ich thus transferred the administration of all matters of
taxation from the people at large to the King, did not consist of a
combination of the three estates, but simply of persons of
position--namely, prelates, nobles, and bourgeois of Paris, in addition to
the leading magistrates of the kingdom.

[Footnote *: This is the origin of the saying "smoke farthing."]

The following extract from the accounts of the 15th November, 1372, is
interesting, inasmuch as it represents the actual budget of France under
Charles V.:--

Article 18. Assigned for the payment of men at arms ...... 50,000 francs.
" 19. For payment of men at arms and crossbowmen
newly formed .............................. 42,000 "
" " For sea purposes ............................. 8,000 "
" 20. For the King's palace ........................ 6,000 "
" " To place in the King's coffers................ 5,000 "
" 21. It pleases the King that the receiver-general
should have monthly for matters that daily
arise in the chamber ...................... 10,000 "
" " For the payment of debts ..................... 10,000 "

Total ..................... 131,000 "

[Illustration: Settlement of Accounts by the Brothers of Cherite-Dieu of
the Recovery of Roles

A miniature from the "_Livre des Comptes_" of the Society (Fifteenth
Century).]

Thus, for the year, 131,000 francs in _ecus d'or_ representing in
present money about 12,000,000 francs, were appropriated to the expenses
of the State, out of which the sum of 5,000 francs, equal to 275,000
francs of present money, was devoted to what we may call the _Civil List_.

On the death of Charles V., in 1380, his eldest son Charles, who was a
minor, was put under the guardianship of his uncles, and one of these, the
Duke d'Anjou, assumed the regency by force. He seized upon the royal
treasury, which was concealed in the Castle of Melun, and also upon all
the savings of the deceased king; and, instead of applying them to
alleviate the general burden of taxation, he levied a duty for the first
time on the common food of the people. Immediately there arose a general
outcry of indignation, and a formidable expression of resistance was made
in Paris and in the large towns. Mob orators loudly proclaimed the public
rights thus trampled upon by the regent and the King's uncles; the