Page:Montesquieu - The spirit of laws.djvu/344

292 published some of her private failings, plagued him all his life.

HOUGH despotic governments are of their own nature every where the same; yet from circumstances, from an opinion of religion, from prejudice, from received examples, from a particular turn of mind, from manners or morals, it is possible they may admit of a considerable difference.

It is useful that some particular notions should be established in those governments, thus in China the prince is considered as the father of his people; and at the commencement of the empire of the Arabs, the prince was their preacher.

It is proper there should be some sacred book to serve for a rule, as the Koran among the Arabs, the books of Zoroaster among the Persians, the Vedam among the Indians, and the classic Books among the Chinese. The religious code supplies the civil one, and directs the arbitrary power.

It is not at all amiss that in dubious cases the judges should consult the ministers of religion. Thus in Turky the Cadis consult the Mollachs. But if it is a capital crime, it may be proper for the particular judge, if such there be, to take the governor's advice, to the end that the civil and ecclesiastic power may be tempered also by the political authority. Rh