s people and into forgetfulness on the
continent of Europe, where nothing was heard about him beyond whispers of
an indolent old man's indulgent weaknesses to please a covetous mistress.

Whilst England thus lost her two great chiefs, France still kept hers.
For three years longer Charles V. and Du Guesclin remained at the head of
her government and her armies. The truce between the two kingdoms was
still in force when the Prince of Wales died, and Charles, ever careful
to practise knightly courtesy, had a solemn funeral service performed for
him in the Sainte-Chapelle; but the following year, at the death of
Edward III., the truce had expired. The Prince of Wales's young son,
Richard II., succeeded his grandfather, and Charles, on the accession of
a king who was a minor, was anxious to reap all the advantage be could
hope from that fact. The war was pushed forward vigorously, and a French
fleet cruised on the coast of England, ravaged the Isle of Wight, and
burned Yarmouth, Dartmouth, Plymouth, Winchelsea, and Lewes. What
Charles passionately desired was the recovery of Calais; he would have
made considerable sacrifices to obtain it, and in the seclusion of his
closet he displayed an intelligent activity in his efforts, by war or
diplomacy, to attain this end. "He had," says Froissart, "couriers going
a-horseback night and day, who, from one day to the next, brought him
news from eighty or a hundred leagues' distance, by help of relays posted
from town to town." This labor of the king had no success; on the whole
the war prosecuted by Charles V. between Edward III.'s death and his own
had no result of importance; the attempt, by law and arms, which he made
in 1378, to make Brittany his own and reunite it to the crown, completely
failed, thanks to the passion with which the Bretons, nobles, burgesses,
and peasants, were attached to their country's independence. Charles V.
actually ran a risk of embroiling himself with the hero of his reign; he
had ordered Du Guesclin to reduce to submission the countship of Rennes,
his native land, and he showed some temper because the constable not only
did not succeed, but advised him to make peace with the Duke of Brittany
and his party. Du Guesclin, grievously hurt, sent to the king his sword
of constable, adding that he was about to withdraw to the court of
Castile, to Henry of Transtamare, who would show more appreciation of his
services. All Charles V.'s wisdom did not pre