University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Papers from the University Studies series (The University of Nebraska) University Studies of the University of Nebraska 4-1917 The Meeting of the Estates-General, 1789: The Union of the Three Orders, June 24 to June 27 Jeanette Needham Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/univstudiespapers Part of the European History Commons, and the Political History Commons This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University Studies of the University of Nebraska at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Papers from the University Studies series (The University of Nebraska) by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. VOL. XVII APRIL-JULY, 1917 Nos. 2, 3 UNIVERSITY STU OI ES PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION F. M. FLING P. H . GRUMMANN P. H. FRYE L. A. SHERMAN C. A. SKINNER M. G. WYER CONTENTS THE MEETING OF THE ESTATES-GENERAL, 1789 : THE UNION OF THE THREE ORDERS, JUNE 24 TO JUNE 27. JEANETTE NEEDHAM ......... .. .. .. 135 LINCOLN, NEBRASKA UNIVERSITY STUDIES VOL. XVII April-July 1917 ~os. 2, 3 THE MEETING OF THE ESTATES-GENERAL, 1789: THE UNION OF THE THREE ORDERS, JUNE 24 TO JUNE 27 BY JEANETTE NEEDHAM I The calling of the estates-general for 1789 marked the cul­ mination of a long and bitter struggle between the king and the privileged orders, caused chiefly by the financial embarrassment of the country. The victory over the king was the signal for.a still more bitter conflict between the third estate and the priv­ ileged classes over the organization of the estates-general. It was continued after the formal opening of the estates in May, 1789, under the guise of a new contest, over the manner of verifi€ation of credentials. Although outwardly but a matter of parliamentary procedure, this question in reality veiled that other most important question of whether there should be a single assembly with majority rule, upon which the third estate insisted, or an adherence to the ancient custom of three assemblies with vote by order. Consequently the decision on credentials. would imply the settlement of the other question which was the real cause of strife. Conferences due to the initiative of the clergy failed to break the deadlock; nor did the renewal of the conferences, under the direction of the government, bring more satisfactory results. At last, after more than a month of dis­ sension, this struggle of the orders, which had at bottom the further question of how France should be reformed, was resolved lIS 2 Jeanette Needham. by the assumption of supremacy on the part of the third estate, when, on June 17, it declared itself a national assembly. As the consequence of this decisive step, which in a sense marked the end of the first phase of the early revolution-the strife of the orders--the government, through Necker, began the formulation of a plan for a second interference by which it hoped to compromise with the deputies of the commons and to prevent all power from passing into their hands. However, before the execution of the project-delayed by the opposition of the reactionary court to Necker--could be effected, the government itself had forced on the very thing that the plan was to avert. On June 19, the same day on which Necker's plan for a royal session was considered for the first time in the council of ministers, the clergy closed their discussion of verification of credentials and put the matter to a vote. The vote resulted in a very small plurality for verification by order because the majority of the deputies had divided their votes among three other propositions, all of which, however, favored verification in common. After what appears to have been the closing of the session,! this majority remained in the hall and held a meeting with the Archbishop of Vienne as the presiding officer. The result of two hours of deliberation was the unanimous agreement of the one hundred forty-one members present to the following decree: "The plurality of the members of the clergy assembled have been of the opinion that the definitive verification of credentials should be done in the general assembly, under the reservation of the distinction of orders and other reservations of right." Those present signed the decree and eight absent members added their names later, making a total of one hundred forty­ nine in favor of common verification. This action of the majority created consternation among the adherents of verification by separate assemblies. The union was to occur the next day. Not only would it be a severe blow to 1 The minority claimed that the assembly had been legally adjourned before the majority held this session. The majority, as will be shown later, denied that such was the case. Their version of the affair was that the minority, seeing that they were losing their advantage, proclaimed the assembly ad­ journed in spite of the protests of the majority. The minority left the hall, but the majority continued the work of checking up the vote. 116 Meeting of the Estates-General, I789. 3 the order of the clergy, but it would render more precarious the already difficult position of the government. So the minority of the clergy sought the assistance of the king and ministry. During the night of June 19, the Cardinal de la Rochefoucauld and the Archbishop of Paris made a hurried trip to Marly to beg the king to prevent the ruin of, the order of the clergy. In view of this plea and of their own perception of the danger to the authority of the government, if the prospective union were to occur, the ministry decided to suspend the sessions of all the orders until June 22, under the pretext of preparations for the royal session, announced for that date. The threatened union of the clergy with the third estate was averted, but the other result of the government's action was the momentous se$sion and oath of the tennis court, June 20, by which the third estate practically declared that no one had the 'right to suspend or dissolve the national assembly and that the sovereign power was transferred to the people forever. The national assembly then adj~)Urned to meet the day of the royal seSSIOn. But dissension within the king's council over the plan to be presented there led to a postponement of that session for a day. Consequently, the hall of the estates was still closed June 22. Bailly, president of the national assembly, was notified of the government's action, but received no prohibition of a meeting of the third estate. After some search for a suitable place, the national assembly finally gathered in the church of St. Louis, where the majority of the clergy came at last to join them. This accession of the clergy was hailed with 'intense joy. Doubtless, their coming did strengthen the external position of the assembly, but there is every indication that the clergy had no intention of accepting the policy of that body in any respect except in the matter of the verification of credentials. Their decree of June 19 stated clearly that all rights, which distin­ guished the clergy as a separate order, were in no way to be impaired by their union. The Bishop of Chartres, who headed the deputation of June 22 that announced the clergy's intention to join the third estate, referred to the "majority of the order, of the clergy" and stressed the "common verifica tion of cre- 1(7 4 Jeanette Needham. dentials" as their sole object. The Archbishop of Vienne, who led the majority and who, curiously enough, was placed at the side of President Bailly, in his speech to the assembly, called his followers the "majority of the deputies of the order of the clergy to the estates-general." "This reunion," he added, "which to­ day has for its object only the common verification of credentials,l is the signal and, I may say, the prelude to that constant union which they desire with the other orders, and especially with that of the deputies of the commons." Thus 'verification of credentials was their sole purpose in coming and his reference to "that constant union" doubtless meant nothing more than harmony in the relations of the orders. It was not the sort of union that Bailly had in mind in ex­ pressing the joy of the national assembly at their coming-a union which had for its object the sinking of all class distinctions in the body of the national assembly. But the very fact that the majority of the clergy supported the commons in just one phase of their policy must have strengthened the latter to meet the crisis which they faced the next day, especially as more than one interpretation might be placed upon the clergy's action. In the royal session of June 23, from which Necker was con­ spicuously absent-a striking testimony to the failure of his conciliatory scheme-the king, unconscious of the significance of the action of the assembly on June 20, presented the much modified plan. The project embodied two sections, an outline of procedure dealing with that particular session of the estates­ general, and a sort of charter which, from its indefiniteness and lack of guarantees, could not be accepted by the third estate. All acts of the national assembly were nullified, deliberation by order enjoined, and immediate separation of the deputies com­ manded.