proved this by acceding to all your requests. I believe then that
I am justified in hoping that you will not abandon me to-day when
I have need of your support. Doubtless you are not ignorant of the
condition of my father's treasury at the period of his death. The
majority of his possessions had been sold. His jewels were
in pawn. Nevertheless, the demands of a legitimate vengeance
compelled me to undertake a long and bloody war, during which the
defence of my fortresses and of my cities, and the pay of my
army have necessitated outlays so large that it is impossible to
estimate them. You know, too, that at the very moment when the war
on France was at its height, I was obliged, in order to assure the
protection of my country of Flanders, to take arms against the
English in Hainaut, in Zealand, and in Friesland, a proceeding
costing me more than 10,000 _saluts d'or,_ which I raised with
difficulty. Was I not equally obliged to proceed against Liege, in
behalf of my countship of Namur, which sprang from the bosom of
Flanders? It is not necessary to add to all these outlays those
which I assume daily for the cause of the Christians in Jerusalem,
and the maintenance of the Holy Sepulchre.

"It is true, however, that, yielding to the persuasions of the
pope and the Council, I have now consented to put an end to the
evils multiplied by war by forgetting my father's death, and by
reconciling myself with the king. Since the conclusion of this
treaty, I considered that while I had succeeded in preserving
to my subjects during the war the advantages of industry and of
peace, they had submitted to heavy burdens in taxes and in
voluntary contributions, and that it was my duty to re-establish
order and justice in the administration. But everything went on as
though the war had not ceased. All my frontiers have been menaced,