t.... We have
conquered the old system, we shall always conquer it; but for a long
time still we shall have to combat with it. Whoever wishes to see
constitutional order established in France, free elections, independent
Chambers, a tribune, liberty of the press, and all other public
liberties, must abandon the idea that, in this perpetual and animated
manifestation of all society, the counter-revolution can remain mute and
inactive."

At the very moment when I recapitulated, in terms so positive and
forcible, the situation in which the Revolution, the Restoration, and
the Charter had placed France, I foresaw that my words and ideas might
be perverted to the advantage of revolutionary passions; and to confine
them within their just interpretation, I hastened to add, "In saying
that, since the origin of our monarchy, the struggle between two races
has agitated France, and that the Revolution has been merely the triumph
of new conquerors over the ancient possessors of power and territory, I
have not sought to establish any historical filiation, or to maintain
that the double fact of conquest and servitude was perpetual, constant,
and identical through all ages. Such an assertion would be evidently
falsified by realities. During this long progression of time, the
victors and the vanquished, the possessors and the possessions--the two
races, in fact--have become connected, displaced, and confounded; in
their existence and relations they have undergone innumerable
vicissitudes. Justice, the total absence of which would speedily
annihilate all society, has introduced itself into the effects of power.
It has protected the weak, restrained the strong, regulated their
intercourse, and has progressively substituted order for violence, and
equality for oppression. It has rendered France, in fact, such as the
world has seen her, with her immeasurable glory and her intervals of
repose. But it is not the less true that throughout thirteen centuries,
by the result of conquest and feudalism, France has always retained two
positions, two social classes, profoundly distinct and unequal, which
have never become amalgamated or placed in a condition of mutual
understanding and harmony; which have never ceased to combat, the one to
conquer right, the other to retain privilege. In this our history is
comprised; and in this sense I have spoken of two races, victors and
vanquished, friends and enemies; and of the war, sometimes open and
sangui