Book II, Chapter 4
Intermediate, subordinate, and dependent powers constitute the nature of monarchical government - no monarch, no nobility, no monarchy.
Read in Books4Free →Moderation as Political Ideal
From The Spirit of Laws by Montesquieu
Moderate government - especially monarchy tempered by intermediate, dependent powers (nobility, clergy, parlements) - is the political ideal opposed to despotism.
Book V, Chapter 14
How the laws are related to the principles of despotic government - contrasts despotism's destructive simplicity with moderation's complexity.
Read in Books4Free →Book XXIX, Chapter 1
"The political good, like the moral good, lies always between two extremes" - the spirit of moderation animates the legislator.
Read in Books4Free →Read or Listen to The Spirit of Laws on Books4Free
Every chapter free to read. Free audio narration on the opening chapter. Plus an AI study assistant that knows the book.
Open in Books4Free →