The Online Library of Liberty

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• An Eulogium On President Montesquieu, By Monsieur D’alembert.
• Preface.
• The Spirit of Laws.
• Book I.: Of Laws In General.
• Chap. I.: Of the Relation of Laws to Different Beings.
• Chap. II.: Of the Laws of Nature.
• Chap. III.: Of Positive Laws.
• Book II.: Of Laws Directly Derived From the Nature of Government.
• Chap. I.: Of the Nature of Three Different Governments.
• Chap. II.: Of the Republican Government, and the Laws Relative to Democracy.
• Chap. III.: Of the Laws Relative to the Nature of Aristocracy.
• Chap. IV.: Of the Relation of Laws to the Nature of Monarchical Government.
• Chap. V.: Of the Laws Relative to the Nature of a Despotic Government.
• Book III.: Of the Principles of the Three Kinds of Government.
• Chap. I.: Difference Between the Nature and Principle of Government.
• Chap. II.: Of the Principle of Different Governments.
• Chap. III.: Of the Principle of Democracy.
• Chap. IV.: Of the Principle of Aristocracy.
• Chap. V.: That Virtue Is Not the Principle of a Monarchical Government.
• Chap. VI.: In What Manner Virtue Is Supplied In a Monarchical Government.
• Chap. VII.: Of the Principle of Monarchy.
• Chap. VIII.: That Honour Is Not the Principle of Despotic Government.
• Chap. IX.: Of the Principle of Despotic Government.
• Chap. X.: Difference of Obedience In Moderate and Despotic Governments.
• Chap. XI.: Reflections On the Preceding Chapters.
• Book IV.: That the Laws of Education Ought to Be Relative to the Principles of Government.
• Chap. I.: Of the Laws of Education.
• Chap. II.: Of Education In Monarchies.
• Chap. III.: Of Education In a Despotic Government.
• Chap. IV.: Difference Between the Effects of Ancient and Modern Education.
• Chap. V.: Of Education In a Republican Government.
• Chap. VI.: Of Some Institutions Among the Greeks.
• Chap. VII.: In What Case These Singular Institutions May Be of Service.
• Chap. VIII.: Explication of a Paradox of the Ancients, In Respect to Manners.
• Book V.: That the Laws, Given By the Legislator, Ought to Be Relative to the Principle of Government.
• Chap. I.: Idea of This Book.
• Chap. II.: What Is Meant By Virtue In a Political State.
• Chap. III.: What Is Meant By a Love of the Republic, In a Democracy.
• Chap. IV.: In What Manner the Love of Equality and Frugality Is Inspired.
• Chap. V.: In What Manner the Laws Establish Equality In a Democracy.
• Chap. VI.: In What Manner the Laws Ought to Maintain Frugality In a Democracy.
• Chap. VII.: Other Methods of Favouring the Principle of Democracy.
• Chap. VIII.: In What Manner the Laws Ought to Be Relative to the Principle of Government In an Aristocracy.
• Chap. IX.: In What Manner the Laws Are Relative to Their Principle In Monarchies.
• Chap. X.: Of the Expedition Peculiar to the Executive Power In Monarchies.
• Chap. XI.: Of the Excellence of a Monarchical Government.
• Chap. XII.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XIII.: An Idea of Despotic Power.
• Chap. XIV.: In What Manner the Laws Are Relative to the Principles of Despotic Government.
• Chap. XV.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XVI.: Of the Communication of Power.
• Chap. XVII.: Of Presents.
• Chap. XVIII.: Of Rewards Conferred By the Sovereign.
• Chap. XIX.: New Consequences of the Principles of the Three Governments.
• Book VI.: Consequences of the Principles of Different Governments With Respect to the Simplicity of Civil and Criminal Laws, the Form of Judgements, and the Inflicting of Punishments.
• Chap. I.: Of the Simplicity of Civil Laws In Different Governments.
• Chap. II.: Of the Simplicity of Criminal Laws In Different Governments.
• Chap. III.: In What Governments, and In What Cases, the Judges Ought to Determine According to the Express Letter of the Law.
• Chap. IV.: Of the Manner of Passing Judgement.
• Chap. V.: In What Governments the Sovereign May Be Judge.
• Chap. VI.: That, In Monarchies, Ministers Ought Not to Sit As Judges.
• Chap. VII.: Of a Single Magistrate.
• Chap. VIII.: Of Accusation In Different Governments.
• Chap. IX.: Of the Severity of Punishments In Different Governments.
• Chap. X.: Of the Ancient French Laws.
• Chap. XI.: That, When People Are Virtuous, Few Punishments Are Necessary.
• Chap. XII.: Of the Power of Punishments.
• Chap. XIII.: Insufficiency of the Laws of Japan.
• Chap. XIV.: Of the Spirit of the Roman Senate.
• Chap. XV.: Of the Roman Laws In Respect to Punishments.
• Chap. XVI.: Of the Just Proportion Betwixt Punishments and Crimes.
• Chap. XVII.: Of the Rack.
• Chap. XVIII.: Of Pecuniary and Corporal Punishments.
• Chap. XIX.: Of the Law of Retaliation.
• Chap. XX.: Of the Punishment of Fathers For the Crimes of Their Children.
• Chap. XXI.: Of the Clemency of the Prince.
• Book VII.: Consequences of the Different Principles of the Three Governments, With Respect to Sumptuary Laws, Luxury, and the Condition of Women.
• Chap. I.: Of Luxury.
• Chap. II.: Of Sumptuary Laws In a Democracy.
• Chap. III.: Of Sumptuary Laws In an Aristocracy.
• Chap. IV.: Of Sumptuary Laws In a Monarchy.
• Chap. V.: In What Cases Sumptuary Laws Are Useful In a Monarchy.
• Chap. VI.: Of the Luxury of China.
• Chap. VII.: Fatal Consequences of Luxury In China.
• Chap. VIII.: Of Public Continency.
• Chap. IX.: Of the Condition Or State of Women In Different Governments.
• Chap. X.: Of the Domestic Tribunal Among the Romans.
• Chap. XI.: In What Manner the Institutions Changed At Rome Together With the Government.
• Chap. XII.: Of the Guardianship of Women Among the Romans.
• Chap. XIII.: Of the Punishments Decreed By Emperors Against the Incontinency of Women.
• Chap. XIV.: Sumptuary Laws Among the Romans.
• Chap. XV.: Of Dowries and Nuptial Advantages In Different Constitutions.
• Chap. XVI.: An Excellent Custom of the Samnites.
• Chap. XVII.: Of Female-administration.
• Book VIII.: Of the Corruption of the Principles of the Three Governments.
• Chap. I.: General Idea of This Book.
• Chap. II.: Of the Corruption of the Principles of Democracy.
• Chap. III.: Of the Spirit of Extreme Equality.
• Chap. IV.: Particular Cause of the Corruption of the People.
• Chap. V.: Of the Corruption of the Principle of Aristocracy.
• Chap. VI.: Of the Corruption of the Principle of Monarchy.
• Chap. VII.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. VIII.: Danger of the Corruption of the Principle of Monarchical Government.
• Chap. IX.: How Ready the Nobility Are to Defend the Throne.
• Chap. X.: Of the Corruption of the Principle of Despotic Government.
• Chap. XI.: Natural Effects of the Goodness and Corruption of the Principles of Government.
• Chap. XII.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XIII.: The Effect of an Oath Among Virtuous People.
• Chap. XIV.: How the Smallest Change of the Constitution Is Attended With the Ruin of Its Principles.
• Chap. XV.: Sure Methods of Preserving the Three Principles.
• Chap. XVI.: Distinctive Properties of a Republic.
• Chap. XVII.: Distinctive Properties of a Monarchy.
• Chap. XVIII.: Particular Case of the Spanish Monarchy.
• Chap. XIX.: Distinctive Properties of a Despotic Government.
• Chap. XX.: Consequence of the Preceding Chapters.
• Chap. XXI.: Of the Empire of China.
• Book IX.: Of Laws, In the Relation They Bear to a Defensive Force.
• Chap. I.: In What Manner Republics Provide For Their Safety.
• Chap. II.: That a Confederate Government Ought to Be Composed of States of the Same Nature, Especially of the Republican Kind.
• Chap. III.: Other Requisites In a Confederate Republic.
• Chap. IV.: In What Manner Despotic Governments Provide For Their Security.
• Chap. V.: In What Manner a Monarchical Government Provides For Its Security.
• Chap. VI.: Of the Defensive Force of States In General.
• Chap. VII.: A Reflexion.
• Chap. VIII.: A Particular Case, In Which the Defensive Force of a State Is Inferior to the Offensive.
• Chap. IX.: Of the Relative Force of States.
• Chap. X.: Of the Weakness of Neighbouring States.
• Book X.: Of Laws, In the Relation They Bear to Offensive Force.
• Chap. I.: Of Offensive Force.
• Chap. II.: Of War.
• Chap. III.: Of the Right of Conquest.
• Chap. IV.: Some Advantages of a Conquered People.
• Chap. V.: Gelon, King of Syracuse.
• Chap. VI.: Of Conquests Made By a Republic.
• Chap. VII.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. VIII.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. IX.: Of Conquests Made By a Monarchy.
• Chap. X.: Of One Monarchy That Subdues Another.
• Chap. XI.: Of the Manners of a Conquered People.
• Chap. XII.: Of a Law of Cyrus.
• Chap. XIII.: Charles XII.
• Chap. XIV.: Alexander.
• Chap. XV.: New Methods of Preserving a Conquest.
• Chap. XVI.: Of Conquests Made By a Despotic Prince.
• Chap. XVII.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Book XI.: Of the Laws Which Establish Political Liberty, With Regard to the Constitution.
• Chap. I.: A General Idea.
• Chap. II.: Different Significations of the Word, Liberty.
• Chap. III.: In What Liberty Consists.
• Chap. IV.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. V.: Of the End Or View of Different Governments.
• Chap. VI.: Of the Constitution of England.
• Chap. VII.: Of the Monarchies We Are Acquainted With.
• Chap. VIII.: Why the Ancients Had Not a Clear Idea of Monarchy.
• Chap. IX.: Aristotle’s Manner of Thinking.
• Chap. X.: What Other Politicians Thought.
• Chap. XI.: Of the Kings of the Heroic Times of Greece.
• Chap. XII.: Of the Government of the Kings of Rome, and In What Manner the Three Powers Were There Distributed.
• Chap. XIII.: General Reflections On the State of Rome After the Expulsion of Its Kings.
• Chap. XIV.: In What Manner the Distribution of the Three Powers Began to Change, After the Expulsion of the Kings.
• Chap. XV.: In What Manner Rome, In the Flourishing State of That Republic, Suddenly Lost Its Liberty.
• Chap. XVI.: Of the Legislative Power In the Roman Republic.
• Chap. XVII.: Of the Executive Power In the Same Republic.
• Chap. XVIII.: Of the Judiciary Power In the Roman Government.
• Chap. XIX.: Of the Government of the Roman Provinces.
• Chap. XX.: The End of This Book.
• Book XII.: Of the Laws That Form Political Liberty, As Relative to the Subject.
• Chap. I.: Idea of This Book.
• Chap. II.: Of the Liberty of the Subject.
• Chap. III.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. IV.: That Liberty Is Favoured By the Nature and Proportion of Punishments.
• Chap. V.: Of Certain Accusations That Require Particular Moderation and Prudence.
• Chap. VI.: Of the Crime Against Nature.
• Chap. VII.: Of the Crime of High-treason.
• Chap. VIII.: Of the Bad Application of the Name of Sacrilege and High-treason.
• Chap. IX.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. X.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XI.: Of Thoughts.
• Chap. XII.: Of Indiscreet Speeches.
• Chap. XIII.: Of Writings.
• Chap. XIV.: Breach of Modesty In Punishing Crimes.
• Chap. XV.: Of the Infranchisement of Slaves, In Order to Accuse Their Master.
• Chap. XVI.: Of Calumny, With Regard to the Crime of High-treason.
• Chap. XVII.: Of the Revealing of Conspiracies.
• Chap. XVIII.: How Dangerous It Is, In Republics, to Be Too Severe In Punishing the Crime of High-treason.
• Chap. XIX.: In What Manner the Use of Liberty Is Suspended In a Republic.
• Chap. XX.: Of Laws Favourable to the Liberty of the Subject In a Republic.
• Chap. XXI.: Of the Cruelty of Laws, In Respect to Debtors, In a Republic.
• Chap. XXII.: Of Things That Strike At Liberty In Monarchies.
• Chap. XXIII.: Of Spies In Monarchies.
• Chap. XXIV.: Of Anonymous Letters.
• Chap. XXV.: Of the Manner of Governing In Monarchies.
• Chap. XXVI.: That, In a Monarchy, the Prince Ought to Be of Easy Access.
• Chap. XXVII.: Of the Manners of a Monarch.
• Chap. XXVIII.: Of the Regard Which Monarchs Owe to Their Subjects.
• Chap. XXIX.: Of the Civil Laws Proper For Mixing Some Portion of Liberty In a Despotic Government.
• Chap. XXX.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Book XIII.: Of the Relation Which the Levying of Taxes and the Greatness of the Public Revenues Have to Liberty.
• Chap. I.: Of the Public Revenues.
• Chap. II.: That It Is Bad Reasoning to Say That the Greatness of Taxes Is Good In Its Own Nature.
• Chap. III.: Of Taxes In Countries Where Part of the People Are Villains Or Bondmen.
• Chap. IV.: Of a Republic In the Like Case.
• Chap. V.: Of a Monarchy In the Like Case.
• Chap. VI.: Of a Despotic Government In the Like Case.
• Chap. VII.: Of Taxes In Countries Where Villainage Is Not Established.
• Chap. VIII.: In What Manner the Deception Is Preserved.
• Chap. IX.: Of a Bad Kind of Impost.
• Chap. X.: That the Greatness of Taxes Depends On the Nature of the Government.
• Chap. XI.: Of Confiscations.
• Chap. XII.: Relation Between the Weight of Taxes and Liberty.
• Chap. XIII.: In What Government Taxes Are Capable of Increase.
• Chap. XIV.: That the Nature of the Taxes Is Relative to the Government.
• Chap. XV.: Abuse of Liberty.
• Chap. XVI.: Of the Conquests of the Mahometans.
• Chap. XVII.: Of the Augmentation of Troops.
• Chap. XVIII.: Of an Exemption From Taxes.
• Chap. XIX.: Which Is Most Suitable to the Prince and to the People, the Farming the Revenues, Or Managing Them By Commission?
• Chap. XX.: Of the Farmers of the Revenues.
• Book XIV.: Of Laws As Relative to the Nature of the Climate.
• Chap. I.: General Idea.
• Chap. II.: Of the Difference of Men In Different Climates.
• Chap. III.: Contradiction In the Tempers of Some Southern Nations.
• Chap. IV.: Cause of the Immutability of Religion, Manners, Customs, and Laws, In the Eastern Countries.
• Chap. V.: That Those Are Bad Legislators Who Favour the Vices of the Climate, and Good Legislators Who Oppose Those Vices.
• Chap. VI.: Of Agriculture In Warm Climates.
• Chap. VII.: Of Monkery.
• Chap. VIII.: An Excellent Custom of China.
• Chap. IX.: Means of Encouraging Industry.
• Chap. X.: Of the Laws Relative to the Sobriety of the People.
• Chap. XI.: Of the Laws Relative to the Distempers of the Climate.
• Chap. XII.: Of the Laws Against Suicides.
• Chap. XIII.: Effects Arising From the Climate of England.
• Chap. XIV.: Other Effects of the Climate.
• Chap. XV.: Of the Different Confidence Which the Laws Have In the People, According to the Difference of Climates.
• Book XV.: In What Manner the Laws of Civil Slavery Are Relative to the Nature of the Climate.
• Chap. I.: Of Civil Slavery.
• Chap. II.: Origin of the Right of Slavery Among the Roman Civilians.
• Chap. III.: Another Origin of the Right of Slavery.
• Chap. IV.: Another Origin of the Right of Slavery.
• Chap. V.: Of the Slavery of the Negroes.
• Chap. VI.: The True Origin of the Right of Slavery.
• Chap. VII.: Another Origin of the Right of Slavery.
• Chap. VIII.: Inutility of Slavery Among Us.
• Chap. IX.: Several Kinds of Slavery.
• Chap. X.: Regulations Necessary In Respect to Slavery.
• Chap. XI.: Abuses of Slavery.
• Chap. XII.: Danger From the Multitude of Slaves.
• Chap. XIII.: Of Armed Slaves.
• Chap. XIV.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XV.: Precautions to Be Used In Moderate Governments.
• Chap. XVI.: Regulations Between Masters and Slaves.
• Chap. XVII.: Of Infranchisements.
• Chap. XVIII.: Of Freed-men and Eunuchs.
• Book XVI.: How the Laws of Domestic Slavery Have a Relation to the Nature of the Climate.
• Chap. I.: Of Domestic Servitude.
• Chap. II.: That, In the Countries of the South, There Is a Natural Inequality Between the Two Sexes.
• Chap. III.: That a Plurality of Wives Greatly Depends On the Means of Supporting Them.
• Chap. IV.: That the Law of Polygamy Is an Affair That Depends On Calculation.
• Chap. V.: The Reason of a Law of Malabar.
• Chap. VI.: Of Polygamy Considered In Itself.
• Chap. VII.: Of an Equality of Treatment In Case of Many Wives.
• Chap. VIII.: Of the Separation of Women From Men.
• Chap. IX.: Of the Connexion Between Domestic and Political Government.
• Chap. X.: The Principle On Which the Morals of the East Are Founded.
• Chap. XI.: Of Domestic Slavery Independently of Polygamy.
• Chap. XII.: Of Natural Modesty.
• Chap. XIII.: Of Jealousy.
• Chap. XIV.: Of the Eastern Manner of Domestic Government.
• Chap. XV.: Of Divorce and Repudiation.
• Chap. XVI.: Of Repudiation and Divorce Amongst the Romans.
• Book XVII.: How the Laws of Political Servitude Have a Relation to the Nature of the Climate.
• Chap. I.: Of Political Servitude.
• Chap. II.: The Difference Between Nations In Point of Courage.
• Chap. III.: Of the Climate of Asia.
• Chap. IV.: The Consequences Resulting From This.
• Chap. V.: That, When the People In the North of Asia and Those of the North of Europe Made Conquests, the Effects of the Conquest Were Not the Same.
• Chap. VI.: A New Physical Cause of the Slavery of Asia and of the Liberty of Europe.
• Chap. VII.: Of Africa and America.
• Chap. VIII.: Of the Capital of the Empire.
• Book XVIII.: Of Laws In the Relation They Bear to the Nature of the Soil.
• Chap. I.: How the Nature of the Soil Has an Influence On the Laws.
• Chap. II.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. III.: What Countries Are Best Cultivated.
• Chap. IV.: New Effects of the Barrenness and Fertility of Countries.
• Chap. V.: Of the Inhabitants of Islands.
• Chap. VI.: Of Countries Raised By the Industry of Man.
• Chap. VII.: Of Human Industry.
• Chap. VIII.: The General Relation of Laws.
• Chap. IX.: Of the Soil of America.
• Chap. X.: Of Population, In the Relation It Bears to the Manner of Procuring Subsistence.
• Chap. XI.: Of Savage and Barbarous Nations.
• Chap. XII.: Of the Law of Nations Among People Who Do Not Cultivate the Earth.
• Chap. XIII.: Of the Civil Law of Those Nations Who Do Not Cultivate the Earth.
• Chap. XIV.: Of the Political State of the People Who Do Not Cultivate the Land.
• Chap. XV.: Of People Who Know the Use of Money.
• Chap. XVI.: Of Civil Laws Among People Who Know Not the Use of Money.
• Chap. XVII.: Of Political Laws Amongst Nations Who Have Not the Use of Money.
• Chap. XVIII.: Of the Power of Superstition.
• Chap. XIX.: Of the Liberty of the Arabs and the Servitude of the Tartars.
• Chap. XX.: Of the Law of Nations As Practised By the Tartars.
• Chap. XXI.: The Civil Law of the Tartars.
• Chap. XXII.: Of a Civil Law of the German Nations.
• Chap. XXIII.: Of the Regal Ornaments Among the Franks.
• Chap. XXIV.: Of the Marriages of the Kings of the Franks.
• Chap. XXV.: Childeric.
• Chap. XXVI.: Of the Time When the Kings of the Franks Became of Age.
• Chap. XXVII.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XXVIII.: Of Adoption Among the Germans.
• Chap. XXIX.: Of the Sanguinary Temper of the Kings of the Franks.
• Chap. XXX.: Of the National Assemblies of the Franks.
• Chap. XXXI.: Of the Authority of the Clergy Under the First Race.
• Book XIX.: Of Laws, In Relation to the Principles Which Form the General Spirit, the Morals, and Customs, of a Nation.
• Chap. I.: Of the Subject of This Book.
• Chap. II.: That It Is Necessary People’s Minds Should Be Prepared For the Reception of the Best Laws.
• Chap. III.: Of Tyranny.
• Chap. IV.: Of the General Spirit of Mankind.
• Chap. V.: How Far We Should Be Attentive Lest the General Spirit of a Nation Be Changed.
• Chap. VI.: That Every Thing Ought Not to Be Corrected.
• Chap. VII.: Of the Athenians and Lacedæmonians.
• Chap. VIII.: Effects of a Sociable Temper.
• Chap. IX.: Of the Vanity and Pride of Nations.
• Chap. X.: Of the Character of the Spaniards and Chinese.
• Chap. XI.: A Reflection.
• Chap. XII.: Of Custom and Manners In a Despotic State.
• Chap. XIII.: Of the Behaviour of the Chinese.
• Chap. XIV.: What Are the Natural Means of Changing the Manners and Customs of a Nation.
• Chap. XV.: The Influence of Domestic Government On the Political.
• Chap. XVI.: How Some Legislators Have Confounded the Principles Which Govern Mankind.
• Chap. XVII.: Of the Peculiar Quality of the Chinese Government.
• Chap. XVIII.: A Consequence Drawn From the Preceding Chapter.
• Chap. XIX.: How This Union of Religion, Laws, Manners, and Customs, Among the Chinese, Was Effected.
• Chap. XX.: Explication of a Paradox Relating to the Chinese.
• Chap. XXI.: How the Laws Ought to Have a Relation to Manners and Customs.
• Chap. XXII.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XXIII.: How the Laws Are Founded On the Manners of a People.
• Chap. XXIV.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XXV.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XXVI.: The Same Subject Continued.
• Chap. XXVII.: How the Laws Contribute to Form the Manners, Customs, and Character, of a Nation.

CHAP. XVIII.

Of the judiciary Power in the Roman Government.

THE judiciary power was given to the people, to the senate, to the magistrates, and to particular judges. We must see in what manner it was distributed, beginning with their civil affairs.

The consuls had‡ the judiciary power after the expulsion of the kings, as the prætors were judges after the consuls. Servius Tullus had divested himself of the power of determining of civil causes, which was not resumed by the consuls, except in some very rare∥ cases, for that reason called extraordinary§ . They were satisfied with naming the judges and establishing the several tribunals. By a discourse of Appius Claudius, in Dionysius¶ Halicarnasseus, it appears, that, so early as the 259th year of Rome, this was looked upon as a settled custom among the Romans; and it is not tracing it very high to refer it to Servius Tullus.

Every year, the prætor made a list† of such as he chose for the office of judges during his magistracy. A sufficient number was pitched upon for each cause; a custom very near the same as that now practised in England. And what was extremely favourable to liberty* was, the prætor’s fixing the judges with the∥ consent of the parties. The great number of exceptions, that can be made in England, amounts pretty near to this very custom.

The judges decided only the questions* relating to matter of fact: for example, whether a sum of money had been paid or not; whether an act had been committed or not. But, as to questions of† law, as these required a certain capacity, they were always carried before the tribunal of the centumvirs§ .

The kings reserved to themselves the judgement of criminal affairs, and in this were succeeded by the consuls. It was in consequence of this authority that Brutus put his children, and all those who were concerned in the Tarquinian conspiracy, to death. This was an exorbitant power. The consuls, already invested with the military command, extended the exercise of it even to civil affairs; and their procedures, being stripped of all forms of justice, were rather exertions of violence than legal judgements.

This gave rise to the Valerian law, by which it was made lawful to appeal to the people from every decision of the consuls that endangered the life of a citizen. The consuls had no longer a power of pronouncing sentence in capital cases against a Roman citizen, without the consent of the people¶ .

We see, in the first conspiracy for the restoration of the Tarquins, that the criminals were tried by Brutus the consul; in the second, the senate and comitia were assembled to try them‡ .

The laws, distinguished by the name of sacred, allowed the plebeians the privilege of choosing tribunes; from whence was formed a body, whose pretensions at first were immense. It is hard to determine which was greater, the insolence of the plebeians in demanding, or the condescension of the senate in granting. The Valerian law allowed of appeals to the people; that is, to the people composed of senators, patricians, and plebeians. The plebeians made a law that appeals should be brought before their own body. A question was soon after started, whether the plebeians had a right to try a patrician: this was the subject of a dispute to which the impeachment of Coriolanus gave rise, and which ended with that affair. When Coriolanus was accused by the tribunes before the people, he insisted, contrary to the spirit of the Valerian law, that, as he was a patrician, none but the consuls had a power to try him: on the other hand, the plebeians also, contrary to the spirit of that same law, pretended, that none but their body were empowered to be his judges, and accordingly they pronounced sentence upon him.

This was moderated by the law of the twelve tables; whereby it was ordained, that none but the great assemblies of the people† should try a citizen in capital cases. Hence the body of the plebeians, or (which amounts to the very same) the comitia by tribes, had no longer any power of hearing criminal causes, except such as were punished with fines. To inflict a capital punishment, a law was requisite; but, to condemn to a pecuniary mulct, there was occasion only for a plebiscitum.

This regulation of the law of the twelve tables was extremely prudent. It produced an admirable balance between the body of the plebeians and the senate: for, as the full judiciary power of both depended on the greatness of the punishment and the nature of the crime, it was necessary they should both agree.

The Valerian law abolished all the remains of the Roman government any way relative to that of the kings of the heroic times of Greece. The consuls were divested of the power to punish crimes. Though all crimes are public, yet we must distinguish between those which more nearly concern the mutual intercourse of citizens, and those which more immediately interest the state in the relation it bears to its subjects. The first are called private; the second, public. The latter were tried by the people; and, in regard to the former, they named, by particular commission, a quæstor for the prosecution of each crime. The person chosen by the people was frequently one of the magistrates, sometimes a private man. He was called the quæstor of parricide, and is mentioned in the law of the twelve tables.‡

The quæstor nominated the judge of the question, who drew lots for the judges, and regulated the tribunal, in which he presided.∥

Here it is proper to observe what share the senate had in the nomination of the quæstor, that we may see how far the two powers were balanced. Sometimes the senate caused a dictator to be chosen, in order to exercise the office of quæstor§ ; at other times they ordained that the people should be convened by a tribune, with a view of proceeding to the nomination of a quæstor¶ : and, in fine, the people frequently appointed a magistrate to make his report to the senate concerning a particular crime, and to desire them to name a quæstor, as may be seen in the judgement upon Lucius Scipio* in Livy.†

In the year of Rome 604, some of these commissions were rendered permanent.‡ All criminal causes were gradually divided into different parts; to which they gave the name of perpetual questions. Different prætors were created, to each of whom some of those questions were assigned. They had a power, conferred upon them for the term of a year, of trying such criminal causes as were any way relative to those questions, and then they were sent to govern their province.

At Carthage the senate of the hundred was composed of judges who enjoyed that dignity for life∥ : But, at Rome, the prætors were annual; and the judges were not even for so long a term, but were nominated for each cause. We have already shewn, in the sixth chapter of this book, how favourable this regulation was to liberty in particular governments.

The judges were chosen from the order of senators, till the time of the Gracchi. Tiberius Gracchus caused a law to pass, that they should be taken from the equestrian order; a change so very considerable, that the tribune boasted of having cut, by one rogation only, the sinews of the senatorian dignity.

It is necessary to observe, that the three powers may be very well distributed in regard to the liberty of the constitution, though not so well in respect to the liberty of the subject. At Rome the people had the greatest share of the legislative, a part of the executive, and part of the judiciary, power; by which means they had so great a weight in the government, as required some other power to balance it. The senate, indeed, had part of the executive power, and some share of the legislative§ ; but this was not sufficient to counterbalance the weight of the people. It was necessary that they should partake of the judiciary power; and accordingly they had a share when the judges were chosen from among the senators. But, when the Gracchi deprived the senators of the judicial power¶ , the senate were no longer able to withstand the people. To favour, therefore, the liberty of the subject, they struck at that of the constitution: but the former perished with the latter.

Infinite were the mischiefs that from thence arose. The constitution was changed at a time when the fire of civil discord had scarce left any such thing as a constitution. The knights ceased to be that middle order which united the people to the senate; and the chain of the constitution was broke.

There were even particular reasons against transferring the judiciary power to the equestrian order. The constitution of Rome was founded on this principle, that none should be inlisted as soldiers but such as were men of sufficient property to answer for their conduct to the republic. The knights, as persons of the greatest property, formed the cavalry of the legions. But, when their dignity increased, they refused to serve any longer in that capacity, and another kind of cavalry was obliged to be raised. Thus Marius inlisted all sorts of people into his army, and soon after the republic was lost.*

Besides, the knights were the farmers of the revenue; men whose great rapaciousness increased the public calamities. Instead of giving to such as those the judicial power, they ought to have been constantly under the eye of the judges. This we must say in commendation of the ancient French laws, that they have acted towards the officers of the revenue with as great a diffidence as would be observed between enemies. When the judiciary power at Rome was transferred to the publicans, there was then an end of all virtue, polity, laws, and government.

Of this we find a very ingenuous description in some fragments of Diodorus Siculus and Dio. “Mutius Scevola (says Diodorus† ) wanted to revive the ancient manners and the laudable custom of sober and frugal living; for his predecessors, having entered into a contract with the farmers of the revenue, who at that time were possessed of the judiciary power at Rome, had infected the province with all manner of corruption. But Scevola made an example of the publicans, and imprisoned those by whom others had been confined.”

Dio informs us‡ , that Publius Rutilius, his lieutenant, was equally obnoxious to the equestrian order, and that, upon his return, they accused him of having received some presents, and condemned him to a fine; upon which he instantly made a cession of his goods. His innocence appeared in this, that he was found to be worth a great deal less than what he was charged with having extorted, and he shewed a just title to what he possessed: but he would not live any longer in the same city with such profligate wretches.

∥ The Italians, says Diodorus again, bought up whole droves of slaves in Sicily, to till their lands, and to take care of their cattle; but refused them a necessary subsistence. These wretches were then forced to go and rob on the highways, armed with lances and clubs, covered with beasts skins, and followed by large mastiffs. Thus the whole province was laid waste, and the inhabitants could not call any thing their own but what was secured by fortresses. There was neither proconsul nor prætor that could or would oppose this disorder, or that presumed to punish these slaves, because they belonged to the knights, who, at Rome, were possessed of the judiciary power§ . And yet this was one of the causes of the war of the slaves. But I shall add only one word more. A profession, deaf and inexorable, that can have no other view than lucre, that was always asking and never granting, that impoverished the rich and increased even the misery of the poor; such a profession, I say, should never have been intrusted with the judiciary power at Rome.

[‡ ]There is no manner of doubt but the consuls had the power of trying civil causes before the creation of the prætors. See Livy, dec. 1, book 2, p. 19. Dionys. Halicarn. book 10, p. 627. and the same book, p. 645.

[∥ ]The tribunes frequently tried causes by themselves only; but nothing rendered them more odious. Dionys. Halicarn. book 11, p. 709.

[§ ]Judicia extraordinaria. See the Institutes, book 4.

[¶ ]Book 6, p. 360.

[† ]Album judicium.

[* ]“Our ancestors, says Cicero pro Cluentio, would not suffer any man, whom the parties had not agreed to, to be judge of the least pecuniary affair, much less of a citizen’s reputation.”

[∥ ]See, in the fragments of the Servilian, Cornelian, and other laws, in what manner these laws appointed judges for the crimes they proposed to punish. They were often pitched upon by choice; sometimes by lot; or, in fine, by lot mixt together with choice.

[* ]Seneca de Benefic. lib. 3, cap. 7, in fine.

[† ]See Quintilian, lib. 4, p. 54, in fol. edit. of Paris, 1541.

[§ ]Leg 2. ff. de Orig. Jur. Magistrates, who were called decemvirs, presided in court, the whole under a prætor’s direction.

[¶ ]Quoniam de capite civis Romani, injussu populi Romani, non erat permissum consulibus jus dicere. See Pomponius, Leg. 2. ff. de Orig. Jur.

[‡ ]Dionys. Halicarn. book 5, p. 322.

[† ]The comitia by centuries. Thus Manlius Capitolinus was tried in these comitia. Livy, dec. 1, book 6, p. 60.

[‡ ]Pomponius, in the second Law in the Digest de Orig. Jur.

[∥ ]See a fragment of Ulpian, who gives another of the Cornelian law: it is to be met with in the Collation of the Mosaic and Roman Laws, tit. 1. de sicariis & homicidiis.

[§ ]This took place, especially in regard to crimes committed in Italy, which were subject chiefly to the inspection of the senate. See Livy, 1 decad. book 9. concerning the conspiracies of Capua.

[¶ ]This was the case in the prosecution for the murder of Posthumius, in the year 340 of Rome. See Livy.

[* ]This judgement was passed in the year of Rome 567.

[† ]Book 8.

[‡ ]Cicero in Bruto.

[∥ ]This is proved from Livy, book 43, who says that Hannibal rendered their magistracy annual.

[§ ]The senatus-consultums were of force for the space of a year, though not confirmed by the people. Dionys. Halicarn. book 9, p. 595. and book 11, p. 735.

[¶ ]In the year 630.

[* ]Capite censos plerosque. Sallust. de Bello Jugurth.

[† ]Fragment of this author, book 36, in the Collection of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, of virtues and vices.

[‡ ]Fragment of his history, taken from the Extract of virtues and vices.

[∥ ]Fragment of the 34th book, in the Extract of virtues and vices.

[§ ]Penes quos Romæ tum judicia erant, arque ex equestri ordine solerent sortito judices eligi in causa prætorum & proconsulum, quibus post administratam provinciam dies dicta erat.