In the

several successive proclamations against the fabricators of false reports; and in the spring of 1402, Sir Roger Clarendon, a natural son of the Black Prince, nine Franciscan friars, and several other persons, were executed as traitors, for asserting that the late king was living. This severity only strengthened the popular belief. month of June, the Scottish army, indeed, crossed the borders; but there was no Richard with it, | nor did the Scots pretend that he was coming. After doing considerable mischief, this army was defeated at Nesbit Moor: Hepburn of Hales, its general, was slain with many of his companions, and nearly all the rest of the knights were taken prisoners. The victorious commander on this occasion was not an Englishman, but a disaffected Scot. The imprudent Duke of Rothsay, heir-apparent to the Scottish throne, had been contracted in marriage to Elizabeth, the daughter of George of Dunbar, the great Earl of March, whose estates and commands lay near the borders: in spite of his solemn engagement, the prince not only refused the damsel, but married Mariell, the daughter of the Earl of Douglas, the hereditary enemy of the Earls of March. Robert, the poor, infirm old king, had well foreseen the consequence of acts which he had not been able to prevent: the Earl of March withdrew to his almost impregnable castle of Dunbar, gave up his fealty, did homage to the King of England, and joined in the closest confederacy with the Percies of Northumberland. By his means the road to Edinburgh had been laid open to Henry in 1400, and now, after having assisted the Percies in several inroads or forays they had made into Scotland, he defeated the Scottish force at Nesbit Moor. Earl Douglas, who had got a grant of the estates of the Earl of March, immediately prepared to drive him to his ruin, and to revenge the loss of Nesbit Moor; and he was supported by the Duke of Albany, who still usurped all the power which could be said to belong to a distracted government. Ten thousand warriors, the best of Scotland, followed the banner of the Douglas, which flew like a meteor from the Lothians to the Tweed, from the Tweed to the Tyne; but the earl, whom the Scots surnamed "Tyne-man," or "Lose-man," from his repeated defeats and failures, with all the personal valour of his race, enjoyed so small a portion of their sagacity as to be unable to learn military experience from reiterated calamity. Having carried terror and devastation as far as the walls of Newcastle, without finding any force to oppose him, he turned back loaded with plunder, and marched in a careless manner towards the Tweed. During his ill-calculated advance to the south, the Earl of Northumberland and his son, the Hotspur Percy, with his deadly enemy the Earl of March, gathered a numerous army in his rear. Douglas, hampered by his spoil, came suddenly upon this force, which was posted near Milfield, in the northern part of Northumberland. He perceived a strong position between the two armies called Homildon Hill, and he had the good sense

to seize it. The English, with the people of the Earl of March, occupied the ridges of a neighbouring hill, but they left it to advance to the assault; and Harry Percy (or Hotspur) was about to charge up the hill of Homildon, when March caught his bridle, and advised him to stay where he was, and begin the fight with his archers, not with his horse. The advice was taken: the English bowmen advanced to the roots of the hill, and shot upwards with wonderful force and correct aim. Instead of charging at first, as Bruce did the English archers at Bannockburn, Douglas did nothing, but left his people drawn up in ranks on the face of the hill, where they presented one general mark to the enemy. Scarcely an English arrow flew in vain; the Scots fell in heaps without fighting. At last Douglas made up his mind to charge down the hill, or, as it is related by Fordun, Swinton, a spirited knight, induced this movement by exclaiming "Oh! my brave fellow-soldiers, what fascinates you to-day, that you stand like deer and fawns in a park to be shot, instead of showing your ancient valour, and meeting your foes hand-to-hand? Let those who will, descend with me, and, in the name of the Lord, we will break that host and conquer, or, if not, at least die with honour, like soldiers." As Douglas descended the English bowmen retired a little, but they pulled their bows as their bows as they withdrew, and, presently halting again, they sent a flight of arrows so sharp and strong," that no armour could withstand it; and as he was spurring forward, the Douglas himself, whose armour was of the most perfect temper, was wounded, though not mortally, in five different places. He fell from his horse,-was made prisoner, and then a complete rout of the Scots ensued. Eight hundred of them remained on the field, and five hundred, it is said, were drowned in the Tweed. Besides Douglas, whose principal wound deprived him of an eye, Murdach, the son of the Duke of Albany, the earls of Moray and Angus, two barons, eighty knights (among whom were some Frenchmen), and many other persons of rank, were made prisoners by the Percies. Swinton, Gordon, Livingston of Calendar, Ramsay of Dalhousie, Walter Sinclair, Roger Gordon, and Walter Scott, were in the number of the more illustrious slain. The English men-at-arms, knights, and squires, never drew the sword or couched the lance, the whole affair being decided by the archers.

Such was the famous battle of Homildon Hill, which was fought on Holyrood-day, the 14th of September, 1402. While it was fighting Henry himself was engaged much less successfully in Wales, where Owen Glendower had recently gained two splendid victories,-one on the banks of the Vurnwye, where he took his old enemy, the Lord Grey, prisoner; the other near Knyghton, in Radnorshire, where he captured Sir Edmund Mortimer. In the end of September the king advanced from Shrewsbury; but though he divided • Rot. Parl.-Rymer.-Fordun.-Otterbourne.

his forces into three separate armies, which poured into Wales from three different points, he could never find his active and cunning enemy. seemed as if Glendower had taken refuge in the clouds, and thence waged war by commanding the elements. Incessant rains distressed the English, inundated the valleys, and made the mountaintorrents impassable. The king's tent was swept away by a tempest; and Henry at last withdrew, convinced, it is said, that Owen Glendower was a mighty necromancer. On his retreat, Owen marched in triumph through the country, where all true Welshmen now acknowledged him as their legitimate sovereign, the worthy descendant of the Llewellyns and of other princes who reigned ere Saxon or Norman trod the soil of Britain.*

Nor was this failure the only annoyance which Henry was now suffering. In the mouth of August of this same year he received a challenge from the Duke of Orleans, the brother of the French king, and uncle of the lady Isabella. This prince had formerly been the bosom friend and sworn brother of Henry of Bolingbroke: during his exile in France, when Henry aspired to the hand of a princess of the blood royal, a daughter of the Duke of Berri, Orleans did his utmost to promote that match; and though he failed on that occasion, he gave Henry all the aid he could for his expedition into England, and encouraged him to dethrone Richard, the husband of his niece. But the Duke of Orleans then acted rather out of spite and jealousy of his uncle, the Duke of Burgundy, the de facto regent of France, than from any steady affection for Henry; and he was a man accustomed to change principles and systems almost as often as his clothes. His first challenge did not state any grievance whatever: he merely said that he deplored the state of inactivity and neglect of the use of arms, to which he and other princes of France were condemned,—that he was anxious to gain honour and good renown,-and that, therefore, he wanted to fight, with a hundred French knights armed with lance, battle-axe, sword, and dagger, but without any bodkins, hooks, points, bearded darts, razors, needles, or poisoned points, against King Henry and a hundred English knights.† The King of England received the heralds in what was considered a very scurvy manner; and, contrary to the noble usages of chivalry, he made them no presents. His answer, which was not returned till the 1st of January, 1403, expressed astonishment at the receipt of such a challenge during a time of truce, and from a sworn brother: he told the duke that he annulled his letters of alliance and brotherhood; and reminded him that he, as a king, was not bound to answer any such challenge except from kings. "As to the idleness of which you complain," said Henry, with a tone of solemnity which looks, however, very like mockery, "it is true that we are less employed in arms and in seeking honour than our noble ancestors: but God is great; and, when it pleases Walsing.-Otterb.

+ Monstrelet

him, we shall follow their footsteps. " In another clause he made a most rational assertion, which probably gained him little honour among knights: "It seems to us," said he, "that a prince-king ought only to fight for the honour of God, the common benefit of Christendom, or for the good of his kingdom, and not for vain-glory or an ambition wholly temporal." At the end of his answer he said that he should go to the continent when he pleased, or when the affairs of his people required; and that he should take with him such knights as he pleased, and that then, if he chose, his adversary might come and meet him; he, on his part, hoping, by the "aid of God, our Lady, and my Lord St. George," not to let him depart without a sufficient answer. And he told the duke that, if he wished his champions to be sans reproche, he ought to keep his own promises and respect his own seal and signature better than he had hitherto done. Stung to the quick by the whole tone of this letter, the Duke of Orleans made a most intemperate reply, in which he taxed Henry with the high crimes of rebellion, usurpation, and murder; and he now stated what he chose to consider his personal grievance. "How could you suffer my much redoubted lady, madam the Queen of England, to return to our country desolate by the loss of her lord, despoiled of her dower, and of all the property she carried hence on her marriage? He who seeks to gain honour must support her cause. Are not noble knights bound in all circumstances to defend the rights of widows and virgins of a vir tuous life, such as my niece was known to lead? And as I am so nearly related to her, acquitting myself towards God and towards her as a relation, I reply that, to spare the effusion of human blood, I will gladly meet you in single combat, or with any number you may please." The sarcasms, also, of the English king were retorted; and Henry was told that the French knights thanked him for having more care of their healths than he had had of that of his sovereign and liege lord. curious letter was dated in March, 1403; and Henry, though occupied by much more critical affairs, was provoked to return an answer almost immediately. After expressing an anxiety for his own honour, he accused the duke of taking a frivolous turn,-of wishing for a war of words, a contest worthy of minstrels, and of defaming his royal person. "In regard to the dignity we hold," wrote Henry, "it appears that you do not approve

This

of the manner in which we have obtained it. Certes, we are greatly astonished at this, for we made you fully acquainted with our designs before we departed out of France; at which time you approved of our voyage, and promised us your assistance, if we required it, against our very dear lord and cousin, the King Richard, whom God absolve! We wanted not your assistance; and we hold your approbation or disapprobation in no account, since God and our people, the free inhabitants of this kingdom, have approved of our right this is a sufficient reply to such as would

question our right." The charge of murder he repelled with the most indignant language. "With regard to that passage in your letter where you speak of the death of our very dear cousin and lord, whom God absolve! saying 'God knows how it happened, and by whom that death was done,' we know not with what intent such words are used; but if you mean to say that his death was caused by our order, or with our consent, we say that you lie, and will lie foully as often as you shall say so; as the true God knows, whom we call to witness: offering, as a loyal prince ought, our body against. yours in single combat, if you will or dare to prove it." This very long letter alluded more or less openly to all the treachery and disloyalty which the popular voice in France accused Orleans of practising against his unfortunate brother the king, and his uncle the Duke of Burgundy. The quarrel rested here: the King of England and the Duke of Orleans never met; and the latter appears to have been completely defeated in this war of words. Henry, however, thought fit to complain of this challenge, and sent ambassadors to the French court, who stated that it was a breaking of the existing truce. That court was a scene of intrigue and anarchy, and the government could neither declare war nor check such provoking ebullitions on the part of its subjects. It replied that the King of France and his council had never broken the truce, and would never break their engagements; and that this was the only reply that could be returned. At the same time the French made a fresh demand for the two hundred thousand francs, the money which had been paid with the Princess Isabella; but the English envoys met this demand by claiming five hundred thousand crowns, in liquidation of the ransom of King John, who had been taken at the battle of Poictiers, nearly half a century before.*

But while the Duke of Orleans had been Gasconading in France, the Percies of Northumberland, who more than other men had contributed to place him on the throne, raised their banner against Henry, and did their best to dethrone him. For services such as the Earl of Northumberland had rendered a high price is always expected, and that chieftain seems to have set no limit to his demands. Henry, on the other side, was not of a very yielding nature, and he was far too wary and politic to give any great increase of power to a warlike family which was already but too powerful. His rewards, however, had neither been few nor inconsiderable, and he seems to have counted on the gratitude and fidelity of the Percies. The greatest of our poets, and the historians he followed, err in attributing the insurrection to their resentment at the king's order forbidding them to set at liberty or put to ransom the prisoners taken in the battle of Homildon Hill. Such orders had not been unusual, and had been issued by no king more frequently than by Edward III., who was not improperly quoted as an authority in all matters of war. Henry

• Monstrelet.-Monk of St. Denis,-Rymer.

reserved to the captors all the rights of ransom ; and, as a reward for his services at Homildon Hill, granted to the Earl of Northumberland several broad manors, together with most of the lands in England which had belonged to his captive the Earl of Douglas.* The Percies, however, really felt themselves aggrieved, not because they were not allowed to dispose of the captives they had in their own hands, but because they were not permitted to ransom a friend who was in the hands of one who was, at least for the time, an enemy. Sir Edmund Mortimer, who had been taken by Owen Glendower at the battle of Knyghton, was uncle to the young Earl of March, who, as far as the right of birth went, was lawful King of England. Henry, who kept the nephew in close custody, was supposed to bear no good-will to the uncle; and when Mortimer's relations requested permission to ransom him by the payment of a sum of money to Glendower, he refused, although he had previously permitted the friends of the Lord Grey of Ruthyn, who had been taken in the other battle in Wales, to redeem him by paying the Welshman ten thousand marks. Henry Percy showed great irritation at the king's harsh refusal, for the sister of Sir Edmund Mortimer was his wife; and his father, the Earl of Northumberland, and his uncle, the Earl of Worcester, took up his quarrel on this head. Scroop, the Archbishop of York (a brother of the favourite minister of Richard II.), who hated Henry, advised these disaffected nobles to treat the king as an usurper, and to draw their swords for the rightful heir,that is, for the boy, the Earl of March. A formidable conspiracy ensued; and the conspirators, who certainly were actuated by no patriotic or high motives of any kind, did not scruple to call in the assistance of the enemies of their country. They formed a close league with Owen Glendower, who thereupon gave his daughter in marriage to his prisoner Mortimer, and promised to co-operate with twelve thousand Welsh: they liberated Earl Douglas without ransom, on condition of his joining them with all his vassals: they sent ambassadors to the kings of France and Scotland, to solicit their aid. It appears, also, that Hotspur sent a letter to the Duke of Orleans, whose challenge must then have been the subject of continual conversation.

Douglas, true to his engagement, crossed the borders with a considerable force. The Earl of Northumberland being sore sick," Hotspur took the command of the army, and marched towards North Wales, where he expected to be joined by Glendower. On his road, his uncle, the Earl of Worcester, joined him, with a great body of archers from Cheshire. The plan of his campaign was excellent; but he had to do with an enemy quite as active, and much more skilful. Expecting the insurgents would make the country near the borders the scene of the war, Henry marched to the north as far as Burton-upon-Trent; but there he learned the direction Hotspur was taking,

• Rymer.

and, striking off to the west, he so pressed his march, that he reached Shrewsbury, and threw himself between the Welsh and the men of the North-it being his aim to prevent their junction. Glendower did not appear, but the king was scarcely in the town, when his scouts informed him that the earls, with banners displayed, were close to Shrewsbury, and that their light horse were already skirmishing with part of his forces. Enraged, but not disheartened, at finding the Welsh had not come up, Hotspur halted not far from the king's army, which issued out and encamped beyond the eastern gate of the town." By this time night was approaching, and it was resolved to defer the battle till the morrow. In the course of the night the confederates sent the king their defiance. This instrument ran in the names of the Percies and of none others: taking the Lord Jesus Christ to witness, they pronounced Henry, Duke of Lancaster, to be unjustly named King of England, "without title of right, but only of his guile and perjury, and by force of his fautors:" they alleged that when, after his exile, he entered England, he swore upon the Holy Gospels, that he would claim nothing but his own proper inheritance, and the inheritance of his wife, and that Richard should reign during the term of his life, governed by the good advice of the lords spiritual and temporal; and yet they said he had imprisoned the same sovereign lord and king, until he had, for fear of death, resigned his kingdoms of England and France; and under colour of that resignation, by the counsel of his friends and accomplices, and by "the noising of the rascal people," he had crowned himself king of the realms aforesaid. Wherefore he was false and perjured. The next head of accusation was, that he had sworn upon the same Gospel at the same place and time, that he would not suffer any tenths to be levied on the clergy, or any fifteenths on the people, nor any other tallages or taxes whatsoever, without the previous consent of the Parliament, except for great need, in causes of importance, or for the resistance of the enemy only, and not otherwise; and yet contrary to this oath, he had frequently caused tenths and fifteenths, and other impositions and tallages, as well on the clergy and commonalty of the realm of England as on the merchants, to be levied by arbitrary power, and through fear of his majesty royal. Wherefore was he perjured, and false. In the third clause they said that he had also sworn that Richard, their king and his, should, as long as he lived, enjoy every royal prerogative and dignity; and yet had caused him traitorously, without consent or judgment of the lords of the realm, to be kept for the space of fifteen days and nights in the castle of Pontefract, without meat, or drink, or fire, whereof he perished of hunger, hirst, and cold. Wherefore was he perjured and false. In the fourth clause they, for the first time, publicly set forth the hereditary rights of the young Earl of March, accusing Henry of usurping,

Walsing.-Otterb-Rymer.

after the murder of Richard, and of keeping possession of the crown, which belonged to Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, then the next and direct heir. Wherefore was he perjured and false. Fifthly, they alleged, that in spite of his oath to govern according to law and the good customs of the realm, he had treacherously, and against the law, controlled the elections, and caused his own creatures to be chosen by almost all the shires in England as their representatives in Parliament; and of this they said they had oftentimes complained, without obtaining redress; and here they called to witness Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Richard Scroop, Archbishop of York. In the last place, they accused him of his conduct with regard to Sir Edmund Mortimer, and asserted that he had published and declared the Percies traitors, and had craftily purposed and conspired their utter destruction, because they had negotiated with Owen Glendower for the release of their kinsman Mortimer without the royal consent. "For which causes," they concluded, we do mortally defy thee, thy fautors and accomplices, as common traitors and destroyers of the realm, and invaders, oppressors, and confounders of the very true and right heir to the crown of England and France; and we intend to prove it this day by force of arms, Almighty God blessing us."*

The king could use his pen almost as well as his sword; but he did not think the present a proper time for argument and refutation. Before matters had come to this crisis, he had offered the Percies a safe conduct to meet him at his court, where he was ready to discuss all questions with them; but this offer they had treated with contempt; and he now told them that he had no time to lose in writing, but that he would," by dint of sword and fierce battle," prove that their quarrel was false and feigned; and he added, that he doubted not that God would give him the victory over false and foresworn traitors. At an early hour on the following day-which was the vigil of St. Mary Magdalen, the 21st of July-Hotspur drew up his men in front of the king. The two armies were nearly equal, consisting each of about 14,000 men. Many years had passed since England had seen her sons thus arrayed against each other; and there was now a short pause, as if the combatants felt this. Henry even sent the Abbot of Shrewsbury to propose an amicable arrangement; but his opponents rejected these offers Then suddenly he bade the trumpets blow: those on the king's side cried, "Saint George for us!"' their adversaries cried, "Esperance, Percy!" and then the armies joined battle. The first charge was led by Hotspur and Douglas, two old rivals for military glory, and who were esteemed two of the best lances in Christendom. This charge was

This defiance is given at length by Hall, who, however, has confounded Sir Edmund Mortimer with the Earl of March, in which mistake he has been followed by Shakspeare, and even by some mo dern historians: for example, by Bishop Kennett, in his Complete History. The most correct copy of the document is that given in Sir H. Ellis's edition of Hardyng's Chronicle, from the Harleian MS. 42.

irresistible; a part of the king's guards were dispersed; the Earl of Stafford, Sir Walter Blount, and two other knights, who wore the royal arms to deceive the enemy, were slain; the royal standard was cast down, and Henry of Monmouth, the young Prince of Wales, was sorely wounded in the face-notwithstanding which he never ceased to fight where the battle was strongest, or to encourage his men when their hearts were faintest. The brilliant charge of the Percy and the Douglas was not well supported; they could nowhere find the king, who fought in plain armour: the royal lines, through which they had broken, formed again, and closed in their rear; and when they turned to cut through them again, they found them immovable as a wall, and they were assailed on all sides by murderous flights of arrows. During the battle, which lasted altogether about three hours, some bodies of Welsh arrived, but the main body of the confederates could not rescue its van. Hotspur, after fighting against fearful odds, was struck by a random arrow, which pierced his brain, and when his death was known, his followers lost heart and fled on all sides. Henry raised the cry of "Victory and Saint George!" Douglas, in his flight, fell over a precipice, and being much hurt, was made prisoner. There were also taken Hotspur's uncle, the Earl of Worcester, the Baron of Kinderton, Sir Richard Vernon, and many others of inferior consequence. Douglas was treated as a foreign knight, and kindly entertained; but Worcester, Kinderton, and Vernon were considered as rebels, and their heads were struck off on the field of battle. The numbers that fell in actual combat were prodigious; but there is probably some exaggeration in the accounts, which state the entire loss on both sides to have exceeded ten thousand men.*

Dearly as it was bought, the great victory of Shrewsbury was probably a blessing to the country, which would inevitably have been involved in a long series of civil wars and horrors of all kinds, if the confederates had succeeded in their enterprise. In the name of the young Earl of March, the Percies would have usurped all the power of government; and during the boy's minority England would have been a prey to fierce and lawless factions. Old Percy, the Earl of Northumberland, who had recovered from his sickness, was marching with a considerable force to join the insurgent army, when the sad tidings were brought him of the death of his darling son, Hotspur, and his brother Worcester, upon which he turned back in despair, dismissed his retainers, and shut himself up in the castle of Warkworth. He was obliged, however, to surrender himself into the king's hands; and this he did, meanly asserting that his son had acted all along contrary to his wishes and to his express commands. Henry was only cruel on certain great occasions: he acted mildly with Northumberland, who, after presenting a petition

• Otterb.-Hall. -Rymer.

to Parliament, was pardoned and dismissed, without any fines or penalties.*

Soon after the battle of Shrewsbury, Prince Henry was sent into Wales against Owen Glendower, whom he defeated in one or two skirmishes. During this season of difficulties, the conduct of the French was at once paltry and dishonourable : they not only attacked Guienne, but made frequent descents on our coast, and plundered every English ship they could surprise at sea. They captured a whole fleet of merchantmen; they took the isles of Jersey and Guernsey, and they made a descent near Plymouth, at the critical moment when Henry was occupied by the Percies. On learning the result of the battle of Shrewsbury, they retired to their ships, but not before burning the town of Plymouth, and plundering the whole neighbourhood. In this expedition three princes of the house of Bourbon took part; but all this while no war was declared, and the French court pretended that everything of the sort was against their will and orders-that they, above all things, were anxious for the religious observance of the truce. In this same year, Waleran de St. Pol took the sea with a few ships, making as much noise and parade as if he were leading a vast armada to the sure conquest of all England. He landed on the Isle of Wight, but he was repulsed by the inhabitants alone, and he then sailed away with all speed, lest he should be taken by an English fleet. Reprisals were made on the French coast; the English sailors associated as they had done in the time of Edward I., and, without any direct commission, carried on war on their own account, capturing ships on the high seas, burning the towns on the coast, and not unfrequently penetrating far into the interior of France. In this manner several fleets of ships, loaded with wine and other valuable commodities, were brought into the English ports; Pennareh and St. Mahé were burnt to the ground, and incalculable mischief was done to the French. On some occasions, however, the king issued what we now call "letters of marque ;" and a year or two later, he himself sent out a fleet under his second son, the Lord Thomas, afterwards Duke of Clarence: for, incited by his old enemy, the Duke of Orleans, many Flemings and Easterlings were cruising against the English in great ships, and committing atrocious cruelties. The king's son was instructed to revenge those injuries either by battle or depopulation of their sea-coast; and it appears that he executed his commission in an effective manner, by firing ships, burning towns, and destroying people without favour or mercy. On the whole, this most irregular and most sanguinary warfare was in favour of the English; but Henry had never that complete command of the sea which would have enabled him to protect his coasts from all insult.t

A.D. 1404.-" It is most strange," says an old historian, "that King Richard was not suffered to