Born on this date in 1689, Montesquieu had some things to say about this our tottering state:
- "[I]n moderate governments, where the life of the meanest subject is deemed precious, no man is stripped of his honor or property until after a long inquiry; and no man is bereft of life till his very country has attacked him--an attack that is never made without leaving him all possible means of making his defence."
- Spirit of Laws, Book 6, Chapter 2
- "The tyranny of a prince does no more to ruin a state than does indifference to the common good to ruin a republic...The advantage of a free state is that there are no favorites in it. But when that is not the case — when it is necessary to line the pockets of the friends and relatives, not of a prince, but of all those who participate in the government — all is lost."
- Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline, Chapter 4
Anyway, RIP Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, you would've loved debating whether the United States is a republic or a democracy with a bunch of brain dead pedophile protectors.
Selah.
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