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HEN he was suspected, like his father, of a leaning to the doctrines of Wycliffe; but finding it expedient to secure the favour of the clergy he passed in the second year of his reign that sanguinary act which, for the first time in England, ordered heretics to be burnt; and many an unfortunate Lollard suffered for his faith under the house of Lancaster. From this and other causes he completely outlived his early popularity, and died unregretted by his subjects.—J. T.  HENRY V., eldest son of the preceding, surnamed , where he was born in 1388, succeeded to the crown on his father's death in 1413. He was educated at Queen's college, Oxford, under the care of his uncle, Cardinal Beaufort. On the accession of his father he was created Prince of Wales, Duke of Guienne, Lancaster, and Cornwall, and Earl of Chester, and declared by the parliament heir-apparent to the throne. The courage and military talents of the young prince began to exhibit themselves at an early age; he was only sixteen when he "fleshed his maiden sword" at the battle of Shrewsbury, where, in spite of a severe wound in the face, he continued to fight with unflinching bravery till the victory was gained. His next exploit was against the renowned Welsh chieftain Owen Glendwr, whom he repeatedly defeated in the field and reduced to great extremity. On his return to London, covered with honour, he is said to have forfeited the favour of his father and of his countrymen by his dissipation and debauchery in company with low and worthless associates. The picture which our great English dramatist has drawn of this part of Prince Henry's career and of the character and pursuits of his companions, as well as of his subsequent repentance, must be familiar to every reader. Henry's accession to the throne was welcomed with the greatest enthusiasm by the English people; and his conduct at the outset disappointed the fears and exceeded the most sanguine expectations of his friends. He at once abandoned his profligate associates; gave his confidence to those of his father's ministers who had recommended themselves by their wisdom and integrity; and treated with peculiar respect Chief-justice Gascoigne, who is said to have imprisoned him for misconduct when he was prince of Wales. He magnanimously released his cousin the earl of March, the rightful heir of Edward III., from the captivity in which he had been held by the jealousy of Henry IV. He recalled the heir of the gallant Hotspur from exile, and restored to him the hereditary honours and estates of his family. He caused the remains of Richard II. to be removed from their obscure tomb at Langley and deposited with great solemnity in Westminster abbey; and extended his favour to those who had been the friends of that unhappy prince. Unfortunately these noble and praiseworthy actions were counterbalanced by Henry's cruel treatment of the Lollards, and especially of their leader, Sir John Oldcastle, commonly called Lord Cobham, in right of his wife.

Henry had been seated on the throne little more than a year when he revived the claims of his predecessors on the crown of France, which was at this time, through the imbecility of Charles VI., a prey to the rival factions of Bourguignons and Armagnacs. Having appointed his brother, the duke of Bedford, regent of the kingdom during his absence, and having suppressed a conspiracy which he discovered at the last moment, he set sail for France, August 10, 1415, with a force of twenty-four thousand foot and six thousand five hundred horse. On the second day following he reached the mouth of the Seine, and lost no time in disembarking his troops and laying siege to the strong and important fortress of Harfleur, which surrendered on the 22nd of September, after a siege of thirty-six days. His army, however, had suffered so much from dysentery that he resolved to proceed to Calais, and there to embark for England. On the 6th of October he set out on his difficult and perilous march through Normandy at the head of nine thousand men. The French gathered round his flanks, cut off his stragglers, and laid waste the country at his approach. After various unsuccessful attempts to cross the Somme he at length succeeded in passing that river on the 19th by an unguarded ford between Betincourt and Voyenne. On the 24th he crossed the deep and rapid river Ternois at Blangi, and soon afterwards came in sight of a powerful French army commanded by the constable of France and the dukes of Orleans and Bourbon, and outnumbering the English in the proportion of about six to one. A great and decisive battle was fought next day at Agincourt, which, after a fierce struggle of three hours' duration, through the masterly arrangements of the king, and the valour of his troops, terminated in the total defeat of the French army, with the loss of ten thousand men, including the dukes of Brabant, Nevers, and Alençon, the constable of France, and the flower of its nobility. The dukes of Orleans and Bourbon, and many other lords and knights were taken prisoners. The loss of the English did not exceed one thousand six hundred men. The victorious monarch then marched to Calais, and soon after returned to England, where he was welcomed by all classes with almost frantic joy. The parliament, partaking of the popular enthusiasm, voted all the supplies the king asked for, and conferred on him for life the subsidy of wool and leather. It was not, however, until August, 1417, that Henry resumed warlike operations against the French. He landed unopposed at Tonque at the head of a splendid army of thirty-five thousand men, reduced the whole of Lower Normandy, and laid siege to Rouen, which, after a protracted and desperate resistance, capitulated 16th January, 1419. The progress made by the English at length induced the rival factions by which the country was torn, to patch up a peace and make common cause against the invader. But the hollowness of their reconciliation soon became apparent; and the duke of Burgundy, having been entrapped into an interview with the dauphin, was treacherously murdered on the bridge of Montereau, 10th September, 1419. Philip, his son and successor, and the queen, Isabella, who hated her husband and son, were so exasperated at this baseness and perfidy that they immediately resolved to enter into an alliance with Henry. A treaty was concluded between them at Troyes, 21st May, 1420, the principal articles of which were that Henry should receive the hand of the Princess Catherine, the eldest daughter of the French king; should be immediately appointed regent of the kingdom; and should succeed to the throne on the death of Charles. On the 2nd of June the marriage ceremony was performed at Troyes. Henry soon after resumed warlike operations, and made himself master of Montereau, Melun, and other fortified places. In the beginning of December he made a triumphant entry into Paris along with King Charles; and on the 6th the treaty of peace received the unanimous approbation of the three estates of France. In the month of January Henry went over to England, along with his queen, for the purpose of obtaining supplies and raising recruits for his army. But the battle of Bauge, March, 1421, in which the duke of Clarence his brother was killed, along with twelve hundred men, reanimated the almost broken spirits of the French, and recalled the English monarch with all speed to the theatre of war. He landed at Calais on the 11th of June, accompanied by the young king of Scotland and many of his leading nobility, attacked and defeated the dauphin, drove him from place to place, and compelled him to flee for refuge to the town of Bourges in Berry. He then, after a siege of seven months, captured the town of Meaux on the Marne, one of the strongest places in France, and made a triumphal entry into Paris accompanied by his queen, on the 30th of May, 1422. But the brilliant career of Henry was now near a close. He was attacked with a fistula which, after the lapse of a month, carried him off on the 31st of August, in the thirty-fourth year of his age and the tenth of his reign, leaving an only son not quite nine months old.—J. T.  HENRY VI. of England, the only son of Henry V. by the marriage of the latter with Catherine of France, was born at Windsor on the 6th December, 1421. Being only nine months old at his father's death, the care of his education was intrusted to his granduncle, Thomas Beaufort, the bishop of Winchester, while the management of state affairs devolved upon his uncles, the duke of Gloucester and the duke of Bedford, the former as protector of England, the latter as regent of France. In opening a new continental campaign, the duke of Bedford only obeyed the desire of his countrymen. He seemed on the eve of reducing the whole of France to the condition of an English province, when the current of events took another course. Joan Darc a ppeared before Orleans, and stirred the patriotism of the French troops. The latter won a decisive victory at Patay, and their king, Charles VII., was crowned with pomp in the cathedral of Rheims. To counteract the influence of this ceremony, Henry VI., when a boy nine years of age, was taken to Paris and crowned at the cathedral of Notre Dame. This solemn rite had not the desired effect. It was followed by events most disastrous to the English, which, indeed, in a few years led to their total expulsion from France. In the meanwhile the young king had 