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Of “L’Esprit de Lois,” perhaps the greatest French book of the eighteenth century, “La Grandeur des Romains et leur décadence,” and Montesquieu’s minor works, it is not necessary to speak here. It has been said that Montesquieu only wrote one book, the “Persian Letters” and the “Grandeur and Decadence of the Romans” being studies for “L’Esprit des Lois;” but with a master the sketch is as perfect a work of art as the completed picture. “Timidity”—Montesquieu was a severe judge of himself—“timidity has been the curse of my life,” he said; but his very dread of being weak—which he never was—helped to make his first work a masterpiece.