THE KING OF FRANCE HOLDS A GRAND ASSEMBLY AT PARIS ON THE REFORMATION
OF ABUSES IN THE GOVERNMENT.—OTHER MATTERS.
The king of France, by the advice of the duke of Burgundy, summoned
the greater part of the princes, prelates, heads of universities,
and principal citizens of the great towns, to Paris, to consider on
several matters of great importance to the kingdom in general, and more
especially respecting the reformation of his ministers, who had for a
long time very ill governed the realm.
When this assembly had held many consultations on the subjects laid
before it, its members determined that the university of Paris should
make their report in the name of all,—which report was delivered to
the king, at his hôtel of St Pol, in manner following.
'To our most high and most excellent prince, our sovereign lord and
father. Your most humble and devoted daughter the university of
Paris, your very submissive and obedient subjects the provost of the
merchants, the sheriffs and citizens of your good town of Paris, lay
before you their opinions and advice, as required by you, for the
welfare and happiness of yourself and kingdom.
'In the first place, respecting the peace that has been lately
concluded between certain princes of your royal blood, according to
the terms your majesty has been pleased to lay before us, we say, that
all who have sworn solemnly to keep this peace, and have hitherto
observed it, ought to continue this same conduct, in pursuance of their
intentions sworn to before God: but we think that you should summon
certain others of the lords of your blood, and of their principal
servants, to swear personally before you to keep the peace; and that
for many reasons,—first, because they never yet have taken the said
oaths,—secondly, because many among them do not keep the peace.
'It is a notorious fact, that although the English are in your kingdom,
and in conjunction with other companies, as well natives as foreigners,
daily commit waste on the country, scarcely any attempts have been made
to oppose their further progress, and petitions and clamours arise
throughout the realm.
'Item, the count d'Armagnac, who is your subject, pays no regard to the
peace; and, so far from observing it, is constantly making war on your
more faithful subjects.
'Item, for the better observance of this peace, we recommend that
your majesty should cause letters to be drawn up, in which all the
articles of the treaty shall be incorporated, and sent to the different
officers, or to whomsoever else you may please, with orders to make
known all transgressors of them, that they may be punished accordingly.
'With regard to the second point on which you, our sovereign lord,
demand our advice, having fully considered all that concerns your own
honour and welfare, with every thing that may tend to the prosperity
of the kingdom, we feel ourselves obliged to make known to you what we
perceive to be defects in your government. We must begin by the bad
administration of the public finances, to which you, as king, ought
to have caused more faithful attention to be paid. We recommend, in
the first place, that the revenues of the royal demesne be divided
into four parts: one to be distributed in alms, another to defray the
expenses of your majesty, those of the queen, the duke of Acquitaine,
and your household; another to pay the salaries of your officers and
servants; another to be applied to the repairs of bridges, roads,
mills, castles, causeways, or other public works,—and the overplus to
be paid into the king's treasury, as was formerly done.
'Item, it clearly appears, that the finances are not at this present
time so regulated, which, is the fault of your treasurers, who have the
administration of them. The religious of both sexes, as well belonging
to convents as to hospitals, are frequently forced to expend their own
money on the repairs of their churches, without deriving any assistance
from the royal treasury, to their great detriment, to the loss of their
personal comforts, the ruin of the churches, and the failure of divine
service, to the prejudice of the souls of your predecessors, and to the
oppression of your own conscience.
'In regard to alms, it is well known that scarcely any thing is
paid; and as to the expenses of yourself, the queen, and the duke of
Acquitaine, which are regulated by sir Pierre de Fontenay, and paid
by Raymond Ragnier and Jean Pie, clerks of the exchequer, they are
found to amount to four hundred and fifty thousand francs, as well
received from the royal demesnes as from other sources; whereas in
former times only ninety-two thousand francs were received for this
purpose, and your predecessors kept up a royal state, and the tradesmen
were regularly paid, notwithstanding the smallness of the sum: but at
present this is far from being the case, for the tradesmen are not
only unpaid, but your household and those of the queen and the duke of
Acquitaine are frequently broken up.
'Even so lately as Thursday last, this disgrace happened to the
household of the queen,—whence it appears, that these sums are not
employed for your expenses, but wasted at the will of your ministers,
and among their favourites, as we shall more fully explain at a proper
time and place.
'In former days, the sum raised for the expenses of the queen's
household was but thirty-six thousand francs; but at present, one
hundred and forty thousand are raised on this account, from taxes
independant of the revenues of her demesnes. This difference proceeds
from the fault of the administrators of this department, the principal
of whom is Raymond Ragnier, the treasurer; and he has so managed
this money destined for the use of the queen that he has purchased
large estates, and built fine houses, as may be seen both in town and
country. The management of this part of the finances should be examined
into; for beside the regular receipt, other sums are demanded by way of
extraordinaries.
'Item, there are also great abuses in the offices of the master of
your wardrobe, and of the treasury; for those who have the direction
receive very large sums of money, and dispose of them otherwise than in
the payment of your debts or to your advantage: the salaries of your
officers and servants are consequently in arrear, and those who have
supplied your table with provision and wine cannot get their money.
Of course, these sums must be applied to their own use, as is very
apparent from the great state they live in, from the number of their
horses and other luxuries,—as in the instance of Raymond Ragnier, who,
in purchasing and building, has expended, as it is said, upward of
thirty thousand francs.
'Charlot Poupart, master of the wardrobe, and master William Budé,
storekeeper, have also made great acquisitions of property, and live
at an immense expense, which cannot be done from the salaries of their
office, nor from their estates before they had these offices given to
them.
'There are likewise great defects in the management of your stables,
which is an office of very great receipt, and the prodigious sums that
are there expended are not for your honour nor profit.
'Item, in regard to the salaries of the officers of your household,
they are very ill paid at the treasury; nor are their payments any way
regular, so that they suffer very great poverty, and are unable to
appear before you so decently dressed as they would wish. There are,
however, some favourites among them that are very well paid.
'With respect to the repairs of your castles, mills and other public
works, they are all going to ruin; and as for the overplus that should
remain to be paid into your private treasury, there is not at this
moment one penny,—although in the days of king Philip, king John, and
king Charles, when the receipt was not any thing like what it is now,
there were savings, but the treasury was then far better managed.
'We must likewise observe, that this kind of management of the finances
has been continued for nearly thirty years,—and that those who have
had the administration of them have no way attended to your honour or
profit, or to the good of the kingdom, but solely to their own private
emolument.
'It therefore befits your said daughter the university of Paris to
lay before you the following facts, that a better administration
of your finances may be adopted. In the first place, you have too
many treasurers, who have increased since the time before mentioned,
from the additional business in the office; and several have forced
themselves into it, who before the expiration of the year have been
removed to make way for others of more popularity in the country. God
knows, they would not be so eager to be admitted into this office, were
it not for the plundering daily going on there; and if a treasurer do
not yearly gain from four to five thousand francs, he thinks he is
badly off. Where formerly there were but two treasurers, there are now
five or six from the great increase of business, and at times there are
six or seven. Thus, it is clear as the day, that you lose every year
from sixteen to twenty thousand francs, from the bad conduct of your
treasurers. When they are admitted to their office, they pay not any
attention to the discharge of the necessary disbursements, nor to the
oaths they took on admission, but solely to the enormous grants that
have been surreptitiously obtained, which are paid from their general
receipt.
'In regard to the other offices where the net receipt is paid, it
passes through so many hands that immense fortunes are made from the
exorbitant fees claimed by the treasurers: these are Andrieu Guiffart,
Burel Dampmartin, Regnier de Bouligney, Jean Guerin, and the director
Nicolle Bonet, who was clerk to his predecessor in office, Jean Chayf,
and the clerk master Guy Bouchier, who are all of them useless and
guilty of mismanagement, except Jean Guerin, who has but lately come
into the office, and has not as yet misbehaved himself.
'Andrieu Guiffart is particularly culpable for having wasted all the
patrimony he had received from his father. He was appointed, through
the influence of the provost of Paris, (who is his cousin by the
mother's side) to one of the treasurerships, where he has amassed such
sums of money that he wears nothing but sapphires, rubies, and other
precious diamonds, with the most costly dresses, and rides the best of
horses. He lives in the utmost state with his side-boards covered with
plate of every description for ornament and use.
'Item, formerly it was not necessary to have a treasurer for the
criminal prosecutions, but only an occasional counsellor; but now there
are four counsellors, who receive very large sums to your prejudice.
'In regard to the administration of those taxes called Aides, there
are officers appointed for that purpose called Generals, through whose
hands pass all that is ordered for the carrying on the wars, amounting,
one year with another, to twelve thousand francs. The aforesaid
treasurers, by the connivance of these generals, manage the finances
very badly; for they commonly obtain their places through the influence
of friends, to whom the generals make great gifts, to your loss. The
salaries of these generals amount to from two to four thousand francs
yearly each; and if a general remain in office for two years, he will
acquire from nine to ten thousand francs, or some such great sum, by
private gifts, and which are sometimes levied on the properties of
great lords without their knowledge: particulars of such conduct, and
false certificates, were discovered during the late inquiries for the
reformation of abuses.
'There is also another office, wrongfully called the Treasury of
Savings, under the government of Anthony des Essars, for which the
sum of about one hundred and twenty thousand francs is taken from the
taxes. In former times, this chest for savings was kept under two
locks, of which you had one key, to take from it any sum that should
be wanting for yourself or your kingdom. Those, however, who now have
the management of it have so acted that there is not one penny in
the chest, nor is it known who in the world has been bettered by it,
excepting the administrators, with the consent of those they found
in the office, by drawing out false statements of expenses, to your
prejudice.
'Item, this aforesaid Anthony has the keeping of your wardrobe and
jewels, and is so negligent that whatever may be wanting for your
dress is bought from day to day, of which he alone is culpable.
'Item, after this comes another office, called the Cofferers, held by
Maurice de Rully, who, in general, receives daily ten golden crowns,
which he ought to deliver into your hands to spend according to your
pleasure; but the coffers are empty, for he has dissipated their
contents,—and under shadow of this office, immense sums have been
wasted, as shall be spoken of in proper time and place.
'The manner in which you, the queen and the duke of Acquitaine, are
pillaged, is easily shown; for when you have need of a speedy sum of
money for the war, or for any other urgent necessity, application
must be made to certain money-lenders, who, for usury, make a traffic
of money, and supply your wants on having your plate and jewels in
pawn, and at an exorbitant loss in the interest paid for these loans,
insomuch that what may be worth ten thousand francs costs you fifteen
or sixteen; and thus your losses are annually very great from these
usurious practices and pretended exchanges. You may readily suppose
that your officers must be accomplices in this traffic, and that this
alone will occasion such an empty treasury. Your inferior servants are
much distressed and ill treated; and in this manner are not only your
own affairs but those of the princes of your blood managed, without any
exception.
'Item, it is proper that you should be made acquainted with the tricks
and deceit of those officers called Generals, in the receipt of your
finances. When any receiver shall have lent you a sum amounting to five
or six thousand crowns over and above his receipt, he is dismissed from
his office, to prevent him from reimbursing himself, and another put in
his place, who will receive the whole of the taxes in that department.
When, therefore, there shall be little or nothing to receive, he that
was dismissed will be replaced in his office, provided he has made
sufficient presents to his superior officers. By this means, the
aforesaid receiver can neither be paid nor pay what he owes; and thus
they ride one on another, to the ruin of your finances,—and you drink
your wine sour.
'Item, when there is an ambassador to be sent, or even a simple canon
to be dispatched to a foreign country, money for their expenses must be
borrowed from usurers; and it frequently happens that the aforesaid
ambassador cannot depart for want of money, which renders the embassy
useless, and the kingdom suffers greatly from it.
'Item, it is also necessary that you should know what is become of all
the money that for these last two years has been raised, as well from
the domains of the crown as from the very numerous and heavy taxes and
impositions of all sorts, of which the provost of Paris has, as is
notorious, taken on himself the management, and styled himself Director
and General Superintendant of the Finances.
'Item, it should likewise be remembered, that other great officers,
as well as the provost, have held many offices of importance, which
they have sold, and pocketed the amount, to your great disadvantage
and contrary to your royal edicts, and also to the prejudice of the
kingdom,—for, by this system, ignorant and improper persons are put
into the said offices.
'Item, the provost of Paris, who had held for some time the office of
grand master of waters and forests, has now resigned it to the lord de
Jury, for which six thousand francs have been levied. But beside the
provostship of Paris, he holds the government of the town of Cherbourg
and its dependancies, which brings him an annual rent of six thousand
francs, with the government of Nemours, amounting to two thousand
more. Your income is also ruined by another mode, namely, by the
immense number of receivers, treasurers, clerks, comptrollers and other
officers, who swallow enormous sums by way of fees, over and above
the regular fees of office, of which the provost and his dependants
have the greater share, and which they regard as their own personal
property, to your great loss, and to the delay of payments to many of
your faithful servants, knights, and counsellors of state. It is daily
witnessed, that when a young man has been appointed to any of the above
offices, however poor his situation may have been before, or how little
versed he may be in the management of public affairs, he soon becomes
rich, keeps a grand establishment, and purchases large estates and
manors, all at your expense.
'There are great frauds committed by your treasurers of the war
department, who are accustomed to take from your knights and esquires
blank receipts sealed by them, of which they make a very bad use,
as they know to their cost: but they can more fully inform you on
this head than we can. It is melancholy to hear their complaints of
the delays in the payment of their salaries, which are always much
curtailed, at least to the greater part of them. It is consequently now
become a rule among your men at arms, when their salary is in arrear,
to pay themselves from the countries they are quartered in, saying,
that, since they cannot obtain their pay, they must live by their
service.
'Item, whenever these directors or superintendants of your finances are
called upon, they make answer, that they are ready to produce their
accounts, as if that were sufficient, and even go so far as to desire
commissioners may be appointed to inspect and examine them; but, under
correction, this answer is futile,—and if the real culprits are to be
discovered, let their original state, and what substance they possessed
before they entered into office, be inquired into,—what the amount
of their salaries and fees, how much their reasonable expenditure,
and then what is their present income, what estates they possess, and
what buildings they have erected. It is notorious, that the superior
officers are rich and magnificent, but that they were indigent before
their appointments to office, and that some of them have purchased
houses of great value, namely, master Jean Chastegnier, Guillaume
Luce, and Nicaise Bouses. To say the truth, every loyal subject must
be astonished and grieved at heart when he witnesses such management,
that you, their lawful prince and sovereign, should be thus robbed, and
that all your finances should be lodged in such beggarly purses, by the
aforesaid, whose purses are swollen out, and by those who have preceded
them, without any regard to your own wants, or to those of the state.
'Item, since mention has been made of the grand state in which many
live, it seems to your daughter, that such a style of living is too
generally adopted throughout your kingdom; and she fears, from the
evils that daily result from it, lest God may be angered against his
people.
'Item, in regard to the great councils, they are not held in the
manner they ought to be; for generally almost every one is admitted,
whereas none but wise and discreet men, such as knights and clerks,
should be suffered to enter, to a competent number receiving pay and
salaries from you, and from none other,—and these should always
have an attentive eye to your personal profit and honour, and to
the strengthening of your crown and kingdom. It frequently happens,
from the numbers admitted, that business of every sort is neglected
or delayed, and that when any good resolution has been made, as now
and then will be the case, it remains unexecuted, However nearly it
may affect your interests.—Foreign ambassadors should have their
negotiations terminated, and our own should be dispatched; and whenever
any thing conclusive has, by mature deliberation, been settled, it
ought not to be broken off by a few persons afterward, as has often
happened.
'Item, it is very distressing to hear such loud complaints of the
debility of your government in protracting business. We even see the
lord de Mouberon, the viscount de Murat, and those of la Rochelle,
complaining of the delays of your council, although they are employed
for the service of your kingdom, and declaring, that if more energy is
not exerted, they must necessarily make peace with your enemies,—and
thus you may lose many of your faithful vassals.
'In regard to the administration of justice in the realm, your court of
parliament, which is the most eminent, is not governed as it is wont
to have been. Formerly it was composed of excellent lawyers, as well
secular as ecclesiastical, of a mature age and learned in the laws; and
from its great fame for learning and justice, without partiality to any
one, was resorted to, not only by Christians of all nations, but even
by Saracens, who have applied to it for judgment.
'For some short time past, through favour of friends, relations, or
other means, many young men have been admitted who are ignorant of
the laws and unworthy of such honour, by which the authority and fair
reputation of this court is greatly lessened. There are also other
inconveniences attending these indiscriminate admissions: for instance,
there are in this court many sons, brothers, nephews and relations
sitting together, and many others who are lineally connected, as
is the case with the family of the first president,—and from this
circumstance great injustice may ensue in the decisions of the court.
'Item, there are now before the parliament several causes between poor
persons, that are, as it were, dead; for the members do not use such
expedition in deciding upon them as they in reason should.
'Item, respecting the chamber of accounts, nothing is done, for all
causes are there buried; for although some new members have been
lately admitted, no progress seems to be made. Among the new ones is
Alexander Boursier, who has several times been receiver-general of
taxes, and whose accounts are said not yet to have been closed. You
may, consequently, be a great loser in this business; for he who ought
to be narrowly examined himself, is appointed to examine and reduce the
accounts of others.
'Item, the better to effectuate his own business, this Alexander has
so well practised that he has got Jean Vautier, who was his clerk,
appointed to succeed him in the office of receiver-general; and
notwithstanding the royal ordinances, and the oaths which receivers,
and other officers in the receipt of taxes, take on entering their
offices, to make the proper payments in regard to alms, they avoid, as
it is said, by dissimulation and fraud, these distributions of alms,
and frequently infringe the aforesaid ordinances.
'Item, respecting the administering of justice on those guilty of
crimes against the revenue laws, it appears to us that the great
multiplicity of officers is useless in this general dissipation of the
substance of the kingdom, as well as the numbers of inferior officers,
who, from their salaries and the presents they receive, devour the
wealth of the country; for the greater part of these aforesaid officers
are intruded on this court by the influence of friends.
'We must also notice the many presidents of the criminal court.
During the reign of king Charles, there was but one, or two at the
utmost,—whereas at present there are seven, who receive each annually
one hundred livres, not including the notaries. Were we to enter
into any detail respecting the masters of requests of the king's
household, God knows how far it would lead us. In former times,
ancient men, experienced in the laws and customs of the realm, were
appointed to such places, who replied to all the petitions presented
to them, and signed such as they judged expedient, so that the matter
was speedily decided in chancery; but now raw and inexperienced
youths are appointed, who expedite nothing but by orders from the
chancellor,—and this occasions supernumerary officers to be named, to
supply their defects, whose pay is very great, and of course to your
loss.
'Item, in respect to your chancery, it is well known, that your
chancellor of France undergoes great labour, and is very deserving
of a large salary, but without prejudice to your realm. Although his
salary should not amount to more than two thousand livres parisis, he
has nevertheless, for these last twenty years, taken, besides these two
thousand livres and the gift of two thousand livres for the profits
of the great seal, fines on remissions and registerings, of twenty
sols parisis, which in the course of a year amount to a very large
sum of money. He has also received other two thousand francs from the
taxes levied for the support of the war. Item, he receives annually
for his robes two hundred francs; and also from the treasury, for the
use of his chancery, five or six hundred livres parisis. He receives
likewise, in addition to the above gifts, to a very large amount, on
the different taxes and impositions. He has likewise signed and sealed
with too great facility letters patent for large sums, without making
any opposition: the particulars of them may be found in the accounts
of Michel de Sabulon and Alexander Boursier, and in the accounts of
several others, who have not failed to make advantage of them. To speak
more plainly in regard to this article, there will be found in the
above accounts grants, to the amount of six thousand francs, to private
persons, sealed by the chancellor, although he well knew that this
money was appropriated for carrying on the war.—These grants bring
considerable emolument to the chancery, whose finances are managed by
master Henry Machalie and master Buder, comptroller of the seal of
chancery. They charge double fees on the king's dues, namely, those of
notary and secretary, and receive exorbitant salaries and presents; and
in such wise is your chancery governed that no great profit comes to
you, although the emoluments of it are immense. In regard to the fees
of notaries, as they connect themselves with whomever they please, we
shall enter more fully into their detail when occasion offers.
'Item, there are several offices in the kingdom which are incompatible,
and yet are held by the same persons, who serve them by proxy, and thus
in different ways pillage your subjects of their money. The debasement
of your coin must not be forgotten,—and its weight and value have been
lately so much diminished that a crown is now of less worth than two
sols were formerly. The penny and twopenny pieces are scarcely worth as
many farthings, which is very prejudicial to your people; and thus the
good money is carried off,—for the Lombards in their exchanges collect
all the good, and make payment in the new coin.
'You ought to know by whose advice this debasement of the value of
your coin has been made, for it is commonly said to have been thus
lowered in value by the provost of Paris, the provost of the merchants,
and Michel Lallier, who have taken upon themselves the management of
your mint; and although they may have allowed you some profit on this
diminution of the coin, the loss that you and the queen will ultimately
suffer is incomparably greater, as you may learn from those who are
competent to give you information.
'Although your daughter and others of your subjects have now briefly
laid before you the guilt of the aforesaid, this is not enough, nor
will several days suffice, to enter into a full detail of all the
wickedness and disgraceful conduct of your ministers and their
adherents. Very many others, beside those we have named, are equally
guilty, but we now pass them over, in the expectation of more amply
speaking of them hereafter, for the welfare of yourself and of your
kingdom.
'In regard to the aid, advice and support, most sovereign lord, which
you demand from your aforesaid daughter, and other loyal subjects,
whom you have summoned for the purpose, they pray to God that he would
be pleased, out of his grace, to comfort and advise you, for we are
willing to expose our lives and fortunes in your service and support:
indeed, we are bounden so to do by the solemn resolutions entered into
at our last congregation, feeling ourselves greatly obliged to your
royal majesty for the innumerable acts of kindness shown to us.
'The first advice we shall give regards your finances, that they
may be put under a better administration as speedily as may be. We
therefore recommend it as expedient for you to shut the hands of all
your treasurers, directors and receivers, without any exception, and to
dismiss them from their offices, taking, at the same time, possession
of all their fortunes, moveable and immoveable, and having their
persons secured, until they shall have rendered you a just account of
their administration.
'Item, we think it necessary that you should annul all assignments
of grants and extraordinary pensions. We advise, that you instantly
command, under pain of death and confiscation of goods, all receivers,
treasurers, and other officers in the country, as well of your domain
as of other taxes, to bring you the whole sums they may have in their
hands, and that they make no payment whatever, by way of assignation,
to any one, however great his rank, excepting to such as yourself shall
then order; that, at the same time, they bring you their books, and all
papers concerning their receipt, and that, on their arrival, they have
no communication whatever with the aforesaid directors, under pain of
the above punishments.
'Item, in order the more effectually to establish order in your
finances, seeing the great waste and misapplication of the large sums
that have been raised for your personal defence, and in support of the
war, you will order the whole of the receipt of taxes to be produced
before you, as is your right, that henceforth they may be applied
according to the true intent of raising them, and as the urgency
of events may require. When the great need of such an ordinance is
considered, no one ought to be dissatisfied; and on this subject have
the goodness to keep in remembrance the prudent conduct of your father
king Charles, whose soul may God receive! who nobly employed his taxes
in driving the English out of his kingdom, and by this means made
himself master of fortresses that were not before under his subjection:
his officers and army were, at the same time, well paid; and there
remained to him an overplus, which served him to purchase many precious
jewels.
'Item, should these means not be sufficient for your immediate wants,
it seems to us that as you have treasuries in different parts, you may
justly take from them, for they are alike your own. There are also a
number of very rich persons, to the number of sixteen hundred, who
can at any time be named to you: these ought to assist in the support
of the poor,—for one third of them do not pay, one with another, one
hundred francs, which certainly cannot oppress them; but repayments
may be made them when the treasury shall be better filled, according to
the most advised plan.
'Item, we recommend that you nominate for receivers of your finances,
as well from your demesne, as from the taxes, prudent persons, fearing
God, without avarice, and who were never employed in any such offices,
with reasonable salaries, but without any extraordinary presents, by
whom your finances will be distributed according to the wants of the
state, and the overplus paid into your private treasury. When such are
appointed, all deputy-receivers, and tax-collectors, should be ordered
to produce their papers and books to them.
'Item, we recommend that all the schedules of the common expenses of
yourself, the queen and the duke of Acquitaine, be carefully examined,
so that the annual amount may be exactly known, which we believe does
not exceed two hundred thousand francs; for the treasurers do not
receive more than that sum from the demesne or taxes.
'Item, in regard to the court of parliament, it is necessary that
all inefficient members be dismissed, and replaced by others better
informed, who shall adhere to ancient usages. The presidents of
finances, of the civil and criminal courts, with the greffiers,
treasurers and clerks, must be handsomely provided for, but reduced to
a competent number.
'Item, the chamber of accounts must undergo similar regulations; and
the members of it should consist of men of a prudent age, who may
inform you of any mismanagement in the finance-department.
'Item, in regard to the minor officers, and deputy-receivers of
finance, we think that if the whole of this business was put under the
management of the presidents, you would gain considerably, whereas
these minor officers swallow up great sums in salaries and fees.
'Item, it appears to us that you ought to select certain wise men, that
they may be solely your council, in conjunction with the princes of
your blood, and that they may loyally advise you for the real good of
yourself and state, having their attention directed to nothing else,
and that, when so doing, they should be strenuously supported by you in
such wise that whatever they may propose for the welfare of the state
may be instantly put into execution, without any opposition whatever.
They should take such oaths as are usually taken, or any more solemn
ones, such as you shall think proper.
'Item, we recommend that the defence of the frontiers of Picardy,
of Acquitaine, and of other parts, be sufficiently provided for,
by allotting adequate sums of money for the payment of men at arms
and repairs of castles, so that all danger of invasion, and other
inconveniences, may be prevented.
'Item, to check as much as possible the daily oppression of the lower
orders, by provosts and other inferior officers, it will be necessary
to nominate honest and discreet persons, with moderate salaries, to
overlook their conduct, and see that these men do not surcharge the
poor by exorbitant fines.
'Item, there are several other oppressive grievances that have lasted
for a considerable time, and which cannot be immediately remedied. Your
daughter and aforesaid dutiful subjects promise to apply themselves
diligently concerning them; and they most humbly and earnestly
supplicate you to reform the abuses they have stated to you, and
more especially those that relate to your treasury, which has been
exceedingly wasted, and that without any cause. They also beg of
you to appoint a commission of the princes of your blood, with other
well-informed persons, no way connected or related to those who have
had the management of your finances, that they may reform and punish
all who have been culpable, let their rank be what it may.
'Item, we also entreat that you would order the prelates and chief
citizens in the different provinces, to impeach those who in their
districts have been guilty of any peculations in your finances. All
these things, most redoubted lord, have your aforesaid daughter and
dutiful subjects laid before you, as being anxiously interested in your
honour and welfare, and in the preservation of your crown and kingdom.
Your aforesaid daughter has not done this through any expectation of
worldly profit, but simply as her duty; for it is well known she has
not been accustomed to hold offices, nor to seek for such profits, but
solely to attend to her studies, and to remonstrate with you on what
touches your honour and welfare whenever the case may require it.
'But although she has several times presented herself before you, to
remonstrate on some of the before-mentioned grievances, no remedy has
been hitherto applied, by which your kingdom is in the utmost possible
danger. Your faithful and loyal subjects again acquit themselves of
their duty; and, that the reformation may now be entered upon in
earnest, your aforesaid daughter requires the aid of your eldest son
the duke of Acquitaine, and of the duke of Burgundy, by whom a reform
was some time since begun, with heart and hand, without sparing any
one, with whom your daughter joined, considering such reformation was
so much wanted.
'However, from the great opposition made by those who were interested
in checking it, no great progress was made, for they were afraid the
consequences would have been fatal to them. They urged every objection
to it, as well as those now in power. We demand also the assistance of
our much-honoured lords of Nevers, of Vertus, of Charolois, of Bar,
and of Lorraine, of the constable and marshal of France, of the grand
master of Rhodes, of the admiral, of the master of the cross-bows,
and in general of all the chivalry and esquiredom in the realm, whose
peculiar duty is to watch for the preservation of your crown, and also
of your counsellors and all other your subjects, who, according to
their several situations, may wish to acquit themselves toward your
majesty.
'It has been publicly said by some, that your aforesaid daughter has
made this exposition to your majesty, through hatred to particular
persons, and from the reports of five or six. May it please you to
know, that she has never been accustomed to gain information by such
means, but has learnt the existence of the before-stated grievances
from their public notoriety; and there is no man so ignorant as
not to be fully sensible of the truths we have asserted, and of
the culpability of those we have impeached. She has also received
informations from many who are attached to your person, who have not
indeed been gainers by it; but in further regard to them, she will be
silent, unless you shall order otherwise in a private audience.
'Your daughter, therefore, concludes by begging your majesty to pursue
diligently, and without delay, an examination and reform of the
above grievances, in which she will join without the least personal
disrespect to your royal person, otherwise your daughter would not
acquit herself properly in regard to your royal majesty.'
After this conclusion, the university demanded of the princes,
prelates, and lords, then present, that they would avow that what they
had declared would be for the honour of the king and the welfare of
the kingdom, which they complied with; adding, that they were ready to
assist in carrying the aforesaid reforms into execution to the utmost
of their power.
The king's ministers, more especially those of the finances, were
thunderstruck, and fearful of an immediate arrest. Among them, master
Henry de Marle, chancellor of France, seeing that he was accused with
the others, found means of admission to the king, and by his fair
promises, and by engaging to pay a very large sum of ready money within
a few days, he contrived to gain his favour.
On the following Saturday, the 2d day of March, Andrew Guiffart, one
of the treasurers, was arrested and confined in the Châtelet: his
associate, John Guerin, took refuge in a church,—and thither also fled
sir Peter des Essars, provost of Paris, who lately had great command in
the expedition to Bourges. The duke of Burgundy had hitherto supported
him, but his affection was cooled, for the provost had lately shown
himself more attached to the party of Orleans.
Having formed the resolution of quitting Paris, sir Peter des Essars
sent Thomelin de Brie with five other men at arms to gain possession
of the bridge at Charenton, that his passage over it might be secured;
but they were made prisoners by the inhabitants of Charenton, who had
received information of their coming, and carried back to the tower of
the Louvre, wherein they were confined. The provost, learning this,
took another road, and escaped to Cherbourg, of which place he was
the governor, and remained there for some time. Shortly afterward,
Baudrin de la Heuse was appointed provost of Paris, for the king
had now relapsed into his former disorder. The duke of Acquitaine,
however, took the whole government of the kingdom into his own hands;
and many of the king's ministers, particularly those in the treasury,
were ordered to be put under arrest, until they should have rendered a
faithful account of all their receipts.
