Here follows a copy of those royal ordinances before mentioned.
'Charles, by the grace of God, king of France, to the bailiff of Amiens, and to each of the inhabitants of that town, greeting.—We make known to you, that on account of the improper and unjust imprisonment of our very dear and well beloved cousin and brother in law, the dukes of Bar and of Bavaria, with other of our officers, as well as of the households of our dear companion the queen, and of our well beloved son the duke of Acquitaine, and other ladies and damsels attached to them; our very dear cousin and nephew, the king of Sicily, the duke of Bourbon, the counts of Alençon and of Eu, have made heavy complaints, as well respecting the manner in which these imprisonments were made, as likewise regarding the disgust which these events, and others that have taken place in our good town of Paris, have caused to our very dear son; and on this occasion the disaffected princes have lately come to the town of Verneuil, whither we sent, on our part, properly-instructed ambassadors, and also with them our very dear uncles the dukes of Berry and of Burgundy.
'Some of the inhabitants of Paris went by our orders to Pontoise; and our aforesaid cousin and nephews the king of Sicily, the dukes of Orleans, of Bourbon, and the counts d'Alençon and d'Eu, came to the town of Vernon, and thence sent their ambassadors to explain and signify to our aforesaid uncle and cousin the dukes of Berry and of Burgundy, and to our ambassadors, the cause of their complaints, and to remonstrate on the perils of the war that would speedily ensue unless their grievances were redressed.
'These matters having been fully discussed, proposals of peace and union between all parties were brought forward to avoid the miseries of a civil war. Many articles were agreed on: the first was, that a solid peace should be established between the princes of the blood royal, which they were solemnly to swear to observe, and mutually to exchange deeds to this effect; but every one was to have the same liberty as before of declaring his opinion.
'The whole of the articles seemed very reasonable to the members of the university of Paris and of our court of parliament, as well as to many of the good citizens of our town of Paris, who were ready to examine them more fully, and report their opinion to us on the Thursday following.
'But notwithstanding this approbation, there were some of low degree and narrow minds, who by their own authority had seized on the government of the city of Paris, and who have been the cause of the war continuing so long, in order the better to keep their authority. These persons excited some of the princes of the blood and others to war by their false machinations, with the hope that their murders and robberies would remain unpunished, and that they should escape the vengeance due to their crimes. In consequence, by persevering in their wickedness, they practised so effectually that the meeting which had been appointed for Thursday was put off to Saturday the 5th of the month, in the expectation that they should before that day be enabled, by their base intrigues, to prevent peace from being agreed to,—the truth of which, under the pleasure of God, shall shortly be made public. But through the grace of God, the university of Paris, our chambers of parliament and of accounts, the different religious orders, and the principal inhabitants of Paris assembled,—and having many fears of the ill-intentioned preventing that peace which they most earnestly wished for, by every attempt to obstruct so great a blessing as peace and union throughout the kingdom, came to us at our hôtel of St Pol in the afternoon, and desired an audience for the purpose of remonstrating on the happy effects that would ensue from the establishment of peace.
'They demonstrated the blessings of peace and the evils of war, and the necessity there was for proceeding instantly to the completion of the articles that had been agreed to by the ambassadors on each side,—and demanded, that the Saturday which had been fixed on should be anticipated, by naming the ensuing Friday, and that proper regulations should be made for the security of the city.
'On the Friday, those who were desirous of peace went to the town-house in the Greve, thinking to meet their friends, and come with them to us in our hôtel of St Pol; but they were prevented by those ill inclined to peace, who, though of low degree, had before come to our said hôtel, and with them some varlets, all armed under authority of the government which they had usurped over the city of Paris.—On this account, therefore, these prudent wellwishers to peace assembled in the square of St Germain de l'Auxerrois in Paris, and in other places, in great numbers and with firm courage; and though the others did every thing in their power to throw obstacles in their way, in all their attempts they were baffled.
'This assembly, on breaking up, left St Germain in regular order, as they had determined on; and on appearing in our presence, as well as in the presence of our son, our uncle and cousins, the dukes of Acquitaine, Berry, and Burgundy, with others of our council, a peace was agreed on, and the articles ordered to be carried into execution. Punishment was at the same time, to the great joy of the sober citizens, ordered to be inflicted, according to reason and justice, on all who had any way attempted to prevent a peace being made.
'Immediately after this had been done, and our will declared, our son, our uncle and our cousin aforesaid, mounted their horses, and went to set at liberty our cousin and brother-in-law the dukes of Bar and of Bavaria, who had for a long time been confined in the Louvre, and also many other knights and officers of our own and our son's households, who had been imprisoned for some time in the dungeons of the palace and of the Châtelet, by force of the aforesaid evil minded and low persons, who, now perceiving that good government was likely to be restored, according to reason and justice, hid themselves like foxes, or fled,—and since that time, it has not been known where they may be found or arrested.