narch his supposed title to the crown of France; and even flattered him, that it was not impossible for a prince of his valour and abilities to render this claim effectual, "I made Philip de Valois king of France," added he, "and with your assistance, I will depose him for his in"gratitude"." Edward was the more disposed to listen to such suggestions, as he had reason to complain of Philip's conduct with regard to Guienne, and because that monarch had both given protection to the exiled David Bruce, and encouraged the Scots in their struggles for independency. Resentment gradually filled the breasts of both monarchs, and made them incapable of hearkening to any terms of accommodation. Philip thought he should be wanting to the first principles of policy, if he abandoned Scotland; and Edward pretend. ed that he must renounce all claim to generosity, if he withdrew his protection from Robert of Artois. Alliances were formed on both sides, and great preparations were made for war. On the side of England was the count of Hainault, the king's father-in-law, the duke of Brabant, the archbishop of Cologne, the duke of Guelder, the marquis of Juliers, and the count of Namur. These princes could supply, either from their own states, or from the border. ing countries, great numbers of warlike troops: and nothing was wanting to make Edward's alliance on that quarter truly formidable but the accession of Flanders, which he obtained by means somewhat extraordinary. The Flemings, the first people in the north of Europe that successfully cultivated arts and manufactures, began now to emerge from that state of vassalage, or rather slavery, into which the common people had been universally thrown by the abuses of the feudal polity; and the lower class of men among them had risen to a degree of 9. Froissard, liv. i. Mem. de Robert d'Artois. riches unknown elsewhere to those of their station in that comparatively barbarous age. It was impossible for such men not to resent any act of tyranny; and acts of tyranny were likely to be practised by a sovereign and nobility accustomed to domineer. They had risen in tumults; they had insulted the nobles, and driven their earl into France10. In every such revolution there is always some leader or demagogue to whose guidance the people blindly deliver themselves. And on his character entirely depends the happines or misery of those who have put themselves under his care; for every such man has it in his power to be a despot: so narrow are the boundaries between liberty and slavery:-The present leader of the Flemings was James d'Arteville, a brewer of Ghent, who governed them with a more absolute sway than had ever been assumed by any of their lawful sovereigns. He placed and displaced the magistrates at pleasure. He was constantly attended by a guard: who, on the least signal from him, instantly assassinated any man that happened to fall under his displeasure. All the cities of Flanders were full of his spies; and it was immediate death to give him the smallest umbrage. This was the man to whom Edward addressed himself for bringing over the Flemings to his interests. Proud of advances from so great a prince, and sensible that the Flemings were naturally inclined to maintain connections with the English, on account A. D. 1338. of the advantages of trade, their demagogue embraced the cause of Edward, and invited him over to the Low Countries. Edward repaired to Flanders, attended by several of his nobility, and a body of English forces; but before the Flemings, who were vassals of France, would take up arms against their liege lord, Edward was obliged to assume the title of king of France, and to challenge their assistance for dethroning Philip de Valois, the usurper of his kingdom12. This step, which was taken by the advice of d'Arteville, as he knew it would produce an irreconcileable breach between the two monarchs (a further motive for joining the cause of Edward,) gave rise to that animosity which the English and French nations, but more especially the former, have ever since borne agains: each other, an animosity which had, for some centuries, so visible an influence on all their transactions, and which still continues to inflame the heart of many an honest Englishman. Let philosophers blame this prejudice as inconsistent with the liberality of the human mind; let moralists mourn its severity, and weak politicians lament its destructive rage-you, my dear Philip, as a lover of your country, will ever, I hope, revere a passion that has so often given victory to the arms of England, and humbled her haughty rival; which has preserved and continues to preserve, the independency of Great Britain! The French monarch made great preparations against the attack from the English; and his foreign alliances were both more natural and powerful than those which were formed by his antagonist. The king of Navarre, the duke of Britanny, the count of Bar, were entirely in the interests of Philip; and on the side of Germany, the king of Bohemia, the palatine of the Rhine, the dukes of Lorrain and Austria, the bishop of Liege, the counts of Deuxponts, Vaudemont, and Geneva. A A. D. 1339. mighty army was brought into the field on both sides. Conferences and mutual defiances, however, were all that the first campaign produced; and Edward, distressed for want of money, was obliged to disband his army, and return to England13. But this illustrious prince had too much spirit to be discouraged by the first difficulties of an undertaking. He was 12. W. Hemming. T. Walsingham. Rymer, vol. v. anxious A. D. 1349. anxious to retrieve his honour by more successful and more gallant enterprizes; and next season proved somewhat more fortunate. The English, under the command of Edward, gained an im portant advantage over the French by sea. Two hundred and thirty French ships were taken, thirty thousand Frenchmen were killed, with two of their admirals. The lustre of this victory increased the king's reputation among his allies, who assembled their forces with expedition, and joined the English army; and Edward marched to the frontiers of France at the head of above one hundred thousand men. The French monarch had collected an army still more numerous: yet he continued to adhere to the prudent resolution he had formed, of putting nothing to hazard, hoping by that means to weary out the enemy. This conduct had, in some measure, the desired effect. Edward, fatigued with fruitless sieges, and irritated at the disagreeable prospect that lay before him, challenged Philip to decide their claims to the crown of France by single combat; by an action of one hundred against one hundred, or by a general engagement. Philip replied with his usual coolness, that it did not become a vassal to challenge his liege lord; and Edward found it necessary to conclude a truce for one year'4. This truce would in all likelihood have been converted into a solid peace, and Edward would have dropped his claim, had not an unexpected circumstance opened to him more promising views, and given his enterprizing genius a full opportunity to display itself. The count de Mountfort, the heir male of Britanny, had seized that duchy in opposition to Charles of Blois, the French king's nephew, who had married the daughter of the late duke. Sensible that A. D. 1341. he could expect no favour from Philip, Mountfort made a voyage to England, on pretence of soliciting his claim 14. Ibid. VOL. I. 3 s to to the earldom of Richmond, which had devolved to him by his brother's death; and then offering to do homage to Edward, as king of France, for the duchy of Britanny, he proposed a strict alliance for the support of each other's pretensions. Little negociation was necessary to conclude a treaty between two princes connected by their immediate interests. But the captivity of the count de Mountfort, which happened soon after, seemed to put an end to all the advantages naturally to be expected from such an alliance. The affairs of Britanny, however, were unexpectedly retrieved by Jane of Flanders, countess of Mountfort, the most extraordinary woman of her time. Roused by the captivity of her husband from those domestic cares to which she had hitherto confined herself, she, boldly undertook to support the fallen fortunes of maldet her family. She went from place to place, encouraging the garrisons, providing them with every thing necessary for subsistence, and concerting the proper plans of defence; and having put the whole province in a good posture, she shut herself up in Hennebone, where she waited with impatience the arrival of those succours which Edward had promised her. A. D. 1342. Charles of Blois, anxious to make himself master of this important fortress, sat down before the place with a great army, and conducted the attack with indefatigable industry. The defence was no less vigorous. The besiegers were repulsed in every assault. Frequent sallies were made by the garrison; and the countess herself being the most forward on all occasions, every one was ashamed not to exert himself to the utmost. The reiterated attacks of the besiegers, however, had at length made several breaches in the walls; and it was apprehended that a general assault, which was dreaded every hour, might, bear down the garrison. It became necessary to treat of a capitulation: and the bishop of La од |