and scepticism of the 18th centui
irlt dfs Lois
began the spiritualist reaction whicli Rousseau carried on" (Cours de Litterature, vol. i, ch. iv). The work ren- dered great service to humanitarianism by the respect it paid to human life. Pascal, indeed, in his letter on homicide, had preceded him in this, but Ave know how indifferent on this subject were the courtly and elegant Frenchmen of that day ; how little they troubled tliem- selves about "those Breton peasants who were never tired of being hanged." jNIontesquieu did not wish ab- solutely to restrain the utmost penal power of tlie law, but he recommended clemency and equity, and in his own century Tuscany abolished capital punishment. As Dr. Vinet has weU said, we may further commend the author of the Spirit of Laws for his " respect for human nature; his love for justice; his true philan- thropy ; his reverence for all the virtues which ennoble man and his destiny ; and, in short, for his attachment to the principles which form the basis of human soci- ety." But, though the work found many friends, there were yet some who took decided exception to many of its doctrines. Thus the editor of the Gazette Ecclesias- tique, long deeply engaged in the Jansenist quarrels which then agitated France, assailed the author of the Esjwit des Lois in two pamphlets with the charge of
MONTESQUIEU
540
MOXTEVERDE
deism, and the weightier though contradictory one of following the doctrines of Spinoza. The defence which Montesquieu published, admirable for its strain of polite irony, candor, and placid contempt, was entirely trium- jjliant. Indeed, abilities of a much lower order than his would have sufficed to cover with ridicule the weak and purblintl adversary who discovered the source of the Ksprit (Its Loig in the Bull Unigenitus, and blamed his opponent for neglecting to examine the doctrines of grace and original sin. It is to be wished that Montes- (juieu liad cmiiloyed means so legitimate to counteract 1 )iipin's criticism. His admirers would willingly forget tliat when a copy of the latter's work, ready for circula- tion. Icll into his hands, he carried it to the royal mis- tress, Madame Pom[)adour, and allowed her to inform Dupin that, as the Kgprit des Lois enjoyed her special favor, all objections to it must be instantly suppressed. It must be borne in mind, however, that Montesquieu Jield a place peculiarly his own, and quite apart from the Christian writers. He was a moralist to be sure, but he did not claim to be a theologian, nor even a devoted or enthusiastic Christian, but simply a cold and calculating philosopher, and as such it was much for him to turn aside and pay the high tributes and warm encomiums to Christianity which he did pay in all his writings; and it may indeed be asserted that "among the laymen of the 18th century no one has spoken so admirably of Christianity." Says he, in the ^jnrit of Ldtvs, "How admirable the Christian religion, which, while it seems only to have in view the felicity of the other life, constitutes the happiness of this" (bk. xxiv, ch. iii). This is very unlike the sneering infidelity of liayle or Voltaire.
^lontesiiuicu's moral doctrine is, perhaps, best gleaned from his I '< ii.<,' (s JJicerses, collected from his MSS., and puljlishcil ill 17.W. From this work it appears that he differed little from the ancient stoicism, though he has not laid it down in a systematic form. His own nature was his true system. Nevertheless he loses no oppor- tunity of boasting of stoicism in general: "No philoso- pher has ever made men feel the sweetness of virtue and the dignity of their nature better than Marcus Au- relius ; he affects the heart, enlarges the soul, and ele- vates the mind," "If I could for a moment cease to think that I am a Christian, I could not possibly avoid ranking the destruction of the sect of Zeno among the misfortunes that have befallen the human race." The stoicism of Montesquieu is softenecl and restrained by a certain feeling of religion. Stoicism alone could not satisfy this loving mind. In the picture which he draws of human virtues, the idea of (iod constantly re- turns, not as something useless, but as its necessary com- pletion. He several times look the oi)portunity of ex- pressing the very lively aversion that he felt to atheism : " The pious man and atheist always talk of religion : the one speaks of what he loves, and the other of what he fears," This aversion, which had its jirinciple in the uprightness of his mind, was strengthened by his ac- (piaintance with the real necessities and true condition of society. He defended with no less warmth the im- mortality of the soul : "Although the immortality of the soul were an error, I should be sorr}' not tt) believe it: I confess I am not so humble as the atheists, I know ]iot how they think, but, for myself, I would not ex- change the idea of my immortality for the liappiness of a day, I delight in believing that I am immortal as God himself. Independently of revelation, metaphys- ics give me a very strong hope of my eternal happiness, which I would not willingly renounce. Indifference about a future life leads us to be soft and easy with re- gard to the present, and renders us insensible and in- capable of everything which implies an effort." 3Ion- tesquieu knew that all religion is social, while atheism is eminently anti-social, Montesquieu felt this, and more than once cxjiressed it. Not only does he admit that "all religions contain precepts useful to society," but he declares that religion is the best guarantee that