Below the
estrade stood the bench devoted to the ministers and the secretaries
of state. At the right of the throne, seats had been placed for the
clergy, on the left for the nobility; while in front were the six
hundred chairs devoted to the Third Estate.
The Marquis de Brize, with two assistant masters of ceremonies, now
began to assign the commoners to their seats, in accordance with the
situation of the districts which they represented.
As the Duke d'Orleans appeared in the midst of the other deputies of
Crespy, there arose from the amphitheatre, where the spectators sat,
a gentle sound of applause, which increased in volume, and was
repeated by some of the commoners, when it was noticed that the duke
made a clergyman, who had gone behind him in the delegation from
this district, go in front of him, and did not desist till the
round-bellied priest had really taken his place before him. In the
mean time the bench of the ministers had begun to fill. They
appeared as a body, clothed in rich uniforms, heavy with gold. Only
one single man among them appeared in simple citizen's clothing, and
bearing himself as naturally as if he were engaged in business of
the state, or in ordinary parlor conversation, and by no means as if
taking part in an extraordinary solemnity. As soon as he was seen,
there arose on all sides, as much in the assembly as on the tribune,
a movement as of joy which culminated in a general clapping of
hands.
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