Meeting of the Estates-General, 1789. < 
=a - 
he Brier of the clergy, but it would render more precarious the 
ready difficult position of the government. So the minority 
of f the clergy sought the assistance of the king and ministry. 
: g the night of June 19, the Cardinal de la Rochefoucauld 
the Archbishop of Paris made a hurried trip to Marly to 
the king to prevent the ruin of the order of the clergy. 
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 session 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 adjourned to meet the day of the royal 
“s ession. 
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 
ho 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 verification of cre- 
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