4 Laura B. Pfeiffer 



maintain a constitution. The struggle began with the opening 

 of the States-General in 1789, and ended with the suspension of 

 the king on August 10, 1792. 



During the early part of this struggle the French people looked 

 upon Louis XVI as their "bon roi," in sympathy with the move- 

 ment for the regeneration of France. Although at first attributing 

 his resistance to their proposed reforms, and his delay in approv- 

 ing them to the influence of his entourage, they gradually became 

 convinced that both Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were play- 

 ing a dishonest part. When it was fully recognized that the king 

 and queen were unwilling to accept the constitution in good faith 

 their overthrow became inevitable.^ 



Whatever the idea of the king and his ministry may have been 

 in calling the States-General, there was a firm conviction in the 

 minds of the French people that the main purpose of the assembly 

 was to be the reformation of the government. This is evident 

 from the cahiers.^ A study of these documents makes clear that 

 all classes — clergy, nobility, and the third estate — were insistent in 

 the demand for a constitution. It was probably not the intention 

 of the government that the people should interpret the letter of 

 convocation^ in this definite way, but considered in the light of the 

 Rcsultat du conseil of December 27, 1788, such an interpretation 

 does not seem to lack justification.* 



To grasp fully the significance of the struggle, it must be under- 

 stood that the third estate, representing the overwhelming ma- 

 jority of the French people, considered themselves instructed by 

 their constituents to put an end to arbitrary power and to establish 

 equality before the law. While the accomplishment of the latter 

 end might bring them into conflict with the clergy and the nobility, 

 there seemed to be no sufficient reason why they should not receive 

 the support of the king. For centuries he had been regarded as 



^ Fling, " The Oath of the Tennis Court," 2, 3. 



^ Champion, La France d'aprcs les cahiers de I78g, chap. III. 



'Brette, Recueil de documents relatifs a la convocation des ctats-gen- 

 eraux de 1789, I, 64-66. 



* Monitetir, Introduction, 509; Aulard, Etudes et legons, 4 serie (1893), 

 41-51- 



200 



