• . 15a our army ready to defend us againfi our ene-mies; and we hope, through God's afliflance, to be as fortunate as formerly in gaining a victory. c With regard to what you fay of publié ru-mour, that we, or fome of our countrymen, have fought an alliance with the king of Eng-land, and that we are to be aided from thence ; it is a truth that we are fubjects of the crown of France, and that the king is our lord para-mount, to whom we are bounden in allegiance. This we ever have performed. And even in thefe laft days we fent him our letters, as to our fovereign lord, to entreat he would conclude a peace, to which he not only made no reply, but detained and imprifoned our meflenger. This feems to us a blameable conduct in fuch a lord, and ftill greater in him, for we wrote4 to him as to our lord paramount, and hé never conde-scended to fend us any anfwer. Since therefore he has thus acted, we thought ourfelves juftifi-ed infeeking advantage for the country of Flan-. ders from whatever perfons we pleafed,. which has been the càufe of the embafly to England, but nothing hitherto has been concluded. The king may not therefore be too late, provided all the ftrong places fhall be laid open to us. Notwithftanding, we had forbidden thofe of Tournay, the laft time they came to our army, in future to dare to carry any letters or verbal meflage, without proper pafiports ; yet letters and meffages have been carried to Bruges and Ghent ; for which reafon we have imprifoned the meffengers, and we will teach them not to carry