Hè had brought tlie prince of Wiles with him; id order that Jacob vop Artaveld's promifes might be rçalifed. " ' • , The king remained on board his fleet in the har-bour of Sluys, where he kept his court. • His friends in Flanders came thither to fee and vifit him': and there were many conferences between the king and Jacob von Artaveld on one fide, and the councils from the different capital towns on the other, rela-tive to ' the agreement before mentioned ; as to which, thofe from the country did not unite in fen-timent with the king nor with von Artaveld, who kept continually reminding them of their quarrel, and exhorting them to difinherit earl Lewis, their natural lord, and his young fon Lewis, in favour of the fon of the king of England : but they de-clared they never would confent to fuch a thing. At the laft conference, which was held in the har-bour of SluyS) on board the king's Ihip, the Ca-therine ( which was of fuch an enormous fize that wonders might be told of it), they made this una-nimous reply : ' Dear fir, the requeft you hâve made ]bas given us much uneafinefs, and may in times to come be prejudicial to Flanders and our fucceflbrs. Tru# it is, that there is not in the world any prince whom we love fo much, or for whofe profit and advantage we would exert ourfelves fo greatly, as for you : but we alonç cannot agree to this propo-fition, unlefs all the commonalties of Flanders give their confent. Therefore each of us will return to our different towns, and will explain, in a .general way, this bufinefs to the inhabitants: when, if the greater