Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat, Baron de. Born at the Castle of La Brede, near Bordeaux, January 18, 1689. An eminent political philosopher of France, best known as the author of a work on "The Spirit of Laws," which was published in 1748. In this work, which occupied its writer for more than 14 years, he discusses with great ability the principles of political science, as those principles were understood in his time. He was also the author of some "Persian Letters" (1721), in which, in the character of a Persian, he described and satirized the peculiarities of his countrymen; of a discourse on "The Causes of the Greatness and of the Decay of the Romans (1734), and of numerous other works. Died in Paris, February 10, 1755.

---