CHAPTER XVIII.

HENRY THE FIFTH-FROM 1413 TO 1422.

THIS king, when prince of Wales, had caused his father great uneasiness by his wildness and love of pleasure, although even then he occasionally showed signs of a better disposition; for instance, it is said that, on one occasion, having insulted the chief justice Gascoyne, for refusing to release one of his wild companions, and the judge immediately committing him to prison, the young prince respectfully submitted. When his father heard of the transaction, he exclaimed, "Happy is the king who possesses a judge so resolute in the discharge of his duty, and a son so willing to submit to the laws !"

It was much to the credit of young Henry that, when he became king, he always treated this upright judge with the greatest distinction. No sooner did he come to the throne, than he laid aside all his bad habits, and tried to rule wisely. He dismissed his idle companions, and encouraged the good and the prudent to come around him. He did all in his

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power to make his people happy and prosperous, and was especially kind to the poor. Indeed, when engaged in war with France, he was so careful that his troops should not oppress or ill-treat them, that in fact they met with greater kindness from these, the enemies of their country, than from their own nobles. This was a very good feature in the young monarch's character. David says, "Blessed is the man that considereth the poor and needy; the Lord will deliver him in the time of trouble." It is somewhat strange that, with so merciful a character he should yet have fallen into the two most prevalent errors of the times he lived in, the love of war and the spirit of persecution against the Lollards. His false ideas of glory led him to make an unjust claim on the crown of France, which country was then distracted with civil war, arising from the long insanity of its poor king, Charles the sixth. The dukes of Orleans and Burgundy were struggling to get the unhappy king into their power. At length the duke of Burgundy contrived the assassination of his rival of Orleans, and then the struggle was kept up between him and the son of the late duke.

Henry the fifth took advantage of this time of confusion, to declare war against France, but the dau

phin, (or eldest son of the French king,) only laughed at his pretensions, and in allusion to his character for wildness before he came to the throne, sent him a present of a number of tennis-balls. Henry in return promised to send him some London balls, which would bring his house about his ears, and he was as good as his word.

This French war was encouraged not only by the parliament and the country in general, but by the clergy. Hume, the historian, says that they found it to their interest to keep the people's minds engaged with war, to stop the spirit of inquiry which had taken possession of all men, and which, they foresaw, would lead to the overthrow of the church, and the consequent loss of all their enormous wealth; that they preferred giving their money to maintain troops, to being forcibly deprived of it entirely. Whether or no this be true, it is very certain that they encouraged this most unjust expedition; an inconsistent proceeding in those who were sent to preach the gospel of peace!

In 1415, Henry embarked a large army at Southampton, and took up a position before Harfleur, a a strongly fortified place of great importance. This city he took after a siege of between five and six

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weeks. But the marshy country which surrounded it caused much disease among his followers, and greatly reduced his army. He was imprudent enough to send away his ships, and march by land to Calais, a desperate undertaking under such circumstances. They had deep rivers to cross, and strongly fortified towns to pass by, while the sickness of the troops ill qualified them for the endurance of hardships. But they were devoted to their king, who shared cheerfully in all their privations; and the people of the places through which he passed, finding that the soldiers were allowed to commit no depredations, and that every thing required for their support was liberally paid for, supplied the English with provisions, in defiance of the commands of their own rulers.

At length, on the 24th of October, 1415, they met the French army, near the village of Agincourt, so far superior to the English in numbers, that it seemed like madness to attack them. But Henry's troops had imbibed too much of his sanguine spirit to be daunted even by such fearful odds as three to one. An officer who was sent to reconnoitre the enemy said, on his return, that "there were enough to kill, enough to take prisoners, and enough to run away."

The English were completely victorious; ten thou

sand of the French were slain, most of them men of rank, while the English lost comparatively few. After this the pride of the French was so humbled that they were glad to accede to Henry's terms. Katherine, the daughter of Charles the sixth, was given to him in marriage, and he was declared heir to the crown of France after Charles's death.

I have told you that Henry the fifth was not free from the spirit of religious persecution. In his earlier days he had been on terms of intimate friendship with sir John Oldcastle, afterwards lord Cobham. This gentleman became a disciple of Wickliffe, much to Henry's grief, who did every thing in his power to wean him from what he thought heinous sin. But Cobham remained true to his convictions, and he was turned over to an assembly of bishops, who, being equally unsuccessful, committed him a prisoner to the Tower. He contrived to escape, however, and concealed himself in Wales; but being suspected of seditious projects, he was taken and put to a death of lingering torture as a heretic and a rebel.

Arundel, the persecuting archbishop of Canterbury, soon after died, and was succeeded by Chichely, who was fully as ill disposed towards the poor Lollards. John Huss and Jerome of Prague were condemned by