Page:Montesquieu - The spirit of laws.djvu/151

Rh at least honor or fortune, in view. To men therefore like these the prince should never give any civil employments; on the contrary they ought to be checked by the civil magistrate, that the same persons may not have at the same time the confidence of the people and the power to abuse it.

We have only to cast an eye on a nation that may be justly called a republic disguised under the form of monarchy, and we shall see how jealous they are of making a separate order of the profession of arms, and how the military state is constantly allied with that of the citizen, and even sometimes of the magistrate, to the end that these qualities may be a pledge for their country, which should never be forgotten.

The division of civil and military employments, made by the Romans after the extinction of the republic, was not an arbitrary thing. It was a consequence of the change which happened in the constitution of Rome; it was natural to a monarchical government; and what was only commenced under Augustus, succeeding emperors were obliged to finish, in order to temper the military government.

Procopius therefore, the competitor of Valens the emperor, was very much to blame, when conferring the proconsular dignity upon Hormisdas, a prince of the blood royal of Persia, he Rh