This passage describes the revolts and the manner in which the magistrates and statesmen attempted to observe propriety and enact their agendas more subtly. Voltaire writes that Cardinal Mazarin sought to skilfully divide the judiciary by exempting the upper courts from the paulette (the tax invented by Paulet under Henry IV) however, the Cardinal spoke French poorly and his weak pronunciation made him subject to ridicule, rendering his efforts ineffective. On 20 August 1648, the Prince of Condé was victorious at Lens and the ten-year-old king pronounced that Parliament would be very angry. The parliamentarians complained about being called rebels. The Queen and Cardinal resolved to have three of the most stubborn magistrates kidnapped but the Cardinal decided to do this at noon rather than midnight which incited the public to riot. The Queen eventually agrees to return the prisoners. The passage ends with a line that features later in the text (OCV, vol.13A, p.62, l.175).

Voltaire explains that the delay in his response was caused by his Niece’s illness as she was the one transmitting his letter. He discusses the misfortune shared by disloyal people, noting that ‘misfortune lyes on those who violate the laws of mankind.’ He informs Rolt that he can count him in the rank of subscribers as well as in the rank of his friends because he likes his works and way of thinking, and adds that if his health was better he would come to ‘breath the air of liberty in england.’ Voltaire concludes by saying that he his happier in the French countryside than at court and states that he is less proud of his title as a gentleman of the King’s chamber than he is the status of being Rolt’s friend.