Part r

, will.20 that is religion. One will forsake ~ t h

the pnnce s . . b will d . a er
. . 1.f th prince orders 1t, ut one not rink Wine if th , even
kill ~• d e ders it The laws of religion are part of a highe e Prince
w
ants 1t an or
because
· r Pre
th apply to the prince as well as to the subjects. But 1t. 1s.cep~
ey . .
******************************
natural right"' the pnnce 1s not assumed BOOK4
the same 1ort:'.
. . . to be a ..,
•11an not
Inmonarchical and moderate .h .
states, power 1s limited by that whj· .
lik chis That the laws of education should be
. . 1mean honor, whic reigns e a monarch over the .
its spnng; . th f . .
the people. One will not cite e 1aws o re11gion to a courti . h
Pnnce relative to the principles of the
and . d ·u . er. e government
would feel it was ridi_culous; ms tea o~e WI • mcessantly _cite the laws of
honor. This results m necessary moddicabons of obedience; honor .
naturally subject to eccentricities, and obedience will follow them alllS
Though the way of obeying is different in these two governmen~
CHAPTER I
the power is nevertheless the same. In whatever direction the monarch
turns, he prevails by tipping the balance and he is obeyed. The whole On the laws ofeducation
difference is that, in the monarchy, the prince is enlightened and the
ministers are infinitely more skillful and experienced in public affairs The Jaws ofeducation are the first we receive. And as these prepare us to
than they are in the despotic state. be citizens, each particular family should be governed according to the
20
plan of the great family that includes them all.
Ibid. Uohn Chardin, Voy41tts, "Description du gouvemement des Pcrsans"; 5, 233-235; If there is a principle for the people taken generally, then the parts
1811 edn.).
which compose it, that is, the families, will have one also. Therefore,
the laws of education will be different in each kind of government. In
monarchies, their object will be honor; in republics, virtue-, in despot-
isms,fear.
CHAPTER II
Reflections on all this
Such are the • . l CHAPTER 2
~nnc,p
that ·ma certain es of the. three
rep bl' . governments: this does not mean
does this prove thatuinica one IS. virtuous, but that one ought to be; .nor On education in monarchies
Patticular despOtlc. State certain
th .monarchy, there is honor or that inth a
C In monarchies the principal education is not in the public institutions
govenunent is ·unperfiect' ere IS 1ear, but that unless it is there, e
where children are instructed; in a way, education begins when one
enters the world. The world is the school of what is called honor, the
universal master that should everywhere guide us.
Here, one sees and always hears three things: that a certain nobility
must be put in the virtues, a certain frankness in the mores, and a certain
politeness in the manners.
The virtues we are shown here are always less what one owes others
than what one owes oneself; they are not so much what calls us to our
fellow citizens as what distinguishes us from them.
30 31