true to him, and the sad experience of war, which had so long been forced upon all Frenchmen, was such as to make every citizen in some sort a soldier. All was prepared by King Charles for that great struggle on which he, and all who felt any interest in his failure or success, looked as decisive of his fortune. At length, in the month of October 1428, the Earl of Salisbury with ten thousand men appeared before Orleans. He was killed on the third day by a shot from the walls, but his loss was supplied by the Earl of Suffolk, who arrived with a large additional force of English and Burgundians. Both sides had cannon, but these instruments of death were then so ill constructed, that their effect, especially in the battering in of stone walls, was trifling compared to that produced by those used at the present day. From the walls of a town a pretty good aim could be taken with the smaller and less cumbrous pieces of artillery, and although these could not be pointed or fired very quickly, yet the defenders could often guess where the enemy would crowd the thickest, and were thus able to do them frequent and great damage. The Earl of Salisbury was killed from appearing at a loop-hole in a tower, often used as a spying-place by the assailants, which had been marked by the cannoneers on the walls the day before. The English, therefore, depended more upon subduing the defenders by starvation than by fighting. They brought men enough to keep so close a watch that scarcely any provisions could be brought into the town, and before long the surrounding country was so wasted by the foragers of both parties, the besiegers and those of King Charles's party without the town, that provisions began to be scarce among the English. Early in February, when the siege had lasted nearly five months, a strong party of English, two thousand five hundred in number, had been despatched to procure supplies, but on their return they were attacked by four thousand French of King Charles's party, led on by the Counts of Clermont and Dunois, brave warriors both; but the latter, a knight who was really worthy of that honourable title, wise in council, fearless in battle, and courteous in society. His father was that Duke of Orleans who was murdered by the Duke of Burgundy. He was now very young, but he afterwards gained an honourable reputation, which renders his memory respected even in our day. He had hoped, by cutting off this supply from the English, to force them to give up the siege, but he |