Chap.XIII. from the Conquest, to the Death oj A. Mary I. c;p

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Qualification, which was requifite toform a compleat Hero. In him (conti-nues mp Author) was lost: the Hopes ofthe Englijh Nation, during whose Lifethey never feared an Invasion, nor dread-ed any Enemy. He never went uponany Undertaking' but he returned crown-ed with Success, nor formed a Siegewithout taking the Place, &c. His SonRichard was soon after declared, by hisGrandfather, Ear.l of Chef er, Prince ofWales, and Heir and Successor to theCrown.

Edward, about this Time, resolvedto make another Effort, and to try hisFortune once more in France ; But hisArmy had scarce taken the Field, whenHeath deprived England of one of thegreatest Princes that ever graced herThrone. Success continually attendedhis Enterprises till his latter Years; Butthen Fortune forsook him, and, aftera glorious Reign, for the two and fortyfirst Years, gave him the Mortification,before his End, of seing his > Afiairs inFrance, (which, says a French Author,he had peduced within two Inches ol herDestruction) almost entirely ruined, andthe greatest Part of his Conquests andDominions in that Kingdom lost. Hedied at Shene, now Richmond, on theone and twentieth of June, after havingreigned fifty Years, four Months andseven and twenty Days.

Dr. Nicholson, Bishop of Londonderry, 1377.speaking of this Prince, calls him the Notes to theGreatejl of Europe, and the Glory of theEnglish Throne. And Mr. J of ma Barnes, f 0 £in his Preface to this King’s Reign, fays: Mr. Jolhua" The Subject Matter of my Discourse BarneSi" is the Honour of my Country, the" Life and Actions of one of the great-" est Kings that perhaps the World e-" ver saw: It is an old Observation" (adds he) That Subsets usually con-" form themselves to their Prince. And" here certainly, if ever any Great and" Martial Monarch was Lord of any" like himself, we shall find this King" to have been so : Many great ana" renowned Heroes and Captains, bold" in Attempts, wife in Conduct, and" fortunate in Success, being thick al-" most in every Page of this History :

" Wherein will appear the greatest" Variety of Adventures, the most" hazardous Enterprizes of War, the" most exact Councils, and politick" Negociations, and the most frequent" Instances of Courage, Piety, Gene-" rosity and Princely Conduct ; with" the most wholesome Laws and Rules" of Government, that perhaps the" whole World can furnish us withal,

" in so short a Period of Time.”

/

CHAP. Xlli.

Naval Expeditions and Transactions of the English, with other Occurrencesduring the Reign of King Richard II.

Iff E famous Black Prince, Sonof Edward III. dying June theeighth, 1376. before the Demiseof his Father, his Son Richard,surnamed of Bourdeaux, where he wasborn, succeeded hisGrandfather, by theName of Richard II. and was crowned,July the sixteenth, (a) This Princecoming to the Throne at eleven Years of

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hJP^ori both the French and Scots took

the Advantage of his Minority, and theWeakness or Neglect of his Ministers,Numb. IV.

and very much infested our Coasts. TheFrench, with a strong Fleet, pillaged theIfle of JVight ,and burnt Haftirgs, Ply-mouth, Portsmouth, Dartmouth and Rye.{b) They made a Descent at someLeagues Distance from Dover , and fromall these Places carried off a considerableBooty. TheiSVo/i ravaged our EasternCoasts, the nextYear, with a large Num-ber of Ships, under the Command ofone Mercer, who plundered and took allthe Englijh Ships that came in his VVay,

and

F. Daniel.

Froislard,Walsingh. ,F. Dan.////?.de la Mi licede France.

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( a ) Hoi.inshead gives a very particular Ac-c °unt of this King’s Coronation.

F) According to Echard, Daniel and EIo-jnjhead they landed at Rye , with a considerableAet, and burnt that Town, the nine and twen-ieth ot June, before the Coronation ; And it was-

the one and twentieth of August before theylanded in the Isle of Wight ; where having donewhat Mischief they could, they re-imbarked, andin their Return, burnt the other Places,