un before him in this noble and grand career, he might say, with
Correggio, when he had seen the works of his rivals, "And I, too, am
a Painter."

Filled with his subject, the author of the 'Spirit of Laws' comprehends
so many materials, and treats them with such brevity and depth, that
assiduous reading alone discloses its merit. This study will make that
pretended want of method, of which some readers have accused M. de
Montesquieu, disappear. Real want of order should be distinguished from
what is apparent only. Real disorder confuses the analogy and connection
of ideas; or sets up conclusions as principles, so that the reader,
after innumerable windings, finds himself at the point whence he set
out. Apparent disorder is when the author, putting his ideas in their
true place, leaves it to the readers to supply intermediate ones. M. de
Montesquieu's book is designed for men who think, for men capable of
supplying voluntary and reasonable omissions.

The order perceivable in the grand divisions of the 'Spirit of Laws'
pervades the smaller details also. By his method of arrangement we
easily perceive the influence of the different parts upon each other;
as, in a system of human knowledge well understood, we may perceive the
mutual relation of sciences and arts. There must always remain something
arbitrary in every comprehensive scheme, and all that can be required of
an author is, that he follow strictly his own system.

For an allowable obscurity the same defense exists. What may be obscure
to the ignorant is not so for those whom the author had in mind.
Besides, voluntary obscurity is not properly obscurity. Obliged to
present truths of great importance, the direct avowal of which might
have shocked without doing good, M. de Montesquieu has had the prudence
to conceal them from those whom they might have hurt without hiding them
from the wise.

He has especially profited from the two most thoughtful historians,
Tacitus and Plutarch; but, though a philosopher familiar with these
authors might have dispensed with many others, he neglected nothing that
could be of use. The reading necessary for the 'Spirit of Laws' is
immense; and the author's ingenuity is the more wonderful because he was
almost blind, and obliged to depend on other men's eyes. This prodigious
reading contributes not only to the utility, but to the agreeableness of
the work. Without sacrificing dignity, M. de Montesquieu entertains the
reader by unf