Page:Montesquieu - The spirit of laws.djvu/189

Rh

UXURY is always in proportion to the inequality of fortunes. If the riches of a state are equally divided, there will be no luxury; for it is founded merely on the conveniences acquired by the labour of others.

In order to have this equal distribution of riches, the law ought to give to each man only just what is necessary for nature. If they exceed those bounds, some will spend and others will acquire, and by this means an inequality will be established.

Supposing what is necessary for the support of nature to be equal to a given sum, the luxury of those who have only what is barely necessary, will be equal to a cypher; if a person happens to have double that sum, his luxury will be equal to one; he that has double the latter's substance, will have a luxury equal to three; if this be still doubled, there will be a luxury equal to seven; so that the property of the subsequent individual being always supposed double to that of the preceding, the luxury will increase double, and an unit be always Rh