lish army enter the town through the breach._
[Footnote *: Extracts from the Account of the Siege of Harfleur,
selected from the pages of the anonymous Chronicler who was an
eyewitness of the event.
"Our King, who sought peace, not war, in order that he might
further arm the cause in which he was engaged with the shield of
justice offered peace to the besieged, if they would open the
gates to him, and restore, as was their duty, freely, without
compulsion, that town, the noble hereditary portion of his Crown
of England, and of his Dukedom of Normandy.
"But as they, despising and setting at nought this offer, strove
to keep possession of, and to defend the town against him, our
King summoned to fight, as it were, against his will, called upon
God to witness his just cause * * * he (King Henry) gave himself
no rest by day or night, until having fitted and fixed his engines
and guns under the walls, he had planted them within shot of the
enemy, against the front of the town, and against the walls,
gates, and towers, of the same * * * so that taking aim at the
place to be battered, the guns from beneath blew forth stones by
the force of ignited powers, * * * and in the mean time our King,
with his guns and engines, so battered the said bulwark, and the
walls and towers on every side, that within a few days, by the
impetuosity and fury of the stones, the same bulwark was in a
great part broken down; and the walls and towers from which the
enemy had sent forth their weapons, the bastions falling in ruins,
were rendered defenceless; and very fine edifices, even in the
middle of the city, either lay altogether in ruins, or threatened
an inevitable fall; or at least were so shaken as to be
exceedingly damaged. * * * And although our guns had disarmed the
bulwark, walls, and towers during the day, the besieged by night,
with logs, faggots, and tubs on vessels full of earth, mud, and
sand or stones, piled up within the shattered walls, and with
other barricadoes, refortified the streets. * * * The King had
caused towers and wooden bulwarks to the height of the walls, and
ladders and other instruments, besides those which he had brought
with him for the assault." --We are then told that the enemy
contrived to set these engines on fire 'by means of powders, and
combustibles prepa
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