the spirit of laws

THE SPIRIT OF LAWSBy Charles de Secondat, Baron de MontesquieuTranslated by Thomas Nugent, revised by J. V. PrichardThe Translator to the Readerby Thomas Nugent1752The following work may with the strictest justice be said to have done honour to human nature as well as to the great abilities of the author. The wisest and most learned man, and those most distinguished by birth and the elevation of their stations, have, in every country in Europe, considered it as a most excellent performance. And may we be permitted to add, that a sovereign prince [1] as justly celebrated for his probity and good sense, as for his political and military skill, has declared that from M. de Montesquieu he has l