4 Ethel Lee Howie 



of that object and have not explained their position on the vote 

 by head or by order, but, on the other hand, the desire of the 

 majority of the clergy is sufficiently well knov^n and the position 

 of individual nobles is no longer a secret ; all feel that the verifica- 

 tion of credentials is only a subterfuge which has served as a 

 pretext for our quarrels, of which the sole object has always been 

 vote by head. Moreover, the motives which governed the nobles 

 are stronger for the vote than they ever were for the verification 

 in common. Never has any order, any body, acted so grandly 

 and magnanimously as the French nobles have just acted. Could 

 any one have done better than to sacrifice in one minute prin- 

 ciples which had been maintained for a long time, than to 

 renounce the prejudices of its education, than to dispense with 

 all self-love, and retract solemn pledges given too lightly? The 

 French nobles are about to cover themselves with immortal glory ; 

 they have assured forever their rights and property; they have 

 saved the state by strengthening the king on his throne. They 

 deserve the thanks and love of the nation."^ 



Biauzat, on the other hand, was not so optimistic. " One can 

 prophesy," he wrote, "that other obstacles to our progress will 

 soon be raised. Whatever they may be we are sure to find 

 support in public opinion, even in the provinces, which cannot 

 doubt that the session of June 2t^ was the result of deception 

 practiced on the king. 



" I foresee that the enemies of the public welfare will desire to 

 make us constitute ourselves as the states-general in order to 

 make it easy to interrupt the work by the separation of one of the 

 orders. This would force us to return to our first difficulties, 

 those which were overcome when we constituted ourselves as a 

 national assembly. 



" I fear also that they will attempt to find a pretext in the 

 imperative or prohibitive character of some of the instructions 

 so that our operations will be retarded and our activity hindered. 

 I presume, from the letter of the king to the minority of the 

 clergy, that they hope in this way to bring about new convoca- 



1 Duquesnoy, Journal, I, 138. 



286 



