I. HISTORY OF ENGLAND, CHAP. tel, who took him out of bed, wrapped him in a sheet, and carried him to a place of safety, After these horrors the queen, accompanied by the duke of Burgundy, entered Paris in triumph, and having possession of the king's person, exercised without opposition the royal authority. But the remains of the opposite faction repaired to Poitiers, proclaimed the young dauphin regent of the kingdom, and established a rival administration. Thus France was divided into two separate governments, more hostile to each other than to their natural enemy, the king of England, and equally desirous to purchase by concessions his assistance for their own interest. Henry listened to their proposals, but obstinately refused to accept them. It was his policy to play off one party against the other; that by working on their apprehensions, he might induce them to rise in their offers. When his Nov. 10. ministers met the envoys of the dauphin at Alençon, they assumed a tone of the most insulting superiority. It was not for them to bring forward any project: they had come to receive the proposals of the dauphin. The crown of France was the rightful inheritance of Henry. What could his adversary give him as an equiva lent? When they had thus drawn from the French negociators a declaration of the offers, which they had been authorized to make, they Negociations. 64 Monstrel. i. 262-266.' I. Dec. upbraided them with a want of sincerity; ques- CHAP. tioned the validity of the powers with which they had been furnished; and hinted a doubt whether their master at so early an age could give sufficient security for the fulfilment of his engagements. This conference was hardly terminated, when a second was opened under the mediation of the cardinal Ursina, with the envoys of the king of France and the duke of Burgundy. They presented to Henry a flattering portrait of the princess Catharine: but the politician would not permit the charms of the lady to weigh in the balance against his interests. During a fortnight he practised upon the hopes and fears, and prejudices of the negociators; and then dismissed them with the remark, that Charles from his infirmity, and the duke from his inferior rank as a vassal, were equally incapable of disposing of the territories belonging to the French crown.66 The negociations for peace had not interrupted the operations of war: and Henry from 65 Rym. ix. 633-645. 66 Monstrel. i. 271. In both negociations the English contended that the Latin, the French that the French language should be employed. It was at last agreed that two copies of every instrument should be made, one in each language, and that in case of dispute the Latin should be deemed the authentic copy. This circumstance is deserving of notice, on account of the reason given by Henry, that his ambassadors did not speak or understand the French tongue: a proof that English had by this time become the language of the higher classes. Rym. ix. 655-659. Siege of Rouen. July 29. CHAP. the reduction of Pont de l'Arche advanced to I. lay siege to Rouen, the capital of Upper Normandy. In time of peace its population was estimated at two hundred thousand souls: but the approach of the enemy had prompted numbers to emigrate; and the magistrates by proclamation had urged the departure of all, who were not furnished with provisions for ten months. By the French a confident hope was indulged that Rouen would arrest the victorious career of Henry. Its fortifications were strong: numerous batteries covered its walls: the Seine winding round it, served to protect it from insult : and to fifteen thousand citizens trained to war, had been added four thousand men at arms under the command of Guy de Boutellier, an officer of approved valour and the most ardent patriotism. By his orders the suburbs were immediately burnt, the ground levelled in the neighbourhood of the walls, and the country around reduced to the state of a naked wilderness. At the approach of the English, he boldly July 30. met them in the open field: and though he was repulsed by superior numbers, continued daily to repeat his attacks, destroying their works, beating up their quarters, and disconcerting their operations. The army encamped in six divisions, opposite to the six gates of the city: and to preserve the communication between them, trenches were opened sufficiently deep to screen the passengers from the shot of the enemy I I. shall neglect the events of the siege: but the CHAP. works erected, and the precautions taken by Henry are, from their connexion with the history of the military art, more deserving of notice. The natural and artificial strength of the place, with the number and courage of the garrison, forbade a hope that Rouen could be reduced by force: but it might be starved into submission; and to prevent the introduction of supplies became the great object of the king's solicitude. Lines were drawn round the city, and strengthened with thick hedges of thorns: and without the camp the most commanding situations were chosen, and fortified with towers of wood, batteries of cannon, and engines for the projection of arrows. Still the Seine remained open to the besieged. But a bridge was soon thrown across it above the city; and near the bridge was moored a squadron of boats, which with incredible exertion had been dragged over the land by the labour of men and horses. Below, the navigation was impeded by two booms, each consisting of three strong chains of iron; and the mouth of the river was carefully watched by a Portuguese fleet in the pay of the English monarch. Two hundred sail of small vessels, employed for the purpose, poured daily supplies of provisions into the camp of the besiegers but within the walls the privations of 67 One chain was suspended 18 inches within the water, the second levél with the surface, the third three feet above it. Mons. 268. CHAP. famine began to be felt before the expiration of two months. Twelve thousand individuals were expelled from the city by order of the governor. Henry forbade them to be admitted within the lines and though a few were supported by the humanity of the troops, the rest perished through want of shelter and food. During the next month the besieged were content to feed on the flesh of their horses; and when that resource failed, contrived for ten weeks to protract their defence with no other nourishment than reptiles and weeds. It was calculated that the number of those, who fell victims to famine and disease, had amounted to fifty thousand. The survivors, by a trusty messenger to the French court, described their sufferings, and demanded relief. He returned with flattering but fallacious promises; he even announced the very day which had been fixed for their deliverance. At the news every eye glistened with hope: the bells were tolled; rejoicings were made; and each combatant was admonished to be on his guard, and to second the efforts of his friends. The day came: it passed; and no deliverer appeared. The despair of the garrison now subdued the obstinacy of the governor: but, when he solicited a capitulation, Henry rejected his offers, and insisted that he should surrender at discretion. Le Boutellier assembled his men, and It surren- proposed to them to set fire to the city; to throw down that part of the wall which had been un ders. |