This Assembly frequently gave expression of its satisfaction with the monarch and with the monarchy. Near the close of the famous session of August 4, 1789, when feudalism had been so enthusiastically renounced by its own favored sons, M. Lally-Tollendal proposed that they should proclaim “Louis XVI. the Restorer of French liberty.” “The proclamation,” we are told, “was made immediately by the deputies, by the people, and by all those who were present, and the National Assembly resounded for a quarter of an hour with the cries ‘_Vive le roi; vive Louis XVI., restaurateur de la liberté française_.’”[97] As early as July 4, 1789, Gouverneur Morris, a careful observer of the French spirit and movements, wrote: “They wish an American Constitution, with a king in the place of a president.”[98] On August 28, 1789, Mounier presented a project of the monarchical element of the Constitution, and a member made the following statement, the verity of which was not disputed: “Here we should reflect upon the national spirit. For fourteen centuries the French, free to direct themselves by the republican spirit, preferred the peacefulness of the monarchic government to the storms of a republican government.... Louis XVI. is no more upon the throne by the chance of birth, he is there by the choice of the nation; it has raised him there, as formerly our brave ancestors raised Pharamond upon the shield. No one contests the monarchical government. All the _cahiers_ are certainly clear ... we cannot avoid the conclusion, the only government which is suitable to our manners (_moeurs_), to our climate, to the extent of our provinces, is the monarchical government.”[99] Other speeches made on the same occasion are indicative of the strong monarchical spirit that possessed the Assembly at this stage of its history. Twenty days later, M. de Baron de Juigne proposed to consecrate the principles of the heredity of the crown and the inviolability of the king’s person. Scarcely were these principles announced, than the Assembly proclaimed them by an unanimous movement.[100] These principles were embodied in the decree of September 17, 1789.[101] From these citations, we are warranted in the inference that the members of the Constituent Assembly in its earlier period regarded the monarchy as the natural and the most suitable form of government for France. On the question of the division of powers, the number of chambers, the elective or hereditary kingship, the absolute or limited veto, there were differences of opinion; but national tradition and personal attachment to Louis XVI. were of sufficient force to bar any discussion of other possible forms for the executive branch.