Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow Chap. X.... Laws which appear contradictory, sometimes originate in the same spirit. - A Commentary and Review of Montesquieu's 'Spirit of Laws'

Return to Title Page for A Commentary and Review of Montesquieu’s ’Spirit of Laws’

Search this Title:

Chap. X…. Laws which appear contradictory, sometimes originate in the same spirit. - Antoine Louis Claude, Comte Destutt de Tracy, A Commentary and Review of Montesquieu’s ’Spirit of Laws’ [1811]

Edition used:

A Commentary and Review of Montesquieu’s ’Spirit of Laws’: To which are annexed, Observations on the Thirty First Book by the late M. Condorcet; and Two Letters of Helvetius, on the Merits of the same Work, trans. Thomas Jefferson (Philadelphia: William Duane, 1811).

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


Chap. X.... Laws which appear contradictory, sometimes originate in the same spirit.

In order that the example should correspond with the title, the intent and effect of the French laws should be to assure a due respect for the asylum of a citizen.

And for the title to correspond with the example, it should be stated, that the consequences of the same principles are more or less understood in different countries. But then, the title would not have been so profound.

Montesquieu might have observed, that from the same principle of respect for the life of a man, may be deduced laws either very mild, or cruelly severe: and he should have concluded thence, that a principle very different from that of justice, may lead to false consequences.