tax, or _rachat_, as it was termed, was
postponed, and the creation of many new _maitres de requetes_ provided a
certain amount of money. At the lit de justice, Omer Talon, the intrepid
_avocat-general_, delivered an eloquent oration on the condition of the
French peasants. "For ten years, sire," he said, "the country has been
ruined, the peasants reduced to sleep upon straw, their furniture sold
to pay taxes. To minister to the luxury of Paris, millions of innocent
people are obliged to live upon rye and oat bread, and their only
protection is their poverty." The creation of new maitres de requetes
was stoutly opposed, but in vain, Broussel distinguishing himself by his
attack upon the government.

Thus, while victory was being prepared by Turenne, Conde, and Schomberg,
a revolution was breaking out in Paris, and in many other parts of the
kingdom resistance to the government was the order of the day. Brittany
and Toulouse showed especial audacity in their attacks on government
officials. At his wits' end for money, Emery resolved to demand as a
condition of the renewal of the _paulette_--a tax paid by those
officials whose offices were hereditary--a fine of four years' salary.
In the hope of conciliating the Parliament of Paris, the fine was not
imposed on that body. The Parliament, however, placed itself at the head
of the opposition, and on May 13, 1648, it and the sovereign courts--the
_chambre des comptes_, the _cour des aides_, and the _grand
conseil_--signed a bond in union, and the courts decided to send
representatives to a conference in the chamber of St. Louis. Like Louis
XVI, in 1789, the Queen mother endeavored to prevent the meeting of the
deputies. Like Louis, she failed in her object, and the court was forced
to yield. The Spaniards had taken Courtrai, and it was well to
temporize.

Money was urgently needed, and Mazarin hoped, by appealing to the
patriotism of the Parliament, to obtain the requisite supplies. He
represented that the conduct of the Parliament strengthened the cause of
Spain and ruined the credit of France. Unless money was forthcoming it
would be impossible to keep up the French armies or to maintain order at
home. Catalonia would have to be abandoned, the alliance with Sweden and
Hesse would be broken off; in a word, all would be lost. The Parliament,
however, was dead to all sense of patriotism, and was prepared to
sacrifice the nation to its own petty interests. Orleans, who had joi