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Meeting of the Estates-General, 1789. 127 
Laclos, a man notorious for his immorality and lack of principles, 
was the chief agent of the Duc d’Orléans in corrupting the 
troops and in influencing public opinion.** The strength of 
popular sentiment in favor of the duke and the fear that he 
might appropriate the royal power must have been factors which 
impelled the government to a circumspect course. 
Some contemporaries were of the opinion that the tension 
in Paris lessened somewhat on June 26 on account of the im- 
proved conditions in Versailles, due to the continued defections 
from the upper classes and especially to the entrance of the 
Archbishop of Paris into the national assembly.2”. But it was 
on June 26 that the Palais Royal sent the deputation to the 
assembly. There could be no doubt that the masses of the 
capital backed the national assembly. Although the assembly 
of the electors of Paris also sent a delegation to the assembly 
on June 26, there is a marked distinction between the attitude 
of the electors and that of the crowd at the Palais Royal. The 
electors were not yet ready to resort to force to save the revolu- 
tion. This is made clear by the fate of the measure proposed 
June 25 or June 2678 by M. de Bonneville, inviting the national 
assembly to approve the formation of a citizen militia. The 
electoral assembly was so timid that, not only did it not vote 
the proposition, but it made no record of the proposal in its 
minutes.2? At the same time, M. de Bonneville proposed to 
26 Besenval, II, 341; Duquesnoy, I, 145; Maleissye, 33; Staél-Holstein, 142. 
27 Bulletins d’un agent secret, La rév. francaise, XXIV, 73. 
28 Procés-verbal . . . des électeurs de Paris, I, 130, 132, 152, 155. The 
Procés of July 10 includes a motion of M. de Bonneville said to have been. 
made June 26 for the farst time. M. de Bonneville himself states, in con- 
nection with other motions made on July 10, that he made on June 25 the 
proposal to establish a citizen militia. 
29 Proces-verbal . . . des électeurs de Paris, I, 130, 132. No reference to 
the matter is found in the Procés for either June 25 or June 26. The writer 
of the Bulletins (La rév. francaise, XXIV, 75, 77) says in the first passage 
written June 27: “Il existe trés sérieusement le projet d’expulser toutes les 
troupes étrangéres qui sont dans la ville ou dans les environs de Paris. Les 
bourgeois veulent former une troupe et se garder eux-mémes. Je sais trés 
positivement qu’on s’occupe de l’exécution de ce projet.’’ Two days later, 
he tells of the transfer of the electoral assembly from the Salle du Musée to 
the city hall and adds: ‘‘ On a proposé de supprimer le lieutenant de police 
241 
