12.29. 29. Of the civil Laws proper for mixing some portion of Liberty in a
despotic Government.
Though despotic governments are of their own nature
everywhere the same, yet from circumstances — from a religious opinion,
from prejudice, from received examples, from a particular turn of mind,
from manners or morals — it is possible they may admit of a
considerable difference.
It is useful that some particular notions should be established in
those governments. Thus in China the prince is considered as the father
of his people; and at the commencement of the empire of the Arabs, the
prince was their preacher.
[76]
It is proper there should be some sacred book to serve for a rule,
as the Koran among the Arabs, the books of Zoroaster among the Persians,
the Veda among the Indians, and the classic books among the Chinese. The
religious code supplies the civil and fixes the extent of arbitrary
sway.
It is not at all amiss that in dubious cases the judges should
consult the ministers of religion.
[77]
Thus, in Turkey, the Cadis
consult the Mollahs. But if it is a capital crime, it may be proper for
the particular judge, if such there be, to take the governor's advice,
to the end that the civil and ecclesiastical power may be tempered also
by the political authority.
Footnotes
[77]
"History of the Tartars," part III, p. 277, in the remarks.
