The reward reserved for the victor was to be recorded on a later page of history.
The coldness and caution, not to say the pusillanimity of Philip, prevented him from seizing the golden fruits of his triumph.

Ferdinand Gonzaga wished the blow to be followed up by an immediate march upon Paris .-- Such was also the feeling of all the distinguished soldiers of the age.

It was unquestionably the opinion, and would have been the deed, of Charles, had he been on the field of Saint Quentin, crippled as he was, in the place of his son.

He could not conceal his rage and mortification when he found that Paris had not fallen, and is said to have refused to read the despatches which recorded that the event had not been consummated.

There was certainly little of the conqueror in Philip's nature; nothing which would have led him to violate the safest principles of strategy.