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mosity towards the other by making a solemn declaration to be recorded in the Parliamentary Rolls, both should publicly shake hands in token of reconciliation. It is stated by contemporary historians that the Council reprimanded Gloster for his operations in Hainault, and refused him the further assistance which he required. It is also said that Bedford prevailed upon him to desist from this demand upon the duchies. The Rolls, however, show that the Commons in the next Parliament, when

1427.

granting the subsidy for that year, stated their having regard to the helpless situation of the Duchess of Gloster, and expressed their hope that such aid might be given her as should consolidate the connexion of her dominions with those of England. This was declared to be an object which the Commons and their constituents had much at heart.3

But whatever support he may have derived from the English Parliament, it is certain that the consequences of this whole affair proved in the highest degree prejudicial to the English interests in France. A formal declaration of war had been made against England, owing entirely to Philip's quarrel with Gloster ; and though the Papal decision and his leaving Jacqueline to her fate had put a stop to hostilities, the coldness which succeeded between the two countries, while it crippled Bedford's operations,

Rot. Par., iv. 296.

2 Monstrelet, tom. ii. fol. xxi. xxiv.

3 Rot. Par., iv. 319: "To the singular comfort both of the Commons and of all those that they bene comyn froe."

encouraged the Duke of Brittany to withdraw from his alliance. Thus the foundation of the reverses which afterwards so entirely changed the face of affairs was laid in the indiscreet and headstrong conduct of Gloster.

It may be doubted if in these circumstances the Regent acted wisely, when after much deliberation and with great reluctance he took the resolution of crossing the Loire and attempting the total reduction of Charles. The commonly received opinion is, that he was overruled by the counsellors whom he assembled to consider the subject; and it certainly derives countenance from the expressions used in a report to the Crown which goes under his name"the siege of Orleans, taken in hand God knoweth by what advice." But the acknowledged capacity and firmness of the man seems at variance with the supposition that, in deciding so momentous a question, he could suffer himself to be overborne by the advice of his officers. In all probability he was aware of the difficulties which surrounded him, and of the formidable obstacles which they interposed to any offensive operation; but he might justly consider that a state of inaction, while it could not remove them, exposed him to further risks of another kind, and especially to the danger of the national feelings rising up against the invasion, and the love of the people for their native sovereign reviving after the estrangement which faction and civil war had produced.

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But whatever may have been his doubt, or his dislike of the course which he finally resolved to take, his firmness and ability in pursuing it after the determination was once formed were such as might be expected from so accomplished a leader. He immediately marched a body of 10,000

Oct. 1428.

men under Salisbury, who had just arrived with a reinforcement of about half as many from England. They passed the Loire and proceeded to form the siege of Orleans, when their victorious commander, in the act of reconnoitering the defences from a house in the neighbourhood, saw the flash of a gun pointing towards him, leaped aside to avoid the shot, but was mortally wounded by the fragments of mortar which the ball tore from the wall. The command devolved on Suffolk, an able though inferior captain. Bedford, soon finding the extent of the works so great as rendered it extremely difficult to maintain the blockade, into which the siege was turned, detached considerable reinforcements to his assistance; but as the spring approached the supply of provisions became scanty to the besiegers as well as to the town itself, and a convoy was most anxiously expected under a strong escort commanded by Sir John Fastolf. The French, apFeb. 12, prised of this, despatched a powerful force 1429. to intercept it; and coming up with the English at the town of Rouverai St. Denys, a severe conflict ensued, called, from the provisions with which the convoy was laden, the Battle of Herrings.

Notwithstanding the great disparity of forces, there being above 5000 French and Scotch to little more than half the number of English, Fastolf gained a complete victory, killing above 600 of the enemy, anong whom were Stewart, Commander of the Scots, and other officers of rank, and arrived safely with his charge at the quarters of the besieging army.

Several months were now passed, only varied by operations of trifling moment; but the want of provisions began to press sorely upon the town, and an offer was made of surrendering it to Philip rather than to Bedford. But the brunt of the contest having fallen upon the English, their commander thought himself entitled to reap the honour of the conquest, and refused the proposed capitulation, adding the flippant expression that the "English were not people to beat the bushes for others to kill the game, or chew morsels for others to swallow." It seems difficult to reconcile this refusal with the uniform wisdom and temper which marked all Bedford's proceedings. Not only was a most important advantage over the enemy lost, at all events delayed and placed in hazard, but offence was given to an ally, and a breach widened which already existed to an alarming extent. Nevertheless the fall of Orleans seemed inevitable. The affairs of Charles appeared hopeless. Uncertain what course to take, and unable to decide between the conflicting opinions of his Council, some of whom were for a surrender and others for continuing the war, he now

spoke of making a desperate stand, now of retiring into Dauphiné and endeavouring to retain some footing in the south; but seeing no glimpse of hope in any quarter, he was fain to shut himself up in his closet and give vent to his sorrow in tears, which only made him the more unequal to grapple with the perplexities of his situation. To this state was he reduced when one of the most singular incidents recorded in history brought him unhoped-for relief, occasioned a mighty change in the fortunes of the contending parties, and led to the ultimate discomfiture of the invaders, for which the estrangement of the Burgundian had paved the way. Early in the month of February, 1429, at Vaucouleurs, an Armagnac frontier town of Cham

Feb. 1429.

pagne, situated on the Meuse, there presented herself before Baudricourt, the commanding officer, a young woman about nineteen years of age, with few personal attractions, though of expressive and even pleasing countenance, of humble station by her appearance, yet of modest demeanour, robust in form, though of low stature, and of manly rather than feminine aspect. She represented herself as the daughter of one Arc or Arche, a peasant near the village of Domremy, some miles distant. She related how, having fallen asleep in a chapel or hermitage, she had a vision from what she regarded as Divine inspiration; professed her belief that she was chosen

Mez., ii. 10. P. Dan., vii. 56.

Bergomensis, De Claris Mulieribus, cxli. 14.

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