assembly was soon after dissolved, having declared itself incompetent to decide on the taxes proposed. The King then commanded the parliament of Paris to register his edicts for successive loans to the government; but his commands were rejected. [Footnote: Chiefly, as it was supposed, through the influence of the Duke of Orleans.] In the meantime, that spirit of discussing philosophical subjects, which we have before mentioned, now fixed itself on politics. The people exclaimed against the weight of taxes, and the extravagance of courtiers; they complained of peculiar exemptions from the general burthens, and of grievances which arose from lettres-de -cachet, and other despotic powers of the government. The King, desirous of yielding to the wishes of the people, recalled Monsieur NECKAR to the administration, and in conformity to his advice, his Majesty declared his resolution of convening the states-general. But in order to regulate all matters relative to the meeting of this important assembly, it was resolved to convoke the notables a second time. Among these, a diversity of opinion appeared respecting the comparative number of deputies to be sent by the Commons, and the two other orders; the cardinal point on which the whole success of the revolution eventually turned. [Footnote: The last assembly of the states-general, which had been held in France in 1614, was composed of 140 deputies from the order of the clergy, among whom were five cardinals, seven archbishops, and 47 bishops; 132, representatives of the nobility; and 192 deputies from the commons. The Cardinal de JOYEUSE was president of the clergy; the Baron SENECEY of the nobility; and the president of the commons was