From the spirit of the laws

Tim Mara, Pin Carving, 1995–6
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By MONTESQUIEU*

Preface by the author, in the new Brazilian translation

Author's warning

To understand the first four books of this work, it is necessary to note that what I call virtue in the republic is love for the country, that is, love for equality. It is not a moral virtue nor a Christian virtue, it is political virtue, and this is the motive that makes the republican government move, just as honor is the motive that makes the monarchy move. Therefore, I called love for the country and equality political virtue.

As I conceived new ideas, it was necessary for me to find new words or give new meanings to old ones. Those who did not understand this attributed absurd things to my words that would be revolting in every country in the world, because in every country in the world morality is desired.

2nd. – It is necessary to note that there is a huge difference between saying that a certain quality, modification of the soul, or virtue, is not the spring that makes a government act and saying that it does not exist in that government. If you said: “such a gear, such a gear are not the spring that makes the watch move”, would it be concluded that they are not present in the watch? Far from moral and Christian virtues being excluded from monarchy, political virtue itself is not excluded either. In short, honor is present in the republic, although political virtue is its driving force; political virtue is present in the monarchy, even if honor is its driving force.

Finally, the good man we talk about in Book III, Chapter V is not the Christian good man, but the political good man, who possesses the political virtue I spoke about. He is the man who loves the laws of his country and who acts for the love of the laws of his country. In this edition, I have shed new light on all of these things, further cementing the ideas; and, in most places where I used the word virtue, I spelled it political virtue.

Prefácio

If, among the infinite number of things contained in this book, there is anything that, against my purposes, may offend, at least there is none that has been presented with bad intentions. I do not, by nature, possess a disapproving spirit. Plato thanked heaven for having been born in the time of Socrates; As for me, I am grateful to him for having made me born into the government in which I live and for having made me willing to obey those he made me love.

I ask for a grace that I fear will not be granted to me; not to judge, based on a specific reading, a work of twenty years; to approve or condemn the entire book, not a few sentences. Anyone who wants to find the author's design can only discover it satisfactorily in the design of the work. I began by examining men and considered that, in this infinite diversity of laws and customs, they were not driven solely by their extravagance.

I established the principles and observed the particular cases conform to them as if by themselves, the histories of all nations succeed each other only as their consequences, and each particular law connect with another law or depend on a more general one.

When I turned to Antiquity, I sought to grasp its spirit, in order not to see really different cases as being similar and not to miss the differences in those that seemed similar to me.

I in no way draw my principles from my prejudices, but from the nature of things.

Here, many truths will only be felt after we have observed the chain that connects them to others. The more you reflect on the details, the more certainty you will feel about the principles. These details themselves, I have not offered them all: after all, who could say everything without causing mortal boredom?

The prominent features that seem to characterize current works will not be found here. As we see things in a broader perspective, such prominences dissipate: they usually only arise because the mind fixates on one aspect and abandons all others. I do not write to censor what is established in any country whatsoever. Each nation will find here the reasons for its maxims, and the following consequence will naturally be drawn from this: proposing changes only belongs to those fortunately born to unveil, in a burst of genius, the entire constitution of a State.

It is not indifferent that the people are enlightened. The prejudices of the magistrates began to be the prejudices of the nation. In an age of ignorance, there is neither hesitation nor. even when the worst evils are committed; in an enlightened age there is vacillation even when the greatest goods are realized. Old abuses are perceived, their correction is contemplated, but abuses of correction itself are also contemplated.

If the worst is expected, the evil is maintained; if the best is doubted, the good is maintained. The parts are observed only to judge the assembled whole; all causes are examined to contemplate all results.

If I could make the whole world have new reasons to love its duties, its prince, its country, its laws, that everyone could better feel their happiness in each country, in each government, in each position they occupy, I would consider myself the happiest of mortals.

I would consider myself the happiest of mortals if I could help men to be cured of their prejudices. Here I call prejudices not that which makes certain things unknown, but that which makes one not know oneself.

It is by seeking to instruct men that one can practice this general virtue that includes love for all. Man, this flexible being, conforming, in society, to the thoughts and impressions of others, is equally capable of knowing his own nature when it is presented to him and of losing even the feeling of his nature when it is hidden from him. . I have often begun and often abandoned this work; a thousand times I threw the pages I had written to the winds; every day I felt my father's hands fall; I sought my object without constituting the design; I knew neither the rules nor the exceptions; found virtue only to lose it.

But when I discovered my principles, everything I sought came to me; and, over the course of twenty years, I saw my work begin, grow, advance and end.

If this work is successful, I will owe much to the majesty of my subject. However, I don't believe I have completely dispensed with genius. When I saw what so many eminent men in France, England, and Germany had written before me, I was astonished. However, I in no way lost my courage: “And I’m also a painter,” said Correggio.

*Montesquieu (1689-1755) was a French politician, philosopher and writer.

Reference


Montesquieu. From the spirit of the laws. Translation: Thiago Vargas and Ciro Lourenço. Technical review: Thomaz Kawauche. São Paulo, Unesp, 922 pages. [https://amzn.to/4cUGf6l]


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