Alpha Book

In
theory, it was quite simple--the government was the king. As Louis XV
haughtily remarked: "The sovereign authority is vested in my person...
the legislative power exists in myself alone... my people are one only
with me; national rights and national interests are necessarily
combined with my own and only rest in my hands."
But in practice, the king could not alone make laws, keep order, and
collect taxes, especially when he spent whole days hunting or gambling.
He contented himself with spending the state money, getting into wars,
and occasionally interfering with the work of his ministers. And it was
necessary to intrust the actual conduct of affairs to a complicated
system or no-system of royal officials.
[Sidenote: The Royal Council]
The highest rung in the ladder of officialdom was the Royal Council. It
was composed of the half dozen chief ministers and about thirty
councilors who helped their chiefs to supervise the affairs of the
kingdom,--issuing decrees, conferring on foreign policy, levying taxes,
and acting on endless reports from local officials.


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