discovery made by man since the invention of printing,
was not clearly known. But the underground forces at
work were recognised by the intelligent conservatives, and
they were assuming the defensive, in preparation for the
hour when they would be deserted by the king. It was
therefore impossible that the object for which the States-General were summoned should be attained while they
were divided into three. Either they must be dissolved,
or the thing which the middle-class deputies could not
accomplish by use of forms would be attempted by the
lower class, their masters and employers, by use of force.
Before the meeting Malbuet once more approached
the minister with weighty counsel. He said: "You now
know the wishes of France; you know the instructions,
you do not know the deputies. Do not leave all things
to the arbitrament of the unknown. Convert at once the
demands of the people into a constitution, and give them
force of law. Act while you have unfettered power of
action. Act while your action will be hailed as the most
magnificent concession ever granted by a monarch to a
loyal and expectant nation. To-day you are supreme and
safe. It may be too late to-morrow."
In particular, Malouet advised that the Government
should regulate the verification of powers, leaving only
contested returns to the judgment of the representatives.
Necker abided by his meditated neutrality, and preferred
that the problem should work itself out with entire freedom.
He would not take sides lest he should offend one party
without being sure of the other, and forfeit his chance of
becoming the accepted arbitrator. Whilst, by deciding
nothing, he kept the enemy at bay, the upper classes
might yet reach the wise conclusion that, in the midst of
so much peril to royalty and to themselves, it was time to place the interest of the state before their own, and to accept the duties and the burdens of undistinguished men.
Neither party could yield. The Commons could not fail to see that time was on their side, and that, by compelling the other orders to merge with them, they secured the downfall of privilege and played the game of the
