ourse would be the contradiction to the monarchy: how
could it attempt it?

To ask a king to destroy the empire of a religion which consecrates him;
to despoil of their riches a clergy who has them by the same divine
title as that by which he has tenure of his kingdom; to degrade an
aristocracy which is the first step of his throne; to throw down social
hierarchies of which he is the head and crown; to undermine laws of
which he is the highest,--is to ask of the vaults of an edifice to sap
the foundation. The king could not do so, and would not. In thus
overthrowing all that serves him for support, he feels that he would be
rendered wholly destitute. He would be playing with his throne and
dynasty. He is responsible for his race. He is prudent by nature, and a
temporiser from necessity. He must soothe, please, manage, and be on
terms with all constituted interests. He is the king of the worship,
aristocracy, laws, manners, abuses, and falsehoods of the empire. Even
the vices of the constitution form a portion of his strength. To
threaten them is to destroy himself. He may hate them: he dares not to
attack them.

XI.

A republic alone can suffice for such crises: nations know this, and
cling to it as their sole hope of preservation. The will of the people
becomes the ruling power. It drives from its presence the timid, seeks
the bold and the determined, summons all men to aid in the great work,
makes trial of, employs, and combines the force, the devotion, the
heroism of every man. It is the populace that holds the helm of the
vessel, on which the most prompt, or the most firm seizes, until it is
again torn from him by a stronger hand. But every one governs in the
common name. Private consideration, timidity of situation, difference of
rank, all disappears. No one is responsible--to-day he rises to
power--to-morrow he descends to exile or the scaffold--there is no
_morrow_, all is _to-day_--resistance is crushed by the irresistible
power of movement. All bends--all yields before the people. The
resentments of castes--the abolished forms of worship--the decimation of
property--the extirpated abuses--the humiliated aristocracies--all are
lost in the thundering sound of the overthrow of ancient ideas and
things. On whom can we demand revenge? The nation answers for all to
all, and no man has aught to require from it. It does not survive
itself, it braves recrimination and vengeance--it is absolute as an
element--anony