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: political lib----"
"Oh, we will not talk politics. I am a perfect old woman--ultra you
see. But I do not hinder young men from being revolutionary, so long
as they leave the King at liberty to disperse their assemblies."
When they had gone a little way, and the Count and his companion were
in the heart of the woods, the old sailor pointed out a slender young
birch sapling, pulled up his horse, took out one of his pistols, and
the bullet was lodged in the heart of the tree, fifteen paces away.
"You see, my dear fellow, that I am not afraid of a duel," he said
with comical gravity, as he looked at Monsieur Longueville.
"Nor am I," replied the young man, promptly cocking his pistol; he
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