Commines describes at some length the mortification experienced by king Edward when he heard of this alliance,--"finding himself deluded in the hopes he had entertained of marrying his daughter to the Dauphin, of which marriage both himself and his queen were more ambitious than of any other in the world, and never would give credit to any man, whether subject or foreigner, that endeavoured to persuade them that our king's intentions were not sincere and honourable. For the parliament (or council) of England had remonstrated to king Edward several times, when our king was in Picardy, that after he had conquered {xlix} that province he would certainly fall upon Calais and Guines, which are not far off. The ambassadors from the duke and duchess of Austria, as also those from the duke of Bretagne, who were continually in England at that time, represented the same thing to him; but to no purpose, for he would believe nothing of it, and he suffered greatly for his incredulity. Yet I am entirely of opinion that his conduct proceeded not so much from ignorance as avarice; for he was afraid to lose his pension of fifty thousand crowns, which our master paid him very punctually, and besides he was unwilling to leave his ease and pleasures, to which he was extremely devoted." The enervated temper of Edward's latter years is faithfully depicted in the opening lines of one of the best-known works of our great Dramatic Poet: Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths, Our bruised arms hung up for monuments; Our stern alarums chang'd to merry meetings, Our dreadful marches to delightful measures. Grim-visaged War hath smooth'd his wrinkled front, And now, instead of mounting barbed steeds, To fright the souls of fearful adversaries, He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber, To the lascivious pleasing of a lute. _Shakspeare's Richard the Third, act i. sc. 1._ In another place Commines attributes the death of Edward the Fourth to the vexation he conceived at the great reverse in his political prospects, which disclosed itself on his loss of the French alliance. This conclusion is probably imaginary, though Edward's death certainly occurred whilst the Dauphin's new betrothal was in progress. The treaty of Arras, by which the arrangement was made, was signed on the 23d Dec. 1482, and the lady Margaret was delivered to the French, and met the Dauphin at Amboise, on the 22d of June following. King Edward died on the intervening 9th of April, a victim, as is generally thought, to his long course of intemperate living. It is obvious, however, that the failure of the French alliance must have been a very serious loss to Edward's family, who were left defenceless on his death, although he had previously contracted his daughters to the heirs of France, Scotland, Spain, and Burgundy.