lances useless, they were trampled down by the English cavalry, or swept away by the dense body of men-at-arms who advanced under the cover of the archers. 33. John had still a third division of his army under the command of himself and his youngest son Philip, which, being superior in number to the English, might have changed the fate of the day; but they were dispirited by the defeat of their companions; they were, besides, for the most part unused to fight on foot, and being drawn up in close column, they presented an unerring mark to the archers. The English, "mad with success and drunk with gore," broke this last body by one furious charge; but the individual valour of John and his immediate attendants still maintained the fight. 34. The English and Gascon knights, who recognised his person, frequently exhorted him to surrender, but he refused to yield to any but his cousin, the Prince of Wales; having learned, however, that he was in a distant part of the field, he gave his gauntlet to John de Morbeck, a gentleman of Artois, whom he had banished some years before.* John and his son Philip remained prisoners,

*The individual heroism shown by an English knight in this battle deserves to be recorded, especially as his conduct displays much of that noble and generous spirit which chivalrous feeling frequently produced. The lord James Audley had been long a favoured friend of the Black Prince, and materially assisted him in making those arrangements which produced this great victory. When every preparation was made, he rode up to Edward, accompanied by his four esquires, and stated that he had made a vow to strike the first stroke, in whatever battle he should be engaged. Edward permitted him to advance with his four esquires beyond the front of the English lines; he proceeded down the lane, and taking post under the cover of some trees, patiently awaited the approaching vanguard of the French. When they rushed tumultuously into the lane, Audley furiously attacked them, and was saved from the consequences of his hardihood by the French becoming entangled in the difficult ground, and disordered by the heavy showers of arrows. When the English charged through the disordered lines, Audley kept still in front, and was one of the foremost who cut through the second line of the French. During the entire fight he was the most conspicuous among the English chivalry, but towards the end of the day he was no longer seen in the field. When the fight was over, Edward earnestly inquired after his gallant friend; he was brought before him, borne in the arms of his faithful esquires, covered with blood, and exhausted by his wounds and exertions. The prince complimented him on his valour, and as a reward settled on him a pension of 500 marks annually. No sooner was Audley carried to

but the greater part of the French nobility fell. Indeed, the slaughter was principally confined to the knights and nobles, owing, probably, to their having been deprived of their horses before the beginning of the engagement.

35. The generous Edward treated his royal captive as his sovereign; he refused to be covered or sit down in his presence, and even attended him at supper. Afterwards, when he brought him over to England, John rode into London on a white horse, richly caparisoned with all the ensigns of sovereignty, while the victor attended him, mounted on a little black pony, as a sign of his inferiority. John was lodged in the palace of the Savoy, and was treated rather as a king than as a prisoner.

Less respect was shown to royalty in France after this disaster. The dauphin, having fled from the battle-field, convoked the states of the kingdom, and prepared to assume the sovereignty in the absence of his father. The assembly, however, before so impracticable with John, were still more presuming towards the runaway from Poictiers. Before listening to him, they demanded the liberation of the king of Navarre, whose name, they considered, would serve as a rallying point in the great struggle for which they were preparing; and they further required the imprisonment of seven of the principal members of the royal council. They wished a council of regency to be formed of their own choice, to consist of four prelates, twelve nobles, and twelve citizens. These concessions made, they were willing to grant a supply of thirty thousand men for one year. To agree to such terms the dauphin judged was to abdicate before assuming power. He broke up the assembly, and during the Christmas holidays visited the emperor, Charles IV., his maternal uncle. From him, however, no assistance could be obtained; and, returning to Paris, the dauphin endeavoured to find a resource, by tampering with the money, as his father had done. This attempt failed. It was opposed by Stephen Marcel, in the name of the trades, and when the depreciated his tent than he sent for his nearest friends, and in their presence made over the entire grant on his four esquires, to whose valour and fidelity he declared himself indebted both for life and honour. When Edward was informed of this generosity he not only confirmed the former, but settled a new pension of greater amount on Andley, and afterwards spoke of him as the most perfect example of what a true knight should be.

coin was offered in payment for commodities, no one would receive it. He met the regent at St. Germain d'Auxerrois, at the head of an armed multitude, whom he had induced to revolt; and, having defended the course he had taken, at the close of their interview, he sent orders to the several trades instantly to suspend their labour, and to appear at a place which he indicated, under the banners of their several corporations. Charles was compelled to yield. He called in the new money, dismissed the counsellors proscribed by the states general, and convoked that body anew to meet on the 5th of February, 1357.

Within that land was many a malcontent,
Who curs'd the tyranny to which he bent;
That soil full many a wringing despot saw,
Who work'd his wantonness in form of law;
Long war without, and frequent broil within,
Had made a path for blood and giant sin,
That wanted but a signal to begin

New havock, such as civil discord blends,
Which knows no neuter, owns but foes or friends.

BYRON.

1. THE situation of France after its monarch had

A. D.

been taken prisoner, was the most miserable that can 1356. be conceived; the dauphin was young and inexperienced, the officers of the crown destitute both of wisdom and patriotism, the nobility intent on serving themselves, the generals robbing friend and foe under pretence of supporting their troops, and the lower classes of the population, maddened by oppression, ready to break out into open rebellion When the dauphin assembled the States-general to consult

about the state of the kingdom, he heard nothing but com plaints of the administration; they refused to entrust him with the regency, and elected a council of fifty to take charge of the finances. 2. The rapacity of the new government surpassed all that had preceded it; the taxes were levied almost at discretion; those who refused to pay were cruelly tortured, and the nation became hostile to the States-general, which had sanctioned these exactions, and which protected the taxgatherers in hopes of sharing their plunder. This afforded prince Charles an opportunity of shaking off the yoke of parliamentary control, which he eagerly embraced; aided by a numerous body of the nobility, he expelled the council and assumed the reins of government. 3. But his authority was only nominal, every noble acted as if he were a sovereign in his own domains, every city became a little republic; the citizens of Paris armed themselves, chose as their leader a merchant named Marcel, and assumed hoods of mixed red and blue as the badge of those who defended the privileges of the city. The escape of the king of Navarre from prison made matters still worse; once at liberty, he recovered all his former dominions, and became so formidable that the dauphin was obliged to submit to whatever terms he thought proper to impose. 4. He was invited to Paris, and on his arrival there he made a long speech to the citizens on the hardships which he had suffered during his imprisonment, his zeal for the benefit of the state, and above all his great affection for the city of Paris. His flatteries had so great an effect on the citizens, that the dauphin found himself totally destitute of authority, and was obliged to submit to the insults offered by the wearers of the variegated hoods, who had chosen the king of Navarre as their patron. 5. On one occasion, Marcel, the leader of the mob, rushed into the presence of the dauphin, attended by his partizans, seized on three noblemen, whom he asserted had given bad advice, ordered them to be massacred on the spot, and then, going up to the prince, made him take off his hat and put on the parti-coloured hood.

6. While the city was thus distracted by faction, a A. D. terrible insurrection of the peasantry broke out in the 1358. country, which threatened the most calamitous results. The nobility, who looked on their serfs as an inferior order of beings, treated them with the most savage cruelty; they also reduced several to slavery who had purchased their freedom from the king, until at length human nature could no