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CHAPTER V.

"The mind I sway by, and the heart I bear,

Shall never sag with doubt, nor shake with fear."

THE WELSH CAMPAIGNS-HENRY'S POPULARITY-THE CESSATION OF THE WELSH REBELLION-GLENDOWER'S END AND CHARACTER-HENRY A COUNCILLOR OF STATE-NEGOTIATIONS FOR HIS MARRIAGE-FRENCH RELATIONS-THE LAST DAYS OF HENRY THE FOURTH.

THE battle of Shrewsbury established the military fame of Prince Henry. His praises were sounded from one end of the kingdom to the other, and his renown extended to foreign lands. The King was greatly pleased with his son's conduct. The excitement of the battle, his success, the encomiums which poured upon him, made young Henry restless to follow up his good fortune by seeking another opportunity of glory. It must be remembered that at this time he was but fifteen years of age.

When the King marched northward to meet the forces of the Earl of Northumberland, which were supposed to be tardily advancing, Henry remained behind to hold out the royal mercy to those who had fought against the crown. The King caused an instrument to be drawn up, empowering the Prince of Wales to pardon all the followers of Sir Henry Percy, who might choose to come and plead for mercy. The Prince, making his headquarters at Shrewsbury,

published a proclamation, urging the rebels who were straggling in the neighborhood to return to their allegiance; and in response to the generous leniency thus held out, many came into the city and took the oath of loyalty. It was in accordance with Prince Henry's character to perform this pleasant duty gracefully and with real zest. It is not improbable, indeed, that he urged his father to give him the commission in the first place, or at least asked to be the instrument of mercy when it was resolved that it was to be proffered.

In the fall of this year the depredations of Owen Glendower on the western border were renewed with as much pertinacity as ever; but we do not discover that Prince Henry took a personal share in the conflict; there is, indeed, some doubt as to whether he was in Wales at all at this time. Many castles and fair domains fell into the hands of the Welsh. Estates were plundered, inhabitants driven, from their villages and farms, the lands sacked, towns burned, ships stolen, and the produce of the country roundabout gathered and transferred to the wild glens of Radnor, Brecknock, and Glamorgan. Talbot and other generals and admirals were constantly on their track, and occasionally gave them severe chastisement; but their audacity was little damped by occasional defeat; if they were rascals, they were no cowards. A temporary period was indeed put to their inroads by the advance of winter. As the snows and storms grew more severe, the followers of Glendower retreated beyond their rugged hills, and prepared to resume their depredations when the spring should once more open for them paths to the tempting plains below.

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In the following April an unexpected coöperation from a foreign quarter gave the Welsh an improved occasion for successful incursion. The French had concluded a truce with Henry the Fourth. It was kept with Punic faith. They hated Henry, and were bitterly hostile to his dynasty. The truce had only been made through fear, or a wish for delay. It was now broken with unparalleled effrontery. Sieur James de Bourbon, Count de la Marche, a scion of the house of Valois, and holding the exalted office of Grand Chamberlain of France, collected at Brest a force of twelve hundred well-armed men. Thence, under royal orders, he sailed toward England, with the avowed design of uniting with the Welsh against the King. With him were Louis Count of Vendôme and John Baron of Clarency, his younger brothers, who commanded divisions of the armament. He first attempted to land his transports at Dartmouth, but adverse winds prevented. He then chased some merchant craft into Plymouth harbor, took possession of them, and disembarked his forces in that town, which, having been plundered, was committed to the flames. He next took possession of a small island near the coast, and there pursued his savage scheme of devastation. In cowardly alarm lest Henry, constantly on the alert, should be upon him before he knew it, he turned his prows again toward France. He did not, however, wholly escape punishment. The elements chastised him as thoroughly as Henry could have wished, for a storm arose, which sunk twelve of his transports, carrying with them into the depths a greater part of the armament. He landed with much difficulty at the small harbor of

St. Malo, and returned crestfallen to the presence of

his sovereign.

While this was going on in the south, Owen, apprised of the coöperation of the French, fell upon his prey with his usual temerity. This expedition was followed by others of a yet more piratical character, instigated by the French court. French vessels would sally out, commanded by noblemen of such renown as the Baron de Penhors and the Baron de Chastel, attack merchantmen peacefully on their way to and from British ports, and would bring their ill-gotten prizes into French harbors. Those merchants who refused or were unable to pay ransoms were thrown overboard, or put upon a foreign shore without money or clothing.

In one of these raids the Admiral of Brittany and Lord de Chastel landed at Dartmouth, and there engaged in battle with a garrison of English. The assailants were badly defeated, de Chastel and two of his brothers killed, over a hundred prisoners taken, and the Admiral was fain to return with the best haste he could to his own shores. On another occasion a formidable armament was collected under the marshal of France and John de Hangest, master of the cross-bows. They set out from Brest in no less than one hundred and twenty transports, and landed at Haverford-West. Having spread desolation all around the Castle of Haverford, which was itself defended by Arundel, they proceeded to Tenby. There they formed a junction with Owen Glendower, who had under him ten thousand men. From that time these two forces coöperated together under the Welsh chieftain. They were encountered near Worcester by King Henry, but neither party risked an attack, and

the allies, forced by famine and a hostile neighborhood, withdrew; while Henry, checked by the defences with which nature had fortified the Welsh frontier, did not think it advisable to follow. The French government was not content with filling up the wasted ranks of Glendower. The next step was to acknowledge Owen as sovereign Prince of Wales. Glendower, who dated his sovereignty from 1400, at once sent two envoys to the court of Charles, to solicit a league and alliance. The ambassadors found the French King quite complaisant, and by no means disinclined to listen to the proposal. A league was soon agreed upon, and ratified. While these negotiations were still pend ing, Glendower's inroads into England, made doubly formidable by the trained soldiers of France, who could cover an orderly retreat, became more audacious than ever. Prince Henry was active in every direc tion, and, although he fought no memorable actions, succeeded in keeping up a vigorous defence wherever a defence was possible. He was so straitened for means to carry on the war, that he sold the jewels off his person, and then was forced to say to the Council, that if he was not quickly furnished with funds, he would be forced to abandon the field. "We implore you," he wrote, "to make some ordinance for us in time, assured that we have nothing from which we can support ourselves here, except that we have pawned our little plate and jewels, and raised money from them; and with that we shall be able to remain only a short time. And after that, unless you make provi sion for us, we shall be compelled to depart with disgrace and mischief, and the country will be utterly destroyed, which God forbid! And now, since we have shown you the perils and mischiefs, for God's

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