By the royal edict of June 5th, 1675, the council was reconstituted. It
was composed of seven members appointed by the Crown; the
governor-general occupied the first place, the bishop, or in his
absence, the grand vicar, the second, and the commissioner the third.
As the latter presided in the absence of the governor, and as the king
was anxious that "he should have the same functions and the same
privileges as the first presidents of the courts of France," as moreover
the honour devolved upon him of collecting the opinions or votes and of
pronouncing the decrees, it was in reality the commissioner who might be
considered as actual president. It is, therefore, easy to understand the
continual disputes which arose upon the question of the title of
President of the Council between Frontenac and the Commissioner Jacques
Duchesneau. The latter, at first "_Président des trésoriers de la
généralité de Tours_," had been appointed _intendant_ of New France by a
commission which bears the same date as the royal edict reviving the
Sovereign Council. While thinking of the material good of the colony,
the Most Christian King took care not to neglect its spiritual
interests; he undertook to provide for the maintenance of the parish
priests and other ecclesiastics wherever necessary, and to meet in case
of need the expenses of the divine service. In addition he expressed his
will "that there should always be in the council one ecclesiastical
member," and later he added a clerical councillor to the members already
installed. There were summoned to the council MM. de Villeray, de Tilly,
Damours, Dupont, Louis René de Lotbinière, de Peyras, and Denys de
Vitré. M. Denis Joseph Ruette d'Auteuil was appointed
solicitor-general; his functions consisted in speaking in the name of
the king, and in making, in the name of the prince or of the public, the
necessary statements. The former clerk, M. Peuvret de Mesnu, was
retained in his functions.