Page:The Constitutions and Other Select Documents Illustrative of the History of France, 1789-1907, Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged.pdf/33

Rh James Harvey Robinson, Political Science Quarterly, X, 460–474; Von Sybel, French Revolution, I, 65–66; Cambridge Modern History, VIII, 155–156; Jaurès, Histoire socialiste, I, 246.

The National Assembly, considering that it has been summoned to determine the constitution of the kingdom, to effect the regeneration of public order, and to maintain the true principles of the monarchy; that nothing can prevent it from continuing its deliberations in whatever place it may be forced to establish itself, and lastly, that wherever its members meet together, there is the National Assembly.

Decrees that all the members of this assembly shall immediately take a solemn oath never to separate, and to reassemble wherever circumstances shall require, until the constitution of the kingdom shall be established and consolidated upon firm foundations; and that, the said oath being taken, all the members and each of them individually shall ratify by their signatures this steadfast resolution.

 3. Documents upon the Royal Session of June 23, 1789.

These documents show the parts played by the King and the Third Estate at the royal session of June 28, 1789. Document A is a command, although expressed as a wish. Document B has a special interest since it indicates approximately how far Louis XVI was ready to go in the way of reform. Mirabeau's famous defiance of the royal usher was an important factor in nerving the Third Estate to take the action embodied in document C.

Fling's Source Studies, The Royal Session contains other interesting documents, bearing upon this event. See also Mathews, French Revolution, 121–124; Sephens, French Revolution, I, 62–63; Von Sybel, French Revolution, I, 66–69; Cambridge Modern History, VIII, 156–159; Jaurès, Histoire socialiste, I, 247–253.

A. Declaration of the King upon the States-General. June 23, 1789. Duvergier, Lois, I, 24–25. Translation, Mrs. Fred M. Fling, Fling's Source Studies, The Royal Session, 33–36.

1. 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