Page:Montesquieu - The spirit of laws.djvu/436

384 empire every where founded monarchy and liberty.

I do not know whether the famous Rudbeck, who in his Atlantica has bestowed such praises on Scandinavia, has made mention of that great prerogative which ought to set this people above all the nations upon earth; namely this country's having been the source from whence sprung the liberties of Europe, that is of almost all the freedom which at present subsists amongst mankind.

Jornandez the Goth has called the north of Europe, the farmer of the human race. I should rather call it the farmer of the instruments which broke the chains forged in the south. In the north were formed those valiant nations, which sallied forth and left their countries to destroy tyrants and slaves, and to teach men, that nature having made them equal, reason could not render them dependent except where it was necessary to their happiness.

N Asia they have always had great empires; in Europe these could never subsist. Asia has larger plains; it is cut out into much more extensive divisions by mountains and seas; and as it lies more to the south, its springs are more easily dried up; the mountains are less covered with snow; and the rivers being not so large, form smaller barriers. Rh