XXIII. 1789. of the States General, previous to which a second BOOK convention of the Notables was held (October 5, 1788) in order to determine several important questions that had arisen relative to the formation of the assembly of the States. It appeared to be nearly the unanimous opinion of the Notables, that it should be constructed on the model of the last assembly convened in 1614; and a doubt was even suggested whether any power short of that of the States General deliberating in the antient manner, by the established orders of nobles, clergy, and the tiers état, could superinduce upon it any material alteration. The Notables were dissolved on the 12th of December, 1788. The final decision of the court was at length made known by a decree of council, dated 27th of December; by which it was determined, that the number of deputies to the ensuing States General should not fall short of one thousand; that it should be apportioned with all practicable accuracy to the population and financial contributions of the different baillages; and that the representation of the tiers état should be equal to the sum of the representations of the other two orders-a concession eagerly desired by the nation, and attended with the most important consequences. neral con At length, on the 5th of May, 1789, a day ever States Gememorable in the annals of France, and of the vened at world, the assembly of the States General met at Versailles. XXIII. 1789. BOOK Versailles, and the session was opened by a speech from the king, couched in terms of patriotic and paternal regard, such as princes well know upon occasion how to adopt. Although the excessive repugnance of the court to the adoption of this measure had been most notorious, his majesty congratulated the assembly on the arrival of the day which he had so long panted to see. "The public spirit (said the monarch) is in a ferment, but an assembly of the representatives of the nation will certainly hearken to no other counsels than those founded on justice and wisdom. Whatever may be expected from the most tender solicitude for the public good, whatever can be asked from a sovereign the sincerest friend of his people, you may, you ought to hope from me." At this period, no doubt, the court was ready to submit to the necessity, which it could not but recognise, of making great and permanent concessions for the satisfaction of the nation, and the restoration of the public tranquillity. But to ascribe to the monarch the most distant idea of a voluntary departure from the antient and established prerogatives of sovereignty would be the extreme of weakness and credulity. The first object of the States was the "verification of their powers." This ceremony the tiers état insisted, to the astonishment of the superior orders, could only take place in a common assem XXIII. 1789. bly, voting not by orders, but by poll. The admis- BOOK sion of this pretension involved in it no less than the absolute subversion of the antient constitution of the States; and it was resisted in the strongest manner by the superior orders, as a flagrant usurpation. On the other hand the tiers état plainly perceived that the antient mode of voting by orders would reduce them, the real representatives of the people, to whom it peculiarly appertained to establish freedom in France, to mere cyphers. By an ordonnance passed in the reign of Charles V. surnamed "the Wise," A. D. 1355, the unanimous consent of the three estates was indeed declared to be necessary to make a new law: so that had the people possessed any privileges, this provision might be regarded as the bulwark of the national liberty. But when the people were reduced to a state of bondage, and the object was to establish an equality of rights, it operated strongly and manifestly to their disadvantage. After six weeks of inaction, the tiers etat, at the suggestion of the abbé Sieyes (June 17), took the daring and decisive step of declaring itself the legislative body, by the appellation of the NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, and proceeded to the verification of their powers. On the 19th of June, the chamber of the clergy passed a resolution, importing their acquiescence in the decision. Alarmed in the highest degree at the situation of affairs, the monarch held on the Assume tion of Na the appella tional Assembly. XXIII. 1789. BOOK 23d a royal session, in which he proposed a plan of government, liable indeed to many and great objections, but containing the first outlines of a free constitution. Agreeably to this plan, the distinction of orders was preserved, allowing them nevertheless to debate in common on emergent occasions, with the royal approbation. In fine, the king declared, in virtue of his royal authority; the proceedings of the 17th null and void, and ordered the deputies immediately to separate. This was the decisive moment. An unreserved obedience to the order of the king would have rendered them contemptible in their own eyes and in those of the nation, which had received with unbounded acclamation the resolution reprobated by the monarch. The question to be determined was, whether they would be satisfied to accept from the royal benignity the imperfect and precarious boon now offered? or whether, at the imminent risk of their lives and fortunes, they would make one grand effort to establish a constitution founded on the eternal and immutable principles, of equal and perfect freedom? Impelled by a glorious and resistless enthusiasm, they hesitated not for a moment which of these alternatives to embrace. When the king retired, he was followed by all the nobles and a part of the clergy: the commons alone remained motionless on the benches, The marquis de Brezé, grand master of the cere XXIII. 1789. monies, addressing himself to the president, M. BOOK Bailli, said, “SIR, you know the orders of the king:"-to which the president with Roman dig nity replied, "The people of France in their collective capacity have no orders to receive." And M. Mirabeau, a member highly distinguished in the sequel by his talents and eloquence in the assembly, starting up, added, "Go tell your master, that we are here by the power of the people, and that nothing shall expel us but the bayonet." A vast majority of the deputies made the hall resound with their acclamations, exclaiming as it were with one voice, "Nothing but force can drive us hence."-Immediately a resolution passed, with the dissent of a very few voices, declaring the person of each deputy to be inviolable. On their next meeting, the assembly were joined by the majority of the clergy, and forty-nine members of the nobility, with the duke of Orléans at their head; and on the 27th, at the express instance of the king, agreeably to his characteristic inconstancy, by the remaining members of the superior orders; though the duke of Luxemburg predicted, as it is said, to the monarch, "that from the day the States should vote by numbers only, from that moment he was at their mercy." The assent of the king was however false and hollow. An army of 35,000 men, collected from various parts, were stationed under the command of mar |