58 Mae Darling 



Arrangements had been made for mass to be said for Louis 

 XV, and on May 12, according to the Rccit, the dean announced 

 that the clergy and nobility had each appointed twelve repre- 

 sentatives to attend the service, and asked what the commons 

 should do concerning the matter.^*^- The third estate decided 

 that to be consistent with its present policy it could not send a 

 deputation, but it was agreed, however, that as many of the 

 deputies of the commons as possible should attend the mass and 

 thus avoid the appearance of a deputation. ^*^^ 



When the nobles on May 13 brought copies of their decrees of 

 May 6, II and 12 to the third estate, the dean informed them, 

 according to the Recit, that the commons were not organized and 

 that they would consider the means of conciliation when they had 



munes n'etaient point constituees ; qu'elles formaient seulement une assem- 

 blee de citoyens reunis par une autorite legitime, pour attendre d'autres 

 citoyens; qu'elles ne pouvaiont par consequent porter aucun jugement." 

 Biauzat says : " M. le doyen balbutiait une reponse. . . . M. de Mirabeau 

 a supplee a I'instant en disant a ces messieurs : ' L'assemblee des etats- 

 generaux n'etant pas complete, nous n'avons pas le pouvoir de vous 

 repondre,' " etc. Mirabeau tells of the reply as follows : " Les communes 

 ont declare qu'elles n'etaient encore rien, qu'elles ne formaient point une 

 ordre, qu'elles formaient une simple assemblee de citoyens reunis par une 

 autorite legitime, pour attendre d'autres citoyens ; qu'elles ne pouvaient 

 par consequent examiner ce differend." 



^^- Recit des seances des deputes des communes, 13 ; Lettres du Conite 

 de Mirabeau, No. 3, i ; Proces-verhal de la noblesse, 2>2i ', Biauzat, II, 51. 

 52. Biauzat states that the priests and cures of St. Louis had informed 

 the clergy and the nobility of this service, but not the third estate. A 

 complaint was made to De Breze, in which the commons expressed their 

 desire to be present at the service. De Breze reported the matter to the king, 

 according to Biauzat, and later announced to the third estate that the king 

 was very much touched by the action of the third estate and that places 

 would be reserved for the third estate. Biauzat says that there were 

 twenty-four places for the commons. Thibault, in speaking of this service 

 (188) from the clergy's standpoint, relates that the clergy requested that 

 they be allowed to send a deputation to this service, or else to be present 

 in a body and the king sent back word that there would be places for 

 twenty-four deputies. 



^^'^ Lettres du Comte de Mirabeau, No. 3, i; Recit des seances des 

 deputes des communes, 13. 



260 



