opening of States General of i/Sp 79 



had named " certain persons to confer with the commissioners 

 named by the clergy and the nobiHty."-^^ 



Coster tells us that the commissioners of the clergy met in the 

 house of the Archbishop of Aries, and there agreed to do all that 

 was possible to make the conferences have an air of neutrality. 

 It was agreed that for this reason the conferences should be held 

 in the Salle des Ambassadeurs at the chateau, and that the depu- 

 ties should not be grouped according to their orders. ^^^ It is 

 clear that the clergy were making an effort to conciliate the third 

 estate and make the conferences a success. 



The question of the renunciation of privileges by the clergy was 

 not finally settled hy the decision of May 19. The bishops were 

 fighting hard to save their cherished prerogatives. On May 20, 

 they succeeded in having the question reopened.-^^ Again they 

 tried to protect their rights. The Bishop of Saintes, according 

 to Jallet, tried to overthrow the arguments of a cure who had 

 stated the previous day that the privileges of the clergy were not 

 legal, by citing the Proces-verbal of the estates of 1560 where 

 mention was made of the " immunities " of the clergy, " inviting," 

 says Jallet, " the cure to read eighteen volumes of that Proces- 

 verbaux." Jallet asserts that the cure arose and answered the 

 bishop so well by appeal to historical facts and by logical reason- 

 ing, that the bishop was silenced.-^^ Jallet also tells of a bishop 

 who, in opposing the motion, asserted that '' the state and religion 

 were in evil hands since there were one hundred and fifty 

 deputies who had voted for the resolution of the previous day."^^® 

 The higher clergy, however, were no stronger than on the preced- 

 ing day, and the result was that the motion was again carried. 

 The liberal party in the clergy had won a second time.^^° 



Turning to the events which had been taking place, in the 



255Vallet, Rccit, 34; Jallet, 61; Thibault, 204. Only the first two state 

 that the coming of the deputation interrupted the discussion. 



256 Coster, 18 mai. 



257 Ibid., 20 mai ; Jallet, 61 ; Vallet, Recit, 34 ; Proces-verbal historique, 67. 



258 Jallet, 61. 



259 Ibid., 62. 



260 Proces-verbal historique, 68. 



281 



