opening of States General of ijSg 21 



II 



THE BEGINNING OF THE STRUGGLE OVER VERIFICATION OF 

 CREDENTIALS 



The deputies of the commons realized that in order to have 

 their superior number count for anything the assembly must meet 

 in one chamber and vote by head, otherwise the vote of the two 

 upper orders would cancel that of the third estate. The ad- 

 dresses which had been made on May 5, indicated plainly that the 

 government was in favor of the states general being organized in 

 separate chambers. The question was whether or not the third 

 estate could force the privileged orders and the government to 

 yield on this point. If they could not, the double representation 

 of the commons would be useless. 



The deputies had been ordered to meet May 6 for the verifica- 

 tion of credentials.^ Naturally, the first question that arose was 

 whether that verification was to take place in the orders meeting 

 separately, or in an assembly composed of the three orders united. 

 The government had evaded the issue, not giving explicit 

 directions, although its intentions were probably clear to every- 

 one. If the third estate yielded on this point and allowed the 

 verification to take place in the different orders, they would 

 recognize the right of the upper orders to organize as separate 

 chambers and their cause would be lost. Hence the first battle 

 was to be fought over the manner of verifying credentials. 



On Wednesday morning, May 6, the government posted a 

 placard, summoning the orders to meet that day and stating that 

 " the place " intended for them would be ready at nine o'clock.^ 



1 Discours de M. le garde des sceaux in Onverture des etats-generaux, 22. 



^ Recit des seances des deputes des communes, 6; Lettres du Comte de 

 Mirabeau, No. i, 9; Mejan, Collection complete des travaux de M. Mira- 

 beau I'aine, I, 179. Mejan gives the text of this proclamation. It reads 

 as follows: " Sa majeste ayant fait connaitre aux deputes des trois ordres, 

 I'intention ou elle etait, qu'ils s'assemblassent des aujourd'hui, 6 mai, les 

 deputes sont avertis que le local designe a les recevoir, sera pret a neuf 

 heures du matin." 



223 



