As to the privilege of primogeniture in France its thus, that the eldest carries away 2 parts of thrie:  as, for instance, the father is a man of 15,000 livres a year, the eldest hath 10,000, the other 5000 goes amongs the cadets.

Al the Capital tounes of provinces of France are frie from Taille.[221]

    [221] A tax on persons not noble or ecclesiastic or exempted.

The wood cannot be but wholesomer to dresse meat wt then our coall:  also they impute the oftner contagions that happens in Brittain to the smook of our coall, which grossens and thickens et,[222] by consequence infectes the air, their wood smooking wery little.

    [222] For ‘it.’

The French cryes out against the wanity of our King who most be served by his subjects on their knees, since that the knees sould be keipt to God alone; as also their King more absolute then [he] tho not served so.  Yea some have bein so impudent as to impute (count)[223] the murder of our late King (which 1000 tymes hath bein casten up to me) as a iust iudgement of God on them for their pride.  I cannot forget whow satyrically they have told this, saying that the peaple of great Britain keip their Kings at their beck, at their pleasure not only to bereave them of their croune but also of their life.  I endewored to show them that they understood not things aright, that the same had bein practicat in France on Henry the 4t:  the cases are not indeed alike, since our King was brought to a Schaffold, the other slain be a Assasin, Ravelliak, and regretted.  To make the case iump the better, I remitted them to ther History to sie wt what publick consent Henry 3d was slain be Clement the Jacobine, yet heir their was no iudiciall procedure as against our King.  Whence I had recourse to Chilperick, whom the peaple, tho legittime heir, first deposed then cowed him, and thrust him in a Monastry surrogating Pepin his brother in his roome.  This wexed them, they could never answer this sufficiently.

    [223] Interlined.

Sewerall tymes in France persones have suffered because they had discovered some plot or conspiracy against the King or estat and could not prove it.  The Law is the same wt us, tho it seimes to carry injustice.  On all hands I am in danger:  if I do not reveale it I am aequally guilty of the treason as the actors are; if I rewealle it, I am immediatly made prisoner, tortured to show all I know of it, put to prove what I say, in which if I failly I lose my life.  What can a man do when he have no proofes?  He most tho’ reveall it and consequently lose his life; since after the truth sal appear and he sal be held be all to have died gloriously as a weill wisher to his country.

Its was strange of Cardinal Richelieu who know[224] all things that past thorow France as if he had bein present, and 2 of the most intimate sould not have spoken ill of him at Poictiers but he sould have knowen it or 4 dayes at Paris.  Some imputed it to a familiar spirit he had, others to his spies he had every wheir.  He was toute en toute in France in his tyme.