Page:Montesquieu - The spirit of laws.djvu/191

Rh themselves redoubles, because there are greater hopes of success. As luxury inspires these hopes, each man assumes the marks of a superior condition. But by endeavouring thus at distinction, every one becomes equal and distinction ceases; as all of them are desirous of respect, no body is taken notice of.

Hence arise a general inconveniency. Those who excel in a profession set what value they please on their labour; this example is followed by people of inferior abilities; and then there is an end of all proportion between our wants and the means of satisfying them. When I am forced to go to law, I must be able to see council; when I am sick I must be able to see a physician.

It is the opinion of several, that the assembling so great a multitude of people in capital cities, is an obstruction to commerce, because by this means the inhabitants are no longer within a proper distance from each other. But I cannot think so; for men have more desires, more wants, more fancies, when they live together.

E have observed that in a republic where riches are equally divided, there can be no such thing as luxury; and as this equal distribution constitutes the excellency of a republican government, hence it follows that the less luxury there is in a republic, the more it is perfect. There was none among the old Romans, none among the Lacedaemonians; and in republics where this equality is not quite lost, the spirit of commerce, industry, and Rh