agnificence, and the arid details of
bills paid show what it cost to attain the vaunted perfection, while
the protests from taxpayers prove that this splendour did not grow
like the lilies of the field.

[Illustration: FRONTISPIECE OF AN ACCOUNT-BOOK XVTH CENTURY]

Philip's treasury had many separate compartments. There were many
quarters to which he could turn for his needed supplies, but there
were times when his exchequer ran very threateningly low, and his
financial stress led him to be very conciliatory towards the burghers
with full purses.

In 1445, Ghent had been honoured by the celebration of the feast of
the Order of the Golden Fleece within her gates. Two years later,
Philip appeared in person at a meeting of the _collace_, or municipal
assembly, and delivered a harangue to the Ghentish magistrates and
burghers, flattering them, moreover, by using their vernacular. The
tenor of this speech was as follows[10]:

"My good and faithful friends, you know how I have been brought
up among you from my infancy. That is why I have always loved you
more than the inhabitants of all my other cities, and I have
proved this by acceding to all your requests. I believe then that
I am justified in hoping that you will not abandon me to-day when
I have need of your support. Doubtless you are not ignorant of the
condition of my father's treasury at the period of his death. The
majority of his possessions had been sold. His jewels were
in pawn. Nevertheless, the demands of a legitimate vengeance
compelled me to undertake a long and bloody war, during which the
defence of my fortresses and of my cities, and the pay of my
army have necessitated outlays so large that it is impossible to
estimate them. You know, too, that at the very moment when the war
on France was at its height, I was obliged, in order to assure the
protection of my country of Flanders, to take arms against the
English in Hainaut, in Zealand, and in Friesland, a proceeding
costing me more than 10,000 _saluts d'or,_ which I raised with
difficulty. Was I not equally obliged to proceed against Liege, in
behalf of my countship of Namur, which sprang from the bosom of
Flanders? It is not necessary to add to all these outlays those
which I assume daily for the cause of the Christians in Jerusalem,
and the maintenance of the Holy Sepulchre.

"It is true, however, that, yield