C. means to "say something with authority" while exhort means to "try to influence by words or advice"
Explanation:
the reason I say it is C is because the paragraph stated "while this country cannot dictate the government of Singapore" this sentence is stating that regardless of the authority we try to express through words we cannot change them forcefully.
The reason I say that exhort means to "try to influence by words or advice" is because they are saying that no one shall fail to give freely to the people mercy, even though they have not been influenced by words.
