BOOK I. and inducing every one to lock up or send abroad the good old specie; whereby a temporary stop is put to the circulation CHAP. X. of money. So that it is the duty of every nation and of every sovereign to abstain, as much as possible, from so dangerous an experiment, and rather to have recourse to extraordinary [ 46 ] taxes and contributions to support the pressing exigencies of the state.* Since the state is surety for the goodness of the money 107. Their and its currency, the public authority alone has the right of rights in this coining it. Those who counterfeit it, violate the rights of respect. the sovereign, whether they make it of the same standard and value or not. These are called false-coiners, and their crime is justly considered as one of the most heinous nature. For if they coin base money, they rob both the public and the prince; and if they coin good, they usurp the prerogative of the sovereign. They will never be inclined to coin good money unless there be a profit on the coinage and in this case they rob the state of a profit which exclusively be * In Boizard's Treatise on Coin, we find the following observations: "It is worthy of remark, that, when our kings debased the coin, they kept the circumstance a secret from the people :-witness the ordinance of Philip de Valois in 1350, by which he ordered Tournois Doubles to be coined 2d. 5gr. fine, which was, in fact, a debasement of the coin. In that ordinance, addressing the officers of the mint, he says Upon the oath by which you are bound to the king, keep this affair as secret as you possibly can, that neither the bankers nor others may, by your means, acquire any knowledge of it; for if, through you, it comes to be known, you shall be punished for the offence in such manner as shall serve as an example to others."-The same author quotes other similar ordinances of the same king, and one issued by the Dauphin, who governed the kingdom as regent during the captivity of King John, dated June 27, 1360, by virtue of which the mint-masters, directing the officers engaged in the coinage to coin white Deniers 1d. 12gr. fine, at the same time expressly command them to keep this order secret, and, "if any persons should make inquiry respecting their standard, to maintain that they were 2d. fine." Chap. xxix. The kings [of France] had recourse to this strange expedient in cases of urgent necessity; but they saw its injustice. The same author, speaking of the debasement of coin, or the va rious modes of reducing its intrinsic pledges himself to the people of his CHAP. X. BOOK I. longs to it. In both cases they do an injury to the sovereign; for the public faith being surety for the money, the sovereign alone has a right to have it coined. For this reason the right of coining is placed among the prerogatives of majesty, and Bodinus relates,* that Sigismund Augustus, king of Poland, having granted this privilege to the duke of Prussia, in the year 1543, the states of the country passed a decree in which it was asserted that the king could not grant that privilege, it being inseparable from the crown. [ 47 ] The same author observes, that, although many lords and bishops of France had formerly the privilege of coining money, it was still considered as coined by the king's authority: and the kings of France at last withdrew all those privileges, on account of their being often abused. 2 108. How one nation may injure the article another in of coin. 2109. Of exchange, and the laws of com merce. From the principles just laid down, it is easy to conclude, that if one nation counterfeits the money of another, or if she allows and protects false-coiners who presume to do it, she does that nation an injury. But commonly criminals of this class find no protection anywhere-all princes being equally interested in exterminating them. (50) There is another custom more modern, and of no less use to commerce than the establishment of coin, namely exchange, or the traffic of bankers, by means of which a merchant remits immense sums from one end of the world to the other, at a very trifling expense, and, if he pleases, without risk. For the same reason that sovereigns are obliged to protect commerce, they are obliged to support this custom, by good laws, in which every merchant, whether citizen or foreigner, may find security. In general, it is equally the interest and the duty of every nation to have wise and equitable commercial laws established in the country. In his Republic, book i. chap. x. 81, it was held, that the maker of paper in England, knowingly made by him for the purpose of forging assignats upon the same, to be exported to France in order to commit frauds there on other persons, might recover damages for not accepting such paper pursuant to contract. So a master of an English ship was even allowed to recover salvage for bringing home his captured vessel, by deceptively inducing the enemy to release the vessel on his giving a ransom bill, payment of which he took care to countermand in London. 2 Dodson's R. 74. 118 BOOK I. CHAP. XI. CHAP. XI. SECOND OBJECT OF A GOOD GOVERNMENT, TO PROCURE THE to labour after its own happiness. LET us continue to lay open the principal objects of a good? 110. A nagovernment. What we have said in the five preceding chap- tion ought ters relates to the care of providing for the necessities of the people, and procuring plenty in the state: this is a point of necessity; but it is not sufficient for the happiness of a nation. Experience shows that a people may be unhappy in the midst of all earthly enjoyments, and in the possession of the greatest riches. Whatever may enable mankind to enjoy a true and solid felicity, is a second object that deserves the most serious attention of the government. Happiness is the point where centre all those duties which individuals and nations owe to themselves; and this is the great end of the law of nature. The desire of happiness is the powerful spring that puts man in motion: felicity is the end they all have in view, and it ought to be the grand object of the public will (Prelim. §5). It is then the duty of those who form this public will, or of those who represent it-the rulers of the nation to labour for the happiness of the people, to watch continually over it, and to promote it to the utmost of their power. [ 48 ] To succeed in this, it is necessary to instruct the people to 3 111. Inseek felicity where it is to be found; that is, in their own struction. perfection, and to teach them the means of obtaining it. The sovereign cannot, then, take too much pains in instructing and enlightening his people, and in forming them to useful knowledge and wise discipline. Let us leave a hatred of the sciences to the despotic tyrants of the east: they are afraid of having their people instructed, because they choose to rule over slaves. But though they are obeyed with the most abject submission, they frequently experience the effects of disobedience and revolt. A just and wise prince feels no apprehensions from the light of knowledge: he knows that it is ever advantageous to a good government. If men of learning know that liberty is the natural inheritance of mankind; on the other hand they are more fully sensible than their neighbours, how necessary it is, for their own advantage, that this liberty should be subject to a lawful authority :-incapable of being slaves, they are faithful subjects. The first impressions made on the mind are of the utmost 2 112. Eduimportance for the remainder of life. In the tender years cation of of infancy and youth, the human mind and heart easily re- youth. ceive the seeds of good or evil. Hence the education of youth is one of the most important affairs that deserve the BOOK I. CHAP. XI. 113. Arts and sciences. attention of the government. It ought not to be entirely left to fathers. The most certain way of forming good citizens is to found good establishments for public education, to provide them with able masters-direct them with prudence and pursue such mild and suitable measures, that the citi zens will not neglect to take advantage of them. How admirable was the education of the Romans, in the flourishing ages of their republic, and how admirably was it calculated to form great men! The young men put themselves under the patronage of some illustrious person; they frequented his house, accompanied him wherever he went, and equally improved by his instructions and example: their very sports and amusements were exercises proper to form soldiers. The same practice prevailed at Sparta; and this was one of the wisest institutions of the incomparable Lycurgus. That legislator and philosopher entered into the most minute details respecting the education of youth,* being persuaded that on that depended the prosperity and glory of his republic. Who can doubt that the sovereign-the whole nationought to encourage the arts and sciences? To say nothing of the many useful inventions that strike the eye of every beholder,-literature and the polite arts enlighten the mind and soften the manners: and if study does not always inspire the love of virtue, it is because it sometimes, and even too often, unhappily meets with an incorrigibly vicious heart. The nation and its conductors ought then to protect men of learning and great artists, and to call forth talents by honours and rewards. Let the friends of barbarism declaim against the sciences and polite arts;-let us, without deigning to an[49]swer their vain reasonings, content ourselves with appealing to experience. Let us compare England, France, Holland, and several towns of Switzerland and Germany, to the many regions that lie buried in ignorance, and see where we can find the greater number of honest men and good citizens. It would be a gross error to oppose against us the example of Sparta, and that of ancient Rome. They, it is true, neglected curious speculations, and those branches of knowledge and art that were purely subservient to pleasure and amusement; but the solid and practical sciences-morality, jurisprudence, politics, and war-were cultivated by them, especially by the Romans, with a degree of attention superior to what we bestow upon them. In the present age, the utility of literature and the polite arts is pretty generally acknowledged, as is likewise the necessity of encouraging them. The immortal Peter I. thought that without their assistance he could not entirely civilize Russia, and render it flourishing. In England, learning and abilities lead to honour and riches. Newton was honoured, *See Xenophon, Lacedæmon. Respublica. BOOK I. protected, and rewarded while living, and after his death, his tomb was placed among those of kings. France also, in this CHAP. XL respect, deserves particular praise; to the munificence of her kings she is indebted for several establishments that are no less useful than glorious. The Royal Academy of Sciences diffuses on every side the light of knowledge and the desire of instruction. Louis XV. furnished the means of sending to search, under the equator and the polar circle, for the proof of an important truth; and we at present know what was before only believed on the strength of Newton's calculations. Happy will that kingdom be, if the too general taste of the age does not make the people neglect solid knowledge, to give themselves up to that which is merely amusing, and if those who fear the light do not succeed in extinguishing the blaze of science! १ discussion. I speak of the freedom of philosophical discussion, which a 114. Freeis the soul of the republic of letters. What can genius pro- dom of phiduce, when trammelled by fear? Can the greatest man that losophical ever lived contribute much towards enlightening the minds of his fellow-citizens, if he finds himself constantly exposed to the cavils of captious and ignorant bigots-if he is obliged to be continually on his guard, to avoid being accused by innuendo-mongers of indirectly attacking the received opinions? I know that liberty has its proper bounds-that a wise government ought to have an eye to the press, and not to allow the publication of scandalous productions, which attack morality, government, or the established religion. But yet, great care should be taken not to extinguish a light that may afford the state the most valuable advantages. Few men know how to keep a just medium; and the office of literary censor ought to be intrusted to none but those who are at once both prudent and enlightened. Why should they search in a book for what the author does not appear to have intended to put into it? And when a writer's thoughts and discourses are wholly employed on philosophy, ought a malicious adversary to be listened to, who would set him at variance with religion? So far from disturbing a philosopher on account of his opinions, the magistrate ought to chastise those who publicly charge him with impiety, when in his writings he shows respect to the religion of the state. The Romans seem to have been formed to give examples to the universe. That wise people carefully supported the worship and religious ceremonies established by law, and left the field open to the speculations of philosophers. Cicero a senator, aconsul, an augur-ridicules superstition, attacks it, and demolishes it in his philosophical writings; and, in so doing, he thought he was only promoting his own happiness and that of his fellow-citizens: but he observes that "to destroy superstition is not destroying religion; for," says he, "it becomes a wise man to respect the institutions and religious ceremonies of his ancestors: and it is sufficient to [ 50 ] |