Note 506 — Chapter XVII
Reading edition
"The grand elector, if he confine himself entirely to the functions you assign him, will be the shadow, but the mere fleshless shadow, of a roi fainéant. Can you point out a man base enough to humble himself to such mockery? Such a government would be a monstrous creation, composed of heterogeneous parts, presenting nothing rational. It is a great mistake to suppose that the shadow of a thing can be of the same use as the thing itself."—Napoleon, Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 148.