[Illustration:  The Body of Charles VI. lying in State——­84]

The people’s instinct was at the same time right and wrong.  France had yet many evil days to go through and cruel trials to endure; she was, however, to be saved at last; Charles VI. was to be followed by Charles VII. and Joan of Arc.

CHAPTER XXIV.——­THE HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR.—­CHARLES VII.  AND JOAN OF ARC. 1422-1461.

[Illustration:  PORTRAIT OF JOAN OF ARC——­85]

Whilst Charles VI. was dying at Paris, his son Charles, the dauphin, was on his way back from Saintonge to Berry, where he usually resided.  On the 24th of October, 1422, at Mehun-sur-Yevre, he heard of his father’s death.  For six days longer, from the 24th to the 29th of October, he took no style but that of regent, as if he were waiting to see what was going to happen elsewhere in respect of the succession to the throne.  It was only when he knew that, on the 27th of October, the parliament of Paris had, not without some little hesitation and ambiguity, recognized “as King of England and of France, Henry VI., son of Henry V. lately deceased,” that the dauphin Charles assumed on the 30th of October, in his castle of Mehun-sur-Yevre, the title of king, and repaired to Bourges to inaugurate in the cathedral of that city his reign as Charles VII.

[Illustration:  The Shepherdess of Domremy——­90]

He was twenty years old, and had as yet done nothing to gain for himself, not to say anything of glory, the confidence and hopes of the people.  He passed for an indolent and frivolous prince, abandoned to his pleasures only; one whose capacity there was nothing to foreshadow, and of whom France, outside of his own court, scarcely ever thought at all.  Some days before his accession he had all but lost his life at Rochelle by the sudden breaking down of the room in the episcopal palace where he was staying; and so little did the country know of what happened to him that, a short time after the accident, messengers sent by some of his partisans had arrived at Bourges to inquire if the prince were still living.  At a time when not only the crown of the kingdom, but the existence and independence of the nation, were at stake, Charles had not given any signs of being strongly moved by patriotic feelings.  “He was, in person, a handsome prince, and handsome in speech with all persons, and compassionate towards poor folks,” says his contemporary Monstrelet; “but he did not readily put on his harness, and he had no heart for war if he could do without it.”  On ascending the throne, this young prince, so little of the politician and so little of the knight, encountered at the head of his enemies the most able amongst the politicians and warriors of the day in the Duke of Bedford, whom his brother Henry V. had appointed regent of France, and had charged to defend on behalf of his nephew, Henry VI., a child in the cradle, the crown of France, already more than half won.  Never did struggle appear more unequal or native king more inferior to foreign pretender.