10. These events brought in a new time in English history. Many Englishmen thought that Henry and his descendants had no right to the throne; and so whoever was discontented took up arms to dethrone them. For the next hundred years civil wars grew more and more frequent, till people thought no more of improving the laws or of fighting the French, but fought continually against each other to set up one king and pull down another.

26. HENRY THE FIFTH (R. 1415-1422).

1. King Henry's eldest son was called Henry, like himself, and this son was a great trouble to the king. He was a wild and reckless young man, and he passed his time with young scapegraces who had quarrelled with their fathers and their respectable friends; they rioted about the streets, and squandered their money, and robbed peaceful citizens. Prince Henry would never take any share of their booty himself, but he was as wild as any of them, and was known to every one as "Madcap Harry." Yet there was much about him to win the love of worthier people. He was brave and generous, and sensible in many things. His father knew all his good qualities as well as his bad ones, and grieved bitterly to see him wasting his life in bad company.

2. One day a servant of Prince Henry was brought up to be tried for one of these wild acts, and Prince

Henry, hearing of it, rushed into the court and demanded that the judge should set the man free. The judge answered that the man had broken the law, and must be punished for it just like any other man. The prince drew his sword and threatened to strike the judge; but the judge said that the law must be above every one, and he commanded his officers to seize the prince and take him away to prison.

3. Then the prince had the good sense to see that the judge was right. He quietly put up his sword, and allowed the officers to lead him away. But King Henry was greatly pleased, and exclaimed, "Happy the king who has a judge who knows how to administer the law, and happy the father whose son knows how to submit to it." And soon after the king died, and Madcap Harry became king.

4. From that moment he entirely changed his way of life. He gave up all his foolish pleasures, and devoted himself seriously and industriously to the business of his kingdom. He sent for all the wild comrades with whom he had lived formerly, and told them that henceforth he meant to commit no more follies, but to live as became a sensible man and a king, and he advised them also to live rightly. Then he sent for all the wise men who had been his father's councillors while he lived, and thanked them for the good advice they had often given him, and assured them that though he had not followed it before, he meant to follow it thenceforth.

5. Now the King of France was mad, and Henry determined that he would conquer France. For he

thought, as many other people in England did, that France belonged of right to the English kings. Besides, he hoped that if the English barons were fighting there, an end would come to the rebellions and civil wars which now were always breaking out in England. So he demanded that all the provinces which had belonged to Henry the Second should be given up to him. The French refused. Then Henry invaded the land with a great army of the English, and won a glorious victory at Agincourt.

6. At length the English entered Paris, and the poor French king gave Henry all that he desired. It was settled that Henry should marry the king's daughter Catherine, and that when the old king should come to die, Henry should be King of France.

7. So King Henry married the Princess Catherine, and a year later a son was born to him; and then, while this little prince was yet only a few weeks old, Henry died. Then the King of France followed him to the grave, and the baby-boy, Henry the Sixth, was proclaimed King of England and France.

27. JOAN OF ARC (B. 1412; D. 1431).

1. Henry the Fifth had left orders that his brother, the Duke of Bedford, should govern France till his little son was older. But there were some among the princes and nobles of France who would not submit to the English baby-king nor to the duke. They did not

wish to be united with England, and they thought it right and just that Prince Charles, the Dauphin-that is, the eldest son of the late French king Charles VI. -should be king.

2. All the war therefore began over again; but the Dauphin was himself a very lazy young man, luxurious and indolent, and the Duke of Bedford proved too strong to be beaten.

3. However, there was. a young peasant girl, called Joan of Arc, who used to mind her father's sheep in France; and while she sat on the hillsides, with the sheep browsing about her, she used to think of all the legends and the tales of saints that she had heard. But as she grew up, and heard of the battles between the French and the English, and of the villages plundered and burnt, and thousands of people put to a cruel death, she grew very sad; and as she watched her sheep she could think of nothing but the great misery of her countrymen.

4. She longed for saints and heroes like those in old stories to come and deliver the land. And sometimes, as she thought of these things, and prayed to God to save her country, it seemed to her that the voices of the saints answered her and promised help. One night she dreamed that she saw the beautiful angel Michael standing by her bedside. He was clad in bright armour, and his face shone; and he looked kindly at her, and said, “Arise, and go forth and seek out the Dauphin, who is the rightful king, and lead his armies to battle, and the enemies of France will fly before you."

5. Next morning Joan told her dream to her father, and prayed him to let her do the angel's bidding; but her father would not. Then Joan answered, very meekly, "Surely it is the will of Heaven that I should save France, and I dare not stay." So she went to the Dauphin.

6. The Dauphin was sitting in a grand room, in the midst of his courtiers, and she went straight up to the prince's chair, and knelt down before it, and said— “Gentle Dauphin, I am Joan the maid; and the angel Michael has sent me to tell you that you are the King of France, and that you will be crowned at Rheims, as your fathers were."

7. Then she asked the Dauphin to let her lead the French army to deliver the city of Orleans from the English; and she was so earnest that he was persuaded by her. So knights and soldiers were given to her; and then, clothed from head to foot in armour, and mounted on a white war-horse, with the great banner of France in her hand, she rode before her soldiers to the gates of Orleans. All the French thought she was an angel from heaven. Joan delivered Orleans from the English; and then she rode back to the Dauphin, and made him go with her to Rheims, and there he was crowned King of France.

8. At last, however, Joan fell into the hands of the English, and they condemned her to be burned to death as a witch; but as she stood in the burning fagots, and the flames were consuming her, she looked up to heaven, and cried, "The voice that called me came from God." And then her head sank upon