Page:Montesquieu - The spirit of laws.djvu/391

Rh to him; he cannot therefore object against it. But it is not so with the slave. The law of slavery can never be beneficial to him; it is in all cases against him, without ever being for his advantage; and therefore this law is contrary to the fundamental principle of all societies.

If it be pretended, that it has been beneficial to him, as his master has provided for his subsistence; slavery at this rate should he limited to those who are incapable of earning their livelihood. But who will take up with such slaves? As for infants, nature, who has supplied their mothers with milk, had provided for their sustenance, and the remainder of their childhood approaches so near the age in which they are most capable of being of service, that he who supports them cannot be said to give them an equivalent, which can intitle him to be their master.

Nor is slavery less opposite to the civil law than to that of nature. What civil Jaw can restrain a slave from running away, since he is not a member of society, and consequently has no interest in any civil laws? He can be retained only by a family law, that is, by the master's authority.

WOULD as soon say, that the right of slavery proceeds from the contempt of one nation for another, founded on a difference in customs. Rh