Page:Montesquieu - The spirit of laws.djvu/443

Rh therefore necessarily moderated in that country, as it was formerly in Ægypt, and as it is still in that part of the Turkish empire. Power was necessarily moderated as it is in Holland, which nature has made to attend to herself, and not to be abandoned to negligence or caprice.

Thus in spite of the climate of China, where they are naturally led to a servile obedience, in spite of the apprehensions which follow a too great extent of empire, the first legislators of this country were obliged to make most excellent laws, and the government was frequently obliged to follow them.

EN by their care, and by the influence of good laws have rendered the earth more proper for their abode. We see rivers flow where there have been lakes and marshes: this is a benefit which nature has not bestowed; but it is a benefit maintained and supplied by nature. When the Persians were masters of Asia, they permitted those who conveyed a spring to any place which had not been watered before, to enjoy the benefit for five generations; and as a number of rivulets flowed from mount Taurus, they spared no expence, in directing the course of their streams. At this day, without knowing how they came thither, they are found in the fields and gardens.

Thus as destructive nations produce evils more durable than themselves; the actions of industrious nations are the source of blessings which last, when they are no more. Rh