On employa ^de tous les cotez^ des moyens aussi bas qu’odieux ^mazarin donna des brevets despions et de traitres^ jolli on en donne pour des emplois civils.
Autograph Draft of the passages at OCV, vol.13A, ch.4, p.72, l.436-53, and p.74-75, l.502-24.
Detailed Summary:
Voltaire writes that odious tactics were used on both sides, with one M. Joly [Jean François Joly de Fleury de La Valette] conspiring to cut his arm and be shot in his carriage to make the public believe that the Court had wanted to murder him. A few days later, shots were fired in the Prince of Condé’s carriages, killing one servant. Cardinal de Retz, the Duke of Beaufort, and [Pierre] Broussel were all accused in parliament and justified. Voltaire then writes that every important man, or every man who wanted to be important, claimed to be acting in the interests of the public good and wanted to get as close to the Crown as possible. The text includes some passages not featured in the printed edition.
Voltaire has made revisions of the text throughout. An additional paragraph of text is appended to the end of the main body of the text, also in the hand of Voltaire.