4 Mae Darling 



of the monarch, bowing as they did so to his majesty^" who 

 stood during the ceremony, the royal princes and the guard of 

 the seals beside him.^^ It is said that during the entire ceremony 

 the king kept absolute silence, except at one time when he made 

 a remark, which was not heard by those reporting it, to a deputy 

 from Bretagne Who had not appeared in the regulation costume." 

 Biauzat states that the deputies passed on the way to the king's 

 chamber through a gallery where the ladies of the court had the 

 opportunity, as the line passed slowly by them, to view these 

 representatives of the nation.^^ 



The king had ordered that on Monday, May 4, mass should be 

 said at the church of St. Louis, for the purpose of invoking the 

 blessings of heaven upon the states general. The deputies were 

 to be present at this service,^* and they were instructed to meet 

 at the church of Notre-Dame at seven o'clock in the morning, for 

 the purpose of forming the procession for the march to St. 

 Louis.^^ The deputies assembled iat the hour named, but the 

 king did not arrive until about ten o'clock.^® This delay seems 

 to have irritated some of the deputies. Duquesnoy, in his 

 Journal, complains because " one individual " made a " whole 

 nation wait for three hours." He adds that he saw marked signs 

 of disapproval on the part of the deputies.^'^ In arranging for 

 the assembhng of the deputies at Notre-Dame, the government 

 had again taken care to keep the three orders separate. Instead 

 of all the deputies meeting together in the church, the clergy 



i** Biauzat, Correspondancc, II, 21 ; Journal des etats-generaux, I, 2. 



11 Biauzat, II, 21. 



12 Duquesnoy, I, 2. 



13 Biauzat, II, 22. 



^^Recit des seances des deputes des communes, 3; Mercure de France, 

 III, 16 mat, 1789, Journal politique de Bruxelles, 120. 



15 Biauzat, II, 26; Duquesnoy, I, 3. 



1^ Duquesnoy, I, 3 ; Mercure de France, III, 16 mai, 17S9, Journal poli- 

 tique de Bruxelles, 121. Duquesnoy gives the time as ten o'clock, the 

 Mercure de France as ten-thirty. 



1^ Duquesnoy (I, 3) says: "On m'a paru fort mecontent que le roi ne 

 fut arrive qu'a dix heures, et veritablement un individu ne fait pas attendre 

 une nation pendant trois heures; j'ai vu des signes d'indisposition tres 

 marques." 



206 



