29.3. 3. That the Laws which seem to deviate from the Views of the
Legislator are frequently agreeable to them.
The law of Solon which
declared those persons infamous who espoused no side in an insurrection
seemed very extraordinary; but we ought to consider the circumstances in
which Greece was at that time. It was divided into very small states;
and there was reason to apprehend lest in a republic torn by intestine
divisions the soberest part should keep retired, in consequence of which
things might be carried to extremity.
In the seditions raised in those petty states the bulk of the
citizens either made or engaged in the quarrel. In our large monarchies
parties are formed by a few, and the people choose to live quietly, In
the latter case it is natural to call back the seditious to the bulk of
the citizens, and not these to the seditious; in the other it is
necessary to oblige the small number of prudent people to enter among
the seditious; it is thus the fermentation of one liquor may be stopped
by a single drop of another.
