As a sop to the peasants and the middle class, Necker de-
cided that they should be allowed a double representation in
the Estates General. Upon this subject, the Abbe Sieyes then
wrote a famous pamphlet, ``To what does the Third Estate
Amount?'' in which he came to the conclusion that the Third
Estate (a name given to the middle class) ought to amount to
everything, that it had not amounted to anything in the past,
and that it now desired to amount to something. He expressed
the sentiment of the great majority of the people who had the
best interests of the country at heart.
Finally the elections took place under the worst conditions
imaginable. When they were over, 308 clergymen, 285 noblemen
and 621 representatives of the Third Estate packed their
trunks to go to Versailles. The Third Estate was obliged to
carry additional luggage. This consisted of voluminous reports
called ``cahiers'' in which the many complaints and grievances
of their constituents had been written down. The stage
was set for the great final act that was to save France.
The Estates General came together on May 5th, 1789.
The king was in a bad humour. The Clergy and the Nobility
let it be known that they were unwilling to give up a single one
of their privileges. The king ordered the three groups of
representatives to meet in different rooms and discuss their
grievances separately.
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