men-at-arms, he seemed obstinately bent on continuing the fight. He could not be prevailed upon to leave the battlefield, till John of Hainault, seizing his bridle, earnestly called to him, "Come away, sire. It is high time to withdraw," and in a manner led him away by force. With this small escort, Philip reached the château of Broye, where the drawbridge having been taken up, as the night was very dark, "Open-open, castellan," cried Philip, in the anguish of his heart, "it is the unfortunate king of France."

Ladies of the Twelfth century.

S. Bring up the catapults and shake the walls;
We will not be outbraved thus.

N. Shake the earth,

Ye cannot shake our souls. Bring up your rams,
And with their armed heads make the fort totter;
Ye do but rock us unto death.

BEAUMONT.

A. D.

1. THE war in Brittany presented a very extraordinary spectacle; Charles de Blois having laid siege to 1347. Roche d'Arien, a fortress of great importance, the countess de Montfort sent a party under the command of sir

Thomas Dagworth, to seek means of conveying relief to the garrison. As his party was too small to attack the besieging army with any prospect of success, he resolved to proceed by stratagem, and accordingly ordered a knight named Hartwell. to beat up the enemy's quarters, and then to retreat towards a defile where the rest of the forces would remain in ambush. Hartwell attacked the camp, but led on by youthful impetuosity, instead of retreating after having given the alarm, he led his little troop into the midst of the hostile lines, where they were surrounded, and as they disdained a surrender, only two or three escaped. Seeing their plan defeated, the officers in Dagworth's detachment proposed to retreat; but he wisely remarked, that their success would throw the besiegers so much off their guard, that victory was more certain now than ever. After midnight, he advanced to the hostile camp, and found its inmates as he had anticipated, rendered secure and careless by their late success: a sudden attack surprised them so much that scarcely any resistance was made, and Charles de Blois remained a prisoner. 2. His wife, emulating the countess de Montfort, thenceforward took the command, and these two heroines continued to carry on the war in Brittany; but although these contests were distinguished by many traits of individual valour, they were not productive of any event which produced a lasting effect.

3. After his victory at Crecy, Edward saw the necessity of securing some town which would facilitate his communication with England, and for this purpose resolved to lay siege to Calais; but before detailing the events of the siege, it may be as well to mention the adventures of one who performed there a part equally conspicous and honourable. 4. Sir Walter Manny had been engaged in attacking the French on the side of Guienne; he had performed there many actions of the most heroic valour, and when the siege of Aiguillon was raised, he had harassed severely the duke of Normandy in his retreat, and taken several prisoners. Soon after he heard of Edward's victory at Crecy, and of his intention to besiege Calais; anxious to serve personally under his sovereign, he went to one of his captives, and proposed that instead of ransom, he should procure a safe conduct for Sir Walter and twenty followers through France. The knight to whom the offer was made being a relative and favourite of the duke's, gladly accepted the offer, and in a short time procured the passport. Sir Walter proceeded through the country as far

as Orleans, but was there arrested and sent as a prisoner to Paris. After being detained there for some time, Philip was at length prevailed on to respect his son's plighted word, and not only consented to the liberation of Sir Walter, but invited him to a royal entertainment. He then, before finally dismissing him, made him several rich presents, which Sir Walter accepted only on the condition, that his sovereign would consent to his retaining them. When the gallant knight arrived before the walls of Calais, Edward requested him to return the presents of Philip, saying, "I trust, cousin, that I am not yet so poor, but that enough is left for me and you." Sir Walter immediately returned the presents by a young knight named Mansell to Philip; the French king refused to receive back what he had once bestowed, and Mansell, who was not quite so scrupulous as Sir Walter, kept them himself.

5. The siege of Calais was protracted to an unusual length ; at an early period the garrison turned out all useless persons in order to spare their provisions, and Edward, with great humanity, permitted these unfortunate beings to pass through his camp. But this was only a temporary relief to the defenders of the walls; when they had been shut up more than a year, their provisions became quite exhausted; but they had not quite lost the dauntless spirit which had enabled them so long to resist a victorious army, and to baffle every effort which the chivalrous spirit of enterprise, that so peculiarly characterized Edward's army, had made for their subjugation; a letter which they sent to the king of France, and which was intercepted by Edward, will best illustrate their state and their feelings.

6. "Sachez, tres-doute seigneur, que vos gentz in Caleys ont mangez leurs chevals, chiens, et ratz, et nest remit rien pour leur vivre, sinon chescun mange aultre. Par quey tres honeurable seigneur, si nous ne eymes hastife succoure la ville est perdue; et nous sommes toutz accordes, si nos ne eymes eyde, de yesser et mourir sur nos ennemis, en honneur, plus tost que dedens mourir par defaulte."

"Know, dread lord, that your people in Calais have eaten their horses, dogs, and cats, and there is nothing left for their support unless they eat each other. Wherefore, honourable lord, if we have not hasty succour the town is lost, and we are all agreed if we do not receive aid, to go and die honourably over our enemies, rather than perish here by hunger."

7. Edward transmitted this letter to Philip with an insult

ing message to hasten to the relief of his subjects. The French king immediately assembled all his forces and marched to raise the siege, but when he arrived before Calais, he found the besiegers so strongly entrenched, that he could not attack them with any prospect of success. In vain did he send heralds to Edward, offering to fight him in a fair field; the challenges were treated as Philip had himself previously treated similar messages; they were answered by a declaration that Edward would not relinquish the advantages of situation. Finding all his efforts ineffectual, Philip was obliged to draw off all his forces the third day after his arrival. 8. The brave defenders of Calais had given way to the most enthusiastic joy when they perceived from their battlements the banners of France waving in the distance; during the interval of delay, they endeavoured, by various devices, to describe their calamitous condition to their countrymen; but when they saw the army retreating without attempting their deliverance, they broke out into wild shouts of despair, tore down the standard of France from their rampart, hurled it into the ditch, and unfurled the banner of England in its stead. 9. When Edward saw this sign of submission, he sent Sir Walter Manny to inform the garrison that they should surrender at discretion, but was afterwards prevailed on to promise, that if six principal burgesses were sent as an atonement for the rest, that he would spare the lives of the inhabitants. 10. When this cruel message was delivered to the inhabitants of Calais, the whole town resounded with lamentations. At length, Eustace St. Pierre came forward and voluntarily offered himself as a victim; this noble act of heroism was imitated by five others, and Sir Walter Manny led back the devoted band to the English camp. Edward, irritated by the length of the siege, and by the great losses which he had sustained before the place, ordered them to instant execution. 11. Sir Walter Manny and the principal commanders in the English army supplicated for the lives of Eustace and his companions in the most moving terms, but Edward was implacable, until his queen, Philippa, who had lately arrived from England, after having obtained a brilliant victory over the Scots, fell on her knees before her husband, and with some difficulty procured their pardon. Calais was afterwards re-peopled from England, and was not re-taken by the French until after the lapse of two centuries.

12. During this period, several important events had oc