opening of States General of lySp 3 1 



to have arisen over this question. Mirabeau, in his Letters, 

 summarizes the arguments advanced on both sides. Those 

 favoring separate verification, he says, declared, first, that since 

 the deputies were elected by the order of the nobility, their cre- 

 dentials should be verified by a committee from that order; 

 second, that the nobility could not pass upon the legality of the 

 credentials of the other two orders and therefore could not sub- 

 mit their credentials to committees from the other orders ; third, 

 that the nobility alone was able to decide upon the titles by which 

 one might be admitted to their order; and fourth, that the veri- 

 fication of credentials was not important enough to consume a 

 great deal of time and, therefore, should be carried on in the 

 separate orders to shorten the operation. Mirabeau then takes 

 up the other side of the question, giving the arguments in favor 

 of common verification. First, the deputies had been elected to 

 the states general, and, therefore, it was the duty of the states 

 general, composed of the three orders, to verify the credentials : 

 and second, since the election had been sanctioned by the three 

 orders of each bailliage, and since the deputies had taken the oath 

 in the presence of the three orders, it was before a committee of 

 the three orders that the credentials should be verified.*^ 



Those favoring verification in common formed but a small 

 minority of the order, and the result was that the nobles decided 

 to verify their credentials in their own chamber, without regard 

 to their colleagues of the other two orders.^* Mirabeau says that 

 the vote stood 47 to 188.*^ He mentions among the minority 



Mirabeau would indicate that this discussion came up before the com- 

 mittee was appointed, while the Proccs-verhal states that it took place 

 afterward. Since the Proccs-verbal was drawn up by the secretary of the 

 order, and since Mirabeau was not present at the session, it is probable 

 that the Proccs-verbal is the more reliable on this point. 



43 Lettres de Mirabeau, No. i, 14, 15. 



** Proccs-verbal de la noblesse, 5 ; Lettres du Comte de Mirabeau, No. 

 I, 15; Biauzat, II, 36. 



*^ Lettres du Comte de Mirabeau, No. l, 16; Biauzat, II, 36. Biauzat 

 simply says: "a la grande majorite, et contre quarante-cinq voix seulement 

 de bien pensants." 



233 



