bury, a venerable warrior, above fourscore years of age, fell in
battle; his conquests were lost; Bordeaux was again obliged to submit
to the French king;[***] and all hopes of recovering the province of
Gascony were forever extinguished.

* Grafton, p. 620.

** Holing. p. 640.

*** Polyd. Virg. p. 501. Grafton, p. 623.

Though the English might deem themselves happy to be fairly rid of
distant dominions, which were of no use to them, and which they never
could defend against the growing power of France, they expressed
great discontent on the occasion: and they threw all the blame on the
ministry, who had not been able to effect impossibilities. While they
were in this disposition, the queen's delivery of a son, who received
the name of Edward, was deemed no joyful incident; and as it removed
all hopes of the peaceable succession of the duke of York, who was
otherwise, in the right of his father, and by the laws enacted since
the accession of the house of Lancaster, next heir to the crown, it had
rather a tendency to inflame the quarrel between the parties. But
the duke was incapable of violent counsels; and even when no visible
obstacle lay between him and the throne, he was prevented by his own
scruples from mounting it.

{1454.} Henry, always unfit to exercise the government, fell at this
time into a distemper, which so far increased his natural imbecility,
that it rendered him incapable of maintaining even the appearance of
royalty. The queen and the council, destitute of this support, found
themselves unable to resist the York party; and they were obliged to
yield to the torrent. They sent Somerset to the Tower, and appointed
Richard lieutenant of the kingdom, with powers to open and hold a
session of parliament.[*]

* Rymer, vol. xi. p. 344.

That assembly, also, taking into consideration the state of the kingdom,
created him protector during pleasure. Men who thus intrusted sovereign
authority to one that had such evident and strong pretensions to
the crown, were not surely averse to his taking immediate and full
possession of it; yet the duke, instead of pushing them to make further
concessions, appeared somewhat timid and irresolute even in receiving
the power which was tendered to him. He desired that it might be
recorded in parliament, that this authority was conferred on him from
their own free motion, without any application on his part: he expressed
his hopes that they would as