prisoners taken by Henry at Agincourt, when he was brought to London in the royal train, requested permission to see him. The request was granted. When the young Count was about to come to her apartment, she placed one of her ladies-in-waiting in her seat, and took her position with the other attendants. Richemont advanced to the supposed Queen, and addressed her as if she were his mother. The deception was kept up for some time, when the occupant of the royal chair told him to salute the other ladies. When he came before his mother, who was standing among the rest, she could no longer restrain her natural emotions, but throwing herself upon him, and bursting into tears, cried out, "Unhappy son, do you not know me?" He embraced her tenderly, and a few moments were spent in endearments and conversation. Then Joan dismissed her son, with a thousand nobles to supply his necessities, and those of his companions in captivity. On the 24th the civic authorities of London brought to the King as a present, two large vases filled with gold. This was no usual mark of affection. Several days afterward the brave Duke of York was interred with much state at Fotheringay, in Northamptonshire, his obsequies having been celebrated at the Cathedral of St. Paul's. The Earl of Suffolk was honored by a similar ostentation of burial. Among Henry's first acts after resuming the reins of goverment, were his endeavors to reward those who had aided him to gain the great victory. He ordered a full and prompt payment of their wages to be made to the soldiers, from the 8th of July up to the eighth day after his return to Dover. He caused a roll to be made out, containing the names of all who were participators in the battle.* He ordered that the coats of arms which had been assumed on that day, whether rightfully or not, should continue to be the escutcheons of their bearers and their descendants. To Thomas Strickland, as one instance of Henry's thoughtfulness, the bearer of the Banner of St. George at Agincourt, he remitted his arrears to the Exchequer in honor of that service. He filled every vacancy which occurred for some years thereafter in the Order of the Garter, with the most distinguished of his lieutenants who had participated in the battle. In 1416, the Earls of Huntingdon, Oxford, and Salisbury, Lord Camoys, and Sir William Harrington, were made Knights of the Garter; in 1419, Lord Willoughby D'Eresby, Sir William Phelip, and Stafford Lord Bourchier; and in 1420, Mowbray Earl of Nottingham, the Earl Marshal, Lord Clifford, Sir Her tank Von Clux, Sir Lewis Robsart, Sir Walter Hungerford, and De la Pole, Earl of Suffolk. The order of knighthood was bountifully conferred upon those whose valor had designated them as proper objects of royal notice. It is said that Gamme and several others received this distinction whilst they lay expir ing on the field. Manors and estates were distributed to some of the principal generals. Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, received Lanstephen in Wales, once the estate of Henry Gwyn, who had fought on the French side at Agincourt. Lord Fitzhugh was presented with some lands which had belonged to the executed conspirator, Lord Scroop. Sir William Bourchier was appointed Constable of the Tower of London. Sir * This Roll, as far as discovered, will be found in the Appendix to Sir H Nicholas. John Fastolfe obtained the French manor of Frileuse, which lay near Harfleur. To Sir John Cornwall was granted the rich ransom of Peter de Reux, a marshal of France. King Henry further preserved the memory of the battle by instituting a new heraldic king-atarms, whom he designated as the "Agincourt kingat-arms." Of the illustrious prisoners, the Duke of Orleans, as we have said, remained in captivity until 1440, when a ransom of 100,000 nobles procured his liberty; the Duke of Bourbon and Marshal Boucicault expired in an English castle; the Count of Vendôme, in 1425, was exchanged for Huntingdon, who, in an expedition subsequent to Agincourt, became a prisoner of the French; the others met with various fortunes, the greater part returning to their native land after a wearisome confinement. Of the effect of the battle of Agincourt upon subsequent events in England and France, the events themselves, narrated in the coming chapters, will show. In concluding the narrative of this wonderful conflict, we cannot but call attention to the fact, that King Henry the Fifth, in the whole conduct of his expedition, used a much more enlightened humanity toward his enemy, and a much more assiduous devotion to the comfort of his army, than any commander during those dark ages. War became in his hands less terrible, because really less disastrous. He showed mercy, magnanimity, feeling, and Christian clemency, even amid the dread necessities of war. He made no further sacrifice of life and property than the exigency demanded. That, after all, is the greatest glory of his exploit; and in that he set an example worthy even of modern imitation. CHAPTER IX. "Up, then! victory sits upon our helms!" THE EMPEROR SIGISMUND-SECOND CAMPAIGN IN FRANCE DISSENSIONS THE expedition to France had been approved by Parliament, by the Church, by the nobility, and by the people. It had not only met the approval of all classes; it had met their substantial support. Its successful issue placed Henry in an excellent position at home. No monarch had ever been so entirely popular; no monarch had had within his grasp so great a universally conceded power. The House of Lancaster now pos sessed an unquestioned royalty. Not a single voice, throughout the realm, was raised against it. It re ceived the unanimous loyalty of Englishmen. The Earl of March, whose hereditary right was cast in the shade by the brilliancy of the present reign, cheerfully sustained his friend, whom he had long since ceased to regard as his rival. The turbulent nobility were at peace with each other, and with the sovereign. The representatives of the commonalty were devoted to the dynasty which the people loved. The Church, since the suppression of Lord Cobham's conspiracy, A was pacified, and looked with more than complacency upon the reign of a King who cherished the Papal supremacy. There was no lack of money in the treasury; of men ready to follow the banner of St. George whithersover it might lead them; of harmony in council; of order throughout the State. To whatever ends the ambition of Henry might turn, the means of their accomplishment seemed within the grasp of his hand. The temporary exhaustion of the late campaign demanded a brief lull from the pursuit of active enterprises; with the general recuperation would come the opportunity for other laurels. Parliament repeatedly took special notice of the battle of Agincourt. When the Duke of Bedford, as Regent, called their attention to the victory early in November, Cardinal Beaufort, the Chancellor, deliv ered a long address congratulatory of the event, and recommended the granting of further supplies for the King's use. The legislature, elated with the news, passed a measure causing the time for the levy which had been made of two-tenths and two-fifteenths, to be anticipated, so that the funds might be collected at once. They further granted to the King the subsidy of linen, leathers, and skins, a tax on several exportations, and an additional tenth and fifteenth to be collected of the laity in the succeeding autumn (1416). In March, 1416, when a new Parliament met, Chancellor Beaufort again, in Henry's presence, opened the session with a graphic account of the late expedition, and a discourse upon the expediency of pursuing further Henry's claim to the French crown. The Par liament each time received with acclamations the narrative of the great victory, and their voice was unanimous in congratulation of the King, and in the enact |