CHARACTER S'.
gradually rOfe to the higheft title a wife man can arrive at, that of Legiflator of nations.
If he was animated by the im- portance of his fobjedl, he was dif- couraged byitscxtent ; he abandon- ed and refumed it feveral times. And at length, encouraged by his friends, he muftered all his ftrength, and gave the public his Spirit of Laivs.
Among the authors by whom he was afijiled, and from wbom he borrowed fome of his fentiments, the principal are the two of deepell meditation, Tacitus and Plutarch : but though a philofopher who reads two, may difpenfe with many others, Montefquieu neglefted or flighted none that could be of ufe. ^he Spirit of Lan.vs difcovers im- menfe reading : and the judicious ufe which the author made of the prodigious mafs of materials will appear ftill more furprifing, when it is known that hewasalmoft whol- ly deprived of fight, and obliged to make ufe of other peoples eyes.
Though M. de Montefquieu did rot long furvive the publication of his Efprit des Loix, he had the fa- tisfaction to fee the beginning of its efFefts upon the French nation ; the natural love of the French to their country, turned to it? proper objedl; a tafte for commerce, agri- culture, and the ufeful arts, be- ginning to fpread throughout that kingdom ; and that general know- ledge of the principles of govern- ment, which renders the people more attached to what they ought to love.
Neverthelefs a multitude of pieces appeared in France againlt his book. The anonymous author of a periodica! work, who imagined himfelf the fuccefibr of Paichal, becaufe he fucceeded to his opi- nions, thought to ruin M, de Mon-
243
tefquieu, but was the occafion of new luftre being cafl on his name, as a man of learning, by pro- voking him to write a Defence of his Spirit ofLdix's. This work may ferve as a model on account of the moderation, truth, and hu- mour that appear throughout the whole of it. M. de Montefquieu could eafily have rendered his ad- verfary odious; but he chofe rather to make him ridiculous, What adds to the value of this excellent piece, is, that the author, without thinking of it, has in it drawn a true picture of himfelf : thofe who knew him imagine they hear him fpeak ; and pofterity, when they read his Defe?i:e, will fee that his converfation was not inferior to his writings.
While the infefls thus buzzed about and molefted him in his owa country, M. Daffier, famous for his medals of illuftrious men, went from London to Paris, I752, to ftrike a medal of M. de Montef- quieu. M. de la Tour, alfo, aa eminent painter, was very dcfirous to paint the author of the Spirit of Laivs : but M. de Montefquieu conllantly refufcd, in a polite man- ner, his preiTing folicitations. M. Daffier met with the fame difficul- tiesatfirft: • Don'tyou think (faid. he one day to Montefquieu) 'that
- there is as much pride in refufing
- my requeft, as there would ap-
- pear in granting it ?' Difarmed
by this pleafantry, he fulTcred M. Daffier to do what he pleafed.
He was at laR in peaceable pof- feffion of the glory he fo juilly ac- quired, when he was taken ill in the beginning of February. His health, naturally delicate, had long befoie begun to break by the flow and almolt imperceptible effeds of his clofe ftudy, the chagrin giveri K 2 hm
