to the coast; the Scots were supposed to be about to invade from the north, and everything was in confusion. when, on June 21st, the king died.
Richard II., who succeeded him, was a child of about eleven. Those responsible for the government were animated by personal hatreds and animosities, the treasury was empty, the navy was almost non-existent, and, on the other hand, France and Scotland were more formidable than they had ever been.
Jean de Vienne struck promptly. He put to sea from Harfleur, with Reyner Grimaldi, Jean de Raix, and De Torcy as his seconds, and, leaving a few ships to watch Jersey and Guernsey, crossed over to the coast of Sussex. On June 29th,[1] he landed near Rye, and plundered and burnt the town. Before Winchelsea he was repelled; but at Rottingdean he defeated a small force, and, advancing to Lewes, took, sacked, and burnt it. Re-embarking, he went to Folkestone, Portsmouth, Dartmouth, and Plymouth, all of which he laid in ashes. By the beginning of August he was back at Harfleur.
England was more occupied in the crowning of her child-king than in fighting the enemy; but ships were arrested, men were called out for service by sea and land, and the two admirals who had held office at the end of the last reign were reappointed.
After assisting the Duke of Burgundy for a short time at the siege of Calais, Jean de Vienne put to sea again, with a view to prevent reinforcements from being sent from England to the besieged; but, being driven by an easterly wind to the coast of the Isle of Wight, and finding it to be almost undefended, he landed there, apparently near Yarmouth, and levied a thousand marks from the inhabitants. Thence he made a hasty demonstration against Southampton; attacked and burnt first Poole and then Hastings; created a scare at Dover; and on September 10th, was again before Calais. After lying there for seven days he was compelled by bad weather to go to Harfleur, where, probably to the immense relief of the English, he laid up his ships for the winter.[2]
When Parliament met in October, there were fresh complaints concerning the state of impotence to which the navy had fallen;
