11. Dorset, Despatches from Paris, II, 220 (June 25, 1789).

On Sunday last only the nobility assembled in their own court; Monday had been fixed for a séance royale, which for particular reasons was put off till the next day; in the mean time M. Necker, it having been apprehended that the people in this capital might be alarmed at such an appearance of arbitrary exertion on the part of the king, wrote the following letter to M. de Crosne, the lieutenant general of the police:

"June 20th, five o’clock in the evening.

"The hall of the states general having been closed as a matter of absolute necessity, the deputies of the third estate having assembled in another place, the public might believe that the intention of the king was to dissolve the states general. It is essential, Sir, that you should make it understood everywhere in Paris that His Majesty is still engaged in bringing about union and harmony for the good of his people, and that the sessions will begin again next Monday."

Everything has been perfectly quiet in this city, but the consternation which visibly prevails, and the number of persons who assemble daily in the coffee-houses and all places of public resort, especially in the garden of the Palais Royal, where they discuss with a marked anxiety and interest the important business of the moment, far exceeds anything of the kind I have ever seen in this country.