14 Mae Darling 



Bishop of Nancy and Necker were among those who were greeted 

 with applause.^^ 



Gouvernor Morris, in describing the events of the day, tells 

 of an old man, a deputy of the third estate, who was cheered 

 enthusiastically because he had dared to appear without being 

 dressed in ceremonial attire.*'' IMirabeau is mentioned as having 

 received marked proof of his unpopularity ; no sound of applause 

 was heard as he entered ; ^ladame de Stael says that there were 

 even murmurs of disapproval,*^ while Morris asserts that Mira- 

 beau was hissed.*^ 



A'bout one o'clock, according to the Recit, the arrival of the 

 king was announced. As he entered the hall, accompanied by the 

 queen, the royal princes and princesses, and his courtiers, the 

 assembly arose and greeted their sovereign with shouts of " Vive 

 le roi ! "*^ Grimm tells us that after having mounted the plat- 

 form, the king, clothed in his royal mantle and wearing a hat 

 decorated with plumes and enriched with diamonds, remained 

 standing until the courtiers and his retinue had seated themselves 

 and then, still standing, he pronounced the opening address.^'* 



The king called attention, in this address, to the increase in 

 the public debt, assigning as a cause the recent wars.' He indi- 

 cated that it was this increase in the debt that had caused him to 

 call together the states general, showing very plainly that, in his 

 opinion, it was the chief business of the estates to aid in putting 

 the nation on a sound financial basis. His confidence in them 

 had already been justified, he said, in that the two upper orders 

 had signified their willingness to renounce their pecuniary privi- 

 leges. Before closing his address, he remarked that he recognized 

 " the authority and power of a just king in the midst of a people 



^^ Ibid., 127; Gouvernor Morris, I, 75; Journal des ctats-gencraux, I, 4. 



*^ Gouvernor Morris, I, 75. 



*" Madame de Stael, I, 152. 



*^ Gouvernor Morris, I, 75. 



*9 Grimm, V, 127 ; Rccit des seances des deputes des communes, 5 J 

 Gouvernor Morris, I, 75. The Recit says that there were shouts of " Vive 

 la reifie!" but Morris declares that these cries were' heard for the first 

 time at the close of the session. 



50 Grimm, V., 128. 



216 



