time, and during the silence of the tribune, the chief
representatives of moderate policy in the Chambers eagerly sought
opportunities of bringing their views before the public, of proclaiming
their principles, and of rallying, round the King and the constitutional
government, the still hesitating support of the nation at large. It
affords me much gratification to recall here the words, perhaps
forgotten, of three justly celebrated men, all personal friends of my
own; they demonstrate (as I think, with some brilliancy) the spirit of
the monarchical party attached to the state of society which the times
had engendered in France, and the opinions and sentiments they were
anxious to disseminate.

On the 6th of July, 1816, M. de Serre, in establishing, as first
President, the Royal Court at Colmar, spoke as follows:--"Liberty, that
pretext of all seditious ambition,--liberty, which is nothing more than
the reign of law, has ever been the first privilege buried with the laws
under the ruins of the throne. Religion itself is in danger when the
throne and laws are attacked; for everything on earth is derived from
heaven, and there is perfect harmony between all divine and human
institutions. If the latter are overturned, the former cannot be
respected. Let all our efforts, then, be exerted to combine, purify, and
strengthen that monarchical and Christian spirit which inspires the
sentiment of every sacrifice to duty! Let our first care be to obtain
universal respect for the Charter which the King has granted to us.
Undoubtedly our laws, our Charter, may be improved; and we neither
require to interdict regret for the past nor hope for the future. But
let us commence by submitting heartily and without reserve to the laws
as they exist; let us place this first check on the impatient
restlessness to which we have been surrendered for twenty-five years;
let us teach ourselves this primary conviction, that we know how to
adopt and to be satisfied with a defined system. The rest may be left to
time."

Six weeks later, on the 19th of August, M. Royer-Collard, when presiding
over the distribution of prizes at the general meeting of the
University, addressed these words to the young students:--"Today, when
the reign of falsehood has ceased, and the legitimacy of power, which is
truth in government, permits a more unshackled play to all salutary and
generous doctrines, public instruction beholds its destinies elevated
and expanded. Re