Page:Montesquieu - The spirit of laws.djvu/327

Rh Words do not constitute an overt act; they remain only in idea. They generally, when considered by themselves, have no determinate signification; for this depends on the tone in which they are uttered. It often happens that in repeating the same words, they have not the same meaning; this meaning depends on their connection with other things; and sometimes more is expressed by silence than by any discourse whatsoever. As there can be nothing so equivocal and ambiguous as all this; how is it possible to convert it into a crime of high treason? Where-ever this law is established; there is an end not only of liberty, but even of its very shadow.

In the manifesto of the late Czarina against the family of the D'Olgorucky's, one of these princes is condemned to death for having uttered some indecent words concerning her person; another for having maliciously interpreted her sage regulations for the welfare of the empire, and for having offended her sacred person by disrespectful words.

Not that I pretend to diminish the indignation people ought to have against those who presume to stain the glory of their prince; what I mean is, that if despotic princes are willing to moderate their power, a simple correction would be more proper on those occasions, than an accusation of high treason, a thing always terrible even to innocence itself.

Overt acts are not things that happen every days; they are liable to the observation of a great many people; and a false charge in respect to facts may Rh