The Counter Revolution of June-July 41 



The order of the nobles, moreover, makes the present declaration of 

 principles of the monarchy and rights of the orders in order to preserve 

 them in their fullness and with all care which can guarantee and assure 

 them. 



Made and decreed in the chamber of the order of the nobles, reserving 

 the ulterior rights of the constituents ; and some protests or preceding 

 declarations of a great many deputies of different bailliages.^^° 



Although about 89 nobles adhered to this declaration they were 

 afraid to sign it, so only the president, the Due de Luxembourg, 

 and the two secretaries signed. ^^^ Nothing more seems to have 

 been done with the declaration and it appears to have been a last 

 despairing efifort of some of the nobles to resist the commons. 

 Thus the attempts to block the activities of the general assembly 

 by protests and by appeals to imperative instruction had come to 

 naught. 



V 



The question of protests and imperative instructions was very 

 closely connected with that of verification of credentials. It was 

 the imperative instructions which, in theory at least, prevented 

 the upper orders from verifying their credentials in common. 

 It was in order to conform to these instructions that the nobles 

 had verified their credentials in their own chamber on May ii 

 and had insisted on the vote by order. The majority of the 

 nobles, as has already been shown, yielded, rather ungraciously 

 and through necessity, to the union of orders. They joined the 



19° AssembUe nationale, I, 403-406 ; Courrier de Provence, I, i6th letter, 

 35-37- The declaration is given the same in both sources down to the last 

 three paragraphs. Here the Courrier has cut out some statements. On 

 the other hand, the Courrier states that the decree was passed July 3, while 

 the Assemhlee nationale gives no date. The Gasctte de Leyde gives only 

 the part of the decree referring to the distinction of orders. 



''^^''- Assemble e nationale (I, 407) says 85 members participated. This 

 evidently refers to those who favored the decree ; Courrier de Provence, 

 I, i6th letter, states it was adopted by 89; Duquesnoy, Journal (I, 172), 

 says 90 persons consented to sign, but that only the president and secre- 

 tary signed " pour qu'on ne vit pas dans le public la f aiblesse de ce parti " ; 

 Bulletins de I'assemblce nationale, July 3, says that 93 nobles adhered to 

 the declaration, but that the president and the two secretaries alone signed; 

 the Bulletins for July 8, however, states that 89 approved. 



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