The Counter Revolution of June-July 5 



tions in the provinces, which will make us lose time, since we do 

 not wish to proceed irregularly. But the most dangerous con- 

 sequence would be to thus recognize that the king has the right 

 to exercise alone the legislative power, even during the session 

 of the states-general. 



" Finally, I fear that the nobles will pretend in the session of 

 to-morrow that they ought not to submit to a new verification of 

 their credentials. The letter which the nobles received from the 

 king last Saturday seems to leave the question open to argument. 

 He spoke of the acceptance of the declarations of June 23 ; it 

 appears that even the king proceeds on the theory of that accepta- 

 tion. But this declaration, accepted by the nobles and rejected 

 by us, would free them from the necessity of submitting to the 

 national assembly credentials verified by the pretended chamber 

 of the nobles."^ 



It was selfevident that the third estate must assume that a 

 single assembly existed. If the commons were to be consistent 

 with their declaration of June 17, when they declared themselves 

 a single assembly of the representatives of the French people, 

 they must assume that the organization of this assembly was 

 just as valid after June 27 as before. To treat the union as an 

 established fact and to assume that the vote by head as Avell as 

 the verification of credentials had been settled was the natural 

 policy for them to follow. Moreover, with the support of the 

 majority of the clergy and the minority of the nobles it seemed 

 highly probable that they could successfully resist the attempt to 

 call into existence again the old assembly of the three orders. 



But would the majority of the nobles and the minority of the 

 clergy submit without resistance to the policy of the third estate? 

 The evidence shows that this was not their intention. From 

 protests which were made in the chamber of the nobles on June 

 27 and June 30 it is clear that the chief reasons for submitting to 

 the union of the orders were: respect for the invitation of the 



2 Biauzat, Sa vie et sa correspondance, II, 148. 



287 



