8) Therefore, also in regard to worshiping God, every subject is obligated to render homage to the confession prescribed by the absolutist authority; and toleration of a confession other than the one that the holder of the highest authority himself professes is merely a product of his grace. There can be just as little question of an independent right of emigration. The person born on the territory of the state, i.e., of the government, or having immigrated there, is a bondsman or serf of the state authority and cannot ever leave the dominion without the permission of the same authority, which can be freely granted or refused.
9) There is no state property as defined by constitutional theory. All so-called public property is a possession of the government or its current head. The power to dispose over it is therefore unlimited, whether for personal or public purposes. Thus, personal purposes need not be restricted to a Civil List, and as far as both personal and public purposes are concerned, the property of all subjects can be used to cover exigencies, as determined by the ruler, by the taxation he freely decrees. In much the same way, he is entitled to the authority to dispose as he pleases over [his] subjects' personal services in peace and war, meaning also military service, as much and as long as he pleases.
10) The servants of the lord and master are answerable to him alone, and whoever acts according to his, the lord's, will is accountable in this to no one in the world. By contrast, answering to him, the lord, are all those who, under whatever title, might have expressed displeasure concerning the conduct of his government or who might have even dared to place any obstacles in the way of his decrees. –
[ . . . ]
Which of the two systems will reign in Europe, the constitutional or the absolutist? If one considers the drift of current diplomacy (visible despite the most careful attempts to mask it), if one considers the ministerial tendencies in most countries, if one adds to that the oriental tone, which becomes increasingly evident in the officialese and the courtly ceremonial, the servility of the newspapers (which is more than enough to make even those in power nauseous!), and the worshiping phrases with which reporters describe the most insignificant meetings, activities, or pronouncements of princely folk or their entourage, even the delight of entire populations over a brief appearance of such a person in their city or district, etc., then one would believe that absolutism is not only on the road to power, but has already completely secured it.
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