There was nothing but the spirit of his treaty with France to prevent Henry spending his money as he thought fit; and it was determined to hire 20,000 Swiss mercenaries to serve under the Emperor in order to conquer Milan and revenge Marignano.[210] The negotiation was one of great delicacy; not only was secrecy absolutely essential, but the money must be carefully kept out of Maximilian's reach.

"Whenever," wrote Pace, "the King's money passed where the Emperor was, he would always get some portion of it by force or false promises of restitution."[211] The accusation was justified by Maximilian's order to Margaret, his daughter, to seize Henry's treasure as soon as he heard it was on the way to the Swiss.[212] "The Emperor," said Julius II., "is light and inconstant, always begging for other men's money, which he wastes in hunting the chamois."[213] [Footnote 210: _L.

and P._, ii., 1065.] [Footnote 211: _Ibid._, ii., 1817.] [Footnote 212: _Ibid._, ii., 1231.] [Footnote 213: _Ibid._, ii., 1877.] The envoy selected for this difficult mission was Richard Pace, scholar and author, and friend of Erasmus and More.

He had been in Bainbridge's service at Rome, was then transferred to that of Wolsey and Henry, and as the King's secretary, was afterwards thought to be treading too close on the Cardinal's heels.

He set out in October, and arrived in Zurich just in time to prevent the Swiss from coming (p.