ng annulled the whole procedure by an act of his
supreme authority. "We shall have the satisfaction," said the edict, "of
finding nobody guilty, and nothing will remain for us but to take such
measures as shall appear best adapted to completely restore and maintain
tranquillity in a province from which we have on so many occasions had
proofs of zeal for our service." M. de la Chalotais and his comrades
were exiled to Saintes. They demanded a trial and a legal justification,
which were refused. "It is enough for them to know that their honor is
intact," the king declared. A Parliament was imperfectly reconstructed
at Rennes. "It is D'Aiguillon's bailiff-court," was the contemptuous
saying in Brittany. The governor had to be changed. Under the
administration of the Duke of Duras, the agitation subsided in the
province; the magistrates who had resigned resumed their seats; M. de la
Chalotais and his son, M. de Caradeuc, alone remained excluded by order
of the king. The restored Parliament immediately made a claim on their
behalf, accompanying the request with a formal accusation against the
Duke of Aiguillon. The states supported the Parliament. "What! sir,"
said the remonstrance; "they are innocent, and yet you punish them! It
is a natural right that nobody should be' punished without a trial; we
have property in our honor, our lives, and our liberty, just as you have
property in your crown. We would spill our blood to preserve your
rights; but, on your side, preserve us ours. Sir, the province on its
knees before you asks you for justice." A royal ordinance forbade any
proceedings against the Duke of Aiguillon, and enjoined silence on the
parties. Parliament having persisted, and declaring that the accusations
against the Duke of Aiguillon attached (_entachaient_) his honor, Louis
XV., egged on by the chancellor, M. de Maupeou, an ambitious, bold, bad
man, repaired in person to the office, and had all the papers relating to
the procedure removed before his eyes. The strife was becoming violent;
the Duke of Choiseul, still premier--minister but sadly shaken in the
royal favor, disapproved of the severities employed against the
magistracy. All the blows dealt at the Parliaments recoiled upon him.

King Louis XV. had taken a fresh step in the shameful irregularity of his
life; on the 15th of April, 1764, Madame de Pompadour had died, at the
age of forty-two, of heart disease. As frivolous as she was deeply