the Dauphin of his rightful crown was without any excuse; and made a solemn vow never again to bear arms against any Christian man; wherewithal he left the army and returned no more.1

3

The surrender of Meaux was followed by that of many other less important places in the neighbouring districts; and it is commonly said that all France north of the Loire, except Maine, Anjou, and a few castles in Picardy, was now under the dominion of Henry. But this is an incorrect statement; for a part of the Valois in the Isle de France was still subject to the Armagnacs, as was the country of Guise; and in Picardy, Harcourt was so far from being reduced that he refused even to treat with the ambassadors sent to him after the fall of Meaux, nor was he overcome till the next year. Maine and Anjou, too, form large deductions from the north of France, and Brittany was a neighbouring state retained in no subjection at all, and only prevented by truce from engaging in hostilities. But, indeed, how little power the allies had over the country nominally subject to them, may be perceived from the unquestionable fact that during the siege of Meaux the Dauphin's troops marched from Bourges to St. Dizier, in Champagne, on the one hand, and to Bernay on the other, a distance in either case of above 160 miles, and met with little or no resistance, occupying the former place for some time, and doing 2 Ling., iii. 378.

P. de Fen., 491.

a Monstrelet, ch. cclxiv.

great damage to the country in both incursions. Nor is it material whether each of those expeditions came from Bourges or not; for if either was sent from some strongholds of the Armagnacs farther to the north, this would equally show how little sway Henry and Philip had over the country beyond the places actually occupied by their forces. The discontents, too, must not be forgotten which frequently broke out in Paris, and made it necessary always to keep a strong English garrison in the Bastile. They were in part occasioned by a tax which Henry laid on, apparently resembling the tenths and fifteenths in his own country, for the purpose of restoring the coin to its just standard. All persons, too, were ordered to send in their plate, and though promised an equivalent in the new coinage, the grossest frauds were committed by the revenue officers, who in many cases took the plate and repaid nothing like its value.' The restoration of the coinage was no doubt a great benefit to the lords whose tenants (censitaires) had been paying their rents in the depreciated currency; but the tradesfolk, and all who had personal property, paid severely for it, while the commoner people neither gained nor lost by the measure, nor by the means taken to accomplish it. The latter class, indeed, were the part of the nation the least disaffected towards the English government, which found little favour with the upper and middle orders of the Bur

P. de Fen., 495. Mez., i. 1029. The account given of the debasement is dreadful: the crown of 18 sous went for 9 francs, or 180 sols.

gundian party after the first impression had worn away of thankfulness that their adversaries had been put down. If his own observation had not convinced Henry of this truth, an incident which occurred soon after the fall of Meaux was likely to do so. A plot against his life was hatched at Paris, and only discovered and its contrivers punished through a mere accident. But he seems to have been fully aware in how critical a position he stood, for he not only hastened to conclude a treaty with the Count de Foix, a baron of much in influence the south, conferring upon him the government of Languedoc if he should succeed in conquering it from the Dauphin, but he sent ambassadors to the Emperor Sigismund and the King of Portugal to solicit the aid of troops from those princes. The Queen also had brought over some reinforcements; and indeed it is none of the least proofs of his real difficulties having been imperfectly described by historians that we find him able to accomplish so little during the year which elapsed after his return from England. He had landed with the largest army ever disembarked in France, and he had in his Norman and other garrisons whatever troops remained of his former expeditions; yet he fought no battle, he carried on but one siege of any importance, and he lost only 4000 men by sickness, when at the end of little more than a year we find him unable to prosecute his operations for want of men. This consumption of his army is as little explained by the historians of the age as the resources

Q

which enabled him to assemble it. The probability is that he derived his supplies from the extortions committed in the conquered countries, and owed his losses to the constant attacks of the inhabitants, as well as of the Armagnac detachments.'

The principal efforts of the Dauphin of late had been made against the dominions of Philip,

July, 1422.

from whom he had taken the town of La Charité on the Loire; and now assembling an army of 20,000 men, he laid siege to Côsne, a more important place. The garrison being pressed agreed to Aug. 6, surrender if not relieved by a certain day, 1422. before which it was settled between the Dauphin and Philip that they should fight a pitched battle, and so decide the fate of the town. With a view to this engagement Henry was asked for his assistance, and at once declared that he should himself march to the spot with his whole army. Bedford was sent before in the command; the King was to follow and overtake him. Philip having, beside the English forces, obtained reinforcements from his own Flemish States and from those towns in Picardy which still owned the Burgundian authority, appeared at the head of so powerful an army that the Dauphin pursued his wonted cautious policy of risking nothing, but trusting to time and the general support of the country; and he withdrew from Côsne, retiring into Berri.

But Henry had not been able to join the assembled forces; an illness which he brought back

I Note L.

from his expedition to the Loire had increased upon him rapidly. Unwilling to believe that it was serious, he resolved to follow the army, and taking leave of the King and Queen, as well as of his own court, he arrived at Melun, where he became so much worse that he had himself placed in a litter, in order to reach Côsne by the day appointed for the battle. But there was no struggling with the malady which had stricken him; and unable to proceed, he was carried back to Vincennes. Bedford, hearing of his illness, immediately quitted the army and repaired to his residence; he found him worse than the accounts that had alarmed him represented. It soon appeared manifest that the disease was mortal, and none sooner than the royal sufferer became aware of the truth. He called to his bedside Warwick, Robesart, and one or two others, as well as his brother, and addressed them in few but touching words. He disguised not from them his sorrow at being called away by the supreme Disposer of events in such a crisis, but solemnly charged them to stand by his infant son, and defend his realm both inherited and acquired. To Bedford he gave the Regency of France in case Philip should, as he plainly expected, refuse it; to Gloster he gave that of England, to Beaufort the Bishop the guardianship of his child. The utmost cordiality with Philip he strongly recommended to them all, and especially to Gloster; he likewise strictly enjoined them to retain Orleans, d'Eu, and the other prisoners of Agincourt, at all events during