Baillj then dressed himself and called the secretaries of the 

 Assembly to a conference. It was decided that the closing of 

 the hall should be ignored; that they go there as usual, and 

 make upon the spot a record of the refusal to admit them. On 

 reaching the hall, they were met in a friendly way by the offi- 

 cers of the guard and were allowed to enter for the purpose of 

 gathering up the papers belonging to the Assembly. While in 

 the building, Bailly received a second letter from the master 

 of ceremonies explaining that his first letter had been written 

 at the express command of the king and reiterating its 

 contents.*^ 



Bailly decided that in spite of this letter he could take no 

 action, "even upon the orders of the king, because he could 

 not bind the Assembly; it could deliberate upon its own course; 

 he was responsible to the Assembly for his actions as the As- 

 sembly was responsible to the Nation." 



A record was made of the refusal to allow the deputies to 

 occupy the hall, and Bailly and his associates withdrew to the 

 street. A large number of deputies had already come to- 

 gether. It was the general opinion that the Assembly must 

 meet in order to deliberate upon the situation, and for that 

 purpose a hall must be found. A jeu de paume in a neigh- 

 boring street was suggested and it was decided to go there. 

 On the way the deputies "encouraged one another, promised 

 never to separate and to resist to the death. "^*^ 



The hall where the deputies gathered was for indoor tennis 

 and contained neither benches nor tables. A table was impro- 

 vised for the secretaries, but during the whole session, which 

 lasted until about half past four,^! the deputies were obliged to 

 stand. The events within the hall were followed with the 

 keenest interest by the crowd which filled the small galleries of 

 the court and the street outside. 



After the majority of the Third Estate had assembled, the 



19 Procfes-verbal, i, No. 3, p. 5. 



20 Rabaut de Saint-Etienae: Pi'ecis de la revolution frangaise. Paris, 

 1813, p. 134. 



21 Proems- verbal, i, No. 3; Aulard, op. cit., p. 67. 



