off bed atratidedai d F Henry the Fifth had] applied his great talents to the improvement of his people and the encouragement of industry at home, instead of wasting the wealth and energies of the nation in foreign wars for objects of personal aggrandizement, he would have proved a great benefactor to his country, and lowy would have merited the gratitude of mankind. To the wars with France, commenced by Edward III., made popular by repeated successes, and continued at intervals through the four following reigns, may be traced that feeling of rivalry and hostility between the two nations Jako nations which has continued almost to the present day, and has led to so much misery and bloodshed. Destructive and mischievous as these wars were, they they yet seemed to establish one fact of no little importance as regards the condition of the people, , that the feudal system had become so much weakened as no longer to serve for the defence of the kingdom. When Henry proceeded to France, instead of relying, as his predecessors had done, upon the feudal retainers of the crown, and the nobility and great territorial lords, he was compelled to issue a commission of array, empowering certain persons therein named to review all freemen able to bear arms in the several counties, and to array and keep them in readiness to repel an

Abridged from an unfinished History of the Royal Navy, by Sir N. H. Nicholas, Cassell's "History of England," "Battles by Land and Sea," and other sources.

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enemy. Personally, however, Henry had not the shadow of a claim to the throne of France.

The Emperor Sigismund being expected in England, ships were ordered on the 7th of April, 1416, to be impressed for his passage from Calais ; and arrangements were made for receiving him with great honour. He arrived in London on the 7th of May, and remained several months in this country, with the hope of effecting a peace between England and France. In the spring the French, under the Count of Armagnac, invested Harfleur with a large army; and a formidable fleet having been collected-in which were eight large carracks hired from the Genoese, the naval mercenaries of Europe-under the command of the Bastard of Bourbon and Sir Robinet de Braquemont, Admiral of France, part of these vessels proceeded to the mouth of the Seine, and blockaded the port. Another part of the French fleet came into the Channel, where none dared oppose them, and after doing much injury to the English shipping, they appeared off Southampton, and for several days endeavoured to destroy the King's ships with their engines, or to set them on fire; but being repulsed, they went to the Isle of Portland, from which most of the inhabitants had fled, burnt the houses, and then attempted to land on several parts of the coast, though with little success, for they were everywhere resisted, and received as much harm as they inflicted.

No time was lost in raising an army, and equipping a fleet at Southampton, for the relief of Harfleur and the defence of the realm. In April ships and seamen were ordered to assemble at Orwell; and on the 14th of May, a general array of fencible men was directed to be made, and beacons to be erected, because the French and Genoese were on the western coast.

As the Admiral of England was then Governor of Harfleur, John Earl of Huntingdon was, on the 5th of May, constituted the King's lieutenant, to conduct men-at-arms and archers to the eastern and western ports in the King's present voyage on the sea against the enemy; and John Lord Clifford and Sir Edward Courtenay received similar commissions on the same day, to command their own retinues of forty men-at-arms and one hundred archers each, under the Earl of Huntingdon. Ships were ordered to be impressed for these services; and power was given to the Earl of Huntingdon to guard the sea in the south and west, and to Lord Clifford in the north. For the protection of the Irish Sea, the Council intended to speak particularly to the King about a barge of Chester, which was to be filled with

men-at-arms and other fighting men. By their instructions, dated May 12th, 1416, the Earl of Huntingdon and Sir Edward Courtenay were directed to abstain from injuring the people of Portugal, Denmark, Sweden,. Norway, Holland, and Prussia, or other allies or confederates of the King, and to refrain also from injuring the subjects of the King of Castile and Leon, or of Flanders, against the existing truces with those States. They were commanded, as soon as they had mustered their followers, to hasten to Harfleur with provisions and stores for its defence, after landing which, they were to proceed to the southward for the guard of the sea, attacking the French, and defending the King's subjects with all their might. During their voyage they were forbidden to touch at any port, unless driven by storms; and in that case they were to return to sea as soon as possible. In case they captured any ships that were probable neutrals, they were to keep them and their cargoes in safety until the King had determined what should be done with them. The King's brother, the Duke of Bedford, with many earls and barons, bannerets and knights, were engaged to serve against the French.

Henry had, with his characteristic gallantry, determined to command the expedition in person; and on the 20th of June Sir Edward Courtenay was directed to detain the ships then at Southampton until the King arrived there; and all persons who had received wages to serve at sea with the King were commanded on the 20th of July to repair to that port without delay. On the 6th of that month, Thomas, Lord Morley, the grandson of Edward the Third's Admiral at Sluys and Espagnols sur Mer, was appointed Admiral of the fleet and leader of the men-at-arms, going from London and other ports to Southampton. After sending his royal guest the Emperor to Leeds Castle, the King went to Southampton; and intelligence was brought to him that the French were blockading Portsmouth, to prevent a junction between the ships in that harbour with those at Southampton, and that they had attempted to make a descent on the Isle of Wight.

It was only in compliance with the urgent request of the Emperor and of his own Council, that Henry abandoned his intention of proceeding to Harfleur with the expedition; and on the 22nd of July he entrusted it to the Duke of Bedford, by constituting him his lieutenant to conduct the men-at-arms and archers at sea against the enemy; but it was still called "The King's voyage ;" and on the 26th of that month Sir Walter Hungerford was appointed Admiral of the Duke's fleet.

Bedford sailed for Harfleur early in August, but part of his vessels were forced by contrary winds and stormy weather into the Camber. The ships at length re-united, and anchored off Beachy Head; and, the wind having become favourable, the fleet weighed, and arrived at the mouth of the Seine in the evening of Friday, the 14th of August. The Duke's ship anchored for the night, and he caused lights to be hoisted to indicate his position to the fleet. Information was then brought to the Prince, by small row-boats, of the force and situation of the enemy's fleet; but he resolved to attack it on the following day. Orders were accordingly sent to all the captains that as soon as he set his sail in the morning, all the ships should do the same, and follow him towards the enemy.

With the dawn, on the 15th of August, the French fleet appeared in sight. Divine service having been performed on board the English ships in the best manner it could be done, they weighed, made sail towards the enemy, and prepared for battle. The French, no less eager for the conflict, advanced boldly in their "sea-castles" to meet their adversaries. From the distance between the two fleets, calms, or light winds, or from these causes combined, it was not until about nine o'clock that the action began. The barges, or, as one of the chroniclers calls them, alluding to their fore and stern castles, the "turreted ships," then came violently into contact, and the crews fastened them to each other by cables, chains, and hooks. As on previous occasions, the height of the Genoese carracks afforded them great advantage over the low-built English ships; and it is said that the people on their decks could hardly reach the soldiers in their lofty vessels with their lances. The conflict was very severe fighting hand-to-hand, or, to use the words of a contemporary writer, "man to man, lance to lance, arrow to arrow, dart to dart, stone to stone, iron masses to lead," success depended entirely upon courage and physical strength, and in such contests the English have almost always been victorious. After a sanguinary action of five or six hours, some of the French ships were carried by boarding; on seeing which, the other vessels endeavoured to separate themselves from their opponents, and such as succeeded hoisted their sails and took to flight.

Three great carracks and many smaller vessels, with all their crews, were captured, and a hulk was sunk. The remainder of the French fleet escaped into Honfleur, whither the English were prevented from pursuing them, on account of the sands and other dangers of the coast. The largest of the carracks, which one writer says was called, from her

size, and probably