On the basis of this assumption, the clergy would still be able to assemble
to discuss its voluntary fiscal donation to the royal treasury, and
the nobility could adopt some sort of means to present its subsidy to the
king. To ensure that arrangements peculiar to the two orders could never
become a burden upon the Third Estate, it would begin its own proceedings
by issuing a clear and firm declaration that it would not pay any
tax that was not also born by the other two orders. It would agree to approve
any subsidy only on this condition, and even after the amount had
What is the Third Estate? 149
been fixed, it would not be levied on the people if it became apparent
that the clergy and the nobility had found any possible pretext for exempting
themselves.