ouis XVI. pronounced a speech full
of disinterested sentiments, and Necker read a report in reference to
the state of the finances.

[Sidenote: The Tiers Etat.]

The next day, the deputies of the Tiers Etat were directed to the
place allotted to them, which was the common hall. The nobles and
clergy repaired to a separate hall. It was their intention, especially
in view of the great number of the deputies, to deliberate in distinct
halls. But the deputies insisted upon the three orders deliberating
together in the same room. Angry discussions and conferences took
place. But there was not sufficient union between the nobles and the
clergy, or sufficient energy on the part of the court. There happened
also to be some bold and revolutionary spirits among the deputies, and
they finally resolved, by a majority of four hundred and ninety-one to
ninety, to assume the title of _National Assembly_, and invited the
members of the other chamber to join them. They erected themselves
into a sovereign power, like the Long Parliament of Charles I.,
disregarding both the throne and the nobility.

Some of the most resolute of the nobles urged the king to adopt
vigorous measures against the usurpation of the third estate; but he
was timid and irresolute.

The man who had, at that time, the greatest influence in the National
Assembly was Mirabeau, a man of noble birth, but who had warmly
espoused the popular side. He was disagreeable in his features,
licentious in his habits, and a bankrupt in reputation, but a man of
commanding air, of great abilities, and unrivalled eloquence. His
picture has been best painted by Carlyle, both in his essays and his
history of the revolution.

The National Assembly contained many great men, who would never have
been heard of in quiet times; some of great virtues and abilities, and
others of the most violent revolutionary principles. There were also
some of the nobility, who joined them, not anticipating the evils
which were to come. Among them were the Dukes of Orleans,
Rochefoucault, and Liancourt, Count Lally Tollendal, the two brothers
Lameth, Clermont Tonnerre, and the Marquis de La Fayette, all of whom
were guillotined or exiled during the revolution.

[Sidenote: Commotions.]

The discussions in the Assembly did not equal the tumults of the
people. All classes were intoxicated with excitement, and believed
that a new era was to take place on earth; that all the evils which
afflicted societ