New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-04-21

years the lad was kept so busy there that be oou'a
have found no time for junhetng n LONDON. onpse-
quently no appointed Captain OF Calais ana
OF Dover so that By the time he came OF ago no caS
held the keys Of the kingdom
After this he had short period OF comparative
rest during which 1t Is Just possible uia' ~ "lY
have sown some wild oats at London. Mr. ChuInh,
however can ind no authority for the story OF CHER
Justice Gascogne, and the other hand no docs
discover evidence tending strongly to the conclusion
that the story IS legend brought over nom pre-
ceding reign, and adapted after the death Vi Hons
the Fifth, 10 his circumstances. In the same way
the tradition about the removal Of the crown from the
bedside of Henry the Fourth fades away upon ciose
ana critical examination, lt being shown that tho
chronicler who records II wrote fun generation aier
the alleged event and presumably invented the eplsooo
for picturesque or partisan effect The Prince Henry
Of actual history. In short was an active, enorgeuo
useful young soldier full Of responsibility ana lsu
ing II by his general conduct. He may have had MS
cotish days, but there is no record OF them' INC
King Henry the Fifth was not as Shakespeare rep
resents him sudden transformation from dissipation
TO austerfty but perfectly natural evolution lie
considered-and was after the standard Oh MS
times-a religious man. He was Just ruler accoru-
ing TO his lights, and while capable OF whst would
now be considered great cruelty, did not exceed the
military lic9nse Of his age Even the siaugn'er o'
the prisoners at Agncourt accepted by his con-
temporanos as stHable on the plea Of military neccs
slty and he was not considered responsible ior the
fate of the wretched crowd that persisted under inc
walls of ROuen.
II must We think. remain difficult to account Tor
hss persistency In the French claims. Mr. Church Is
of opinion that he really believed In their justice
He thinks that "by one Of those processes OF SELL
deception that are so difficult to imagine OF DINERS
so easy 10 perform for ourselves, he had persusoeu
himself Of the soundness OF title which seems 10
US to need no refutatonH Perhaps this Is the 'rae
explanation, and It must be borne In MIND mat the
ferocity of the age did not prevent men whom we
should call inhuman from being sincerely devout' as
Henry was himself People were capable In those
days Of holding strangely paradoxical and conhiotng
theories OF life and faith. Modern opinion Wouh
censure Henry for leaving his intimate friend Oh oln
Sir John oldcastle. to be burned at tho staHe out
there is nothing more certain than that the teenhg
against heretics in the Middle Ages, however puesS
and mplac able was compatible with firm oeilet N
the justice and necessity Of tho most rigorous ueat
mont. What thon passed for religious enthusiasm
was Of course frequently nothing OF the KIND ~
was far more akin to that Northern emotional frenzy
called the Berserker rage II was the outcome Oh
the grossest anthfopomorphism, OF cult In all e.
sentals as heather as African fctlshism But II was
none the less tho product Of tho highest aspiration
tho mind Of the semtsavage West could then attain TO-