10th of June, the Abbé Sièyes* proposed to send a last invitation to the other orders to join them; and if they refused, to proceed to business, not as a branch of the Convention but as the whole body. The proposition was received with enthusiasm. This was Wednesday. The next day had been appropriated to religious solemnities. Friday, the 12th, was fixed upon as the day on which the important invitation was to be sent.t

Saturday morning dawned lurid and stormy. Sheets of rain, driven by a fierce wind, flooded the streets. As the Assembly, in accordance with Friday evening's adjournment, approached their hall, they found the door guarded by a detachment of royal troops. Admission was positively refused, and it was declared that any attempt to force an entrance would be repelled by the bayonet.*

The Assembly and the people were greatly The invitation, bold and decisive, excited not alarmed. Measures of violence were already a little consternation in both of the privileged commenced. The immediate dissolution of the bodies. The curates, among the clergy, re- Assembly was menaced, and thus were to perceived the message with applause, and were in ish all hopes of reform. The rain still fell upon favor of compliance. The ecclesiastical supe- them in the unsheltered street. There was no riors, however, held them in check, and obtained hall to which they could resort. It was sugan adjournment. The commons waited an hour gested that there was in the city an old dilapfor their acceptance, and then proceeded to bus-idated Tennis Court, and it was immediately iness. Three days were spent in examining resolved to assemble upon its pavements. The credentials. On the first of these days, three six hundred deputies of the people, now roused curates left the clergy and joined them; on the to the highest pitch of excitement and followed second, six; on the third, ten; and then a by a vast concourse of sympathizing and aphundred and forty in a body decided to come. plauding people, hastened to the Tennis Court. Several also of the nobles joined them. The Here, with not even a seat for the President, body thus organized assumed the name of the the Assembly was organized, and M. Bailly, in National Assembly. a firm voice, administered the following oath, which was instantly repeated in tones so full and strong, by every lip, as to reach the vast concourse which surrounded the building:

A

We

The bishops and the nobles were in great consternation. The accession to the Assembly of one hundred and forty of the clergy in a body, would invest the Assembly with new authority "We solemnly swear not to separate, and to as the true representative of the nation. assemble whenever circumstances shall require, deputation of the leading bishops and lords until the Constitution of the kingdom is estabhastened to the King, and entreated him to inter-lished and founded on a solid basis." pose his royal power, and by dissolving the Every deputy then signed this declaration, Assembly to crush the popular movement now excepting one man; and this Assembly so nobecome so formidable. The King himself was bly respected private liberty as to allow this man now alarmed, and, though vacillating, was easily to enter his protest upon the declaration. influenced by the court. The popular excite- know not which most to admire, the moral courment in Paris and Versailles became intense. age of Martin d'Auch, which emboldened him, The only hope of the people was now in the though in a bad cause, firmly to avow his opAssembly. Its dissolution left them in despair. position to five hundred and ninety-nine of his The one hundred and forty of the clergy, on colleagues in this hour of terrible excitement, Friday the 19th of June, resolved to unite with or the magnanimity of the Assembly in perthe Assembly the next day. The King, to pre-mitting him, when such terrible issues were at vent this union, decided that night to shut up the hall of the Assembly, and to station soldiers at the doors. As an excuse for this act of violence, it was alleged that the hall was needed for workmen to put up decorations in preparation for a royal sitting, which was to be held on Monday. The King thus gained time to decide upon the measures which he would announce at the royal sitting.‡

The Abbé Sièyes was one of the deputies sent by the people of Paris, and the only clergyman in the Paris deputation. There were, however, several of the clergy sent from the provinces.

† Sièyes' motion was to summon the privileged classes. By vote of the Convention the word was changed to invite.

The Marquis of Ferrières, a deputy of the nobles, and warmly espousing the interests of his class, writes in his memoirs :

"The court, unable any longer to hide from themselves the real truth that all their petty expedients to separate the orders served only to bring on their union, resolved to dissolve the States-General. It was necessary to move the King from Versailles, to get Necker and the ministers

stake, to write his name, with his protest attached to it, upon the record.†

The next day was the Sabbath; but the King attached to him out of the way. was arranged. The pretext was the death of the dauA journey to Marly phin. The mind of the King was successfully worked upon. He was told it was high time to stop the unheard-of enterprises of the third estate; that he would soon have only the name of a king. The Cardinal Rochefoucault and the Archbishop of Paris threw themselves at the feet of the King, and supplicated him to save the clergy and protect religion. The parliament sent a secret deputation, proposing a scheme for getting rid of the States-General. The keeper of the seals, the Count d'Artois (Charles X.), the Queen all united. All was therefore settled, and an order from the King announced a royal sitting, and suspended the States, under a pretense of making arrangements in the hall."

"The deputies stand grouped on this umbrageous Avenue de Versailles, complaining aloud of the indignity done them. Courtiers, it is supposed, look from their windows and giggle.”—Carlyle, i. 156.

+ Martin d Auch, de Castelnaudary en Languedoc (Opposant). "His objection was, that he could not swear to the execution of any resolutions not sanctioned by the King."

ing before the door of the hall of the Assembly, and the defiant bearing of the nobles, all were portents of some decisive act.*

and the court could not prepare for the sitting on Monday, and postponed it until Tuesday. To prevent the Assembly from convening again on Monday in the Tennis Court, the Count The morning of the 23d of June arrived. It d'Artois sent word to the keeper that he wished was dark and stormy. At the appointed hour, for the Tennis Court that day to play. On 10 o'clock, the members repaired to the hall of Monday morning, when the Assembly, accord- the Assembly to meet the King and court. In ing to its adjournment, met at the door, they various ways they had received intimation of found the entrance guarded. Thus an Assem- the measures which were to be adopted against bly of the most distinguished men of France, them, and anxiety sat upon every countenance. the representatives of twenty-five millions of As they approached the hall they found that people, were driven again into the streets, be- the same disrespect which they had encountered cause a young nobleman affected to wish for on the 5th of May was to be repeated with agtheir room that he might play a game of ball. gravations. The court wished to humiliate the commons. They did but exasperate them.t

The deputies, thus insulted beyond all endurance, were for a time in great perplexity. It so happened, however, that the curates, about one hundred and forty in number, with the Archbishop of Vienne at their head, had met that morning in the Church of St. Louis, intending to go from there in procession to join the Assembly. They immediately sent to the commons an invitation to repair to the church, and, taking themselves the choir, left the nave for their guests. The clergy then descended and united with the commons, where they were received with shouts, embracings, and tears. Fearful perils were accumulating. The troops marching and countermarching, the new regiments entering the city, the hundred pieces of field artillery approaching, the cannon frown

The front entrance was reserved, as before, for the clergy and the nobles. The commons

The majority of the clergy voted for union with the Assembly. The vote stood, says the curate M. Rabaut and one hundred and twenty-six against it. All the de St. Etienne, one hundred and forty-nine for union, higher clergy, with but two or three exceptions, were against the union. All the parish ministers, with hardly a single exception, were in favor of it.

"The nobility that I conversed with," writes Arthur Young, "are most disgustingly tenacious of all oid rights, however hard they may bear upon the people. They will not hear of giving way in the least to the spirit of liberty, beyond the point of paying equal land taxes, which they hold to be all that can with reason be demanded." "It was only very late," writes Professor William Smyth, "and when too late, that they reached even this point."

voice-a voice at whose command nearly fifty thousand troops were ready to march-said,

"Did you hear the commands of the King?" "Yes, Sir," responded Mirabeau, with a glaring eye and a thunder tone, which made Breze quail before him, "we did hear the King's commands; and you, who have neither seat nor voice in this house, are not the person to remind us of this speech. Go tell those who sent you that we are here by the power of the peo

kingly dignity. He invited the States-which, be it remembered, were to be composed of three orders, 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 be consistent with the maintenance of public safety and with the precautions necessary to protect in certain cases the honor of families, or to repress with celerity the commencements of sedition, or to protect the State from the effects of crimi-ple, and that nothing shall drive us hence but nal communication with foreign powers." They the power of the bayonet."* were also invited to seek the means of reconciling liberty of the press with the respect due to religion and 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, as he had now broken up the National Assembly, and would take the reins of government again entirely into his own hands. The 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."*

The King then, with his attendant court, left the hall. A large part of the nobility and nearly all the bishops, who were generally younger sons of the nobles, exultingly followed, supposing that the Assembly was effectually crushed. The commons, however, remained calm, unshaken; and for a moment there was perfect silence.

Mirabeau, who, though a noble, had espoused the popular cause, and was a delegate of the people, then arose, and in a few glowing sentences, which pealed over France like clarion notes, exclaimed,

'Why this dictatorial language, this train of arms, this violation of the national sanctuary? Who is it who gives command to us-to us, to whom alone twenty-five millions of men are looking for happiness? Let us arm ourselves with our legislative authority. Remember our oath-that oath which does not permit us to separate until we have established the Constitution."

While he was yet speaking, M. Breze, one of the officers of the King, perceiving that the commons did not retire, advanced into the centre of the hall, and in a loud, authoritative

Mr. Alison says: "These decrees contained the whole elements of rational freedom; abolished pecuniary privileges, regulated the expenses of the royal household, secured the liberty of the press, regulated the criminal code and the personal freedom of the subject."-Alison's Hist. of Europe, i. 74.

On the other hand, M. Rabaut de St. Etienne, a clergyman, who was a member of the Assembly, writes: "No mention was made of the constitution so much desired, or of the participation of the States-General in all acts of legislation, or of the responsibility of ministers, or of the liberty of the press; and almost every thing which constitutes civil liberty was passed over in total silence. Nevertheless, the pretensions of the privileged orders were maintained, the despotism of the ruler was sanctioned, and the States-General were abused and subject to his power."—Hist. of Rev. of France, by M. Rabaut de St. Etienne, i. 56.

The Marquis of Breze then turned to the President.

That

"The Assembly," said M. Bailly, "resolved yesterday to sit after the royal session. question must be discussed." "Am I to carry that answer to the King?" inquired the Marquis.

"Yes, Sir," replied the President.

The Marquis retired. Armed soldiers now entered the hall, accompanied by workmen, to take away the benches and dismantle the room, as a landlord tears down the hut of a peasant to drive him away. But a word from the President arrested the soldiers and the workmen, whose sympathies were with the people; and they stood, without further interruption, contemplating with admiration the calm majesty of the Assembly. The body-guard of the King was now drawn up in a line in front of the hall, and the position of its members was full of peril. A vote was then passed declaring the person of each member of the Assembly inviolable.

The nobility were exultant. They thought the Assembly crushed. In jubilant tumult they repaired to the two brothers of the King, the Count of Provence (Louis XVIII.) and the Count d'Artois (Charles X.), with their congratulations. They then hastened to the Queen, and assured her that the work was done, and that all was safe. The Queen was much elated, and received them with smiles. Presenting to them her son, the young dauphin, she said, "I intrust him to the nobility."

The next day, Wednesday, June 24th, the Assembly met in the hall, and transacted business as quietly as if there had been no interruption. The King, deficient in energy and alarmed by the popular enthusiasm which had been demonstrated during the night, feared to consummate his measures of violence. The clergy who had joined the commons in the church of St. Louis still resolutely continued with them, notwithstanding the prohibition; and this day one half of the remaining clergy joined the Assembly. A few individuals from the nobles

"These memorable expressions have been since engraved upon the bust of Mirabeau, which was executed by the Society of Friends to the Constitution. A print of this has been struck off, in which we behold, not the downcast look of a cunning conspirator, but the ardent air and attitude of a noble-hearted man who meant sincerely the welfare of his country; and such a man was Mirabeau."—Hist. of the Rev. of France, by M. Rabaut de St. Etienne.

had also gone over. Thousands of spectators | ful clergy," and his "loyal nobility," urging continually thronged the galleries and the aisles them to join the Assembly without further deof the National Assembly, while no one seem- lay. In compliance with this request, the next ed to turn a thought to the two chambers where day, June the 27th, the remaining portion of the few remaining clergy and nobles were sep- the nobility and of the clergy entered the hall arately lingering. and united with the third estate.