reverenced him, and was ever ready to do his bidding. Thus the
intelligence that he was wounded and a prisoner threw them into
consternation, and they were yet undecided how to act when they received
that famous epistle in which Francis wrote--not the legendary words,
"All is lost save honour," but--"Of all things there have remained to me
but honour and life, which is safe." After begging his mother and sister
to face the extremity by employing their customary prudence, the King
commended his children to their care, and expressed the hope that God
would not abandon him. (1) This missive revived the courage of the
Regent and Margaret, for shortly afterwards we find the latter writing
to Francis: "Your letter has had such effect upon the health of Madame
[Louise], and of all those who love you, that it has been to us as a
Holy Ghost after the agony of the Passion.... Madame has felt so great
a renewal of strength, that whilst day and evening last not a moment is
lost over your business, so that you need have no grief or care about
your kingdom and children." (2)

1 See extract from the Registers of the Parliament of Paris
(Nov. 10, 1525) in Dulaure's _Histoire de Paris_, Paris,
1837, vol. iii. p. 209; and Lalanne's _Journal d'un
Bourgeois de Paris_, Paris, 1854, p. 234. The original of
the letter no longer exists, but the authenticity of the
text cannot be disputed, as all the more essential portions
are quoted in the collective reply of Margaret and Louise of
Savoy, which is still extant. See Champollion-Figeac's
Captivité de François Ier, pp. 129, 130.

2 Génin's _Nouvelles Lettres de la Peine de Navarre_,
Paris, 1842, p. 27.