opening of States General of lySg 23 



mand ; none feeling themselves obliged to obey and all wishing, 

 a la francaise, to be heard before listening."' Biauzat says that 

 the discussions in the senechausees and bailliages were more 

 orderly than in this assembly of the deputies of the nation,^ while 

 Duquesnoy states that the tumult was the sort that one would 

 expect to find in the market place.^ The arrangement of seats 

 did not serve to lessen the confusion. Instead of being arranged 

 in amphitheatre style, they were all on a level, making it extremely 

 difficult for the person speaking to be seen or heard by his 

 colleagues. ^° 



The deputies managed at length to provide themselves with a 

 presiding officer.^^ There is no indication, however, that they 

 succeeded in establishing any degree of order for several sessions. 

 In choosing this officer, care was taken to use the term " dean " 

 instead of " president," the person selected being the oldest man 

 in the assembly. The policy of the third estate was already 



^ Lettres du Comte de Mirabeau, No. 2, 14. The letter that is here re- 

 ferred to is included in one of Mirabeau's letters to his constituents, and 

 is supposed to have been written by an eye-witness of the event to an 

 English lord. The supposed reply of the lord is also given. Cherest (III, 

 11) takes the view that the answer by the "English lord" was written by 

 Mirabeau himself, but offers no proof for his statement. 



s Biauzat, II, 31. Biauzat discusses the situation in the following man- 

 ner : " Estimez vos compatriotes auvergnats avec lesquelles vous avez dis- 

 serte soit a la ville, soit a la senechausee ; les choses s'y passaient plus 

 tranquillement, en meilleur ordre et aussi sensement, sans distinction, que 

 dans cette premiere assemblee du royaume." 



^ Duquesnoy, I, 10. Duquesnoy has this to say of the deliberations of 

 the third estate : " Enfin on s'est separe a trois heures, apres avoir passe 

 le temps en vains debats de paroles, en decisions frivoles et pueriles, faites 

 avec un desordre, un tumulte qu'on ne s'attendrait pas a trouver dans une 

 assemblee des Halles." 



^° Biauzat, II, 31 ; Lettres du Comte de Mirabeau, No. 2, 23. 



'^'^ Recit des seances des deputes des communes, 6; Biauzat, II, 31 ; Lettres 

 du Comte de Mirabeau, No. 2, 23. It is impossible to establish exactly the 

 order of events in these opening days of the third estate. When it is 

 taken into consideration how much confusion there was in the first ses- 

 sions, it is easy to see why the accounts are likely to differ in the order of 

 events. It is doubtful if, in the excitement of these first days, anyone 

 could have told at the close of any particular session just what had taken 

 place and the exact order in which the events had occurred. 



225 



