them. Seeing this great cruelty, I told him he was a villain: he
answered he prayed God, when he should be in such a plight, he might find
someone to do the same for him, that he should not linger in misery.
To come back to my story, the enemy were called on to surrender, which
they did, and left the city with only their lives saved, and the white stick
in their hands; and most of them went off to the Chateau de Villane, where
about two hundred Spaniards were stationed. M. the Constable would not leave
these behind him, wishing to clear the road for our own men. The castle is
seated on a small hill; which gave great confidence to those within, that we
could not bring our artillery to bear upon them. They were summoned to
surrender, or they would be cut in pieces: they answered that they would not,
saying they were as good and faithful servants of the Emperor, as M. the
Constable could be of the King his master. Thereupon our men by night hoisted
up two great cannons, with the help of the Swiss soldiers and the lansquenets;
but as ill luck would have it, when the cannons were in position, a gunner
stupidly set fire to a bag full of gunpowder, whereby he was burned, with ten
or twelve soldiers; and the flame of the powder discovered our artillery, so
that all night long those within the castle fired their arquebuses at the
place where they had caught sight of the cannons, and many of our men were
killed and wounded. Next day, early in the morning, the attack was begun, and
we soon made a breach in their wall. Then they demanded a parley: but it was
too late, for meanwhile our French infantry, seeing them taken by surprise,
mounted the breach, and cut them all in pieces, save one very fair young girl
of Piedmont, whom a great seigneur would have. . . . The captain and the
ensign were taken alive, but soon afterward hanged and strangled on the
battlements of the gate of the city, to give example and fear to the Emperor`s
soldiers, not to be so rash and mad as to wish to hold such places against so
great an army.
The soldiers within the castle, seeing our men come on them with great
fury, did all they could to defend themselves, and killed and wounded many
of our soldiers with pikes, arquebuses, and stones, whereby the surgeons had
all their work cut out for them. Now I was at this time a fresh-water soldier;
I had not yet seen wounds made by gunshot at the first dressing. It is true I
had read in John de Vigo, first book, Of Wounds in General, eighth chapter,
that wounds made by firearms partake of venenosity, by reason of the powder;
and for their cure he bids you cauterise them with oil of elder, scalding hot,
mixed with a little treacle. And to make no mistake, before I would use the
said oil, knowing this was to bring great pain to the patient, I asked first
before I applied it, what the other surgeons did for the first dressing; which
was to put the said oil, boiling well, into the wounds, with tents and setons;
wherefore I took courage to do as they did. At last my oil ran short, and I
was forced instead thereof to apply a digestive made of the yolks of eggs,
oil of roses, and turpentine. In the night I could not sleep in quiet, fearing
some default in not cauterising, that I should find the wounded to whom I had
not used the said oil dead from the poison of their wounds; which made me rise
very early to visit them, where beyond my expectation I found that those to
whom I had applied my digestive medicament had but little pain, and their
wounds without inflammation or swelling, having rested fairly well that night;
the others, to whom the boiling oil was used, I found feverish, with great
pain and swelling about the edges of their wounds. Then I resolved never
more to burn thus cruelly poor men with gunshot wounds.
While I was at Turin, I found a surgeon famed above all others for his
treatment of gunshot wounds; into whose favour I found means to insinuate
myself, to have the recipe of his balm, as he called it, wherewith he dressed
gunshot wounds. And he made me pay my court to him for two years, before I
could possibly draw the recipe from him. In the end, thanks to my gifts and
presents, he gave it to me; which was to boil, in oil of lilies, young whelps
just born, and earth-worms prepared with Venetian turpentine. Then I was
joyful, and my heart made glad that I had understood his remedy, which was
like that which I had obtained by chance.
See how I learned to treat gunshot wounds; not by books.
My Lord Marshal Montejan remained Lieutenant-General for the King in
Piedmont, having ten or twelve thousand men in garrison in the different
cities and castles, who were often fighting among themselves with swords
and other weapons, even with arquebuses. And if there were four wounded, I
always had three of them; and if there were question of cutting off an arm
or a leg, or of trepanning, or of reducing a fracture or a dislocation, I
accomplished it all. The Lord Marshal sent me now here now there to dress
the soldiers committed to me who were wounded in other cities beside Turin,
so that I was always in the country, one way or the other.
M. the Marshal sent to Milan, to a physician of no less reputation than
the late M. le Grand for his success in practice, to treat him for an hepatic
flux, whereof in the end he died. This physician was some while at Turin to
treat him, and was often called to visit the wounded, where always he found
me; and I was used to consult with him, and with some other surgeons; and when
we had resolved to do any serious work of surgery, it was Ambroise Pare that
put his hand thereto, which I would do promptly and skilfully, and with great
assurance, insomuch that the physician wondered at me, to be so ready in the
operations of surgery, and I so young. One day, discoursing with the Lord
Marshal, he said to him:
"Signor, tu hai un Chirurgico giovane di anni, ma egli e vecchio di
sapere e di esperientia: Guardalo bene, perche egli ti fara servicio et
honore." That is to say, "Thou hast a surgeon young in age, but he is old in
knowledge and experience: take good care of him, for he will do thee service
and honour." But the good man did not know I had lived three years at the
Hotel Dieu in Paris, with the patients there.
In the end, M. the Marshal died of his hepatic flux. He being dead, the
King sent M. the Marshal d`Annebaut to be in his place: who did me the honour
to ask me to live with him, and he would treat me as well or better than M.
the Marshal de Montejan. Which I would not do, for grief at the loss of my
master, who loved me dearly; so I returned to Paris.
The Journey To Marolles And Low Britanny. 1543
I went to the Camp of Marolles, with the late M. de Rohan, as surgeon
of his company; where was the King himself. M. d`Estampes, Governor of
Brittany, has told the King how the English had hoist sail to land in Low
Brittany; and had prayed him to send, to help him, MM. de Rohan and de Laval,
because they were the seigneurs of that country, and by their help the country
people would beat back the enemy, and keep them from landing. Having heard
this, the King sent these seigneurs to go in haste to the help of their
country; and to each was given as much power as to the Governor, so that they
were all three the King`s Lieutenants. They willingly took this charge upon
them, and went off posting with good speed, and took me with them as far as
Landreneau. There we found every one in arms, the tocsin sounding on every
side, for a good five or six leagues round the harbours, Brest, Couquet
Crozon, le Fou, Doulac, Laudanec; each well furnished with artillery, as
cannons, demi-cannons, culverins, muskets, falcons, arquebuses; in brief, all
who came together were well equipped with all sorts and kinds of artillery,
and with many soldiers, both Breton and French, to hinder the English from
landing as they had resolved at their parting from England.
The enemy`s army came right under our cannons: and when we perceived
them desiring to land, we saluted them with cannon-shot, and unmasked our
forces and our artillery. They fled to sea again. I was right glad to see heir
ships set sail, which were in good number and good order, and seemed to be a
forest moving upon the sea. I saw a thing also whereat I marvelled much, which
was, that the balls of the great cannons made long rebounds, and grazed over
the water as they do over the earth. Now to make the matter short, our English
did us no harm, and returned safe and sound into England. And they leaving us
in peace, we stayed in that country in garrison until we were assured that
their army was dispersed.
Now our soldiers used often to exercise themselves with running at the
ring, or with fencing, so that there was always some one in trouble, and I
had always something to employ me. M. d`Estampes, to make pastime and pleasure
for the Seigneurs de Rohan and de Laval, and other gentlemen, got a number of
village girls to come to the sports, to sing songs in the tongue of Low
Brittany: wherein their harmony was like the croaking of frogs when they are
in love. Moreover, he made them dance the Brittany triori, without moving
feet or hips: he made the gentlemen see and hear many good things.
At other times they made the wrestlers of the towns and villages come,
where there was a prize for the best: and the sport was not ended but that
one or other had a leg or arm broken, or the shoulder or hip dislocated.
There was a little man of Low Brittany, of a square body and well set,
who long held the credit of the field, and by his skill and strength threw
five or six to the ground. There came against him a big man, one Dativo, a
pedagogue, who was said to be one of the best wrestlers in all Brittany: he
entered into the lists, having thrown off his long jacket, in hose and
doublet: when he was near the little man, it looked as though the little man
had been tied to his girdle. Nevertheless, when they gripped each other round
the neck, they were a long time without doing anything, and we thought they
would remain equal in force and skill: but the little man suddenly leaped
beneath this big Dativo, and took him on his shoulder, and threw him to earth
on his back all spread out like a frog; and all the company laughed at the
skill and strength of the little fellow. The great Dativo was furious to have
been thus thrown to earth by so small a man: he rose again in a rage, and
would have his revenge. They took hold again round the neck, and were again
a good while at their hold without falling to the ground: but at last the big
man let himself fall upon the little, and in falling put his elbow upon the
pit of his stomach, and burst his heart, and killed him stark dead. And
knowing he had given him his death`s blow, took again his long cassock, and
went away with his tail between his legs, and eclipsed himself. Seeing the
little man came not again to himself, either for wine, vinegar, or any other
thing presented to him, I drew near to him and felt his pulse, which did not
beat at all: then I said he was dead. Then the Bretons, who were assisting at
the wrestling, said aloud in their jargon, "Andraze meuraquet enes rac un bloa
so abeudeux henelep e barz an gouremon enel ma hoa engoustun." That is to say,
"That is not in the sport." And someone said that this great Dativo was
accustomed to do so, and but a year past he had done the same at a wrestling.
I must needs open the body to know the cause of this sudden death. I found
much blood in the thorax. . . . . I tried to find some internal opening whence
it might have come, which I could not, for all the diligence that I could
use. . . . The poor little wrestler was buried. I took leave of MM. de Rohan,
de Laval, and d`Estampes. M. de Rohan made me a present of fifty double
ducats and a horse, M. de Laval gave me a nag for my man, and M. d`Estampes
gave me a diamond worth thirty crowns: and I returned to my house in Paris.
The Journey To Perpignan. 1543
Some while after, M. de Rohan took me with him posting to the camp at
Perpignan. While we were there, the enemy sallied out, and surrounded three
pieces of our artillery before they were beaten back to the gates of the city.
Which was not done without many killed and wounded, among the others M. de
Brissac, who was then grand master of the artillery, with an arquebus-shot in
the shoulder. When he retired to his tent, all the wounded followed him,
hoping to be dressed by the surgeons who were to dress him. Being come to his
tent and laid on his bed, the bullet was searched for by three or four of the
best surgeons in the army, who could not find it, but said it had entered into
his body.
At last he called for me, to see if I could be more skilful than they,
because he had known me in Piedmont. Then I made him rise from his bed, and
told him to put himself in the same posture that he had when he was wounded,
which he did, taking a javelin in his hand just as he had held his pike to
fight. I put my hand around the wound, and found the bullet. . . . Having
found it, I showed them the place where it was, and it was taken out by M.
Nicole.Lavernault, surgeon of M. the Dauphin, who was the King`s Lieutenant in
that army; all the same, the honour of finding it belonged to me.
I saw one very strange thing, which was this: a soldier in my presence
gave one of his fellows a blow on the head with a halbard, penetrating to the
left ventricle of the brain; yet the man did not fall to the ground. He that
struck him said he heard that he had cheated at dice, and he had drawn a large
sum of money from him, and was accustomed to cheat. They called me to dress
him; which I did, as it were for the last time, knowing that he would die
soon. When I had dressed him, he returned all alone to his quarters, which
were at the least two hundred paces away. I bade one of his companions send
for a priest to dispose the affairs of his soul; he got one for him, who
stayed with him to his last breath. The next day, the patient sent for me by
his girl, dressed in boy`s apparel, to come and dress him; which I would not,
fearing he would die under my hands; and to be rid of the matter I told her
the dressing must not be removed before the third day. But in truth he was
sure to die, though he were never touched again. The third day, he came
staggering to find me in my tent, and the girl with him, and prayed me most
affectionately to dress him, and showed me a purse wherein might be an hundred
or sixscore pieces of gold, and said he would give me my heart`s desire;
nevertheless, for all that, I put off the removal of the dressing, fearing
lest he should die then and there. Certain gentlemen desired me to go and
dress him; which I did at their request; but in dressing him he died under my
hands in a convulsion. The priest stayed with him till death, and seized his
purse, for fear another man should take it, saying he would say masses for his
poor soul. Also he took his clothes, and everything else.
I have told this case for the wonder of it, that the soldier, having
received this great blow, did not fall down, and kept his reason to the end.
Not long afterward, the camp was broken up from diverse causes: one,
because we were told that four companies of Spaniards were entered into
Perpignan: the other, that the plague was spreading through the camp.
Moreover, the country folk warned us there would soon be a great overflowing
of the sea, which might drown us all. And the presage which they had, was a
very great wind from sea, which rose so high that there remained not a single
tent but was broken and thrown down, for all the care and diligence we could
give; and the kitchens being all uncovered, the wind raised the dust and sand,
which salted and powdered our meats in such fashion that we could not eat
them; and we had to cook them in pots and other covered vessels. Nor was the
camp so quickly moved but that many carts and carters, mules and mule drivers,
were drowned in the sea, with great loss of baggage.
When the camp was moved I returned to Paris.
The Journey To Landresy. 1544
The King raised a great army to victual Landresy. Against him the Emperor
had no fewer men, but many more, to wit, eighteen thousand Germans, ten
thousand Spaniards, six thousand Walloons, ten thousand English, and from
thirteen to fourteen thousand horse. I saw the two armies near each other,
within cannon-shot; and we thought they could not withdraw without giving
battle. There were some foolish gentlemen who must needs approach the enemy`s
camp; the enemy fired on them with light field pieces; some died then and
there, others had their arms or legs carried away. The King having done what
he wished, which was to victual Landresy, withdrew his army to Guise, which
was the day after All Saints, 1544; and from there I returned to Paris.
The Journey To Boulogne. 1545
A little while after, we went to Boulogne; where the English, seeing our
army, left the forts which they were holding, Moulambert, le petit Paradis,
Monplaisir, the fort of Chastillon, le Portet, the fort of Dardelot. One day,
as I was going through the camp to dress my wounded men, the enemy who were in
the Tour d`Ordre fired a cannon against us, thinking to kill two men-at-arms
who had stopped to talk together. It happened that the ball passed quite close
to one of them, which threw him to the ground, and it was thought the ball had
touched him, which it did not; but only the wind of the ball full against his
corselet, with such force that all the outer part of his thigh became livid
and black, and he could hardly stand. I dressed him, and made diverse
scarifications to let out the bruised blood made by the wind of the ball; and
by the rebounds that it made on the ground it killed four soldiers, who
remained dead where they fell.
I was not far from this shot, so that I could just feel the moved air,
without its doing me any harm save a fright, which made me duck my head low
enough; but the ball was already far away. The soldiers laughed at me, to be
afraid of a ball which had already passed. Mon petit maistre, I think if you
had been there, I should not have been afraid all alone, and you would have
had your share of it.
Monseigneur the Duc de Guise, Francois de Lorraine, was wounded before
Boulogne with a thrust of a lance, which entered above the right eye, toward
the nose, and passed out on the other side between the ear and the back of the
neck, with so great violence that the head of the lance, with a piece of the
wood, was broken and remained fast; so that it could not be drawn out save
with extreme force, with smith`s pincers. Yet notwithstanding the great
violence of the blow, which was not without fracture of bones, nerves, veins,
and arteries, and other parts torn and broken, my lord, by the grace of God,
was healed. He was used to go into battle always with his vizard raised: that
is why the lance passed right out on the other side.
The Journey To Germany. 1552
I went to Germany, in the year 1552, with M. de Rohan, captain of fifty
men-at-arms, where I was surgeon of his company, as I have said before. On
this expedition, M. the Constable was general of the army; M. de Chastillon,
afterward the Admiral, was chief colonel of the infantry, with four regiments
of lansquenets under Captains Recrod and Ringrave, two under each; and every
regiment was of ten ensigns, and every ensign of five hundred men. And beside
these were Captain Charter, who led the troops that the Protestant princes
had sent to the King (this infantry was very fine, and was accompanied by
fifteen hundred men-at-arms, with a following of two archers apiece, which
would make four thousand five hundred horse); and two thousand light horse,
and as many mounted arquebusiers, of whom M. d`Aumalle was general; and a
great number of the nobility, who were come there for their pleasure.
Moreover, the King was accompanied by two hundred gentlemen of his household,
under the command of the Seigneurs de Boisy and de Canappe, and by many other
princes. For his following, to escort him, there were the French and Scotch
and Swiss guards, amounting to six hundred foot soldiers; and the companies of
MM. the Dauphin, de Guise, d`Aumalle, and Marshal Saint Andre, amounting to
four hundred lances; which was a marvellous thing, to see such a multitude;
and with this equipage the King entered into Toul and Metz.
I must not omit to say that the companies of MM. de Rohan, the Comte de
Sancerre, and de Jarnac, which were each of them of fifty horse, went upon the
wings of the camp. And God knows how scarce we were of victuals, and I protest
before Him that at three diverse times I thought to die of hunger; and it was
not for want of money, for I had enough of it; but we could not get victuals
save by force, because the country people collected them all into the towns
and castles.
One of the servants of the captain-ensign of the company of M. de Rohan
went with others to enter a church where the peasants were retreated, thinking
to get victuals by love or by force; but he got the worst of it, as they all
did, and came back with seven sword-wounds on the head, the least of which
penetrated to the inner table of the skull; and he had four other wounds upon
the arms, and one on the right shoulder, which cut more than half of the
blade-bone. He was brought back to his master`s lodging, who seeing him so
mutilated, and not hoping he could be cured, made him a grave, and would have
cast him therein, saying that else the peasants would massacre and kill him. I
in pity told him the man might still be cured if he were well dressed. Diverse
gentlemen of the company prayed he would take him along with the baggage,
since I was willing to dress him; to which he agreed, and after I had got the
man ready, he was put in a cart, on a bed well covered and well arranged,
drawn by a horse. I did him the office of physician, apothecary, surgeon, and
cook. I dressed him to the end of his case, and God healed him; insomuch that
all the three companies marvelled at this cure. The men-at-arms of the company
of M. de Rohan, the first muster that was made, gave me each a crown, and the
archers half a crown.
The Journey To Danvilliers. 1552
On his return from the expedition against the German camp, King Henry
besieged Danvilliers, and those within would not surrender. They got the worst
of it, but our powder failed us; so they had a good shot at our men. There was
a culverin-shot passed through the tent of M. de Rohan, which hit a
gentleman`s leg who was of his household. I had to finish the cutting off of
it, which I did without applying the hot irons.
The King sent for powder to Sedan, and when it came we began the attack
more vigorously than before, so that a breach was made. MM. de Guise and the
Constable, being in the King`s chamber, told him, and they agreed that next
day they would assault the town, and were confident they would enter into it;
and it must be kept secret, for fear the enemy should come to hear of it; and
each promised not to speak of it to any man. Now there was a groom of the
King`s chamber, who being laid under the King`s camp-bed to sleep, heard they
were resolved to attack the town next day. So he told the secret to a certain
captain, saying that they would make the attack next day for certain, and he
had heard it from the King, and prayed the said captain to speak of it to no
man, which he promised; but his promise did not hold, and forthwith he
disclosed it to a captain, and this captain to a captain, and the captains to
some of the soldiers, saying always, "Say nothing." And it was just so much
hid, that next day early in the morning there was seen the greater part of the
soldiers with their boots and breeches cut loose at the knee for the better
mounting of the breach. The King was told of this rumour that ran through the
camp, that the attack was to be made; whereat he was astonished, seeing there
were but three in that advice, who had promised each other to tell it to no
man. The King sent for M. de Guise, to know if he had spoken of this attack;
he swore and affirmed to him he had not told it to anybody; and M. the
Constable said the same, and told the King they must know for certain who had
declared this secret counsel, seeing they were but three. Inquiry was made
from captain to captain. In the end they found the truth; for one said, "It
was such an one told me," and another said the same, till it came to the first
of all, who declared he had heard it from the groom of the King`s chamber,
called Guyard, a native of Blois, son of a barber of the late King Francis.
The King sent for him into his tent, in the presence of MM. de Guise and the
Constable, to hear from him whence he had his knowledge, and who had told him
the attack was to be made; and said if he did not speak the truth he would
have him hanged. Then he declared he lay down under the King`s bed thinking to
sleep, and so having heard the plan he revealed it to a captain who was a
friend of his, to the end he might prepare himself with his soldiers to be the
first at the attack. Then the King knew the truth, and told him he should
never serve him again, and that he deserved to be hanged, and forbade him ever
to come again to the Court.
The groom of the chamber went away with this to swallow, and slept that
night with a surgeon-in-ordinary of the King, Master Louis of Saint Andre; and
in the night he gave himself six stabs with a knife, and cut his throat. Nor
did the surgeon perceive it till the morning, when he found his bed all
bloody, and the dead body by him. He marvelled at this sight on his awaking,
and feared they would say he was the cause of the murder; but he was soon
relieved, seeing the reason, which was despair at the loss of the good
friendship of the King.
So Guyard was buried. And those of Danvilliers, when they saw the breach
large enough for us to enter, and our soldiers ready to assault them,
surrendered themselves to the mercy of the King. Their leaders were taken
prisoners, and their soldiers were sent away without arms.
The camp being dispersed, I returned to Paris with my gentleman whose leg
I had cut off; I dressed him, and God healed him. I sent him to his house
merry with a wooden leg; and he was content, saying he had got off cheap, not
to have been miserably burned to stop the blood, as you write in your book,
mon petit maistre.
The Journey To Chateau Le Comte. 1552
Some time after, King Henry raised an army of thirty thousand men, to go
and lay waste the country about Hesdin. The King of Navarre, who was then
called M. de Vendosme, was chief of the army, and the King`s Lieutenant. Being
at St. Denis, in France, waiting while the companies passed by, he sent to
Paris for me to speak with him. When I came he begged me (and his request was
a command) to follow him on this journey; and I, wishing to make my excuses,
saying my wife was sick in bed, he made answer there were physicians in Paris
to cure her, and he, too, had left his wife, who was of as good a house as
mine, and he said he would use me well, and forthwith ordered I should be
attached to his household. Seeing this great desire he had to take me with
him, I dared not refuse him.
I went after him to Chateau le Comte, within three or four leagues of
Hesdin. The Emperor`s soldiers were in garrison there, with a number of
peasants from the country road. M. de Vendosme called on them to surrender;
they made answer that he should never take them, unless it were piecemeal; let
him do his worst, and they would do their best to defend themselves. They
trusted in their moats, which were full of water; but in two hours, with
plenty of faggots and casks, we made a way for our infantry to pass over, when
they had to advance to the assault; and the place was attacked with five
cannons, and a breach was made large enough for our men to enter; where those
within received the attack very valiantly, and killed and wounded a great
number of our men with arque-buses, pikes, and stones. In the end, when they
saw themselves overpowered, they set fire to their powder and ammunition,
whereby many of our men were burned, and some of their own. And they were
almost all put to the sword; but some of our soldiers had taken twenty or
thirty, hoping to have ransom for them: and so soon as this was known, orders
were given to proclaim by trumpet through the camp, that all soldiers who had
Spaniards for prisoners must kill them, on pain of being themselves hanged and
strangled: which was done in cold blood.
Thence we went and burned several villages; and the barns were all full
of grain, to my very great regret. We came as far as Tournahan, where there
was a large tower, whither the enemy withdrew, but we found the place empty:
our men sacked it, and blew up the tower with a mine of gunpowder, which
turned it upside down. After that, the camp was dispersed, and I returned to
Paris. And the day after Chateau le Comte was taken, M. de Vendosme sent a
gentleman under orders to the King, to report to him all that had happened,
and among other things he told the King I had done very good work dressing the
wounded, and had showed him eighteen bullets that I had taken out of their
bodies, and there were many more that I had not been able to find or take out;
and he spoke more good of me than there was by half. Then the King said he
would take me into his service, and commanded M. de Goguier, his first
physician, to write me down in the King`s service as one of his
surgeons-in-ordinary, and I was to meet him at Rheims within ten or twelve
days: which I did. And the King did me the honour to command me to live near
him, and he would be a good friend to me. Then I thanked him most humbly for
the honour he was pleased to do me in appointing me to serve him.
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