the more destructive pillage of the garrisons;[*] and
both parties, weary of hostilities which decided nothing, seemed at last
desirous of peace, and they set on foot negotiations for that purpose.
But the proposals of France, and the demands of England, were still so
wide of each other, that all hope of accommodation immediately vanished.
The English ambassadors demanded restitution of all the provinces which
had once been annexed to England, together with the final cession of
Calais and its district; and required the possession of these extensive
territories without the burden of any fealty or homage on the part of
their prince: the French offered only part of Guienne, part of Normandy,
and Calais, loaded with the usual burdens. It appeared in vain
to continue the negotiation while there was so little prospect of
agreement. The English were still too haughty to stoop from the vast
hopes which they had formerly entertained, and to accept of terms more
suitable to the present condition of the two kingdoms.

The duke of York soon after resigned his government to the earl of
Warwick, a nobleman of reputation, whom death prevented from long
enjoying this dignity. The duke, upon the demise of that nobleman,
returned to his charge; and during his administration, a truce was
concluded between the king of England and the duke of Burgundy, which
had become necessary for the commercial interests of their subjects.[**]
The war with France continued in the same languid and feeble state as
before.

The captivity of five princes of the blood, taken prisoners in the
battle of Azincour, was a considerable advantage, which England long
enjoyed over its enemy; but this superiority was now entirely lost.
Some of these princes had died; some had been ransomed; and the duke of
Orleans, the most powerful among them, was the last that remained in
the hands of the English. He offered the sum of fifty-four thousand
nobles[***] for his liberty; and when this proposal was laid before the
council of England, as every question was there an object of faction,
the party of the duke of Glocester, and that of the cardinal of
Winchester, were divided in their sentiments with regard to it.

* Fortescue, who soon after this period visited France, in
the train of Prince Henry, speaks of that kingdom as a
desert, in comparison of England. See his treatise De
Laudibus Legum Angliae. Though we make allowance for the
partialities o