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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Maitre Cornelius by Honore de Balzac: enormous breadth and depth. At a period when the power of artillery
was still in embryo, the position of Plessis, long since chosen by
Louis XI. for his favorite retreat, might be considered impregnable.
The castle, built of brick and stone, had nothing remarkable about it;
but it was surrounded by noble trees, and from its windows could be
seen, through vistas cut in the park (plexitium), the finest points of
view in the world. No rival mansion rose near this solitary castle,
standing in the very centre of the little plain reserved for the king
and guarded by four streams of water.
If we may believe tradition, Louis XI. occupied the west wing, and
from his chamber he could see, at a glance the course of the Loire,
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