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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Ball at Sceaux by Honore de Balzac: place on account of our opinions. Representative government has this
advantage; it saves Us the trouble We used to have, of dismissing Our
Secretaries of State. Our Council is a perfect inn-parlor, whither
public opinion sometimes sends strange travelers; however, We can
always find a place for Our faithful adherents."
This ironical speech was introductory to a rescript giving Monsieur de
Fontaine an appointment as administrator in the office of Crown lands.
As a consequence of the intelligent attention with which he listened
to his royal Friend's sarcasms, his name always rose to His Majesty's
lips when a commission was to be appointed of which the members were
to receive a handsome salary. He had the good sense to hold his tongue
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