--_i.e._ at Agincourt; from thence he marched to Blangy,
and from Blangy towards Peronne. Supplies came to his army from the
countries and lordships of the duke of Burgundy. The English repeatedly
passed and repassed the river Somme; and the duke of Burgundy, in person
departing from Valenciennes, (where he had been honourably received, and
where many pageants had been exhibited and performed before him in
compliment to the king of England and himself,) came to view the army of
the English, whom he caused to march and countermarch at his orders, to
show his desire to lead them. The duke and king Edward, who then kept the
field, held a conference for the space of three hours. A dove was observed
to remain on the king's tent for a whole day and a half[41]: and after its
departure there {xxv} followed a terrible thunder-storm, which did great
damage to the army, by the hail stones which fell, as large as walnuts.
From that day forward the English were in trouble enough, and began to
murmur, saying that the king had kept badly the promises that had been made
to them. The time passed away without anything being accomplished. The duke
of Burgundy parted from them, and went to Lorraine, where he had left part
of his forces, to conquer the duchy and county of Vaudemont."

Our own historians have not discoursed at any length of the campaign made
in France on this occasion. It has not offered to them the attractions of a
Creci, a Poictiers, or an Agincourt; nor even presented any minor
achievement that might have inspired their eloquence or stimulated their
researches. Its laurels in fact withered under the wily diplomacy of Louis
the Eleventh; and, besides the chapter of Molinet from which the preceding
passages have been taken, it is in the pages of that monarch's vivid
biographer, Philippe de Commines, that we are most fully informed of its
transactions. Its results were entirely in correspondence with the personal
characteristics of the three sovereigns concerned. The obstinate self-will
of Charles the Rash, the luxurious indolence of king Edward, and the timid
but crafty time-serving of Louis the Eleventh, all contributed to work out
their natural effects.

When the English began to land in France, the duke of Burgundy, already
engaged in warfare with the German princes, was besieging the town of
Neuss, upon the Rhine; and, until he could effect his object there, he
would not be persuaded to leave the spot, although other pro