. History of France and Normandy, from the earliest times to the revolution of 1848. ingthem was therefore looked on as a boon to the nation, and anyprudent conditions affixed to their meeting would have metwith universal acquiescence; but the foolish precipitancy ofNecker caused this golden opportunity to be neglected, andthe consequences were fatal. 14. The assembly of the states-general took place atVersailles on the 5th of May; the session was opened -i^qqby the king in a brief but patriotic speech, Neckerpresented his financial report, and every thing seemed to pro-mise peace and tranquil
. History of France and Normandy, from the earliest times to the revolution of 1848. ingthem was therefore looked on as a boon to the nation, and anyprudent conditions affixed to their meeting would have metwith universal acquiescence; but the foolish precipitancy ofNecker caused this golden opportunity to be neglected, andthe consequences were fatal. 14. The assembly of the states-general took place atVersailles on the 5th of May; the session was opened -i^qqby the king in a brief but patriotic speech, Neckerpresented his financial report, and every thing seemed to pro-mise peace and tranquillity. But these appearances weredelusive; the representatives of the commons soon perceivedtheir superior strength, and at once insisted that the states-gen-eral should form but one body. The clergy and the nobilityprotested against this claim, by which they foresaw that theirprivileges would be annihilated ; they were supported by thecourt, but they were betrayed by a large portion of both theirown orders. 15. The inferior clergy were disgusted with the29* 342 HISTORY OF FRANCE,. The States-General. haughtiness and power of the prelates; they were, besides,united to the commons by the prejudices of birth and educa-tion ; a considerable body of the nobility, headed by the dukeof Orleans, privately encouraged the popular party to persistin their claims, promising to unite with them on the first op-portunity. Thus supported, the deputies of the commonspassed a decree, by which they declared themselves the Na-tional Assembly. The court rashly attempted, by a demon-stration of violence, to compel the deputies to alter their reso-lution, but the firmness of the popular leaders was not to beshaken ; they declared that they would remain in the assemblyuntil they were expelled by actual force. The junction of amajority of the clergy and a large minority of the nobles withthe third estate, completed the defeat of the court, and Louis,to prevent greater calamities, wrote, himself, to the
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