Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 2.djvu/402

388 impossibility of continuing the defence, destitute of a garrison, and having waited in vain for reinforcements from Dover, that night demanded a parley, and offered to surrender on conditions. But the French, certain of compelling a surrender, refused all conditions but the following, which Wentworth was obliged to accept:—

"The town," says Holinshed, "with all the great artillery, victuals, and munitions, should be fully yielded to the French king, the lives of the inhabitants only saved, to whom safe conduct should be granted to pass where they listed, saving the lord-deputy, with fifty other such as the duke should appoint, to remain prisoners, and to be put to their ransom. The next morning the Frenchmen entered and possessed the town, and forthwith all the men, women, and children, were commanded to leave their houses, and to go to certain places appointed for them to remain in, till orders might be taken for their sending away.

"The places thus appointed for them to remain in, were chiefly four—the two churches of our Lady and St. Nicholas, the deputy's house, and the Staple, where they rested a great part of the day, and one whole night, and the next day, till three of the clock at afternoon, without either meat or drink. And while they were thus in the churches, and those other places, the Duke of Guise, in the name of the French king, in their hearing, made a proclamation, strictly charging all and every person that were inhabitants of the town of Calais, having about them any money, plate, or jewels, to the value of one groat, to bring the same forthwith, and lay it down upon the high altars of the same churches, upon pain of death, bearing them in hand, also, that they should be searched. By reason of which proclamation, there was made a great and sorrowful offertory. And while they were at this offering within the churches, the Frenchmen entered their houses and rifled the same, where was found inestimable riches and treasure, especially of ordnance, armour, and other munitions. Thus dealt the French with the English, in recompense of the like usage to the French, when the forces of King Philip prevailed at St. Quentin; where, not content with the honour of victory, the English, in sacking the town, sought nothing more than the satisfying of their greedy vein of covetousness, with an extreme neglect of all moderation.

"About two of the clock next day at afternoon, being the 7th of January, a great number of the meanest sort were suffered to pass out of the town in safety, being guarded through the army with a number of Scottish light horsemen, who used the English very well and friendly; and after this every day, for the space of three or four days together, there were sent away divers companies of them, till all were avoided; those only excepted that were appointed to be reserved for prisoners, as the Lord Wentworth and others. There were in the town of Calais 500 English soldiers ordinary, and no more; and of the townsmen not fully 200 fighting men (a small garrison for such a town), and there were in the whole number of men, women, and children (as they were accounted when they went out of the gate) 4,200 persons."

Thus was lost the great conquest of Edward III. It cost that victorious king, with a large army, an obstinate siege of nearly a year, and after having been proudly maintained for 210 years, was thus lost in eight days. The fact affords the clearest proof of the miserable government of the country by the ministry of Mary, for she herself was now incapable of diplomatic management; and it affords equal proof of the intense suspicion entertained by that ministry of King Philip, for though he again offered to regain the place for the queen, and to remove any fear of his wanting to secure the place for himself, now proposed not to retake it entirely by his own forces, but by any number of such joined by an equal number of English,—this offer was rejected, on the plea that it was not possible to raise the necessary forces in time, that the greater part of the artillery was lost, and the soldiers would not be able to bear the rigours of the siege in the depth of winter.

The fall of Calais necessitated, as a matter of course, the loss of the whole Calais district. Having put Calais into a state of defence, the Duke of Guise marched on the 13th of January to Guisnes, about five miles distant, to reduce the town and fort there. These were defended stoutly by Lord Grey de Wilton, who had received about 400 Spanish and Burgundian soldiers from King Philip, but they were in too miserable a state of repair to be long held. The walls in a few days were knocked to pieces; the Spanish soldiers were nearly all killed, and the remaining force compelled their officers to surrender. The little castle of Ham now only remained, and situated in the midst of extensive marshes, it might have given the enemy some trouble; but its governor, Lord Edward Dudley, the moment he heard of the surrender of Guisnes, abandoned it, and fled with his few soldiers into Flanders.

The rejoicing of the French over this removal of the English from their soil was unbounded. The mortification of the English was as great, and the wretched queen felt it so deeply, that she declared if she were opened after her death the name of Calais would be found engraven on her heart. But in reality the gain to the French was far greater than the loss to the English. The possession of Calais opened a way, at any moment of internal dissension or weakness, into the heart of the kingdom, and enabled the English to unite with the Flemings in that quarter in annoying France. To the English it was rather an expense and a burden, than a real advantage. It was a temptation to engage in inroads on the French, and in coalitions with the Flemish for such purposes, which brought no lasting result but expense; and as a means of defence of the English coasts it was useless. The British fleet was sufficient for that purpose, and was likely to be the more efficiently maintained if there were no false reliance placed on Calais. But nothing could soothe the injured national feelings for the moment but thoughts of revenge and re-conquest. Parliament met on the 20th of January, and such an intense spirit was shown for avenging the national disgrace, and recovering Calais, that it granted, besides a fifteenth, a subsidy of four shillings in the pound on land, and two shillings and eightpence in the pound on goods. The clergy, also, in Convocation, granted an aid of eight shillings in the pound. These taxes were to be paid in annual instalments in four years.

The zeal of the English was stimulated by the