# The Constitutions and Other Select Documents Illustrative of the History of France, 1789–1907/3

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.
References. Fling's Source Studies, The Royal Session contains other interesting documents, bearing upon this event. See also Mathews, French Revolution, 121-124; Stephens, 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 ​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.
2. His Majesty declares valid all the credentials verified or to be verified in each chamber, upon which there has not been raised nor will be raised any contest; His Majesty orders that these shall be communicated by each order respectively to the other two orders.
As for the credentials which might be contested in each order, and upon which the parties interested would appeal, it will be enacted, for the present session only of the States-General, as will be hereafter ordered.
[Articles three to six set aside the instructions given to member in regard to their action upon the organization of the States-General and announced that imperative instructions would not be permitted in the future.]
7. 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.
8. 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 States-General, the feudal and seignioral rights, the useful rights and honorary prerogatives of the first two orders.
9. The especial consent of the clergy will be necessary for all provisions which could interest religion, eccelsiastical discipline, the régime of the orders and secular and regular bodies.
11. If, with the view of facilitating the union of the three orders, they desire that the propositions that shall have been considered in common, should pass only by a majority of two-thirds of the votes, His Majesty is disposed to authorise this form.
12. Matters which shall have been decided in the assembly ​of the three orders united shall be taken up again the next day for deliberation, if one hundred members of the assembly unite to ask for it.
15. Good order, decency, and liberty of the ballot even, require that His Majesty prohibit, as he expressly does, that any person, other than the members of the three orders comprising the States-General, should be present at their deliberations, whether they deliberate in common or separately.
B. Declaration of the Intentions of the King. June 23, 1789. Duvergier, Lois, I, 26-28. Translation, Mrs. Fred M. Fling, Fling's Source Studies, The Royal Session, 36-44.
1. 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.
2. 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 States-General.
3. As the borrowing of money might lead to an increase of taxes, no money shall be borrowed without the consent of the States-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; for it is the formal intention of the king never to make the safety of his realm dependent upon any person.
4. The States-General shall examine with care the situation of the finances, and they shall demand all the information necessary to enlighten them perfectly.
5. The statement of receipts and expenses shall be made public each year, in a form proposed by the States-General and approved by His Majesty.
6. The sums attributed to each department, shall be determined in a fixed and invariable manner, and the king submits to this general rule even the funds that are destined for the maintenance of his household.
7. The king wishes, in order to assure this fixity of the different expenses of the state, that provisions suitable to accomplish this object be suggested to him by the States-General; and His Majesty will adopt them, if they are in accord​ance with the royal dignity and the indispensable celerity of the public service.
8. 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.
9. When the formal dispositions announced by the clergy and the nobility, to renounce their pecuniary privileges, shall have became 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. All property rights, without exception, shall be constantly respected, and and His Majesty expressly understands under the name of property rights, tithes, rents, annuities, feudal and seignioral rights and duties, and, in general, all the rights and prerogatives useful or honorary, attached to lands and fiefs or pertaining to persons.
13. The first two orders of the state shall continue to enjoy exemptions from personal charges, but the king would be pleased to have the States-General consider means of converting this kind of charges into pecuniary contributions and that then all the orders of the state may be equally subjected to them.
14. It is the intention of His Majesty to determine, in accord with the States-General, what the employments and duties shall be which will preserve in the future the privilege of giving and transmitting nobility. His Majesty, nevertheless, according to the inherent right of his crown, will grant titles of nobility to those of his subjects who by services rendered show themselves worthy of this recompense.
​15. The king, desiring to assure the personal liberty of all citizens in the most solid and durable manner, invites the States-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.
16. The States-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.
17. There shall be established in the different provinces or generalities of the kingdom, provincial-estates composed thus: two-tenths of the members of the clergy, a part of whom will necessarily be chosen in the episcopal order; three-tenths of members of the nobility, and five-tenths of members of the Third Estate.
18. The members of these provincial-estates shall be freely elected by the respective orders, and a certain amount of property shall be necessary to be an elector or eligible.
19. The deputies to these provincial-estates shall deliberate in common upon all affairs, following the usage observed in the provincial assemblies, which these estates shall replace.
20. An intermediary commission, chosen by these estates, shall administer the affairs of the province, during the interval from one session to another, and these intermediary commissions becoming alone responsible for their conduct, shall have for delegates persons chosen wholly by them or the provincial-estates.
21. The States-General shall propose to the king their views upon all the other parts of interior organization of the provincial-estates, and upon the choice of forms applicable to the election of the members of this assembly.
22. 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 ​over other objects which could be more usefully administered by the provinces.
23. The disputes occurring in the provinces where ancient estates exist, and the protests that have arisen against the constitution of the assemblies, ought to claim the attention of the States-General; they will make known to His Majesty the dispositions of justice and wisdom that it is suitable to adopt to establish a fixed order in the administration of these same provinces.
24. The king invites the States-General to occupy themselves in the quest of the proper means to turn to account the most advantageously the domains which are in his hands, and to propose to him equally their views upon what can be done the most conveniently with the domains that have been leased.
25. The States-General shall consider the project conceived a long time ago by His Majesty of transferring the collection of tariffs to the frontiers of the kingdom, in order that the most perfect liberty may reign in the internal circulation of national or foreign merchandise.
26. His Majesty desires that the unfortunate effects of the impost upon salt and the importance of this revenue be carefully discussed, and that in all the substitutions, means of lightening the collection may at least be proposed.
27. His Majesty wishes also that the advantages and inconveniences of the internal revenue tax on liquors and other taxes be examined attentively, but without losing sight of the absolute necessity of assuring an exact balance between the revenues and expenses of the state.
28. According to the wish that the king manifested by his declaration of the 23rd of last September, His Majesty will examine with serious attention the plans which may be presented to him, relative to the administration of justice, and to the means of perfecting the civil and criminal laws.
29. The king wishes that the laws that he will have promulgated during the session and after the advice or according to the wish of the States-General, may experience in their registration and execution no delay nor any obstacle in all the extent of his kingdom.
30. His Majesty wishes that the use of the corvée for ​the making and maintenance of the roads, be entirely and forever abolished in his kingdom.
31. The king desires that the abolition of the right of main-morte, of which His Majesty has given the example in his domains, be extended to all France, and that means be proposed to him for providing the indemnity which would be due the lords in possession of this right.
32. His Majesty will make known at once to the States-General the regulations with which he occupies himself for restricting the capitaineries, to give, furthermore, in this connection, which touches the most nearly his own pleasures, a new proof of his love for his people.
33. The King invites the States-General to consider the drawing for the militia in all its aspects and to study the means of reconciling what is due to the defence of the state, with the extenuations that His Majesty desires to procure for his subjects.
34. The king wishes that all the dispositions of public order and kindness toward his people, that His Majesty will have sanctioned by his authority, during the present session of the States-General, those among others, relative to personal liberty, the equality of contributions, the establishment of the provincial-estates, may never be changed without the consent of the three orders, given separately. His Majesty places in the same rank with the national properties, that like all other property, he wishes to place under the most assured protection.
35. His Majesty, after having called the States-General to study, together with him, great matters of public utility and everything which can contribute to the happiness of his people, declares, in the most express manner, that he wishes to preserve in its entirety and without the least impairment, the constitution of the army, as well as every authority, both police authority and military power over the militia, such as the French monarchs have constantly enjoyed.
Discourse of the King
You have, gentlemen, heard the substance of my dispositions and of my wishes they are conformable to the earnest desire that I have for the public welfare and, if, by a fatality far from my thoughts, you should abandon me in so fine an ​enterprise, alone I will assure the well being of my people, alone I will consider myself as their true representative; and knowing your cahiers, and 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 projects, 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 allocated to your order, in order to take up again your sessions. I order, thereto the grand master of ceremonies to have the halls prepared.
C. Decree of the Assembly, June 23, 1879. Procès-verbal de l'assemblée nationale, 1789. No. 5, 3. Translation, Mrs. Fred M. Fling, in Fling's Source Studies, Royal Session, 31.
The National Assembly unanimously declares that it persists in its previous resolutions.
The National Assembly declares that the person of each of the deputies is inviolable; that any individuals, any corporations, tribunal, court or commission that shall dare, during or after the present session, to pursue, to seek for, to arrest or have arrested, detain or have detained, a deputy, by reason of any propositions, advice, opinions, or discourse made by him in the States-General: as well as all persons who shall lend their aid to any of the said attempts by whomsoever they may be ordered, are infamous and traitors to the nation, and guilty of capital crime. The National Assembly decrees that, in the aforesaid cases, it will take all the necessary meas​ures to have sought out, pursued and punished those who may be its authors, instigators or executors.
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