Note 746 — XIV. OF CERTAIN CUSTOMS.
Henri Van Laun translation
Our author added in a note of the first four editions, “secretaries of the king.” Those offices were bought, and ennobled their holders, hence the nickname of savonnettes à vilain, literally, “soap balls for serfs.” Other offices also gave a title to the persons who filled them, and this is probably the reason of the suppression of this note.