gentlemen of the royal household had generally volunteered. Lord Surrey, emerging from under the clouds, was sent over to burnish up his tarnished brightness; and he carried with him a special introduction from Henry to the Emperor, should Charles reach the scene of action before the end of the summer. It was the pride of the English commander that, amidst the miscellaneous concourse of Flemings, Germans, Spaniards, and Italians, who formed the Imperial force, his own small army should be the model of discipline and order.[1] July.The defence of Flanders requiring the whole available force, the attack on Mottreul was postponed, and the scene of the war lay chiefly along the Flemish frontier, from Landrecy towards Calais. The campaign, on the part of the English, commenced with a passage at arms, which revived the gone days of chivalry. There had been a skirmish under the walls of Terouenne, where a company of mounted archers had especially distinguished themselves. The French had retired within the lines of the town, and the governor being an acquaintance of the English general, the latter sent in a challenge, the circumstances and results of which he thus described in a despatch to the Government:—
- ↑ 'Thanks be to God, your army here hath ever since their setting forward ordered themselves with such obedience, modesty, and temperance, without any fray or quarrel either within themselves or to any stranger, that it is not only to our great comfort to see the same, but also to the great marvel of strangers, being rather like the civility of a city or town than an army of men of war.'—Wallop to Henry VIII.: State Papers, vol. ix. p. 462.
