friendship which they seemingly bore him, to render his cause the
more odious. And in all his operations, he acted more like a leader of
banditti, than one who aspired to be the head of a regular government,
and who was engaged by his station to endeavor the reestablishment of
order in the community.

The eyes, therefore, of all the French, who wished to restore peace to
their miserable and desolated country, were turned towards the dauphin;
and that young prince, though not remarkable for his military talents,
possessed so much prudence and spirit, that he daily gained the
ascendant over all his enemies. Marcel, the seditious provost of Paris,
was slain, while he was attempting to deliver the city to the king of
Navarre and the English; and the capital immediately returned to its
duty.[**] The most considerable bodies of the mutinous peasants
were dispersed, and put to the sword: some bands of military robbers
underwent the same fate: and though many grievous disorders still
remained, France began gradually to assume the face of a regular civil
government, and to form some plan for its defence and security.

* Froissard, liv. i. chap. 181.

** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 187

During the confusion in the dauphin's affairs, Edward seemed to have a
favorable opportunity for pushing his conquests: but besides that his
hands were tied by the truce, and he could only assist underhand the
faction of Navarre, the state of the English finances and military
power, during those ages, rendered the kingdom incapable of making any
regular or steady effort, and obliged it to exert its force at very
distant intervals, by which all the projected ends were commonly
disappointed. Edward employed himself, during a conjuncture so inviting,
chiefly in negotiations with his prisoner; and John had the weakness
to sign terms of peace, which, had they taken effect, must have totally
ruined and dismembered his kingdom. He agreed to restore all the
provinces which had been possessed by Henry II. and his two sons, and
to annex them forever to England, without any obligation of homage
or fealty on the part of the English monarch. But the dauphin and the
states of France rejected this treaty, so dishonorable and pernicious to
the kingdom;[*] and Edward on the expiration of the truce, having now,
by subsidies and frugality, collected some treasure, prepared himself
for a new invasion of France.

The great authority and renown of the king