Excerpt from The French Court and Society, Vol. 2 of 2: Reign of Louis XVI. And First Empire It was the sth of May, 1789, - One of the most memorable days in the annals of France. The tapestry displayed on the 4th, on the occasion of the procession Of the States General to the Church of St. Louis, still decorated the fronts of. The houses in the principal streets of Versailles. The assembling of the States had brought a further large influx Of visitors from Paris and the adjacent villages and towns, - each estate of the realm being fully represented, - the people, like their delegates, Tar outnumbering the rest. Within the usually quiet precincts of the palace a numerous throng was collected, anxious to catch a glimpse of the aristocratic and high ecclesiasti cal deputies. Some rolled by in gilded chariots befitting the wearers of mitres and plumes. Others, the poorer clergy and humbler members of the T z'ers Etat, compelled to go to and from Paris since the previous evening, and now travel ling together, seemed already inclined to frater nise, - had picked up for their conveyance some very shaky vehicles, which, as well as their horses, had a most tumble-down look. The greater part, however, Of the plebeian deputies, being lodged in the neighborhood, made their way to the Grande Salle des Menus on foot, amidst the vociferous cheering Of the multitude. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.