154 Jeanette Needham. 
XVI 
The conference at the chateau delayed the opening of the 
session of the clergy, for Coster states that the Cardinal de la 
Rochefoucauld did not arrive until half past nine, whereas the 
usual hour for the sessions was nine o’clock.! But the letter 
of the king was not presented at once, for the mass for the dead 
was celebrated in commemoration of M. Le Guen, deputy of the 
Prévéte and Vicomté of Paris, whose death had been announced 
the morning of June 24.? 
Without further delay, the president announced that he had 
received a letter from the king, and explained the circumstances 
surrounding its origin in so far as he had been connected with 
them.’ The king’s letter was then read to the doubtless highly 
astonished assembly. It was a simple statement addressed to 
the president personally as, ‘‘My cousin.’’ No hint of the fears, 
said to have been responsible for its drafting, was evident 
when the king declared that ‘‘occupied solely with effecting the 
general welfare of my kingdom and desiring above all that the 
assembly of the estates-general busy itself with matters which 
interest all the nation, in accordance with the voluntary ac- 
ceptance which your order has given my declaration of the 23d 
of this month, I invite my clergy to unite without delay with 
the two orders to hasten the accomplishment of my paternal 
views. Those who are bound by their instructions may dispense 
with voting until they shall have received new ones. This will 
be a new mark of attachment which the clergy will give me. I 
1 Coster, Récit, 344; Barmond, Récit, 277. The latter refers to the session 
having been adjourned until nine o'clock. The Histoire de la rév. (1, 238) 
states that the conference at the chateau was not over until eleven o'clock, 
Boullé states, however (Doc. inédits, Revue de la rév., XIV, 28), that it was 
only eleven forty-five when the national assembly learned of the letter and 
the great opposition among the nobility. If the king and the court were 
convinced of the absolute necessity of the union of the orders, they would 
take steps to bring that about as early as possible. If the presidents were 
summoned at eight o’clock, as Coster, who would have a good chance to know, 
claims, without a doubt they could have returned by nine thirty. 
2 Barmond, Récit, 277; Coster, Récit, 344. The latter merely mentions 
the mass. 
3 Coster, Récit, 344-345» 
268 
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