adherents of the dauphin; who, as soon as he heard of the treaty of Troye, took on him the stile and authoA. D. 1421. rity of Regent, and appealed to God and his sword for the maintenance of his title. But, notwithstanding the bravery and fidelity of his officers, Charles saw himself unequal to his enemies in the field; and found it necessary to temporise, and avoid all hazardous actions with a rival who had acquired so manifest a superiority.

To crown all the other prosperities of Henry, his queen was delivered of a son, who was called by his father's name, and whose birth was celebrated by rejoicings no less pompous, or less sincere, at Paris than at London. The infant prince seemed to be universally regarded as the heir of both monarchies. But the glory of Henry, when near its height, was suddenly restrained by the hand of nature, and all his towering projects vanished into air. He was seized with a malady which the surgeons of that age wanted skill to treat with judgment; namely, a fistula, which proved mortal. When he found his end approaching, he sent for his brother the duke of Bedford, the earl of Warwick, and a few more noblemen, whom he had honoured with his confidence. To them he delivered in great composure, his last will with regard to the government of his kingdom and family. He left the regency of France to his eldest brother, the duke of Bedford; that of England to his younger brother, the duke of Gloucester, and the care of his son's person to the earl of Warwick".

A. D. 1422.

Henry V. possessed many eminent virtues, and his abilities were equally conspicuous in the cabinet and the field. The boldness of his plans were no less remarkable than his personal valour in carrying them into execution. He had the talent of attaching his friend by affability, and of gaining his enemies by address and clemency. His exterior figure,

11. Ibid.

as

as well as his deportment, was engaging; his stature somewhat above the middle size; his countenance beautiful; his proportions elegant; and he excelled in all warlike and manly exercises12.

In less than two months after Henry's death, his fatherin-law, Charles VI. of France, terminated his unhappy life. He had for many years possessed only the shadow of royalty; yet was this mere appearance of considerable advantage to the English: it divided the duty and affections of the French between the king and the dauphin, who was now crowned at Poictiers, under the name of Charles VII. Rheims, the usual place of such ceremony, being then in the hands of his enemies.

Catharine of France, widow of Henry V. married soon after his death sir Owen Tudor, a gentleman of Wales, said to be descended from the ancient princes of that country. She bore him two sons; the eldest of whom was created earl of Richmond, the second earl of Pembroke. The family of Tudor, first raised to distinction by this alliance, afterward mounted, as we shall have occasion to see, the throne of England.

LETTER XLVI.

THE AFFAIRS OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND CONTINUED FROM THE ACCESSION OF CHARLES VII. TO THE EXPULSION OF THE ENGLISH FROM THEIR CONTINENTAL TERRITORIES, IN 1453.

IN considering with a superficial eye, the state of

affairs between France and England at the accession of Charles VII. every advantage seems to lie on the side of the latter kingdom; and the total expulsion of Charles ap

12. T. Livii.

pears

pears an event which might naturally be expected from the superior power of his competitor. Though Henry VI. was yet in his infancy, the duke of Bedford, the most accomplished prince of his age, was intrusted with the administration. And the experience, prudence, valour and generosity of the regent, qualified him for his high office, and enabled him both to maintain union among his friends, and to gain the confidence of his enemies. But Charles VII. notwithstanding the present inferiority of his power, possessed some advantages which promised him success. As he was the true and undoubted heir of the monarchy, all Frenchmen who knew the interests, or desired the independency of their native country, turned their eyes towards him as its sole resource: and Charles himself was of a character well calculated to become the object of these benevolent sentiments. He was a prince of the most friendly and benign disposition; of easy and familiar manners; and of a just and sound, though not a very vigorous understanding. Sincere, generous, affable, he engaged from affection the services of his followers, even while his low fortune might have made it their interest to desert him; and the lenity of his temper could pardon those sallies of discontent, to which princes in his situation are naturally exposed. The love of pleasure often seduced him into indolence; but, amid all his irregu larities, the goodness of his heart still shone forth; and by exerting, at intervals, his courage and activity, he proved that his general remissness proceeded neither from the want of ambition nor of personal valour'.

Sensible of these advantages on the side of Charles, the duke of Bedford took care to strengthen the English interest by fresh alliances with the dukes of Burgundy

A. D. 1423.

and Britany, and observing the ardour of the Scots to serve in France, where Charles treated them with great honour and distinction, he persuaded the English coun

1. P. Emil. Du Tillet. Le Gendre.

cil to form an alliance with James I. their prisoner; to free that prince from his long captivity, and to connect him with England, by marrying him to a daughter of the earl of Somerset, and cousin to the young king. The alliance was accordingly formed: James was restored to the throne of his ancestors: and proved, during his short reign, one of the most illustrious princes that had ever swayed the Scottish sceptre. His affections inclined to the party of France; but the English had never reason, while he lived, to complain of any breach of the neutrality by Scotland. He was murdered by his traiterous kinsman the earl of Athol, in 1437.

Bedford, however, was not so much employed in negociations, as to neglect the operations of war. He reduced almost every fortress on this side of the Loire ; A. D. 1424. and the battle of Verneuil, in which the Scots and French were defeated, threatened Charles with the total loss of his kingdom, when a train of singular circumstances saved him on the brink of ruin, and lost the English such an opportunity of completing their conquests as they were never afterwards able to recal.

A. D. 1425.

Instead of taking any possible advantage of the victory gained at Verneuil, or those which he wished, and could not fail to see, the duke of Bedford was obliged to go over to England, in order to compose some dissensions among the ministry, and to endeavour to moderate the measures of his brother, the duke of Gloucester, who had inconsiderately kindled a war in the Low Countries, and carried thither the troops destined for the reinforcement of the English army in France. The affections of the duke of Burgundy were alienated, and his forces diverted by the same war. The duke of Britany returned to his allegiance under Charles VII. The French had leisure to recollect themselves, and gained some inconsiderable advantages. But the regent, soon after his return, retrieved the reputation of the English arms, by humbling

A. D. 1426.

the

the duke of Britany, and resolved on an undertaking which he hoped would prepare the way for the final conquest of France.

The city of Orleans was so situated between the provin ces commanded by Henry, and those possessed by Charles, that it opened an easy entrance to either; and as the duke of Bedford intended to make a great effort for penetrating into the south of France, it was necessary to begin with the siege of this place, now become the most important in A. D. 1428. the kingdom. The French king used every expedient to supply the city with a garrison and provisions, and the English left no method unemployed for reducing it. The eyes of all Europe were turned towards this scene of action, where it was reasonably supposed the French were to make their last stand for maintaining the independency of their monarchy, and the rights of their sovereign. After numberless feats of valour, performed both by the besiegers and the besieged, the attack was so vigorously pushed by the English, although the duke of Burgundy had withdrawn his troops in disgust, that Charles gave over the city for lost; and even entertained thoughts of retiring into Languedoc and Dauphiny with the remains of his forces, which were insufficient to attempt the enemy's entrenchments, and of defending himself as long as possible in these remote provinces'.

But it was fortunate for that gay prince, who lay entirely under the dominion of the softer sex, that the women whom he consulted on this occasion had the spirit to support his sinking resolution. Mary of Anjou, his queen, A.D. 1429. a princess of great merit and prudence, vehemently opposed such a measure; which she foresaw would discourage all his partizans, and serve as a general signal for deserting a prince who seemed himself to despair of success. His mistress, too, the fair Agnes Soreille, who lived in per

2. Monstrelet. Polyd. Virg. Stow. Hall. Holingshed.

fect