BAmong the laws that concern the dead, this one seems to me as solid as any, which obliges the actions of princes to be examined after their death. They are equals with, if not masters of, the laws; what justice could not do to their persons, it should rightfully be able to do to their reputations and to the property of their successors—things that we often prefer to life. It is a custom that brings singular advantages to the nations in which it is observed, and desirable to all good princes, Cwho have reason to complain that the memory of the wicked is honored like their own.
