12 Fred Morrozv Fling 



and one of the least offensive members of the Paris delegation. 

 Tronchet, as representative of the generality of Paris in the bu- 

 reau, was out of the question. According to Bailly, Tronchet 

 would not have participated in the election had he not urged 

 him to do so and insisted that no occasion should be lost to 

 maintain the influence of Paris in the assembly. Bailly pre- 

 sided with dignity as dean and later as president of the organ- 

 ized assembly. Although not aggressive, he was firm in main- 

 taining the rights of the assembly even against the ministers.^ 

 His manner was conciliatory and he evidently made few if any 

 enemies.^ His views were those of the conservative reformers ; 

 he was friendly to Necker and devoted to the king.^ He bore 

 himself in the most creditable manner through the trying scenes 

 of the early revolution, playing a prominent part in the days of 

 June i6, 20, 22, and 23.* He kept himself well in the foreground 

 of the narrative, realizing both at Versailles and at the Hotel 

 de Ville in Paris that he was a prominent actor and that all that 



^See his account of his conversation with Barentin, June 5, concerning 

 the formal distinctions to be made between the reception of the Third Estate 

 and of the other orders by the king: "J'abregeii sur-le-chemp la recherche, 

 en protestant an ministre que, quelque legere que fut la difference, les com- 

 liiunes ne la souffriraient pa?, ' Ibid., I, p. 105. 



^Note the matter of voting in the assembly {Ibid., I, pp. 101-103), when 

 he "gagna I'amitie de la presque totality .de mes coUegues. On fut content 

 de moi, et en tffet je montrai a la fois et fermete et sagesse." See further, 

 I, p. 103, the audience with the king at the time of the death of the dauphin; 

 I, p. 239, his attitude toward the nobility; I, p. 242, his remarks on the 

 deputation from the Palais Royale; I, p. 194, his treatment of the dissenting 

 deputy Martin d'Auch; I, p. 203, his treatment of the clergy and nobility 

 after June 27; I, p. 136, where he asserts that he was esteemed by the whole 

 assembly. 



^Mhnoires de Bailly, I, p. 6, " Mais si ces droits ont ele recoiivres, il ne 

 faut pas oublier qu'on le doit et a M. Necker et au roi, an ministre qui I'a 

 propose, et au roi, qui y a consent!: I'un et I'autre ont donne les moyens de 

 la regeneration de I'empire." "J'estimais M. Necker, et je craignais sa re- 

 traite," Ibid., I, p. 225. " Le genie et les principes de M. Necker," Ibid., I, 

 p 5. " Le despotisme n'entra point dans le caractere di: roi; il n'a jamais 

 desird que le bonheur du peiiple. . . . Puisque nous parlons des causes 

 de la regeneration, disons que la premiere est dans le caractere de Louis 

 XVI.," Ibid., 1, p. 6. 



^Meuioires de Bailly, I, pp. 149-156, 180-194, 198-223. The conservative 

 character of Bailly as presiding officer during these momentous days un- 

 doubtedly moderated the movement of the assembly and gave dignity to 

 its acts. 



