46 Carl Christ ophelsmeier 



eral various deputies had made use of it in their writings and 

 their speeches. Assemblee naiionalc had appeared even in the 

 king's own letter to the three orders on May 28. The conciliatory 

 commissioners of the three orders had repeatedly used the des- 

 ignation in their discussions, and the commissioners of the clergy 

 and the nobility had raised no objection to its frequent appear- 

 ance in the proces-verbal des conferences. True, the phrase had 

 been used in the sense of the states general, but did not the motion 

 declare that the assembly should exercise the whole of the powers 

 of the states general? 



The title which the assembly was to adopt in constituting itself 

 was considered a sort of written constitution for the assembly. 

 The title ought, in the fewest words possible, to express and cir- 

 cumscribe the composition as well as the powers of the assembly. 

 It was the phrase, connns et verifies, of the title, Assemblee des 

 representants connus et verifies de la nation frangaise, that was 

 the descriptive and limiting feature of this title. It was also this 

 phrase that, from the standpoint of the assembly, did not give any 

 independent legal existence to the deputies of the clergy and of 

 the nobility. And since these deputies could have no separate 

 existence as orders — the majority, the commons, had decided 

 against it — it was thought that they would finally join the as- 

 sembly and take part in the work of the states general. The union 

 of all the deputies of the three orders in one assembly wouid de- 

 stroy the significance of the phrase, connus et verifies. And to 

 expunge these words would leave the title entirely synonymous 

 with that of national assembly. Again, the credentials had been 

 verified by the deputies of the tiers-etat, so nation Frangaise stood 

 for the assembly of the deputies of the tiers-etat, or, expressed in 

 the language of Sieves' resolution adopted on June 10, U as- 

 semblee des communes. This included, of course, all the deputies 

 of the clergy and of the nobility who had already presented or 

 who would yet present their credentials to the assembly. And 

 nation frangaise stood for assemblee de la nation frangaise. or 

 assemblee des deputes, or des representants de la nation fran- 

 gaise. To have substituted any one of these phrases for nation 

 frangaise would have made the title different only in expression 



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