Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/571

 CHAPTER XXXIV THE FRENCH REVOLUTION I. REFORMS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY (1789-1791) 748. How the Estates General was Summoned. Calonne first induced the king to summon in 1786 an assembly of Notables nobles, bishops, and government officials and tried to persuade them to ratify a series of reforms which he hoped would put the treasury on a better basis. But they had no confidence in Calonne and no inclination to give up their privileges and exemp- tions. So the king dismissed Calonne and sent the Notables home. He then tried to get the parlements to ratify some new taxes, but they refused. The parlement of Paris resolved to make as much trouble as possible for the king's ministers and gain popularity for itself. So it declared, "Only the nation as- sembled in the Estates General can give the consent necessary to establish a permanent tax." "Only the nation," the parlement continued, "after it has learned the true state of the finances can destroy the existing evils and injustices." So the king finally decided to summon the Estates General in May, 1789. 749. Question of voting by Order or by Head. The Estates General had originated in the fourteenth century (481) and was made up of representatives elected by the nobility, clergy, and Third Estate, each sending an equal number of delegates. These delegates were not expected to consider the needs of the nation as a whole but of their own particular class. So each of the three groups sat by itself, and each came to a separate agree- ment and cast a single vote for its class. They did not form a single body deliberating and voting individually, like a modern House of Representatives. The Estates had not met since 1614, and there was much discussion in regard to the nature and powers 431