lO Mae Darling 



posed that third order. Several nobles had been elected deputies 

 of the third estate and conspicuous among them was Alirabeau. 

 ... It was difficult not to continue looking at him when once he 

 had been seen; his immense head of hair distinguished him from 

 the others ; it might have been said that his power, like Samson's, 

 depended on that [luxuriant hair]. The expressiveness of his 

 face was added to by its very ugliness and his whole person gave 

 the idea of an irregular power, but a power after all such as one 

 would imagine would be found in a tribune of the people. "^- 



When the procession reached the church of St. Louis, a dispute 

 arose concerning the seating of the deputies, which indicated the 

 temper of the third estate as well as the attitude of the govern- 

 ment. When the deputies arrived there was no one to show them 

 where they were to sit and the third estate at once proceeded to 

 occupy the front seats. Presently there appeared a young man, 

 who is described by one of the deputies as having been dressed 

 in a " mantle resplendent with gold and jewels, his fingers covered 

 with diamonds and his head adorned with plumes of dazzling 

 whiteness. A baton of ebony, with a handle of ivory, which 

 he held gracefully, was the sign of his high position. "^^ This 

 elegant gentleman, whose attire contrasted so strangely with the 

 black garments of the third estate, announced that he was none 

 other than the grand master of ceremonies, the Marquis de 

 Breze. He at once ordered the deputies of the commons to re- 

 tire to the rear seats, but one of the deputies objected, asking who 

 was to occupy the front seats. He was informed by De Breze 

 that they were reserved for the privileged orders. If the account 

 of Larevelliere, who was probably the one who was leading the 

 dispute, is correct, he answered the grand master by saying, 

 " Thus, Mr. Grand Master of Ceremonies, you will place the 

 deputies of the nation behind those of the two small privileged 

 orders, which are but a fraction of the nation." De Breze argued 

 that this was the arrangement that had been used in 1614, to 

 which the deputy replied that these were not the estates of 1614. 

 The outcome of the quarrel was that the deputies of the commons 



32 De Stael, Considerations stir Ja revolution frangaisc, I, 148, 149. 

 23 Larevelliere de Lepeaux, i, 67. 



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