'Item, in respect to what relates to the king having (at the solicitations of the count de Hainault, whose soul may God pardon!) from a love of peace, granted to the duke of Burgundy and those who had served him, many handsome gifts, but which the duke made light of,—
'The duke replies, that from his anxiety to preserve peace and union in France, which he has ever felt and feels from the bottom of his heart, he waited on my lord the dauphin lately deceased, and my lord of Hainault, to whose souls may God shew mercy! and after much conversation relative to a peace, the duke of Burgundy offered them a schedule of his terms for the conclusion thereof, with all who may be desirous of partaking of it, with the exception of king Louis of Sicily, lately deceased, on account of disputes that existed between them: with this proposal, the dauphin and the count de Hainault were perfectly satisfied. For the accomplishment of which, they were to meet at Compiegne, as every dispatch would be necessary, the sooner to put an end to the miseries of war. However, those traitors who surround the king, by their intrigues, protracted the business for three months, or thereabout, without coming to any final decision.
'The count de Hainault at length went to Paris, and, by means of the queen, procured from these traitors a sort of agreement to the offers of peace, with which he was satisfied; but during these negotiations, he privately learnt, that it was intended to arrest him and the queen, and imprison them, that they might manage the dauphin as they should please; and this information caused the count de Hainault to quit Paris precipitately and return to Compiegne, where soon after the dauphin was carried off from this life in a most wicked and damnable manner, which has been before related in different letters patent from the duke of Burgundy.
'After the dauphin's decease, the count de Hainault returned to his own county, whither was addressed the answer of the king's ministers to the proposals for peace, which much displeased him: he said, that since the death of the dauphin, they had changed their minds, and totally altered and perverted what had before been agreed upon. This answer he sent to the duke of Burgundy, who, having maturely considered it with his council, found it was highly derogatory to the honour and welfare of the king and his realm, as well as to himself the duke of Burgundy, and paid no regard to it. Instigated, however, by such conduct, he dispatched into several parts of the kingdom a manifesto, declaratory of the ruin of the country were the present ministers continued in power, and his firm resolution to do every thing to prevent it, by driving them from about the person of the king.
'This declaration he presented himself to the count de Hainault during his last illness, who having heard the contents read, was very willing that it should be published throughout his dominions, saying, that it was well done of the duke of Burgundy; for the traitors that surrounded the king were worse than imagination could form an idea of, making at the same time an offer of his personal services, should God grant him the grace to recover from his illness; and should sickness detain him, he offered the duke the aid of his vassals, friends, wellwishers, and money. He then swore, by a round oath, that if he had not suddenly left Paris, the traitors intended to have arrested the queen and himself, as is now notorious from their subsequent conduct to the queen; for they laid hands on her, and took possession of every thing she possessed, to the great disgrace of the king and of all his family.
'It is likewise true, that when the duke of Burgundy was at Lagny, the duke of Brittany ran great risks at Paris, and was forced to depart thence because he was desirous of procuring a peace to France. The count de Hainault also added, with a great oath, that were the English at one of the gates of Paris, and the duke of Burgundy at another, they would permit the English to enter the city rather than the duke of Burgundy. All these things did the count de Hainault say in the presence of madame de Hainault, my lord de Charolois, my lord de St Pol, the treasurer of Hainault, John the bastard, master Eustace de Lactre, my lord de Champdivers, and several others.
'It is very clear that the king's ministers have no inclination to promote the good of the realm; for they have lately caused the declaratory letters of the duke of Burgundy to be publicly burnt in the courts of the palace at Paris, in which the duke offered peace to all who were willing to accept of it from him, as has been before related. This act is but a poor revenge on their part, and a pitiful weakness thus to burn a few skins of parchment.
'Item, to conclude; that all persons may know the will and intention of the duke of Burgundy, he thus declares publicly that he shall persist in his present line of conduct until he shall have had a long audience of the king, to remonstrate with him on the enormous abuses committed by the present government, and to lay before him the means of reformation, which are such as must be satisfactory to his majesty, and to every honest man in the kingdom,—notwithstanding the duke had offered, by his declaratory letters, peace to all, but which the king's ministers would not accept, and have persevered in their wickedness.
'The duke of Burgundy, desirous of procuring peace to the kingdom, which is in so great want of it, is willing to lay aside all thoughts of revenge for the numerous insults offered him, and again proposes peace on the same terms on which he has before done.'
When the duke of Burgundy had, as he thought, fully answered all the charges made against him in the paper of instructions given by the king's order to the lord de Canny, a fair copy was written thereof, and delivered to the lord de Canny, who took leave of the duke and returned to the king at Paris, carrying the above answers with him.