Page:Montesquieu - The spirit of laws.djvu/251

Rh It is a conqueror's business to repair a part of the mischief he has committed. The right therefore of conquest I define thus: a necessary, lawful, and unhappy right, which leaves always an immense debt to discharge in order to clear the obligations of human nature.

HE noblest treaty of peace ever mentioned in history is, in my opinion, that which Gelon made with the Carthaginians. He insisted upon their abolishing the custom of sacrificing their children. Glorious indeed! After having defeated three hundred thousand Carthaginians, he required a condition that was advantageous only to themselves, or rather he stipulated in favour of human nature.

T is contrary to the nature of things, that in a confederate government one state should make any conquest over another, as in our days we have seen in Swisserland. In mixt confederate republics, where the association is between small republics and small monarchies, this is not so absurd.

Contrary it is also to the nature of things, that a democratical republic should conquer towns, which cannot enter into the sphere of its democracy. It is Rh