HENRY THE FIFTH.*
"HARRY the King" could hardly be left out of a series dealing with "Men of Action," for he was almost incessantly employed, from his boyhood to his death, in strenuous labours which, although they have nearly all gone to water, have left behind a rich harvest of national renown, itself an abounding source of national power. The march into Picardy and the winning of Agincourt, not the greatest of his exploits, made him at once a popular hero ; but his finest qualities as a captain only came to light in his subsequent campaigns. It is the businesslike reduction of Normandy which gives him his title to fame as a General; and if failure in the ultimate object of his enterprise—failure which accrued after he was dead—be allowed to undermine his reputation, that of other and much greater men must topple down with his. If final success were the test of merit, neither Hannibal nor Napoleon would be meritorious men ; yet no one disputes the military grandeur of either. The sphere of Henry was narrower, and he ranks far below them ; still, ultimate failure, taken as a test of ability, applies to all alike. Moreover, so long as he lived, he was strikingly successful. No one can tell what would have befallen Philip Augustus, had not a crossbow bolt struck down Richard I. in his prime ; nor can we say that Henry, so great were his abilities, and considering the dis- tracted condition of France, still a geographical expression in the fifteenth century, might not have established himself as chief man or King among contending chiefs and would-be Kings. Nevertheless, he was fortunate in an early death, leaving his renown unimpaired, so that the real testing strain never came upon him ; but he is entitled to be judged, not by what he had no chance of trying to do, but by what he actually did in the brief space allotted to him. Mr. Church has written a memoir of this King which has only one defeet—it is too short. The story of the later and capital years of Henry's life might, with advantage, have been expanded. Always a man, even a boy of action, he was so emphatically from his accession to his death ; and it is this arduous section of his career which earned him his great place in history.
Not that we think the pains and learning bestowed on the youth of Prince Hal other than necessary. Shakespeare alone, who dramatically constructed a young Harry of his own, not to speak of contemporary chroniclers, brought the Prince's character into the region of controversy, and obliged the critical historian, using the results of modern researches, to examine the frolicsome legend, and show why the reality should take its place. No doubt the Prince Hal of Shake- speare "is one of those creations of genius which, be they true to history or untrue, never lose their hold on the minds of men ;" still, we may do our best to reconcile ourselves to the truth, so far as it can be ascertained, about Prince Henry, Mr. Church, founding himself on authentic documents, shows that he was not a roystering, but a steady, if high-spirited boy, whose capabilities revealed themselves at an early age, since he was first employed in the grim business of repressing Owen Glendower and his Welsh raiders before he had com- pleted his fourteenth year. From that time until 1409-10, he was actively engaged performing the duties of his responsible station, or fighting at Shrewsbury, where he was wounded, or attending the Council in London. His appointment as Lieu- tenant in "the region of Wales," dates from March, 1403, when he was sixteen. "King, Privy Council, and Parliament seem to be agreed in trusting him." That he had advisers when • Henry the Fifth. By the UM A. J. Church. London : Macmillan and Co. serving his apprenticeship as a ruler of men, is evident ; but we agree with Mr. Church that "the young Prince is entitled to a very considerable share of whatever credit may attach during the time of his active lieutenancy to the management of Welsh affairs." Other high posts were conferred on him, and it is incredible that he should have played the part ascribed to him by popular rumour. We are afraid that he was always too much in earnest. Even the Chief Justice Gascoigne anecdote, so creditable to both, does not survive "victorious analysis," whatever is true in it being referable to the son of Edward I. Prince Henry, indeed, may have been removed, or have removed himself, from the Council for some reason ; but even that is not certain. Nor is there any clear authority for the famous scene of the taking up of the crown ; but it is certain that he was Constable of Dover, Keeper of the Cinque Ports, and Captain of Calais. The charges of robbery and low vice are dismissed as fables, not standing close inquiry ; there is, however, no need to believe that he was faultless, and he certainly would not have represented himself in that light. Mr. Church fairly argues out all these vexed questions, and to his impartial pages the reader may be referred. To us, he appears as a bright, vivacious youth, studious of much besides music, hard-riding, diligent, vigorous and earnest, severe yet generous, deeply engaged in the political as well as the military business of war, and on the whole, as his after-life showed, better trained for his work than any contemporary Prince. And the nation apparently knew him to be so ; for, heartily welcomed and trusted at once, he was clothed with a genuine popularity which he never lost, increased, perhaps, by his release of the Earl of March from prison, the reinstatement of Hotspur's son in his title and property, and by the honours paid to the dead King Richard II.
So far, he had been the zealous and intelligent servant of his father ; he was now to act for himself. Resolving to obtain what he had become convinced was his by right, the throne of France, he prepared to enforce it; and it is in preparation for action, not less than in action, that he is so remarkable. Indeed, that, more than his astonishing victories, is the real moral of his brief but brilliant story. Thus, he established a Royal Navy ; he raised an army, formidable not in numbers, but in order, discipline, equipment. He revised the existing Ordinances of War which governed his troops ; and, carried out as these articles were, they made his men real soldiers. He added to the staff, as Mr. Church points out, for the first time in our history "a regular provision for the medical and surgical treatment of the sick and wounded." It was because his troops were so well put together that he was able to move as well as fight them in fine order. We see the easy mobility of the force in the march on Calais, which was a political rather than a military movement ; its steadiness, regularity, and flexibility in the Battle of Agincourt, when Henry's handful were subjected to one of the severest tests which can be applied to an army. He was lucky, like some greater commanders, in having an adversary deficient in military skill, not only in the conduct of the battle, but of the whole campaign. Still, it was his merit that he had good troops, and knew how to use them. Agincourt was an infantry victory ; it was also the triumph of regular soldiers over a mob of valiant gentlemen. Henry repeated the lesson taught by Edward DI. at Crecy, and again demonstrated that trained infantry was the strength of armies. That the French commanders, who possessed every ford and bridge, from the sea to Perorme, allowed him to march so far up the left bank of the Somme, implies either military ineptitude or a dread of his terrible fighting men; and we are entitled to infer that a correct estimate of his opponents, a just confidence in himself and his men, were at the back of his determination to execute so audacious a design. He has always been con- demned for it ; yet, rightly considered, it is a proof of his sound reading of the military as well as the political situation of affairs ; while the popular appreciation of the feat is ex- pressed in the line saying that he- " Homeward went through Fraunce like a man."
The second campaign, which had for its immediate object the acquisition of the Duchy of Normandy, was an immense improvement on the first invasion. The preliminary steps were marked by the same foresight and careful preparation by sea and land. A fine, well-found army was raised, not a mere collection of armed men, but an organic body of troops, and the work was done throughout on sensible, businesslike prin-
ciples. Henry did not land at Harfleur and march at once on Rouen. He disembarked at the mouth of the Tongues, and having established a firm footing, proceeded to take systemati- cally, one after the other, the strongholds of the Duchy west of the Seine. Within six weeks, he mastered Caen and Bayeux ; by the end of the year, his hold was extended to Alencon, Falaise, and other towns. The operations continued through the winter ; in the spring their area stretched as far as Cou- tances, and Cherbourg was invested at the end of March. A strong reinforcement from England joined the King, which enabled him to keep his brother Gloucester employed in the West ; and by the middle of September, when Cherbourg fell, all the great fortresses except Mont St. Michel were reduced, and Ivry alone remained defiant in the eastern districts. All this was done methodically and solidly ; and it was not until the resistance was practically extinguished that the King turned towards Rouen. That city had long warning, was strongly fortified, and defended by a large garrison. Coming up to the river towards the end of June, he was then in a position to effect the passage of the Seine and interpose between Rouen and Paris. That was done by attacking Pont de l'Arche, which surrendered in July ; and as he had pontoons in his train, two bridges were soon at his disposal. The pontoons were simple and ingenious structures. Rectangular boats of tanned leather stretched on light wooden frames were launched, fastened to the banks, and anchored at intervals in the stream. Upon these were laid a flooring of stout planks, and the whole was solid enough to bear the troops and trains. Easily put together, the bridge was readily taken to pieces, folded up, packed, and carried with the army in carts. There was nothing, either in the shape of troops or appliances, to match those of this army. From Pont de l'Arche the King descended upon Rouen, which, after a stout defence, surrendered in January, 1419, being forced to yield by famine. The reduction of Normandy and capture of Rouen are the greatest military exploits of King Henry ; for although, after he had married his Kate and coined money in his own name, he took the field more than once, none of his campaigns equalled that which won him the title of Heir of France. Mr. Church, within his brief limits, has told well his interesting story, and to his estimate of the man we should not much demur ; indeed, we can only regret that he did not expand his account of the final seven years of an exceptional monarch, who, after all, died in the middle of his career. Something like one who was so fore- casting, thorough, and firmly grounded on the facts as he was in his day, is what we now want, a little more iron under the velvet glove, but most of all a touch of his hardness where- with to temper the shrinking softness of our time.
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