Page:Montesquieu - The spirit of laws.djvu/167

Rh an honest man nothing could be more desirable than death."

"Formerly, says Procopius, there used to be very few people at court; but in Justinian's reign, as the judges had no longer the liberty of administering justice, their tribunals were deserted, while the prince's palace resounded with the clamours of the several litigating parties." Every body knows what a prostitution there was at that court of public judgments and even of the very Jaws themselves.

The laws are the eye of the prince, by them he sees what he could not otherwise discern. Should he attempt the function of a judge, he would not then labour for himself, but for impostors that want to deceive him.

T is likewise a very great inconveniency in monarchies for the ministers of the prince to be judges. We have still instances of states where there are a great number of judges to determine fiscal controversies, and where the ministers notwithstanding (a thing almost incredible!) want likewise to determine them. Many are the reflections that here arise; but this single one will suffice for my purpose.

There is in the very nature of things a kind of contrast between a prince's council and his courts of judicature. The king's council ought to be composed of a few persons, and the courts of judicature of a great many. The reason is, in the former, Rh