4 



having resolved to hold a royal session in the presence of the 

 States-General the 22nd of June, the preparations to be made 

 in the three halls which serve for the assemblies of the orders, 

 make it necessary that those assemblies be suspended until 

 after the said session. His Majesty will make known by a 

 fresh proclamation the hour at which he will betake himself on 

 Monday to the Assembly of the States-General.'"^ 



For several days there had been a rumor of a royal ses- 

 sion.'^ Bailly no longer doubted it. He was, however, much 

 disturbed at the way in which the ministers had acted. He 

 could not conceive that they had not realized ' 'that an assembly 

 that represented the major part of the nation ought to be ex- 

 tremely offended to learn, in this way, without having received 

 an official notice, that its hall had been closed and its session 

 suspended." 



A quarter of an hour later, Bailly received a letter from the 

 master of ceremonies, the Marquis de Dreux-Breze, informing 

 him of the intention of the king to hold a royal session and of 

 the closing of the hall. ^"^ This was not satisfactory to the good 

 president. "Was it decent," he asked, "that the members of 

 the National Assembly, even the deputies of the commons — 

 as some wished to consider them — should be instructed of the 

 intentions of the king, of the suspension of their sessions and 

 of the closing of their hall, by public criers and by placards, 

 as the inhabitants of a city are instructed of the closing of a 

 theatre ?" 



After considering the situation carefully, Bailly decided that 

 the letter from Dreux-Breze did not relieve him from his re- 

 sponsibility toward the Assembly. Friday evening, he had de- 

 clared the Assembly adjourned until this morning. Nothing 

 could free him from this engagement. He accordingly replied 

 to Dreux-Breze that he had received no instructions from the 

 king to suspend the Assembly and it would be his duty to open 

 the session at eight o'clock.'^ 



15 Proc^s-verbal, Vol. i, No. 3, p. 3. 

 1*5 Duquesnoy: Journal, i, pj). 90, 93. 97. 

 17 Proc^s-verbal, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 3, 4. 

 Proc63-vex'bal, i, No. 3, p. 4. 



