That ever they may yt rew.’[891]
Though, we cannot look on this devastating campaign of Gloucester’s as a great military achievement, yet it is not necessary to dismiss it with the contempt it has received on the authority of the rhyming chronicler:
‘The protectour with his flete at Calys then
Did lande, and rode in Flaunders a little waye,
And little did to counte a manly man.’[892]
We have the evidence of an eye-witness to prove the skill with which he protected his men from falling victims to the enemy’s bands, and the strict discipline which he kept in his ranks. Even if it was but for a short time that he defied the Duke of Burgundy, we must not forget that his men were only enlisted for a month’s service,[893] and that they were probably raw recruits, since the experienced soldiers had all gone to make up the contingents of York and Mortain. Nay more, as it is unfair to blame Gloucester for the nature of this campaign, so it is equally unfair to blame him for allowing the Earl of Mortain to relieve Calais before him.[894] His preparations had only been begun after the news of the investment of Calais had reached England. His commission was signed on July 27, and he was in Calais on August 3. On the other hand, the Earl had been preparing his troops as far back as the previous October, and was naturally quite ready to take the offensive after so long a period of preparation. Humphrey was not a great general, but, within the restricted limits of such a commission as this, there was no other captain in England who could have excelled him.
CHAPTER VII
DISGRACE AND DEATH
The expedition to Calais and Flanders was the last military enterprise undertaken by the Duke of Gloucester, indeed the active part of his life abruptly ends with his return to England. Hitherto there had been no question of public policy which had not attracted his attention, his boundless restlessness had made his biography the mirror of the English history of his time. Henceforth, however, the habits of his life undergo a change, the last stage of his career has been reached. With all the limitations put upon him, and with all the opposition he had encountered, he had always maintained a position of importance in the kingdom, and the national policy had at all times been largely under his influence. In spite of his inconsistency of method he had never relaxed his attempts to dominate all who came in his way, but now his energies in this direction seem to slacken. His character does not alter, but his struggles, like those of a dying man, became more intermittent, and in spite of occasional bursts of energy, his interests were not chiefly confined to matters political. That this sudden change was entirely due to a loss of physical power is hardly likely; it is possible that with his usual impetuosity he had devoted himself to other pursuits, and that politics no longer occupied the prominent place in his thoughts that they had hitherto enjoyed.