bert, "real or supposed, of the pride and the duhiess of Asiatic love, is but the smallest of the author's objects; it serves only, so to speak, as a pretext for his delicate satire of our customs, and for other important matters which he fathoms, though appearing but to glance at them." Some censures which jNIontesquieu in his Pei- siaii Letters bestowed upon the conduct of Louis XIV caused the work to be regarded with an evil eye at court; and one or two sarcasms levelled at the pope awakened the zeal of such as were rigidly devout Ro- manists, or found it convenient to seem so, and Mon- tesquieu was industriously represented as a man equally hostile to the interest of religion and the peace of soci- ety. Those calumnies reached the ear of cardinal de rieur\-; and when Montesquieu, sustained by the public opinion of his talents, applied for the place which M. Sacy's death had left vacant in the French Academy, that learned body was made to understand that his majesty would never give his consent to the writer of the Lettres Persanes; because, though liis majesty had not read the work, persons in whom he placed confi- dence had pointed out its poisonous tendency. Without feeling too much anxiety for literary distinction, Mon- tesquieu perceived the fatal effect that such an accusa- tion might produce upon his dearest interests. Accord- ing to D'Alembert, Montesquieu waited upon Fleury, therefore, and signified that, although for particular rea- sons he had not acknowledged the Lettres Persanes, he was very far from wishing to disown that work, \vhich he believed to contain nothing disgraceful to him, and which ought at least to be read before it was condemned. Struck by these remonstrances, the cardinal perused the work, the objections were removed, and France avoided the disgrace of forcing this great man to depart, as he had threatened, and seek among foreigners, who invited him, the security and respect which his own country seemed little inclined to grant. This story of D'Alem- bert is by some discredited, and, instead of it, Voltaire's version is accepted. According to him, " Montesquieu adopted a skilful artifice to regain the minister's favor : in t\vo or three days he prepared a new edition of his book, in which he retrenched or softened whatever might be condemned by a cardinal and a minister. M. de Jlontesquieu himself carried the work to Fleury — no great reader — who examined a part of it. This air of confidence, supported by the zeal of some persons in au- thority, quieted the cardinal, and Montesquieu gained admission to the Academy" (Kcricuiiis dti Siede de Louis XI V, sec. Montesquieu). The authenticity of this statement, however, appears to rest solely on Voltaire's evidence, not altogether unexceptionable in the present case. D'Alembert's account is generally preferred. Shortly after his admission to the Academy, Jan. 24, 1728, Montesquieu set out for a journey to qualify him- self for the arduous task of investigating and appreci- ating the different political or civil constitutions of an- cient or modern times, and in order to study, as far as possible, the manners and character, the physical and moral condition, of the European nations by actual in- spection. He first visited Vienna, along with lord Wal- degrave, the English ambassador. From this city, after conversing with the celebrated prince Eugene, and sur- veying all that seemed worthy of notice, he passed into Hungary, and afterwards to Italy, where he met with lord Chesterfield, and travelled in his company to Ven- ice. While examining the singular institutions of this republic, and canvassing the subject with eager frank- ness in places of public resort, he learned that he had incurred the displeasure of the authorities, and was in danger of persecution. He instantly embarked for Fu- cino, next visited Rome, and, having surveyed Switzer- land and the United Provinces, he repaired in 1730 to (ireat Britain. Newton and Locke were dead, but tlie philosophical traveller found men in England qualified to estimate his talents. He was respected and patronized by queen Caroline, and enjoyed tlie intimacy of Pope, Bolingbroke, and many other eminent characters of that
period. He spent there two years, and collected much material for his future literary labors. He was made aware of the great esteem in which the English held liim by being chosen a fellow of the Royal Society. After his return to Brede, Montesquieu published his Considerations sur les Causes de la Grandeur et de la Decadence des Romains (Paris, 1734), a masterly view of Roman history, expressed in a sententious, oracular, and vigorous style. " In attempting to derive the gran- deur and downfall of Rome from the admitted principles of human nature, he gave a new turn to such investi- gations. If some elements of a problem so complex have been omitted, and others rated too higli or too low, the work must be allowed to exhibit views of political society, at all times specious, often equally just and profound: tlie vivid pictures, the acute and original thoughts, witli which it everywhere abounds, are to be traced in many succeeding speculations. It deserves praise also for the manly and liberal tone of feeling that pervades it." But by far his greatest work, on which he had been engaged for twenty years, the Esprit des Lois, he published in 1748 (Geneva, 2 vols.). In it IMontesquieu attempts to exhibit the relation between the laws of different countries and their local and social circumstances. It was immensely popular. No fewer than twenty-two editions were published in eighteen months, and it was translated into various European languages. " The Esprit des Lois.'' says a contempora- ry, " is a wonderfully good book, considering the age in which it appeared. Without adopting Voltaire's hyper- eulogistic criticism, that ' when the human race had lost their charters, Montesquieu rediscovered and restored them,' it may be said that it was the first work in which the questions of civil liberty were ever treated in an enlightened and systematic manner, and to Montes- quieu, more than to any other man, is it owing that the science of politics has become a favorite subject of study with the educated public." "The Esjjrit des Lois,'' says another, "is one of the most laborious books ever writ- ten. It had an immense influence on the literature of the age, and founded that method of pbilosopliizing and finding out facts to justify opinion wliicli cliaracterized his followers of the French school, and entered in a great measure into the spirit of the Scottish school of philosophy. Like most original-minded men, he brought to his worlv a degree of genius and linowledge which his imitators could not cope with, and Avhich concealed, in his hands, tlie defects of the system." " Notwithstand- ing," says A'illemain, "some expressions here and there inexact, according to our ideas, from their very material- ism, the character of his writing is generally metaphys- ical. Succeeding the light and IniHianr ciinureanism