Meeting of the Estates-General, 1789. 185 
men,” he declared, ‘‘the happiness of this day which brings 
‘together the three orders is such that the emotion which accom- 
panies so keen a joy does not leave me the freedom of ideas 
necessary to respond worthily; but this very joy is a response. 
We did possess the order of the clergy; we have today the entire 
order of the nobility. This day will be celebrated in our calendar. 
It renders the family complete. It ends forever the divisions 
that have mutually afflicted us. It fulfils the desire of the king 
and the national assembly will occupy itself with the regenera- 
tion of the realm and the public welfare.””. No sooner had Bailly 
concluded his speech than the Duc d’Aiguillon, one of the nobles 
who had joined the assembly on June 25, seized the occasion to - 
express the gratification felt by the minority of the nobility 
at the complete union of the orders.'° In explanation of their 
action, he said: ‘‘In coming, two days ago, to unite with the 
national assembly, we believed that we were serving the country; 
we yielded to the irresistible impulse of our conscience, but a 
painful feeling was mixed with the satisfaction which we experi- 
enced in fulfilling our duty. Today however, he continued, 
“we see with transports of joy, the general reunion which was 
the desire of our hearts. The happiness of France will be the 
result of this unanimous accord and this day is the happiest of 
our lives.”’ 
Under such circumstances, the resumption of regular business 
by the assembly was out of the question. The session was 
adjourned until the following Tuesday, June 30. Bailly inter- 
10 Speeches of one or of both Bailly and the Duc d’Aiguillon are found in 
the following references: Procés-verbal, No. 9, 6-8; Point du jour, I, 66; Duques- 
noy, I, 137; Biauzat, II, 147; Jallet, 107; Procés-verbal . . . de la noblesse, 
303; Histoire de la révolution, 1, 242; Boullé in Documents inédits, Revue de la 
révolution, XIV, 30; Coster, Récit, 347; Etats-généraux, Extrait du journal de 
Paris, 1, 126; Letter of a deputy from Paris, le 27, d minuit. Coster’s text of 
the speeches is exactly the same as that in the Procés-verbal of the national 
assembly. Probably he copied them from the printed Procés. The Procés- 
verbal of the nobility gives only Bailly’s response. ‘‘ Nous possedons au- 
jourd’hui l’Ordre entier de la noblesse ’’ in the Procés of the national assembly 
is changed to ‘l’Ordre de la Noblesse aujourd’hui se joint 4 nous”’ in the 
Procés of the nobility. It is interesting to note that the latter changes the 
text ‘‘l’assemblée nationale va s’occuper”’ to ‘‘l’assemblée nationale; ou 
plutot les Etats-généraux, vont s’occuper,”’ etc. 
299 
