2 Carl Christophelsnwier 



Thus, although the question of representation was settled, an- 

 other question of equal magnitude remained to be solved, namely, 

 how the states general should organize itself. The work of the 

 national assembly depended wholly upon its solution, for if the 

 deputies of the three orders should meet in three separate halls 

 the privileged classes could allow just such reforms as they 

 wished; but if, on the other hand, all the deputies should meet 

 in one assembly and vote by head, the tiers-ctat could control the 

 action of the assembly. The question of organization was thus a 

 vital one, for the fate of the states general and of the constitu- 

 tion and, therefore, the fate of France depended upon its 

 treatment. 



It was, according to Rabaut de Saint-Etienne, on the evening 

 of May 5, the very day of the opening session, that "the deputies 

 of the commons, having assembled by provinces, agreed that they 

 would hold their sessions in the hall of the states general, that 

 they would consider this hall as the national hall, that they would 

 there await the other orders for the purpose of deliberating in 

 common, and that they would not swerve from this line of con- 

 duct." 1 They did, in fact, adhere to this policy until the deputies 

 of the other two orders joined them. 



The states general was formally opened on May 5 at Versailles 

 in the Salic dcs Menus Plaisirs. We are concerned with this 

 stately and truly royal session only in so far as it touched the 

 solution of the question of vote by head or by order. The king 

 did not speak of the matter of organization at all. His anxiety 

 in regard to it is seen, however, in his appeal to the deputies to 

 work in harmony. Barentin, the keeper of the seals, announced 

 that the deputies were to meet the next day and verify their cre- 

 dentials as promptly as possible, while Necker, in a brief refer- 

 ence to the subject, seemed to favor three assemblies. The great 

 problem was left for solution, therefore, to the deputies of the 

 three orders themselves. The hope or fear on their part that the 

 king might decide this all-important question, or at least com- 

 promise it by showing his preference either in favor of the tiers- 

 etat or of the privileged aristocracy, was dispelled. 



Rabaut de Saint-Etienne, Precis, 117. 



