The _Parlement_ of Brittany, in a remonstrance of July, 1771, said: “There is an essential difference between the transitory regulations which vary with the times, and the fundamental laws upon which the Constitution of the monarchy rests. In respect to the former [that is the transitory regulations] it is the duty of the courts to direct and enlighten the ruling power (l’autorité), although their opinions must, in the last instance, yield to the decision of your wisdom, since it appertains to you alone to regulate everything relating to the administration. To administer the state is not, however, to change its constitution.... It is, therefore, most indispensable to distinguish or to except the cases where the right of expostulation suffices to enlighten the ruling power in an administration which, in spite of its wide scope, still has its limits, and those cases where the happy inability [of the monarch] to overstep the bounds established by the constitution implies the power necessary legally to oppose what an arbitrary will cannot and may not do.”[70] To determine accurately the content of the _lois fondamentales_ of which the _Parlements_ asserted themselves to be protectors, is difficult. The _Parlements_ themselves did not deem it expedient, either for their own claims or for those of the monarch, to attempt a too explicit formulation of these laws; vagueness was regarded a political virtue. A remonstrance of the _cour des comptes, aides et finances_ of Normandy, openly admitted the disadvantage of such an enumeration: “Deign, Sire, to examine for yourself to what the decree of December tends; it seems destined to draw the line between the power of the sovereign and the liberty of his subjects; this line always undetermined, which no hand has been bold enough to fix, which a salutary veil covers with useful shadows; the tenderness of princes for their people and the love of the people for their princes draw or withdraw these shadows according to the times or the reigns. Those who dare to-day to fix these limits and to say to France: There ends the legitimate liberty of the people, serve your interests badly, even politically.”[71]