arriving at the town of Chartres, on his way to the place of meeting, a new dispute arose between him and the King of England, both in regard to the murderers of the Earl of Salisbury, and to some clerical lands, respecting which Louis made unjust pretensions. Henry yielded more perhaps than was either just or prudent; and at length, in regard to the lands, he sent back a message that, for the love of God, of the Count of Flanders, and of the good Cardinal, William of Pavia, who was then at his court, he would not contest the matter, though he still denied the right of the King of France. On receiving this message, and hearing that William of Pavia was in the camp of Henry, the King of France fell into a new fit of passion, vowing that the Pope abetted his enemies, and that he would not receive any concession on such terms.

Thus the conference seemed unlikely to take place, as Henry would not of course acknowledge the right of the French King; but Louis suddenly sent messengers, requiring the King of England, more in the tone of a sovereign than an equal, to come immediately to the place of meeting, which was upon the banks of the small river Huisnes, between Chartres and La Ferté, and about two miles from the latter town.

Many circumstances might render Henry unwilling to obey this imperious order. The camp of the King of France was filled with his enemies; and he had reason to know that besides his revolted

subjects, Louis had with him at that time envoys from William the Lion, King of Scotland, who had succeeded his brother Malcolm, and had shewn himself as hostile as his brother had been friendly towards the English monarch. The very messengers which that Prince had now sent to the King of France came with views inimical to the King of England; and at the same time envoys from the insurgent Welsh were eagerly soliciting protection and support from France. A just consideration of the dangers which might arise from an unprepared meeting with a monarch so fickle, violent, and easily led as Louis, has been assigned as the reason why Henry did not obey his summons; but I find no record to guide me to the real cause of the conduct of the King of England. It is certain that he did not make his appearance during the greater part of the day; and the French monarch having washed his hands in the stream, called every one to witness that he had kept his appointment, and that Henry had broken faith; and sending away the greater part of the force which had accompanied him thither, he remained on the banks of the river with the rest, having despatched a messenger to require satisfaction of Henry for the breach of his engagement. Before night, the English monarch suddenly appeared, armed and at the head of a considerable body of knights. The French King and his companions seem to have been really alarmed at this sudden display of force, and catching

up their arms in haste, they prepared for battle rather than for conference. But Henry, perceiving the apprehensions that he had caused, and that night was coming on, retired quietly to La Ferté. Louis returned to Chartres; and some sharp but tedious disputes took place in regard to the conduct of the two monarchs on this occasion, each accusing the other; and Louis, as was natural, justifying the alarm he and his nobles had experienced by assertting the existence of a real danger. The negociations for peace were broken off in consequence of these events, and war was immediately renewed.

The French King, on his part, effected but little; for the burning of a few villages, and the ravaging a few fields, which was the extent of his success on this, as on other occasions, could not be considered as very glorious. Henry, on the other hand, carried forward the same savage and iniquitous system on a larger scale; for having summoned the Count of Boulogne to do him feudal service according to treaty, and the Count of Ponthieu having refused to give a passage to that nobleman's troops, Henry marched into the territories of the latter, and lighted the whole land with the flame of forty villages and small towns.

The success of his enemy, the misfortunes of his vassal, and the impotence of his own efforts, all tended to discourage the King of France; and about the same time, the reputation and even power of the English monarch was greatly in

creased by a new embassy which he received from the Emperor, of so splendid a description that the report thereof ran through Europe. At the head of the mission was Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, of the imperial Electors. He was, at this time, son-in-law to the King of England, having now consummated his marriage with the daughter of Henry, who had been escorted to his dominions by the Earls of Arundel and Pembroke, though little more than twelve years of age. The embassy was in every point of view agreeable to the English monarch; for besides the effect produced by such a testimony of respect, other results might be anticipated from an offer on the part of the Emperor, which was soon made known, to support Henry in arms, should he need it, in his war with the King of France.

An alteration however soon came over the counsels of the last-named monarch. It would appear that the Count of Champagne had laboured sincerely to promote a peace, and that Henry had found means to change, in some degree, the disposition of the house of Blois towards himself. The contest regarding the office of Seneschal of France between Henry and the Count of Blois, might indeed have protracted their enmity; for it was a point which the English monarch could not give up with honour; but a compromise of the matter suggested itself, which Henry eagerly seized; and

though I do not discover at what period the arrangement which was afterwards adopted, first occurred to either, yet it is evident that between the conclusion of the truce in 1167, and the rupture of the conferences of La Ferté, the views both of the Count of Blois and the Count of Champagne were turned from war to peace. With these dispositions in his principal counsellors, with his adversary's arms far more successful than his own, and with a new league ready to be formed against him, Louis in the end of 1168 began to listen with complacence to the proposals for peace, which Henry did not fail to renew from time to time; and at Montmirail in January 1169, a definitive treaty was signed, one of the most important articles in which had for its object the endowment of Richard, the second son of Henry, with the territories which his father intended to constitute his portion for life. These dispositions, it is true, were altered entirely by many unexpected events; but nevertheless, the clause regarding Richard affected the whole course of his after life, and was productive of results the most opposite to those which might have been anticipated.

The stipulations of the treaty were briefly these, First, it was agreed that Henry should renew his homage and fealty for Normandy in the accustomed form.

Secondly, that he should give up the provinces of Anjou and Maine, and the fealty of the vassals