After a time our cause, sent back again to the Parliament, was argued there with the same vigour, the same partiality, and the same injustice as before:  seeing this, we felt that the only course left open to us was to get the case sent before the Assembly of all the Chambers, where the judges, from their number, could not be corrupted by M. de Luxembourg, and where the authority of Harlay was feeble, while over the Grand Chambre, in which the case was at present, it was absolute.  The difficulty was to obtain an assembly of all the Chambers, for the power of summoning them was vested solely in Harlay.  However, we determined to try and gain his consent.  M. de Chaulnes undertook to go upon this delicate errand, and acquitted himself well of his mission.  He pointed out to Harlay that everybody was convinced of his leaning towards M. de Luxembourg, and that the only way to efface the conviction that had gone abroad was to comply with our request; in fine, he used so many arguments, and with such address, that Harlay, confused and thrown off his guard, and repenting of the manner in which he had acted towards us as being likely to injure his interests, gave a positive assurance to M. de Chaulnes that what we asked should be granted.

We had scarcely finished congratulating ourselves upon this unhoped-for success, when we found that we had to do with a man whose word was a very sorry support to rest upon.  M. de Luxembourg, affrighted at the promise Harlay had given, made him resolve to break it.  Suspecting this, M. de Chaulnes paid another visit to the Chief President, who admitted, with much confusion, that he had changed his views, and that it was impossible to carry out what he had agreed to.  After this we felt that to treat any longer with a man so perfidious would be time lost; and we determined, therefore, to put it out of his power to judge the case at all.

According to the received maxim, whoever is at law with the son cannot be judged by the father.  Harlay had a son who was Advocate-General.  We resolved that one among us should bring an action against him.

After trying in vain to induce the Duc de Rohan, who was the only one of our number who could readily have done it, to commence a suit against Harlay’s sort, we began to despair of arriving at our aim.  Fortunately for us, the vexation of Harlay became so great at this time, in consequence of the disdain with which we treated him, and which we openly published, that he extricated us himself from our difficulty.  We had only to supplicate the Duc de Gesvres in the cause (he said to some of our people), and we should obtain what we wanted; for the Duc de Gesvres was his relative.  We took him at his word.  The, Duc de Gesvres received in two days a summons on our part.  Harlay, annoyed with himself for the advice he had given, relented of it:  but it was too late; he was declared unable to judge the cause, and the case itself was postponed until the next year.