he siege of Calais the plans of
an attack on that town were no more heard of.

[Sidenote: Henry's difficulties]

But the difficulty of Wales remained as great as ever. The discouragement
of Owen at the failure of the conspiracy of the Percies was removed by the
open aid of the French Court. In July 1404 the French king in a formal
treaty owned Glyndwr as Prince of Wales, and his promises of aid gave
fresh heart to the insurgents. What hampered Henry's efforts most in
meeting this danger was the want of money. At the opening of 1404 the
Parliament grudgingly gave a subsidy of a twentieth, but the treasury
called for fresh supplies in October, and the wearied Commons fell back on
their old proposal of a confiscation of Church property. Under the
influence of Archbishop Arundel the Lords succeeded in quashing the
project, and a new subsidy was voted; but the treasury was soon as empty
as before. Treason was still rife; the Duke of York, who had played so
conspicuous a part in Richard's day as Earl of Rutland, was sent for a
while to the Tower on suspicion of complicity in an attempt of his sister
to release the Earl of March; and Glyndwr remained unconquerable.

[Sidenote: Turn of the tide]

But fortune was now beginning to turn. The danger from Scotland was
suddenly removed. King Robert resolved to send his son James for training
to the court of France, but the boy was driven to the English coast by a
storm and Henry refused to release him. Had the Scots been friends, the
king jested, they would have sent James to him for education, as he knew
the French tongue quite as well as King Charles. Robert died of grief at
the news; and Scotland fell into the hands of his brother, the Duke of
Albany, whose one aim was that his nephew should remain a prisoner. James
grew up at the English Court; and, prisoner though he was, the excellence
of his training was seen in the poetry and intelligence of his later life.
But with its king as a hostage Scotland was no longer to be dreaded as a
foe. France too was weakened at this moment; for in 1405 the
long-smouldering jealousy between the Dukes of Orleans and of Burgundy
broke out at last into open strife. The break did little indeed to check
the desultory hostilities which were going on. A Breton fleet made
descents on Portland and Dartmouth. The Count of Armagnac, the strongest
supporter of Orleans and the war party, led troops against the frontier of
Guienne. But the weakness of