to public feeling aroused the indignation of the whole
nation. In 1646, 23,800 defaulters lay rotting in the jails, and an
attempt to enforce an odious tax on all merchandise entering Paris led
to an explosion of popular wrath. The Parlement, by the re-assertion
of its claims to refuse the registration of an obnoxious decree of the
crown, made itself the champion of public justice; the four sovereign
courts met in the hall of St. Louis, and refused to register the tax.
Anne was furious and made the boy-king hold a "bed[138] of justice"
to enforce the registration of the decree. But the Parlement stood
firm, declared itself the guardian of the public and private weal,
claiming even to reform abuses and to discuss and vote on schemes of
taxation. So critical was the situation that the court was forced to
bend, and to postpone the humiliation of the Parlement to a more
convenient season. The glorious issue of the campaigns of Conde
against the Houses of Spain and Austria seemed to offer the desired
opportunity. On 26th August 1648, while a Te Deum was being sung at
Notre Dame for the victory of Lens, and a grand trophy of
seventy-three captured flags was displayed to the people, three of the
most stubborn members of the Parlement were arrested. One escaped, but
while the venerable Councillor Broussel was being hustled into a
carriage, a cry was raised, which stirred the whole of Paris to
insurrection. In the excitement a street porter was shot by a captain
of the Guards, the Marquis of Meilleraye, and the next morning the
court, aroused by cries of "Liberty and Broussel," found the streets
of Paris barricaded and the citizens in arms. De Retz, the suffragan
archbishop of Paris, came in his robes to entreat Anne to appease the
people, but was snubbed for his pains. "It is a revolt," she cried,
"to imagine a revolt possible; these are silly tales of those who
desire it: the king will enforce order." De Retz, angry and insulted,
left to join the insurrection and to become its leader. The venerable
president of the Parlement, Mole, and the whole body of members next
repaired to the Palais Royal with no better success: Anne's only
answer was a gibe. As they returned crestfallen from the Palais Royal
they were driven back by the infuriated people, who threatened them
with death, and clamoured for Broussel's release or Mazarin as a
hostage. Nearly all the councillors fled, but the president, with
exalted courage, faced them and, a