have given birth; but it may be asked whether, if the chief motive of that challenge was the present of the tennis balls, some allusion to it would not have found a place in its contents; or whether the specious pretext of merely wishing to save the effusion of human blood, would not have been superseded by the manly, and when Henry's chivalrous character is considered, natural expression of proud defiance for the wound which he had attempted to inflict upon his honor and his fame? As the subsisting armistice between England and France, would have terminated early in January, 1415, the earl of Dorset, with the bishops of Durhamb and Norwich, were sent to Paris, attended by a splendid retinue of six hundred horsemen, to endeavour to قي Thomas Beaufort, afterwards Duke of Exeter, son of John of Gaunt, by Katherine Swinford, and consequently uncle to Henry the fifth. b Cardinal Langley. c Richard Courtenay: he died at the Siege of Harfleur, 14 September, 1415. Vide Infra. m prolong the truce until the 1st of May following; which being easily accomplished, they proposed a treaty of peace upon new terms. The claim to Normandy, Maine, and Anjou, was given up, and they consented to accept the princess Katherine with half the dowry formerly asked; but every other demand was repeated. The answer to these terms was dated on the 14th of March, when it was proposed that the dowry of Katherine should be increased from six to eight hundred thousand crowns, besides her wardrobe, and the equipage proper for her rank; that the same territories should be ceded to England, which had before been offered; and that with respect to all the other points in dispute, a solemn embassy should be sent to Henry to treat of them, or, to use the words of the document itself, "to speak more fully of the said appeal of right, and of the a www alliance and marriage, and do other notable and especial things, touching the good and attainment of the said matters."" During this negociation, nothing appears in the Fœdera indicative of Henry's expectation that it would not terminate pacifically, excepting a commission, dated on the 8th of March, to Richard Clyderow and Simon Flete, Esquires, authorizing them to treat with Holland for ships for his service in the following May; nor is any transaction noticed therein, relating to an invasion of France, until the 16th of April. On the 7th of that month we are informed by a French historian, that Henry addressed the King of France on the subject of his claims, and in reference to the embassy which he had signified his intention of sending to discuss them. This letter, as well as another dated on the 15th of April, is extremely curious; a P. 214. Fœdera, Tome ix. and as they are not noticed by Rymer, and but very slightly by our own historians, literal translations of both are here inserted. "TO THE MOST SERENE PRINCE, CHARLES, BY THE GRACE OF GOD OUR VERY DEAR COUSIN OF FRANCE, HENRY, BY THE SAME GRACE OF GOD KING OF ENGLAND AND OF FRANCE, HEALTH AND PEACE TO BE OBSERVED IN OUR DAYS. "Most Serene Prince and very dear cousin, our glory is the witness of our conscience that we have endeavoured from our accession to our crown, by the ardent passion that we have had for the love of him who is the author of peace, to reconcile the difference between us and our people; to chase and banish for ever that sad division, mother of so many misfortunes, cause of the misery of so many men, and of the loss of so many souls which have been shipwrecked in the slaughter of war. We have sent to you many times, and again very lately we dispatched with that happy object our ambassadors, who shall have declared on our part to your Serenity, that our intention is to propose to you two things; the first is to do justice to us of the rights to us, and to our crown belonging for so long a time, that we could say that it is entire ages that we have been deprived of them. The other concerns our marriage with our dear cousin Katherine, your daughter, for which all that is wanting is her consent and yours. The said ambassadors, after the re a "Nostre gloire est le temoignage de nostre conscience." quisite declarations in an affair of this importance, have made divers propositions to you, and for conclusion they have given up the articles of which we assure you," and to which Heaven is our witness, that we would not by any means have listened, if the service of God, and the advantage of peace were not dearer, and of more consideration than our private interest. It is true that the Lords of our Kingdom of England, without whose advice we do not determine upon important affairs, favour under hand our intentions in this matter, but in conscience there is not one among them who is satisfied with so little. We have seen by writing sealed with your seal, the answer which you have given to these demands, and our ambassadors having moreover assured us, we know thereby that you have granted nothing beyond the two principal objects of their mission, because they had not full power to treat. But as your Serenity informed us, that you should dispatch a solemn embassy to treat with us upon these two points, and of the circumstances attendant thereon, we were surprised that the term is expired without our having any news of their voyage, or even of the names of those whom you intend for that negociation. And the time of the truce being nearly at an end, we shall be truly obliged by the disposition which it is our duty to maintain, and for the welfare of our people, to follow their in d 'adont nous vous asseurons.” Ab favorisent sous main." *" C 66 se contenter de si peu." "mais comme vostre Serenite nous mande qu'elle nous doit sur ce despecher a convenir," &c. The word nous is evidently misprinted in one place for vous: in the translation the sense of the passage is inferred from the context. |