A.D. 1415." sire entirely under thy seal and sign manual."

Which thing King Henry graciously granted them; and in this way the said ambassadors, after receiving large gifts from the king, took leave, and returned to Dover, and thence to Calais, and thence to Paris to the Duke of Guienne, to whom, the nobles, clergy, and estates of the kingdom being present, they related by articles all the proceedings of their embassy. The reply being heard, the Duke of Guienne, and those of the great council of France, departed in great wrath; for the kingdom was then in such confusion through the dissensions which were amongst them, in consequence of the death of the Duke of Orleans, that they knew not which way to turn first. And for this cause King Henry of England, who was one of the most sagacious princes in the world, seeing these quarrels, and civil wars springing up among the French, especially between Orleans and Burgundy, considered that there never was a better time than now to enter upon the conquest of France, because of the great discord which he saw in it. Thus then, for the reasons above mentioned, which principally moved the King of England to this, he used great diligence to carry forward his operations for furnishing his said enterprise, causing his people and his baggage to move towards the place of the sea passage, Southampton.' So that the fifteenth day of August, 1415, being passed, when the truce between the two kingdoms expired, the said king began to open the war by the English of Calais and others on the frontiers, who overran and devastated the surrounding lands, and to resist whom there were sent five hundred fighting men under the command of the Lord of Rambures, master of the crossbowmen of France, and with him the Lord of Longroy. Shortly afterwards, King Henry, who had his require

ments almost ready for crossing into France, sent one A.D. 1415.. of his heralds, named Rochester, to Paris to King Charles to present a letter, the tenor of which was as follows:

"To the most noble Prince Charles of Valois, our "cousin and enemy of France, Henry, by the grace "of God, King of England and France. To give to

every one that which is his own is a work of true inspiration and wise counsel. Most noble prince, our "cousin and adversary, aforetime the noble kingdoms "of England and France were at one, now they are "disunited; then they were accustomed to distinguish "themselves throughout the whole world by their "glorious conquests. And with them it was a singular "virtue to beautify and adorn the house of God, to " which holiness belongs, promoting peace and unity "in the church by fighting together, and happily subjugating the public enemies of the most holy catholic "faith. But alas! this family fidelity has turned to "fraternal slaughter, and Lot persecutes Abraham through human impulse; ancient feud has been raised "from death to life; but we call to witness in good conscience the sovereign Judge who is not bent or "biassed by prayers or gifts, that to the utmost of "our power through pure love we have endeavoured "after means of peace towards you, which we have not "been able to find, except in restraining our just claim " of inheritance, to the prejudice of ourselves and our successors, which God forbid; but since it is meet "in order to retrieve the smallness of our former courage, we mean to fight to the death for justice. "The law written in the book of Deuteronomy "teaches: Whatever city a man comes near to, to

'defy it to battle, he shall first offer it peace;' and though violence, the ravisher of justice, has long "since abridged the splendour of our kingdom and crown, and our rightful heritage, nevertheless charity

A.D. 1415.

on our part has done her duty, as far as she could, "to restore these things to their former condition; and "thus then in default of justice we can have recourse "to arms. Notwithstanding this, and in order that our honour may be witness to our conscience, we now by personal request at our departure on the "way whither this failure of justice leads us, exhort you in the bowels of Jesus Christ, that which the perfection of evangelical teaching exhorts, namely, Friend, pay that which thou owest,' and make to us according to the will of Almighty God, and in order that human blood, which is created after God, be not shed, due restoration of the inheritance cruelly "taken away, or at least of the things which by our "ambassadors and messengers we have earnestly and

frequently declared sufficient, and with which we are made content only by supreme reverence for God Almighty, and the benefit of peace. And we for our "part, in consideration of the marriage, are disposed "to forego and dispense with 50,000 golden crowns formerly offered us. We love peace more than gain; and we have chosen these patrimonial rights which our venerable ancestors left us so largely, "and our dear cousin Catherine, [your] illustrious daughter, rather than with the wages of iniquity to multiply evil treasures, and disinherit through men "the crown of our kingdom, which God forbid !

Given under our privy seal in our castle of Southampton on the seashore, the fifth day of the "month of August, 1415."

After these letters had been presented by the aforesaid herald to the King of France, it was told him by one appointed to do it, that the King and his council had seen the letters which he had brought from his lord the King of England, on which they would take counsel, and would provide for everything at the time and place that seemed best to them; and that

he might go when he pleased, and make his report to A.D. 1415, his master, for this was the only reply that he could have for the present.

How the King of England making his muster at
Southampton, some princes plotted against him,
on whom he took vengeance. Of the capture of
Harfleur and other operations. CHAPTER V.

the

SOMETHING has been said above about the great
amount of men at arms and archers which
King of England placed under arms at the port of
Southampton to cross into France, whither he came
in person when he knew that all was ready. But
before his departure from London he appointed his
brother, the Duke of Bedford, to govern and rule his
kingdom of England, and maintain it in peace and
justice. He appointed also bailiffs and provosts with
good guards throughout all the ports of England to
keep them in safety; then he set out, accompanied
by his uncle the Duke of York, and his son the Earl
of Rutland, the Earl of March, the Earl of Huntingdon,
the Duke of Exeter, the Earl of Arundel, the Earl of
Oxford, the Earl of Kent, Lord de Ros, the Lord of
Cornwall, and many other barons and knights; they
numbered, as it was then said, about twenty thousand
fighting men, of whon more than ten thousand were
archers.

2

When the King of England had been some time at Southampton, and had sent to the King of France. the letter of which the preceding chapter contains the tenor, and when he had got the answer by his herald,

1 Sir John Cornwall, Lord Fanhope.

H.

Sixteen to twenty thousand,

death of King

A.D. 1415. on the very day before that on which he was to set out, there arose a plot and sudden conspiracy against him. Truth is, the Earl of Cambridge, nephew of the Duke of York, and with him the Lords Scrope and Cobham, went to the Earl of March, who was then held to be the true heir of the late King Richard, and spoke to him secretly, showing him how he was the true heir of England, through the Richard, and that he should find some manner of excuse by pretence of sickness or otherwise for not crossing the sea to go into France with King Henry; and if he remained in England and would trust them, they would make him king. To these proposals and arguments the Earl of March replied that this was a very weighty matter, so he would consider it, and then he would answer them, at which word the lords above named departed from the Earl of March without saying more; and the earl thought very much that night over the matter which they had sounded him about. When morning came the Earl of March, having wisely considered, found means of speaking to the king in private, so he disclosed the proposals which the said lords were making to him and the counsel they were giving him, saying to the king, "Sire, I hold you for "my sovereign lord, and wish entirely to keep the "oath of fidelity that I have sworn to you, even to "death, without ever going against it." King Henry, who was wise and inventive, thought much about this affair, and said to the Earl of March, "Fair cousin, "I thank you very greatly for your loyalty, and the "well-being that you wish me; do not allow yourself to speak to any one of this thing till I command you." Then the king assembled his great council, with the princes and captains of his army, before whom he represented in the manner of a fable what follows, saying that he had heard that some of his subjects had been working against him, and, in fact,