The Present State of Germany

Chapter VI. Of the Form of the German Empire1

159 u c h a p t e r v i u Of the Form of the German Empire.1 1. |[As the Health of Natural Bodies, and the Strength and Ability of Artificial Composures results from the Harmony of their Parts and their Connexion or Union with one another; so also Moral Bodies or Societies are to be esteemed strong or weak, as the Parts of which they are composed , are found well or ill formed and united together, and consequently as the intire form or whole of them are elegantly or irregularly and disorderly [monstrously] formed and united]|.a It will appear suf- ficiently in what has been already said, that [the Government, State, or Empire of Germany hath something of Irregularity in it],b which will not suffer us to bring it under any of the simple [or regular]Ⳮ forms of Government, as they are usually described by the Masters of Politicks: 1. This chapter of the work evoked the most response and immediatelygenerated numerous criticisms and refutations. a. Rather: Insofar as the health and aptitude [habilitas] of natural bodies, and those of artificial ones, results from an appropriate harmony and connection among their parts; so also . . . / e.p.: Insofar as there are three kinds of bodies: natural,moral, and artificial, each of which is composed of different parts, so, dependingonwhether these parts are properly arranged and fitted to one another, or disposed in an orderly fashion, or not, those bodies are deemed healthy or regular, or the opposite. / See On the Law of Nature and of Nations, I.1, on moral entities; and VII.5, as well as Pufendorf , De rebus gestis Philippi Amyntae filio (Heidelberg, 1664), §3, on regular and irregular forms of the state. Note, also, that the e.p. does not use the controversialterm monstrosum in connection with irregularity. [Ed.] b. Rather: the German state [Germanorum Republica]contains[latitare]something Of the Form of the German Empire. 160 chapter vi We must therefore the more accurately enquire what its true form is,|[because the far greatest part of the German Writers have made gross and foolish Mistakes]|,a through their Ignorance in Politicks, and|[senceless transcribing one another without any Prudence or Consideration , by which they have multiplied their Books]|.b I must therefore here bespeak [beg] the Pardon of my Reader, if by the subject of my enquiry I am forced to use more School-Subtilties orDistinctions than will please those [that love not that sort of Learning],c because without them it is not possible to make a true Representation of, or pass a solid Judgment on the present State of Germany. The Truth is, a few words would satisfie all wise men, if the Follies of some [other]menthat have had the good fortune to be approved [by many], had not made it at once necessary and troublesome to confute and expose them. 2. |[As to the several parts [or Estates] of this Empire, separately taken or considered, there is no difficulty]|.d For all the Secular Principalities which go by Inheritance, the Ecclesiastick, which pass by Election, and the Earldoms, they are all administred and governed like Monarchies, but with this difference however, that in some places the Princes are absolute , and in others they are limited by certain Pacts, or Agreementwith their Provincial States [or Orders, as they are called]. Amongst the free Imperial Cities, some are under an Aristocratical Regiment, the principal management of Affairs being in their Senates, into which their Principal Citizens are elected [adoptantur ] by the Suffrage or Voices of the Senate [Senators themselves]; a. E.p.: the more carelessly the topic has been treated by most writers b. Rather: because most among them refer to the careless compilation of others’ opinions as a “new book” / e.p.: their practice of followingwithoutexaminationwhat others have handed down / See Pufendorf’s 1667 preface, pp. 3–4. [Ed.] c. Rather: with [more] discerning ears d. E.p.: Now, nothing prevents us from inquiring into the different forms of the Empire’s individual parts, or the Orders [Ordines], when separately considered, for even if they cannot be regarded as perfect states [civitatibus], they are far from provinces strictly speaking, and their princes far from [mere] governors of provinces All the Hereditary States are Monarchies. The Free Cities are Commonwealths . form of the german empire 161 and here the Senate [is no...