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Again, the author having said, that [4] polygamy is more conformable to nature in some countries than in others, the critic has seized the words more conformable to nature, to make his say, that he approves polygamy. To which he answers, "If I say, that I should like better to have a fever than the scurvy, does this signify that I should like to have a fever? or only that the scurvy is more disagreeable to me than a fever?"

Having finished his reply to what had been objected to on the subject of polygamy, he vindicates that excellent part of his work which treats of the climates; when speaking of the influence these have upon religion, he says, "I am very sensible that religion is in its own nature independent of all physical causes whatsoever, that the religion which is good in one country is good in another, and that it cannot be pernicious in one country without being so in all; but yet, I say, that as it is practiced by men, and has a relation to those who do not practice it, any religion whatsoever will find a greater facility in being practiced, either in the whole or in part, in certain circumstances than in others, and that whoever says the contrary must renounce all pretensions to sense and understanding."

But the critic has been greatly offended by our author's saying, [5] that when a state is at liberty to receive or to reject a new religion, it ought to be rejected; when it is received, it ought to be tolerated. From hence he objects, that the author has advised idolatrous princes, not to admit the Christian religion into their dominions. To this he answers first by referring to a passage in which he says, [6] that the best civil and political laws are, next to Christianity, the greatest blessings that men can give or receive; and adds, "If then Christianity is the first and greatest blessing, and the political and civil laws the second, there are no political or civil laws in any state that can or ought to hinder the entrance of the Christian religion."

His second answer is, "That the religion of heaven is not established by the same methods as the religions of the earth; read the history of the church, and you will see the wonders performed by the Christian religion: was she to enter a country, she knew how to open its gates; every instrument was able to effect it; at one time God makes use of a few fisherman, at another he sets an emperor on the throne, and makes him bow down his head under the yolk of the gospel. Does Christianity hide herself in subterranean caverns? stay a moment, and you see an advocate speaking from the imperial throne on her behalf. She traverses, whenever she pleases, seas, rivers, and mountains; no obstacles here below can stop her progress: implant aversion in the mind, she will conquer this aversion: establish customs, form habits, publish edicts, enact laws, she will triumph over the climate, over the laws which result from it, and over the legislators who have made them. God acting according to decrees which are unknown to us, extends or contracts the limits of his religion."

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1. The present Kind of Sardinia.

2. Book i. Chap. 1.

3. Book xvi. Chap. 4.

4. Book xvi. Chap. 4.

5. Book xxv. Ch. 10.

6. Ibid. Ch. 1.

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The Spirit of Laws

by Charles de Montesquieu

CONTENTS

Preface

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Book I. Of Laws in General

1. Of the Relation of Laws to Different Beings

2. Of the Laws of Nature

3. Of Positive Laws

Book II. Of Laws Directly Derived from the Nature of Government

1. Of the Nature of the Three Different Governments

2. Of the Republican Government, and the Laws in Relation to Democracy

3. Of the Laws in Relation to the Nature of Aristocracy

4. Of the Relation of Laws to the Nature of Monarchical Government

5. Of the Laws in Relation to the Nature of a Despotic Government

Book III. Of the Principles of the Three Kinds of Government

1. Difference Between the Nature and Principle of Government

2. Of the Principle of Different Governments

3. Of the Principle of Democracy

4. Of the Principle of Aristocracy

5. That Virtue Is Not the Principle of a Monarchical Government

6. In What Manner Virtue Is Supplied in a Monarchical Government

7. Of the Principle of Monarchy

8. That Honour Is Not the Principle of Despotic Government

9. Of the Principle of Despotic Government

10. Difference of Obedience in Moderate and Despotic Governments

11. Reflections on the Preceding Chapters

Book IV. That the Laws of Education Ought to Be in Relation to the Principles of Government

1. Of the Laws of Education

2. Of Education in Monarchies

3. Of Education in a Despotic Government

4. Difference between the Effects of Ancient and Modern Education

5. Of Education in a Republican Government

6. Of some Institutions among the Greeks

7. In What Cases These Singular Institutions May Be of Service

8. Explanation of a Paradox of the Ancients in Respect to Manners

Book V. That the Laws Given by the Legislator Ought to Be in Relation to the Principle of Government

1. Idea of This Book

2. What Is Meant by Virtue in a Political State

3. What Is Meant by a Love of the Republic in a Democracy

4. In What Manner the Love of Equality and Frugality Is Inspired

5. In What Manner the Laws Establish Equality in a Democracy

6. In What Manner the Laws Ought to Maintain Frugality in a Democracy

7. Other Methods of Favouring the Principle of Democracy

8. In What Manner the Laws Should Relate to the Principle of Government in an Aristocracy

9. In What Manner the Laws Are in Relation to Their Principle in Monarchies

10. Of the Expedition Peculiar to the Executive Power in Monarchies

11. Of the Excellence of a Monarchical Government

12. The Same Subject Continued

13. An Idea of Despotic Power

14. In What Manner the Laws Are in Relation to the Principles of Despotic Government

15. The Same Subject Continued

16. Of the Communication of Power

17. Of Presents

18. Of Rewards Conferred by the Sovereign

19. New Consequences of the Principles of the Three Governments

Book VI. Consequences of the Principles of Different Governments with Respect to the Simplicity of Civil and Criminal Laws, the Form of Judgments, and the Inflicting of Punishments

1. Of the Simplicity of Civil Laws in Different Governments

2. Of the Simplicity of Criminal Laws in Different Governments

3. In What Governments and in What Cases the Judges Ought to Determine According to the Express Letter of the Law

4. Of the Manner of Passing Judgment

5. In What Governments the Sovereign May Be Judge

6. That in Monarchies Ministers Ought Not to Sit as Judges

7. Of a Single Magistrate

8. Of Accusation in Different Governments

9. Of the Severity of Punishments in Different Governments

10. Of the Ancient French Laws

11. That When People Are Virtuous, Few Punishments Are Necessary

12. Of the Power of Punishments

13. Insufficiency of the Laws of Japan

14. Of the Spirit of the Roman Senate

15. Of the Roman Laws in Respect to Punishments

16. Of the Just Proportion between Punishments and Crimes

17. Of the Rack

18. Of Pecuniary and Corporal Punishments

19. Of the Law of Retaliation

20. Of the Punishment of Fathers for the Crimes of Their Children

21. Of the Clemency of the Prince

Book VII. Consequences of the Different Principles of the Three Governments with Respect to Sumptuary Laws, Luxury, and the Condition of Women

1. Of Luxury

2. Of Sumptuary Laws in a Democracy

3. Of Sumptuary Laws in an Aristocracy

4. Of Sumptuary Laws in a Monarchy

5. In What Cases Sumptuary Laws Are Useful in a Monarchy

6. Of the Luxury of China

7. Fatal Consequences of Luxury in China

8. Of Public Continency

9. Of the Condition or State of Women in Different Governments

10. Of the Domestic Tribunal among the Romans

11. In What Manner the Institutions Changed at Rome, Together with the Government

12. Of the Guardianship of Women among the Romans

13. Of the Punishments Decreed by the Emperors against the Incontinence of Women

14. Sumptuary Laws among the Romans

15. Of Dowries and Nuptial Advantages in Different Constitutions

16. An Excellent Custom of the Samnites

17. Of Female Administration

Book VIII. Of the Corruption of the Principles of the Three Governments

1. General Idea of This Book

2. Of the Corruption of the Principles of Democracy

3. Of the Spirit of Extreme Equality

4. Particular Cause of the Corruption of the People

5. Of the Corruption of the Principle of Aristocracy

6. Of the Corruption of the Principle of Monarchy

7. The Same Subject Continued

8. Danger of the Corruption of the Principle of Monarchical Government

9. How Ready the Nobility Are to Defend the Throne

10. Of the Corruption of the Principle of Despotic Government

11. Natural Effects of the Goodness and Corruption of the Principles of Government

12. The Same Subject Continued

13. The Effect of an Oath among Virtuous People

14. How the Smallest Change of the Constitution Is Attended with the Ruin of its Principles

15. Sure Methods of Preserving the Three Principles

16. Distinctive Properties of a Republic

17. Distinctive Properties of a Monarchy

18. Particular Case of the Spanish Monarchy

19. Distinctive Properties of a Despotic Government

20. Consequence of the Preceding Chapters

21. Of the Empire of China

Book IX. Of Laws in the Relation They Bear to a Defensive Force

1. In What Manner Republics Provide for Their Safety

2. That a Confederate Government Ought to Be Composed of States of the Same Nature, Especially of the Republican Kind

3. Other Requisites in a Confederate Republic

4. In What Manner Despotic Governments Provide for their Security

5. In What Manner a Monarchical Government Provides for Its Security

6. Of the Defensive Force of States in General

7. A Reflection

8. A Particular Case in Which the Defensive Force of a State Is Inferior to the Offensive

9. Of the Relative Force of States

10. Of the Weakness of Neighbouring States

Book X. Of Laws in the Relation They Bear to Offensive Force

1. Of Offensive Force

2. Of War

3. Of the Right of Conquest

4. Some Advantages of a Conquered People

5. Gelon, King of Syracuse

6. Of Conquest Made by a Republic

7. The Same Subject Continued

8. The Same Subject Continued

9. Of Conquests Made by a Monarchy

10. Of One Monarchy That Subdues Another

11. Of the Manners of a Conquered People

12. Of a Law of Cyrus

13. Charles XII

14. Alexander

15. New Methods of Preserving a Conquest

16. Of Conquests Made by a Despotic Prince

17. The Same Subject Continued

Book XI. Of the Laws Which Establish Political Liberty, with Regard to the Constitution

1. A General Idea

2. Different Significations of the Word Liberty

3. In What Liberty Consists

4. The Same Subject Continued

5. Of the End or View of Different Governments

6. Of the Constitution of England

7. Of the Monarchies We Are Acquainted With

8. Why the Ancients Had Not a Clear Idea of Monarchy

9. Aristotle's Manner of Thinking

10. What Other Politicians Thought

11. Of the Kings of the Heroic Times of Greece

12. Of the Government of the Kings of Rome, and in What Manner the Three Powers Were There Distributed

13. General Reflections on the State of Rome after the Expulsion of its Kings

14. In What Manner the Distribution of the Three Powers Began to Change after the Expulsion of the Kings

15. In What Manner Rome, in the Flourishing State of That Republic, Suddenly Lost its Liberty

16. Of the Legislative Power in the Roman Republic

17. Of the Executive Power in the Same Republic

18. Of the Judiciary Power in the Roman Government

19. Of the Government of the Roman Provinces

20. The End of This Book

Book XII. Of the Laws That Form Political Liberty, in Relation to the Subject

1. Idea of This Book

2. Of the Liberty of the Subject

3. The Same Subject Continued

4. That Liberty is Favoured by the Nature and Proportion of Punishments

5. Of Certain Accusations That Require Particular Moderation and Prudence

6. Of the Crime against Nature

7. Of the Crime of High Treason

8. Of the Misapplication of the Terms Sacrilege and High Treason

9. The Same Subject Continued

10. The Same Subject Continued

11. Of Thoughts

12. Of Indiscreet Speeches

13. Of Writings

14. Breach of Modesty in Punishing Crimes

15. Of the Enfranchisement of Slaves in Order to Accuse Their Master

16. Of Calumny with Regard to the Crime of High Treason

17. Of the Revealing of Conspiracies

18. How Dangerous It Is in Republics to Be Too Severe in Punishing the Crime of High Treason

19. In What Manner the Use of Liberty Is Suspended in a Republic

20. Of Laws Favourable to the Liberty of the Subject in a Republic

21. Of the Cruelty of Laws in Respect to Debtors in a Republic

22. Of Things That Strike at Liberty in Monarchies

23. Of Spies in Monarchies

24. Of Anonymous Letters

25. Of the Manner of Governing in Monarchies

26. That in a Monarchy the Prince Ought to Be of Easy Access

27. Of the Manners of a Monarch

28. Of the Regard Which Monarchs Owe to Their Subjects

29. Of the Civil Laws Proper for Mixing Some Portion of Liberty in a Despotic Government

30. The Same Subject Continued

Book XIII. Of the Relation Which the Levying of Taxes and the Greatness of the Public Revenues Bear to Liberty

1. Of the Public Revenues

2. That It Is Bad Reasoning to Say That the Greatness of Taxes Is Good in its Own Nature

3. Of Taxes in Countries Where Part of the People Are Villains or Bondmen

4. Of a Republic in the Like Case

5. Of a Monarchy in the Like Case

6. Of a Despotic Government in the Like Case

7. Of Taxes in Countries where Villainage is Not Established

8. In What Manner the Deception Is Preserved

9. Of a Bad Kind of Impost

10. That the Greatness of Taxes Depends on the Nature of the Government

11. Of Confiscations

12. Relation between the Weight of Taxes and Liberty

13. In What Government Taxes Are Capable of Increase

14. That the Nature of the Taxes Is in Relation to the Government

15. Abuse of Liberty

16. Of the Conquests of the Mahometans

17. Of the Augmentation of Troops

18. Of an Exemption from Taxes