55 10 1079 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document At six o'clock in the morning, a crowd of women and armed men assembled in the square summoned by the beating of drums. Shouts of rage against the royal bodyguards were heard. One of these columns marched up to the Royal Gate, but found it locked. Another got through by the gate of the chapel, which was open. One of the National Guards of the Versailles Militia led the way up the King's staircase. . . . some of the Bodyguard ran up: "My friends, you love your King and yet you even come into his palace to disturb him." No one answered. The column continued to advance. The Bodyguard mustered in their hall. The doors were soon broken down, and they were forced to evacuate it. The conspirators approached the Queen's apartments crying, "We are going to cut off her head, tear out her heart, fry her liver and that won't be the end of it." Miomandre flew to the door of the first anteroom, opened it hurriedly and called to a lady whom he saw: "Save the Queen, they mean to kill her. I am alone facing two thousand tigers. My comrades have been obliged to quit their hall." After these few words Miomandre shut the door and bravely waited for the conspirators. One of them tried to stab him with his pike: he parried the blow. Another taking the pike by the head, struck him a blow with the butt which felled him to the ground. "Stand back," said the National Guardsman who led the column. The crowd made room for him. Then measuring the butt of his musket against Miomandre's head, he struck him with all his force so that the trigger penetrated his skull. Miomandre, streaming with blood was left for dead. The conspirators poured into the great hall. Meanwhile, the Duke of Orléans in a grey frock-coat and a round hat, with a riding whip in his hand, was walking cheerfully about among the groups, who filled the parade ground and the courtyards of the Chateau. He smiled at some and talked in a free and easy manner with others. All round him the air resounded with cries of "Our father is with us: Long live King Orléans." Encouraged by these striking tributes to his popularity, the Duke marched for a while with this group, but on reaching the top of the stairway, he did not dare to traverse that redoubtable gap which, in the definition of crime, separates intention from execution. He contented himself with pointing towards the Queen's apartment and, turning towards the King's quarters, disappeared. Meantime, Mme Auger, first Lady of the Bedchamber, got the Queen into a petticoat and threw a cloak over her shoulders. The Queen then ran up the private staircase leading to the King's apartment and knocked at the door of the ante-chamber. In the noise and confusion her knocks were not heard and she waited for a few moments in fearful anxiety. At last the door was opened. The Queen entered and burst into tears calling, "Save me, my friends, my dear friends." The conspirators now in possession of the hall of the bodyguard broke down the doors leading to the Queen's apartment and burst into her bedroom. Approaching the bed they stabbed it with their pikes. The men of the Bodyguard who had barricaded themselves behind tables and stools could not hold out for long. The tops of the tables were being knocked to pieces by repeated blows. The Duke was going to enjoy the fruit of his crimes. Then the Grenadiers of the old French Guards rushed up and, putting the conspirators to flight, occupied the inner posts. . . . The whole Chateau presented a picture of the deepest consternation. The Queen and the Royal Family had retired to the private apartments. The Queen standing at an open window had on her right Madame Elisabeth and on her left Madame Royale, while standing on a chair in front of her was the Dauphin, who, as he ruffled his sister's hair, kept saying, "Mama, I'm so hungry." The Queen, with tears in her eyes, told him he must be patient and wait till the turmoil was over. . . . "They're going to kill my son," cried the Queen, carried away by an involuntary spasm of fear. She took the Dauphin in her arms and got up hastily. Then someone came to tell her that the people were calling for her. She hesitated a moment. La Fayette explained that she had to show herself in order to calm the people. "In that case," she said with spirit, "I'll do it, even if it costs me my life." Then, holding the hands of her two children, she advanced to the balcony. "No children !" cried a man in the crowd, so the Queen handed over the Dauphin and Madame Royale to Mme de Tourzel and advanced on to the balcony alone. One of the conspirators aimed his piece at her, but, shocked at the enormity of the crime he had planned, he did not dare to consummate it. Several persons insisted that the King should come and live in Paris and the mob repeated loudly "We want the King in Paris." La Fayette remarked that the only way to calm the disorder was for the King to agree to the wish of the people to see him residing in the Capital. The King accordingly promised to go to Paris on the same day on condition of being accompanied by the Queen and his family. He begged the people to spare the lives of his Bodyguard. La Fayette added his entreaty to that of the King. The members of the Bodyguard showed themselves on the balcony in the midst of a group of Grenadiers belonging to the Paris militia. They threw their bandoliers down to the people, gave their hats to the Grenadiers and borrowing forage-caps from the latter, put them on their heads. The people applauded crying, "Long live the Bodyguard!" Rapturous joy succeeded the intoxication of fury. Peace was solemnly proclaimed. Frequent salvoes of artillery and musketry announced the victory of the people of Paris and the King's departure. . . . The King left at noon. The heads of M. des Hutes and M. de Varicourt on two pikes led the procession. Following them were forty to fifty members of the Bodyguard on foot and unarmed, escorted by a body of men armed with sabres and pikes. After that came two of the Bodyguard, wearing high boots, with neck wounds, blood-stained shirts and torn garments, each held by two men in the national uniform with drawn swords in their hands. Further back one could see a group of the Bodyguard mounted on horses some riding pillion and others in the saddle with a member of the National Guard riding behind them. They were surrounded by men and women who compelled them to shout Vive la Nation and to eat and drink with them. A mixed multitude of pikemen, Swiss Guards, soldiers of the Flanders Regiment, women plastered with cockades and carrying poplar branches and other women sitting astride on the guns, preceded and followed the King's coach. Every musket was wreathed in oak leaves in token of the victory and there was a continual discharge of musketry, while the people cried, "We are bringing the baker, Mrs. Baker and the baker's boy," a slogan interlarded with gross insults to the Queen and threats against the priests and the nobles. Such was the procession, barbarous and blackguardly, in the midst of which the King, the Queen and the Royal Family arrived at the Hôtel de Ville after a drive lasting more than six hours. Sortable Date 1789-10-05 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Georges Pernoud and Sabine Flaissier, The French Revolution, translated by Richard Graves (New York: Capricorn Books, 1970), 61–66. Description An account of the resource In the fall of 1789, speeches filled the air in Versailles, and a river of pamphlets and newspapers flooded Paris; however, grain remained in short supply. On 5 October, several hundred women staged a protest against the high price of bread at the City Hall. Just as in July, this traditional form of grievance took on a new meaning against the background of political events—in this case, the news that royal soldiers at Versailles had desecrated the tricolored cockade to show their contempt for the National Assembly. As the crowd grew to approximately 10,000 women, a decision was made to march to Versailles and present their grievances to the assembly and to the King. Fearing what might happen (or perhaps simply not wanting to be left out of the action), units of the national guard, led by the Marquis de La Fayette, followed them. Overnight, with help from some of the national guardsmen, the crowd of women broke into the royal palace and demanded that the royal family return to Paris to ensure a continuing supply of food. A nobleman, the Marquis de Ferrières, recorded his observations. Although a moderate, he was openly hostile to the demonstration, which he saw as chaotic and violent. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 309 Title A name given to the resource The October Days (1789) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/309/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource October 5, 1789 Monarchy Popular Politics Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document We [the Queen's circle of friends] never ceased telling the King that the Third Estate would ruin everything—and we were right. We begged him to keep them in line, to use sovereign authority to block party intrigue. The King told us: "But it is not clear that the Third Estate is wrong. Different procedures have been used each time the Estates have met, so why reject joint verification? I am for it." The King, it has to be admitted, numbered among the revolutionaries at that time—a strange twist of fate that can only be explained by admitting that the hand of Providence was involved. Meanwhile rumors spread in Paris and Versailles was only slightly more peaceful. The Comte d'Estaing, who was soon to be commander of Versailles' National Guard, was already playing an important role there. The King readily listened to him. . . . Deceived on the one hand by the Genevan [Necker] . . . the King paid no attention to the Queen's fears. This well-informed princess knew all about the plots that were being hatched against the government. She brought them to the attention of Louis XVI, who told her: "But when all is said and done, is the Third Estate not also my children—and the greatest in number? And will I not still be their king even though the nobility may lose some of their privileges and the clergy a few snatches of their income?" Sortable Date 1789-06-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Comtesse d'Adhémar [E. L. Lamothe-Langon], Souvenirs sur Marie-Antoinette, archduchess d'Autriche, reine de France et sur la cour de Versailles, 4 vols. (Paris: L. Mame, 1836), 4:156–57. Description An account of the resource The King’s decision to accept the idea of a "National Assembly" and to order the deputies of all three orders to debate and vote as a single body met with sharp opposition within the royal entourage, especially among the aristocratic faction close to the Queen. In this passage, one of these hard–liners, the Countess d’Adhémar, expresses contempt for the idea of allowing any significant role for the Third Estate in the government. She seems here almost to pity the King for his unwillingness to preserve the traditional prerogatives of the crown and the higher–ranking nobility. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 308 Title A name given to the resource "The King of the Third Estate" (June 1789) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/308/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 1789 Monarchy Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document May 5th: Go to Versailles and a little after eight get into the Hall. Sit there in a cramped Situation till after 12, during which Time the different Deputies are brought in and seated, one after the other. When M. Necker comes in he is loudly and repeatedly clapped and so is the Duke of Orléans. . . . The King at length arrives and takes his Seat, the Queen on his left, two Steps lower than him. He makes a short Speech, very proper and well spoken, or rather read. The Tone and Manner have all the pride which can be desired or expected from the Blood of the Bourbons. He is interrupted in the Reading by Acclamations so warm and of such lively Affection that the Tears start from my Eyes in Spite of myself. The Queen weeps or seems to weep but not one Voice is heard to wish her well. I would certainly raise mine if I were a Frenchman, but I have no Right to express a Sentiment and in vain solicit those who are near me to do it. After the King has spoken he takes off his Hat and when he puts it on again his Nobles imitate his Example. Some of the Tiers do the same, but by Degrees they one after the other take them off again. The King then takes off his Hat. The Queen seems to think it wrong and a Conversation seems to pass in which the King tells her he chuses [sic] to do it, whether consistent or not consistent with the Ceremonial; but I would not swear to this, being too far distant to see very distinctly, much less to hear. The Nobles uncover by Degrees, so that if the Ceremonial requires these Manoeuvres the Troops are not yet properly drilled. After the King's Speech and the coverings and uncoverings, the Garde des Sceaux makes one much longer but it is delivered in a very ungraceful Manner and so indistinctly that nothing can be judged of it by me untill it is in Print. When he has done, M. Necker rises. He tries to play the Orator but he plays it very ill. The Audience salute him with a long and loud Plaudit. . . . This will convince the King and Queen of the National Sentiment and tend to prevent the Effects of the Intrigue against the present Administration, at least for a while. After this Speech is over the King rises to depart and receives a long and affecting Vive le Roi! The Queen rises, and to my great Satisfaction she hears for the first Time in several Months the Sound of Vive la Reine! She makes a low Curtesy and this produces a louder Acclamation, and that a lower Curtesy. Sortable Date 1789-05-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived B. C. Davenport, ed., A Diary of the French Revolution by Gouverneur Morris (1752–1816) Minister to France during the Terror, 2 vols. (London: 0. Harrap, 1939), 1:66–71, 140–43. Description An account of the resource On 5 May 1789, the deputies of all three orders convened before the King as the Estates–General. In attendance, among other visiting foreign dignitaries, was the American Gouverneur Morris, who recorded his observations in a diary. In the excerpt below, Morris describes first the royal procession through Versailles and then the opening of the Estates–General itself. His description of the King reflects the broad popularity Louis enjoyed at this moment. By contrast, Morris’s sympathy for the Queen is evidently not shared by the French people present. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 307 Title A name given to the resource The New World and the Old: An American at the Opening of the Estates–General (May 1789) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/307/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource May 1789 Text The US and Great Britain in Revolution Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Monsieur le Baron de Breteuil, knowing the full extent of your zeal and fidelity and wishing to give you renewed proof of my confidence, I have chosen to confide the interests of my crown to you. Since circumstances do not allow me to give you my instructions on this or that matter or to have a continuous correspondence with you, I am sending you this letter as a symbol of plenipotential powers and authorization vis-à-vis the various powers with whom you may have to deal on my behalf. You know my intentions and I leave it to your discretion to make such use of these powers as you deem necessary for the good of my service. I approve of everything that you do to achieve my aims, which are the restoration of my legitimate authority and the happiness of my People. Upon which, Monsieur le Baron, I pray God that He keep you in His holy protection. Sortable Date 1790-11-20 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived "Letter from Louis XVI to the Baron de Breteuil (20 November 1790)," in Annales Historiques de la Révolution française, no. 40 (1962), 40. Description An account of the resource Despite a show of support for the Revolution, by the fall of 1790, the royal family and its entourage increasingly felt that the changes of the past eighteenth months had cost them their dignity and power. Unable to stop or even control the changes being wrought in the Constituent Assembly, the King and Queen began to seek assistance from other European monarchs to help them regain their lost power in France. In this letter, Louis authorizes the Baron of Breteuil, his former foreign minister who had already fled the kingdom, to find out secretly if any other government might be willing to intervene in France against the revolutionary government. The King and his court were already making moves to unravel the new constitution, even as the Constituent Assembly was still at work drafting it. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 306 Title A name given to the resource The King Seeks Foreign Assistance (20 November 1790) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/306/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource November 20, 1790 Counterrevolution Europe in Revolution Monarchy Text War Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document To Madame de Bombelles: . . . . But, to return to my account of Tuesday, the women and the people in courtyards demanded that the King should come to Paris and this was decided upon at eleven o'clock. Then the King and the Queen showed themselves on the balcony of the King's room. There were shouts of Vive le Roi! La Reine! La Nation! Le Roi à Paris, and others I could not distinguish. M. de La Fayette in an eloquent address to the people made them renew their oath of allegiance in the presence of the King. At last, at one o'clock we got into our carriages. Versailles greeted our departure with demonstrations of joy. We went on our way, surrounded by the whole of the National Guard and by several gentlemen of the Bodyguard on foot, who had exchanged their hats with the forage caps of the Grenadiers. I forgot to say that after the King had appeared on the balcony of the Palace, they had also shown themselves and had thrown away their bandoliers and their hats as a sign of peace. The King had asked the people to leave them alone and not to chase them any longer. I keep on thinking of them and always with pleasure, for no troops could have behaved themselves better. They really acted like angels. The shouts of Vive le Roi! Vive la Nation! and down with the priests began at dawn and continued until we had reached the Hôtel de Ville. At Paris there are only the King, the Queen, Monsieur, Madame, the children and I. My aunts are at Bellevue. My rooms look on to the courtyard. On Wednesday a crowd assembled beneath my windows calling for the King and the Queen! I went to fetch them. The Queen spoke with the charm you know so well and the way she conducted herself that morning did her good with the people. The whole day they had to show themselves at the windows, for the courtyard and the garden continued to be crowded. At present there are fewer people and the National Guard are keeping order. On Thursday there was some excitement at the Mont-de-Piété, because the press had published something about the Queen having promised to pay for all pawned objects on which less than a louis had been advanced—that would have been a matter of three million francs. You can guess the motive for spreading this rumour. It would be impossible for anyone to show more grace and courage than the Queen has done during the last week. Sortable Date 1789-10-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Georges Pernoud and Sabine Flaissier, The French Revolution, translated by Richard Graves (New York: Capricorn Books, 1970), 68–9. Description An account of the resource In this letter to a friend, Madame Elizabeth, Louis XVI’s younger sister, takes an upbeat approach to the October march on Versailles. Even though the demonstrations clearly threatened the royal family, even forcing the Queen to flee her chambers, the outpouring of support obviously swayed the princess’s views. The actions of the crowd clearly indicated their split view that allowed a rage focussed against royalty to be combined with vocal approbation. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 305 Title A name given to the resource View from the Top: the October Days Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/305/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource October 1789 Counterrevolution Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document It was decided to inform [the King] about what was worrying the representatives and about the dangers posed to the people and to himself. Consequently, the following decree was drafted:"A delegation will be sent to the king to warn him of all the dangers that threaten the capital and the kingdom and to show him that the troops, whose mere presence is inflaming the peopleÕs despair, need to be withdrawn. He would also to be informed that the people's militia would be entrusted with the cityÕs defense.""It was also decreed that if the Assembly obtained the king's oath concerning the withdrawal of the troops and the establishment of the people's militia, it would send its deputies to Paris carrying this comforting news, thereby helping to bring about the return of the peace."Accompanied by forty deputies, the president took the decree to the king. As for this Paris delegation, M. de Gustine asked that the provinces be allowed to share in the honor and the danger. As deputies of Paris we wanted to assert our rights, so it was decided that there would be eighty deputies taken from the various provinces, and all of the deputies from Paris.The president and the delegation returned with the king's answer, which did not include either the peopleÕs militia nor approval for the trip from Paris. In presenting the decree, the archbishop of Vienna had painted a picture of the true state of affairs for the King: the danger to the capital, the need for a people's militia, and the feelings of the Assembly that, while recognizing the King's right to name his ministers, strongly believe that the changing of ministers was the principal reason for the current misfortunes. The King replied:"I have already informed you of my intentions as far as the measures I have been forced to implement in response to the chaos in Paris. Only I may judge what is needed, and can make no changes to my decision. Several cities are providing for their own protection, but the large expanse of this capital does not allow for that kind of surveillance. I am sure that your motives, which have inspired you to offer your help during these distressing circumstances, are pure. But your presence in Paris will not help in the least. Rather, your presence is required here in order to accelerate the completion of your important tasks; tasks for which I am endlessly suggesting follow-on actions."This was not how the king really felt. As yet, only the work of brigands could be seen behind the troubles in Paris. The ministry could not rise to the level of confidence that the good citizens deserved. The old principal was still at work: that the people needed to be contained. It was forgotten that when a force develops that cannot be destroyed, the policy is to try to direct it more than to try to compromise it. While such discussions were going on with the King, the citizens of Paris, recovering their natural rights and set free by their needs, took on the duties of their own protection that they had been refused. And what becomes of a government when, without calculating the circumstances, it dares to refuse today what it will be forced to approve tomorrow?The Assembly was dismayed and paralyzed with fright by the KingÕs response. But the assemblyÕs strenglth was doubled in response to the public misfortunes, only gaining more courage and prestige. M. de La Fayette, taking up the motion of M. Biauzat and urged on by M. Target and M. Gleizen, requested that the ministers' share of the responsibility be reported. Immediately and by unanimous vote, the Assembly, in an act worthy of the senate in Rome when Hannibal was at the gates of the city, decreed the following:"His Majesty's answer has been reported by the deputies that had been sent to the King. Upon receiving this response, the National Assembly, interpreting the feelings of the nation, declared that M. Necker, as well as the other ministers that had recently been removed, take with them the AssemblyÕs esteem and its regrets.""Declare that the Assembly, fearful of the dire results that could stem from the King's response, will not stop insisting that the troops extraordinarily stationed near Paris and Versailles be withdrawn, and that the people's militia be stood up.""Again declare that no intermediary can exist between the King and the National Assembly.""Declare that the ministers and the civilian and military agents in positions of authority are responsible for all actions which violate the rights of the nation and the decrees of the Assembly." Sortable Date 1789-07-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Jean Sylvain de Bailly, Mémoires de Bailly, avec une notice sur sa vie, des notes et des éclaircissements historiques, vol. 1 (Paris: Baudouin frères, 1882) 338–341. Description An account of the resource Jean Sylvain de Bailly, mayor of Paris and leader of the National Assembly, recorded his views of what was going on in Paris in the uprising of mid–July. Here we see the efforts of the delegates and their rejection by Louis XVI. As the men of the National Assembly could not imagine their country without a monarch, they refuse to blame the King. Yet they asserted themselves and the rights of the bourgeois militia. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 304 Title A name given to the resource The Mayor of Paris on the Taking of the Bastille Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/304/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 1789 Middle Classes – Bourgeoisie Popular Politics Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document The King wishes that the ancient distinction of the three orders of the state be preserved in its entirety, as essentially linked to the constitution of his Kingdom; that the deputies, freely elected by each of the three orders, forming three chambers, deliberating by order, and being able, with the approval of the sovereign, to agree to deliberate in common, can alone be considered as forming the body of the representatives of the nation. As a result, the King has declared null the resolutions passed by the deputies of the order of the Third Estate, the 17th of this month, as well as those which have followed them as illegal and unconstitutional. His Majesty having exhorted the three orders, for the safety of the state, to unite themselves during this session of estates only, to deliberate in common upon the affairs of general utility, wishes to make his intentions known upon the manner of procedure. There shall be particularly excepted from the affairs which can be treated in common, those that concern the ancient and constitutional rights of the three orders, the form of constitution to be given to the next Estates-General, the feudal and seigniorial rights, the useful rights and honorary prerogatives of the first two orders. The especial consent of the clergy will be necessary for all provisions which could interest religion, ecclesiastical discipline, the régime of the orders and secular and regular bodies. Declaration of the Intentions of the King. 23 June 1789. No new tax shall be established, no old one shall be continued beyond the term fixed by the laws, without the consent of the representatives of the nation. The new taxes which will be established, or the old ones which will be continued, shall hold only for the interval which will elapse until the time of the following session of the Estates-General. As the borrowing of money might lead to an increase of taxes, no money shall be borrowed without the consent of the Estates-General, under the condition, however, that in case of war, or other national danger, the sovereign shall have the right to borrow without delay, to the amount of one hundred millions [livres]: for it is the formal intention of the King never to make the safety of his realm dependent upon any person. The representatives of a nation faithful to the laws of honor and probity, will make no attack upon the public credit, and the King expects from them that the confidence of the creditors of the state will be assured and secured in the most authentic manner. When the formal dispositions announced by the clergy and the nobility, to renounce their pecuniary privileges, shall have become a reality by their deliberations, it is the intention of the King to sanction them, and there will no longer exist any kind of privileges or distinctions in the payment of taxes. The King wishes that to consecrate a disposition so important, the name of taille be abolished in the Kingdom, and that this tax be joined either to the vingtièmes, or to any other land tax, or finally that it be replaced in some way, but always in just and equal proportions and without distinction of estate, rank and birth. The King wishes that the tax of franc-fief be abolished from the time when the revenues and fixed expenses of the state exactly balance. All property rights, without exception, shall be constantly respected, and His Majesty expressly understands under the name of property rights, tithes, rents, annuities, feudal and seigniorial rights and duties, and, in general, all the rights and prerogatives useful or honorary, attached to lands and fiefs or pertaining to persons. The King, desiring to assure the personal liberty of all citizens in the most solid and durable manner, invites the Estates-General to seek for and to propose to him the means that may be the most fitting to conciliate the orders known under the name of lettres de cachet, with the maintenance of public security and with the precautions necessary in some cases to guard the honor of families, to repress with celerity the beginning of sedition or to guarantee the state from the effects of criminal negotiations with foreign powers. The Estates-General shall examine and make known to His Majesty, the means most fitting to reconcile the liberty of the press with respect due to religion, custom, and the honor of the citizens. Independently of the objects of administration with which the provincial assemblies are charged, the King will confide to the provincial-estates the administration of the hospitals, prisons, charity stations, foundling homes, the inspection of the expenses of the cities, the surveillance over the maintenance of the forests, the protection and sale of the wood, and enterprise, alone I will assure the well being of my people, alone I will consider myself as their true representative; and knowing your cahiers, knowing the perfect accord which exists between the most general wish of the nation and my kindly intentions, I will have all the confidence which so rare a harmony ought to inspire and I will advance towards the goal that I wish to attain with all the courage and firmness that it ought to inspire in me. Reflect, gentlemen, that none of your dispositions can have the force of a law without my special approbation. So I am the natural guarantee of your respective rights, and all the orders of the state can depend upon my equitable impartiality. All distrust upon your part would be a great injustice. It is I, at present, who am doing everything for the happiness of my people, and it is rare, perhaps, that the only ambition of a sovereign is to come to an understanding with his subjects that they may accept his kindnesses. I order you, gentlemen, to separate immediately, and to go tomorrow morning, each to the chamber allotted to your order, in order to take up again your sessions. I order, therefore, the grand master of ceremonies to have the halls prepared. Sortable Date 1789-06-23 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Frank Maloy Anderson, The Constitutions and Other Select Documents Illustrative of the History of France, 1789–1907, 2d ed. (Minneapolis, Minn.: H. W. Wilson, 1908), 11–15. Description An account of the resource On 17 June, the deputies of the Third Estate, locked out of the Estates–General meeting hall in Versailles, convened in an empty tennis court, where they swore an oath. In it, they expressed their commitment to drafting a written constitution and proclaimed again that collectively, the deputies represented not three separate orders but a single French nation. In response, the King addressed the deputies in a "royal session" on 23 June; he rejected the claim of the Third Estate that it could constitute a "National Assembly" and reiterated that each deputy represented only the order that had elected him. As a compromise, however, Louis allowed that to consider matters concerning all three orders, especially the pressing issue of royal fiscal policy, all the deputies should debate in common, tacitly accepting some of the Third Estate’s arguments. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 303 Title A name given to the resource The King Speaks to the "National Assembly": Royal Session of 23 June 1789 Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/303/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 23, 1789 Monarchy Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document It is above all in the interests of the Princes of your Blood to tell you the truth. By their rank, they are first among your subjects; by their status, they are your natural advisers; and by their rights, they are interested in defending yours. By the same token, they believe they owe you an explanation of their feelings and thoughts.Sire, the state is in peril. Your person is respected, the virtues of the monarch assure him of the nation's respect. But Sire, a revolution is brewing in the elements of government and is being brought about by rousing the people. Institutions thought to be sacred, through which the monarchy has flourished for so many centuries, are being questioned, seen as problems, or even disparaged as unjust.There is a deliberate plan of insubordination in progress that holds nothing but contempt for the laws of the state. This is evidenced by the subject matter and tone displayed in the writings published in the Assembly of Notables, in the memoranda sent to the princely signatories, and in the demands drawn up by various provinces, towns, or corporations. Every author sets himself up as legislator. Eloquence or a clever pen, even if these talents are devoid of education, knowledge, or experience, seem sufficient authorization to settle the empireÕs constitutional questions. Whoever puts forth a bold proposition or proposes to change the laws is sure to draw a readership or start a faction.Unfortunately, the rate with which this turmoil is developing is such that opinions, which not long ago would have seemed most reprehensible, today appear sensible and fair. They are making people indignant, and will soon allow them to accept these views as normal and legitimate. Who can say how far these audacious opinions will go? The rights of the throne have begun to be questioned. Opinion is divided over what is due the first two orders of the state. Property rights soon will be attacked and the unequal distribution of wealth will be represented as something in need of reform. It has been proposed that feudal dues be abolished as a barbarous remnant of an oppressive system.From these new theories, and from the design to change rights and laws, comes a claim advanced by several sections of the Third Estate that their order should have two votes in the Estates-General while each of the two leading orders continues to have only one. . . .Your Majesty has been shown the importance of maintaining the only constitutional method of convening the Estates-General, the method that is hallowed by law and custom and is the immutable foundation of the French monarchy: the distinction between the orders, the right to deliberate in separate chambers, and equality of votes.These principles have been developed and proven, and would seem to be irrefutable.For the princely signatories there remains only to express the feelings they have that are inspired by their loyalty to the state and to Your Majesty.The princes cannot hide the fact that they fear for the state should the claims of the Third Estate be successful, nor can they conceal the dire consequences the proposed revolution would incur for the constitution of the estates. They foresee a sad future where each king alters the nationÕs laws in accordance with his personal inclinations. They foresee a superstitious king giving extra votes to the clergy. They foresee a bellicose king doting on the nobles who follow him into battle. They see the Third Estate obtaining a majority of votes only to be punished for its success because of these changes. As time elapses, each order will either be the oppressor or the oppressed. The constitution will be corrupt or unstable and the nation will always be divided as well as weak and unhappy.Let the Third Estate, then, cease its attack upon the rights of the first two orders. . . . [These] rights are as ancient as the monarchy and should be as unalterable as its constitution. Let them limit themselves to seeking the reduction of taxes by which they are overburdened. Then, the first two orders, recognizing that the Third Estate has citizens who are important to them, will generously be able to renounce any prerogatives that may have a pecuniary value and agree to bear their full share of public taxation. Sortable Date 1788-00-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived M. J. Mavidal and M. E. Laurent, eds., Archives parlementaires de 1787 à 1860, première série (1787 à 1799), 2d ed., 82 vols. (Paris: Dupont, 1879–1913), 1:487–89. Description An account of the resource The "Princes of the Blood" were the King’s brothers and cousins, who traditionally served as both the King’s closest advisers and as his leading opponents in politics. In late 1788, on behalf of the second Assembly of Notables, they issued this statement. In it, they defend the prerogative of higher–ranking nobles to speak for the nation to the King through the Parlements and the Assembly of Notables, and they oppose the proliferation of reform proposals coming from commoners in anticipation of the Estates–General. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 302 Title A name given to the resource Royal Decree Convoking the Estates–General and the Parlementary Response (1788) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/302/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1788 Counterrevolution Nobility Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document I read your remonstrances and wanted to reply to them with such sincerity that you could not doubt my intentions nor permit yourselves to deviate from them. It was useless for you to tell me about the rules concerning registration and voting privileges. When I come to personally hold my Parlement it is because I wish to hear a discussion of the law that I have brought with me and to learn more about it before I decide on its registration. This is what I did on 19 November last.I heard everyone's opinion.You only need summarize these opinions when I am not present at your deliberations, in which case I am aware of the result of your debates by knowing how the majority voted. When I am present, I will decide this for myself.If, in my courts, my will was subject to the majority vote, the monarchy would be nothing more than an aristocracy of magistrates, as adverse to the rights and interests of the nation as to those of the sovereign.Indeed, it would be a strange constitution that diminishes the will of the King to the point that it is worth no more than the opinion of one of his officers, and requires that legislators have as many opinions as there are different decisions arising from the various courts of law in the kingdom. Sortable Date 1788-00-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived M. J. Mavidal and M. E. Laurent, eds., Archives parlementaires de 1787 à 1860, première série (1787 à 1799), 2d ed., 82 vols. (Paris: Dupont, 1879–1913), 1:284. Description An account of the resource The fiscal and administrative reforms issued as royal decrees in the autumn of 1787 were opposed vociferously by the Parlements. To force their registration, the King held a "royal session" on 19 November 1787. Ordinarily at such a session, the magistrates of the Parlement of Paris would be allowed to vote on a royal decree. In this case, however, Louis broke with protocol by ordering the registration of his decrees without allowing the magistrates to vote. In this short speech given at Versailles the following spring, Louis XVI justified his move by restating the basic principle of absolutism—that royal decrees must be accepted as law when the King makes it clear that they are his will. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 301 Title A name given to the resource Louis XVI’s Reply to the Parlement of Paris (1788) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/301/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1788 Monarchy Text Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Abuses Abuses [in tax payment] . . . are defended by self-interest, influence, wealth and ancient prejudices which seem to be hallowed by time; but what are all these together compared with the common good and the necessity of the state? These abuses oppress the wealth-producing, laboring class: the abuses of pecuniary privilege; exceptions to the general rule, and so many unjust; exemptions which only relieve one section of taxpayers by aggravating the condition of the others. . . . The projects which the King intends to impart to you . . . . are neither doctrinaire nor novelties. They represent a summary of . . . the plans for the public good long contemplated by experienced statesmen and by the government itself. Some have been attempted in part and all seem to have the backing of the nation, but hitherto their complete implementation appeared impracticable because of the difficulty of reconciling a host of local customs, claims, privileges and conflicting interests. To this end, His Majesty has first of all considered the various forms of administration which occur in those provinces without [local] Estates. In order that the distribution of taxation may cease to be unequal and arbitrary, He has decided to confide the task to the landowners and he has derived from the first principles of the monarchy the general plan of a graduated series of deliberative assemblies whereby the expression of the taxpayers' wishes and their observations on everything which concerns them will be transmitted from parish to district assemblies, thence to provincial assemblies and through them to the throne. Next His Majesty brought all his personal attention to bear on establishing the same principle of uniformity . . . . in the distribution of the land tax. . . . He recognized that . . . the vingtièmes [one-twentieth], instead of being assessed as they should be on all the land in his kingdom in true proportion to the value of the crop, suffer an infinity of exceptions which are tolerated rather than regarded as legitimate. . . . The revenue of this general tax, instead of providing the government with vital information about the produce of the kingdom and the relative wealth of each province, serve only to demonstrate the offensive inequality between their various contributions. . . . His Majesty has decided to remedy these defects by applying the rules of a strictly distributive justice, by restoring the original intention behind the tax, and by raising it to its true value without increasing anyone's contribution (indeed granting some relief to the people), and finally by making every kind of privilege incompatible. The vingtièmes will be replaced by a general land tax covering the whole area of the kingdom on a proportion of all produce, payable in kind where feasible, otherwise in money, and admitting of no exception, even the crown lands other than those resulting from the varying fertility of the soil and the varying harvests. The lands of the [Roman Catholic] Church would necessarily be included in this general assessment which, to be fair, must include all land as does the protection for which it is the price. But in order that these lands should not be overburdened by continuing to pay the taxes collected to fund the debt of the clergy, the King, sovereign protector of the churches of his kingdom, has decided to provide for the repayment of this debt by granting the clergy the necessary authorization to make the repayment [by selling off feudal rights, etc.] . . . . Complete freedom of the grain trade . . . with the one exception of deferring to the wishes of the provinces when any of them think it necessary temporarily to suspend export abroad. . . . The King also proposes the abolition of the corvée [forced labor on public highways] and the conversion of this excessively harsh exaction to a monetary contribution distributed more justly and spent in such a way that it can never be diverted to other purposes. Internal free trade, customs houses removed to the frontiers, the establishment of a uniform tariff taking the needs of commerce into consideration, the suppression of several taxes which are harmful to industry or lead too easily to harassment and the alleviation of the burden of the gabelle [the obligation to purchase salt from the state] (which I have never mentioned to His Majesty without his being deeply grieved that he cannot rid his subjects of it altogether). These, gentlemen, are so many salutary measures which enter into the plan upon which His Majesty will enlarge and which all conform to the principles of order and uniformity which are its basis. Sortable Date 1787-00-00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Jules Flammermont, Remonstrances du Parlement de Paris au XVIIIe siècle, vol. 1 (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1888–98), 189–98. Description An account of the resource In 1783, Charles Alexandre de Calonne, a provincial noble, became royal finance minister. At first, he, like Vergennes, saw no need to rationalize the royal treasury or to appease the Parlements. However, by 1786 the deficit had become so huge—one–sixth of the total royal budget—that Calonne knew reforms (meaning more taxes or at least more loans) could no longer be put off. To obtain the support of regional nobles for such changes, the King called an Assembly of Notables. At the opening session, on 22 February 1787, Calonne addressed the assembly and proposed a uniform tax across the kingdom, to be administered by provincial assemblies of nobles and other elites. In other words, a royal minister was now suggesting that privileges from taxation should be replaced with a fiscal policy that would apply to all equally. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 300 Title A name given to the resource Calonne, "Programs of Reform," Address to Assembly of Notables (1787) Relation A related resource https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/300/ Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1787 Economic Conditions Enlightenment Text