Commentaire sur l'Esprit des Lois de Montesquieu (1806) is a critique of Montesquieu's pessimistic appraisal of democracy in De l'Esprit des Lois. While minister to France in the 1780s Jefferson saw this work in manuscript. It so impressed him that he arranged for its publication in France and translated it anonymously for publication in America. Looking back at this work in a letter from 1811, Jefferson commended it for correcting De l'Esprit...