opening of States General of lySp 43 



a feeling of indignation which was quite general. Finally, ac- 

 cording to this same account, after one of the prelates had sug- 

 gested that another presiding officer be chosen, the cardinal re- 

 tracted and announced a session for May 8.°^ When the clergy 

 met the next day, there were about forty members absent, accord- 

 ing to Coster, owing to the announcement which the cardinal 

 had made that the next session would be on May ii, and which 

 a large number of the deputies had not heard revoked. Coster 

 says that the question arose as to whether the assembly was com- 

 plete with so many members absent. It was decided that it was 

 complete in spite of the large number of absent members.^- 



The question came up in the session of May 8 as to when the 

 clergy should name its commissioners for the conferences on the 

 verification of credentials.^^ A motion was made, probably by 

 the Archbishop of Vienne,^* that the commissioners be named at 

 once."^ The higher clergy, however, attempted to delay the ap- 

 pointment, wishing, as they said, to wait for the action of the 

 nobility.^® Jallet says that some of these members expressed the 

 opinion that it was not necessary to conciliate the third estate at 

 the expense of alienating the nobility, and that it would be best 

 to first know whether or not the nobles would consent to name 

 commissioners.^' But Jallet says that the archbishops of Vienne 

 and of Bordeaux were able to refute these arguments, and it 

 was decided by a vote of 134 to 76 to elect the commissioners at 

 once.**^ The lateness of the hour evidently prevented the voting 

 from being completed that day and it was postponed to the next 



^1 Proces-verbal Jiistorique, 18. 

 ^2 Coster, 8 mai. 



93 Thibault, 181 ; Coster, 8 mai ; Jallet, 52. 



9* Coster, 8 mai; Thibault, 181. Coster attributes this motion to the 

 Archbishop of Vienne. 



95 Ibid. 



96 Coster, 8 mai ; Jallet, 53- 



97 Jallet, S3- 



98 Jallet, 53; Coster, 8 mai; Thibault, 183. Jallet gives the vote 134 to 

 76; Coster 127 to 76; while Thibault simply says the majority was in favor 

 of naming them at once. 



245 



