.

Henry, however, was disabled from joining the army by a severe attack of
dysentery; and though he had at first hoped that he might be carried in
a litter to head-quarters, he soon found that his illness was far too
serious to permit him to carry out his intention. He was accordingly
conveyed back to Vincennes, near Paris, where he grew so rapidly worse
that it was evident his end was near. In a few brief words to those
about him he declared his will touching the government of England and
France after his death, until his infant son should be of age. The
regency of France he committed to the Duke of Bedford, in case it
should be declined by the Duke of Burgundy. That of England he gave to
his other brother, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. To his two uncles,
Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, and Thomas Beaufort, Duke of
Exeter, he intrusted the guardianship of his child. He besought all
parties to maintain the alliance with Burgundy, and never to release the
Duke of Orleans and the other prisoners of Agincourt during his son's
minority. Having given these instructions he expired, on the last day of
August, 1422.

His death was bewailed both in England and France with no ordinary
regret. The great achievements of his reign made him naturally a popular
hero; nor was the regard felt for his memory diminished when, under the
feeble reign of his son, all that he had gained was irrecoverably lost
again, so that nothing remained of all his conquests except the story of
how they had been won. Those past glories, indeed, must have seemed all
the brighter when contrasted with a present which knew but disaster
abroad and civil dissension at home. The early death of Henry also
contributed to the popular estimate of his greatness. It was seen that
in a very few years he had subdued a large part of the territory of
France. It was not seen that in the nature of things this advantage
could not be maintained, and that even the greatest military talents
would not have succeeded in preserving the English conquests.

Nor can it be said that Henry's success, extraordinary as it was, was
altogether owing to his own abilities. That he exhibited great qualities
as a general cannot be denied; but these would have availed him little
if the rival factions in France had not been far more bitterly opposed
to each other than to him. Indeed, it is difficult after all to justify,
even as a matter of policy, his interference in French affairs, exc