t to bring his whole complement of one thousand
men. It was a great humiliation to him to do this after having
formally agreed to engage the men, but he felt compelled, by the
necessity of the case, to do so, and he accordingly wrote to the baron
the following letter:

"MY LORD D'ALBRET,

"Whereas, out of our liberal bounty, we have retained you,
with a thousand lances, to serve under us in the expedition
which, through the grace of God, we intend speedily to
undertake and briefly to finish, having duly considered the
business, and the costs and expenses we are at, we have
resolved that several of our vassals should remain at home
in order to guard the territories. For these causes, it has
been determined in our council that you shall serve in this
expedition with two hundred lances only. You will choose the
two hundred out from the rest, and the remainder you will
leave at home to follow their usual occupations.

"May God have you under his holy protection.

"Given at Bordeaux, the eighth day of December.

"EDWARD."

This letter was sealed with the great seal of the prince, and sent to
D'Albret, who was in his own country, busily engaged in assembling and
equipping his men, and making the other necessary preparations. The
baron was exceedingly indignant when he received the letter. In those
days, every man that was capable of bearing arms liked much better to
be taken into the service of some prince or potentate going to war
than to remain at home to cultivate the ground in quiet industry.
D'Albret knew, therefore, very well, that his vassals and retainers
would be all greatly disappointed to learn that four fifths of their
whole number were, after all, to remain at home, and then, besides
this, his own importance in the campaign would be greatly diminished
by reducing the force under his command from one thousand to two
hundred men. He was extremely angry when he read the letter.

"How is this?" he exclaimed. "My lord the Prince of Wales trifles with
me when he orders me to disband eight hundred knights and squires
whom, by his command, I have retained, and have diverted from other
means of obtaining profit and honor." Then he called for a secretary,
and said to him in a rage,

"Write what I shall dictate to you."

The secretary wrote as follows from his master's dictation:

"MY DEAR LORD,

"I am mar