In the end, the public renders justice. Here’s the reason: the votes of the wise are constant, but fools’ votes are various, change constantly, and c… - Montesquieu

Translation: If I knew of something that could serve my nation but would ruin another, I would not propose it to my prince, for I am first a man and only then a Frenchman, because I am necessarily a man, and only accidentally am I French.

It is possible that the law, which is clear sighted in one sense, and blind in another,
might, in some cases, be too severe. But as we have already observed, the national judges are no more than the mouth that pronounces the words of the law, mere passive beings, incapable of moderating either its force or rigor. That part, therefore, of the legislative body, which we have just now observed to be a necessary tribunal on another occasion, also is a necessary tribunal in this; it belongs to its supreme authority to moderate the law in favor of the law itself, by mitigating the sentence.

Le crime de lèse-majesté n'est autre chose, selon eux, que le crime que le plus faible commet contre le plus fort en lui désobéissant, de quelque manière qu'il lui désobéisse.