they propofed various agreements and reafons to the king, which made him frequently out of humour and in a paffion ; but they did not pay much atr tention to this, for they had received inftru&ions from thé king of France and his council how to ad and what to fay. ttfhen the king of France had received fuch in* formation as he could depend on, that the inhabi-tants of Abbeville were in their hearts Frenchmen ; f hat the war was begun in Gafcony ; that all the men at arms ÎE the kingdom of France were pre. pared, and eager to wage war upon the prince of Wales and to enter his territories ; he wa$ anxious that no reproach might be caft on him, either at the prefent moment, or in times to come, for havr ing ordered an army into the territories of the king pf England, or the prince of Wales, to take cities, caftles, towns or fortrefles, without having fent them a challenge : he therefore refolved to defy the king of England ; which he did by fealed letters. One of his valets, who was from Brittany, carried them. He met Dover the e^l of Salt^burg and fir William des Dormant, who were returning from England to France, having accompliftied the fcufinefs they had been fent on. The Breton, ac-cording to the orders he had received, told them what • he was going about ; which they no fooner heard than they fet off as quiékly as poffible, and crofled the fea. They were very happy when they found themfelves ip the tpwn and fortrefs of Bou-logne. • ' .. . About