Item, it has been advanced, that before any taxes be laid, the king should call together the three estates of the realm, to consult with them and have their opinions thereon. In reply to this: the taxes have been laid on the lands of these lords with their consent,--and, as for the other impositions, the king, when there has been an opportunity, has called them together, and shown them, of his royal authority, the urgent state of his kingdom, when great part was occupied by his enemies. There can be no need for calling the three estates to lay on taxes,--for this would only add to the expenses of the poorer people in paying the deputies' charges for coming and going; and many lords of great weight have, in consequence, required that such convocations should cease, and were satisfied that proper warrants should be issued in the king's name for the raising of these taxes. In respect, however, to the affairs of the nation, the king is bounden to consult with the princes of his blood in preference to all others, considering how much they are interested in its welfare,--and this has been usually done by the most Christian kings, his predecessors. Item, the nobles have requested the king to preserve to them their prerogatives and authorities, which they hold, as well from their peerage as from the other lordships they possess within the realm of of France. The king in reply says, that he has never treated on any affairs of consequence without their knowledge, or at least that of the greater part of them,--and it his intention not to do otherwise. It is his pleasure, as well as his will, to preserve to them all their prerogatives and authorities, and in no way to act contrary to them: they will therefore govern their vassals and lands in the manner in which they are bounden to do. Item, the king is requested that he would be pleased to select, as members of his great council, men of knowledge, fearing God, and who have not been partisans in the late disturbances; and likewise that he would be pleased to elect a sufficient number, so that the weight of the business of the kingdom may not be intrusted to two or three, as has been hitherto the case. The king replies, that he has always selected for his council the most able men of his realm, without thinking on what may have passed during the late disturbances, which he has put clean out of his remembrance, and in such numbers as the state of public affairs at different periods may have required.