ably to be considered the masterpiece of
Montesquieu. It is our duty, however, to say, that this work is quite
differently estimated by different authorities. By some, it is praised
in terms of the highest admiration, as a great achievement in wide and
wise political or juridical philosophy. By others, it is dismissed very
lightly, as the ambitious, or, rather, pretentious, effort of a
superficial man, a showy mere sciolist. It acquired great contemporary
fame, both at home and abroad. It was promptly translated into English,
the translator earning the merited compliment of the author's own
hearty approval of his work. Horace Walpole, who was something of a
Gallomaniac, makes repeated allusion to Montesquieu's "Spirit of Laws,"
in letters of his written at about the time of the appearance of the
book. But Walpole's admiring allusions themselves contain evidence that
admiration equal to his own of the work that he praised, was by no means
universal in England.

The general aspect of the book is that of a composition meant to be
luminously analyzed and arranged. Divisions and titles abound. There are
thirty-one "books"; and each book contains, on the average, perhaps
about the same number of chapters. The library edition, in English,
consists of two volumes, comprising together some eight hundred open
pages, in good-sized type. The books and chapters are therefore not
formidably long. The look of the work is as if it were readable; and its
character, on the whole, corresponds. It would hardly be French, if such
were not the case. Except that Montesquieu's "Spirit of Laws" is, as we
have indicated, a highly organized, even an over-organized, book, which,
by emphasis, Montaigne's "Essays" is not, these two works may be said,
in their contents, somewhat to resemble each other. Montesquieu is
nearly as discursive as Montaigne. He wishes to be philosophical, but he
is not above supplying his reader with interesting historical instances.

We shall not do better, in giving our readers a comprehensive idea of
Montesquieu's "Spirit of Laws," than to begin by showing them the titles
of a number of the books:--

Book I. Of Laws in General. Book II. Of Laws Directly Derived from
the Nature of Government. Book III. Of the Principles of the Three
Kinds of Government. Book IV. That the Laws of Education ought to
be Relative to the Principles of Government. Book V. That the Laws
given by the Legislator ought to