CHAP field in the ensuing spring with 120,000 XXVII. 1367 Is joined by Lancaster. Passes the Wit The duke of Lancaster commanded the the duke of reinforcements from England; and, having joined his elder brother, they entered the passes of the Pyrenees about the end of February. In this march the Black Prince divided his army into three bands, and gave the command of the van to the duke of Lancaster". The young duke had for his coadjutor lord Chandos, under whose eye, and assisted by whose talents and experience, it was reasonable to believe that he would make great proficiency in the art of slaughter, an art at this time valued and prized above all others. In their march they were aided by the compulsory alliance of the king of Navarre; and, their enterprise being thus facilitated, they passed in safety the valley of Roncesvalles, famed for the fabulous exploits. of Roland, or Orlando, I When Charlemagne with all his peerage fell CHAP. By Fontarabia. XXVII. PARADISE LOST, Book I, ver. 586. 1367. At sight of this spot no doubt their hearts. panted with hope, with awe and emulation; and the younger knights in particular felt their circulation augmented, with a sense of the proud career in which they were engaged, and a thirst for immortality. After some pause in the fertile plains of Navarre, the Black Prince crossed the Ebro, and entered the territory of Old Castille. The situation in which he soon found himself here was similar to that in which he had been placed at the battle of Poitiers, and to that of his father at the victory of Cressy. He had advanced into an enemy's country, was cut off from all supply, and reduced to the greatest extremity; and, had the enemy exerted the sagacity and resolution to close him round, to harass him with petty attacks, Enters the kingdum of Cas tille T * Mémoires de Du Guesclin, Chap. XXII. CHAP. and abstain from a general action, his ex XXVII. 1367. Battle of pedition must have ended in complete discomfiture. This temerity however was in some degree the necessary consequence of the state of the European powers in this age, whose resources were speedily exhausted, and whose soldiers were for the most part engaged for a very short period. And, allowance having been made for their apparent rashness in the onset, both he and his father, in the instances alluded to, will be found to have conducted themselves in the conclusion of the enterprise with singular prudence, coolness, ability and heroism. The fate of the campaign for the restoration of the exiled king was decided by a battle fought on the third of April near Najara a town on the Ebro'. The Spanish usurper was encouraged to try the event of a battle, by the fortuitous success which had attended him in a partial conflict, about a Froissart, Chap. ccxli. Memoires de Du Guesclin, Chap. XXVII. 1367. fortnight before". The duke of Lancaster CHA P. had still the command of one of the divisions of the English army, and had still with him lord Chandos as his Mentor and guide, who had before officiated in the same character to the Black Prince. A moment before the battle was joined, John of Gaunt said, turning to one of the sons of the earl of Warwick who was near him, Sir William, there is the enemy; you shall see me to-day prove myself a true knight, or you shall see me lost in the attempt. Their wing of the army seems to have had no mean share in the action, as they were opposed to Du Guesclin, and the French soldiers of fortune, who had placed the bastard upon the throne. The Spaniards, who formed the main body of the enemy, though enrolled from an heroic nation, were for the most part new recruits, and by no means equal to the Gallic veterIt is also probable that they did not ans. * Froissart, Chap. ccxxxix. Memoires de Du Guesclin, Chap. XXII. XXVII. 1367. The CHAP engage with perfect alacrity, nor feel themselves perfectly satisfied to cooperate with a gang of foreign freebooters the rudeness of whose manners they had by this time sufficiently witnessed, to place an usurper upon the throne of their lawful sovereign. battle however was on the whole contested with considerable obstinacy; but ended in the total defeat of Henry, with the capture of his commander in chief and of the most distinguished officers among his French allies. The gallantry of the duke of Lancaster in this action was much celebrated; and it was his division of the army that took Du Guesclin prisoner, who, according to the customs of that age, became the property of Chandos, and was afterward redeemed for a ransom of one hundred thousand franks 2. Feelings with which of this The rejoicings in England on account of the news the victory of Najara were singularly great. The city of London was adorned in various England. parts with triumphal arches; the fronts of victory were re -ceived in |
