I hear from my agent in Poitou that you have voluntarily remitted the fine that your vassals would pay on the occasion of a new lord taking possession, on account of the heavy taxation that presses so sorely upon them.
"I honour you, sir, for such a step, and have even mentioned it to the queen as a proof of the goodness of your disposition, and I feel sure that there is nothing that would please you better than that I should grant the tenants of your estate an immunity from all taxation; but this I cannot do.

All private interests must give way to the necessities of the state.

I deplore the sufferings of the cultivators of France, sufferings that have of late driven many to take up arms.

It is my duty to repress such risings; but I have ordered the utmost leniency to be shown to these unfortunate men, that the troops should not be quartered upon their inhabitants, and that the officers shall see that there is no destruction of houses and no damage to property; that would increase still further their difficulty in paying the imposts, which I regret to say press so sorely and unduly upon them.

Tell me frankly what is the greatest object of your ambition ?" "I thank your excellency most heartily for your kind intentions towards me, but any ambition that I may have had is already much more than gratified.