Page:Montesquieu - The spirit of laws.djvu/76

24 Mr. Law, through ignorance both of a republican and monarchical constitution, was one of the greatest promoters of absolute power that ever was known in Europe. Besides the violent and extraordinary changes owing to his direction: he wanted to suppress all the intermediate ranks, and to abolish the political communities. He was dissolving the monarchy by his chimerical reimbursements, and seemed as if he wanted to redeem even the very constitution.

It is not enough to have intermediate powers in a monarchy, there must be also a depositary of the laws. This depositary can be only the judges of the supreme courts of justice, who promulgate the new laws, and revive the obsolete. The natural ignorance of the nobility, their indolence, and contempt of civil government, require there should be a body invested with a power of reviving and executing the laws which would be otherwise buried in oblivion. The prince's council are not a proper depositary. They are naturally the depositary of the momentary will of the prince, and not of the fundamental laws. Besides the prince s council is continually changing; it is neither permanent, nor numerous; neither has it a sufficient share of the confidence of the people; consequently it is incapable to set them right in difficult conjunctures, or to reduce them to proper obedience.

Despotic governments, where there are no fundamental laws, have no such kind of depositary. Hence it is that religion has generally so much influence in those countries, because it forms Rh