The Counter Revolution of June-July 3 



Paris and Versailles and violence was feared. The letters of the 

 king sent to the minority of the clergy and the majority of the 

 nobles, on June 27, asking them to unite with the national as- 

 sembly, did not indicate that he had given up the struggle. The 

 expression assemblee des etats-generaux, used in this letter, shows 

 that he still refused to recognize the national assembly. When, 

 in the same letter, he gave as a reason for the union of orders the 

 consideration of his declaration of June 23, he was acting con- 

 sistently, as provision had been made in the declarations for the 

 temporary union of the orders to discuss matters of common 

 interest. The only thing novel about the act was the pressure 

 employed to accomplish what the king really desired. 



But why did the king employ pressure to bring about this 

 temporary union? He evidently acted in this way from fear of 

 an uprising in Versailles, hoping to gain time for the gathering 

 of a sufficient armed force to give him control of Versailles and 

 Paris. The union of the orders, although at the king's request, 

 was looked upon with disfavor by the minority of the clergy and 

 the majority of the nobles. They yielded only upon compulsion. 

 The nobles submitted after the Comte d'Artois had written a 

 letter to them emphasizing the seriousness of the situation and 

 urging compliance with the wishes of the king ; the clergy yielded 

 out of respect for the king. The commons rejoiced as if a perma- 

 nent union had been secured and were upheld in this feeling by 

 the people. Their watchword seemed to be " No more rank, no 

 more distinction." 



II. 



But what did this union signify? What did the commons 

 think of it and what was their attitude? A little light may be 

 thrown on the subject by consideration of the opinions of Du- 

 quesnoy and Biauzat, two members of the commons. Duquesnoy 

 wrote, on June 28, that the commons were at last justified in 

 being hopeful. " Yesterday," he said, " amid universal acclama- 

 tions, the clergy and the nobles who had not yet joined the as- 

 sembly took their credentials to the assembly that they might be 

 verified in common. It is true that they have as yet talked only 



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