Esprit Des lois
PRÉFACE.
If, among the infinite number of things in this book, there was someone who, against my expectation, offended, at least acted with ill intent. I do not naturally have a disapproving mind. Plato thanked heaven for what he was born of in the time of Socrates; and I thank him for what he made me be born in the government where I live, and for what he wanted me to obey those whom he made me love
I ask for a favor, though I fear I may not be agreed with: it is not to judge, by the reading of a moment, a work of twenty years; to approve or condemn the entire book, and not just a few phrases. If one wants to seek the author’s intention, one can only truly understand it within the work’s design.
I first examined men, and I believed that, in this infinite X diversity of laws and morals, they were not solely driven by their fantasies
I laid down the principles, and I saw that particular cases fold like themselves, the histories of all nations are only the consequences, and each particular law is linked to another law, or depends on one to another more general one.
When I was reminded of antiquity, I sought to take up the mind so as not to regard as similar cases that are really different,
and not miss the differences of those who appear similar. I didn’t draw my principles from my prejudices, but from the nature of
things.
Here, many truths will only be felt after we see the chain that connects them to others. The more we reflect on the details, the more we will feel the certainty of the principles. These details themselves, I haven’t given them all; for who could say everything without a troubled soul?
On ne trouvera point ici ces traits saillants qui semblent characterent les ouvrages d’aujourd’hui. Pour peu qu’on voie les things avec une cer-taine étendue, les saillies s’évanouissent; elles ne naissent d’ordinaire que parce que l’esprit se jette tout d’un côté, et abandonne tous les autres
I am not writing to censor what is established in any country. Every nation will find its own reasons for its maxims; and it will inevitably follow this consequence, which belongs to those fortunate enough to be born enough to reshape the entire constitution of a state.
MONTESQUIEU.
It is not insignificant that the people be enlightened. The prejudices of my elders began with the prejudices of the nation In times of ignorance, we have no doubt, even when we do the greatest harm; in times of enlightenment, we still tremble when we do the greatest good. We feel the past abuses, we see the correction; but we still see the abuses of the correction itself. We leave the harm if we fear the worst; we leave the good if we doubt the best. We look at the parts only to judge the whole; we examine all the causes to see all the results.
If I could make sure that everyone had new reasons to love their duties, their prince, their homeland, their laws; that one could better feel their happiness in every country, in every government, in every post where one finds oneself, I would think myself the happiest of mortals. If I could make sure that those who command increase their knowledge of what they must prescribe, and that those who obey find new pleasure in obeying, I would think myself the happiest of mortals
I would believe the happiest of the dead if I could make men heal from their prejudices. I call prejudices here, not what makes us ignore certain things, but what makes us ignore ourselves
It is by seeking to educate men that one can practice this general virtue which encompasses the love of all. Man, this flexible being, who bends in society to the thoughts and impressions of others, is also capable of knowing his own nature when it is taken from him, and of losing himself to feeling when it is taken from him
Many times I began and many times I abandoned this work. Many times I sent the pages I had written to the winds; every day I waited for my parents to fall; I followed my obje. Fans formed from drawing; I knew neither the rules nor the exceptions: I could only find the truth to lose it: but when I discovered my principles, everything I was looking for came to me; and, in the first course of twenty years, I saw my work begin, grow, advance and flourish
If this work is a success, I owe it much to the majesty of my subject: however, I don’t believe I have totally lost my genius. When I saw what so many great men, in France, England, and Germany, have written before me, I was filled with admiration, but I never lost my courage. And I too am a painter, ai-j: said with Corrége.
Indibria ventis. Bis patriæ cecidere manus.
Esprit Des lois
