But
since, on the other hand, no man (Chap. VII. Sec. 4) defends another's
cause, save in so far as he thereby hopes to establish his own interest,
things must, of necessity, be so ordered that the ministers, who have
charge of affairs of state, should most pursue their own interest, when
they are most watchful for the general good.
25. To the syndics then, whose duty, as we said, it is to see that the
constitution is kept unbroken, the following emoluments are to be
awarded: namely, that every householder that inhabits any place in the
dominion, be bound to pay every year a coin of small value, say a
quarter of an ounce of silver, to the syndics, that thus they may know
the number of inhabitants, and so observe what proportion of them the
patricians constitute; and next that every new patrician on his election
must pay the syndics some large sum, for instance, twenty or twenty-five
pounds of silver. Moreover, that money, in which the absent patricians
(I mean those who have failed to attend the meeting of the council) are
condemned, is also to be awarded to the syndics; and a part, too, of the
goods of defaulting ministers, who are bound to abide their judgment,
and who are fined a certain sum of money, or have their goods
confiscated, should be devoted to them, not to all indeed, but to those
only who sit daily, and whose duty it is to summon the council of
syndics, concerning whom see Sec. 28. But, in order that the council of
syndics may always be maintained at its full number, before all other
business in the supreme council, when it is assembled at the usual time,
inquiry is to be made about this.
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