for he had long had no will of his own. This treaty was advancing, when it was interrupted by a coolness on the part of Burgundy, to whom acceptable offers were at the same time made by the Dauphin, which he eagerly entertained, and thereupon, somewhat abruptly, broke off the conferences with Henry, who, full of anger at such fickle conduct, returned to his army, and carrying on the war with rigour, besieged and took Pontoise, which was held by Burgundy's captain, L'Isle-Adam, and afterwards attacked the remarkable castle of Chateau Gaillard, built on an almost inaccessible rock, and which only surrendered after a sixteen months' siege, from want of water, the ropes by which they drew their buckets from the well being quite worn out.

But before the siege of Chateau Gaillard was terminated, an event occurred which

seemed to decide the fate of France to be subjection to the King of England. A meeting was appointed between the Duke of Burgundy and the Dauphin, that they might in a personal conference the better arrange what should be done by each to secure the safety of the kingdom according to the agreement that had been made between them. The duke was at first unwilling to come, but at last consented; still, as neither party was much inclined to trust the other, it was settled that the meeting should not take place in a house or castle, but on the Bridge of Montereau-fautYonne; the Dauphin's troops being on one side of the river, and the duke's on the other; and that as a further security, barriers or strong wooden rails should be extended across the bridge, so that no one except the attendants that were agreed on, should approach the two princes. But,

THE MURDER OF THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY AT THE BRIDGE OF MONTEREAU.

notwithstanding all these precautions, the Dauphin's attendants, the chief of whom was the same Tanneguy Chatel who had assisted him to escape from Paris, had laid a plan to assassinate the duke; and, as soon as he was safe within the barriers, they fell upon him and murdered him before his attendants could even draw their swords in his defence.

The Dauphin immediately retired, and as the troops he had with him greatly outnumbered those the duke had brought, he was quite safe from any attempt on their part. It is not certain whether he knew beforehand of the intention of Tanneguy and his companions to murder the duke; it was then believed, and has since generally been considered, that he was not aware of it; but as immediately after he justified the action, and countenanced a false tale got up by the actual murderers,