Chief-Justice Gascoigne for stealing. The prince came to the court, and demanded the instant release of the prisoner; and on Gascoigne's refusing to give him up, Prince Henry drew his sword. Gascoigne was a man who deemed the dignity of the law superior to the dignity of a prince who forgot what was due to his station, and calmly committed him to the King's Bench. Prince Harry had the good sense and good feeling to submit: A.D. 1413. HENRY'S ILLNESS AND DEATH. 173 and when his father heard what had passed, he exclaimed, "I am a happy king to have a judge so true to his duty, and a happy father to have a son who knows how to submit to the law!" Once, when King Henry was very ill at Windsor, he sent for his son, of whom he had heard sad stories; and he went quickly, dressed just as he was. This was in a blue satin dress, with the sleeves full of eyelet-holes, and at every eyelet-hole a long silk with a tag at the end of it. The king wondered to see him come in such a dress as this; upon which the young prince knelt down, and gave his father a dagger, saying that since he was deprived of his favour, he hoped he would deprive him of life too. He King Henry was very often ill after this. He had such dreadful fits that he lay as if he were dead. was praying at King Edward's shrine in Westminster Abbey when the last fit seized him, and he was carried into the abbot's room and laid before the fire. When he recovered, he asked where he was; and when they told him "in the Jerusalem Chamber," he said he knew his end was near; for it had been prophesied that he would die at Jerusalem. He seemed to feel that the blood he had shed in winning the crown was still upon his soul; for he asked to have the Miserere sung; and he continued every now and then to fall into a trance. It was while he was in one of these trances that Madcap Harry took the crown from his pillow, and carried it into the next room. When the king recovered a little, he missed his crown, and cried out for it; and when he saw his son bring it back in his hand, he sighed and said, "Couldst not thou wait awhile, and it would have been thine own?" Madcap Harry burst into tears when his father said this, and promised never again to lead the wild life he had led. His father then said, "Alas! son, what right have you to this crown, when your father had none?" "My liege," replied Harry, 'you won it with your sword, and I will keep it with mine." The king then gave his son some beautiful and touching advice about his manner of ruling England, which we read in Shakespeare just as he said it; and then he died. A gorgeous and beautiful tomb was prepared for Henry and Joanna in Canterbury Cathedral, near that of the Black Prince, which every one who visits Canterbury goes to see. But it is said that the body of the usurper does not rest near the father of the king whom he had so deeply injured, and never did lie in that royal tomb. Whether this is true or not, it is very certain that a man named Maydestone took a solemn oath that when he was bringing the body of the king from London to Canterbury, a violent storm arose suddenly; and to quiet the storm (according to a very common superstition among sailors), he and his companion threw the body overboard, and brought only the empty coffin with its trappings to Canterbury. LX.-HENRY V.-AGINCOURT. Madcap Harry was now King of England. But King Henry V. was found to be a very different person from Madcap Harry. He sent away all his bad companions, and would have nothing more to do with them. put the whole kingdom in order, as far as he could, and then he set out for France, to try and conquer it entirely. He Poor Charles VI., the French king, was mad; his queen, Isabella, was one of the most wicked women that ever lived; the little dauphin was only ten years old; and all the nobles were quarrelling and fighting together; so it really seemed as if it would be a blessing for France itself to be conquered by England. Henry had not a large army, but he was very brave. The French army was very large, and was commanded A.D. 1415.] BATTLE OF AGINCOURT. 175 by the Duke of Alençon, who was a great general. The two armies met together at a castle, which was very near the village of Crecy. The night before the conflict, one of the nobles said that he wished some of the brave knights who were sitting idle in England could be transported to the field of battle. The king heard him, and he said, "I would not have a man more than is here. If God gives us the victory, it will be plain that we owe it to His goodness; and if we lose it, the loss will be less to our country.' These noble and courageous words ought never to be forgotten by our English kings. When the morning came, Henry put on his brightest armour, and over it a gay coat, with the royal arms of England and France embroidered upon it, that every one might mark him as the king. The Duke of Alençon led all his men against him, and at last, after wonderful deeds of bravery, cut his way to Henry, and clove the crown on his helmet with his battle-axe. Every one thought the king was killed; but the duke saw that his own life was lost, and he cried out, "I surrender-I am Alençon." It was too late; the next moment he lay dead at Henry's feet. After the battle Henry called the French herald to him, and asked what castle that was in the distance. "It is called the castle of Agincourt," replied the herald. "Then," said Henry, "let this battle be ever known by the name of the battle of Agincourt." When the news of this victory was brought to England, the people seemed mad with joy. They jumped into the sea at Dover, and carried Henry in their arms to the shore. All London was hung with tapestry and flowers, and sweet wine was made to gush out of all the fountains instead of water. The next year the King of the Romans, Sigismund, came to England to pay Henry a visit, and promised to help him to conquer France; and several other foreign princes came with him. Every one who knew Henry loved him. He was as frank and affectionate as a child; yet he was so full of truth and dignity, that no one could help respecting him. The French said his magnificence was so great that one would have thought he was king of all the world. LXI.-BATTLE OF AGINCOURT. (Old Ballad.) 1. Agincourt, Agincourt! 2. Agincourt, Agincourt! Know ye not Agincourt? Never to be forgot Or known to no men? Where English cloth-yard arrows 3. Agincourt, Agincourt! English of every sort, High men and low men, Fought that day wondrous well, 4. Agincourt, Agincourt! Quickly will show men |