In one of the volumes forming part of that valuable collection published by the French {11} government,and commenced, I believe, under the auspices of M. Guizot, namely, the _Documens inédits sur l'Histoire de France_, the following passage attracted my notice: "Il (M. de Bréquigny) a prouvé par des titres authentiques et inconnus jusqu'à présent, qu'Eustache de St. Pierre, dont on a si fort vanté le dévouement pour les habitans de Calais, fut séduit par Edouard, et qu'il reçut de ce prince des pensions et des possessions fort peu de temps après la prise de cette place, aux conditions d'y maintenir le bon ordre, et de la conserver à l'Angleterre."--See _Lettres de Rois, &c._, vol. i. Preface, p. cix. The above statement is founded on a memoir read before the Académie des Belles-Lettres by M. de Bréquigny, respecting the researches made by him in London (see _Mém. de l'Acad. des Belles-Lettres_, tom. xxxvii.). Lingard throws a doubt over the matter. He says: "Froissart has dramatised this incident with considerable effect; but, I fear, with little attention to truth.... Even in Froissart there is nothing to prove that Edward designed to put these men to death. On the contrary, he takes notice that the King's refusal of mercy was accompanied with a wink to his attendants, which, if it meant anything, must have meant that he was not acting seriously."--_Lingard_, 3rd edit. 1825, vol. iv. p. 79., note 85. Again, in Hume: "The story of the six burgesses of Calais, like all extraordinary stories, is somewhat to be suspected; and so much the more, as Avesbury, who is particular in his narrative of the surrender of Calais, says nothing of it, and, on the contrary, extols in general the King's generosity and lenity to the inhabitants."--_Hume_, 8vo. 1807, vol. ii., note H. Both Hume and Lingard mention that Edward expelled the natives of Calais, and repeopled the place with Englishmen; but they say nothing as to Eustache de St. Pierre becoming a pensioner of the King's "aux conditions d'y maintenir le bon ordre, et de la conserver à l'Angleterre." Châteaubriand (_Etudes Hist._, 1831, 8vo., tome iv. p. 104.) gives Froissart's narrative, by which he abides, at the same time complaining of the "esprit de dénigrement" which he says prevailed towards the end of the last century in regard to heroic actions. Regarding Queen Philippa's share in the transaction above referred to, M. de Bréquigny says: "La reine, qu'on suppose avoir été si touchée du malheur des six bourgeois dont elle venait de sauver la vie, ne laissa pas d'obtenir, peu de jours après, la confiscation des maisons que Jean d'Acre, l'un d'eux, avait possédées dans Calais."