Montesquieu Persian Letters (1721)

Letter 83: Usbek to Rhedi, at Venice

If there is a God, my dear Rhedi, he must necessarily be just; for if he were not, he would be the worst and most imperfect being of all.

Justice is a relation of suitability, which actually exists between two things. This relationship is always the same, by whatever being it is perceived, whether by God, or by an angel, or finally by a man.

It is true that men do not see these relationships all the time. Often, indeed, when they do see them they turn away from them, and what they best see is always their self-interest. Justice raises its voice, but has difficulty in making itself heard amongst the tumult of the passions.

Men are capable of unjust actions because it is in their interest to do them, and they prefer their own satisfaction to that of others. They always act with reference to themselves -- no one is gratuitously wicked; there must be a determinant reason, and this reason is always a reason of self-interest.

But it is not possible that God should ever do anything unjust. Once it is assumed that he perceives what is just, he must necessarily act in accordance with it, for since he has no need of anything, and is sufficient to himself, he would be the wickedest of all beings if he were wicked without self-interest.

Consequently, even if there were no God, we should nonetheless still love justice, that is to say, make an effort to resemble this being of whom we have so exalted a conception, and who if he existed would be just necessarily. Even if we were free of the constraints of religion, we ought not to be be free of those imposed by equity.

It is this, Rhedi, which has led me to think that justice is eternal, and does not depend on human conventions. Even if it were to depend on them, this truth would be a terrible once, and we should have to conceal it from ourselves.

Letter 92 Usbek to Rhedi, at Venice

THE monarch who has reigned so long is no more.....

Do not imagine that this great event has given rise to none but moral reflections…

Every one has been thinking of his own interests and how to take advantage of the change. The king, great-grandson of the late monarch, being only five years old, a prince, his uncle, has been declared regent of the kingdom.

The Parlements are like a ruin which can be trodden under foot…… They hardly interfere now except in matters of law; and their authority will continue to decrease unless some unforeseen event restores them to life and strength. These great institutions have suffered the fate of human things: they have yielded to time which destroys everything, to moral corruption which weakens everything, and to absolute power which overbears everything.