MARGARET was now endeavouring, in concert with the artful Louis, to raise a force sufficient to oppose herself against Edward, and assert her rights to the British throne. Her schemes, however deep laid, were frustrated by the loyalty of the English to the interests of the house of York, and the loss of that esteem she had once enjoyed amongst her followers.

When adversity assaults, summer friends / rally round the standard of prosperity, and desert the cause of sad misfortune, let her plea be ever so just; but if doubtful, they easily investigate the claim of legitimate right, and the unhappy sufferer meets with total desertion.

Louis now attended to the advice of his prime minister, and began to be assiduous in his endeavours to make a peace with the English; as he found that Margaret had lost her popularity, and that Henry VI. still a prisoner in the Tower; was languishing under an incurable malady, the effects of a slow poison, or rather owing to the rigours of a close confinement.

The parliament at that time were chiefly composed of indolent and luxurious men, who desired peace; and who, in their hearts, wished well both to Louis and Queen Margaret. They therefore willingly / listened to the proposals of the French monarch, and Lord Fitzhugh was sent over to endeavour to negotiate a peace with him.

The English at that time were remarkable for the expence of their table; and we read in an old manuscript of the Northumberland family, that Lord and Lady Percy every morning sat down to breakfast at a table plentifully covered with fish and meat; and that there was allowed every morning for their beverage, at that meal, a quart of strong beer and a quart of wine. The sprightly French who lived on ragouts, confections, and coffee, with a moderate portion of wine, and in general eat but sparingly, were in the constant habit of laughing at the English, for what they denominated gluttony; and Lord Fitzhugh, during the time employed in his negotiation, was subject / to all the sallies of wit, epigram, and punning, for which our Gallic neighbours are still so famous.