522 



Monthly Review of Literature, 



[Nov. 



begs you will hand it over to him as the 

 legitimate owner." The French govern- 

 ment reply " We won't listen to you." 

 " Then," says the ambassador, anticipating 

 apparently his reception, " we must have 

 some of the country we must have Nor- 

 mandy, Maine, and Anjou the Duchy of 

 Aquitaine, and half of Provence we must 

 have the arrears of John's musom, and be- 

 sides, we will have your daughter Cathe- 

 rine, with two millions of crowns for her 

 dowry." " No," says the Duke de Berri, 

 the organ of the government, " but, for 

 the sake of peace, you shall have Aqui- 

 taine, and Catherine with 600,000 crowns 

 not an acre nor a farthing more." 



According to some cotemporaries, how- 

 ever, this was not all for the Dauphin, a 

 boy of eighteen, to shew his contempt for 

 Henry, in mere wantonness, sent him a 

 box of tennis-balls. Now this, according 

 to Hume, is utterly incredible, because 

 the large concessions the French were 

 ready to make, shew them to have thought 

 the matter no joke ; and even according to 

 Mr. Nicolas a much more deliberate per- 

 son not at all disposed to dismiss a case 

 while an atom of evidence is left not 

 much less so ; for though many cotempo- 

 raries speak of the matter as notorious, 

 others say nothing about it and though 

 Lydgate tells the whole story in verse, 

 yet, if even on other occasions he be as 

 good an historian as a poet, he may in this 

 be nothing but a poet ; and besides, if 

 such an insult had really been offered, it 

 must have cut off all hope of accommoda- 

 tion, all farther negociation which was 

 not the case; and besides, continues Mr. 

 N., Henry afterwards challenged the Dau- 

 phin, and made no allusion to the balls ; 

 and to crown the argument, and annihi- 

 late the fact at once not one of the ten- 

 nis-balls, no, nor even the box, are at pre- 

 sent known to be in existence. Trium- 

 phant, however, as all this may seem, we 

 ourselves are not at all inclined to give 

 up the fact nor will we so readily fly in 

 the teeth of cotemporary authorities, and 

 of Lydgate to boot. Nobody says the fact 

 was not so and what improbability is 

 there in supposing that a petulant prince 

 of eighteen chose to do, what might not be 

 approved of by his father's ministers? 

 Besides, does not the fact well account for 

 what is otherwise not so accountable 

 Henry's challenging the Dauphin at all ? 



But to return the concessions on the 

 part of France not satisfying Henry, he 

 summons a parliament, and the Chancellor 

 Beaufort tells them of the king's resolve 

 to recover his inheritance enforcing his 

 purpose on this very satisfactory ground 

 that for every natural thing there are 

 two seasons one to bud and another to 

 ripen one to act and another to repose 

 one for peace and another for war ; and of 



course, as they had had peace for some time, 

 they must now have a little war. But war 

 has its exigencies counsels, support, and 

 supply ; and supply was what was wanted 

 from them ; and supply it was good policy 

 to give because the more the king en- 

 larged his dominions, the less they would 

 have to pay. Convincing as all this was, 

 they gave, however, only two-fifteenths,, 

 and that out of love and affection, not to 

 prosecute the king's views. 



The subsisting armistice was to expire 

 in January an embassy was accordingly 

 sent, consisting of an earl, and two bi- 

 shops, and 600 horsemen, to negociate an 

 extension till the first of May. This mat- 

 ter being readily accomplished, the am- 

 bassadors proposed a peace upon new 

 terms they gave up the claim to Nor- 

 mandy, Maine, and Anjou, and offered to- 

 take Catherine at half price, that is at one 

 million. No motive whatever is suggested 

 by Mr. N. for this reduction in the terms 

 but the difficulty of providing the sup- 

 plies is perhaps significant enough. But 

 what said the French to this offer ? Did 

 they retreat upon this show of modera- 

 tion ? No, they actually advance upon 

 their former offer they yield Aquitaine, 

 and propose 800,000 crowns with Cathe- 

 rine, and moreover her wardrobe, and 

 equipage proper for her rank; and ex- 

 press, besides, some readiness to nego- 

 ciate on the other points. The fact is, 

 Henry was known, in the meanwhile, to 

 be actively pursuing his preparations ; and 

 the French, could not forget Edward ; and 

 probably did not know all the king's diffi- 

 culties about money-matters. 



About the beginning of April, no steps 

 having been taken by the French to re- 

 sume the negociation, Henry resolved to 

 try his own eloquence, and accordingly, 

 in his own name, despatched a letter 

 and a very curious one it is in which he 

 expresses his deep regret for the necessi- 

 ties of his situation his love of peace, and 

 horror of blood his hope that France 

 would have renewed the negociations 

 his wish that they may not imitate Lot 

 and Abraham, whom avarice excited to 

 discord and assurance, that as the truce 

 was nearly expiring, he must consult the 

 welfare of his people, and follow their incli- 

 nation. This was dated the 7th of April, and 

 apparently, without waiting for an answer, 

 he follows it up on the 15th with another, 

 still more hypocritical fuller of the most 

 loathsome cant, and covered with false pre- 

 tences. The very next day a council was 

 held, and the resolution finally taken to at- 

 tempt the invasion in person, and the day 

 after a regency appointed. Every thing 

 was forthwith put into activity; the dukes, 

 earls, barons, knights, who were to at- 

 tend, were all named, and the pay for 

 each fixed; contracts were entered into 



