Page:Montesquieu - The spirit of laws.djvu/290

238 Tarquin would neither be chosen by the senate nor by the people; he considered Servius Tullius as an usurper, and took the crown as an hereditary right. He destroyed most of the senators; those who remained he never consulted; nor did he even so much as summon them to assist at his decisions. Thus his power increased: but the odium of that power received a new addition, by usurping also the authority of the people, without whom, and even against whom, he enacted several laws. The three powers were by this means reunited in his person, but the people at a critical minute recollected that they were legislators, and there was an end of Tarquin.

T is impossible ever to be tired with so agreeable a subjeft as ancient Rome; even at present strangers leave the modern palaces of that celebrated capital to go in search of ruins: thus the eye after resting itself on the enamelled meadows, is pleased with the fight of rocks and mountains.

The patrician families were at all times possessed of great privileges. These distinctions, which were considerable under the kings, became much more important after their expulsion. Hence arose the jealousy of the Plebeians who wanted to reduce them. The contest struck ac the constitution without weakening the government: for it was very indifferent of what family were the magistrates, provided the magistracy preserved its authority. Rh