that the most intimate friends of the Duke of Orleans tried to keep the king steadfast in his wrath from night to morning. One day, when he was still in bed, one of them softly approaching and putting his hand under the coverlet, said, plucking him by the foot, “My lord, are you asleep?” “No, cousin,” answered the king; “you are quite welcome; is there anything new?” “No, sir; only that your people report that if you would assault Arras there would be good hope of effecting an entry.” “But if my cousin of Burgundy listens to reason, and puts the town into my hands without assault, we will make peace.” “What! sir; you would make peace with this wicked, this disloyal man who so cruelly had your brother slain?” “But all was forgiven him with the consent of my nephew of Orleans,” said the king mournfully. “Alas! sir, you will never see that brother again.” “Let me be, cousin,” said the king, impatiently; “I shall see him again on the day of judgment.” Notwithstanding this stubborn way of working up the irreconcilable enmities which caused divisions in the royal family, peace was decided upon and concluded at Arras, on the 4th of September, 1414, on conditions as vague as ever, which really put no end to the causes of civil war, but permitted the king on the one hand and the Duke of Burgundy on the other, to call themselves and to wear an appearance of being reconciled. A serious event which happened abroad at that time was heavily felt in France, reawakened the spirit of nationality, and opened the eyes of all parties a little to the necessity of suspending their own selfish disagreements. Henry IV., King of England, died on the 20th of March, 1413. Having been chiefly occupied with the difficulties of his own government at home, he, without renouncing the war with France, had not prosecuted it vigorously, and had kept it in suspense or adjournment by a repetition of truces. Henry V., his son and successor, a young prince of five and twenty, active, ambitious, able, and popular, gave, from the very moment of his accession, signs of having bolder views, which were not long coming to maturity, in respect of his relations with France. The Duke of Burgundy had undoubtedly anticipated them, for, as soon as he was cognizant of Henry IV.’s death, he made overtures in London for the marriage of his daughter Catherine with the new King of England, and he received at Bruges an English embassy on the subject. When this was known at Paris, the council of Charles VI. sent to the Duke of Burgundy Sire de Dampierre and the Bishop of Evreux bearing letters to him from the king “which forbade him, on pain of forfeiture and treason, to enter into any treaty with the King of England, either for his daughter’s marriage or for any other cause.” But the views of Henry V. soared higher than a marriage with a daughter of the Duke of Burgundy. It was to the hand of the King of France’s daughter, herself also named