The Third Estate refused to obey the royal
command. They took a solemn oath to that effect in a squash
court (hastily put in order for the purpose of this illegal meeting)
on the 20th of June, 1789. They insisted that all three
Estates, Nobility, Clergy and Third Estate, should meet together
and so informed His Majesty. The king gave in.
As the ``National Assembly,'' the Estates General began
to discuss the state of the French kingdom. The King got
angry. Then again he hesitated. He said that he would never
surrender his absolute power. Then he went hunting, forgot
all about the cares of the state and when he returned from the
chase he gave in. For it was the royal habit to do the right
thing at the wrong time in the wrong way. When the people
clamoured for A, the king scolded them and gave them nothing.
Then, when the Palace was surrounded by a howling multitude
of poor people, the king surrendered and gave his subjects
what they had asked for. By this time, however, the people
wanted A plus B. The comedy was repeated. When the king
signed his name to the Royal Decree which granted his beloved
subjects A and B they were threatening to kill the entire royal
family unless they received A plus B plus C. And so on,
through the whole alphabet and up to the scaffold.
Unfortunately the king was always just one letter behind.
He never understood this.
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