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"To form reply.

"Herald! to all thy vaunts

"Of English sovereignty let this suffice

"For answer: France will only own as King

"Him whom the people chuse. On Charles's brow

"Transmitted thro' a long and good descent

"The crown remains. We know no homage due "To English robbers, and disclaim the peace "Inglorious made at Troyes by factious men "Hostile to France. Thy master's proffer'd grace "Meets the contempt it merits. Herald, yes,

"We shall remember Meaux, and Caen, and Roan!

"Go tell the mighty Earl of Salisbury,

"That as like Blanchard, Gaucour dares his power;

"Like Blanchard, he can mock his cruelty, "And triumph by enduring. Speak I well

"Ye men of Orleans?"

"Never did I hear

"A shout so universal as ensued

"Of approbation.

The assembled host

"As with one voice pour'd forth their loyalty,

"And struck their sounding shields. The towers of Orleans

"Echoed the loud uproar. The Herald went.

"The work of war began."

"A fearful scene,"

"

Cried Isabel.

"The iron storm of death

"Clash'd in the sky; from the strong engines hurl'd

'Huge rocks with tempest force convuls'd the air;
"Then was there heard at once the clang of arms,
"The bellowing cannons, and the soldier's shout,
"The female's shriek, the affrighted infant's cry,
"The groan of death: discord of dreadful sounds
"That jarr'd the soul !

"Nor while the encircling foe

"Leager'd the walls of Orleans, idly slept

"Our friends: for winning down the Loire its way "The frequent vessel with provision fraught,

"And men, and all the artillery of death,

"Cheer'd us with welcome succour. At the bridge

"These safely stranded mock'd the foeman's force.

*

"This to prevent, Salisbury their watchful chief,

Prepares the amazing work. Around our walls,

Encircling walls he builds, surrounding thus "The city. Firm'd with massiest buttresses, "At equal distance, sixty forts protect

"The besiegers received succours in the very beginning of the siege; but the Earl of Salisbury, who considered this enterprize as a decisive action for the King his master, and his own reputation, omitted nothing to deprive the besieged of that advantage. He run up round the city sixty forts. How great soever this work might be, nothing could divert him from it, since the success of the siege entirely depended upon it. In vain would he have pursued his attack, if the enemies could continually introduce fresh supplies. Besides, the season, now far advanced, suggested to him, that he would be forced to pass the winter in the camp, and during that time be liable to many insults. Among the sixty forts, there were six much stronger than the rest, upon the six principal avetues of the city. The French could before with ease introduce convoys into the place, and had made frequent use of that advantage. But after these forts were built, it was with extreme difficulty that they could, now and then, give some assistance to the besieged. Upon these six redoubts the genesal erected batteries, which thundered against the walls."

Rapin.

"The pile.

But chief where in the sieged town

"The * six great avenues meet in the midst, "Six castles there he rear'd impregnable,

"With deep-dug moats and bridges drawn aloft, "Where over the strong gate suspended hung "The dread portcullis. Thence the gunner's eye "From his safe shelter could with ease survey "Intended sally, or approaching aid,

"And point destruction.

"It were long to tell

"And tedious, how with many a bold assault "The men of Orleans rush'd upon their foes; "How after difficult fight the enemy

Rheims had six principle streets meeting thus in one centre where the Cathedral stood.

Au centre de la Ville, entre six avenües,

S'eleve un sacré temple a la hauteur des nues.

Chapelain.

I know not whether towns were usually built upon this plan.

"Possess'd the + Tournelles, and the embattled tower "That shadows from the bridge the subject Loire ; "Tho' numbering now three thousand daring men, "Frequent and fierce the garrison repell'd "Their far out-numbering foes. From every aid Included, they in Orleans groan'd beneath "All ills accumulate. The shatter'd roofs "Gave to the dews of night free passage there, "And ever and anon the ponderous stone, Ruining where'er it fell, with hideous crash "Came like an earthquake, startling from his sleep "The affrighted soldier. From the brazen slings

+"The bulwark of the Tournelles being much shaken by the besiegers cannon, and the besieged thinking it proper to set it on fire, the English extinguished the flames, and lodged themselves in that post. At the same time they became masters of the tower on the bridge, from whence the whole city could be viewed."

Rapin.

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