agreeably as he did in that city, for he had seen the Imperial Arsenal,
the fortifications, and many other fine, as well as useful, sights, and
had been continually feasted gratis by the rich and the great folks.

* * * * *


RANSOMS.

(_Concluded from page_ 149.)

The queen of Edward III., after the battle of Durham, demanded of John
Copland, David of Scotland; on his remonstrance that no one but the king
had a right to his prisoner, Edward sent for him to Calais, and bestowed
on him in return for his captive, £500, in land. The Scottish monarch
paid, after an imprisonment of eleven years, 100,000 marks, and was
dismissed. Charles de Blois, at the same period paid 700,000 crowns, and
left his two sons as hostages. Michael de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, paid
£20,000. sterling, when only a simple knight. Duc d'Alençon gave for his
freedom 200,000 crowns, and actually sold part of his estate to the Duc
de Bretagne to pay it. Caprice often caused the detention of men in
captivity, from their inability to comply with the absurd demands of
their captors. Louis XI. refused to part with Wolfang Poulain, a
Burgundian officer, unless he would purchase his redemption with some
favourite hounds belonging to the Seigneur de Bossu. As Bossu did not
feel sufficiently interested in his friend's welfare to comply with the
king's wishes, and part with his dogs, some time elapsed before any
treaty could be entered into, to restore Poulain to his country.

This practice, though it undoubtedly contributed to soften the horrors