ders and Guienne, at length the king embarked, accompanied by his son Edward, the Black Prince, (then a youth of fifteen years of age,) by the flower of the English nobility, and an army of about 30,000 soldiers of different kinds. A train of unexpected circumstances led him to commence his military operations in Normandy, where he met with no opposing army, and committed his ravages without interruption. Ere long, however, the contest became more serious. Edward found himself hemmed in between two rivers, the bridges of which had been broken down; whilst Philip de Valois was in his rear with an army of 120,000 men. From this perilous condition he was extricated by a French peasant, who informed him of a fordable part of the river Somme, which he had just sufficient time to cross, before the French army came in sight.

Unequal as Edward found himself to his antagonist in nunibers, he was not solicitous to avoid an action. Perceiving an advantageous position on a rising ground, skirted by a wood, near the village of Crecy, he resolved to draw up his army in order of battle, and wait the arrival of the enemy. A memorable battle ensued, the particulars of which it would be tedious and painful to relate. It is sufficient to state in general, that the victory was chiefly obtained by the valour and intrepidity of the Black Prince, who, though a mere stripling, rushed into the thickest of the fight, led on his troops with unequalled bravery, and fought with unabated ardour, till the successive divisions of the French army were utterly routed. Tremendous carnage followed, which was only terminated by the darkness of the night. The loss on the part of the French, in this tremendous battle, is said to have been immense, while the English army remained undiminished and unbroken. The king of Bohemia, eleven princes, eighty noblemen, 1,200 knights, 1,500 esquires, 4,000 men at arms, and 30,000 common soldiers, were left dead on this bloody field. The total rout of the French army on this occasion is ascribed, by some of their historians, to the precipitation with which the action was commenced, and especially to the terror inspired by four pieces of artillery, the use of which had been lately discovered, and which

then, for the first time, the English employed with tremendous effect. No sooner had the battle terminated, than the king, who had witnessed the triumphs of his army from an adjacent hill, rushed forward to embrace his son, to whom unquestionably belonged the honours of the day. The amiable and modest youth received the commendations and caresses of his royal father with unaffected humility, and, falling on his knees, implored his paternal benediction. This decisive victory annihilated so completely the army of Philip de Valois, that a considerable time elapsed before he was able again to take the field.

Rymer. Knyghton. Hemingt. Froissart. R. de Avesb.

REFLECTIONS.

"I have seen," says the royal Psalmist, "the wicked " in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay"tree. Yet he passed away, and lo he was not; yea "I sought him, but he could not be found." Thus sudden was the fall of the guilty Mortimer from the pinnacle of his glory; thus abruptly did his career of splendid iniquity terminate in eternal darkness! From the midst of his criminal revels in Nottingham castle, and from the arms of his infamous companion in guilt, he was suddenly hurried to a tribunal, where he could not hope to find mercy, and thence to the place of execution. Ah! how exact a representation is this of the end of the ungodly, whom the last enemy often surprises at an unexpected moment, and hurries to the dread tribunal. Fitly may the sudden and alarming approach of this enemy be compared to the irruption of the mid-. night thief, who comes to steal, and kill, and destroy, who strikes terror and dismay through every heart, and who carries off his prey without resistance. "Watch, therefore," is the admonitory language of heavenly wisdom; "watch, therefore, for ye know not when the time is: at such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh."

The annals of every country are filled with the fierce contentions of those who have sought, by various means, to establish their claim to the honours and dignities of this world. Sometimes the records of antiquity have been explored for the purpose of determining a disputed title, and yet more frequently the appeal has been made to the sword; thus making power, and not justice, the arbiter of social rights and possessions. In determining these claims, perplexing difficulties have sometimes arisen, which render it doubtful to whom the right of succession really belongs; and exclusions, founded neither in reason nor justice, have obtained the sanction of custom and high authority. But none of these cases can apply to that immortal crown and celestial inheritance, which form the prize of our high calling. These dignities are not exclusive; the success of one does not involve the failure of the rest; every competitor may, if he endure to the end, receive the crown. It is not over the wreck of ruined kingdoms or demolished thrones, or through carnage and desolation at which the heart sickens, that the christian hero has to make his way to this glorious prize. He not only may, but must, while "coveting earnestly the best gifts," breathe the spirit of universal peace and good-will to men. By this, amongst other evidences, the genuineness of his title is to be ascertained and proved; "for hereby," says the divine legislator, "the children of God are manifest, that they love

one another."

The preceding essay contains a specimen of what is usually termed a glorious victory; the value of which is commonly estimated by the number and quality of the enemy who are left dead on the field of battle. Human life is to be accounted of no value, and human suffering to claim no sympathy, provided that those who suffer or perish are our political adversaries. The mere circumstance of their being marshalled under adverse leaders, and fighting under hostile banners, is so completely to destroy every sentiment of humanity towards them, that our joy is to be proportionate to the number of thousands who have fallen, and the amount of suffering inflicted on the hostile army. Such feelings may indeed be in

perfect accordance with that spirit of self-love, of vainglorying, and of revenge, which characterizes the apostate nature of man; but it would be no easy task to reconcile it with that spirit of benevolence and universal love, which the gospel of Christ enjoins, and is calculated to produce. Ill does it accord with that evangelical precept, "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use and persecute you,'

The horrors of the scene which the field of Crecy exhibited, were in some degree relieved by the grateful spectacle of paternal tenderness and filial affection that followed; a spectacle, which is so much the more interesting, as it forms a striking contrast to the numerous instances of filial disobedience and rebellion which it has been the painful duty of the writer of these essays to record. Genuine modesty will ever be found in connexion with exalted merit, and these are ever accompanied with a tender and affectionate heart. This is a threefold cord which is not easily broken. These form wherever they are found, the brightest, the loveliest and the most durable ornaments of youth.

ESSAY IX.

The Reign of EDWARD III. concluded.

A. D. 1346-1376.

THE same year in which the celebrated victory of Crecy was obtained by the valour of the prince of Wales, was also rendered memorable by several other important successes, which attended the English arms in different places, and under different leaders. The troops which had been sent to Brittany, to support the claims of the count de Montfort, succeeded in vanquishing and taking captive the count de Blois, who had aspired to the

sovereignty of that duchy, though without any just pretensions. In England too a splendid victory was obtained over David Bruce, the king of Scotland, who, taking advantage of the absence of king Edward and the flower of his army, poured 50,000 soldiers into the frontier provinces, and committed fearful ravages. The amiable consort of Edward acted on this occasion, the part both of a patriot and a heroine; she collected the scattered forces of the kingdom and marched at their head, to arrest the progress of the fierce invader. Such was the valour which the presence of their beloved queen diffused through these patriotic legions, that, though far inferior in numbers and discipline to the enemy, they utterly routed the Scottish army, captured its royal commander, and led him in triumph to the Tower of London.

These splendid victories were not, however, obtained without a great expenditure, which rendered repeated applications to parliament necessary. The requisite supplies, though raised with difficulty, on account of the impoverished state of the country, were freely voted, so long as the tide of victory continued to flow in favour of the English sovereign. The same military enthusiasm, which animated the king and his nobles, pervaded the whole country, and inspired all classes of society. Dazzled by the military glory which had encircled the royal standard, multitudes were eager to rally round it, and participate in the honours and triumphs to which it led.

Instead of penetrating farther into the interior of France after the battle of Crecy, Edward deemed it most prudent to secure some fortresses on the sea-coast. The first which he invested was Calais, a strongly-fortified town, the possession of which was peculiarly desirable, on account of its contiguity to England. He was not without hopes that the governor of this important post would have been so panic stricken by the recent destruction of the French army, as to make no resistance to his victorious arms. But these hopes proved fallacious: the place was defended with such determined bravery and skill, that the king soon despaired of taking it by assault, and resolved to turn the siege into a blockade, which