'But what has astonished us the most, and which we would not have believed if sad experience had not convinced us of it, they have frequently advanced even to the walls of our good town of Paris, the principal seat of government and justice of our realm, and have attempted to enter it by fraud, to commit similar crimes to those they had done in other towns; and more particularly, a few nights since they made one of these mad and foolish attempts. 'They have also marched large bodies of armed men to the gates of the said town, knowing, at the same time, that we, our very dear companion the queen, and our son the duke of Touraine, with others of our blood, were personally within it. They then endeavoured fraudulently to gain admittance, which, should they have affected, (but through God's pleasure they failed,) murders, thefts, rapines, rapes, and every horrid mischief would have ensued to the ruin of that town, and, consequently, to the destruction of the church and kingdom. 'We point out, therefore, the before-mentioned persons as guilty of these atrocious acts, and call on our faithful and loyal subjects to assist us heartily in putting an end to their very heinous misdeeds. There is very clear evidence of this last fact; for when they found they could not by any means enter our said town of Paris, like madmen they gallopped off for the town of Beaumont-sur-Oise, belonging to our very dear and well beloved son and nephew the duke of Orleans, now prisoner in England, and on their march seized horses from the plough, and robbed and made prisoners every traveller they met. After this, they took the said town and castle by storm, plundered it, and killed or drowned very many of townsmen. In like manner they took the town of Nesle in Vermandois, and had before done the same to our town of Chablis[51], to the castle of Néant, belonging to the monks of La Charité sur Loire, with numbers of other castles, towns and villages, laying violent hands on women of all descriptions, violating them like beasts, pillaging churches and other sacred edifices, of which we are every day receiving the most melancholy accounts and lamentations. 'Greater mischiefs our ancient enemies the English would not, nor could not do; but these wretches, perversely wicked, add daily sin to sin, publicly shewing themselves rebels, and disobedient to our positive commands. They thus render themselves deserving of the severest punishments, and unworthy of the smallest grace, by holding ourselves and our sovereign power in perfect contempt.