St. George for England. G. A. Henty

Чтение книги онлайн.

Читать онлайн книгу St. George for England - G. A. Henty страница 1

Автор:
Серия:
Издательство:
St. George for England - G. A.  Henty

Скачать книгу

tion>

       G. A. Henty

      St. George for England

      Published by Good Press, 2021

       [email protected]

      EAN 4057664637772

       PREFACE.

       CHAPTER I: A WAYFARER

       CHAPTER II: THE HUT IN THE MARSHES

       CHAPTER III: A THWARTED PLOT

       CHAPTER IV: A KNIGHT'S CHAIN

       CHAPTER V: THE CITY GAMES

       CHAPTER VI: THE MELEE

       CHAPTER VII: THE YOUNG ESQUIRE

       CHAPTER VIII: OFF TO THE WARS

       CHAPTER IX: THE SIEGE OF HENNEBON

       CHAPTER X: A PLACE OF REFUGE

       CHAPTER XI: A STORMY INTERVIEW

       CHAPTER XII: JACOB VAN ARTEVELDE

       CHAPTER XIII: THE WHITE FORD

       CHAPTER XIV: CRESSY

       CHAPTER XV: THE SIEGE OF A FORTALICE

       CHAPTER XVI: A PRISONER

       CHAPTER XVII: THE CAPTURE OF CALAIS

       CHAPTER XVIII: THE BLACK DEATH

       CHAPTER XIX: BY LAND AND SEA

       CHAPTER XX: POITIERS

       CHAPTER XXI: THE JACQUERIE

       CHAPTER XXII: VICTORY AND DEATH

       Table of Contents

      MY DEAR LADS,

      You may be told perhaps that there is no good to be obtained from tales of fighting and bloodshed,—that there is no moral to be drawn from such histories. Believe it not. War has its lessons as well as Peace. You will learn from tales like this that determination and enthusiasm can accomplish marvels, that true courage is generally accompanied by magnanimity and gentleness, and that if not in itself the very highest of virtues, it is the parent of almost all the others, since but few of them can be practised without it. The courage of our forefathers has created the greatest empire in the world around a small and in itself insignificant island; if this empire is ever lost, it will be by the cowardice of their descendants.

      At no period of her history did England stand so high in the eyes of Europe as in the time whose events are recorded in this volume. A chivalrous king and an even more chivalrous prince had infected the whole people with their martial spirit, and the result was that their armies were for a time invincible, and the most astonishing successes were gained against numbers which would appear overwhelming. The victories of Cressy and Poitiers may be to some extent accounted for by superior generalship and discipline on the part of the conquerors; but this will not account for the great naval victory over the Spanish fleet off the coast of Sussex, a victory even more surprising and won against greater odds than was that gained in the same waters centuries later over the Spanish Armada. The historical facts of the story are all drawn from Froissart and other contemporary historians, as collated and compared by Mr. James in his carefully written history. They may therefore be relied upon as accurate in every important particular.

      Yours sincerely,

      G. A. HENTY.

       Table of Contents

      It was a bitterly cold night in the month of November, 1330. The rain was pouring heavily, when a woman, with child in her arms, entered the little village of Southwark. She had evidently come from a distance, for her dress was travel-stained and muddy. She tottered rather than walked, and when, upon her arrival at the gateway on the southern side of London Bridge, she found that the hour was past and the gates closed for the night, she leant against the wall with a faint groan of exhaustion and disappointment.

      After remaining, as if in doubt, for some time, she feebly made her way into the village. Here were many houses of entertainment, for travelers like herself often arrived too late to enter the gates, and had to abide outside for the night. Moreover, house rent was dear within the walls of the crowded city, and many, whose business brought them to town, found it cheaper to take up their abode in the quiet hostels of Southwark rather than to stay in the more expensive inns within the walls. The lights came out brightly from many of the casements, with sounds of boisterous songs and laughter. The woman passed these without a pause. Presently she stopped before a cottage, from which a feeble light alone showed that it was tenanted.

      She knocked at the door. It was opened by a pleasant-faced man of some thirty years old.

      “What

Скачать книгу