Such were the prohibitions. Then came the benefits. The king promised to sanction equality of taxation, _whenever the clergy and the nobles should consent to such taxation_. The king promised to adopt any measures of finance and expenditure which the States-General should recommend, if he judged such measures _compatible with the kingly dignity_. He invited the States--which, be it remembered, were to be assembled in three chambers, the clergy and the nobility being thus able to outvote the Commons by two votes to one--to _propose_ measures for abolishing _lettres de cachet_, measures which should not interfere with the power of repressing sedition, and of secretly punishing those whose relatives would be dishonored by their being brought to trial. They were also invited to seek the means of reconciling liberty of the press with the respect due to religion and to the honor of the citizens. In conclusion, the king threatened that if the Commons refused obedience to these declarations he would immediately dissolve the States, and again take the reins of government entirely into his own hands. This address was closed with the following words: "I command you, gentlemen, immediately to disperse, and to repair to-morrow morning to the chambers appropriate to your order."[126] The king then, with his attendant court, left the hall. A large part of the nobility and nearly all the bishops followed him. Exultation beamed upon their faces, for they supposed that the National Assembly was now effectually crushed. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 111: Michelet, vol. i., p. 105.] [Footnote 112: "The party which professed to be the defender of the throne spoke with infinite disdain of the authority of the King of England. To reduce a King of France to the miserable condition of the British monarch was, in the bare conception, heinous and treasonable."--_Considerations on the French Revolution, by Madame de Staël._] [Footnote 113: Madame de Staël, vol. i., p. 106.] [Footnote 114: Michelet, vol. i., p. 106.