and must obey him unconditionally.[1] Their endorsement only serves to confirm the authenticity of the deed and of the royal signature. It is true that after the death of princes many such Ministers have been impeached and condemned, but always unjustly. Enguerrand de Miraguy defended himself in such circumstances with the touching words:—"We as Ministers are only hands and feet; we must obey our head, the king he is now dead, and his thoughts lie with him in the grave—we cannot and we dare not speak."
After these few indications of the difference between absolute and constitutional power, it will be clear to every one that the discussion as to the Presidency as it has appeared during present circumstances does not so much concern the question whether the King should preside at the Council, as how far he can preside.[2] It is of no consequence that the Charte does not forbid it
- ↑ The reader is requested to remember that such "damnable iterations" when they occur are the fault of the author, and not (as is too often the case in other books) that of the translator. Heine would have been delighted, if not with the grammar, at least with the form of expression of Martin Van Buren when he said in a message, "Our sufferings is intolerable and not to be borne." There are, however, cases in which German word, being, as it were, double-barrelled, requires a double load, or two words to convey all its strength. But "this is a horse of very different hue."—Translator.
- ↑ "Wie fern er es präsidieren darf." French version—"De quelle manière entend-il présider."
