kind, and he did so; but he watched every turn of affairs to make a penny by it. He therefore now seized on the generous enthusiasm of the nation to coin money out of it. He professed to coincide in the public feeling, and his minister, the wily Archbishop Morton, talked of the necessity of resorting to strong measures to repress the French. Parliament, in its patriotic zeal, fell into the snare, and, strongly representing the necessity of preventing France seizing a province of so much importance to the security of our traffic, granted a large supply.
No sooner had this false monarch got the money than he contented himself with sending Urswick to warn the French that he should be compelled by Parliament to send troops to Brittany, but to let them know secretly that the number would only be limited, and that they would be restricted to operations within Brittany itself. The consequence was that the French, in July, 1488, attacked with a powerful army the united forces of Brittany and its allies—the soldiery of Wydville and Maximilian. Sir Edward Wydville and his brave 400 were cut to pieces; the Duke of Orleans was taken prisoner, and Brittany lay prostrate at the feet of France. The poor Duke Francis was compelled to submit to a treaty, in August, at Verger, by which he surrendered to the French all the territory they had conquered, and was bound never again to call in assistance from England or any other country, nor to marry either of his daughters without the consent of the King of France. Having signed this humiliating treaty, the poor duke sank and died of a broken heart, on the 7th of September, only three weeks afterwards.
The people of England received these tidings with undisguised indignation. Twice had they voted large sums to enable their ungrateful and pusillanimous king to aid his old benefactor and the ally of England; twice had he put the money in his coffers, and sold the honour of the country and the fortunes of the unfortunate ally to the French, wholly insensible to honour or shame. But whilst the public were foaming in wrath over this despicable conduct, the indefatigable French were pressing on. Anne, the young orphan duchess, was a mere child of only twelve years of age. Around her were only contending rivals and their adherents. One of her suitors, the Count d'Albert, seized her and attempted to carry her off. He was intercepted by the Count Dunois, who brought the princess back to Rennes behind him on his war-horse. But all this time the French were seizing town after town. Pontrieu, Guingamp, Concarneau, Brest, and other places of importance, had fallen into their hands. The news of this awoke such a fermentation in England, and Henry was upbraided in such vehement terms for thus, as the sovereign of a great people, sacrificing the honour of the nation, and permitting the helpless orphan of his benefactor to become the prey of France, that he was compelled to rouse himself. He determined to send ambassadors to Maximilian, to his son, the Archduke Philip, to the Kings of Spain and Portugal, inviting them to act in concert with him for the repression of French ambition. Having taken this magnanimous, and, if it had really been intended to follow it up rigorously, most admirable step, Henry called a Parliament, and demanded more money to carry on the war.
The pretences of this huckstering king were now become too transparent to deceive any one. All the money hitherto voted for a war that never took place was still in Henry's coffers. The people thought that he ought first to bring out that before he asked for more. Parliament, therefore, made strong opposition, and finally reduced his demand of £100,000 to £75,000. But, when they had voted, the indignant people refused to pay it, considering that the selfish monarch had their cash already in hand. Great disturbances arose in the endeavour to enforce the collection of the tax. This manifested itself especially in the north, where Henry had used such endeavours to soothe and win the inhabitants.
The Earl of Northumberland directed the collection to be enforced, accompanying the command with such menaces as he deemed necessary to procure obedience. But these had a contrary effect. The people flew to arms, and, turning their vengeance first against the earl, as the rigorous instrument of an imperious monarch, they stormed his house and put him to death. They then declared war against the tyrant, as they termed Henry, himself. Their leader was a fiery fellow of the common order, named John à Chambre, but, as they assumed a formidable aspect, Sir John Egremont, one of the Yorkist faction, put himself at their head. Henry lost no time in dispatching Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, who soon suppressed the insurrection, and hanged John à Chambre and some of his accomplices. Sir John Egremont escaped to Flanders to the Duchess of Burgundy.
Henry now sent over to Brittany a body of 6,000 men under Lord Willoughby de Broke; but he limited their service to six months, which was, in fact, to render them nearly useless, and he would not even afford that aid until he had exacted from the poor orphan girl, the young duchess, the surrender of her two best sea-ports in security of payment. He moreover compelled the duchess to bind herself by the like oath to him as she had taken to the French king, not to marry without his consent. These pitiful demands conceded, the English force landed, and a Spanish band about the same time advanced through Roncesvalles to create a diversion in the south of France. Maximilian found himself too much engaged in Flanders by the French and by his own rebellious subjects, whom the French stirred up, to send reinforcements to Brittany, but the success of the two English commanders, the Lords Daubeney and Morley, at the head of 2,000 archers, and about three times that number of Germans, effected a decided diversion in their favour. They fell on the insurgent army, besieging Dexnude, and slew 8,000 of them, the fury of the English soldiery being roused by the death of their favourite general, Lord Morley. The Spaniards on one side, and this defeat on the other, kept the French in check, more especially as it was known that Henry was continually sending to caution Lord de Broke not to risk his soldiers. The French, therefore, were quite willing to wait events, knowing that the English troops would be withdrawn by the stingy English king at the end of the fixed term; for the Bretons were too poor to find them provisions, much less to discharge their pay. Neither provisions, carriages, artillery, nor military stores could be obtained. The Court of Brittany was torn by contending factions, the great object being not to defend their country from the French,
