arine would be expected to bring to her lord two million crowns as a royal dowry.

This was in the summer of 1414, when the Duke John of Burgundy had fled from Paris, and the metropolis was under the virtual government of Bourbon and Orleans. The response of the French court was, of course, not favorable to the propositions made. They offered to cede Bayonne and Angoulême, and some smaller domains. They declined to pay John's ransom. They proposed the sum of eight hundred thousand crowns as the Princess's marriage portion. The King received this reply with secret satisfaction. He knew that Burgundy was busy in the Low Countries, gathering an armament to reënter France. He foresaw that Charles and Orleans would soon become again involved in a fierce and destructive civil war. He had already laid the foundation for invading that kingdom, by placing his demands before the King. He had only to wait for the blooming of internal conflict, to bring his schemes to fruition.

On the 18th of November, 1414, Parliament met, by the King's decree, at Westminster. It was opened by Henry in person, who occupied the throne in state. Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, who had just been elevated to the Chancellorship, was the first to address the assembled legislators. He arose soon after the proceedings began, and announced that his Majesty had resolved to attempt the recovery of the crown of France, and to vindicate that quartering on his escutcheon which had long borne the fleurs-de-lis, in token of English supremacy. He took as his text the passage, "Whilst we have time, let us do good." With that forensic ability and sophistry for which he was the most noted man of his time, Beau

fort described the advantages of a conquest, to the Church and State; by every effort of eloquence strove to kindle in the breasts of his auditors an enthusiasm for the project; and recapitulated the work which must be done before it could meet with success. His speech seems to have had its desired effect. The Commons elected Thomas Chaucer, a son of the poet, Speaker, and proceeded to "grant to the King, for the honor of God, and from the great love and affec tion which they bore toward their sovereign, two entire fifteenths and two entire tenths, for the defence of the kingdom of England and the safeguard of the seas."

The Convocation of the Church and the Council of Peers met about the same time; and the same subject was brought before them. The English barons, descended as they were from the crusaders, and full of that turbulent spirit which must find some outlet, were entirely favorable to Henry's scheme. The King issued a proclamation, calling upon the vassals of the crown to rally for the glory of England. A rivalry at once arose among the great barons to outstrip each other in the number and magnificence of their retinues. The young Earl of Northumberland, all aglow with devotion toward his royal benefactor, and exultant in the prospect of sustaining the ancient valor of the Percys on a field worthy of their renown, put himself at the head of his tenantry, and promptly offered himself to Henry in aid of the expedition. Westmoreland, the time-honored and constant friend of the House of Lancaster, quickly announced that his retinue was ready for embarkation. Every day letters came from eager nobles, with the intelligence that the feudal power of the nation was rising to the occasion.

But Henry was too wise not to see that a feudal armament was not all-sufficient for a foreign expedition. The caprice of the barons, and the exclusiveness of the commands, might render it difficult to maintain a united army. He ordered each county, therefore, to furnish a quota according to its popula tion, and instituted a system of recruiting the ranks of the army by volunteers. Thus he would obtain a permanent force, on which he could always rely. He sent agents to the Low Countries for the purpose of hiring transports and provision ships.

"He strictly prohibited in the maritime towns the exportation of gunpowder; laid an embargo on all vessels of above twenty tons burden; gave leave, in many instances, to impress seamen for manning them; and made all the preparations for carriages, stores, arms, which the low state of the arts at that time and his narrow pecuniary resources allowed."* An army of carpenters, masons, smiths, and builders were set to work to get ships and stores ready with the utmost despatch. An order was issued to the sheriffs of the shires to buy beef. The sheriff of the county of Hampshire was to have bread baked, and ale brewed, for the expedition. A nightly watch was established throughout England, who were ordered to permit no stranger to abide at an inn more than twenty-four hours, unless he made known the reasons of his sojourn. A council of prelates and peers was called. Beaufort announced the progress of the preparations. John Duke of Bedford was appointed lieutenant of the kingdom during the King's absence in France, with an advisory council of ten, of whom Chicheley, the Primate, was the first in dignity, and Beaufort, the

* Brougham.

Chancellor, in ability. A generous supply was granted by Parliament. The session of the courts was suspended. Forces sufficient for the purpose were sent to watch the Scotch and Welsh borders. The pay-roll of the period is interesting to look over. It was agreed by Henry that the services of his barons and their retinues should be paid as follows: a duke had 13s. 4d. per day, an earl 68 Sd., a baron 48., a knight 28., a squire 12d., and an archer 6d. When the supply which Parliament had voted had been col•lected, Henry found the gross sum of his revenue yet insufficient for his enterprise. He at once issued a proclamation appealing to his subjects for a loan, which brought a considerable addition to the treasury. Not yet satisfied, the King sold or pawned his jewels and precious wares, and managed in other ways to procure the necessary monies to support the expedition. Whilst these preparations were going on, in the fall of 1414, ambassadors were passing between the countries with the design, on the part of France, to avert impending invasion, and on the part of England, to gain time. Charles, with a foolish purpose of annoying his royal cousin, sent Henry a present of some animals, which Henry acknowledged in the following racy epistle: "Cousin of France, I greet you. I thank you of your gifts that ye sent me, for they be necessary. The sow hath granted me to come with me to your country, and make war, and overturn, and make plain field, and I have granted her all that be longeth to her faculty. Also the boar hath made covenant with beasts of my country, to teach them the way to France; that is to say, the white lion of Ireland, the black bull with gilt horns, the boar, the

*Halliwell's Letters.

wolf, the dragon, the white boar, the white greyhound, and other more of their affinity; the which intend to come to the field in France, to answer whosoever will come of all parties, with the grace of God. Then I must blow my horn, and follow my beasts, and my beasts must follow the chase, and so shall we hunt through all the parts of France. And then I will blow my horn, and relieve my hounds; and I trust to God and to our Lady that your derision shall turn you to shame, for you wot of right I am master of the game. Furthermore, if it be not well, let it be amended by the lords of your council."

This letter shows how confident Henry was of his future success, and how little he regarded the anger of Charles. Another letter, of more serious import, was sent to the French King, from Southampton, in the following summer:

"MOST SERENE PRINCE, OUR COUSIN AND ADVERSARY:

"The two great and noble kingdoms of England and France, formerly brothers, but now divided, had usually been eminent throughout all the world by their triumphs. They combined but for the generous object of enriching and adorning the House of God, to place peace in all her boundaries, to make it flourish within its whole extent, and to join their arms against her adversaries, as against public enemies. They never encountered them, that they did not happily subdue them. But alas! this faithful union is vanished; we are fallen into the unhappy condition of Lot and Abraham. The honor of this fraternal friendship is buried; her death and her sepulture have revived Dissension, that old enemy of human nature,