The First Revolutionary Step 21 



June 5, Necker proposed a project which he thought would con- 

 ciliate the three orders. 1 But this plan, that he called an ouver- 

 ture, was really to the . disadvantage of the third estate, and in- 

 stead of conciliating the commons it aroused them to action. It 

 really favored separate verification of the credentials. A stormy 

 debate arose in the hall of the third estate as to whether Necker's 

 plan of conciliation should be considered before or after the clos- 

 ing of the proces-vcrbal of the conferences, and it was decided 

 by a vast majority that it should be taken up for discussion only 

 after the conferences were terminated. 2 It was expected that 

 they would last but a few days. This postponement meant that 

 Necker's plan should not be considered at all, for how could a 

 subject of the conferences be considered after their close? The 

 commons did not grant the government any opportunity to in- 

 terfere in the affair of the verification of credentials and of the 

 vote by head or by order. They were ready to organize and were 

 only waiting for the end of the conferences and the signing of 

 the proces-verbal by the commissioners in order to act. They 

 thought that the minutes signed by all the commissioners would 

 justify their action in the eyes of the public and that it was, there- 

 fore, important to wait. The clergy adopted the ouverture, but 

 the nobility accepted it only conditionally, which was in fact a 

 refusal. 3 



The third estate saw this subterfuge. They considered the 

 ouverture as an interference on the part of the government in a 

 question that pertained strictly to the deputies of the states gen- 

 eral and they became alarmed, because there were rumors of a 

 royal session in which the king would dictate his wishes to the 

 three orders. 4 On the morning of June 6, the commons began 

 the discussion of measures preparatory to organization, so that 



pied, et c'est ce qui fatiguait les communes, c'est ce qui semait l'aigreur et 

 preparait tous les maux . . ." Courtier de Provence, Lettre IX, 2-11. 

 Mirabeau analyses the project and gives the king's purpose. 



1 Recit, 74-78; La revolution frangaise, XXIII, 469-70; Duquesnoy, I, 71. 



2 Recit, 78-79; La revolution frangaise, XXIII, 470-71; Duquesnoy, I, 

 72-73 ; Courtier de Provence, Lettre IX, 2 ; Biauzat, II, 93. 



3 Recit, 81, S6; Duquesnoy, I, 71, 74; Biauzat, II, 96; La revolution fran- 

 gaise, XXIII, 520. 



''Ford, P. L. : The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, V, 99-101; Letter 



21 



