erates; then more numerous forces, which arrived with Lewis
himself at their head.

The first effect of the young prince's appearance in England was
the desertion of John's foreign troops, who, being mostly levied in
Flanders, and other provinces of France, refused to serve against the
heir of their monarchy. The Gascons and Poictevins alone, who were
still John's subjects, adhered to his cause; but they were too weak to
maintain that superiority in the field which they had hitherto supported
against the confederated barons. Many considerable noblemen deserted
John's party, the earls of Salisbury, Arundel, Warrenne, Oxford,
Albemarle, and William Mareschal the younger: his castles fell daily
into the hands of the enemy; Dover was the only place which, from the
valor and fidelity of Hubert de Burgh, the governor, made resistance
to the progress of Lewis; and the barons had the melancholy prospect
of finally succeeding in their purpose, and of escaping the tyranny of
their own king, by imposing on themselves and the nation a foreign yoke.
But this union was of short duration between the French and English
nobles; and the imprudence of Lewis, who on every occasion showed too
visible a preference to the former, increased that jealousy which it was
so natural for the latter to entertain in their present situation. The
viscount of Melun, too, it is said, one of his courtiers, fell sick at
London; and finding the approaches of death, he sent for some of his
friends among the English barons, and warning them of their danger,
revealed Lewis's secret intentions of exterminating them and their
families as traitors to their prince, and of bestowing their estates
and dignities on his native subjects, in whose fidelity he could more
reasonably place confidence. This story, whether true or false,
was universally reported and believed; and, concurring with other
circumstances, which rendered it credible, did great prejudice to the
cause of Lewis. The earl of Salisbury and other noblemen deserted
again to John's party; and as men easily change sides in a civil war,
especially where their power is founded on an hereditary and independent
authority, and is not derived from the opinion and favor of the people,
the French prince had reason to dread a sudden reverse of fortune. The
king was assembling a considerable army, with a view of fighting one
great battle for his crown; but passing from Lynne to Lincolnshire, his
road lay along the se