'Very dear and most beloved uncle, I commend myself to you by all possible means; and may it please you to know that, for some time past, I have, with sorrow, heard the clamours of the greater part of the princes of our blood, and of the nobles of the kingdom, on the wretched state of the government of France, owing to the advice and counsels of those wicked persons by whom my lord and sovereign is surrounded, who, for their own profit, and disorderly ambition, have not only caused a hatred and coolness between my lord and you and me, but also have estranged him from the friendship of the kings of Scotland and Castille, whose alliance with the crown of France has been of so long a date, as is well known to every one. 'I shall not here mention how the affairs of the church, and of justice, have been administered, nor how the nobles have been maintained in their rights and usages, or the poorer ranks guarded from oppression, as I know that you are well informed as to such matters, and as they are so very disagreeable for me to dwell upon, from the nearness of my connexion with my said lord. Wishing, however, to profit from your counsel, and that of those other princes and nobles who have offered me their fullest support in providing a remedy for such crying abuses, and also to escape from personal danger, for I had daily heard such conversations between my lord and his ministers as gave me cause of suspicion, I departed from my lord's court, and have taken refuge with my fair cousin of Brittany, who has given me a reception for which I never can enough praise him, and has promised to support me personally, and with all his powers, for the welfare of the kingdom, and the public good. 'It is, therefore, very dear and beloved uncle, my intention to act with you and the other lords my relatives, whose counsels I shall follow, and none others, for the restoring of this desolated kingdom; for I know you are one of the greatest of its princes,--and in its welfare you are more concerned, as the dean of the peerage, and a prince of such high renown, and who has been so highly displeased with the present disorders in the government. I wish, therefore, that you and my other relatives would assemble to consult on the surest means of bringing about a reformation of the abuses and grievances that exist in every branch of the government, to the relief of the poor people, who are unable longer to bear their burdens, and of restoring order in the better administration of justice and the finances, to the great happiness of the realm, and to the eternal honour of those who shall, with God's pleasure, so usefully employ themselves.