Truth reason Trouthe is put doun, resoun is holden fable; Virtue hath no Vertu hathe now noo dominacioun; Pity is merciful Pitee exiled, noo man ys merciable; Through covetousness blinded Thurgh covytyse is blente discrecioun; The worlde hath made permutacioun From right from truth fickleness Fro ryht to wrong, fro trouthe to fikelenesse, That alle ys lost for lakke of stedfastnesse. LENVOYE. O Prince desire to be honourable; Cherish Cherysshe thy folke, and hate extorsioun; Suffer Suffre nothing that may be reprovable estate done To thyn estaate, doon in thy regioun; sword Shew forth the swerde of castigacioun; Dread (fear) truth Drede God, do law, love trouthe and worthinesse, wed folk again And wedde thy folke ayeyne to stedfastnesse. CHAPTER VI. THE EARL OF FLANDERS AGAIN LAYS SIEGE TO GHENT. While the affairs you have heard were passing in England, there was no intermission in the wars which the Earl of Flanders was carrying on against Ghent, and which those citizens waged against him. You know that Philip von Artaveld was chosen commander in Ghent, through the recommendation of Peter du Bois, who advised him, when in office, to become cruel and wicked to be the more feared. Philip did not forget this doctrine, for he had not long been governor of Ghent before he had twelve persons beheaded in his presence: some said they were those who had been principally concerned in the murder of his father, and thus he revenged himself on them. Philip von Artaveld began his reign with great power, and made himself beloved and feared by many, more especially by those who followed the profession of arms: for, to gain their favor, he refused them nothing; every thing was abandoned to them. I may be asked how the Ghent men were able to carry on this war; and I will answer to the best of my ability, according to the information I received. They were firmly united among themselves, and maintained the poor, each according to his means: thus, by being so firmly united, they were of great force. Besides, Ghent, taken all together, is one of the strongest towns in the world, provided Brabant, Zealand, and Holland be not against it; but, in case these countries were leagued with Flanders, they would be shut up, surrounded, and starved.