Page:The World's Famous Orations Volume 7.djvu/215

 CARNOT so from the moment that a new order of things shall have been established, after having received the assent of the mass of our citizens, I shall be first to conform my actions to it; to give to the supreme authority all the marks of deference commanded by the constitutional oligarchy. Can every member of society record a vow as sincere and disinterested?

I shall not force into the discussion my preference for the general merits of any one system of government over another. On these subjects there are numberless volumes written. I shall charge myself with examining in few words, and in the simplest terms, the particular case in which present circumstances place us. All the arguments thus far made for the reestablishment of monarchy in France are reduced to the statement that it is the only method of assuring the stability of the government and public tranquillity, the only escape from internal disorder, the sole bond of union against external enemies. We are told that the republican system has been vainly tried in all possible manners, and that from these efforts only anarchy has come. A prolonged and ceaseless revolution has reawakened perpetual fear of new disorders, and consequently a deep and universal desire to see reestablished the old hereditary government, changing only the dynasty. To this we must make reply.

I remark here that the government of a single person is no assurance of a stable and tranquil