Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/338

318 humour of France, if not created by the English occupation of Boulogne, was infinitely enhanced by it; that by a sacrifice on one side he might purchase noninterference on the other. The Prince, whose honour had been touched by the failure of his attempt, when Dauphin, to surprise the English garrison, had been heard to say that he would recover Boulogne or lose his realm for it. The French were already laying batteries across the river opposite to the English mole, from which shots were fired at the workmen; and the ambassador at Paris warned the Protector that 'Catherine de Medici hated England above all other nations,' on account of the disgrace inflicted on French arms by the conquest and occupation of territory.

If war should break out, a garrison equal to an army would be required in the Boullonnaise. The fleet would have to be maintained on a war footing, and the finances were already deeply distressed. But the Protector was enthusiastic, and believed himself irresistible. In the spring ships were in preparation in the French harbours to transport an army into Scotland. He determined to anticipate their coming; and on the 18th of April, Lord Grey the Marshal of Berwick, and Sir Thomas Palmer, again crossed the Border, and advanced to Haddington, which they took and elaborately fortified. After spending six weeks there improving the defences, they left a garrison in charge, of two thousand five hundred men, and after wasting the