1827.] 



Domestic and Foreign. 



523 



with such as were bound to provide a 

 staled number of men-at-arms ; and with 

 others for carpenters, masons, smiths, wag- 

 gons, bows, arrows, &c.; despatches were 

 sent to Holland to hire vessels 5 orders 

 ent to the Thames, and ports as far 

 as Newcastle, to arrest all vessels carrying 

 twenty tons or more, for the king's ser- 

 vice; and directions given to the masters 

 of the king's ships to impress sailors to 

 navigate them. 



But money was still wanting. The par- 

 liamentary supply was insignificant; and 

 accordingly a proclamation was issued to 

 the king's very dear and loyal subjects, 

 informing them that the lords and others 

 of his retinue had been paid a quarter's 

 wages, but he had promised another on 

 embarkation, which, if not paid, would re- 

 tard or defeat the expedition, and there- 

 fore he trusted to their kind assistance 

 promising speedy repayment. This ap- 

 peal was to some extent certainly success- 

 ful, for it is known thai Canterbury sent 

 as a gift 100 marks, Sudbury 40, Bristol 

 240., the Bishop of Hereford 100, the 

 Bishop of Lincoln 40, and a foreign mer- 

 chant 100 marks. Nevertheless all would 

 not do ; and recourse was finally had to 

 mortgaging the customs, and pawning the 

 crown jewels and plate. Not a soul would 

 lend without a deposit, nor a soul embark 

 without something in hand. Robert Cha- 

 lons, knt., as security for his second quar- 

 ter's pay, amounting to 45. 6s. l^d., re- 

 ceived a cup of gold, two pots of silver 

 gilt, and a small vessel of silver gilt. To 

 other knights, were " pawned, for their 

 wages, several vessels of plate and jewels, 

 tablets, images, crucifixes, notre-dames, 

 tabernacles, and the like." To Sir Thomas 

 Hanley, a pair of gold spurs with red 

 tyssers, a sword garnished with ostrich's 

 feathers, &c. The HARRY CROWN was 

 broken, and 'distributed among several ; 

 and the Duke of York had the gold almes 

 dish, called the tygre y made in the fashion 

 of a ship, standing on a bear, garnished 

 with balays and pearls with many others, 

 to a great extent. 500,000 nobles were 

 thus raised by pledges ; and the greater 

 part of the articles were it seems ac- 

 tually redeemed in the first eight or ten 

 years of his son's reign. 



In June, Henry set forth in the full pa- 

 rade of royalty detailed in Lydgate's 

 versification and on the 26th reached 

 Winchester, where he stepped some days 

 to receive the French ambassadors. Se- 

 veral interviews and discussions took 

 place, and, on the J6th July, the French 

 consented to add to their former offers the 

 towns of Limoges and Tulle, with all that 

 belonged to the latter, worth about 40,000 

 gold crowns. These offers Henry agreed 

 to accept, provided the towns, Catherine, 

 aad the money were all delivered by St. 



Andrew's Day the ambassadors remain 

 ing with him till the king's answer ar- 

 rived. To these conditions the ambas- 

 sadors demurred, and alleged the money 

 could not be minted in time. The king 

 was highly offended at this, and bade 

 Beaufort read them a trimming lecture, 

 which so much nettled one of them, an 

 archbishop, that he boldly declared the 

 king had no right to what he claimed, nor 

 even to the crown of England. There 

 was no brooking such insolence he was 

 ordered to depart forthwith with an as- 

 surance the king would speedily follow. 



All chance of accommodation being now 

 over, Henry proceeded to Southampton ; 

 where he was detained by the discovery 

 of the Earl of Cambridge's conspiracy. 

 The conspirators were put on their trial 

 without delay, and on the 5th August 

 were most of them executed. On that 

 same day, Henry wrote another letter to 

 Charles, of the same hypocritical charac- 

 ter with the former lamenting that they 

 were at last like Lot and Abraham he 

 being himself of course the yielding Abra- 

 ham and imploring him, for the last 

 time, on the strength of another bit of 

 scripture, to do him justice and assuring 

 him how much more agreeable it would 

 be to live an innocent life with his fair 

 daughter, than to enrich himself with the 

 treasures of iniquity. According to some 

 authorities, this letter was written on the 

 28th July; and Mr. N., pro sua humani- 

 tate, inclines to this date, solely, because 

 it seems more creditable to Henry to be- 

 lieve he never could have written such a 

 letter the very day his kinsman and most 

 intimate friend had suffered a violent death. 

 Does Mr. N. suppose for a moment Henry 

 wrote the letter with his own hand ? 



On the 7th, Henry embarked with a 

 force of probably 30,000, in a fleet of from 

 1,200 to 1,400 ships, from 20 to 300 tons 

 burden ; and landing near Harfleur, be- 

 sieged and took it early in October. His 

 loss during the siege was considerable; 

 many thousands perished by dysentery; and 

 as many more were sent home incapable 

 from disease of service. From this place, 

 with the relics of his troops, about 9,000, 

 probably not much exceeding 7,000, Hen- 

 ry resolved to march by land to Calais, in 

 the teeth of a numerous force collected to 

 intercept him. For this fool-hardy at- 

 tempt, Mr. N. can find no excuse, but 

 plainly declares it was justifiable only by 

 the event which is no justification at all 

 and so he himself seems to think, though 

 the thought is smothered in a mass of 

 words. Xenophon, we remember, com- 

 mends his hero, Agesilaus, for putting no- 

 thing to hazard adding, "If I praised him 

 for fighting against a superior force, I 

 should make him a blockhead, and prove 

 myself a fool." Hume states unreservedly, 



3X2 



