,,crimes ,,and ,,punishments     ,,by   
,,the ,,same ,,author4  ,crown #hvo4    
cloth extra1 #gs4 #f;d4   ,,primitive   
,,manners ,,and ,,customs4  ,by ,,james 
,a4 ,,farrer4  #8,a book which is really
 both instructive and amusing1 and which
 will open a new field of thought to    
many readers4'--,,athen,,um4  #8,an     
admirable example of the application of 
the scientific method and the working of
 the truly scientific                   
spirit4'--,,saturday ,,review4  ,,chatto
  ,,windus1 ,piccadilly1 ,w4            
,,crimes                                
,,and                                   
,,punishments                           
,,including ,a ,,new ,,translation ,,of 
,,beccaria',s #8,,dei ,,delitti  ,,delle
 ,,pene'                                
,,by                            ,,james 
,,anson ,,farrer                        
,illustration                           
,london                        ,,chatto 
,,windus1 ,,piccadilly                  
#ahhj                            ,all   

rights reserved     ,,preface4   ,the   
reason for translating afresh           
,beccaria's #8,dei ,delitti e delle     
,pene' 7#8,crimes and ,punishments'7 is1
 that it is a classical work of its     
kind1 and that the interest which       
belongs to it is still far from being   
merely historical4  ,it was translated  
into ,english long ago2 but the change  
in the order of the several chapters and
 paragraphs1 which the work underwent   
before it was clothed in its final      
dress1 is so great1 that the new        
translation and the old one really      
constitute quite different books4  ,the 
object of the preliminary chapters is to
 place the historical importance of the 
original in its just light1 and to      
increase the interest of the subjects it
 discusses4  ,the ,translator has       
abstained from all criticism or comment 
of the original1 less from complete     
agreement with all its ideas than from  
the conviction that annotations are more
 often vexatious than profitable1 and   

are best left to the reader to make for 
himself4 ,there is scarcely a sentence  
in the book on which a commentator might
 not be prolix4  ,to combine the maximum
 of perspicuity with the maximum of     
fidelity to the original has been the   
cardinal principle observed in the      
translation4 ,but it would1 of course1  
have been no less impossible than       
contrary to the spirit of the original  
to have attempted to render perfectly   
comprehensible what the author purposely
 wrapped in obscurity4 ,a translation   
can but follow the lights and shades of 
the surface it reflects1 rendering clear
 what is clear in the original1 and     
opaque what is opaque4     ,,contents4  
,,page                                  
,,chapter ,i4                           
,,beccaria',s ,,life ,,and ,,character4 
,state of ,lombardy under ,count        
,firmian--,the state of criminal        
law--,torture still in use--,the        
abolition of torture before             
,beccaria--,beccaria not a lawyer by    

profession--,autobiographical     letter
 of ,beccaria to the ,abb               
,morellet--,influence on     ,beccaria  
of ,montesquieu and ,helvetius--,his    
philosophy of life     and truth--,his  
friends1 the ,verri--,connection with   
,pietro     ,verri--,the ,caff          
periodical--,reception of the #8,dei    
,delitti' in     ,paris--,translation of
 it by ,morellet--,commentary by        
,voltaire--,the     ,swiss              
medal--,beccaria's fear of              
ecclesiastical persecution a     motive 
for occasional obscurity--,feeling in   
,venice against     the                 
author--,facchinei's                    
criticism--,protection of ,count        
,firmian--,adverse criticism by         
contemporary lawyers--,ramsay's         
letter to ,diderot1 illustrative of the 
despair of     reform--,beccaria's      
journey to ,paris--,his speedy          
return--,enmity     and jealousy of     
,pietro ,verri--,beccaria's invitation  
to ,st4     ,petersburg--,his lectures  

on political economy1 and later life    
#a                                      
,,chapter ,,ii4              ,,the      
,,general ,,influence ,,of ,,beccaria   
,,on ,,legislation4      ,present       
inconceivability of torture due to      
,beccaria--,how far     he was the first
 to write against it--,torture first    
abolished     in ,england--,beccaria's  
influence in ,russia--,quotations       
from his treatise in ,catharine's       
instruction for the new                 
code--,beccaria's influence in ,france2 
,tuscany2 ,austria2                     
,pennsylvania--,beccaria the first      
advocate of the abolition     of capital
 punishment--,relative severity of death
 and other     penalties--,slight       
relation of crime to                    
punishment--,reasons     why capital    
punishment is always more uncertain than
 other     penalties--,cases accounting 
for its uncertainty--,the efficiency    
of a punishment its real test--,futility
 of discussing the     general right of 

punishment--,instances of the abolition 
of     capital punishment in ancient and
 modern times--,the argument for     its
 abolition the same as that for the     
abolition of torture         #bi        
,,chapter ,,iii4                        
,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,beccaria ,,in  
,,england4      ,general debt of        
,english law to ,beccaria--,english     
utilitarianism     due to               
,beccaria--,his influence first         
traceable in     ,blackstone--,fallacy  
of old criminal law in making the amount
     of temptation the measure of       
punishment--,eden the first to          
expose it in his #8,principles of ,penal
 ,law'--,attitude of     men of letters 
to the criminal law1 as of ,goldsmith1  
,lord     ,kames1 and ,fielding--,first 
attempt at law reform by ,sir ,w4       
,meredith--,constant opposition of the  
,house of ,lords--,effect on     reform 
of ,madan's #8,executive ,justice' and  
,paley's chapter on     ,crimes and     
,punishments--,relation of ,paley to    

,lord ,chief ,justice                   
,ellenborough--,paley's defence of      
,english law--,his approval     of the  
suggestion of throwing murderers into a 
den of wild     beasts--,howard's ideas 
of reform and contribution to it--,bad  
effect of the ,french ,revolution in    
,england--,romilly's original     idea  
of reform--,his ,privately ,stealing    
,bill--,his criticism of                
,paley--,his ,shoplifting ,bill rejected
 by the ,lords--,the pillory            
defended by ,lord                       
,ellenborough--,capital punishment for  
forgery by     ,lord ,tenterden--,rapid 
changes after the ,reform ,bill--,the   
triumph     of ,beccaria's principles   
#df                                     
,,chapter ,,iv4                         
,,the ,,problems ,,of ,,penology4       
,the spirit of ,beccaria's work--,the   
slow progress of penology     as a      
science--,its difficulties--,confusion  
of guilty and     innocent--,relation of
 intention to crime--,objects and       

animals     once part of the criminal   
world--,penal laws the expression     of
 moral sentiments1 and also the cause of
 them--,tendency     of actions to      
remain immoral when they have ceased to 
be     penal--,illustration from suicide
 and infanticide--,the ,equality of     
punishment1 its ,analogy and ,proportion
 to crime1 as principles     of penal   
law--,the object of punishment--,the    
difficulties of     the                 
deterrent-and-reformative theory--,the  
object of law to     regulate natural   
vindictiveness--,traceable historically 
to this     purpose--,the measure of    
punishment on this theory--,absence of  
any     such measure at                 
present--,possibility of a fixed scale  
of crime     and punishment illustrated 
by the ,chinese code--,the question of  
aggravated penalties for                
re-convictions--,the custom contrary    
to the spirit of the laws3 its evil     
results--,limitations to     the        
universality of the custom--,its error  

of principle proved     by number of    
re-convictions--,the preventiveness of  
punishment     diminished by its great  
uncertainty--,frequent changes of       
,english penal system--,failure of      
present system to reform     or         
deter--,punishment itself a cause of    
crime--,its possible                    
relaxation--,punishments most fitted for
 injuries to the person1     or for     
offences like cruelty to                
animals--,indirect preventives of       
crime--,a ,prisoners' ,fund--,cumulative
 sentences--,conclusion             #fi 
,,beccaria',s #8,,crimes ,,and          
,,punishments1' ,,translated4           
,,chap4               ,,to ,,the        
,,reader                                
#aaa            ,i4 ,,introduction      
#aag           ,,ii4 ,,the ,,origin ,,of
 ,,punishments--,,right ,,of            
,,punishment             #aba           
,,iii4 ,,consequences                   
#abd           ,,iv4 ,,interpretation   
,,of ,,the ,,laws                       

#abe            ,v4 ,,obscurity ,,of    
,,the ,,laws                            
#acj           ,,vi4 ,,imprisonment     
#acb          ,,vii4 ,,proofs ,,and     
,,forms ,,of ,,judgments                
#acd         ,,viii4 ,,witnesses        
#ach           ,,ix4 ,,secret           
,,accusations                           
#aci            ,x4 ,,leading           
,,questions                             
#add           ,,xi4 ,,oaths            
#adf          ,,xii4 ,,torture          
#adh         ,,xiii4 ,,prosecutions     
,,and ,,prescriptions                   
#aeg          ,,xiv4 ,,criminal         
,,attempts1 ,,accomplices1 ,,impunity   
#afb           ,,xv4 ,,the ,,mildness   
,,of ,,punishments                      
#afe          ,,xvi4 ,,capital          
,,punishment                            
#afi         ,,xvii4 ,,banishment ,,and 
,,confiscations                         
#ahj        ,,xviii4 ,,infamy           
#ahc          ,,xix4 ,,promptness ,,of  
,,punishments                           

#ahe           ,,xx4 ,,certainty ,,of   
,,punishments--,,pardons                
#ahi          ,,xxi4 ,,asylums ,,of     
,,refuge                                
#aib         ,,xxii4 ,,proscription     
#aid        ,,xxiii4 ,,proportion       
,,between ,,crimes ,,and ,,punishments  
#aif         ,,xxiv4 ,,measure ,,of     
,,punishments                           
#aii          ,,xxv4 ,,division ,,of    
,,punishments                           
#bjb         ,,xxvi4 ,,crimes ,,of      
,,high ,,treason                        
#bjd        ,,xxvii4 ,,crimes ,,against 
,,personal ,,security--,,deeds ,,of     
,,violence        #bje       ,,xxviii4  
,,injuries                              
#bjh         ,,xxix4 ,,duels            
#bab          ,,xxx4 ,,thefts           
#bac         ,,xxxi4 ,,smuggling        
#bad        ,,xxxii4 ,,debtors          
#baf       ,,xxxiii4 ,,public ,,peace   
#bbj        ,,xxxiv4 ,,political        
,,idleness                              
#bba         ,,xxxv4 ,,suicide          

#bbb        ,,xxxvi4 ,,crimes ,,of      
,,difficult ,,proof                     
#bbg       ,,xxxvii4 ,a ,,particular    
,,kind ,,of ,,crime                     
#bca      ,,xxxviii4 ,,sources ,,of     
,,errors ,,and ,,injustice ,,in         
,,legislation2 ,,and                    
,,firstly ,,of ,,false ,,ideas ,,of     
,,utility                     #bcc      
,,xxxix4 ,,family ,,spirit              
#bce           ,,xl4 ,,the ,,treasury   
#bdj          ,,xli4 ,,the ,,prevention 
,,of                                    
,,crimes--,,knowledge--,,magistrates--,,
rewards    #bdb         ,,xlii4         
,,conclusion                            
#bea         99       99       99       
99       99      #8,all men1 whether    
singly or collectively1 naturally do    
wrong1     nor is there any law which   
will prevent it4 ,for every kind     of 
punishment has been successively tried  
by mankind1 if     haply they might     
suffer less injury from malefactors4    
,and it     is probable that in their   

origin punishments for even the         
gravest crimes are comparatively mild1  
but that1 as they     are disregarded1  
most of them come in course of time to  
be     punishments of death2 yet this in
 its turn is also disregarded4          
,either1 therefore1 some greater terror 
than death must be     invented1 or     
death at least serves not as a          
deterrent1 men     being led to risk it1
 sometimes by poverty1 which emboldens  
them through necessity1 sometimes by    
power1 which makes     them overreaching
 and insolent2 or sometimes by some     
other     circumstance which            
subordinates all a man's passions to    
some     one passion that is insuperable
 and dominant4''' ,and it is     simply 
impossible1 and a very foolish idea1 to 
think that1     when human nature is    
firmly bent on doing anything1 it can   
be deterred from it either by force of  
law or by any other                     
terror4'--,,thucydides4      #8,how many
 condemnations have ,i seen more        

criminal than the     crimes            
themselves6'--,,montaigne4     ,,crimes 
,,and ,,punishments4     ,,chapter ,i4  
,,beccaria',s ,,life ,,and ,,character4 
,the #8,dei ,delitti e delle ,pene' was 
published for the first time in #agfd4  
,it quickly ran through several         
editions1 and was first translated into 
,french in #agff by the ,abb ,morellet1 
since which time it has been translated 
into most of the languages of ,europe1  
not excluding ,greek and ,russian4  ,the
 author of the book was a native of     
,milan1 then part of the ,austrian      
dominions1 and under the governorship of
 ,count ,firmian1 a worthy              
representative of the liberal despotism 
of ,maria ,theresa and her chief        
minister1 ,kaunitz4 ,under ,firmian's   
administration a period of beneficial   
reforms began for ,lombardy4            
,agriculture was encouraged1 museums and
 libraries extended1 great works of     
public utility carried on4 ,even the    
,church was shorn of her privileges1 and

 before ,firmian had been ten years in  
,lombardy all traces of ecclesiastical  
immunity had been destroyed2 the        
jurisdiction of the ,church1 and her    
power to hold lands in mortmain were    
restricted1 the right of asylum was     
abolished1 and1 above all1 the ,holy    
,office of the ,inquisition4 ,let these 
few facts suffice to indicate the spirit
 of the immediate political surroundings
 in the midst of which ,beccaria's work 
appeared4  ,but1 in spite of the        
liberalism of the ,count1 the penal laws
 and customs of ,lombardy remained the  
same2 and the cruel legal procedure by  
torture existed still1 untouched by the 
salutary reforms effected in other      
departments of the ,government4 ,there  
was the preparatory torture1 to extort  
confession from criminals not yet       
condemned2 there was torture for the    
discovery of a criminal's accomplices2  
and there was the extraordinary or      
greater torture1 which preceded the     
execution of a sentence of death4 ,it is

 true that torture could only be applied
 to crimes of a capital nature1 but     
there was scarcely an act in the        
possible category of crimes that was not
 then punishable with death4 ,proofs of 
guilt were sought almost entirely from  
torture and secret accusations1 whilst  
penalties depended less on the text of  
any known law than on the               
discretion--that is1 on the caprice--of 
the magistrate4  ,it was this system    
that ,beccaria's little work destroyed1 
and had that been its only result1 it   
would still deserve to live in men's    
memories for its historical interest    
alone4 ,for upon the legislation of that
 time1 and especially upon that of      
,italy1 this pamphlet on criminal law   
broke like a ray of sunlight on a       
dungeon floor1 making even blacker that 
which was black before by the very      
brilliancy which it shed upon it4 ,to   
,beccaria primarily1 though not of      
course solely1 belongs the glory of     
having expelled the use of torture from 

every legal tribunal throughout         
,christendom4  ,frederick the ,great had
 already abolished it in ,prussia2#a it 
had been discontinued in ,sweden2 it was
 not recognised in the military codes of
 ,europe1 and ,beccaria said it was not 
in use in ,england4 ,this was true      
generally1 although the peine forte et  
dure1 by which a prisoner who would not 
plead was subjected to be squeezed      
nearly to death by an iron weight1 was  
not abolished till the year #agga4b  ,it
 is remarkable that a book which has    
done more for law reform than any other 
before or since should have been written
 by a man who was not a lawyer by       
profession1 who was totally unversed in 
legal practice1 and who was only        
twenty-six when he attacked a system of 
law which had on its side all authority1
 living and dead4 ,hume was not         
twenty-seven when he published his      
#8,treatise on ,human ,nature1' nor was 
,berkeley more than twenty-six when he  
published his #8,principles of ,human   

,knowledge4' ,the similar precocity     
displayed by ,beccaria is suggestive1   
therefore1 of the inquiry1 how far the  
greatest revolutions in the thoughts or 
customs of the world have been due to   
writers under thirty years of age4  ,the
 following letter by ,beccaria to the   
,abb ,morellet in acknowledgment of the 
latter's translation of his treatise is 
perhaps the best introduction to the    
life and character of the author4 ,the  
letter in question has been quoted by   
,villemain in proof of the debt owed by 
the ,italian literature of the last     
century to that of ,france1 but from the
 allusions therein contained to ,hume   
and the #8,spectator' it is evident that
 something also was due to our own4     
,beccaria had spent eight years of his  
youth in the college of the ,jesuits at 
,parma1 with what sense of gratitude    
this letter will show4 ,the following is
 a translation of the greater part of   
it3--      ,your letter has raised in me
 sentiments of the deepest esteem1      

of the greatest gratitude1 and the most 
tender friendship2 nor     can ,i       
confess to you how honoured ,i feel at  
seeing my work     translated into the  
language of a nation which is the       
mistress     and illuminator of ,europe4
 ,i owe everything to ,french books4    
,they first raised in my mind feelings  
of humanity which had     been          
suffocated by eight years of a fanatical
 education4 ,i     cannot express to you
 the pleasure with which ,i have read   
your     translation2 you have          
embellished the original1 and your      
arrangement seems more natural than1 and
 preferable to1 my     own4 ,you had no 
need to fear offending the author's     
vanity3     in the first place1 because 
a book that treats of the cause     of  
humanity belongs1 when once published1  
to the world and     all nations        
equally2 and as to myself in particular1
 ,i should     have made little progress
 in the philosophy of the heart1        
which ,i place above that of the        

intellect1 had ,i not acquired     the  
courage to see and love the truth4 ,i   
hope that the fifth     edition1 which  
will appear shortly1 will be soon       
exhausted1     and ,i assure you that in
 the sixth ,i will follow entirely1 or  
nearly so1 the arrangement of your      
translation1 which places     the truth 
in a better light than ,i have sought to
 place it in4      ,as to the obscurity 
you find in the work1 ,i heard1 as ,i   
wrote1     the clash of chains that     
superstition still shakes1 and the      
cries of fanaticism that drown the voice
 of truth2 and the     perception of    
this frightful spectacle induced me     
sometimes to     veil the truth in      
clouds4 ,i wished to defend truth1      
without     making myself her martyr4   
,this idea of the necessity of          
obscurity has made me obscure sometimes 
without necessity4 ,add     to this my  
inexperience and my want of practice in 
writing1     pardonable in an author of 
twenty-eight1#c who only five years     

ago first set foot in the career of     
letters4      ,d',alembert1 ,diderot1   
,helvetius1 ,buffon1 ,hume1 illustrious 
names1 which no one can hear without    
emotion6 ,your immortal     works are my
 continual study1 the object of my      
occupation by     day1 of my meditation 
in the silence of night4 ,full of the   
truth which you teach1 how could ,i ever
 have burned incense to     worshipped  
error1 or debased myself to lie to      
posterity8 ,i find     myself rewarded  
beyond my hopes in the signs of esteem  
,i have     received from these         
celebrated persons1 my masters4 ,convey 
to     each of these1 ,i pray you1 my   
most humble thanks1 and assure     them 
that ,i feel for them that profound and 
true respect which     a feeling soul   
entertains for truth and virtue4        
,my occupation is to cultivate          
philosophy in peace1 and so to          
satisfy my three strongest passions1 the
 love1 that is1 of     literary fame1   
the love of liberty1 and pity for the   

ills of     mankind1 slaves of so many  
errors4 ,my conversion to philosophy    
only dates back five years1 and ,i owe  
it to my perusal of     the #8,lettres  
,persanes4' ,the second work that       
completed my     mental revolution was  
that of ,helvetius4 ,the latter forced  
me     irresistibly into the way of     
truth1 and aroused my attention     for 
the first time to the blindness and     
miseries of humanity4      ''' ,i lead a
 tranquil and solitary life1 if a select
 company of     friends in which the    
heart and mind are in continual movement
     can be called solitude4 ,this is my
 consolation1 and prevents me           
feeling in my own country as if ,i were 
in exile4      ,my country is quite     
immersed in prejudices1 left in it by   
its     ancient masters4 ,the ,milanese 
have no pardon for those who     would  
have them live in the eighteenth        
century4 ,in a capital     which counts 
#abj1jjj inhabitants1 you will scarcely 
find twenty     who love to instruct    

themselves1 and who sacrifice to truth  
and virtue4 ,my friends and ,i1         
persuaded that periodical works     are 
among the best means for tempting to    
some sort of reading     minds incapable
 of more serious application1 are       
publishing in     papers1 after the     
manner of the ,english #8,spectator1' a 
work     which in ,england has          
contributed so much to increase mental  
culture and the progress of good sense4 
,the ,french philosophers     have a    
colony in this ,america1 and we are     
their disciples     because we are the  
disciples of reason1 c4  ,thus1 the two 
writers to whom ,beccaria owed most were
 ,montesquieu and ,helvetius4 ,the      
#8,lettres ,persanes' of the former1    
which satirised so many things then in  
custom1 contained but little about penal
 laws2 but the idea is there started for
 the first time that crimes depend but  
little on the mildness or severity of   
the punishments attached to them4 #8,the
 imagination1' says the writer1 #8bends 

of itself to the customs of the country2
 and eight days of prison or a slight   
fine have as much terror for a ,european
 brought up in a country of mild manners
 as the loss of an arm would have for an
 ,asiatic4'#d ,the #8,esprit des ,lois1'
 by the same author1 probably           
contributed more to the formation of    
,beccaria's thoughts than the #8,lettres
 ,persanes1' for it is impossible to    
read the twelfth book of that work      
without being struck by the resemblance 
of ideas4 ,the #8,de ,l',esprit' of     
,helvetius was condemned by the         
,sorbonne as #8a combination of all the 
various kinds of poison scattered       
through modern books4' ,yet it was one  
of the most influential books of the    
time4 ,we find ,hume recommending it to 
,adam ,smith for its agreeable          
composition father than for its         
philosophy2 and a writer who had much in
 common with ,beccaria drew from it the 
same inspiration that he did4 ,that     
writer was ,bentham1 who tells us that  

when he was about twenty1 and on a visit
 to his father and stepmother in the    
country1 he would often walk behind them
 reading a book1 and that his favourite 
author was ,helvetius4  ,the influence  
of the predominant ,french philosophy   
appears throughout ,beccaria's treatise4
 ,human justice is based on the idea of 
public utility1 and the object of       
legislation is to conduct men to the    
greatest possible happiness or to the   
least possible misery4 ,the vein of     
dissatisfaction with life and of        
disbelief in human virtue is a marked   
feature of ,beccaria's philosophy4 ,to  
him life is a desert1 in which a few    
physical pleasures lie scattered here   
and there2#e his own country is only a  
place of exile1 save for the presence of
 a few friends engaged like himself in a
 war with ignorance4 ,human ideas of    
morality and virtue have only been      
produced in the course of many centuries
 and after much bloodshed1 but slow and 
difficult as their growth has been1 they

 are ever ready to disappear at the     
slightest breeze that blows against     
them4  ,beccaria entertains a similar   
despair of truth4 ,the history of       
mankind represents a vast sea of errors1
 in which at rare intervals a few truths
 only float uppermost2 and the          
durability of great truths is as that of
 a flash of lightning when compared with
 the long and dark night which envelops 
humanity4 ,for this reason he is ready  
to be the servant of truth1 not her     
martyr2 and he recommends in the search 
for truth1 as in the other affairs of   
life1 a little of that #8philosophical  
indolence' which cares not too much     
about results1 and which a writer like  
,montaigne is best fitted to inspire4#f 
,the few select friends who made life at
 ,milan just supportable were ,pietro   
and ,alessandro ,verri1 ,frisi1 and some
 others4 ,pietro ,verri was ten years   
older than ,beccaria1 and it was at his 
instance that the latter wrote his first
 treatise on a subject which then       

demanded some attention1 namely1 #8,the 
,disorders and ,remedies of the         
,coinage4' ,this work was published two 
years before the #8,crimes and          
,punishments1' but though it provoked   
much discussion at the time1 it has long
 since ceased to have any interest4     
,count ,pietro ,verri was the son of    
,gabriel1 who was distinguished alike   
for his legal knowledge and high        
position in ,milan4 ,at the house of    
,pietro1 ,beccaria and the other friends
 used to meet for the discussion and    
study of political and social questions4
 ,alessandro1 the younger brother of    
,pietro1 held the office of #8,protector
 of ,prisoners1' an office which        
consisted in visiting the prisons1      
listening to the grievances of the      
inmates1 and discovering1 if possible1  
reasons for their defence or for mercy4 
,the distressing sights he was witness  
of in this capacity are said to have had
 the most marked effect upon him2 and   
there is no doubt that this fact caused 

the attention of the friends to be so   
much directed to the state of the penal 
laws4 ,it is believed to have been at   
the instigation of the two brothers that
 ,beccaria undertook the work which was 
destined to make his name so famous4    
,why then did ,pietro ,verri not write  
it himself8 ,the answer would seem to   
be1 out of deference for the position   
and opinions of his father4 ,it was some
 time later that ,gabriel defended the  
use of torture in the ,milanese ,senate1
 and ,pietro wrote a work on torture    
which he did not publish in his father's
 lifetime4 ,it was probably due also to 
the father's position that ,alessandro  
held his office of ,protector of the    
,prisoners1 so that there were obvious  
reasons which prevented either brother  
from undertaking the work in question4  
,it was at one time said that the work  
really was ,pietro ,verri's and not     
,beccaria's1 for it was published       
anonymously1 and away from ,milan4 ,the 
domestic circumstances of ,pietro lent  

some countenance to this story1 as did  
also the fact that he charged himself   
with the trouble of making a correct    
copy of the manuscript1 so that a copy  
of the treatise does actually exist in  
,pietro's handwriting4 ,the story1      
however1 has long since been disproved2 
yet to show the great interest which    
,pietro took in the work1 and the ready 
assistance he gave to his friend1 a     
letter to him from ,beccaria1 with      
respect to the second edition1 deserves 
mention1 in which ,beccaria begs him not
 only to revise the spelling correctly1 
but generally to erase1 add1 and        
correct1 as he pleases4 ,it would appear
 that he was already tired of literary  
success1 for he tells his friend1 that  
but for the motive of preserving his    
esteem and of affording fresh aliment to
 their friendship1 he should from       
indolence prefer obscurity to glory     
itself4  ,there is no doubt that        
,beccaria always had a strong preference
 for the contemplative as opposed to the

 practical and active life1 and that but
 for his friend ,pietro ,verri he would 
probably never have distinguished       
himself at all4 ,he would have said with
 ,plato that a wise man should regard   
life as a storm1 and hide himself behind
 a wall till it be overpast4 ,he almost 
does say this in his essay on the       
#8,pleasures of the ,imagination1'      
published soon after the #8,crimes and  
,punishments4' ,he advises his reader to
 stand aside and look on at the rest of 
mankind as they run about in their blind
 confusion2 to make his relations with  
them as few as possible2 and if he will 
do them any good1 to do it at that      
distance which will prevent them from   
upsetting him or drawing him away in    
their own vortex4 ,let him in happy     
contemplation enjoy in silence the few  
moments that separate his birth from his
 disappearance4 ,let him leave men to   
fight1 to hope1 and to die2 and with a  
smile both at himself and at them1 let  
him repose softly on that enlightened   

indifference with regard to human things
 which will not deprive him of the      
pleasure of being just and beneficent1  
but which will spare him from those     
useless troubles and changes from evil  
to good that vex the greater part of    
mankind4  ,this essay on the            
#8,imagination' was published soon after
 the #8,crimes and ,punishments' in the 
periodical to which ,beccaria alludes in
 his letter to ,morellet4 #8,the ,caff' 
was the name of the periodical which1   
from ,june #agfd1 he and his friends    
published every tenth day for a period  
of two years4 ,the model of the paper   
was the ,english #8,spectator1' and its 
object to propagate useful knowledge    
pleasantly among the ,milanese1 whilst  
its name rested on the supposition that 
the friends who composed it executed    
their labours during meetings in a      
coffee-house4 ,the most interesting     
contributions to it by ,beccaria are his
 #8,fragment on ,style1' his article on 
#8,periodical ,newspapers1' and his     

essay on the #8,pleasures of the        
,imagination4'  ,the publication of the 
#8,delitti e delle ,pene' interrupted   
its author's dreams of philosophical    
calm1 by fulfilling his hopes of        
literary fame4 ,the ,french             
encyclopdists were the first to         
recognise its merits1 and ,d',alembert1 
the mathematician1 at once predicted for
 the writer the reward of an immortal   
reputation4 ,morellet's translation1 in 
which the arrangement1 though not the   
matter of the text1 was entirely        
altered1 ran through seven editions in  
six months1 and ,beccaria1 as has been  
seen1 was only too delighted with the   
honour thus conferred on him to complain
 in any way of the liberties taken by   
the translator with the original4  ,a   
still greater honour was the commentary 
written by ,voltaire4 ,the fact that    
only within a few miles of his own      
residence a girl of eighteen had been   
hung for the exposure of a bastard child
 led ,voltaire to welcome ,beccaria's   

work as a sign that a period of softer  
manners and more humane laws was about  
to dawn upon the world's history4       
,should not a people1 he argues1 who    
like the ,french pique themselves on    
their politeness also pride themselves  
on their humanity8 ,should they retain  
the use of torture1 merely because it   
was an ancient custom1 when the         
experience of ,england and other        
countries showed that crimes were not   
more numerous in countries where it was 
not in use1 and when reason indicated   
the absurdity of inflicting on a man1   
before his condemnation1 a punishment   
more horrible than would await his      
proved guilt8 ,what could be more cruel1
 too1 than the maxim of law that a man  
who forfeited his life forfeited his    
estates8 ,what more inhuman than thus to
 punish a whole family for the crime of 
an individual1 perhaps condemning a wife
 and children to beg their bread because
 the head of the family had harboured a 
,protestant preacher or listened to his 

sermon in a cavern or a desert8 ,amid   
the contrariety of laws that governed   
,france1 the object of the criminal     
procedure to bring an accused man to    
destruction might be said to be the only
 law which was uniform throughout the   
country4  ,so signal a success in       
,france was a sufficient guarantee of   
success elsewhere4 ,a knowledge of the  
book must have speedily crossed the     
,channel1 for ,blackstone quoted it the 
very year after its publication4 ,it was
 first translated into ,english in      
#agfh1 together with ,voltaire's        
commentary2 but just as ,morellet's     
translation professed to have been      
published at ,philadelphia1 so the      
,english translator kept his name a     
secret4 ,the ,economical ,society of    
,berne1 which was accustomed to bestow a
 gold medal on the writer of the best   
treatise on any given subject1 violated 
its own rules in favour of the anonymous
 writer of the #8,delitti1' inviting him
 to disclose his name1 and to accept the

 gold medal #8as a sign of esteem due to
 a citizen who had dared to raise his   
voice in favour of humanity against the 
most deeply engrained prejudices4'  ,but
 there was another side to the          
brightness of this success4 ,in         
literature as in war no position of     
honour can be won or held without       
danger1 and of this ,beccaria seems to  
have been conscious when he pleaded     
against the charge of obscurity1 that in
 writing he had had before his eyes the 
fear of ecclesiastical persecution4 ,his
 love for truth1 he confessed1 stopped  
short at the risk of martyrdom4 ,he had1
 indeed1 three very clear warnings to   
justify his fears4 ,muratori1 the       
historian1 had suffered much from       
accusations of heresy and atheism1 and  
had owed his immunity from worse        
consequences chiefly to the liberal     
protection of ,pope ,benedict ,,xiv4    
,the ,marquis ,scipio ,maffei had also  
incurred similar charges for his        
historical handling of the subject of   

,free-will4 ,but there was even a       
stronger warning than these1 and one not
 likely to be lost on a man with youth  
and life before him2 that was the fate  
of the unfortunate ,giannone1 who1 only 
sixteen years before ,beccaria wrote1   
had ended with his life in the citadel  
of ,turin an imprisonment that had      
lasted twenty years1 for certain        
observations on the ,church of ,rome    
which he had been rash enough to insert 
in his #8,history of ,naples4'  ,of all 
the attacks which the publication of the
 #8,dei ,delitti' provoked1 the         
bitterest came naturally from a         
theological pen4 ,at the very time that 
,beccaria's work appeared1 the ,republic
 of ,venice was occupied in a violent   
contest touching the ,inquisitorial     
,council of ,ten2 and imagining that    
,beccaria's remarks about secret        
accusations had been directed against   
the procedure of their famous tribunal1 
whilst they attributed the work to a    
,venetian nobleman called ,quirini1 they

 forbade its circulation under pain of  
death4 ,it was on their behalf and with 
this belief that the ,dominican ,padre1 
,facchinei1 took up his pen and wrote a 
book1 entitled1 #8,notes and            
,observations on the 8,dei ,delitti10'  
in which he argued1 among other things1 
not only that secret accusations were   
the best1 cheapest1 and most effective  
method of carrying out justice1 but that
 torture was a kind of mercy to a       
criminal1 purging him in his death from 
the sin of falsehood4  ,in these        
#8,notes and ,observations' ,beccaria   
and his work were assailed with that    
vigour and lucidity for which the       
,dominican school of writing has always 
been so conspicuous4 ,the author was    
described as #8a man of narrow mind1'   
#8a madman1' #8a stupid impostor1'      
#8full of poisonous bitterness and      
calumnious mordacity4' ,he was accused  
of writing #8with sacrilegious imposture
 against the ,inquisition1' of believing
 that #8religion was incompatible with  

the good government of a state2' nay1 he
 was condemned #8by all the reasonable  
world as the enemy of ,christianity1 a  
bad philosopher1 and a bad man4' ,his   
book was stigmatised as #8sprung from   
the deepest abyss of darkness1 horrible1
 monstrous1 full of poison1' containing 
#8miserable arguments1' #8insolent      
blasphemies1' and so forth4  ,this      
fulmination reached ,milan on ,january  
#ae1 #agfe1 and on the #bast the        
,risposta1 or reply1 was ready for      
publication4#g ,this defence was the    
work of his friends1 the ,verris1 and   
was published1 like the original1       
anonymously2 as it was written in the   
first person throughout1 it was         
generally at the time and even till     
lately ascribed to the same author as   
the original1 but the fact is now       
established beyond doubt that the real  
authors were ,pietro and his brother4   
,the writers wisely refrained from the  
use of retaliatory language1 confining  
themselves in their defence solely to   

charges of irreligion and sedition1     
responding to six which accused         
,beccaria of the latter1 and to         
twenty-three which declared him guilty  
of the former4  ,but it is probable that
 ,beccaria owed his escape from         
persecution less to his apology than to 
the liberal protection of ,count        
,firmian1 who in his report of the      
affair to the ,court of ,vienna spoke of
 the ,risposta as #8full of moderation  
and honourable to the character of its  
author4' ,that the ,count fully agreed  
with ,beccaria's opinions on torture is 
proved by a letter he wrote1 in which he
 declares himself to have been much     
pleased with what ,beccaria had said on 
the subject4 ,his vanity1 he said1 had  
been flattered by it1 for his own       
feelings about torture had always been  
the same4 ,the book seemed to him       
written with much love of humanity and  
much imagination4 ,beccaria always      
acknowledged his gratitude to the ,count
 for his action in this matter4 ,to     

,morellet he wrote1 that he owed the    
,count his tranquillity1 in having      
protected his book2 and when1 a few     
years later1 he published his book on   
,style1 he dedicated it to ,firmian as  
his benefactor1 thanking him for having 
scattered the clouds that envy and      
ignorance had gathered thickly over his 
head1 and for having protected one whose
 only object had been to declare with   
the greatest caution and respect the    
interests of humanity4  ,less dangerous 
personally than the theological         
criticism1 but more pernicious to       
reform1 was the hostile criticism that  
at once appeared from the thick phalanx 
of professional lawyers1 the            
sound-thinking #8practical men4' ,from  
whom only two short extracts need be    
rescued from oblivion1 as illustrations 
of the objections once raised against   
ideas which have since become the common
 groundwork of all subsequent           
legislation1 in ,america as well as in  
,europe4 ,the first extract is from a   

work on criminal justice by a lawyer of 
,provence1 who in #aggj wrote as        
follows3--      ,the treatise #8,dei    
,delitti1' instead of throwing any light
 on     the subject of crimes1 or on the
 manner in which they should be         
punished1 tends to establish a system of
 the most dangerous and     novel ideas1
 which1 if adopted1 would go so far as  
to overturn     laws received hitherto  
by the greater part of all civilised    
nations4  ,and an advocate to the       
,parliament of ,paris thus expressed    
himself1 in refutation of ,beccaria3--  
,what can be thought of an author who   
presumes to establish his     system on 
the dbris of all hitherto accepted      
notions1 who     to accredit it condemns
 all civilised nations1 and who spares  
neither systems of law1 nor magistrates1
 nor lawyers8  ,but of far greater      
historical interest than such criticism 
is that of ,ramsay1 the ,scotch poet and
 painter1 to whom a copy of ,beccaria's 
treatise had been shown by ,diderot1 and

 who wrote a letter about it to the     
latter1 which1 though it contains some  
very just criticisms on ,beccaria1 yet  
reads for the most part very curiously  
by the light of subsequent history1 and 
illustrates graphically the despair of  
all reform then felt by most men of     
reflection4#h  ,ramsay argues that the  
penal laws of a particular country can  
only be considered with reference to the
 needs of a particular country1 and not 
in the abstract2 that the government of 
a country will always enforce laws with 
a view to its own security2 and that    
nothing less than a general revolution  
will ever make the holders of political 
power listen for a moment to the claims 
of philosophers4      ,but 7he goes on7 
since it would be an absurd folly to    
expect     this general revolution1 this
 general reconstruction1 which     could
 only be effected by very violent means1
 such as would be     at least a very   
great misfortune for the present        
generation1     and hold out an         

uncertain prospect of compensation for  
the     next one1 every speculative     
work1 like the #8,dei ,delitti e        
delle ,pene1' enters into the category  
of ,utopias1 of ,platonic     ,republics
 and other ideal governments2 which     
display1 indeed1     the wit1 the       
humanity1 and the goodness of their     
authors1 but     which never have had   
nor ever will have any influence on     
human     affairs4'''      ,i know that 
those general principles which tend to  
enlighten     and improve the human race
 are not absolutely useless ''' that    
the enlightenment of nations is not     
without some effect on     their rulers 
''' provided that the prerogative of the
 latter1     their power1 their         
security1 their authority1 their safety1
     is not touched thereby4''' ,i know 
well that this general                  
enlightenment1 so much boasted of1 is a 
beautiful and glorious     chimera1 with
 which philosophers love to amuse       
themselves1 but     which would soon    

disappear if they would open history1   
and see     therefrom to what causes    
improved institutions are due4 ,the     
nations of antiquity have passed1 and   
those of the present     will pass1     
before philosophy and its influence have
 reformed a     single government4'''   
''' ,the cries of sages and philosophers
 are as the cries of the     innocent   
man on the wheel1 where they have never 
prevented1 nor     will ever prevent him
 from expiring1 with his eyes upturned  
to heaven1 which will perhaps some day  
stir up enthusiasm1 or     religious    
madness1 or some other avenging folly1  
to accomplish     all that their wisdom 
has failed to do4 ,it is never the      
oration     of the philosopher which    
disarms the powerful ruler2 it is       
something else1 which the combination of
 chance events brings     about4        
,meanwhile we must not seek to force it 
from him1 but     must entreat humbly   
for such good as he can grant us1 that  
is     which he can grant us without    

injury to himself4  ,ramsay was so far  
right1 that whether a revolution was the
 only hope for theories like ,beccaria's
 or not1 the realisation of many of them
 was one of the first results of that   
general revolution1 which seemed to     
,ramsay so impossible and undesirable4  
,his letter1 as it is a characteristic  
expression of that common apathy and    
despair of change which afflict at times
 even the most sanguine and hopeful1 so 
it is1 from its misplaced despair1 a    
good cure for moods of like despondency4
 ,for the complete triumph of           
,beccaria's theories about torture1 to  
say nothing of other improvements in law
 that he lived to witness1 is perhaps   
the most signal instance in history of  
the conquest of theory over practice4   
,for albeit that his theory was at total
 variance with the beliefs and ideas of 
the whole practical school1 ,beccaria   
lived to see torture abolished1 not only
 in ,lombardy and ,tuscany1 but in      
,austria generally1 in ,portugal and in 

,sweden1 in ,russia as well as in       
,france4 ,yet ,ramsay's fears at the    
time were more reasonable than the hopes
 of ,beccaria4  ,there was little of    
eventfulness in ,beccaria's life1 and   
the only episode in it of interest was  
his visit to ,paris in #agff4 ,thither  
he and his friend ,pietro had been      
invited by ,morellet1 in the name of the
 philosophers at ,paris1 and thither he 
started in ,october #agff2 not with     
,pietro1 who could not leave ,milan1 but
 with ,alessandro ,verri1 on a journey  
which was to include ,london as well as 
,paris1 and was to occupy in all a      
period of six months4  ,a few years     
earlier ,beccaria could have imagined no
 greater honour4 ,to associate with the 
philosophers he so highly reverenced1 as
 a philosopher himself1 what greater    
happiness or reward could he have asked8
 ,yet when it came there was no charm in
 it2 and it was with difficulty he could
 be persuaded to go4 ,for with his love 
for distinction there came into         

competition the love of his wife1 and if
 he preferred her company to that of the
 wisest and wittiest celebrities of     
,paris1 who shall say that he was the   
worse philosopher for that8  ,when the  
visit to ,paris was contemplated it was 
a question of either not going at all or
 of leaving ,teresa behind2 there was   
not money enough for her to travel too4 
,for ,beccaria1 though the son of a     
marquis and of noble origin1 was not    
rich4 ,when in his twenty-third year he 
married ,teresa1 his father was so      
opposed to the match on the score of    
insufficiency of fortune1 that for some 
time after the marriage he refused to   
receive the young couple into his house1
 and they lived in considerable poverty4
 ,appeal had even been made to the      
,government itself to break off1 if     
possible1 so unsuitable a match2 but the
 lovers had their own way1 of course1 in
 the end1 though it was not for some    
time that the domestic quarrel was      
healed1 and then1 it appears1 through   

the mediation of ,pietro ,verri4        
,beccaria would certainly have done     
better not to have gone to ,paris at    
all4 ,his letters to his wife during his
 absence show that he was miserable all 
the time4 ,in every letter he calculates
 the duration of time that will elapse  
before his return1 and there is an even 
current of distress and affection       
running through all the descriptions of 
his journey4 ,the assurance is frequent 
that but for making himself ridiculous  
he would return at once4 ,from ,lyons he
 writes that he is in a state of the    
deepest melancholy2 that even the       
,french theatre he had so much looked   
forward to fails to divert him2 and he  
begs his wife to prepare people for his 
speedy return by telling them that the  
air of ,france has a bad effect on his  
health4  ,even when ,paris was reached1 
and ,beccaria and ,alessandro were      
warmly welcomed by ,d',alembert1        
,morellet1 ,diderot1 and ,baron         
,holbach1 the homesickness remained4    

#8,you would not believe1' says         
,beccaria to his wife1 #8the welcomes1  
the politeness1 the demonstrations of   
friendship and esteem1 which they have  
shown to me and my companion4 ,diderot1 
,baron ,holbach1 and ,d',alembert       
especially enchant us4 ,the latter is a 
superior man1 and most simple at the    
same time4 ,diderot displays enthusiasm 
and good humour in all he does4 ,in     
short1 nothing is wanting to me but     
yourself4 ,all do their best to please  
me1 and those who do so are the greatest
 men in ,europe4 ,all of them deign to  
listen to me1 and no one shows the      
slightest air of superiority4' ,yet     
,morellet tells us that even on arrival 
,beccaria was so absorbed in melancholy1
 that it was difficult to get four      
consecutive words from his mouth4  ,six 
days after his arrival ,beccaria writes 
in a similar strain3 that he is in the  
midst of adorations and the most        
flattering praises1 considered as the   
companion and colleague of the greatest 

men in ,europe1 regarded with admiration
 and curiosity1 his company competed    
for2 in the capital of pleasures1 close 
to three theatres1 one of them the      
,comdie ,franaise1 the most interesting 
spectacle in the world2 and that yet he 
is unhappy and discontented1 and unable 
to find distraction in anything4 ,he    
tells his wife that he is in excellent  
health1 but that she must say just the  
contrary1 in order that there may be a  
good pretext for his return2 and the    
better to ensure this1 he sends his wife
 another letter which she may show to   
his parents1 and in which1 at the end of
 much general news about ,paris1 he     
alludes incidentally to the bad effect  
on his health of drinking the waters of 
the ,seine4 ,he regrets having to resort
 to this fiction2 but considers that he 
is justified by the circumstances4      
,accordingly he made a rapid journey    
back1 leaving his companion to visit    
,england alone2 this expedition to      
,paris being the only event that ever   

broke the even tenor of his life4 ,his  
,french friends rather deserted him1    
,morellet in his memoirs going even so  
far as to speak of him as half-mad4 ,but
 it was to his friendship with the      
,verris that this journey to ,paris was 
most disastrous1 and nothing is more    
mournful than the petty jealousies which
 henceforth completely estranged from   
him his early friends4 ,the fault seems 
to have rested mainly with the two      
brothers1 whose letters 7only recently  
published7 reveal an amount of          
bitterness against ,beccaria for which  
it is difficult to find any             
justification1 and which disposes for   
ever of all claims of their writers to  
any real nobleness of character4#i ,they
 complain to one another of ,beccaria's 
,parisian airs1 of his literary pride1  
of his want of gratitude2 they rejoice  
to think that his reputation is on the  
wane2 that his illustrious friends at   
,paris send him no copies of their      
books2 that he gets no letters from     

,paris2 nay1 they even go so far as to  
welcome the adverse criticisms of his   
#8,dei ,delitti1' and to hope that his  
#8golden book' is shut up for ever4#aj  
,alessandro writes to his brother that  
all his thoughts are turned to the means
 of mortifying ,beccaria2 and the       
revenge the brothers think most likely  
to humiliate him is for ,alessandro to  
extend the limits of his travels1 so as 
to compare favourably with ,beccaria in 
the eyes of the ,milanese4 ,they delight
 in calling him a madman1 an imbecile1 a
 harlequin2 they lend a ready ear to all
 that gossip says in his discredit4#aa  
,in the most trifling action ,pietro    
sees an intended slight1 and is         
especially sore where his literary      
ambition is touched4#ab ,it angers him  
that ,beccaria should receive praise for
 the ,apology written against           
,facchinei1 the work having been        
entirely written by himself1 with some  
help from his brother1 but with not so  
much as a comma from the hand of        

,beccaria4#ac ,some books which         
,beccaria had brought to him from ,paris
 he imagined were really gifts to him   
from the authors2 he believed that      
,d',alembert had sent him his           
#8,mlanges' of his own accord1 not at   
the request of ,beccaria1 as the latter 
had represented2 but even ,alessandro   
admits that it was concerning the books1
 as ,beccaria had said4#ad ,in short1   
the whole correspondence shows that     
,pietro ,verri was extremely jealous of 
the success which he himself had helped 
his friend to attain1 and that          
disappointed literary vanity was the    
real explanation of his suddenly        
transmuted affection4  ,but1 to turn    
from this unpleasant episode of         
,beccaria's life1 ,catharine ,,ii41 soon
 after his return to ,milan1 invited him
 to ,st4 ,petersburg1 to assist in the  
preparation of her intended code of     
laws4 ,it would seem from one of ,pietro
 ,verri's letters that ,beccaria was at 
first inclined to accept the            

proposal1#ae but it is improbable that  
any such offer would really have tempted
 him to exchange ,italian suns for      
,russian snows1 even if ,kaunitz and    
,firmian had not resolved to remove the 
temptation1 by making his talents of    
service at home4 ,this they did by      
making him ,professor of ,political     
,economy in the ,palatine ,school of    
,milan1 in ,november #agfh2 and his     
published lectures on this subject form 
the largest work he ever wrote4  ,there 
is no need to follow in further detail  
the life of ,beccaria1 for from this    
time to his death twenty-six years      
afterwards he never did nor wrote       
anything which again placed him         
conspicuously in the world's eye4#af    
,his time was divided between the calls 
of his family and his country1 but even 
as a member of the ,government he never 
filled any very important post nor      
distinguished himself in any way above  
his colleagues4 ,three years before his 
death he became a member of a committee 

for the reform of the civil and criminal
 jurisprudence1 and he and his former   
friend ,pietro ,verri lived to see many 
of the ideals of their youth become the 
actualities of their manhood1 themselves
 helping to promote their               
accomplishment4 ,it is characteristic of
 ,beccaria that on two several          
occasions1 when the ,king of ,naples    
came to visit him in his house1 he      
absented himself purposely from the     
irksomeness of an interview4 ,so he     
lived to the age of fifty-six1 little   
noticed by the world1 a lover of        
solitude rather than of society1        
preferring a few friends to many        
acquaintances1 leading a quiet and      
useful life1 but to the last true to the
 philosophy he had professed in his     
youth1 that it is better to live as a   
spectator of the world than as one with 
any direct interest in the game4        
,,chapter ,,ii4  ,,the ,,general        
,,influence ,,of ,,beccaria ,,on        
,,legislation4   ,it is not easy in the 

days of a milder administration of penal
 laws than a century ago the most       
sanguine could have dreamed of to do    
full justice to those who laboured1 as  
,beccaria and his friends did1 at the   
peril of their lives and liberties1 for 
those very immunities which we now      
enjoy4 ,we cannot conceive that it      
should ever have been necessary to argue
 against torture1 or that it should have
 been a bold thing to do so2 still less 
can we conceive that it should ever have
 had its defenders1 or that men should  
have been contented with the sophism1   
that it was indeed an evil1 but an evil 
which was necessary and inevitable4     
,the very success of ,beccaria's work   
has so accustomed us to its result that 
we are apt to regard it1 as men regard a
 splendid cathedral in their native     
town1 with very little recognition of   
its claims to admiration4 ,the work is  
there1 they see it1 they live under its 
shadow2 they are even ready to boast of 
it2 but what to them is the toil and    

risk of its builders1 or the care and   
thought of its architects8 ,it may be   
said that this indifference is the very 
consummation ,beccaria would most have  
desired1 as it is the most signal proof 
of the success of his labour4 ,so       
signal1 indeed1 has been that success1  
that already the atrocities which men in
 those days accepted as among the       
unalterable conditions of their         
existence1 or resigned themselves to as 
the necessary safeguards of society1    
have become so repulsive to the world's 
memory1 that men have agreed to hide    
them from their historical consciousness
 by seldom reading1 writing1 or speaking
 of their existence4 ,and this is surely
 a fact to be remembered with           
hopefulness1 when we hear an evil like  
war with all its attendant atrocities1  
defended nowadays by precisely the same 
arguments which little more than a      
hundred years ago were urged on behalf  
of torture1 but which have proved       
nevertheless insufficient to keep it in 

existence4  ,it may be asked1 ,how far  
was ,beccaria the first to protest      
against the cruelty and absurdity of    
torture8 ,to this it must be replied    
that although actually he was not the   
first1 he was the first to do so with   
effect4 ,the difference between previous
 writers on the subject and ,beccaria is
 the difference between a man whose     
ideas are in advance of those of his age
 and a man who raises the ideas of his  
age to a level with his own4 ,so early  
as the sixteenth century ,montaigne1 in 
his #8,essay on ,conscience1' had said  
plainly enough that the putting a man to
 the rack was rather a trial of patience
 than of truth2 that pain was as likely 
to extort a false confession as a true  
one2 and that a judge1 by having a man  
racked that he might not die innocent1  
caused him to die both innocent and     
racked4 ,also ,grevius ,clivensis wrote 
a work whilst in prison in ,amsterdam1  
in which he sought to prove that torture
 was iniquitous1 fallacious1 and        

unchristian4#ag ,this was published in  
#afbd2 and nearly a century later a     
,jesuit1 ,spee1 wrote against the use of
 torture1 as also against the cruel     
practices in force against witches4#ah  
,and in later days ,montesquieu1 twenty 
years before ,beccaria1 had gone so far 
as to say that1 since a civilised nation
 like ,england had abandoned torture    
without evil consequences1 it was       
therefore unnecessary2 but he followed  
the subject to no definite conclusion4  
,beccaria himself was ready enough to   
refer all his thoughts to ,french       
inspiration1 and to lay aside all claim 
to originality1 with respect to which   
,d',alembert once wrote to him3 #8,a man
 such as you has no need of a master1   
still less of a master like myself4 ,you
 are like the ,titus ,curtius of        
,tacitus1 ex se natus1 nor have your    
offspring any grandparent4 ,a father    
like yourself is enough for them4'  ,but
 the honour of having been the first    
country to lay aside the use of torture 

undoubtedly belongs to ,england1 just as
 the honour of having been the first in 
modern times to abolish capital         
punishment1 except for political        
offences1 belongs to ,russia2 and the   
practical example thus afforded by our  
laws probably did more for the general  
abolition of the custom than any written
 treatise on the subject ever would have
 done alone4 ,english and foreign       
jurists long delighted to honour the    
,common ,law for its non-recognition of 
torture4 ,but though torture was        
contrary to the ,common ,law1 and even  
to ,magna ,charta1 it was not contrary  
to ,prerogative2 and until the          
,commonwealth it was used as matter of  
course in all grave accusations at the  
mere discretion of the monarch and      
,privy ,council4#ai ,therefore ,beccaria
 pointed to ,england as a country which 
did not use torture with more justice   
than ,grotius had done1 who1 when the   
rack was still in use amongst us1 quoted
 ,england as a proof that people might  

safely live without torture4  ,it is of 
interest to trace some of the practical 
results which followed ,beccaria's      
treatise during the thirty years that he
 lived after its publication2 that is1  
from the year #agfd to #agid4  ,the     
country in which the first attempt was  
made to apply his principles to practice
 was ,russia1 where ,catharine ,,ii4 was
 anxious to establish a uniform penal   
code1 based on the liberal ideas of the 
time1 which then found more favour in   
,st4 ,petersburg than they did at       
,paris4 ,for this purpose in #agfg she  
summoned to ,moscow from all the        
provinces of ,russia those #feb deputies
 who formed the nearest approach in the 
history of that country to a ,russian   
,parliament4 ,in the instructions that  
were read to this assembly1 as the basis
 for the proposed codification of the   
laws1 the principles propounded were    
couched not only in the spirit but often
 in the very words of the author of the 
#8,crimes and ,punishments4' ,the       

following are examples3--      ,laws    
should only be considered as a means of 
conducting mankind     to the greatest  
happiness4      ,it is incomparably     
better to prevent crimes than to punish 
them4      ,the aim of punishment is not
 to torment sensitive beings4      ,all 
punishment is unjust that is unnecessary
 to the maintenance     of public       
safety4      ,in methods of trial the   
use of torture is contrary to sound     
reason4 ,humanity cries out against the 
practice and insists on     its         
abolition4      ,judgment must be       
nothing but the precise text of the law1
 and     the office of the judge is only
 to pronounce whether the action     is 
contrary or conformable to it4      ,in 
the ordinary state of society the death 
of a citizen is     neither useful nor  
necessary4  ,the following especially is
 from ,beccaria3--      ,would you      
prevent crimes1 contrive that the laws  
favour less     different orders of     
citizens than each citizen in           

particular4     ,let men fear the laws  
and nothing but the laws4 ,would you    
prevent crimes1 provide that reason and 
knowledge be more and     more diffused4
 ,to conclude3 the surest but most      
difficult     method of making men      
better is by perfecting education4#bj   
,although these instructions were not so
 much laws as suggestions of laws1 it is
 obvious what their effect must have    
been when published and diffused        
throughout ,russia4 ,that they were     
translated into ,latin1 ,german1        
,french1 and ,italian proves the        
interest that was taken in ,europe by   
this first attempt to apply the maxims  
of philosophy to practical government4  
,in ,france ,beccaria's book became     
widely popular1 and many writers helped 
to propagate his ideas1 such as ,servan1
 ,brissot1 ,lacretelle1 and ,pastoret4  
,lacretelle attributes the whole impulse
 of criminal law reform to ,beccaria1   
while regretting that ,montesquieu had  
not said enough to attract general      

attention to the subject4 ,his book is  
said to have so changed the spirit of   
the old ,french criminal tribunals1     
that1 ten years before the ,revolution1 
they bore no resemblance to their former
 selves4 ,all the younger magistrates   
gave their judgments more according to  
the principles of ,beccaria than        
according to the text of the law4#ba    
,the result of the agitation appeared in
 the ,royal ,ordinances of #aghj and    
#aghh1 directed to the diminution of    
torture1 the only reforms which preceded
 the ,revolution4 ,it is said that the  
last time anyone was tortured in ,france
 was in the year #aghh1 the last year of
 the ancien rgime4 ,at the very         
beginning of the ,revolution more than a
 hundred different offences ceased to   
incur the penalty of death4  ,the most  
successful adoption of ,beccaria's      
principles of punishment occurred in    
,tuscany1 under the ,grand ,duke        
,leopold4 ,when he ascended the ducal   
throne1 the ,tuscans were the most      

abandoned people of all ,italy4         
,robberies and murders were none the    
less frequent for all the gallows1      
wheels1 and tortures which were employed
 to repress them4 ,but ,leopold in #aghf
 resolved to try ,beccaria's plan1 for  
which purpose he published a code1      
proportioning punishments to crimes1    
abolishing mutilation and torture1      
reducing the number of acts of treason1 
lessening confiscations1 destroying the 
right of asylum1 and above all          
abolishing capital punishment even for  
murder4 ,the result was1 says a         
contemporary1 that ,tuscany1 from having
 been the land of the greatest crimes   
and villanies1 became #8the best ordered
 ,state of ,europe4'#bb ,during twenty  
years only five murders were committed  
in ,tuscany1 whilst at ,rome1 where     
death continued to be inflicted with    
great pomp1 as many as sixty were       
committed within the space of three     
months4#bc  ,torture was definitely and 
totally abolished in ,portugal in #aggf1

 in ,sweden in #aghf1bd and in ,austria 
in #aghi4 ,in the latter country1       
indeed1 it had been abolished by ,maria 
,theresa sixteen years before in her    
,german and ,polish provinces2 and the  
,penal ,code of ,joseph ,,ii41 published
 in #aghe1 was an additional tribute to 
the cause of reform4 ,secret orders were
 even given to the tribunals to         
substitute other punishments for        
hanging1 yet so that the general public 
should be unaware of the change4 ,there 
was the greatest anxiety that it should 
not be thought that this change was out 
of any deference for ,beccaria or his   
school4 #8,in the abolition of capital  
punishment1' said ,kaunitz1 #8his       
,majesty pays no regard at all to the   
principles of modern philosophers1 who1 
in affecting a horror of bloodshed1     
assert that primitive justice has no    
right to take from a man that life which
 ,nature only can give him4 ,our        
sovereign has only consulted his own    
conviction1 that the punishment he      

wishes substituted for the capital      
penalty is more likely to be felt by    
reason of its duration1 and therefore   
better fitted to inspire malefactors    
with terror4'  ,nor was it only in      
,europe that ,beccaria's influence thus 
prevailed1 for as soon as the ,american 
,colonies had shaken off their ,english 
connection they began to reform their   
penal laws4 ,when the ,revolution began 
there were in ,pennsylvania nearly      
twenty crimes punishable by death1 and  
within eighteen years of its close the  
penal code was thoroughly transformed1  
it being ordained in #agid that no crime
 should any longer be capital but murder
 in the first degree4 ,it is true that  
this was but a return to the principles 
adopted by ,penn on the settlement of   
the colony1 but ,penn's penal code was  
annulled by ,queen ,anne1 and the       
,english ,government insisted on a      
strict adherence to the charter from    
,charles ,,ii41 which enjoined the      
retention of the ,statute and the       

,common ,law of ,england4 ,when1        
therefore1 the new ,constitution was    
formed in #aggf1 the arguments of       
,beccaria gave fresh life to the        
memories of ,penn4#be  ,thus before his 
death ,beccaria saw torture almost      
entirely abolished in ,europe1 and a    
general tendency spreading to follow the
 spirit of the changes he advocated in  
other details of criminal law4 ,probably
 no other theorist ever lived to witness
 so complete an adoption of his         
principles in practice1 or so thorough a
 transformation of the system he        
attacked4 ,it is possible that he but   
gave body and voice to ideas of change  
already widely prevalent in his time2   
but the merit of a man belongs none the 
less to himself1 who changes the        
instability of public opinion into an   
active and solid force1 and who gives   
distinct expression to the longings     
vaguely felt by a multitude4  ,but if   
the interest of ,beccaria's chapter on  
,torture is now merely historical1 an   

interest that is actual still attaches  
to his advocacy of the total abolition  
of capital punishment1 this being the   
cause with which his name is most       
generally associated1 and for which it  
is likely to be longest remembered4     
,previous writers1 like ,montaigne1 if  
they deprecated the excess or severity  
of the death penalty1 never thought of  
urging that it should be abolished      
altogether4  ,there is an apparent      
discrepancy in ,beccaria's first        
condemning death as too severe a        
punishment and then recommending        
lifelong servitude as one of more       
deterrent power2 but ,beccaria would    
have said that the greater certainty of 
the latter more than compensated for the
 greater severity of the other4 ,as     
regards the relative power of the two   
punishments1 it probably varies in      
different individuals1 some men having a
 greater dread of the one1 and some of  
the other4 ,the popular theory certainly
 goes too far1 when it assumes that all 

men have a greater dread of the gallows 
than of anything else4 ,when ,george    
,,iii4 once granted a pardon to the     
female convicts in ,newgate on condition
 of their transportation to ,new ,south 
,wales1 though seventeen of them        
accepted the offer1 there were yet six  
who preferred death to a removal from   
their native country4 ,it is also stated
 by ,howard that in ,denmark the        
punishment in cases of infanticide1     
namely1 imprisonment for life1 with     
labour and an annual whipping on the    
place of the crime1 was #8dreaded more  
than death1' which it superseded as a   
punishment4  ,it is1 however1 probable  
that the frequency of any crime bears   
little or no relation to the punishment 
affixed to it4 ,every criminal begins a 
new career1 in which he thinks less of  
the nature of his punishment than of his
 chances of eluding it4 ,neither        
tradition nor example count with him for
 much in his balance of the chances in  
his own favour4 ,the law can never be so

 certain in its execution as it is      
uncertain in its application1 and it is 
the examples of impunity1 not of        
punishment1 to which men turn when they 
violate the law4 ,so that whether the   
punishment for murder be an excruciating
 death1 as in ancient ,rome1 or a mere  
fine1 as in ancient ,england1 the       
motives for escape are always the same1 
the means to effect it are always the   
same1 and the belief in his power to    
effect it is correspondingly powerful in
 every criminal guilty of homicide4     
,even if we assume that death is        
absolutely the severest penalty         
devisable by the law1 and that as a     
punishment for murder it is not too     
severe1 it remains certain1 that1       
relatively to the circumstances of a    
trial for murder1 to the reluctance of  
judges or juries to pass an             
irretrievable sentence1 to their fear of
 error1 to their conscientious regard   
for human life1 it is really a much less
 terrible danger for a malefactor to    

face than a penalty which would justify 
fewer hopes of impunity4  ,nor are such 
scruples to convict unreasonable1 when  
we consider the number who on apparently
 conclusive evidence have been falsely  
and irrevocably condemned to death4     
,playgoers who have seen #8,the ,lyons  
,mail' will remember how barely         
,lesurques1 the ,parisian gentleman1    
escaped punishment for the guilt of     
,dubosc1 the robber and murderer4 ,but  
the moral of the story is lost in the   
play1 for ,lesurques actually was       
executed for the crime of ,dubosc1 by   
reason of the strong resemblance he bore
 to him1 the latter only receiving the  
due reward for his crimes after the     
innocent man had died as a common       
murderer on the scaffold4 ,then there   
are cases in which1 as in the famous    
case of ,calas1 some one having         
committed suicide1 some one else is     
executed as the murderer4 ,that dead men
 tell no tales is as true of men hung as
 of men murdered1 and the innocence of  

an executed man may be proved long      
afterwards or not at all4  ,where there 
is no capital punishment1 as in         
,michigan1 a man's innocence may be     
discovered subsequently to conviction1  
and justice done to him for the error of
 the law4 ,such a case actually happened
 not long ago in ,michigan1 where a     
prisoner's innocence was clearly proved 
after ten years' imprisonment4 ,where   
capital punishment exists1 there is no  
such hope2 nor is there any remedy if1  
as in the case of ,lewis1 who was hung  
in #ahca1 another man thirty-three years
 afterwards confesses himself the       
murderer4 ,it is impossible to preclude 
all chances of such errors of justice4  
,illustrative of this is the story of   
the church organist near ,kieff1 who    
murdered a farmer with a pistol he stole
 from a priest4 ,after his crime he     
placed the pistol in the sacristy1 and  
then1 when he had prevented the priest  
from giving evidence against him by the 
act of confession1 went and denounced   

the priest as the culprit4 ,the priest1 
in spite of his protestations of        
innocence1 was sentenced to hard labour 
for life2 and when1 twenty years        
afterwards1 the organist confessed his  
guilt on his deathbed1 and the priest's 
liberation was applied for1 it was found
 that he had died only a few months     
before4#bf  ,that the scruple to convict
 diminishes the certainty of punishment1
 and therefore raises hopes of impunity1
 is illustrated by the case of two      
,american brothers who1 desirous to     
perpetrate a murder1 waited till their  
victim had left their ,state1 in which  
capital punishment had been abolished1  
and had betaken himself to a ,state     
which still retained it1 before they    
ventured to execute their criminal      
intention4 ,that such reluctance to     
convict is often most injurious to the  
public is proved by the case of a woman 
at ,chelmsford who some years ago was   
acquitted1 in spite of strong evidence1 
on a charge of poisoning1 and who1      

before her guilt was finally proved1    
lived to poison several other persons   
who would otherwise have escaped her    
arts4#bg  ,such considerations as these 
will1 perhaps1 lead some day to the     
abolition of capital punishment4 ,the   
final test of all punishment is its     
efficiency1 not its humanity4 ,there is 
often more inhumanity in a long sentence
 of penal servitude than in a capital   
sentence1 for the majority of murderers 
deserve as little mercy as they get4    
,the many offences which have ceased to 
be capital in ,english law yielded less 
to a sense of the inhumanity of the     
punishment as related to the crime than 
to the experience that such a punishment
 led to almost total impunity4 ,the     
bankers1 for instance1 who petitioned   
,parliament to abolish capital          
punishment for forgery1 did so1 as they 
said1 because they found by experience  
that the infliction of death1 or the    
possibility of its infliction1 prevented
 the prosecution1 the conviction1 and   

the punishment of the criminal2         
therefore they begged for #8that        
protection for their property which they
 would derive from a more lenient law4' 
,for the same reason it is of little    
avail to call in question1 as ,beccaria 
does1 the right of society to inflict   
death as a punishment4 ,there may be a  
distinction between the right of society
 and its might1 but it is one of little 
comfort to the man who incurs its       
resentment4 ,a man in a dungeon does    
better to amuse himself with spiders and
 cobwebs than with reflections on the   
encroachment of the law upon his        
liberty1 or with theories about the     
rights of government4 ,whenever society 
has ceased to exercise any of its powers
 against individuals1 it has not been   
from the acceptance of any new doctrine 
as to its rights1 but from more         
enlightened views as to its real        
interests1 and a cultivated dislike of  
cruelty and oppression4  ,when ,beccaria
 wrote against capital punishment1 one  

great argument against its abolition was
 its practical universality4 ,it had    
been abolished in ancient ,egypt by king
 ,sabaco1#bh in the best period of the  
,roman ,republics by the ,porcian law1  
and in the time of the ,roman ,empire by
 ,calo-,johannes4#bi ,but these cases   
were too remote from modern times to    
lend much weight to the general         
argument4 ,at that time ,russia alone of
 all the countries in the world had1    
from the accession of the ,empress      
,elizabeth1 afforded a practical example
 of the fact1 that the general security 
of life is not diminished by the        
withdrawal of the protection of capital 
punishment4 ,but since that time this   
truth has become less and less a theory 
or speculation1 and it now rests on the 
positive experience of no inconsiderable
 portion of the world4 ,in ,tuscany1    
,holland1 ,portugal1 ,russia1 ,roumania1
 ,saxony1 ,prussia1 ,belgium1 and in ten
 of the ,united ,states of ,america1 the
 death penalty has either been abolished

 or discontinued2 and can it be thought 
that the people of those countries are  
so indifferent to the safety of their   
lives as to be content with a less      
efficient legal protection than is      
vouchsafed in countries where the       
protection is death8  ,the opponents of 
capital punishment may fairly1          
therefore1 draw an argument in their    
favour from the fact that so many parts 
of the world have found it not          
incompatible with the general security  
of life to erase the death penalty from 
their list of deterrent agencies4 ,it is
 better to rely on so plain a fact than 
on statistics which1 like two-edged     
weapons1 often cut both ways4 ,the      
frequency of executions in one country  
and their total absence in another may  
severally coexist with great numerical  
equality in the number of murders       
committed in each4 ,it is always better1
 therefore1 to look for some other cause
 for a given number of murders than the 
kind of punishment directed to their    

repression4 ,they may depend on a       
thousand other things1 which it is      
difficult to ascertain or eliminate4    
,thus both in ,bavaria1 where capital   
punishment has been retained1 and in    
,switzerland1 where it had been         
abolished in #ahgd1 murders have        
increased greatly in recent years2 and  
this fact has1 with great probability1  
been attributed to the influence of bad 
habits contracted during the            
,franco-,german war4  ,capital          
punishment being less general in the    
world now than torture was when         
,beccaria wrote1 it seems to be a fair  
logical inference that it is already far
 advanced towards its total             
disappearance4 ,for the same argument   
which ,voltaire applied in the case of  
torture cannot fail sooner or later to  
be applied to capital punishment4       
#8,if1' he says1 #8there were but one   
nation in the world which had abolished 
the use of torture2 and if in that      
nation crimes were no more frequent than

 in others1 ''' its example would be    
surely sufficient for the rest of the   
world4 ,england alone might instruct all
 other nations in this particular2 but  
,england is not the only nation4        
,torture has been abolished in other    
countries1 and with success2 the        
question1 therefore1 is decided4' ,if in
 this argument we read capital          
punishment instead of torture1 murders  
instead of crimes1 and ,portugal instead
 of ,england1 we shall best appreciate  
that which is after all the strongest   
argument against capital punishment1    
namely1 that it has been proved         
unnecessary for its professed object in 
so many countries that it might safely  
be relinquished in all4     ,,chapter   
,,iii4  ,,the ,,influence ,,of          
,,beccaria ,,in ,,england4   ,whatever  
improvement our penal laws have         
undergone in the last hundred years is  
due primarily to ,beccaria1 and to an   
extent that has not always been         
recognised4 ,lord ,mansfield is said    

never to have mentioned his name without
 a sign of respect4 ,romilly referred to
 him in the very first speech he        
delivered in the ,house of ,commons on  
the subject of law reform4 ,and there is
 no ,english writer of that day who1 in 
treating of the criminal law1 does not  
refer to ,beccaria4  ,even the idea of  
public utility as the final test and    
standard of morality is derived from    
,beccaria1 and the famous expression1   
#8the greatest happiness of the greatest
 number1' occurs1 in capital letters1 in
 the very first page of the #8,delitti e
 delle ,pene4'#cj ,bentham himself fully
 acknowledged this4 #8,priestley was the
 first1' he says1 #8unless it was       
,beccaria1 who taught my lips to        
pronounce this sacred truth3 that the   
greatest happiness of the greatest      
number is the foundation of morals and  
happiness4' ,and with reference to his  
idea of the measurable value of         
different pains and pleasures1 he says3 
#8,it was from ,beccaria's little       

treatise on ,crimes and ,punishments    
that ,i drew1 as ,i well remember1 the  
first hint of this principle1 by which  
the precision and clearness and         
incontestableness of mathematical       
calculations are introduced for the     
first time into the field of morals4'   
,english philosophy and legislation1    
therefore1 owe enough to ,beccaria for  
his treatise never to be forgotten among
 us4 ,standing1 as it does1 in reference
 to law as ,bacon's #8,novum ,organon'  
to science1 or ,descartes' #8,principia'
 to philosophy1 and representing a      
return to first principles and rejection
 of mere precedent in the matter of     
penal laws1 it will never fail to       
gratify those who1 with little          
admiration for law in the concrete1 can 
yet find pleasure in studying it in the 
abstract4 ,most men will turn readily   
from a system built up1 as our own is1  
of unintelligible distinctions1 and     
based on authority rather than on       
experience1 to a system where no        

distinctions exist save those which are 
derived from the nature of things and   
are founded on the real differences that
 distinguish the moral actions of       
mankind4  ,the first trace of           
,beccaria's influence in ,england       
appeared in the first edition of        
,blackstone's ,commentaries1 of which   
the book on the ,criminal ,laws was     
published the very next year after the  
appearance of the ,italian treatise4    
,that ,blackstone was well acquainted   
with it is proved by his frequent       
reference to it in treating of crimes4  
,from ,beccaria he argues that the      
certainty of punishments is more        
effectual than their severity1 and finds
 it absurd to apply the same punishment 
to crimes of different malignity4       
,blackstone was also the first          
professional lawyer to find fault with  
the frequency of capital punishment in  
,england1 and to point out as #8a       
melancholy truth' the presence of #afj  
actions in the statute book which were  

felonies without benefit of clergy4     
,but there was one great fallacy1       
pervading our whole criminal law1 which 
,blackstone left undetected and         
untouched4 ,this was1 that the severity 
of punishment must be augmented in      
proportion to the increase of           
temptation1 and that the measure of the 
guilt of a crime lay in the facility    
with which it might be committed4       
#8,among crimes of an equal malignity1' 
says ,blackstone1 #8those deserve most  
punishment1 as most injurious which a   
man has the most frequent and easy      
opportunities of committing1 which      
cannot so easily be guarded against as  
others1 and which1 therefore1 the       
offender has the strongest inducement to
 commit4' ,and on this principle he     
finds it reasonable1 that1 while the    
theft of a pocket-handkerchief should be
 a capital crime1 the theft of a load of
 hay should only involve transportation4
  ,there was not an anomaly in our old  
criminal practice which was not based on

 this theory--a theory which had1       
indeed1 its precedent in the old ,hebrew
 law that punished more severely a theft
 from a field than a theft from a house2
 and the first writer who protested     
against it was ,eden1 afterwards ,lord  
,auckland1 who in #agga published his   
#8,principles of ,penal ,law1' one of   
the best books ever written on the      
subject4 ,the influence of ,beccaria is 
apparent in ,eden's work1 not only by   
his direct reference to it1 but by his  
spirit of declared opposition to the    
actual practice of the law4 ,two        
instances of its tendency will suffice4 
#8,imprisonment1 inflicted by law as a  
punishment1 is not according to the     
principles of wise legislation4 ,it     
sinks useful subjects into burthens on  
the community1 and has always a bad     
effect on their morals2 nor can it      
communicate the benefit of example1     
being in its nature secluded from the   
eye of the people4' ,and again3         
#8,whatever exceeds simple death is mere

 cruelty4 ,every step beyond is a trace 
of ancient barbarity1 tending only to   
distract the attention of the spectators
 and to lessen the solemnity of the     
example4 ,there is no such thing as     
vindictive justice2 the idea is         
shocking4'  ,men of letters as a rule   
did not speak with this boldness1 but in
 conscious opposition to professional   
and popular feeling expressed their     
doubts with a hesitation that was almost
 apologetic4 ,so1 for example1          
,goldsmith could not #8avoid even       
questioning the validity of that right  
which social combinations have assumed  
of capitally punishing offences of a    
slight nature4'#ca ,strange1 that in    
,england such an argument should ever   
have seemed a daring novelty1 a thing to
 be said tentatively and with reserve6  
,lord ,kames attacked our criminal law  
in a still more indirect way1 by tracing
 punishment historically to the revenge 
of individuals for their private        
injuries1 and by extolling the          

excellence of the criminal law of the   
ancient ,egyptians4 ,they1 he said1     
avoided capital punishments as much as  
possible1 preferring others which       
equally prevented the recommission of   
crimes4 ,such punishments effected their
 end #8with less harshness and severity 
than is found in the laws of any other  
nation1 ancient or modern4'#cb  ,nothing
 could be more interesting than ,lord   
,kames' account of the growth of        
criminal law1 from the rude revenges of 
savages to the legal punishments of     
civilised ,states2 but it was probably  
intended by its author less as an       
historical treatise than as a veiled    
attack upon the penal system of his     
country4 ,it is1 therefore1 a good      
illustration of the timidity of the     
,theoretical school against the         
overwhelming forces of the ,practical   
school of law1 which1 of course1        
included the great body of the legal    
profession2 and it is the first sign of 
an attempt to apply the experience of   

other countries and times to the        
improvement of our own jurisprudence4   
,it certainly should moderate our       
reverence for ancestral wisdom to find  
even a man like ,fielding1 the novelist1
 speaking1 in his ,charge to the ,grand 
,jury of ,middlesex1 of the pillory and 
the loss of a man's ears as #8an        
extremely mild' punishment for a bad    
case of libel1 or declaring our         
punishments of that time to be #8the    
mildest and most void of terror of any  
other in the known world4' ,yet         
,fielding recognised several of the true
 principles of punishment4 ,he          
attributed the increase of crime to the 
great abuse of pardons1 which1 he said1 
had brought many more men to the gallows
 than they had saved from it4 ,he also  
advocated the diminution of the number  
of executions1 their greater privacy and
 solemnity1 whilst he recommended their 
following as closely as possible on     
conviction1 that pity for the criminal  
might be lost in detestation for his    

crime4#cc  ,but that the humanity of the
 speculative school of law was not      
without some influence on public        
opinion1 as well as to a certain extent 
a reflection of it1 is proved by a few  
abortive attempts in ,parliament to     
mitigate the severity of our penal code 
in the latter half of the last century4 
,even so early as #ageb the ,commons    
agreed to commute the punishment of     
felony in certain cases to hard labour  
in the docks2 but the ,lords refused    
their consent1 as from that time onward 
for more than eighty years they         
regularly continued to refuse it to all 
mitigation of the laws affecting crime4 
,it must ever remain a matter of regret1
 that the rle of the ,house of ,lords in
 the matter of criminal law reform      
should have continued from #ageb to     
#ahcb to be one of systematic and       
obstinate opposition to change1 and an  
opposition which had no justification in
 the general level of national          
enlightenment4  ,the chief honour of the

 earliest attempt at law reform belongs 
to ,sir ,william ,meredith1 who in #aggj
 moved for a committee of inquiry into  
the state of the criminal laws4 ,this   
committee proposed in its report of the 
following year the repeal of a few ,acts
 which made certain offences capital2   
and accordingly the ,commons in #aggb   
agreed1 that it should no longer be     
punishable as high treason to make an   
attempt on the life of a ,privy         
,councillor1 that desertion of officers 
or soldiers should no longer be capital1
 nor the belonging to people who called 
themselves ,egyptians4 ,some other      
proposals were negatived1 such as a     
repeal of the hard law of ,james ,i4    
against infanticide2 but the ,house of  
,lords refused their assent even to the 
slight changes passed by the ,commons4  
#8,it was an innovation1 they said1 and 
subversion of the law4'#cd ,it is no    
reproach to ,meredith1 ,burke1 and ,fox 
that they ceased to waste their strength
 against ,conservatism such as this4    

,all hope of reform was out of the      
question2 and the most dreadful         
atrocities were suffered or defended4   
,in #aggg a girl of #ad lay in ,newgate 
under sentence to be burnt alive for    
false coinage1 because some whitewashed 
farthings1 that were to pass for        
sixpences1 were found on her person2 and
 a reprieve only came just as the cart  
was ready to take her to the stake4 ,not
 till #agij was the law abolished by    
which women were liable to be burnt     
publicly for high or petit treason4#ce  
,but whatever tendency might have been  
arising in theory or in practice about  
this time to mitigate the severity of   
our laws was destined to receive a dead 
check from the publication in #aghd and 
#aghe respectively of two books which   
deserve historical recollection4 ,the   
first was ,madan's #8,thoughts on       
,executive ,justice1' in which the      
author1 adopting ,beccaria's principle  
of the certainty of punishment as the   
best check on crime1 advocated an       

unflinching carrying out of the laws as 
they stood4 #8,it was1' says ,romilly1  
#8a strong and vehement censure upon the
 judges and the ministers for their mode
 of administering the law1 and for the  
frequency of the pardons which they     
granted4 ,it was very much read1 and    
certainly was followed by the sacrifice 
of many lives4'  ,the year before its   
publication #ea malefactors were        
executed in ,london1 the year after #ig1
 whilst not long afterwards was seen the
 rare spectacle of nearly #bj criminals 
hung at a time4 ,romilly was so much    
shocked at what he considered the folly 
and inhumanity of ,madan's book that he 
wrote a short tract of observations upon
 it1 of which he sent a copy to each of 
the judges4 ,but it is characteristic of
 the feeling of that time that only a   
hundred copies of his tract were sold4  
,it was1 however1 from that time that   
,romilly began to make the criminal law 
his special study1 so that to ,madan    
indirectly our country owes the efforts 

of ,romilly4  ,the other book was from a
 man whom above all others our          
forefathers delighted to honour4 ,this  
was ,archdeacon ,paley1 who in #aghe    
published his #8,moral and ,political   
,philosophy1' and dedicated it to the   
then ,bishop of ,carlisle4 ,nor is this 
fact of the dedication immaterial1 for  
the said ,bishop was the father of the  
future ,lord ,chief ,justice            
,ellenborough1 who enjoys the melancholy
 fame of having been the inveterate and 
successful opponent of nearly every     
movement made in his time1 in favour of 
the mitigation of our penal laws4 ,the  
chapter on ,crimes and ,punishments in  
,paley and the speeches of ,lord        
,ellenborough on the subject in the     
,house of ,lords are1 in point of fact1 
the same thing2 so that ,paley's chapter
 is of distinct historical importance1  
as the chief cause of the obstruction of
 reform1 and as the best expression of  
the philosophy of his day4 ,if other    
countries adopted ,beccaria's principles

 more quickly than our own1 it was      
simply that those principles found no   
opponents anywhere equal to ,archdeacon 
,paley and his pupil1 ,lord             
,ellenborough4  ,paley1 of course1      
defended the thing he found established2
 nor1 considering the system he had to  
defend1 did he state the case for it    
without ingenuity4 ,he had1 indeed1     
nothing to add to what ,blackstone had  
said regarding punishment1 namely1 that 
it was inflicted1 not in proportion to  
the real guilt of an offence1 but in    
proportion to its facility of commission
 and difficulty of detection4 ,to steal 
from a shop was not more criminal than  
to steal from a house1 but1 as it was   
more difficult to detect1 it was more   
severely punished4 ,sheep1 horses1 and  
cloth on bleaching-grounds were more    
exposed to thieves than other kinds of  
property2 therefore their theft required
 a stronger deterrent penalty4  ,there  
was only one offence which ,paley       
thought the ,english law punished too   

severely1 and that was the offence of   
privately stealing from the person4 ,in 
all other cases he defended the         
application of the capital penalty4 ,it 
was1 he thought1 the peculiar merit of  
the ,english law that it swept into the 
net every crime which under any possible
 circumstance might merit death1 whilst 
it only singled out a few cases in each 
class of crime for actual punishment2 so
 that whilst few really suffered death1 
the dread and danger of it hung over the
 crimes of many4 ,the law was not cruel1
 for it was never meant to be           
indiscriminately executed1 but left a   
large margin for the exercise of mercy4 
,paley agreed with ,beccaria that the   
certainty of punishment was of more     
consequence than its severity4 ,for this
 reason he recommended #8undeviating    
impartiality in carrying the laws into  
execution2' he blamed the #8weak        
timidity' of juries1 leading them to be 
over-scrupulous about the certainty of  
their evidence1 and protested against   

the maxim that it was better for ten    
guilty men to escape than for one       
innocent man to perish4 ,a man who fell 
by a mistaken sentence might1 he argued1
 be considered as falling for his       
country1 because he was the victim of a 
system of laws which maintained the     
safety of the community4  ,such was the 
reasoning which for nearly half a       
century governed the course of ,english 
history1 and which for all that time it 
was a heresy to dispute4  ,barbarous    
spectacles were1 ,paley thought1 justly 
found fault with1 as tending to         
demoralise public feeling4 #8,but1' he  
continued1 #8if a mode of execution     
could be devised which would augment the
 horror of the punishment1 without      
offending or impairing the public       
sensibility by cruel or unseemly        
exhibitions of death1 it might add      
something to the efficacy of example2   
and by being reserved for a few         
atrocious crimes might also enlarge the 
scale of punishment1 an addition to     

which seems wanting1 for as the matter  
remains at present you hang a malefactor
 for a simple robbery1 and can do no    
more to the villain who has poisoned his
 father4 ,something of the sort we have 
been describing was the proposal1 not   
long since suggested1 of casting        
murderers into a den of wild beasts1    
where they would perish in a manner     
dreadful to the imagination1 yet        
concealed from the view4' ,it is        
interesting after this to learn1 that   
,paley thought torture properly exploded
 from #8the mild and cautious system of 
penal jurisprudence established in this 
country1' and that 7to do him justice7  
he urged private persons to be tender in
 prosecuting1 out of regard for the     
difficulty of prisoners to obtain an    
honest means of livelihood after their  
discharge4  ,howard's book on the       
,lazarettos of ,europe appeared four    
years after ,paley's work4 ,although it 
did not deal directly with crimes1 it   
indirectly treated of their connection  

with punishment4 ,howard was able to    
show that whilst in ,middlesex alone    
#dfg persons had been executed in nine  
years1 only six had been executed in    
,amsterdam2 that for a hundred years the
 average number of executions had been  
one a year at ,utrecht and that for     
twenty-four years there had not even    
been one there4 ,the inference therefore
 was that the diminution of punishment  
had a direct effect in diminishing      
crime4 ,howard also advocated the       
restriction of capital punishment to    
cases of murder1 arson1 and burglary2   
highwaymen1 footpads1 and habitual      
thieves should1 he thought1 end their   
days in a penitentiary rather than on   
the gallows4 ,even this was a bold      
proposal1 in a state of society yet in  
bondage to ,paley4  ,something1 however1
 occurred more fatal to the reform of   
our penal laws than even the philosophy 
of ,paley1 and that was the ,french     
,revolution4 ,before #agij there had    
been #aae capital offences in ,france2  

so that to alter the criminal law in    
,england was to follow a precedent of   
unpleasant auspices4 ,reform not        
unnaturally savoured of revolution1 and 
especially a reform of the penal laws4  
,in #ahjh ,romilly said he would advise 
anyone1 who desired to realise the      
mischievous effects of the ,french      
,revolution in ,england to attempt some 
legislative reform on humane and liberal
 principles4 ,with bitterness he tells  
the story of a young nobleman1 who1     
addressing him insolently at the bar of 
the ,house of ,commons1 informed him    
that he for his part was for hanging all
 criminals4 ,romilly observed that he   
supposed he meant punishments should be 
certain and the laws executed1 whatever 
they were4 #8,no1 no1' was the reply1   
#8it isn't that4 ,there is no good done 
by mercy4 ,they only get worse3 ,i would
 hang them all up at once4' ,and this   
represented the prevalent opinion4      
,windham1 in a speech against the       
,shoplifting ,bill1 inquired1 #8,had not

 the ,french ,revolution begun with the 
abolition of capital punishment in every
 case8''' ,was such a system as this was
 to be set up without consideration     
against that of ,dr4 ,paley6'#cf        
,romilly's first idea with respect to   
the reform of the criminal law was a    
sufficiently humble one4 ,it was nothing
 more than to raise the amount of the   
value of the property1 the theft of     
which should expose a man to death4     
,twelvepence1 as fixed by the statute of
 ,elizabeth1 originally signified a much
 greater theft than it had come to      
signify after a lapse of two centuries4 
,romilly had at first no idea of        
removing the death penalty for theft2   
his only hope was to get it affixed to a
 graver theft than the larceny of a     
shilling4 ,yet even so he could not     
bring himself to consult with the judges
 on the subject of his intended bill1   
for #8he had not the least hope they    
would approve of the measure4'  ,it was 
by the advice of ,scarlett1 ,lord       

,abinger1 that he ventured to aim at the
 repeal of all statutes punishing mere  
theft with death2 but1 deeming it       
hopeless to urge their abolition all at 
once1 he resolved to begin with that    
famous statute of ,elizabeth which made 
it a capital crime to steal a           
handkerchief or anything else from the  
person of another which was of the value
 of a shilling4 ,his bill to effect this
 passed both ,houses the same year it   
was introduced 7#ahjh71 in spite of the 
strong opposition of the great legal    
dignitaries in either ,house4 ,the      
statute was based1 said ,judge ,burton1 
on the experience of two and a half     
centuries4 ,the alternative punishment  
of transportation for seven years1 said 
the ,attorney-,general1 would be too    
short2 it should be for more years than 
seven1 if not for life4 ,if any change  
of punishment were necessary1 said ,lord
 ,ellenborough1 it should be            
transportation for life4  ,such was     
legal opinion generally as expressed by 

its ablest representatives with respect 
to the due punishment for pocket-picking
 not a hundred years ago4 ,it is easy   
now to smile at such errors1 and1 at the
 barren waste of wisdom spent in their  
defence1 but what weight after that can 
be attached1 on subjects of the general 
policy of the law1 to the opinion of its
 chief professors8 ,can it be too much  
regretted that ,lord ,chief ,justice    
,ellenborough should have sacrificed to 
his own authority1 whilst alive1 the    
authority of all judges ever destined to
 succeed him8  ,the success which       
attended ,romilly's ,privately ,stealing
 ,bill and the failure which attended   
almost all his other efforts was        
probably due to the fact that larceny   
from the person without violence was1 as
 has been said1 the one single kind of  
offence which had ,paley's sanction for 
ceasing to be capital4 ,but the very    
success of his first bill was the chief 
cause of the failure of his subsequent  
ones4 ,for1 capital punishment having   

been removed for mere pilfering1        
prosecutions became more frequent1 and  
the opponents of reform were thus able  
to declare that an increase of theft had
 been the direct consequence of the     
abolition of the capital penalty4 ,it   
was in vain to point out1 that the      
apparent increase of theft was due to   
the greater readiness of individuals to 
prosecute and of juries to convict1 when
 a verdict of guilt no longer involved  
death as the consequence4  ,romilly also
 injured his cause by a pamphlet on the 
criminal law1 in which he criticised    
severely the doctrines of ,paley4 ,so   
strongly was this resented1 that in     
#ahaj his bill to abolish capital       
punishment for stealing forty shillings 
from a dwelling-house did not even pass 
the ,commons1 being generally opposed1  
as it was by ,windham1 because the      
maintenance of ,paley's reputation was  
regarded as a great object of national  
concern4#cg ,that is to say1 men voted  
not so much against the bill as against 

the author of a heresy against ,paley4  
,in those days to steal five shillings' 
worth of goods from a shop was a capital
 offence1 and ,paley had explained the  
philosophy of the punishment4 ,it would 
be tedious to follow the course of      
,romilly's bill against this law1 called
 the ,shoplifting ,act1 through the     
details of its history4 ,suffice it to  
say that it passed the ,commons in      
#ahaj1 #ahaa1 #ahac1 #ahaf1 but was     
regularly thrown out by the ,lords1 and 
only definitely became law many years   
later4 ,but though the debates on the   
subject no longer possess the vivid     
interest that once belonged to them1 and
 are best left to the oblivion that     
enshrouds them1 it is instructive to    
take just one sample of the eloquence   
and arguments1 that once led ,lords and 
,bishops captive and expressed the      
highest legal wisdom obtainable in      
,england4  ,lord ,ellenborough1 on the  
last day but one of ,may #ahaj1 appealed
 to their lordships to pause1 before    

they passed the ,shoplifting ,bill and  
gave their assent to the repeal of a law
 which had so long been held necessary  
for the security of the public4 ,no one1
 he insisted1 was more disposed than    
himself to the exercise of clemency1 but
 there was not the slightest ground for 
the insinuations of cruelty that had    
been cast on the administration of the  
law4 ,if shoplifting did not require the
 penalty of death1 the same rule would  
have to apply to horse- and             
sheep-stealing2 and1 in spite of all    
that was said in favour of this         
speculative humanity1 they must all     
agree1 that prevention of crime should  
be the chief object of the law1 and that
 terror alone could prevent the crime in
 question4 ,those who were thus         
speculating in modern legislation urged 
that punishment should be certain and   
proportionate2 but he could satisfy the 
,house that any attempt to apply a      
punishment in exact conformity to the   
offence would be perfectly ludicrous4   

,he had consulted with the other judges1
 and they were unanimously of opinion   
that it would not be expedient to remit 
this part of the severity of the        
criminal law4#ch ,he therefore entreated
 them to pause4  ,need it be said that  
the ,house of ,lords paused1 as they    
were entreated to do1 and that they     
paused and paused again1 in a manner    
more suggestive of the full stop than   
the comma1 generally out of deference to
 the same authority8 ,romilly was       
indignant that so many prelates voted   
against his bills2 but could they have  
done otherwise1 when the best legal     
authorities in ,england urged that it   
would be fatal to vote for them8--when  
they were gravely told that if a certain
 bill passed1 they would not know       
whether they stood on their heads or on 
their feet8  ,lord ,ellenborough was so 
hard upon #8speculative humanity1' as   
opposed to real practical common sense1 
that the speculative school are never   
likely to forget him4 ,but they owe too 

much to him not to forgive him2 since he
 is the standing proof1 that in matters 
of the general policy of the law        
professional opinion is a less          
trustworthy guide than popular          
sentiment1 and that in questions of law 
reform it is best to neglect the        
fossil-wisdom of forgotten judges1 and  
to seek the opinion of ,jones round the 
corner as readily as that of ,jones upon
 the ,bench4  ,a strong feeling against 
the pillory was aroused by the sentence 
passed against ,lord ,cochrane in #ahad1
 by which1 for supposed complicity in a 
plot to raise the price of the ,funds1  
he was condemned to a year's            
imprisonment1 to a fine of #ajjjl41 and 
to stand in the pillory4 ,a bill for the
 abolition of the pillory accordingly   
passed the ,commons the very next year1 
but ,lord ,ellenborough succeeded again 
in bringing the ,upper ,house to a      
pause3 the pillory forsooth was as old  
as #abfi2 it was spoken of by the old   
historians2 it was not confined to this 

country1 for ,du ,cange spoke of it on  
the ,continent4 ,for these reasons the  
pillory remained a legal punishment down
 to the first year of the present reign4
  ,yet ,lord ,ellenborough was one of   
the best judges known to ,english       
history2 he was1 according to his       
biographer1 a man #8of gigantic         
intellect1' and one of the best         
classical scholars of his day2 and if he
 erred1 it was with all honesty and     
goodness of purpose4 ,the same must be  
said of ,lord ,chief ,justice           
,tenterden's opposition to any change in
 the law of forgery4 ,his great merits  
too as a judge are matter of history1   
yet when the ,commons had passed the    
bill for the abolition of capital       
punishment for forgery1 ,lord ,tenterden
 assured the ,house of ,lords that they 
could not #8without great danger take   
away the punishment of death4' #8,when  
it was recollected how many thousand    
pounds1 and even tens of thousands1     
might be abstracted from a man by a     

deep-laid scheme of forgery1 he thought 
that this crime ought to be visited with
 the utmost extent of punishment which  
the law then wisely allowed4' ,the      
,house of ,lords again paused in        
submission to judicial authority4  ,sir 
,james ,mackintosh1 who succeeded       
,romilly as law reformer1 in #ahbj      
introduced with success six penal reform
 bills into the ,house of ,commons2 but 
the ,lords assented to none of them that
 were of any practical importance to the
 country4 ,they agreed1 indeed1 that it 
should no longer be a capital offence   
for an ,egyptian to reside one year in  
the country1 or for a man to be found   
disguised in the ,mint1 or to injure    
,westminster ,bridge2 but they did not  
agree to remove the capital penalty for 
such offences as wounding cattle1       
destroying trees1 breaking down the     
banks of rivers1 or sending threatening 
letters4 ,it was feared that if the     
punishment were mitigated1 the whole of 
,lincolnshire might be submerged1 whole 

forests cut down1 and whole herds       
destroyed4 ,as to the ,shoplifting      
,bill1 they would not let death be      
abolished for stealing in shops         
altogether1 but only where the value of 
the theft was under #ajl4 ,that seemed  
the limit of safe concession4  ,sir     
,robert ,peel1 who was the first        
,ministerial law reformer1 succeeded in 
getting the death penalty repealed for  
several crimes which were practically   
obsolete1 but forty kinds of forgery    
alone still remained capital offences4  
,so great1 however1 did the changes     
appear to be1 that ,sir ,james          
,mackintosh declared1 towards the close 
of his life1 that it was as if he had   
lived in two different countries1 such  
was the contrast between the past and   
the present4 ,yet ,sir ,james died in   
the very year that the first ,reform    
,bill passed1 and it was not till after 
that event that any really great        
progress was made towards ameliorating  
the penal laws4  ,it is well known that 

,lord ,tenterden refused ever to sit    
again in the ,house of ,lords if the    
,reform ,bill became law1 and that he   
predicted that that measure would amount
 to the political extinction of the     
,upper ,house4 ,as regards the history  
of our criminal law ,lord ,tenterden was
 right1 for the period of long pauses   
had passed away1 and rapid changes were 
made with but short intervals of        
breathing-time4 ,from the year the      
,reform ,bill passed the school of      
,beccaria and ,bentham achieved rapid   
successes in ,england4 ,in #ahcb it     
ceased to be capital to steal a horse or
 a sheep1 in #ahcc to break into a      
house1 in #ahcd to return prematurely   
from transportation1 in #ahce to commit 
sacrilege or to steal a letter4 ,but    
even till #ahcg there were still #cg    
capital offences on the statute-book2   
and now there are only two1 murder and  
treason4 ,hanging in chains was         
abolished in #ahcd2 the pillory was     
wholly abolished in #ahcg2 and the same 

year ,ewart1 after many years' struggle1
 obtained for prisoners on trial for    
felony the right 7still merely a nominal
 one7#ci of being defended by counsel4  
,thus it has come about that1 after     
steady opposition and fierce conflict1  
,english law finds itself at the very   
point which ,johnson and ,goldsmith had 
attained a hundred years before2 so true
 is it1 as ,beccaria has said1 that the 
enlightenment of a nation is always a   
century in advance of its practice4 ,the
 victory has conclusively been with the 
ultra-philosophers1 as they were once   
called1 with the speculative            
humanitarians1 for whom good ,lord      
,ellenborough had so honest a contempt4 
,paley's philosophy has long since been 
forgotten1 and if it affords any lesson 
at all1 it lies chiefly in a comparison 
between his gloomy predictions and the  
actual results of the changes he        
deprecated4 ,the practical and          
professional school of law has yielded  
on all the most important points to the 

dissolving influence of ,beccaria's     
treatise2 and the growing demand for    
increasing the security of human life by
 the institution of a penalty1 more     
effective because more certain1 than    
that at present in force1 points to the 
still further triumph of ,beccaria's    
principles1 likely before long to mark  
the progress of his influence in        
,england4     ,,chapter ,,iv4  ,,the    
,,problems ,,of ,,penology4   ,if we    
would bring to the study of ,beccaria's 
treatise the same disposition of mind   
with which he wrote it1 we must enter   
upon the subject with the freest        
possible spirit of inquiry1 and with a  
spirit of doubtfulness1 undeterred in   
its research by authority however       
venerable1 by custom however extended1  
or by time however long4 ,it has been   
from too great reverence for the wisdom 
of antiquity that men in all ages have  
consigned their lives and properties to 
the limited learning and slight         
experience of generations which only    

lived for themselves and had no thought 
of binding posterity in the rules they  
thought suitable to their own times4    
,beccaria sounded the first note of that
 appeal from custom to reason in the    
dominion of law which has been1 perhaps1
 the brightest feature in the history of
 modern times1 and is still transforming
 the institutions of all countries4     
,the object1 therefore1 of this chapter 
is chiefly negative1 being none other   
than to raise such mistrust of mere     
custom1 and so strong a sense of doubt1 
by the contradictions apparent in       
existing laws and theories1 that the    
difficulties of their solution may tempt
 to some investigation of the principles
 on which they rest4  ,that ,penology is
 still only in its experimental stage as
 a science1 in spite of the progress it 
has made in recent times1 is clear from 
the changes that are so constantly being
 made in every department of our penal  
system4 ,we no longer mutilate nor kill 
our criminals1 as our ancestors did in  

the plenitude of their wisdom2 we have  
ceased to transport them1 and our only  
study now is to teach them useful trades
 and laborious industry4 ,yet whether we
 shall better bring them to love labour 
by compulsory idleness or by compulsory 
work1 whether short imprisonment or long
 is the most effective discipline1      
whether seclusion or association is     
least likely to demoralise them1 these  
and similar questions have their answers
 in a quicksand of uncertainty4 ,this   
only may experience be said to have yet 
definitely proved1 that very little     
relation exists in any country between  
the given quantity of crime and the     
quantity or severity of punishment      
directed to its prevention4 ,it has     
taken thousands of years to establish   
this truth1 and even yet it is but      
partially recognised over the world4    
,it would appear at first sight that    
there could be little to say about      
crimes and punishments1 so obvious and  
self-evident seem the relations that    

exist between them4 ,many people still  
believe in an innate sense of justice in
 mankind1 sufficient always to prevent  
wide aberrations from equity4 ,is it1   
they might ask1 conceivable that men    
should ever lose sight of the           
distinction between the punishment of   
guilt and the punishment of             
innocence8--that they should ever punish
 one equally with the other8 ,yet there 
is no country in the world which in its 
past or present history has not involved
 the relations of a criminal in the     
punishment inflicted on him2 and in     
savage countries generally it is still  
common to satisfy justice with vengeance
 on some blood-relation of a malefactor 
who escapes from the punishment due to  
his crime4  ,it would also seem to      
demand no great insight to perceive that
 a voluntary intention must be a        
universal attribute of a criminal       
action4 ,no one would think of punishing
 a man who in his sleep killed another1 
although1 if the injury to society be   

the measure of punishment1 his crime is 
equivalent to intentional homicide4 ,yet
 at ,athens an involuntary murderer was 
banished until he could1 give           
satisfaction to the relatives of the    
deceased2 and in ,china1 though the     
penal code generally separates          
intentional from accidental crimes1     
anyone who kills a near relation by     
accident or commits certain kinds of    
arson by accident undergoes different   
degrees of banishment and a fixed number
 of bamboo strokes4#dj  ,even inanimate 
objects or animals it has been thought  
through many ages reasonable to punish4 
,in ,athens an axe or stone that killed 
anyone by accident was cast beyond the  
border2 and the ,english law was only   
repealed in the present reign which made
 a cartwheel1 a tree1 or a beast1 that  
killed a man1 forfeit to the ,state for 
the benefit of the poor4 ,the ,jewish   
law condemned an ox that gored anyone to
 death to be stoned1 just as it         
condemned the human murderer4 ,and in   

the middle ages pigs1 horses1 or oxen   
were not only tried judicially like men1
 with counsel on either side and        
witnesses1 but they were hung on gallows
 like men1 for the better deterrence of 
their kind in future4#da  ,these customs
 had doubtless their defenders1 and left
 the world not without a struggle4 ,it  
must have cost some one1 whosoever first
 questioned the wisdom of hanging       
animals or murdering a criminal's       
relations1 as much ridicule as it cost  
,beccaria to question the efficacy of   
torture or the right of capital         
punishment4 ,but the boldness of thought
 in that unknown reformer was probably  
lost sight of in the arrogance of his   
profanity1 and he doubtless paid with   
his own neck for his folly in defending 
the pig's4  ,it may be said that all    
such absurdities are past2 that the     
,jews1 the ,athenians1 the ,chinese1 the
 ,europeans of the middle ages can      
scarcely be cited as reasonable beings2 
that they had no rational theory of     

punishment1 and that their errors have  
been long since discarded4 ,but at least
 their example suggests that even in our
 own system there may be inconsistencies
 and blemishes which custom and         
authority hide from our eyes4  ,penal   
laws are the expression of the moral    
sentiments of mankind1 and either are as
 variable as the other4 ,in ,holland it 
was once a capital offence to kill a    
stork1 and in ,england to cut down a    
man's cherry-tree4 ,for a ,roman lady to
 drink wine was as heinous a sin as     
adultery1 for either of which she       
incurred the extreme sentence of the    
law4 ,in ,athens idleness was for a long
 time punishable2 though to a ,spartan  
an ,athenian fined for idleness seemed  
to be punished for keeping up his       
dignity4 ,in ,mexico drunkenness was a  
graver crime than slander2 for whilst   
the slanderer lost his ears or lips1 the
 drunken man or woman was clubbed or    
stoned to death4  ,but if penal laws    
thus express the wide variability of    

human morality1 they also contribute to 
make actions moral or immoral according 
to the penalties by which they enforce  
or prevent them4 ,for not only does     
whatever is immoral tend to become      
penal1 but anything can be made immoral 
by being first made penal2 and hence    
indifferent actions often remain immoral
 long after they have ceased to be      
actually punishable4 ,thus the ,jews    
made ,sabbath-breaking equally immoral  
with homicide or adultery1 by affixing  
to each of them the same capital        
penalty2 and the former offence1 though 
it no longer forms part of any criminal 
code1 has still as much moral force     
against it as many an offence directly  
punishable by the law4  ,but perhaps the
 best illustrations of the tendency of  
actions to retain the infamy1 attached  
to them by a past condition of fanatical
 punishments1 are the cases of suicide  
and child-killing4 ,could a ,greek of   
the classical period1 or a cultivated   
historian like ,plutarch reappear on    

earth1 nothing would strike him more    
vividly than the modern conception or   
recent treatment of these crimes4       
,according to ,plutarch1 ,lycurgus1 the 
great ,spartan lawgiver1 met his death  
by voluntary starvation1 from the       
persuasion that even the deaths of      
lawgivers should be of use to mankind1  
and serve them with an example of virtue
 and greatness2 and ,seneca held that it
 was the part of a wise man not to live 
as long as he could but as long as he   
ought4 ,with what astonishment1 then1   
would not ,plutarch or ,seneca read of  
recent ,european punishments for        
suicide--of ,lady ,hales losing the     
estate she was jointly possessed of with
 her husband1 the ,judge1 because he    
drowned himself2 of the stake and the   
cross-roads2 of the ,english law which  
still regards suicide as murder1 and    
condemns one of two men who in a mutual 
attempt at self-destruction survives the
 other to the punishment of the ordinary
 murderer6 ,is it possible1 he would    

ask1 that an action which was once      
regarded as among the noblest a man     
could perform1 has really come to be    
looked upon with any other feeling than 
one of pity or a sad respect8  ,the case
 of infanticide suggests similar        
thoughts4 ,when we remember that both   
,plato and ,aristotle commended as a    
valuable social custom that which we    
treat as a crime2 when we recall the    
fact that the life of a ,spartan infant 
depended on a committee of elders1 who  
decided whether it should live or       
perish1 we shall better appreciate the  
distance we have travelled1 or1 as some 
would say1 the progress we have made1 if
 we take up some ,english daily paper   
and read of some high-minded ,english   
judge sentencing1 at least formally1    
some wretched woman to death1 because1  
in order to save her child from         
starvation or herself from shame1 she   
has released it from existence4 ,yet the
 feeling1 of which such a sentence is   
the expression1 is often extolled as one

 of the highest triumphs of             
civilisation2 and the laws1 as if there 
were no difference between adult and    
infant life1 glory in protecting the    
weakness of a child by their merciless  
disregard for the weakness of its       
mother4  ,but at least1 it will be      
thought1 we have by this time arrived at
 some principles about punishment which 
correspond with the eternal truths of   
equity4 ,is not ,equality1 for instance1
 one of the primary essentials of       
punishment8 ,does it not stand as a     
penal axiom with almost the sanction of 
a moral law that all men should suffer  
equally for equal crimes8 ,yet1 if by   
equality be meant the same punishment1  
the same kind of labour1 the same term  
of servitude1 the same pecuniary        
fine--and this is the only thing it can 
mean--what more obvious than that the   
same punishment for rich and poor1 for  
young and old1 for strong and weak1 for 
men and women1 for educated and         
uneducated1 will bring to the           

constitution of a penal code the utmost 
inequality the imagination can conceive8
 ,beccaria insists that the law can do  
no more than assign the same extrinsic  
punishment to the same crime2 that is1  
the same punishment1 regardless of all  
other external considerations2 and he   
calls for the infliction of the same    
punishment on the nobleman as on the    
commoner4 ,let it be so2 but the same   
punishment is no longer an equal one2   
and hence from this very demand for     
equality springs the demand for its very
 opposite1 for what ,bentham calls the  
equability of punishment2 that is1      
consideration for the different         
circumstances of individual criminals4  
,so that the same nominal punishment not
 being the same real one1 equality of   
punishment appears to be a chimera1 and 
the law1 which punishes1 say1 a         
distinguished officer less severely than
 it punishes a costermonger for the same
 crime1 errs perhaps really less from   
actual equality than if it condemned    

both to precisely the same punishment4  
,again1 ,proportion between crime and   
punishment seems to be another natural  
demand of equity4 ,yet it is evident    
that it is only approximately possible1 
and will vary in every age and country  
according to the prevalent notions of   
morality4 ,is imprisonment for a year1  
or imprisonment for life1 or for how    
long1 a fair and proportionate          
punishment for perjury8 ,who shall      
decide8 ,shall we submit it to the      
opinion of the judges8 ,but has not     
,romilly left on record the story of the
 two men tried by two different judges  
for stealing some chickens1 who were    
sentenced respectively one to           
imprisonment for two months1 and the    
other to transportation8 ,shall we then 
give up all attempt at proportion and   
apply the same deterrent as equally     
efficacious against slight or grave     
offences8 ,draco1 when asked why he made
 death the punishment for most offences 
that were possible1 is said to have     

replied1 #8,small ones deserve it1 and  
,i can find no greater for the gravest4'
 ,the same reasoning was for a long time
 that of our own law2 and in ,japan1    
where every wrong act was one of        
disobedience to the ,emperor1 and       
accordingly of equal value1 the same    
penalty of death for gambling1 theft1 or
 murder1 obviated all difficulties with 
regard to a proportion which is easier  
to imagine than it is to define4        
,analogy between crime and punishment is
 another idea which1 except in the case 
of death for death1 has been relegated  
from the practice of most criminal laws4
 ,yet the principle has in its favour   
the authority of ,moses1 the authority  
of the whole world and of all time1 that
 punishment should1 if possible1        
resemble the crime it punishes in kind2 
so that a man who blinds another should 
be blinded himself1 he who disfigures   
another be disfigured himself4 ,thus in 
the old-world mythology1 ,theseus and   
,hercules inflict on the evil powers    

they conquer the same cruelties their   
victims were famous for2 ,termenus      
having his skull broken because with his
 own skull he broke the heads of others2
 and ,busiris1 who sacrificed others1   
being himself sacrificed in his turn4   
,both ,montesquieu and ,beccaria also   
advocate analogy in punishment1 and so  
does ,bentham to some degree2 there     
being1 indeed1 few greater contrasts    
between the theories of the great       
,english jurist and modern ,english     
practice than that the former should not
 have deprecated some suffering by      
burning as a penalty analogous to the   
crime of arson1 and that he should have 
advised the transfixing of a forger's   
hand or of a calumniator's tongue by an 
iron instrument before the public gaze  
as good and efficient punishments for   
forgery and slander4  ,these are some of
 the difficulties of the subject1 which 
teach us the necessity of constant      
open-mindedness with regard to all ideas
 or practices connected with criminal   

law4 ,but1 would we further examine our 
established notions1 we should consider 
a statement from ,hobbes which goes to  
the very root of the theory of          
punishment4  #8,in revenges or          
punishments1' says ,hobbes1 #8men ought 
not to look at the greatness of the evil
 past1 but the greatness of the good to 
follow1 whereby we are forbidden to     
inflict punishment with any other design
 than for the correction of the offender
 and the admonition of others4' ,and    
over and over again the same thing has  
been said1 till it has come to be a     
commonplace in the philosophy of law1   
that the object of punishment is to     
reform and deter4 ,as was once said by a
 great legal authority1 #8,we do not    
hang you because you stole a horse1 but 
that horses may not be stolen4'#db      
,punishment by this theory is a means to
 an end1 not an end in itself4  ,yet1   
supposing it were proved to-morrow that 
punishment fails entirely of the ends   
imputed to it2 that1 for example1 the   

greater number of crimes are committed  
by criminals who have been punished     
already2 that for one chance of a man's 
reformation during his punishment there 
are a hundred in favour of his          
deterioration2 and that the deterrent   
influence of his punishment is          
altogether removed by his own           
descriptions of it2 shall we suppose for
 a moment that society would cease to   
punish1 on the ground that punishment   
attained none of its professed ends8    
,would it say to the horse-stealer1     
#8,keep your horse1 for nothing we can  
do to you can make you any better1 nor  
deter others from trying to get horses  
in the same way8'  ,or to take a        
stronger case4 ,a deserter from the     
ranks escapes to his home1 breaks into  
it at night1 robs an infirm father of   
all the savings he has provided for his 
old age1 and in a struggle for their    
possession so injures him that he dies4 
,must the law disclaim all indignation1 
all resentment1 in the punishment it    

inflicts1 and say to such a ruffian that
 it only deals hard with him in order to
 warn others by his example1 and with   
the pious hope of making a good man of  
him in the future8 ,if resentment is    
ever just1 is it wrong to give it public
 expression8 ,if it is natural and right
 in private life1 why should it be a    
matter of shame in public life8 ,if     
there is such a thing as just anger for 
a single man1 does it become unjust when
 distributed among a million8  ,as a    
matter of fact the law affords a very   
clear proof1 that its real purpose is to
 administer retributive justice and that
 punishment has no end beyond itself1 by
 its careful apportionment of punishment
 to crime1 by its invariable adjustment 
between the evil a man has done and the 
evil it deals out to him in return4 ,for
 what purpose punish offences according 
to a certain scale1 for what purpose    
stay to measure their gravity1 if merely
 the prevention of crime is the object  
of punishment8 ,why punish a slight     

theft with a few months' imprisonment   
and a burglary with as many years8 ,the 
slight theft1 as easier to commit1 as   
more tempting accordingly1 should surely
 have a harder penalty affixed to it    
than a crime which1 as it is more       
difficult1 is also less probable and    
less in need of strong                  
counter-inducements to restrain it4     
,that the law never reasons in this way 
is because it weighs offences according 
to their different degrees of           
criminality1 or1 in other words1 because
 it feels that the fair retaliation for 
the burglary is not a fair retaliation  
for the theft4  ,if1 moreover1 the      
prevention of crime is the chief object 
of punishment1 why wait till the crime  
is committed8 ,why not punish before1 as
 a certain ,turk in ,barbary is said to 
have done1 who1 whenever he bought a    
fresh ,christian slave1 had him         
forthwith suspended by his heels and    
bastinadoed1 that the severe sense of   
his punishment might prevent him from   

committing in future the faults that    
should merit it8#dc ,why should we ever 
let a man out of prison who has once    
entered one8 ,is he not then a hundred  
times more likely to violate the law    
than he was before2 and is he ever more 
dangerous to society than when he has   
once suffered for the public example1   
and been released from the discipline   
that was intended to reform him8 ,it is 
still true1 as ,goldsmith said long ago1
 that we send a man to prison for one   
crime and let him loose again ready to  
commit a thousand4 ,and so it is1 that  
of the #gd1jjj souls who make up our    
criminal classes1 whilst about #cd1jjj  
of them fill our prisons and            
reformatories1 there is still an army of
 #dj1jjj at large in our midst1 whom we 
class as known thieves1 receivers of    
stolen goods1 and suspected persons4#dd 
,a child's simple philosophy of         
punishment therefore is after all the   
correct one1 when it tells you without  
hesitation that the reason a man is     

punished for a bad action is simply     
#8because he deserves it4' ,the notion  
of desert in punishment is based        
entirely on feelings of the justice of  
resentment4 ,so that the primary aim of 
legal punishment is precisely the same  
as may be shown historically to have    
been its origin1 namely1 the regulation 
by society of the wrongs of individuals4
 ,in all early laws and societies       
distinct traces may be seen of the      
transition of the vendetta1 or right of 
private revenge1 from the control of the
 person or family injured by a crime to 
that of the community at large4 ,the    
latter at first decided only the        
question of guilt1 whilst leaving its   
punishment to the pleasure of the       
individuals directly concerned by it4   
,even to this day in ,turkey sentences  
of death for murder run as follows3     
,so-and-so is condemned to death at the 
demand of the victim's heirs2 and such  
sentences are sometimes directed to be  
carried out in their presence4#de ,by   

degrees the community obtained control  
of the punishment as well1 and thus     
private might became public right1 and  
the resentment of individual injuries   
the ,retributive ,justice of the ,state4
  ,the recognition of this regulation of
 resentment as the main object of       
punishment affords the best test for    
measuring its just amount4 ,for that    
amount will be found to be just which is
 necessary2 that is to say1 which just  
suffices for the object it aims at--the 
satisfaction of general or private      
resentment4 ,it must be so much1 and no 
more1 as will prevent individuals from  
preferring to take the law into their   
own hands and seeking to redress their  
own injuries4 ,this degree can only be  
gathered from experience1 nor is it any 
real objection to it1 that it must      
obviously be somewhat arbitrary and     
variable4 ,both ,wladimir ,i41 the first
 ,christian ,czar of ,russia1 and       
,wladimir ,,ii4 tried the experiment of 
abolishing capital punishment for       

murder2 but the increase of murders by  
the vendetta compelled them to fall back
 upon the old modes of punishment4#df   
,some centuries later the ,empress      
,elizabeth successfully tried the same  
experiment1 without the revival of the  
vendetta1 the state of society having so
 far altered that the relations of a    
murdered man no longer insisted on the  
death of his murderer4 ,but had         
,elizabeth abolished all legal          
punishment for murder--had she1 that is1
 allowed no public vendetta of any      
kind--undoubtedly the vendetta would    
have become private again4  ,by the same
 rule1 in the case of theft1 the value  
of the thing stolen1 with some          
equivalent for the trouble of its       
recovery1 taken from the offender or    
made a lien on his earnings1 appears to 
be all that justice can demand4 ,sir    
,samuel ,romilly1 himself second to none
 as a lawyer1 wrote seventy years ago3  
#8,if the restitution of the property   
stolen1 and only a few weeks' or even   

but a few days' imprisonment were the   
unavoidable consequence of theft1 no    
theft would ever be committed4' ,yet the
 following sentences are taken at random
 from authentic ,english sources3 three 
months' imprisonment for stealing a     
pipe1 six months for stealing a penny1 a
 twelvemonth for stealing an umbrella1  
five years' penal servitude for stealing
 some stamps from a letter1 seven years 
for stealing twopence4 ,in such cases   
the principle of vindictiveness exceeds 
the limits of necessity1 and therefore  
of justice2 whilst the law loses all its
 dignity as the expression of           
unimpassioned resentment4  ,is it       
possible1 then1 so beforehand to        
apportion punishments to crimes that    
when a crime is committed it shall be   
but necessary to refer to a code and at 
once detect its appropriate punishment8 
,or must the law be general in its      
language1 and leave a wide margin to the
 discretion of the judge8 ,beccaria     
would have the judicial function        

confined solely to the ascertainment of 
the fact of a crime1 its punishment     
preordained by the law4 ,on the other   
hand it is said1 that it is impossible  
to anticipate every case that may arise2
 that no two cases are ever alike2 that 
it is better to leave the nice          
adjustment of penalties to the wisdom   
and impartiality of a judge1 and only   
limit his discretion by rules of a most 
expansive description4  ,the ,chinese   
penal code of #afdg is probably the     
nearest approach to ,beccaria's         
conception1 and nothing is more         
marvellous than the precision with which
 it apportions punishments to every     
shade of crime1 leaving no conceivable  
offence1 of commission or omission1     
without its exact number of bamboo      
strokes1 its exact pecuniary penalty1 or
 its exact term or distance of          
banishment4 ,it is impossible in this   
code to conceive any discretion or room 
for doubt left to the judicial officers 
beyond the discovery of the fact of an  

alleged crime4 ,but what is practicable 
in one country is practicable in        
another2 so that the charge so often    
urged against thus eliminating judicial 
discretion1 that it is fair in theory   
but impossible in practice1 finds itself
 at direct issue with the facts of      
actual life4#dg  ,but although the laws 
of every country thus recognise in      
different degrees the retributive nature
 of punishment1 by their constant       
attention to its apportionment to crime1
 there is another corollary of the      
desirability of a just proportion       
between the two1 which has never been1  
nor is ever likely to be1 accepted3     
namely1 that from the point of view of  
the public interest1 which in theory is 
the only legal view1 it is no mitigation
 of a crime that it is a first offence1 
nor any aggravation of one that it is   
the second4  ,for since the observance  
of some regular proportion between crime
 and punishment1 whatever that          
proportion may be1 constitutes the first

 principle of an equitable code2 and    
since the most important thing in public
 morality is a fixed penal estimate for 
every class of crime2 it is above all   
things desirable that the law should    
always adhere to such proportion and    
estimate1 by concerning itself solely   
with the crime and not with the         
criminal4 ,the injury to the public is  
precisely the same whether a criminal   
has broken the law for the first time or
 for the thousandth and first2 and to   
punish a man more severely for his      
second offence than for his first1      
because he has been punished before1 is 
to cast aside all regard for that due   
proportion between crime and punishment 
which is after all the chief ingredient 
of retributive justice1 and to inflict a
 penalty often altogether incommensurate
 with the injury inflicted on the       
public4  ,for instance1 the injury to   
the public is no greater the hundredth  
time a man steals a rabbit than it is   
the first4 ,the public may be interested

 in the prevention of poaching1 but it  
is not interested in the person of the  
poacher1 nor in the number of times he  
may have broken the law4 ,the law claims
 to be impersonal--to treat offences as 
they affect the ,state1 not as they     
affect individuals2 to act mechanically1
 coldly1 and dispassionately4 ,it has1  
therefore1 simply to deal with the      
amount of injury done by each specific  
offence1 and to affix to it its specific
 penalty1 regardless of all matters of  
moral antecedents4 ,the repetition of an
 offence may make its immorality the    
greater1 but its criminality remains the
 same1 and this only is within the      
province of the law4  ,it is the        
specific crime1 not the fact that it is 
a second or third felony1 which is      
injurious4 ,neither a community nor an  
individual suffer more from the         
commission of a crime by a man who      
commits it for the second time than from
 its commission by a man who has never  
committed it before4 ,if two brothers   

are each robbed of a pound apiece on two
 several occasions1 the one who is      
robbed each time by the same criminal   
suffers no more than the one who is     
robbed each time by different criminals4
 ,still less is the public more injured 
in one case than in the other4          
,therefore the former brother is        
entitled for his second loss to no more 
restitution than the other1 nor has any 
more claim on society for the infliction
 of a severer punishment on his behalf  
than that inflicted for the second loss 
of his brother4  ,a few stories may be  
taken as illustrative of thousands to   
indicate the mischief and travesty of   
justice which arises from the neglect of
 this principle1 and from the custom of 
making a legal inquiry into moral       
antecedents4  ,a farm labourer1 with a  
wife and four children1 and earning     
eleven shillings a week1 was imprisoned 
in the county gaol for two months for   
the theft of a pound of butter4 ,soon   
after his release sickness entered his  

home1 and to supply his children's wants
 he again yielded to temptation and     
stole twelve duck's eggs4 ,for this he  
was sentenced to seven years' penal     
servitude2 or rather not for this theft1
 but because he had already incurred a  
severe punishment for a theft of some   
butter4 ,the sentence was most perfectly
 lawful1 but was it not perfectly       
unjust8  ,almost any number of the      
#8,times' will illustrate the same      
thing4 ,take the account of the         
,middlesex ,sessions of ,february #bd1  
#ahhj4 ,there we find the case of a man 
and woman sentenced to seven and five   
years' penal servitude respectively4    
,what enormities had they committed8    
,the man had stolen three-halfpence from
 somebody2 and the woman1 who was a     
laundress1 had stolen two skirts1 of the
 value of six shillings1 from a vendor  
of sheep's trotters4 ,the man had       
incurred previously seven years' penal  
servitude for a robbery with violence1  
and the woman had three times in her    

life been sentenced to imprisonment4    
,but is it just that1 because a man has 
been severely punished once1 no rule nor
 measure shall be observed with him if  
he incur punishment again8 ,and might   
not a vendor of sheep's trotters have   
been satisfied1 without a laundress     
becoming a burden to the ,state8  ,it   
will be said1 of course1 that the       
practice of giving increased sentences  
where there have been previous          
convictions prevails all over the world 
and in all states of civilisation4 ,but 
in that very fact lies the strength of  
the argument against it4 ,by the ,roman 
law a third case of theft1 however      
slight1 exposed a man to death4#dh ,by  
the laws of ,st4 ,louis the man who     
stole a thing of trifling value lost an 
ear the first time1 a foot the second1  
and was hung the third4 ,by the criminal
 code of ,sardinia in the fifteenth     
century1 asses were condemned to lose   
one ear the first time they trespassed  
on a field not their master's1 and their

 second ear for a second offence4 ,but  
enough of such instances4 ,the practice 
is undoubtedly universal2 but so at one 
time were ordeals and tortures4 ,may    
not1 then1 the practice be1 like them1  
part and parcel of a crude state of law1
 such as was unavoidable in its         
emergence to better things1 but such as 
it is worth some effort to escape from8 
,there are1 however1 certain limitations
 even to the supposed universality of   
the custom4 ,for the ,roman jurists did 
not consider a re-conviction as a       
circumstance in itself which justified  
aggravation of punishment2 and all that 
can be gathered from some fragments in  
the ,pandects and ,code is1 that some   
particular cases of repeated crimes were
 punished more severely than a first    
offence4 ,but they were crimes of the   
same kind2 and a man whose first crime  
was a theft and whose second was an     
assault would not have incurred an      
aggravated penalty4 ,it is the same     
to-day in the ,austrian1 ,tuscan1 and a 

few other codes3 a second crime is only 
punished more severely as a second crime
 when it is of the same kind as the     
first1 so that it would not suffice to  
prove simply a previous conviction for  
felony irrespective of the particular   
sort4 ,there is also another limitation 
that has sometimes been recognised1 for 
in the ,roman law the rule of an        
increased penalty fell to the ground1 if
 three years elapsed without offence    
between the punishment for one crime and
 the commission of a second4#di  ,if it 
be said that a second conviction makes  
it necessary for society to protect     
itself by stronger measures against a   
member who thus defies its power1 it may
 be asked whether this is not an        
application of exactly the same         
reasoning to the crimes of individuals1 
which as applied to the crimes of all   
men generally led our ancestors so far  
astray in the distribution of their     
punishments4 ,nothing could have been   
more plausible than their reasoning3    

#8,the punishment in vogue does not     
diminish the crime1 therefore increase  
the punishment4' ,but nothing could have
 been less satisfactory than the result1
 for with the increase of punishment    
that of crime went hand in hand4 ,the   
same reasoning is equally plausible in  
the case of individuals1 with the same  
perplexing question resulting in the    
end3 #8,how comes it that1 in spite of  
the threatened greater punishment1 the  
majority of criminals are yet old       
offenders8'  ,it is unhappily no mere   
theory1 that the majority of crimes are 
committed precisely by those who risk   
most in committing them2 by those1 that 
is1 who commit them with the aggravated 
penalty full in view4 ,by the existing  
law 7of which both the ,criminal ,code- 
and the ,penal ,servitude-,commissioners
 have proposed the mitigation7 anyone   
convicted of felony after a previous    
conviction for felony is liable to penal
 servitude for life1 or to imprisonment 
with hard labour for four years1 with   

one or more whippings4 ,the minimum     
punishment for a second conviction of   
felony is seven years4 ,yet1 with the   
knowledge of such increased punishments 
before their eyes1 with the full        
consciousness of their liabilities as   
old offenders1 official statistics show 
that of both the male and female        
convicts in the ,english convict prisons
 considerably more than half have       
incurred previous convictions4#ej ,of   
the male convicts in #ahgh1 #gi per     
cent41 and of the female #hi per cent41 
were cases of reciduous crime4 ,may it  
not1 then1 be argued from such a failure
 of the system to an error in the       
principle on which it rests8 ,for is it 
not evident that the aggravated penalty 
does as little to deter as the original 
punishment does to reform8  ,but        
undoubtedly punishment1 although in its 
origin and present intention vindictive1
 must exercise a certain preventive     
force against crime1 and this preventive
 force can scarcely be estimated1 for   

that which is prevented is1 of course1  
not seen4 ,but the efficiency of        
punishment as a deterrent is            
proportioned to its certainty1 and there
 is a large element of uncertainty that 
can never be eliminated4 ,for every     
malefactor there are two hopes3 first1  
that he may escape detection or         
apprehension2 secondly1 that he may     
escape conviction4 ,that his hopes of   
impunity are not without reason greater 
than his fears of punishment the        
following facts attest4  ,in a period of
 ten years1 from #ahfg to #ahgf1 the    
total number of principal indictable    
offences committed in the metropolis    
against property--and these constitute  
the great majority of crimes--were      
#aag1cde4 ,but the apprehensions for    
these offences were only #bf1dbf1 the   
convictions only #ai1bdb4 ,in other     
words1 the chances against apprehension 
for such crimes as burglary or larceny  
are four to one in favour of the        
criminal1 whilst the chances against his

 conviction and punishment are fully as 
high as six to one4 ,when we thus find  
that only #af per cent4 of such crimes  
receive any punishment1 the remaining   
#hd per cent4 escaping it altogether1   
and that only #bb per cent4 are even    
followed by apprehension1 we shall the  
more admire the general efficacy of our 
criminal machinery1 in which prevention 
by punishment plays so small a part4#ea 
,but punishment bears much the same     
relation to crime in the country at     
large that it does in the metropolis4   
,let one year be taken as a fair sample 
of all4 ,the total number of indictable 
offences of all kinds reported to the   
police in #ahgg-h was #ed1jfe4 ,for     
these offences only #bd1jfb persons were
 apprehended4 ,of these latter only     
#af1hbj were held to bail or committed  
for trial2 and of these again #ab1dgc   
were convicted and punished4#eb ,so     
that1 though the proportion of          
convictions to the number of prisoners  
who come to trial is about #ge per      

cent41 the proportion of convictions1   
that is1 of punishments1 to the number  
of crimes committed is so low as #bc per
 cent4 ,of the #ed1jfe crimes reported  
to the police in one year #da1eib were  
actually committed with impunity2 and   
thus the proportion which successful    
crime of all sorts bears to unsuccessful
 is rather more than as four to one4#ec 
,so that there is evident truth in what 
a good authority has said3 #8,few       
offences comparatively are followed by  
detection and punishment1 and with a    
moderate degree of cunning an offender  
may generally go on for a long time with
 but feeble checks1 if not complete     
impunity4'#ed  ,against this general    
uncertainty of punishment1 which no     
severity in the law can affect or make  
up for1 the only certainty of punishment
 dependent on the law is in the event of
 conviction4 ,but even this certainty is
 of a very qualified nature1 for it     
depends on sentiments of due proportion 
between a crime and its penalty1 which  

in no two men are the same4 ,every      
increase of severity in punishment      
diminishes its certainty1 since it holds
 out to a criminal fresh hopes of       
impunity from the clemency of his       
judges1 prosecutors1 or jury4  ,but     
there is a still further uncertainty of 
punishment1 for it is as well known in  
the criminal world as elsewhere that the
 sentence pronounced in court is not the
 real sentence1 and that neither penal  
servitude for five years nor penal      
servitude for life mean necessarily     
anything of the sort4 ,the humanity of  
modern legislation insists on a         
remission of punishment1 dependent on a 
convict's life in the public works      
prisons1 in order that the element of   
hope may brighten his lot and perchance 
reform his character4 ,this remission   
was at first dependent simply on his    
conduct1 which was perhaps too          
generously called good where it was hard
 for it to be bad2 now it depends on his
 industry and amount of work done4 ,yet 

the element of hope might be otherwise  
assured than by lessening the certainty 
of punishment1 say1 by associating      
industry or good conduct with such      
little privileges of diet1              
letter-writing1 or receiving of visits1 
as still shed some rays of pleasure over
 the monotony of felon-life4 ,it should 
not be forgotten1 that the ,commission  
of #ahfc1 which so strongly advocated   
the remissibility of parts of penal     
sentences1 did so in despite of one of  
its principal members1 against no less  
an authority than the ,lord ,chief      
,justice1 then ,sir ,alexander          
,cockburn4#ee ,the very fact of the     
remissibility of a sentence is an       
admission of its excessive severity2 for
 to say that a sentence is never carried
 out is to say that it need never have  
been inflicted4  ,the question1         
therefore1 arises1 ,does crime depend to
 any appreciable extent on imprisonment 
at all1 or on the length or shortness of
 sentences8  ,the right to ask such a   

question derives itself from recent     
experience4 ,in #ahec the country       
decided to shorten terms of penal       
servitude as compared with those of the 
then expiring system of transportation1 
for which they were to be substituted4  
,four years later it was resolved to    
equalise terms of penal servitude with  
those formerly given of transportation1 
though transportation for seven years   
was still to have its equivalent in     
three of penal servitude4 ,then came the
 garrotting year1 #ahfb1 in consequence 
of which the minimum term of penal      
servitude was raised to five years1     
whilst no sentence of penal servitude1  
after a previous conviction of felony1  
was to be for less than seven years4    
,now again the tide has turned in favour
 of shorter sentences1 and it is        
officially proposed to relinquish the   
latter minimum of servitude as too      
severe1 and as leading in practice to   
sentences of simple imprisonment1 which 
on the other hand are declared to be too

 slight4  ,in such a zigzag path has our
 penal legislation been feeling1 and is 
still feeling1 its way1 with evident    
misgiving of that principle of          
repression1 as false as it is old1 that 
an increase of crime can only be met by 
an increase of punishment4  ,there seem 
to be three principal reasons why1 under
 our present system1 crime still keeps  
its general level1 irrespective of all  
changes in our degrees of punishment4   
,in the first place1 our public works   
prisons1 however excellent for their    
material results1 are so many schools of
 crime1 where for the one honest trade a
 man learns by compulsion he acquires a 
knowledge of three or four that are     
dishonest4 #8,i have become acquainted1'
 says a released convict1 #8with more of
 what is bad and evil1 together with the
 schemes and dodges of professional     
thieves and swindlers1 during the four  
years ,i served the ,queen for nothing1 
than ,i should have done in fifty years 
outside the prison walls4' #8,the       

association rooms at ,dartmoor are as   
bad as it is possible for anything to be
 ''' they are really class-rooms in the 
college of vice1 where all are alike    
students and professors4 ,the present   
system in most instances merely         
completes the man's vicious and criminal
 education1 instead of in the slightest 
degree reforming him4'#ef ,it has been  
attempted in various ways to obviate    
this difficulty1 by diminishing         
opportunities of companionship2 but the 
real demoralisation of prison life is   
probably due less to the actual contact 
of bad men with one another than to the 
deadened sense of criminality which they
 derive from the feeling of numbers1    
just as from the same cause the danger  
of drowning is forgotten on the ice4    
,prisoners in gangs lose all shame of   
crime1 just as men in armies forget     
their native horror of murder4  ,in the 
second place1 a large proportion of the 
habitual criminal class is formed of    
weak-minded or imbecile persons1        

notorious for the repeated commission of
 petty thefts1 crimes of violence and   
passion1 and confessed to be #8not      
amenable to the ordinary influences of  
self-interest or fear of punishment4'#eg
 ,it is now proposed to separate this   
class of prisoners from others2 but is  
punishment operative on them at all8 ,is
 not their proper place an asylum8  ,in 
the third place1 there is the discharge 
from prison2 and truly1 if the          
prevention of crime be a main object of 
society1 it is just when a man is       
released from prison that1 from a social
 point of view1 there would seem most   
reason to send him there4 ,for even if1 
whilst in prison1 he has learned no     
dishonest means of livelihood1 how shall
 he1 when out of it1 set about obtaining
 an honest one8 ,if temptation was too  
strong for him when all doors were open 
to him1 is it likely to be less strong  
when most are closed8 ,will it not be   
something like a miracle1 if1 with two  
pounds paid to him on his discharge and 

his railway fare paid home1 he eat for  
any considerable time the bread of      
honesty1 and sleep the sleep of the     
just8  ,that these causes do to a great 
extent defeat the preventive effect of  
our penal laws1 is proved by the tale of
 our criminal statistics1 which reveal  
the fact that most of our crime is      
committed by those who have once been   
punished1 and that of general crime     
about #gg per cent4 is committed with   
impunity4 ,but if so large a proportion 
of crimes pass unpunished altogether1 it
 is evident that society depends much   
less for its general security upon its  
punishments than is commonly supposed4  
,might it not1 therefore1 still further 
relax such punishments1 which are really
 a severe tax on the great majority of  
honest people for the repression of the 
very small proportion who constitute the
 dishonest part of the community8#eh    
,for if punishment is weak to prevent   
crime1 it is strong to produce it1 and  
it is scarcely open to doubt that its   

productive force is far greater than its
 preventive4 ,our terms of imprisonment 
compel more persons to enter a career of
 crime than they prevent from pursuing  
one1 that being often the only resource 
left for those who depend on a          
criminal's labour4 ,whether in prison or
 the workhouse1 such dependents become a
 charge to society2 nor does it seem    
reasonable1 that if one man under sore  
temptation steals a loaf1 a hundred     
other men who do no such thing must     
contribute to keep1 not only the        
prisoner himself1 but his family too1 in
 their daily bread for so long a time as
 it pleases the law to detain him from  
earning his and their necessary         
subsistence4  ,since1 therefore1 there  
is more to fear from a punished than    
from an unpunished criminal1 there is   
the less reason to regret the general   
impunity of crime4 ,there is indeed a   
large class of crimes for the prevention
 of which more would be done1 by leaving
 them to their natural consequences1 and

 to the strong power against them which 
the general interests and moral feelings
 of mankind will always enforce1 than by
 actual punishment4 ,it is particularly 
crimes of dishonesty which are best     
punished by the mere fact of their      
discovery4 ,by the ,norwegian law if an 
offender holds any official place he is 
punished1 not by fine or imprisonment1  
but by the loss of his office and all   
the privileges connected with it4#ei    
,and if we imagine a country without any
 legal penalty at all for theft or      
dishonesty1 thieves and their tribe     
would soon find their proper punishment1
 by that process of social shifting1    
which would drive them to the most      
deleterious or dangerous occupations of 
life even more effectually than it so   
drives them at present4 ,the less       
dependence is placed on the penal       
sanctions of crime1 the stronger do the 
moral restraints from it become4  ,it is
 against crimes affecting the person    
that punishments are most desirable and 

their vindictive character most justly  
displayed4 ,personal violence calls for 
personal detention or personal          
chastisement2 and the principle of      
analogy in punishment is most           
appropriate in the case of a man who    
maltreats his wife or abuses his        
strength against any weakness greater   
than his own4 ,punishment in such cases 
is a demand of natural justice1 whether 
anyone is affected by the example or    
not1 and whether or not the man himself 
is improved by it4 ,not only is it the  
best means of enforcing that personal   
security which is one of the main       
functions of the ,state1 but it is an   
expression of that sense of moral       
reprobation which is so necessary to the
 good order of society4  ,repression by 
the law seems likewise the only means of
 preventing that large class of actions 
which affect the general character and  
tone of a country1 whilst they          
injuriously affect no individual in     
particular4 ,the protection of creatures

 too feeble to protect themselves       
justifies1 under this head1 the legal   
punishment of cruelty to animals4 ,it is
 idle to say that the law can do nothing
 against the average moral sense of the 
community1 for the law is often at first
 the only possible lever of our moral   
ideas4 ,were it not for the law we      
should still bait bulls and bears1 and  
find amusement in cock-throwing2 and    
till the law includes hares and pigeons 
within the pale of protection drawn so  
tenderly round bulls and bears1 no moral
 sense is likely to arise against the   
morbid pleasures of coursing and        
pigeon-shooting4  ,that the punishments 
of long custody by which we now defend  
our lives and properties are out of all 
proportion to the real needs of social  
existence is indicated by such a fact as
 that no increase of crime used to      
attend the periodical release of        
prisoners which was for long1 if it is  
not still1 customary in ,russia at the  
beginning of each reign4 ,neither in    

,india1 when on the ,queen's assumption 
of the title of ,empress1 a pardon was  
granted to about one-tenth of the prison
 population1 did any increase of crime  
ensue1 as1 according to all criminal    
reasoning1 it should have done1 if the  
safety of society depends on the custody
 of the criminal class4#fj ,in ,sweden a
 low rate of crime seems to be a direct 
consequence of a low scale of           
punishment4 ,of those condemned to      
travaux forcs1 which may vary from a    
period of two months to a period for    
life1 #fd per cent4 are condemned for   
one year1 and only #c per cent4 are     
condemned for seven years2#fa whilst    
sentences to the latter period in       
,england form between #ej and #fj per   
cent4 of the sentences to penal         
servitude4  ,but if the custody of the  
criminal class has been overrated as a  
preventive of crime1 or regarded as the 
sole preventive instead of one amongst  
many1 it does not follow that crime on  
that account must be left to itself4 ,it

 only follows that we should trust to   
punishment less and to other agencies   
more in our war with crime1 and that we 
should seek to check the latter at its  
source1 not in its full stream1 by      
attending to the improvement of the     
general conditions of life4 ,it is quite
 certain1 for instance1 that the spread 
of education1 of which ,beccaria wrote  
in terms of such despair1 means the     
diminution of crime2 and as the majority
 of crimes are committed between the    
ages of twenty and forty1 it may be     
predicted that from the present year    
onwards the great ,act of #ahgj will    
bear increasing fruit in lowering our   
criminal statistics4 ,more too may be   
hoped for from the electric light than  
from any multiplication of prisons4     
,there are a few obvious remedies by    
which the inducements to crime might be 
easily diminished4 ,in #ahjh ,sir       
,samuel ,romilly brought in a bill1 to  
provide persons tried and acquitted of  
felony with compensation1 at the        

discretion of the judge1 for the loss   
they incurred by their detention and    
trial4 ,this was objected to1 on the    
ground that the payment of such         
compensation out of the county rates    
would discourage prosecutions2 and the  
only justice done to men falsely accused
 from that day to this is the           
authorisation given to goal-governors in
 #ahgh to provide prisoners1 who have   
been brought from another county for    
trial at the assizes and have been      
acquitted1 with means of returning to   
their own homes4 ,something more than   
this is required to save a man so       
situated from falling into real crime4  
,one thing that might be done1 which    
would also serve at the same time to    
keep a prisoner's family from want1 the 
main source of crime1 would be the      
formation of a ,prisoners' ,fund1 for   
his and their benefit4 ,for this there  
is a precedent in a quite recent ,act4  
,for the ,act1 which abolished the      
forfeiture of a felon's property1       

enabled the ,crown to appoint an        
administrator of it1 for the benefit of 
the persons injured by the crime and the
 felon's family1 the property itself and
 its income reverting ultimately to the 
convict or to his representatives4      
,there could1 however1 be no objection  
in justice to the forfeiture of a       
proportionate part of every felon's     
property1 such forfeiture to be         
dedicated to the formation of a fund1   
out of which assistance should be given1
 both to the families of prisoners      
during their custody and to the         
prisoners themselves on their           
discharge4#fb ,such a fund might be     
still further increased by the          
substitution of a lien on a man's wages 
or income for many minor offences now   
punished1 but not prevented1 by         
imprisonment4  ,by the present ,english 
law a person convicted of more offences 
than one may be sentenced for each      
offence separately1 the punishment of   
each one in succession taking effect on 

the expiration of the other4 ,by this   
law 7which the ,criminal ,code          
,commissioners propose to alter7        
imprisonment may be spread over the     
whole of a lifetime4 ,on this point the 
,chinese law again offers a model1 for  
it enacts that when two or more offences
 are proved against a man1 they shall   
all be estimated together1 and the      
punishment of all the lesser offences be
 included in that of the principal      
charge1 not in addition to it ,so also  
if the offences are charged at different
 times1 and the punishment of one has   
been already discharged1 there is no    
further punishment for the other        
subsequent charges1 unless they be      
charges of greater criminality1 in which
 case only the difference between the   
punishments can be legally incurred4#fc 
,but this of course presupposes a       
definite scale of crimes and            
punishments4  ,such are some of the     
problems connected with penology1 which 
best illustrate the imperfection of its 

hitherto attained results4 ,only one    
thing as yet seems to stand out from the
 mist1 which is1 that closely associated
 as crime and punishment are both in    
thought and speech1 they are but little 
associated in reality4 ,the amount of   
crime in a country appears to be a given
 quantity1 dependent on quite other     
causes than the penal laws directed to  
its repression4 ,the efficiency of the  
latter seems proportioned to their      
mildness1 not to their severity2 such   
severity being always spoiled by an     
inevitable moderation in practice4 ,the 
conclusion1 therefore1 would seem to be1
 that a short simple code1 with every   
punishment attached to every offence1   
with every motive for aggravation of    
punishment stated1 and on so moderate a 
scale that no discretion for its        
mitigation should be necessary1 would be
 the means best calculated to give to   
penal laws their utmost value as        
preventives of crime1 though experience 
proves that as such preventives their   

place is a purely secondary one in a    
really good system of legislation4      
,,footnotes  #a ,by a ,cabinet ,order of
 ,june #c1 #agdj4 ,see ,carlyle's       
,frederick the ,great1 iii4 #g4  #b     
,pike1 ,history of ,crime in ,england1  
ii4 #bhc1 #cdf4  #c ,beccaria was born  
in #agch1 and his book appeared in      
#agfd4 ,therefore he was only #bf4 ,the 
#bh must refer to the time he wrote the 
letter4  #d ,lettre #hj4  #e ,i ,piaceri
 della ,immaginazione1 in his collected 
works by ,villari1 p4 #edf4  #f         
,villari1 ,opere di ,beccaria1 #edg4  #g
 ,it is published in the ,haarlem       
edition of the ,dei ,delitti1 #agff4  #h
 ,the letter is in ,diderot's uvres1 ix4
 #dea-ff4  #i ,see the two volumes of   
their ,lettere published at ,milan by   
,dr4 ,c4 ,casati1 #ahhj4  #aj ,lettere1 
ii4 #bba3 #8,il suo libro d'oro sicuro  
chiuso4'  #aa ,lettere1 ii4 #aej4  #ab  
,pietro had sent some of his manuscripts
 to ,morellet1 perhaps in the hope that 
the latter would offer to translate     

them4 ,anyhow ,beccaria brought back no 
compliments to ,pietro from ,paris1 and 
the key to ,pietro's feelings lies in   
the words he wrote to his brother the   
day after ,beccaria's return3 #8,non mi 
ha detto una sillaba che mostri che     
alcuno sappia in ,parigi1 che io sono al
 mondo4'  #ac ,lettere1 i4 #cia2 ii4    
#gj1 #abg1 #aea1 #baa1 #bie4 ,it is     
satisfactory for this point to be       
settled1 for even so lately as #ahfb1   
,sig4 ,cant1 in his work on ,beccaria1  
attributes the ,risposta to him1 saying 
that all the intrinsic proofs are in    
favour of its being his work4 ,p4 #eh4  
#ad ,ibid4 ii4 #aei4  #ae ,lettere1 ii4 
#bbe4  #af ,morellet1 ,mmoires1 i4 #afg3
 #8,revenu  ,milan il a fait peu de     
chose1 et sa fin n'a pas rpondu  son    
dbut1 phnomne commun parmi les gens de  
lettres d',italie1 qui ont un premier   
feu bien vif1 mais qui1  #be et #cj ans1
 se dsabusent comme ,salomon et         
reconnaissent que la science est vanit1 
sans avoir attendu d'tre aussi savant   

que lui4'  #ag ,cant1 ,beccaria1 #db4   
#ah ,in a book called ,cautio           
,criminalis1 published in #agah4  #ai   
,jardine's ,reading on ,torture4  #bj   
,tooke's ,catharine ,,ii41 #dda-h4      
,rambaud's ,russie1 #dgf4 #8,dans       
l'instruction pour la confection du     
nouveau ,code1 ,catharine ,,ii41 suivant
 sa propre expression1 avait pill les   
philosophes d',occident1 mais surtout   
,montesquieu et ,beccaria4'  #ba        
,morellet1 ,mmoires1 i4 #afe4  #bb      
,general ,c4 ,lee's ,memoirs4  #bc ,this
 fact rests on the authority of a       
gentleman of ,pisa1 who told it to ,dr4 
,rush1 the so-called #8,american        
sculapius1' who wrote against capital   
punishment towards the end of the last  
century4  #bd ,by ,gustavus ,,iii4 ,it  
had1 however1 been discontinued long    
before1 as ,beccaria speaks of it as    
non-existent when he wrote4  #be        
,turnbull's ,visit to ,philadelphia     
,prison1 #agig4  #bf ,times1 ,march #a1 
#ahhj4  #bg ,for most of the above facts

 the writer is indebted to the papers   
published by the ,howard ,association1  
kindly sent to him by the ,secretary1   
,mr4 ,tallack4  #bh ,diodorus ,siculus1 
i4 #fe3           4  #bi ,gibbon1 c4    
#dh3 #8,during his government of        
twenty-five years the penalty of death  
was abolished in the ,roman ,empire4'   
,a4,d4 #aaah-aadc4  #cj ,beccaria       
doubtless got the expression from       
,helvetius1 who used it in his          
,l',esprit1 i4 #bbh1 #bia4  #ca ,vicar  
of ,wakefield1 c4 #bg2 and ,citizen of  
the ,world1 letter #gi4 ,johnson was    
more outspoken in the ,rambler1 ,no4    
#aad 7#agea71 in which he advocated the 
restriction of capital punishment to    
cases of murder4  #cb ,lord ,kames'     
,historical ,law ,tracts4 ,criminal     
,law4 #aggf4  #cc ,enquiry into the     
,late ,increase of ,robbers 7#agea74    
#cd ,meredith's speech of ,may #ac1     
#aggg1 in ,parl4 ,deb41 xix4 #bci4  #ce 
,lecky's ,england1 i4 #ejf4  #cf        
,speech1 ,may #aa1 #ahaj4  #cg          

,romilly's ,memoirs1 ii4 #cbb4  #ch     
,hansard1 and ,campbell's ,chief        
,justices1 iii4 #bcc4 ,the arguments are
 almost ,paley's word for word4  #ci    
,stephen's ,english ,criminal ,law1     
#aef1 #agh4  #dj ,sir ,g4 ,staunton's   
,penal ,code of ,china1 #cdg1 #daf4  #da
 ,see several instances in ,baring      
,gould's ,curiosities of ,olden ,times1 
in the chapter on ,queer ,culprits4  #db
 ,so ,seneca1 ,de ,ira41 i4 #af3 #8,nemo
 prudens punit quia peccatum est1 sed ne
 peccetur4 ,revocari enim prterita non  
possunt1 futura prohibentur4' ,compare  
ibid41 ii4 #ca1 and ,plato1 ,laws1 xi4  
#icd ,a4  #dc ,the same is the          
philosophy of the nursery-rhyme book3-- 
#8,that's ,jack4 ,lay a stick on his    
back4       ,what's he done8 ,i cannot  
say4     ,we'll find out to-morrow1 and 
beat him to-day4'  ,so said also a more 
serious authority1 ,periander1 tyrant of
 ,corinth1 sometimes counted among the  
,seven ,wise ,men of ,greece3         4 
#8,punish not only those who have done  

wrong1 but those who are going to4'  #dd
 ,judicial ,statistics1 #ahgh1 xi4  #de 
,white's ,three ,years in               
,constantinople1 ii4 #cca4  #df         
,pierson1 ,aus ,russland's              
,vergangenheit1 #ca1 #cb4  #dg ,see ,sir
 ,g4 ,staunton's ,penal ,code of ,china1
 lxxi4 #bgh-i1 #bhe1 #cde1 #cfg1 #cha1  
#ddi1 for tables apportioning punishment
 to different crimes according to an    
exact mathematical scale4 ,there is no  
reason to suppose that this scale was   
never acted upon1 even if it is not     
observed now1 about which there is no   
good evidence4  #dh ,farinaccius3       
#8,potest pro tribus furtis1 quamvis    
minimis1 pna mortis imponi4' ,the       
philosophy of this was1 that to do      
anything twice was the same as doing it 
frequently3 #8,quod bis fit1 frequenter 
fieri dicitur4'  #di ,the ,french have  
two words1 rcidive and rcidiver1 to     
signify a relapse into crime1 the word  
being applied as a metaphor from        
medicine1 where it means the recurrence 

of a disease4 ,in ,english we might     
adopt the word reciduous to express     
renewed acts of crime after punishment4 
#ej ,the figures for ,may #ahgh are3    
,men1 #h1ihc2 of these only #b1jfd had  
had no previous conviction of any kind1 
#d1fgb had had sentences short of penal 
servitude1 and #b1bdg penal servitude   
sentences4 ,of the #a1bbf women1 #abd   
had never been convicted before1 #fce   
had had sentences short of penal        
servitude1 #efg penal servitude         
sentences4--7,p4,s4 ,report1 iii4 #aagj4
 ,see also ii4 #bjf1 #bif1 #cfd47  #ea  
,penal ,servitude ,acts ,commission1    
#ahgi1 vol4 iii4 #aaie-f4  #eb ,judicial
 ,statistics1 #ahgh1 xvi4 #de4  #ec ,the
 same seems to be also true of ,france4 
#8,quoi de plus important que ce fait1  
qu'en moyenne annuelle #cj1jjj crimes ou
 dlits restent impunis parce que les    
auteurs en sont inconnus1 et #aj1jjj    
environ parce que les charges portes    
contre les accuss ou prvenus ont t juges
 insuffisantes4'--,,legoyt1 ,la ,france 

et l'tranger1 i4 #djf4  #ed ,hill1      
,crime1 #bh4  #ee ,memorials of         
,millbank1 ii4 #bgd-e4  #ef ,the author 
of ,five ,years' ,penal ,servitude4     
,with this testimony agrees thoroughly  
that of the ,chaplain of ,parkhurst     
,prison 7,p4,s4 ,rep4 iii4 #gjg-h71 that
 of the ,governor of ,portland ,prison  
7ii4 #afd-e71 and that of the ,governor 
of ,spike ,island 7iii4 #had-e74  #eg   
,penal ,servitude ,report1 i4 #dc4  #eh 
,if we include offences proceeded       
against summarily with the indictable   
offences reported1 about #b per cent4 of
 the population may be counted as       
dishonest4  #ei ,strafgesetzbuch1 c4 vi4
 #cc4  #fj ,wheeler1 ,imperial          
,assemblage at ,delhi1 #ahgg1 #abd1     
#abg4  #fa ,congrs pnitentiaire         
international4 ,tableau xii4  #fb ,there
 is a precedent for such a law in the   
legislation of ,leopold1 ,grand ,duke of
 ,tuscany3 #8,les malheureux injustement
 emprisonns et reconnus innocents       
devaient tre indemniss au moyen d'un    

fonds form par les amendes1 msure       
quitable et profondment                 
humaine4'--,,loiseleur1 ,hist4 des      
,peines1 #ccf4  #fc ,staunton's ,penal  
,code of ,china1 #bi4     ,,dei         
,,delitti ,e ,,delle ,,pene4  ,,by ,,the
  ,,marquis ,,cesare ,,beccaria4        
,,translated4      #8,in rebus          
quibuscumque difficilioribus non        
expectandum ut quis     simul et serat  
et metat1 sed prparatione opus est1 ut  
per     gradus maturescant4'--,,bacon4  
,,to ,,the ,,reader4   ,some remnants of
 the laws of an ancient conquering      
people1 which a prince who reigned in   
,constantinople some #a1bjj years ago   
caused to be compiled1 mixed up         
afterwards with ,lombard rites and      
packed in the miscellaneous volumes of  
private and obscure commentators--these 
are what form that set of traditional   
opinions which from a great part of     
,europe receive nevertheless the name of
 laws2 and to this day it is a fact1 as 
disastrous as it is common1 that some   

opinion of ,carpzovius1 some old custom 
pointed out by ,clarus1 or some form of 
torture suggested in terms of complacent
 ferocity by ,farinaccius1 constitute   
the laws1 so carelessly followed by     
those1 who in all trembling ought to    
exercise their government over the lives
 and fortunes of men4 ,these laws1 the  
dregs of the most barbarous ages1 are   
examined in this book in so far as      
regards criminal jurisprudence1 and ,i  
have dared to expose their faults to the
 directors of the public happiness in a 
style which may keep at a distance the  
unenlightened and intolerant multitude4 
,the spirit of frank inquiry after      
truth1 of freedom from commonplace      
opinions1 in which this book is written1
 is a result of the mild and enlightened
 ,government under which the ,author    
lives4 ,the great monarchs1 the         
benefactors of humanity1 who are now our
 rulers1 love the truths expounded1 with
 force but without fanaticism1 by the   
obscure philosopher1 who is only roused 

to indignation by the excesses of       
tyranny1 but is restrained by reason2   
and existing abuses1 for whosoever well 
studies all the circumstances1 are the  
satire and reproach of past ages1 and by
 no means of the present age or of its  
lawgivers4  ,whoever1 therefore1 shall  
wish to honour me with his criticisms1  
,i would have begin with a thorough     
comprehension of the purpose of my      
work--a purpose which1 so far from      
diminishing legitimate authority1 will  
serve to increase it1 if opinion can    
effect more over men's minds than force1
 and if the mildness and humanity of the
 government shall justify it in the eyes
 of all men4 ,the ill-conceived         
criticisms that have been published     
against this book are founded on        
confused notions1 and compel me to      
interrupt for a moment the arguments ,i 
was addressing to my enlightened        
readers1 in order to close once for all 
every door against the misapprehensions 
of timid bigotry or against the         

calumnies of malice and envy4  ,there   
are three sources of the moral and      
political principles which govern       
mankind1 namely1 revelation1 natural    
law1 and social conventions4 ,with      
regard to their principal object there  
is no comparison between the first and  
the other two1 but they all resemble one
 another in this1 that they all three   
conduce to the happiness of this present
 mortal life4 ,to consider the different
 relations of social conventions is not 
to exclude those of revelation and      
natural law2 rather it is the           
thousandfold changes which revelation   
and natural law1 divine and immutable   
though they be1 have undergone in the   
depraved mind of man1 by his own fault1 
owing to false religions and arbitrary  
notions of virtue and vice1 that make it
 appear necessary to examine1 apart from
 all other considerations1 the result of
 purely human conventions1 expressed or 
implied1 for the public need and        
welfare3 this being an idea in which    

every sect and every moral system must  
necessarily agree2 and it will always be
 a laudable endeavour1 which seeks to   
constrain the headstrong and unbelieving
 to conform to the principles that      
induce men to live together in society4 
,there are1 then1 three distinct kinds  
of virtue and vice--the religious1 the  
natural1 and the political4 ,these three
 kinds ought never to conflict1 although
 all the consequences and duties that   
flow from any one of them do not        
necessarily flow from the others4 ,the  
natural law does not require all that   
revelation requires1 nor does the purely
 social law require all that natural law
 requires2 but it is most important to  
distinguish the consequences of the     
conventional law--that is1 of the       
express or tacit agreements among       
men--from the consequences of the       
natural law or of revelation1 because   
therein lies the limit of that power1   
which can rightly be exercised between  
man and man without a special mandate   

from the ,supreme ,being4 ,consequently 
the idea of political virtue may1       
without any slur upon it1 be said to be 
variable2 that of natural virtue would  
be always clear and manifest1 were it   
not obscured by the stupidity or the    
passions of men2 whilst the idea of     
religious virtue remains ever one and   
the same1 because revealed directly from
 ,god and by ,him preserved4  ,it would1
 therefore1 be a mistake to ascribe to  
one1 who only discusses social          
conventions and their consequences1     
principles contrary either to natural   
law or to revelation1 for the reason    
that he does not discuss them4 ,it would
 be a mistake1 when he speaks of a state
 of war as anterior to a state of       
society1 to understand it in the sense  
of ,hobbes1 as meaning that no          
obligation nor duty is prior to the     
existence of society1 instead of        
understanding it as a fact due to the   
corruption of human nature and the want 
of any expressed sanction4 ,it would be 

a mistake to impute it as a fault to a  
writer who is considering the results of
 the social compact that he does not    
admit them as pre-existent to the       
formation of the compact itself4        
,divine justice and natural justice are 
in their essence immutable and constant1
 because the relation between similar   
things is always the same2 but human or 
political justice1 being nothing more   
than a relation between a given action  
and a given state of society1 may vary  
according as such action becomes        
necessary or useful to society2 nor is  
such justice easily discernible1 save by
 one who analyses the complex and very  
changeable relations of civil           
combinations4 ,when once these          
principles1 essentially distinct1 become
 confused1 there is no more hope of     
sound reasoning about public matters4   
,it appertains to the theologian to fix 
the boundaries between the just and the 
unjust1 in so far as regards the        
intrinsic goodness or wickedness of an  

act2 to fix the relations between the   
politically just and unjust appertains  
to the publicist2 nor can the one object
 cause any detriment to the other1 when 
it is obvious how the virtue that is    
purely political ought to give place to 
that immutable virtue which emanates    
from ,god4  ,whoever1 then1 ,i repeat1  
will honour me with his criticisms1 let 
him not begin by supposing me to        
advocate principles destructive of      
virtue or religion1 seeing that ,i have 
shown that such are not my principles2  
and instead of his proving me to be an  
infidel or a rebel1 let him contrive to 
find me a bad reasoner or a shortsighted
 politician2 but let him not tremble at 
every proposition on behalf of the      
interests of humanity2 let him convince 
me either of the inutility or of the    
possible political mischief of my       
principles2 let him prove to me the     
advantage of received practices4 ,i have
 given a public testimony of my religion
 and of my submission to my sovereign in

 my reply to the ,notes and             
,observations2 to reply to other        
writings of a similar nature would be   
superfluous2 but whoever will write with
 that grace which becomes honest men1   
and with that knowledge which shall     
relieve me from the proof of first      
principles1 of what character soever1 he
 shall find in me not so much a man who 
is eager to reply as a peaceable lover  
of the truth4     ,,chapter ,i4         
,,introduction4   ,men for the most part
 leave the regulation of their chief    
concerns to the prudence of the moment1 
or to the discretion of those whose     
interest it is to oppose the wisest     
laws2 such laws1 namely1 as naturally   
help to diffuse the benefits of life1   
and check that tendency they have to    
accumulate in the hands of a few1 which 
ranges on one side the extreme of power 
and happiness1 and on the other all that
 is weak and wretched4 ,it is only1     
therefore1 after having passed through a
 thousand errors in matters that most   

nearly touch their lives and liberties1 
only after weariness of evils that have 
been suffered to reach a climax1 that   
men are induced to seek a remedy for the
 abuses which oppress them1 and to      
recognise the clearest truths1 which1   
precisely on account of their           
simplicity1 escape the notice of        
ordinary minds1 unaccustomed as they are
 to analyse things1 and apt to receive  
their impressions anyhow1 from tradition
 rather than from inquiry4  ,we shall   
see1 if we open histories1 that laws1   
which are or ought to be covenants      
between free men1 have generally been   
nothing but the instrument of the       
passions of some few men1 or the result 
of some accidental and temporary        
necessity4 ,they have never been        
dictated by an unimpassioned student of 
human nature1 able to concentrate the   
actions of a multitude of men to a      
single point of view1 and to consider   
them from that point alone--the greatest
 happiness divided among the greatest   

number4 ,happy are those few nations    
which have not waited for the slow      
movement of human combinations and      
changes to cause an approach to better  
things1 after intolerable evils1 but    
have hastened the intermediate steps by 
good laws2 and deserving is that        
philosopher of the gratitude of mankind1
 who had the courage1 from the obscurity
 of his despised study1 to scatter      
abroad among the people the first seeds1
 so long fruitless1 of useful truths4   
,the knowledge of the true relations    
between a sovereign and his subjects1   
and of those between different nations2 
the revival of commerce by the light of 
philosophical truths1 diffused by       
printing2 and the silent international  
war of industry1 the most humane and the
 most worthy of rational men--these are 
the fruits which we owe to the          
enlightenment of this century4 ,but how 
few have examined and combated the      
cruelty of punishments1 and the         
irregularities of criminal procedures1 a

 part of legislation so elementary and  
yet so neglected in almost the whole of 
,europe2 and how few have sought1 by a  
return to first principles1 to dissipate
 the mistakes accumulated by many       
centuries1 or to mitigate1 with at least
 that force which belongs only to       
ascertained truths1 the excessive       
caprice of ill-directed power1 which has
 presented up to this time but one long 
example of lawful and cold-blooded      
atrocity6 ,and yet the groans of the    
weak1 sacrificed to the cruelty of the  
ignorant or to the indolence of the     
rich2 the barbarous tortures1 multiplied
 with a severity as useless as it is    
prodigal1 for crimes either not proved  
or quite chimerical2 the disgusting     
horrors of a prison1 enhanced by that   
which is the cruellest executioner of   
the miserable--namely1                  
uncertainty2--these ought to startle    
those rulers whose function it is to    
guide the opinion of men's minds4  ,the 
immortal ,president1 ,montesquieu1 has  

treated cursorily of this matter2 and   
truth1 which is indivisible1 has forced 
me to follow the luminous footsteps of  
this great man2 but thinking men1 for   
whom ,i write1 will be able to          
distinguish my steps from his4 ,happy   
shall ,i esteem myself if1 like him1 ,i 
shall succeed in obtaining the secret   
gratitude of the unknown and peaceable  
followers of reason1 and if ,i shall    
inspire them with that pleasing thrill  
of emotion with which sensitive minds   
respond to the advocate of the interests
 of humanity4  ,to examine and          
distinguish all the different sorts of  
crimes and the manner of punishing them 
would now be our natural task1 were it  
not that their nature1 which varies with
 the different circumstances of times   
and places1 would compel us to enter    
upon too vast and wearisome a mass of   
detail4 ,but it will suffice to indicate
 the most general principles and the    
most pernicious and common errors1 in   
order to undeceive no less those who1   

from a mistaken love of liberty1 would  
introduce anarchy1 than those who would 
be glad to reduce their fellow-men to   
the uniform regularity of a convent4    
,what will be the penalty suitable for  
such and such crimes8  ,is death a      
penalty really useful and necessary for 
the security and good order of society8 
,are torture and torments just1 and do  
they attain the end which the law aims  
at8  ,what is the best way of preventing
 crimes8  ,are the same penalties       
equally useful in all times8  ,what     
influence have they on customs8  ,these 
problems deserve to be solved with such 
geometrical precision as shall suffice  
to prevail over the clouds of           
sophistication1 over seductive          
eloquence1 or timid doubt4 ,had ,i no   
other merit than that of having been the
 first to make clearer to ,italy that   
which other nations have dared to write 
and are beginning to practise1 ,i should
 deem myself fortunate2 but if1 in      
maintaining the rights of men and of    

invincible truth1 ,i should contribute  
to rescue from the spasms and agonies of
 death any unfortunate victim of tyranny
 or ignorance1 both so equally fatal1   
the blessings and tears of a single     
innocent man in the transports of his   
joy would console me for the contempt of
 mankind4     ,,chapter ,,ii4  ,,the    
,,origin ,,of ,,punishments--,,the      
,,right ,,of ,,punishment4   ,from      
political morality1 unless founded on   
the immutable sentiments of mankind1 no 
lasting advantage can be hoped4         
,whatever law deviates from these       
sentiments will encounter a resistance  
which will ultimately prevail over it1  
just in the same way as a force1 however
 slight1 if constantly applied1 will    
prevail over a violent motion applied to
 any physical body4  ,if we consult the 
human heart we shall therein discover   
the fundamental principles of the real  
right of the sovereign to punish crimes4
  ,no man has gratuitously parted with a
 portion of his own liberty with a view 

to the public good2 that is a chimera   
which only exists in romances4 ,each one
 of us would wish1 if it were possible1 
that the covenants which bind others    
should not bind himself4 ,there is no   
man but makes himself the central object
 of all the combinations of the globe4  
,the multiplication of the human race1  
slight in the abstract1 but far in      
excess of the means afforded by nature1 
barren and deserted as it originally    
was1 for the satisfaction of men's ever 
increasing wants1 caused the first      
savages to associate together4 ,the     
first unions necessarily led to others  
to oppose them1 and so the state of war 
passed from individuals to nations4     
,laws are the conditions under which    
men1 leading independent and isolated   
lives1 joined together in society1 when 
tired of living in a perpetual state of 
war1 and of enjoying a liberty which the
 uncertainty of its tenure rendered     
useless4 ,of this liberty they          
voluntarily sacrificed a part1 in order 

to enjoy the remainder in security and  
quiet4 ,the sum-total of all these      
portions of liberty1 sacrificed for the 
good of each individually1 constitutes  
the sovereignty of a nation1 and the    
sovereign is the lawful trustee and     
administrator of these portions4 ,but1  
besides forming this trust-fund1 or     
deposit1 it was necessary to protect it 
from the encroachments of individuals1  
whose aim it ever is not only to recover
 from the fund their own deposit1 but to
 avail themselves of that contributed by
 others4 #8,sensible motives1' were     
therefore wanted to divert the despotic 
will of the individual from re-plunging 
into their primitive chaos the laws of  
society4 ,such motives were found in    
punishments1 established against        
transgressors of the laws2 and ,i call  
them sensible motives1 because          
experience has shown that the majority  
of men adopt no fixed rules of conduct1 
nor avoid that universal principle of   
dissolution1 observable alike in the    

moral as in the physical world1 save by 
reason of motives which directly strike 
the senses and constantly present       
themselves to the mind1 counterbalancing
 the strong impressions of private      
passions1 opposed as they are to the    
general welfare2 not eloquence1 nor     
declamations1 nor the most sublime      
truths have ever sufficed to curb the   
passions for any length of time1 when   
excited by the lively force of present  
objects4  ,as it1 then1 was necessity   
which constrained men to yield a part of
 their individual liberty1 it is certain
 that each would only place in the      
general deposit the least possible      
portion--only so much1 that is1 as would
 suffice to induce others to defend it4 
,the aggregate of these least possible  
portions constitutes the right of       
punishment2 all that is beyond this is  
an abuse and not justice1 a fact but not
 a right4#fd ,punishments which exceed  
what is necessary to preserve the       
deposit of the public safety are in     

their nature unjust2 and the more just  
punishments are1 the more sacred and    
inviolable is personal security1 and the
 greater the liberty that the sovereign 
preserves for his subjects4             
,,chapter ,,iii4  ,,consequences4   ,the
 first consequence of these principles  
is1 that the laws alone can decree      
punishments for crimes1 and this        
authority can only rest with the        
legislator1 who represents collective   
society as united by a social contract4 
,no magistrate 7who is part of society7 
can justly inflict punishments upon     
another member of the same society4 ,but
 since a punishment that exceeds the    
legally fixed limit is the lawful       
punishment plus another one1 a          
magistrate can1 under no pretext of zeal
 or the public good1 add to the penalty 
already decreed against a delinquent    
citizen4  ,the second consequence is1   
that the sovereign1 who represents      
society itself1 can only form general   
laws1 obligatory on all2 he cannot judge

 whether any one in particular has      
broken the social compact1 for in that  
case the nation would be divided into   
two parties1 one represented by the     
sovereign1 asserting the violation of   
such contract2 the other by the accused1
 denying the same4 ,hence the necessity 
of a third person to judge of the fact2 
in other words1 of a magistrate1 whose  
decisions shall simply consist of       
affirmations or denials of particular   
facts1 and shall also be subject to no  
appeal4  ,the third consequence is this3
 if it were proved that the severity of 
punishments were simply useless 7to say 
nothing of being directly opposed to the
 public good and to the very object of  
preventing crimes71 even in that case it
 would be contrary not only to those    
beneficent virtues that flow from an    
enlightened reason1 which prefers to    
rule over happy human beings than over a
 flock of slaves1 the constant victims  
of timid cruelty1 but it would be also  
contrary to justice and to the nature of

 the social contract itself4            
,,chapter ,,iv4  ,,interpretation ,,of  
,,the ,,laws4   ,there is also a fourth 
consequence of the above principles3    
that the right to interpret penal laws  
cannot possibly rest with the criminal  
judges1 for the very reason that they   
are not legislators4 ,the judges have   
not received the laws from our ancestors
 as a family tradition1 as a legacy that
 only left to posterity the duty of     
obeying them1 but they receive them from
 living society1 or from the sovereign  
that represents it and is the lawful    
trustee of the actual result of men's   
collective wills2 they receive them1 not
 as obligations arising from an ancient 
oath#fe 7null1 because it bound wills   
not then in existence1 and iniquitous1  
because it reduced men from a state of  
society to that of a flock71 but as the 
result of the tacit or expressed oath   
made to the sovereign by the united     
wills of living subjects1 as chains     
necessary for curbing and regulating the

 disorders caused by private interests4 
,this is the natural and real source of 
the authority of the laws4  ,who1 then1 
will be the rightful interpreter of the 
laws8 ,will it be the sovereign1 the    
trustee of the actual wills of all1 or  
the judge1 whose sole function it is to 
examine whether such and such a man has 
committed an illegal act or not8  ,in   
every criminal case a judge ought to    
form a complete syllogistic deduction1  
in which the statement of the general   
law constitutes the major premiss2 the  
conformity or non-conformity of a       
particular action with the law1 the     
minor premiss2 and acquittal or         
punishment1 the conclusion4 ,when a     
judge is obliged1 or of his own accord  
wishes1 to make even no more than two   
syllogisms1 the door is opened to       
uncertainty4  ,nothing is more dangerous
 than that common axiom1 #8,we must     
consult the spirit of the laws4' ,it is 
like breaking down a dam before the     
torrent of opinions4 ,this truth1 which 

seems a paradox to ordinary minds1 more 
struck as they are by a little present  
inconvenience than by the pernicious but
 remote consequences which flow from a  
false principle enrooted among a people1
 seems to me to be demonstrated4 ,our   
knowledge and all our ideas are         
reciprocally connected together2 and the
 more complicated they are1 the more    
numerous are the approaches to them1 and
 the points of departure4 ,every man has
 his own point of view--a different one 
at different times2 so that #8the spirit
 of the laws' would mean the result of  
good or bad logic on the part of a      
judge1 of an easy or difficult          
digestion2 it would depend now on the   
violence of his passions1 now on the    
feebleness of the sufferer1 on the      
relationship between the judge and the  
plaintiff1 or on all those minute forces
 which change the appearances of        
everything in the fluctuating mind of   
man4 ,hence it is that we see a         
citizen's fate change several times in  

his passage from one court to another2  
that we see the lives of wretches at the
 mercy of the false reasonings or of the
 temporary caprice of a judge1 who takes
 as his rightful canon of interpretation
 the vague result of all that confused  
series of notions which affect his mind4
 ,hence it is that we see the same      
crimes punished differently by the same 
court at different times1 owing to its  
having consulted1 not the constant and  
fixed voice of the laws1 but their      
unstable and erring interpretations4    
,no inconvenience that may arise from a 
strict observance of the letter of penal
 laws is to be compared with the        
inconveniences of subjecting them to    
interpretation4 ,the momentary          
inconvenience in the former case        
involves1 indeed1 correcting the words  
of the law which are the cause of the   
uncertainty1 a task both easy and       
necessary2 but the fatal licence of     
arguing1 the source of so many arbitrary
 and venal disputes1 is thereby         

prevented4 ,when a fixed code of laws1  
which must be observed to the letter1   
leaves to the judge no further trouble  
than to inquire into the actions of     
citizens and to decide on their         
conformity to the written law2 when the 
standard of just and unjust1 which      
should equally direct the actions of the
 ignorant citizen as of the             
philosophical one1 is not a matter of   
controversy but of fact2 then are people
 no longer subject to the petty         
tyrannies of many men1 which are all the
 more cruel by reason of the smaller    
distance that separates the sufferer    
from the inflictor of suffering1 and    
which are more pernicious than the      
tyrannies of a single man1 inasmuch as  
the despotism of many is only curable by
 that of one1 and a despot's cruelty is 
proportioned1 not to the power he       
possesses1 but to the obstacles he      
encounters4 ,under a fixed code of laws 
citizens acquire that consciousness of  
personal security1 which is just1       

because it is the object of social      
existence1 and which is useful1 because 
it enables them to calculate exactly the
 evil consequences of a misdeed4 ,it is 
true they will also acquire a spirit of 
independence1 but not such a spirit as  
will seek to shake the laws and prove   
rebellious against the chief            
magistrates1 except against such of them
 as have dared to apply the sacred name 
of virtue to a spiritless submission to 
their own self-interested and capricious
 opinions4 ,these principles will       
displease those who have assumed the    
right to transfer to their subordinates 
the strokes of tyranny they themselves  
have suffered from their superiors4 ,i  
personally should have everything to    
fear1 if the spirit of tyranny and the  
spirit of reading ever went together4   
,,chapter ,v4  ,,obscurity ,,of ,,the   
,,laws4   ,if the interpretation of laws
 is an evil1 it is clear that their     
obscurity1 which necessarily involves   
interpretation1 must be an evil also1   

and an evil which will be at its worst  
where the laws are written in any other 
than the vernacular language of a       
country4 ,for in that case the people1  
being unable to judge of themselves how 
it may fare with their liberty or their 
limbs1 are made dependent on a small    
class of men2 and a book1 which should  
be sacred and open to all1 becomes1 by  
virtue of its language1 a private and1  
so to speak1 a family manual4  ,the     
greater the number of those who         
understand and have in their hands the  
sacred code of the laws1 the fewer will 
be the crimes committed2 for it is      
beyond all doubt that ignorance and     
uncertainty of punishments lend         
assistance to the eloquence of the      
passions4 ,yet what shall we think of   
mankind1 when we reflect1 that such a   
condition of the laws is the inveterate 
custom of a large part of cultivated and
 enlightened ,europe8  ,one consequence 
of these last reflections is1 that      
without writing no society will ever    

assume a fixed form of government1      
wherein the power shall belong to the   
social whole1 and not to its parts1 and 
wherein the laws1 only alterable by the 
general will1 shall not suffer          
corruption in their passage through the 
crowd of private interests4 ,experience 
and reason have taught us1 that the     
probability and certainty of human      
traditions diminish in proportion to    
their distance from their source4 ,so   
that if there be no standing memorial of
 the social contract1 how will laws ever
 resist the inevitable force of time and
 passion8  ,from this we see how useful 
is the art of printing1 which makes the 
public1 and not a few individuals1 the  
guardians of the sacred laws1 and which 
has scattered that dark spirit of cabal 
and intrigue1 destined to disappear     
before knowledge and the sciences1      
which1 however apparently despised1 are 
in reality feared by those that follow  
in their wake4 ,this is the reason that 
we see in ,europe the diminution of     

those atrocious crimes that afflicted   
our ancestors and rendered them by turns
 tyrants or slaves4 ,whoever knows the  
history of two or three centuries ago   
and of our own1 can see that from the   
lap of luxury and effeminacy have sprung
 the most pleasing of all human virtues1
 humanity1 charity1 and the toleration  
of human errors2 he will know what have 
been the results of that which is so    
wrongly called #8old-fashioned          
simplicity and honesty4' ,humanity      
groaning under implacable superstition2 
the avarice and ambition of a few dyeing
 with human blood the golden chests and 
thrones of kings2 secret assassinations 
and public massacres2 every noble a     
tyrant to the people2 the ministers of  
the ,gospel truth polluting with blood  
hands that every day came in contact    
with the ,god of mercy--these are not   
the works of this enlightened age1 which
 some1 however1 call corrupt4           
,,chapter ,,vi4  ,,imprisonment4   ,an  
error1 not less common than it is       

contrary to the object of society--that 
is1 to the consciousness of personal    
security--is leaving a magistrate to be 
the arbitrary executor of the laws1 free
 at his pleasure to imprison a citizen1 
to deprive a personal enemy of his      
liberty on frivolous pretexts1 or to    
leave a friend unpunished in spite of   
the strongest proofs of his guilt4      
,imprisonment is a punishment which1    
unlike every other1 must of necessity   
precede the declaration of guilt2 but   
this distinctive character does not     
deprive it of the other essential of    
punishment1 namely1 that the law alone  
shall determine the cases under which it
 shall be merited4 ,it is for the law1  
therefore1 to point out the amount of   
evidence of a crime which shall justify 
the detention of the accused1 and his   
subjection to examination and           
punishment4 ,for such detention there   
may be sufficient proofs in common      
report1 in a man's flight1 in a         
non-judicial confession1 or in the      

confession of an accomplice2 in a man's 
threats against or constant enmity with 
the person injured2 in all the facts of 
the crime1 and similar indications4 ,but
 these proofs should be determined by   
the laws1 not by the judges1 whose      
decisions1 when they are not particular 
applications of a general maxim in a    
public code1 are always adverse to      
political liberty4 ,the more that       
punishments are mitigated1 that misery  
and hunger are banished from prisons1   
that pity and mercy are admitted within 
their iron doors1 and are set above the 
inexorable and hardened ministers of    
justice1 the slighter will be the       
evidences of guilt requisite for the    
legal detention of the suspected4  ,a   
man accused of a crime1 imprisoned and  
acquitted1 ought to bear no mark of     
disgrace4 ,how many ,romans1 accused of 
the gravest crimes and then found       
innocent1 were reverenced by the people 
and honoured with magisterial positions6
 ,for what reason1 then1 is the lot of a

 man innocently accused so different in 
our own times8 ,because1 in the criminal
 system now in vogue1 the idea of force 
and might is stronger in men's minds    
than the idea of justice2 because       
accused and convicted are thrown in     
confusion into the same dungeon2 because
 imprisonment is rather a man's         
punishment than his mere custody2 and   
because the two forces which should be  
united are separated from one another1  
namely1 the internal force1 which       
protects the laws1 and the external     
force1 which defends the throne and the 
nation4 ,were they united1 the former1  
through the common sanction of the laws1
 would possess in addition a judicial   
capacity1 although independent of that  
possessed by the supreme judicial power2
 and the glory that accompanies the pomp
 and ceremony of a military body would  
remove the infamy1 which1 like all      
popular sentiments1 is more attached to 
the manner than the thing1 as is proved 
by the fact that military prisons are   

not regarded in public estimation as so 
disgraceful as civil ones4 ,there still 
remain among our people1 in their       
customs and in their laws 7always a     
hundred years1 in point of merit1 in    
arrear of the actual enlightenment of a 
nation71 there still remain1 ,i say1 the
 savage impressions and fierce ideas of 
our ancestors of the ,north4            
,,chapter ,,vii4  ,,proofs ,,and ,,forms
 ,,of ,,judgment4   ,there is a general 
theorem which is most useful for        
calculating the certainty of a fact1 as1
 for instance1 the force of the proofs  
in the case of a given crime3--  #a4    
,when the proofs of a fact are dependent
 one on another--that is to say1 when   
each single proof rests on the weight of
 some other--then the more numerous the 
proofs are1 the smaller is the          
probability of the fact in question1    
because the chances of error in the     
preliminary proofs would increase the   
probability of error in the succeeding  
ones4  #b4 ,when the proofs of a fact   

all depend equally on a single one1     
their number neither increases nor      
diminishes the probability of the fact  
in question1 because their total value  
resolves itself into that of the single 
one on which they depend4  #c4 ,when the
 proofs are independent of each         
other--that is to say1 when they do not 
derive their value one from the         
other--then the more numerous the proofs
 adduced1 the greater is the probability
 of the fact in question1 because the   
falsity of one proof affects in no way  
the force of another4  ,i speak of      
probability in connection with crimes1  
which1 to deserve punishment1 ought to  
be proved4 ,but the paradox is only     
apparent1 if one reflects that1 strictly
 speaking1 moral certainty is only a    
probability1 but a probability which is 
called certainty1 because every sensible
 person necessarily assents to it1 by a 
force of habit which arises from the    
necessity of acting1 and which is prior 
to all speculation4 ,the certainty      

requisite for certifying that a man is a
 criminal is1 therefore1 the same that  
determines everyone in the most         
important actions of his life4 ,the     
proofs of a crime may be divided into   
#8perfect' and #8imperfect1' the former 
being of such a nature as exclude the   
possibility of a man's innocence1 and   
the latter such as fall short of this   
certainty4 ,of the first kind one proof 
alone is sufficient for condemnation2 of
 the second1 or imperfect kind1 as many 
are necessary as suffice to make a      
single perfect proof2 that is to say1   
when1 though each proof taken separately
 does not exclude the possibility of    
innocence1 yet their convergence on the 
same point makes such innocence         
impossible4 ,but let it be noted that   
imperfect proofs1 from which an accused 
has it in his power to justify himself  
and declines to do so1 become perfect4  
,this moral certainty of proofs1        
however1 is easier to feel than to      
define with exactitude3 for which reason

 ,i think that the best law is one which
 attaches to the chief judge assessors1 
taken by lot1 not by selection1 there   
being in this case more safety in the   
ignorance which judges by sentiment than
 in the knowledge which judges by       
opinion4 ,where the laws are clear and  
precise1 the function of a judge        
consists solely in the certification of 
fact4 ,if for searching out the proofs  
of a crime ability and cleverness are   
required1 and if in the presentation of 
the result clearness and precision are  
essential1 all that is required to judge
 of the result is simple and common good
 sense1 a faculty which is less         
fallacious than the learning of a judge1
 accustomed as he is to wish to find men
 guilty and to reduce everything to an  
artificial system borrowed from his     
studies4 ,happy the nation where the    
laws are not a science6 ,it is a most   
useful law that everyone shall be judged
 by his equals1 because where a         
citizen's liberty and fortune are at    

stake those sentiments which inequality 
inspires should have no voice2 that     
feeling of superiority with which the   
prosperous man regards the unfortunate  
one1 and that feeling of dislike with   
which an inferior regards his superior1 
have no scope in a judgment by one's    
equals4 ,but when the crime in question 
is an offence against a person of a     
different rank from the accused1 then   
one half of the judges should be the    
equals of the accused1 the other half   
equals of the plaintiff1 that so1 every 
private interest being balanced1 by     
which the appearances of things are     
involuntarily modified1 only the voice  
of the laws and of truth may be heard4  
,it is also in accordance with justice  
that an accused person should have power
 up to a certain point of refusing      
judges whom he may suspect2 and if he is
 allowed the exercise of this power for 
some time without opposition1 he will   
seem to condemn himself4 ,verdicts      
should be public1 and the proofs of     

guilt public1 in order that             
opinion--which is1 perhaps1 the only    
bond of society there is--may place a   
check on outbursts of force and passion1
 and that the people may say1 #8,we are 
not slaves without defence'3 a feeling  
which both inspires them with courage   
and is as good as a tribute to a        
sovereign who understands his real      
interest4 ,i refrain from pointing out  
other details and precautions which     
require similar regulations4 ,i should  
have said nothing at all1 had it been   
necessary for me to say everything4     
,,chapter ,,viii4  ,,witnesses4   ,it is
 a great point in every good system of  
laws to determine exactly the           
credibility of witnesses and the proofs 
of guilt ,every reasonable man--that is1
 every man with a certain connection    
between his ideas and with feelings like
 those of other men--is capable of      
bearing witness4 ,the true measure of   
his credibility is only the interest he 
has in speaking or in not speaking the  

truth2 so that nothing can be more      
frivolous than to reject the evidence of
 women on the pretext of their          
feebleness1 nothing more childish than  
to apply the results of real death to   
civil death as regards the testimony of 
the condemned1 nothing more unmeaning   
than to insist on the mark of infamy in 
the infamous when they have no interest 
in lying4  ,among other abuses of       
grammar1 which have no slight influence 
on human affairs1 that one is notable   
which makes the evidence of a condemned 
criminal null and void4 #8,he is dead   
civilly' say gravely the peripatetic    
lawyers1 #8and a dead man is incapable  
of any action4' ,in support of this     
silly metaphor many victims have been   
sacrificed1 and it has very often been  
disputed with all seriousness whether   
the truth should not yield to judicial  
formulas4 ,provided that the testimony  
of a condemned criminal does not go to  
the extent of stopping the course of    
justice1 why should not a fitting period

 be allowed1 even after condemnation1   
both to the extreme wretchedness of the 
criminal and to the interests of truth1 
so that1 by his adducing fresh matter to
 alter the complexion of the fact1 he   
may justify himself or others in a new  
trial8 ,forms and ceremonies are        
necessary in the administration of      
justice1 because they leave nothing to  
the free will of the administrator2     
because they give the people an idea of 
a justice which is not tumultuary and   
self-interested1 but steadfast and      
regular2 and because men1 the slaves of 
habit and imitation1 are more influenced
 by their feelings than by arguments4   
,but such forms can never without fatal 
danger be so firmly fixed by the laws as
 to be injurious to truth1 which from   
being either too simple or two complex  
needs some external pomp to conciliate  
the ignorant populace4  ,the            
credibility1 therefore1 of a witness    
must diminish in proportion to the      
hatred1 friendship1 or close connection 

between himself and the accused4 ,more  
than one witness is necessary1 because1 
so long as one affirms and another      
denies1 nothing is proved1 and the right
 which everyone has of being held       
innocent prevails4 ,the credibility of a
 witness becomes appreciably less1 the  
greater the atrocity of the crime       
imputed1#ff or the improbability of the 
circumstances1 as in charges of magic   
and gratuitously cruel actions4 ,it is  
more likely1 as regards the former      
accusation1 that many men should lie    
than that such an accusation should be  
true1 because it is easier for many men 
to be united in an ignorant mistake or  
in persecuting hatred than for one man  
to exercise a power which ,god either   
has not conferred or has taken away from
 every created being4 ,the same         
reasoning holds good also of the second 
accusation1 for man is only cruel in    
proportion to his interest to be so1 to 
his hatred or to his fear4 ,properly    
speaking1 there is no superfluous       

feeling in human nature1 every feeling  
being always in strict accordance with  
the impressions made upon the senses4   
,in the same way the credibility of a   
witness may sometimes be lessened by the
 fact of his being a member of some     
secret society1 whose purposes and      
principles are either not well          
understood or differ from those of      
general acceptance2 for such a man has  
not only his own passions but those of  
others besides4  ,lastly1 a witness's   
evidence is almost null when spoken     
words are construed into a crime4 ,for  
the tone1 the gesture1 all that precedes
 or follows the different ideas attached
 by men to the same words1 so alter and 
modify a man's utterances1 that it is   
almost impossible to repeat them exactly
 as they were spoken4 ,moreover1 actions
 of a violent and unusual character1    
such as real crimes are1 leave their    
traces in the numberless circumstances  
and effects that flow from them2 and of 
such actions the greater the number of  

the circumstances adduced in proof1 the 
more numerous are the chances for the   
accused to clear himself4 ,but words    
only remain in the memory of their      
hearers1 and memory is for the most part
 unfaithful and often deceitful4 ,it is 
on that account ever so much more easy  
to fix a calumny upon a man's words than
 upon his actions4     ,,chapter ,,ix4  
,,secret ,,accusations4   ,palpable but 
consecrated abuses1 which in many       
nations are the necessary results of a  
weak political constitution1 are ,secret
 ,accusations4 ,for they render men     
false and reserved1 and whoever may     
suspect that he sees in his neighbour an
 informer will see in him an enemy4 ,men
 then come to mask their real feelings1 
and by the habit of hiding them from    
others they at last get to hide them    
from themselves4 ,unhappy they who have 
come to that2 who1 without clear and    
fixed principles to guide them1 wander  
lost and confused in the vast sea of    
opinions1 ever busied in saving         

themselves from the horrors that oppress
 them1 with the present moment ever     
embittered by the uncertainty of the    
future1 and without the lasting         
pleasures of quiet and security1        
devouring in unseemly haste those few   
pleasures1 which occur at rare intervals
 in their melancholy lives and scarcely 
console them for the fact of having     
lived6 ,is it of such men we can hope to
 make intrepid soldiers1 defenders of   
their country and crown8 ,is it among   
such men we shall find incorrupt        
magistrates1 able with their free and   
patriotic eloquence to sustain and      
develop the true interests of their     
sovereign1 ready1 with the tribute they 
bear1 to carry to the throne the love   
and blessings of all classes of men1 and
 thence to bring back to palaces and    
cottages alike peace and security1 and  
that active hope of ameliorating their  
lot which is so useful a leaven1 nay1   
which is the life of ,states8  ,who can 
protect himself from calumny1 when it is

 armed by the strongest shield of       
tyranny1 secrecy8 ,what sort of         
government can that ever be where in    
every subject a ruler suspects an enemy1
 and is obliged for the sake of the     
general tranquillity to rob each        
individual of its possession8  ,what are
 the pretexts by which secret           
accusations and punishments are         
justified8 ,are they the public welfare1
 the security and maintenance of the    
form of government8 ,but how strange a  
constitution is that1 where he who has  
force on his side1 and opinion1 which is
 even stronger than force1 is afraid of 
every citizen6 ,is then the indemnity of
 the accuser the excuse8 ,in that case  
the laws do not sufficiently defend him2
 and shall there be subjects stronger   
than their sovereign8 ,or is it to save 
the informer from infamy8 ,what6 secret 
calumny be fair and lawful1 and an open 
one deserving of punishment6 ,is it1    
then1 the nature of the crime8 ,if      
indifferent actions1 or even useful     

actions1 are called crimes1 then of     
course accusations and trials can never 
be secret enough4 ,but how can there be 
crimes1 that is1 public injuries1 unless
 the publicity of this example1 by a    
public trial1 be at the same time the   
interest of all men8 ,i respect every   
government1 and speak of none in        
particular4 ,circumstances are sometimes
 such that to remove an evil may seem   
utter ruin when it is inherent in a     
national system4 ,but had ,i to dictate 
new laws in any forgotten corner of the 
universe1 my hand would tremble and all 
posterity would rise before my eyes     
before ,i would authorise such a custom 
as that of secret accusations4  ,it has 
already been remarked by ,montesquieu   
that public accusations are more suited 
to republics1 where the public good     
ought to be the citizens' first passion1
 than to monarchies1 where such a       
sentiment is very feeble1 owing to the  
nature of the government itself1 and    
where the appointment of officers to    

accuse transgressors of the law in the  
name of the public is a most excellent  
institution4 ,but every government1 be  
it republican or monarchical1 ought to  
inflict upon a false accuser the same   
punishment which1 had the accusation    
been true1 would have fallen upon the   
accused4     ,,chapter ,x4  ,,suggestive
 ,,interrogations--,,depositions4   ,our
 laws prohibit suggestive 7leading7     
questions in a lawsuit3 those1 that is  
7according to the doctors of law71      
which1 instead of applying1 as they     
should do1 to the genus in the          
circumstances of a crime1 refer to the  
species2 those1 in other words1 which   
from their immediate connection with a  
crime suggest to the accused a direct   
answer4 ,questions1 according to the    
criminal lawyers1 ought1 so to speak1   
#8to envelop the main fact spirally and 
never to attack it in a direct line4'   
,the reasons for this method are1 either
 that an answer may not be suggested to 
the accused which may place him face to 

face with the charge against him1 or    
perhaps because it seems unnatural for  
him directly to criminate himself4 ,but1
 whichever of these reasons it may be1  
the contradiction is remarkable between 
the existence of such a custom and the  
legal authorisation of torture2 for what
 interrogatory can be more suggestive   
than pain8 ,the former reason applies to
 the question of torture1 because pain  
will suggest to a strong man obstinate  
silence1 in order that he may exchange  
the greater penalty for the lesser1     
whilst it will suggest to a weak man    
confession1 in order that he may escape 
from present torment1 which has more    
influence over him than pain which is to
 come4 ,the other reason evidently      
applies too1 for if a special question  
leads a man to confess against natural  
right1 the agonies of torture will more 
easily do the same4 ,but men are more   
governed by the difference of names than
 by that of things4  ,finally1 a man    
who1 when examined1 persists in an      

obstinate refusal to answer1 deserves a 
punishment fixed by the laws1 and one of
 the heaviest they can inflict1 that men
 may not in this way escape the         
necessary example they owe to the       
public4 ,but this punishment is not     
necessary when it is beyond all doubt   
that such a person has committed such a 
crime1 questions being useless1 in the  
same way that confession is1 when other 
proofs sufficiently demonstrate guilt   
,and this last case is the most usual1  
for experience proves that in the       
majority of trials the accused are wont 
to plead #8,not guilty4'     ,,chapter  
,,xi4  ,,oaths4   ,a contradiction      
between the laws and the natural        
feelings of mankind arises from the     
oaths which are required of an accused1 
to the effect that he will be a truthful
 man when it is his greatest interest to
 be false2 as if a man could really     
swear to contribute to his own          
destruction1 or as if religion would not
 be silent with most men when their     

interest spoke on the other side4 ,the  
experience of all ages has shown that   
men have abused religion more than any  
other of the precious gifts of heaven2  
and for what reason should criminals    
respect it1 when men esteemed as the    
wisest have often violated it8 ,too     
weak1 because too far removed from the  
senses1 are for the mass of people the  
motives which religion opposes to the   
tumult of fear and the love of life4    
,the affairs of heaven are conducted by 
laws absolutely different from those    
which govern human affairs2 so why      
compromise those by these8 ,why place   
men in the terrible dilemma of either   
sinning against ,god or concurring in   
their own ruin8 ,the law1 in fact1 which
 enforces such an oath commands a man   
either to be a bad ,christian or to be a
 martyr4 ,the oath becomes gradually a  
mere formality1 thus destroying the     
force of religious feelings1 which for  
the majority of men are the only pledge 
of their honesty4 ,how useless oaths are

 has been shown by experience1 for every
 judge will bear me out when ,i say that
 no oath has ever yet made any criminal 
speak the truth2 and the same thing is  
shown by reason1 which declares all laws
 to be useless1 and consequently        
injurious1 which are opposed to the     
natural sentiments of man4 ,such laws   
incur the same fate as dams placed      
directly in the main stream of a river3 
either they are immediately thrown down 
and overwhelmed1 or a whirlpool formed  
by themselves corrodes and undermines   
them imperceptibly4     ,,chapter ,,xii4
  ,,torture4   ,a cruelty consecrated   
among most nations by custom is the     
torture of the accused during his trial1
 on the pretext of compelling him to    
confess his crime1 of clearing up       
contradictions in his statements1 of    
discovering his accomplices1 of purging 
him in some metaphysical and            
incomprehensible way from infamy1 or    
finally of finding out other crimes of  
which he may possibly be guilty1 but of 

which he is not accused4  ,a man cannot 
be called guilty before sentence has    
been passed on him by a judge1 nor can  
society deprive him of its protection   
till it has been decided that he has    
broken the condition on which it was    
granted4 ,what1 then1 is that right but 
one of mere might by which a judge is   
empowered to inflict a punishment on a  
citizen whilst his guilt or innocence   
are still undetermined8 ,the following  
dilemma is no new one3 either the crime 
is certain or uncertain2 if certain1 no 
other punishment is suitable for it than
 that affixed to it by law2 and torture 
is useless1 for the same reason that the
 criminal's confession is useless4 ,if  
it is uncertain1 it is wrong to torture 
an innocent person1 such as the law     
adjudges him to be1 whose crimes are not
 yet proved4  ,what is the political    
object of punishments8 ,the intimidation
 of other men4 ,but what shall we say of
 the secret and private tortures which  
the tyranny of custom exercises alike   

upon the guilty and the innocent8 ,it is
 important1 indeed1 that no open crime  
shall pass unpunished2 but the public   
exposure of a criminal whose crime was  
hidden in darkness is utterly useless4  
,an evil that has been done and cannot  
be undone can only be punished by civil 
society in so far as it may affect      
others with the hope of impunity4 ,if it
 be true that there are a greater number
 of men who either from fear or virtue  
respect the laws than of those who      
transgress them1 the risk of torturing  
an innocent man should be estimated     
according to the probability that any   
man will have been more likely1 other   
things being equal1 to have respected   
than to have despised the laws4  ,but ,i
 say in addition3 it is to seek to      
confound all the relations of things to 
require a man to be at the same time    
accuser and accused1 to make pain the   
crucible of truth1 as if the test of it 
lay in the muscles and sinews of an     
unfortunate wretch4 ,the law which      

ordains the use of torture is a law     
which says to men3 #8,resist pain2 and  
if ,nature has created in you an        
inextinguishable self-love1 if she has  
given you an inalienable right of       
self-defence1 ,i create in you a totally
 contrary affection1 namely1 an heroic  
self-hatred1 and ,i command you to      
accuse yourselves1 and to speak the     
truth between the laceration of your    
muscles and the dislocation of your     
bones4'  ,this infamous crucible of     
truth is a still-existing monument of   
that primitive and savage legal system1 
which called trials by fire and boiling 
water1 or the accidental decisions of   
combat1 judgments of ,god1 as if the    
rings of the eternal chain in the       
control of the ,first ,cause must at    
every moment be disarranged and put out 
for the petty institutions of mankind4  
,the only difference between torture and
 the trial by fire and water is1 that   
the result of the former seems to depend
 on the will of the accused1 and that of

 the other two on a fact which is purely
 physical and extrinsic to the sufferer2
 but the difference is only apparent1   
not real4 ,the avowal of truth under    
tortures and agonies is as little free  
as was in those times the prevention    
without fraud of the usual effects of   
fire and boiling water4 ,every act of   
our will is ever proportioned to the    
force of the sensible impression which  
causes it1 and the sensibility of every 
man is limited4 ,hence the impression   
produced by pain may be so intense as to
 occupy a man's entire sensibility and  
leave him no other liberty than the     
choice of the shortest way of escape1   
for the present moment1 from his        
penalty4 ,under such circumstances the  
answer of the accused is as inevitable  
as the impressions produced by fire and 
water2 and the innocent man who is      
sensitive will declare himself guilty1  
when by so doing he hopes to bring his  
agonies to an end4 ,all the difference  
between guilt and innocence is lost by  

virtue of the very means which they     
profess to employ for its discovery4    
,torture is a certain method for the    
acquittal of robust villains and for the
 condemnation of innocent but feeble    
men4 ,see the fatal drawbacks of this   
pretended test of truth--a test1 indeed1
 that is worthy of cannibals2 a test    
which the ,romans1 barbarous as they too
 were in many respects1 reserved for    
slaves alone1 the victims of their      
fierce and too highly lauded virtue4 ,of
 two men1 equally innocent or equally   
guilty1 the robust and courageous will  
be acquitted1 the weak and the timid    
will be condemned1 by virtue of the     
following exact train of reasoning on   
the part of the judge3 #8,i as judge had
 to find you guilty of such and such a  
crime2 you1 ,a ,b1 have by your physical
 strength been able to resist pain1 and 
therefore ,i acquit you2 you1 ,c ,d1 in 
your weakness have yielded to it2       
therefore ,i condemn you4 ,i feel that a
 confession extorted amid torments can  

have no force1 but ,i will torture you  
afresh unless you corroborate what you  
have now confessed4'  ,the result1 then1
 of torture is a matter of temperament1 
of calculation1 which varies with each  
man according to his strength and       
sensibility2 so that by this method a   
mathematician might solve better than a 
judge this problem3 #8,given the        
muscular force and the nervous          
sensibility of an innocent man1 to find 
the degree of pain which will cause him 
to plead guilty to a given crime4'  ,the
 object of examining an accused man is  
the ascertainment of truth4 ,but if this
 truth is difficult to discover from a  
man's air1 demeanour1 or countenance1   
even when he is quiet1 much more        
difficult will it be to discover from a 
man upon whose face all the signs1      
whereby most men1 sometimes in spite of 
themselves1 express the truth1 are      
distorted by pain4 ,every violent action
 confuses and causes to disappear those 
trifling differences between objects1 by

 which one may sometimes distinguish the
 true from the false4  ,a strange       
consequence that flows naturally from   
the use of torture is1 that an innocent 
man is thereby placed in a worse        
condition than a guilty one1 because if 
both are tortured the former has every  
alternative against him4 ,for either he 
confesses the crime and is condemned1 or
 he is declared innocent1 having        
suffered an undeserved punishment4 ,but 
the guilty man has one chance in his    
favour1 since1 if he resist the torture 
firmly1 and is acquitted in consequence1
 he has exchanged a greater penalty for 
a smaller one4 ,therefore the innocent  
man can only lose1 the guilty may gain1 
by torture4  ,this truth is1 in fact1   
felt1 though in a confused way1 by the  
very persons who place themselves       
farthest from it4 ,for a confession made
 under torture is of no avail unless it 
be confirmed by an oath made after it2  
and yet1 should the criminal not confirm
 his confession1 he is tortured afresh4 

,some doctors of law and some nations   
only allow this infamous begging of the 
question to be employed three times2    
whilst other nations and other doctors  
leave it to the discretion of the judge4
  ,it were superfluous to enlighten the 
matter more thoroughly by mentioning the
 numberless instances of innocent       
persons who have confessed themselves   
guilty from the agonies of torture2 no  
nation1 no age1 but can mention its own2
 but men neither change their natures   
nor draw conclusions4 ,there is no man  
who has ever raised his ideas beyond the
 common needs of life but runs          
occasionally towards ,nature1 who with  
secret and confused voice calls him to  
herself2 but custom1 that tyrant of     
human minds1 draws him back and         
frightens him4  ,the second pretext for 
torture is its application to supposed  
criminals who contradict themselves     
under examination1 as if the fear of the
 punishment1 the uncertainty of the     
sentence1 the legal pageantry1 the      

majesty of the judge1 the state of      
ignorance that is common alike to       
innocent and guilty1 were not enough to 
plunge into self-contradiction both the 
innocent man who is afraid1 and the     
guilty man who seeks to shield himself2 
as if contradictions1 common enough when
 men are at their ease1 were not likely 
to be multiplied1 when the mind is      
perturbed and wholly absorbed in the    
thought of seeking safety from imminent 
peril4  ,torture1 again1 is employed to 
discover if a criminal is guilty of     
other crimes besides those with which he
 is charged4 ,it is as if this argument 
were employed3 #8,because you are guilty
 of one crime you may be guilty of a    
hundred others4 ,this doubt weighs upon 
me3 ,i wish to ascertain about it by my 
test of truth3 the laws torture you     
because you are guilty1 because you may 
be guilty1 because ,i mean you to be    
guilty4'  ,torture1 again1 is inflicted 
upon an accused man in order to discover
 his accomplices in crime4 ,but if it is

 proved that it is not a fitting method 
for the discovery of truth1 how will it 
serve to disclose accomplices1 which is 
part of the truth to be discovered8 ,as 
if a man who accuses himself would not  
more readily accuse others4 ,and is it  
just to torment men for the crimes of   
others8 ,will not the accomplices be    
disclosed from the examination of the   
witnesses and of the accused1 from the  
proofs and whole circumstances of the   
crime2 in sum1 from all those very means
 which should serve to convict the      
accused himself of guilt8 ,accomplices  
generally fly immediately after the     
capture of a companion2 the uncertainty 
of their lot of itself condemns them to 
exile1 and frees the country from the   
danger of fresh offences from them2     
whilst the punishment of the criminal   
who is caught attains its precise       
object1 namely1 the averting of other   
men by terror from a similar crime4     
,another ridiculous reason for torture  
is the purgation from infamy2 that is to

 say1 a man judged infamous by the laws 
must confirm his testimony by the       
dislocation of his bones4 ,this abuse   
ought not to be tolerated in the        
eighteenth century4 ,it is believed that
 pain1 which is a physical sensation1   
purges from infamy1 which is merely a   
moral condition4 ,is pain1 then1 a      
crucible1 and infamy a mixed impure     
substance8 ,but infamy is a sentiment1  
subject neither to laws nor to reason1  
but to common opinion4 ,torture itself  
causes real infamy to the victim of it4 
,so the result is1 that by this method  
infamy will be taken away by the very   
fact of its infliction6  ,it is not     
difficult to go back to the origin of   
this ridiculous law1 because the        
absurdities themselves that a whole     
nation adopts have always some          
connection with other common ideas which
 the same nation respects4 ,the custom  
seems to have been derived from         
religious and spiritual ideas1 which    
have so great an influence on the       

thoughts of men1 on nations1 and on     
generations4 ,an infallible dogma       
assures us1 that the stains contracted  
by human weakness and undeserving of the
 eternal anger of the ,supreme ,being   
must be purged by an incomprehensible   
fire4 ,now1 infamy is a civil stain2 and
 as pain and fire take away spiritual   
and incorporeal stains1 why should not  
the agonies of torture take away the    
civil stain of infamy8 ,i believe that  
the confession of a criminal1 which some
 courts insist on as an essential       
requisite for condemnation1 has a       
similar origin2--because in the         
mysterious tribunal of repentance the   
confession of sins is an essential part 
of the sacrament4 ,this is the way men  
abuse the surest lights of revelation2  
and as these are the only ones which    
exist in times of ignorance1 it is to   
them on all occasions that docile       
humanity turns1 making of them the most 
absurd and far-fetched applications4    
,these truths were recognised by the    

,roman legislators1 for they inflicted  
torture only upon slaves1 who in law had
 no personality4 ,they have been adopted
 by ,england1 a nation1 the glory of    
whose literature1 the superiority of    
whose commerce and wealth1 and          
consequently of whose power1 and the    
examples of whose virtue and courage    
leave us no doubt as to the goodness of 
her laws4 ,torture has also been        
abolished in ,sweden2 it has been       
abolished by one of the wisest monarchs 
of ,europe1 who1 taking philosophy with 
him to the throne1 has made himself the 
friend and legislator of his subjects1  
rendering them equal and free in their  
dependence on the laws1 the sole kind of
 equality and liberty that reasonable   
men can ask for in the present condition
 of things4 ,nor has torture been deemed
 necessary in the laws which regulate   
armies1 composed though they are for the
 most part of the dregs of different    
countries1 and for that reason more than
 any other class of men the more likely 

to require it4 ,a strange thing1 for    
whoever forgets the power of the tyranny
 exercised by custom1 that pacific laws 
should be obliged to learn from minds   
hardened to massacre and bloodshed the  
most humane method of conducting trials4
     ,,chapter ,,xiii4  ,,prosecutions  
,,and ,,prescriptions4   ,as soon as the
 proofs of a crime and its reality are  
fully certified1 the criminal must be   
allowed time and opportunity for his    
defence2 but the time allowed must be so
 short as not to interfere with the     
speediness of his punishment1 which1 as 
we have seen1 is one of the principal   
restraints from crime4 ,a false         
philanthropy seems opposed to this      
shortness of time2 but all doubt will   
vanish1 on reflection that the more     
defective any system of law is1 the     
greater are the dangers to which        
innocence is exposed4  ,but the laws    
should fix a certain space of time both 
for the defence of the accused and for  
the discovery of proofs against him4 ,it

 would place the judge in the position  
of a legislator were it his duty to fix 
the time necessary for the latter4 ,in  
the same way those atrocious crimes1    
whose memory tarries long in men's      
minds1 deserve1 when once proved1 no    
prescription in favour of a criminal who
 has fled from his country2 but lesser  
and obscure crimes should be allowed a  
certain prescription1 which may remove a
 man's uncertainty concerning his fate1 
because the obscurity in which for a    
long time his crimes have been involved 
deducts from the bad example of his     
impunity1 and the possibility of reform 
meantime remains to him4 ,it is enough  
to indicate these principles1 because ,i
 cannot fix a precise limit of time1    
except for a given system of laws and in
 given social circumstances4 ,i will    
only add that1 the advantage of moderate
 penalties in a nation being proved1 the
 laws which shorten or lengthen1        
according to the gravity of crimes1 the 
term of prescription or of proofs1 thus 

making of prison itself or of voluntary 
exile a part of the punishment1 will    
supply an easy classification of a few  
mild punishments for a very large number
 of crimes4  ,but these periods of time 
will not be lengthened in exact         
proportion to the atrocity of crimes1   
since the probability of a crime is in  
inverse ratio to its atrocity4 ,it will1
 then1 be necessary to shorten the      
period for inquiry and to increase that 
of prescription2 which may appear to    
contradict what ,i said before1 namely1 
that it is possible to inflict equal    
penalties on unequal crimes1 by counting
 as a penalty that period of            
imprisonment or of prescription which   
precedes the verdict4 ,to explain to the
 reader my idea3 ,i distinguish two     
kinds of crimes--the first1 atrocious   
crimes1 beginning with homicide and     
including all the excessive forms of    
wickedness2 the second comprising less  
considerable crimes4 ,this distinction  
is founded in human nature4 ,personal   

security is a natural right1 the        
security of property a social one4 ,the 
number of motives which impel men to    
violate their natural affections is far 
smaller than those which impel them1 by 
their natural longing for happiness1 to 
violate a right which they do not find  
written in their hearts but only in the 
conventions of society4 ,the very great 
difference between the probability of   
these two kinds of crime respectively   
makes it necessary that they should be  
ruled by different principles4 ,in cases
 of the more atrocious crimes1 because  
they are more uncommon1 the time for    
inquiry ought to be so much the less as 
the probability of the innocence of the 
accused is greater2 and the time of     
prescription ought to be longer1 as on  
an ultimate definite sentence of guilt  
or innocence depends the destruction of 
the hope of impunity1 the harm of which 
is proportioned to the atrocity of the  
crime4 ,but in cases of lesser          
criminality1 where the presumption in   

favour of a man's innocence is less1 the
 time for inquiry should be longer2 and 
as the harm of impunity is less1 the    
time of prescription should be shorter4 
,but such a division of crimes ought1   
indeed1 not to be admitted1 if the      
danger of impunity decreased exactly in 
proportion to the greater probability of
 the crime4 ,one should remember that an
 accused man1 whose guilt or innocence  
is uncertain1 may1 though acquitted for 
lack of proofs1 be subjected for the    
same crime to a fresh imprisonment and  
inquiry1 in the event of fresh legal    
proofs rising up against him1 so long as
 the time of prescription accorded by   
the laws has not been past4 ,such at    
least is the compromise that ,i think   
best fitted to preserve both the liberty
 and the security of the subject1 it    
being only too easy so to favour the one
 at the expense of the other1 that these
 two blessings1 the inalienable and     
equal patrimony of every citizen1 are   
left unprotected and undefended1 the one

 from declared or veiled despotism1 the 
other from the turbulence of civil      
anarchy4  ,there are some crimes which  
are at the same time of common          
occurrence and of difficult proof4 ,in  
them the difficulty of proof is         
equivalent to a probability of          
innocence2 and the harm of their        
impunity being so much the less to be   
considered as their frequency depends on
 principles other than the risk of      
punishment1 the time for inquiry and the
 period of prescription ought both to be
 proportionately less4 ,yet cases of    
adultery and pederasty1 both of         
difficult proof1 are precisely those in 
which1 according to received principles1
 tyrannical presumptions of quasi-proofs
 and half-proofs are allowed to prevail 
7as if a man could be half-innocent or  
half-guilty1 in other words1            
half-punishable or half-acquittable72 in
 which torture exercises its cruel sway 
over the person of the accused1 over the
 witnesses1 and even over the whole     

family of an unfortunate wretch1        
according to the coldly wicked teaching 
of some doctors of law1 who set         
themselves up as the rule and standard  
for judges to follow4  ,in view of these
 principles it will appear strange 7to  
anyone who does not reflect1 that reason
 has1 so to speak1 never yet legislated 
for a nation71 that it is just the most 
atrocious crimes or the most secret and 
chimerical ones--that is1 those of the  
least probability--which are proved by  
conjectures or by the weakest and most  
equivocal proofs3 as if it were the     
interest of the laws and of the judge1  
not to search for the truth1 but to find
 out the crime2 as if the danger of     
condemning an innocent man were not so  
much the greater1 the greater the       
probability of his innocence over that  
of his guilt4  ,the majority of mankind 
lack that vigour which is equally       
necessary for the greatest crimes as for
 the greatest virtues2 whence it would  
appear1 that both extremes are          

contemporaneous phenomena in nations    
which depend rather on the energy of    
their government and of the passions    
that tend to the public good1 than on   
their size and the constant goodness of 
their laws4 ,in the latter the weakened 
passions seem more adapted to maintain  
than to improve the form of government4 
,from which flows an important          
consequence1 namely1 that great crimes  
in a nation do not always prove its     
decline4     ,,chapter ,,xiv4           
,,criminal ,,attempts1 ,,accomplices1   
,,impunity4   ,it does not follow1      
because the laws do not punish          
intentions1 that therefore a crime begun
 by some action1 significative of the   
will to complete it1 is undeserving of  
punishment1 although it deserves less   
than a crime actually committed4 ,the   
importance of preventing an attempt at a
 crime justifies a punishment2 but1 as  
there may be an interval between the    
attempt and the execution1 the          
reservation of a greater punishment for 

a consummated crime may present a motive
 for its non-completion4  ,the same may 
be said1 though for a different reason1 
where there are several accomplices of a
 crime1 not all of them its immediate   
perpetrators4 ,when several men join    
together in an undertaking1 the greater 
its risk is1 the more will they seek to 
make it equal for all of them2 the more 
difficult it will be1 therefore1 to find
 one of them who will be willing to put 
the deed into execution1 if he thereby  
incurs a greater risk than that incurred
 by his accomplices4 ,the only exception
 would be where the perpetrator received
 a fixed reward1 for then1 the          
perpetrator having a compensation for   
his greater risk1 the punishment should 
be equalised between him and his        
accomplices4 ,such reflections may      
appear too metaphysical to whosoever    
does not consider that it is of the     
utmost advantage for the laws to afford 
as few grounds of agreement as possible 
between companions in crime4  ,some     

courts promise impunity to an accomplice
 in a serious crime who will expose his 
companions1 an expedient that has its   
drawbacks as well as its advantages4    
,among the former must be counted the   
national authorisation of treachery1 a  
practice which even criminals detest2   
for crimes of courage are less          
pernicious to a people than crimes of   
cowardice1 courage being no ordinary    
quality1 and needing only a beneficent  
directing force to make it conduce to   
the public welfare1 whilst cowardice is 
more common and contagious1 and always  
more self-concentrated than the other4  
,besides1 a tribunal which calls for the
 aid of the law-breaker proclaims its   
own uncertainty and the weakness of the 
laws themselves4 ,on the other hand1 the
 advantages of the practice are1 the    
prevention of crimes and the            
intimidation of the people1 owing to the
 fact that the results are visible      
whilst the authors remain hidden2       
moreover1 it helps to show that a man   

who breaks his faith to the laws1 that  
is1 to the public1 is likely also to    
break it in private life4 ,i think that 
a general law promising impunity to an  
accomplice who exposes a crime would be 
preferable to a special declaration in a
 particular case1 because in this way   
the mutual fear which each accomplice   
would have of his own risk would tend to
 prevent their association2 the tribunal
 would not make criminals audacious by  
showing that their aid was called for in
 a particular case4 ,such a law1        
however1 should accompany impunity with 
the banishment of the informer4''' ,but 
to no purpose do ,i torment myself to   
dissipate the remorse ,i feel in        
authorising the inviolable laws1 the    
monument of public confidence1 the basis
 of human morality1 to resort to        
treachery and dissimulation4 ,what an   
example to the nation it would be1 were 
the promised impunity not observed1 and 
were the man who had responded to the   
invitation of the laws dragged by       

learned quibbles to punishment1 in spite
 of the public troth pledged to him6    
,such examples are not rare in different
 countries2 neither1 therefore1 is the  
number small1 of those who consider a   
nation in no other light than in that of
 a complicated machine1 whose springs   
the cleverest and the strongest move at 
their will4 ,cold and insensible to all 
that forms the delight of tender and    
sensitive minds1 they arouse1 with      
imperturbable sagacity1 either the      
softest feelings or the strongest       
passions1 as soon as they see them of   
service to the object they have in view1
 handling men's minds just as musicians 
do their instruments4     ,,chapter     
,,xv4  ,,the ,,mildness ,,of            
,,punishments4   ,from the simple       
consideration of the truths hitherto    
demonstrated it is evident that the     
object of punishment is neither to      
torment and inflict a sensitive creature
 nor to undo a crime already committed4 
,can he1 whose function it is1 so far   

from acting from passion1 to            
tranquillise the private passions of his
 fellows1 harbour in the body politic   
such useless cruelty1 the instrument    
either of furious fanatics or of weak   
tyrants8 ,shall perchance the shrieks of
 an unhappy wretch call back from       
never-receding time actions already     
executed8 ,the object1 therefore1 of    
punishment is simply to prevent the     
criminal from injuring anew his         
fellow-citizens1 and to deter others    
from committing similar injuries2 and   
those punishments and that method of    
inflicting them should be preferred     
which1 duly proportioned to the offence1
 will produce a more efficacious and    
lasting impression on the minds of men  
and inflict the least torture on the    
body of a criminal4  ,who can read      
history without being horror-struck at  
the barbarous and useless torments which
 men1 who were called wise1 in cold     
blood devised and executed8 ,who is     
there but must feel his blood boil1 when

 he regards the thousands of wretches   
whom misery1 either intended or         
tolerated by the laws 7which have always
 favoured the few and outraged the      
many71 has driven to a desperate return 
to the original state of nature2 when he
 sees them either accused by men endowed
 with the same senses1 and consequently 
with the same passions as themselves1 of
 impossible crimes1 the fiction of timid
 ignorance1 or guilty of nothing but    
fidelity to their own principles2 and   
when he sees them lacerated by slow     
tortures1 subject to well-contrived     
formalities1 an agreeable sight for a   
fanatical multitude8  ,in order that a  
punishment may attain its object1 it is 
enough if the evil of the punishment    
exceeds the advantage of the crime1 and 
in this excess of evil the certainty of 
punishment and the loss of the possible 
advantage from the crime ought to be    
considered as part2 all beyond this is  
superfluous and consequently tyrannical4
 ,men regulate their conduct by the     

reiterated impression of evils they     
know1 not by reason of evils they       
ignore4 ,given two nations1 in one of   
which1 in the scale of punishments      
proportioned to the scale of crimes1 the
 severest penalty is perpetual          
servitude1 and in the other the wheel2  
,i say that the former will have as     
great a dread of its severest punishment
 as the latter will have2 and if there  
be any reason for transporting to the   
former country the greater penalties of 
the other1 the same reasoning will serve
 for increasing still more the penalties
 of this latter country1 passing        
imperceptibly from the wheel to the     
slowest and most elaborate tortures1    
nay1 even to the last refinements of    
that science which tyrants understand   
only too well4  ,the more cruel         
punishments become1 the more human minds
 harden1 adjusting themselves1 like     
fluids1 to the level of objects around  
them2 and the ever living force of the  
passions brings it about1 that after a  

hundred years of cruel punishments1 the 
wheel frightens men only just as much as
 at first did the punishment of prison4 
,the very severity of a punishment leads
 men to dare so much the more to escape 
it1 according to the greatness of the   
evil in prospect2 and many crimes are   
thus committed to avoid the penalty of a
 single one4 ,countries and times where 
punishments have been most severe have  
ever been those where the bloodiest and 
most inhuman deeds have been committed1 
the same spirit of ferocity that guided 
the hand of the legislator having guided
 also that of the parricide and         
assassin2 on the throne dictating iron  
laws for the villanous souls of slaves  
to obey1 and in the obscurity of private
 life urging to the slaughter of        
tyrants1 only to create fresh ones in   
their stead4  ,two other fatal          
consequences flow from the cruelty of   
punishments1 and are contrary to their  
very purpose1 the prevention of crimes4 
,the first is1 that it is not so easy to

 preserve the essential proportion      
between crime and punishment1 because1  
however much a studied cruelty may      
diversify its forms1 none of them can go
 beyond the extreme limit of endurance  
which is a condition of the human       
organisation and sensibility4 ,when once
 this extreme limit is attained1 it     
would be impossible to invent such a    
corresponding increase of punishment for
 still more injurious and atrocious     
crimes as would be necessary to prevent 
them4 ,the other consequence is1 that   
impunity itself arises from the severity
 of punishments4 ,men are restrained    
within limits both in good and evil2 and
 a sight too atrocious for humanity can 
only be a passing rage1 not a constant  
system1 such as the laws ought to be2 if
 the latter are really cruel1 either    
they are changed1 or themselves give    
rise to a fatal impunity4  ,i conclude  
with this reflection1 that the scale of 
punishments should be relative to the   
condition of a nation4 ,on the hardened 

minds of a people scarcely emerged from 
the savage state the impressions made   
should be stronger and more sensible4   
,one needs a thunderbolt for the        
destruction of a fierce lion that faces 
round at the shot of a gun4 ,but in     
proportion as men's minds become        
softened in the social state1 their     
sensibility increases1 and commensurate 
with that increase should be the        
diminution of the force of punishment1  
if it be desired to maintain any        
proportion between the object and the   
sensation that attends it4     ,,chapter
 ,,xvi4  ,,capital ,,punishment4   ,this
 useless prodigality of punishments1 by 
which men have never been made any      
better1 has driven me to examine whether
 the punishment of death be really      
useful and just in a well organised     
government4 ,what kind of right can that
 be which men claim for the slaughter of
 their fellow-beings8 ,certainly not    
that right which is the source of       
sovereignty and of laws4 ,for these are 

nothing but the sum-total of the        
smallest portions of individual liberty1
 and represent the general will1 that   
is1 the aggregate of individual wills4  
,but who ever wished to leave to other  
men the option of killing him8 ,how in  
the least possible sacrifice of each    
man's liberty can there be a sacrifice  
of the greatest of all goods1 namely1 of
 life8 ,and if there could be that      
sacrifice1 how would such a principle   
accord with the other1 that a man is not
 the master of his own life8 ,yet he    
must have been so1 could he have given  
to himself or to society as a body this 
right of killing him4  ,the death       
penalty therefore is not a right2 ,i    
have proved that it cannot be so2 but it
 is a war of a nation against one of its
 members1 because his annihilation is   
deemed necessary and expedient4 ,but if 
,i can show that his death is neither   
necessary nor expedient1 ,i shall have  
won the cause of humanity4  ,the death  
of a citizen can only be deemed         

necessary for two reasons4 ,the first is
 when1 though deprived of his personal  
freedom1 he has still such connections  
and power as threaten the national      
security2 when his existence is capable 
of producing a dangerous revolution in  
the established form of government4 ,the
 death of a citizen becomes then        
necessary when the nation is recovering 
or losing its liberty1 or in a time of  
anarchy1 when confusion takes the place 
of laws2 but in times when the laws hold
 undisturbed sway1 when the form of     
government corresponds with the wishes  
of a united nation1 and is defended     
internally and externally by force1 and 
by opinion which is perhaps even        
stronger than force1 where the supreme  
power rests only with the real          
sovereign1 and riches serve to purchase 
pleasures but not places1 ,i see no     
necessity for destroying a citizen1     
except when his death might be the real 
and only restraint for diverting others 
from committing crimes2 this latter case

 constituting the second reason for     
which one may believe capital punishment
 to be both just and necessary4  ,since 
mankind generally1 suspicious always of 
the language of reason1 but ready to bow
 to that of authority1 remain           
unpersuaded by the experience of all    
ages1 in which the supreme punishment   
has never diverted resolute men from    
committing offences against society2    
since also they are equally unmoved by  
the example of the ,romans and by twenty
 years of the reign of the ,empress     
,elizabeth of ,russia1 during which she 
presented this illustrious example to   
the fathers of their people1 an example 
which is at least equivalent to many    
conquests bought by the blood of her    
country's sons1 it is sufficient merely 
to consult human nature itself1 to      
perceive the truth of the assertion ,i  
have made4  ,the greatest effect that   
any punishment has upon the human mind  
is not to be measured by its intensity  
but by its duration1 for our sensibility

 is more easily and permanently affected
 by very slight but repeated impressions
 than by a strong but brief shock4      
,habit holds universal sway over every  
sentient being1 and as we speak and walk
 and satisfy our needs by its aid1 so   
moral ideas only stamp themselves on our
 mind by long and repeated impressions4 
,it is not the terrible yet brief sight 
of a criminal's death1 but the long and 
painful example of a man deprived of his
 liberty1 who1 having become as it were 
a beast of burthen1 repays with his toil
 the society he has offended1 which is  
the strongest restraint from crimes4    
,far more potent than the fear of death1
 which men ever have before their eyes  
in the remote distance1 is the thought1 
so efficacious from its constant        
recurrence3 #8,i myself shall be reduced
 to as long and miserable a condition if
 ,i commit similar misdeeds4'  ,capital 
punishment makes an impression in       
prospect which1 with all its force1 does
 not fully meet that ready spirit of    

forgetfulness1 so natural to man even in
 his most important concerns1 and so    
liable to be accelerated by his         
passions4 ,as a general rule1 men are   
startled by the sight of violent        
sufferings1 but not for long1 and       
therefore such impressions are wont so  
to transform them as to make of ordinary
 men either ,persians or ,spartans2 but 
in a free and settled government        
impressions should rather be frequent   
than strong4  ,capital punishment       
becomes a spectacle for the majority of 
mankind1 and a subject for compassion   
and abhorrence for others2 the minds of 
the spectators are more filled with     
these feelings than with the wholesome  
terror the law pretends to inspire4 ,but
 in moderate and continuing penalties   
the latter is the predominant feeling1  
because it is the only one4 ,the limit1 
which the legislator should affix to the
 severity of penalties1 appears to lie  
in the first signs of a feeling of      
compassion becoming uppermost in the    

minds of the spectators1 when they look 
upon the punishment rather as their own 
than as that of the criminal4  ,in order
 that a punishment may be just1 it must 
contain only such degrees of intensity  
as suffice to deter men from crimes4    
,but as there is no one who on          
reflection would choose the total and   
perpetual loss of his liberty1 however  
great the advantages offered him by a   
crime1 the intensity of the punishment  
of servitude for life1 substituted for  
capital punishment1 has that in it which
 is sufficient to daunt the most        
determined courage4 ,i will add that it 
is even more deterrent than death4 ,very
 many men face death calmly and firmly1 
some from fanaticism1 some from vanity1 
which almost always attends a man to the
 tomb2 others from a last desperate     
attempt either no longer to live or to  
escape from their misery2 but neither   
fanaticism nor vanity have any place    
among fetters and chains1 under the     
stick1 under the yoke1 in a cage of     

iron2 the wretch thus punished is so far
 from terminating his miseries that with
 his punishment he only begins them4    
,the mind of man offers more resistance 
to violence and to extreme but brief    
pains than it does to time and to       
incessant weariness2 for whilst it can1 
so to speak1 gather itself together for 
a moment to repel the former1 its       
vigorous elasticity is insufficient to  
resist the long and repeated action of  
the latter4 ,in the case of capital     
punishment1 each example presented of it
 is all that a single crime affords2 in 
penal servitude for life1 a single crime
 serves to present numerous and lasting 
warnings4 ,and if it be important that  
the power of the laws should often be   
witnessed1 there ought to be no long    
intervals between the examples of the   
death penalty2 but this would presuppose
 the frequency of crimes1 so that1 to   
render the punishment effective1 it must
 not make on men all the impression that
 it ought to make1 in other words1 it   

must be useful and not useful at the    
same time4 ,and should it be objected   
that perpetual servitude is as painful  
as death1 and therefore equally cruel1  
,i will reply1 that1 taking into        
consideration all the unhappy moments of
 servitude1 it will perhaps be even more
 painful than death2 but whilst these   
moments are spread over the whole of a  
lifetime1 death exercises all its force 
in a single moment4 ,there is also this 
advantage in penal servitude1 that it   
has more terrors for him who sees it    
than for him who suffers it1 for the    
former thinks of the whole sum-total of 
unhappy moments1 whilst the latter1 by  
the unhappiness of the present moment1  
has his thoughts diverted from that     
which is to come4 ,all evils are        
magnified in imagination1 and every     
sufferer finds resources and            
consolations unknown to and unbelieved  
in by spectators1 who substitute their  
own sensibility for the hardened soul of
 a criminal4  ,the following is the kind

 of reasoning adopted by the thief or   
the assassin1 whose only motives for not
 breaking the laws are the gallows or   
the wheel4 7,i know that the analysis of
 one's own thoughts is an art only      
learnt by education1 but a thief does   
not the less act according to certain   
principles because he is unable to      
express them74 #8,of what sort1' he     
argues1 #8are these laws that ,i am     
bound to observe1 that leave so great an
 interval between myself and the rich   
man8 ,he denies me the penny ,i ask of  
him1 and excuses himself by ordering    
from me a work of which he himself knows
 nothing4 ,who has made these laws8     
,were they not made by rich and powerful
 men1 who have never deigned to visit   
the wretched hovels of the poor1 who    
have never divided a musty loaf of bread
 amid the innocent cries of famished    
children and the tears of a wife8 ,let  
us break these bonds1 which are fatal to
 the greater number1 and only useful to 
a few indolent tyrants2 let us attack   

injustice in its source4 ,i will return 
to my state of natural independence2 ,i 
will live for some time happy and free  
on the fruits of my courage and address2
 and if the day should ever come when ,i
 have to suffer and repent for it1 the  
time of suffering will be short1 and ,i 
shall have one day of misery for many   
years of liberty and pleasure4 ,as the  
king of a small band1 ,i will correct   
the errors of fortune1 and see these    
tyrants pale and tremble before one1    
whom in their insolent arrogance they   
rated lower than their horses or their  
dogs4' ,then religion hovers before the 
mind of the criminal1 who turns         
everything to a bad use1 and offering   
him a facile repentance and an almost   
certain eternity of bliss does much to  
diminish in his eyes the horror of that 
last tragedy of all4  ,but the man who  
sees in prospect a great number of      
years1 or perhaps the whole of his life1
 to be passed in servitude and suffering
 before the eyes of fellow-citizens with

 whom he is living in freedom and       
friendship1 the slave of those laws     
which had once protected him1 makes a   
useful comparison of all these          
circumstances with the uncertain result 
of his crimes and with the shortness of 
the time for which he would enjoy their 
fruits4 ,the ever present example of    
those whom he actually sees the victims 
of their own imprudence1 impresses him  
much more strongly than the sight of a  
punishment which hardens rather than    
corrects him4  ,capital punishment is   
injurious by the example of barbarity it
 presents4 ,if human passions1 or the   
necessities of war1 have taught men to  
shed one another's blood1 the laws1     
which are intended to moderate human    
conduct1 ought not to extend the savage 
example1 which in the case of a legal   
execution is all the more baneful in    
that it is carried out with studied     
formalities4 ,to me it seems an         
absurdity1 that the laws1 which are the 
expression of the public will1 which    

abhor and which punish murder1 should   
themselves commit one2 and that1 to     
deter citizens from private             
assassination1 they should themselves   
order a public murder4 ,what are the    
true and the most useful laws8 ,are they
 not those covenants and conditions     
which all would wish observed and       
proposed1 when the incessant voice of   
private interest is hushed or is united 
with the interest of the public8 ,what  
are every man's feelings about capital  
punishment8 ,let us read them in the    
gestures of indignation and scorn with  
which everyone looks upon the           
executioner1 who is1 after all1 an      
innocent administrator of the public    
will1 a good citizen contributory to the
 public welfare1 an instrument as       
necessary for the internal security of a
 ,state as brave soldiers are for its   
external4 ,what1 then1 is the source of 
this contradiction2 and why is this     
feeling1 in spite of reason1            
ineradicable in mankind8 ,because men in

 their most secret hearts1 that part of 
them which more than any other still    
preserves the original form of their    
first nature1 have ever believed that   
their lives lie at no one's disposal1   
save in that of necessity alone1 which1 
with its iron sceptre1 rules the        
universe4  ,what should men think when  
they see wise magistrates and grave     
priests of justice with calm            
indifference causing a criminal to be   
dragged by their slow procedure to      
death2 or when they see a judge1 whilst 
a miserable wretch in the convulsions of
 his last agonies is awaiting the fatal 
blow1 pass away coldly and unfeelingly1 
perhaps even with a secret satisfaction 
in his authority1 to enjoy the comforts 
and pleasures of life8 #8,ah' they will 
say1 #8these laws are but the pretexts  
of force1 and the studied cruel         
formalities of justice are but a        
conventional language1 used for the     
purpose of immolating us with greater   
safety1 like victims destined in        

sacrifice to the insatiable idol of     
tyranny4 ,that assassination which they 
preach to us as so terrible a misdeed we
 see nevertheless employed by them      
without either scruple or passion4 ,let 
us profit by the example4 ,a violent    
death seemed to us a terrible thing in  
the descriptions of it that were made to
 us1 but we see it is a matter of a     
moment4 ,how much less terrible will it 
be for a man who1 not expecting it1 is  
spared all that there is of painful in  
it4'  ,such are the fatal arguments     
employed1 if not clearly1 at least      
vaguely1 by men disposed to crimes1     
among whom1 as we have seen1 the abuse  
of religion is more potent than religion
 itself4  ,if ,i am confronted with the 
example of almost all ages and almost   
all nations who have inflicted the      
punishment of death upon some crimes1 ,i
 will reply1 that the example avails    
nothing before truth1 against which     
there is no prescription of time2 and   
that the history of mankind conveys to  

us the idea of an immense sea of errors1
 among which a few truths1 confusedly   
and at long intervals1 float on the     
surface4 ,human sacrifices were once    
common to almost all nations1 yet who   
for that reason will dare defend them8  
,that some few states1 and for a short  
time only1 should have abstained from   
inflicting death1 rather favours my     
argument than otherwise1 because such a 
fact is in keeping with the lot of all  
great truths1 whose duration is but as  
of a lightning flash in comparison with 
the long and darksome night that        
envelops mankind4 ,that happy time has  
not yet arrived when truth1 as error has
 hitherto done1 shall belong to the     
majority of men2 and from this universal
 law of the reign of error those truths 
alone have hitherto been exempt1 which  
supreme wisdom has seen fit to          
distinguish from others1 by making them 
the subject of a special revelation4    
,the voice of a philosopher is too      
feeble against the noise and cries of so

 many followers of blind custom1 but the
 few wise men scattered over the face of
 the earth will respond to me from their
 inmost hearts2 and1 amid the many      
obstacles that keep it from a monarch1  
should truth perchance arrive in spite  
of him at his throne1 let him know that 
it comes there attended by the secret   
wishes of all men2 let him know that    
before his praises the bloody fame of   
conquerors will be silenced1 and that   
posterity1 which is just1 will assign   
him the foremost place among the pacific
 triumphs of a ,titus1 an ,antonine1 or 
a ,trajan4  ,happy were humanity1 if    
laws were now dictated to it for the    
first time1 when we see on the thrones  
of ,europe beneficent monarchs1 men who 
encourage the virtues of peace1 the     
sciences and the arts1 who are fathers  
to their people1 who are crowned        
citizens1 and the increase of whose     
authority forms the happiness of their  
subjects1 because it removes that       
intermediate despotism1 more cruel      

because less secure1 by which the       
people's wishes1 always sincere1 and    
always attended to when they can reach  
the throne1 have been usually           
intercepted and suppressed4 ,if they1 ,i
 say1 suffer the ancient laws to exist1 
it is owing to the infinite difficulties
 of removing from errors the revered    
rust of many ages2 which is a reason for
 enlightened citizens to desire with all
 the greater ardour the continual       
increase of their authority4            
,,chapter ,,xvii4  ,,banishment ,,and   
,,confiscations4   ,whosoever disturbs  
the public peace1 or obeys not the laws1
 that is1 the conditions under which men
 bear with and defend one another1 ought
 to be excluded from society1 that is1  
to be banished from it4  ,banishment1 it
 would seem1 should be employed in the  
case of those against whom1 when accused
 of an atrocious crime1 there is a great
 probability but not a certainty of     
guilt2 but for this purpose a statute is
 required1 as little arbitrary and as   

precise as possible1 condemning to      
banishment any man who shall have placed
 his country in the fatal dilemma of    
either fearing him or of injuring him1  
leaving him1 however1 the sacred right  
of proving his innocence4 ,stronger     
reasons then should exist to justify the
 banishment of a native than of a       
foreigner1 of a man criminated for the  
first time than of one who has been     
often so situated4  ,but should a man   
who is banished and excluded for ever   
from the society of which he was a      
member be also deprived of his property8
 ,such a question may be regarded from  
different points of view4 ,the loss of  
property is a greater punishment than   
banishment2 there ought1 therefore1 to  
be some cases in which1 according to his
 crime1 a man should lose the whole1 or 
part1 or none of his property4 ,the     
confiscation of the whole will occur1   
when the legal sentence of banishment is
 of a kind to annihilate all the ties   
that exist between society and its      

offending member2 for in such a case the
 citizen dies1 and only the man remains2
 and with regard to the political body  
civil death should produce the same     
effect as natural death4 ,it would seem 
then that the confiscated property      
should pass to a man's lawful heirs     
rather than to the head of the ,state1  
since death and banishment in its       
extreme form are the same with regard to
 the body politic4 ,but it is not by    
this subtlety that ,i dare to disapprove
 of confiscations of property4 ,if some 
have maintained that confiscations have 
acted as checks on acts of revenge and  
on the great power of individuals1 it is
 from neglecting to consider that1      
however much good punishments may       
effect1 they are not for that reason    
always just1 because to be just they    
must be necessary2 and an expedient     
injustice can be tolerated by no        
legislator1 who wishes to close all     
doors against watchful tyranny1 ever    
ready to hold out flattering hopes1 by  

temporary advantages and by the         
prosperity of a few persons of          
celebrity1 in disregard of future ruin  
and of the tears of numberless persons  
of obscurity4 ,confiscations place a    
price on the heads of the feeble1 cause 
the innocent to suffer the punishment of
 the guilty1 and make the commission of 
crimes a desperate necessity even for   
the innocent4 ,what sadder sight can    
there be than that of a family dragged  
down to infamy and misery by the crimes 
of its head1 unable to prevent them by  
the submission imposed on it by the     
laws1 even supposing such prevention to 
have been within its power6             
,,chapter ,,xviii4  ,,infamy4   ,infamy 
is a sign of public disapprobation1     
depriving a criminal of the good-will of
 his countrymen1 of their confidence1   
and of that feeling almost of fraternity
 that a common life inspires4 ,it does  
not depend upon the laws4 ,hence the    
infamy which the laws inflict should be 
the same as that which arises from the  

natural relations of things1 the same as
 that taught by universal morality1 or  
by that particular morality1 which      
depends on particular systems1 and sets 
the law for ordinary opinions or for    
this and that nation4 ,if the one kind  
of infamy is different from the other1  
either the law loses in public esteem1  
or the ideas of morality and honesty    
disappear1 in spite of declamations1    
which are never efficacious against     
facts4 ,whoever declares actions to be  
infamous which are in themselves        
indifferent1 detracts from the infamy of
 actions that are really in themselves  
infamous4  ,corporal and painful        
punishments should not be inflicted for 
those crimes which have their foundation
 in pride1 and draw from pain itself    
their glory and nutriment4 ,for such    
crimes ridicule and infamy are more     
fitted1 these being penalties which curb
 the pride of fanatics by the pride of  
the beholders1 and only let truth itself
 escape their tenacity by slow and      

obstinate efforts4 ,by such an          
opposition of forces against forces1 and
 of opinions against opinions1 the wise 
legislator destroys that admiration and 
astonishment among a people1 which a    
false principle causes1 whose original  
absurdity is usually hidden from view by
 the plausible conclusions deduced from 
it4  ,penalties of infamy ought neither 
to be too common1 nor to fall upon too  
many persons at a time2 not too common1 
because the real and too frequent       
effects of matters of opinion weaken the
 force of opinion itself2 not too       
general1 because the disgrace of many   
persons resolves itself into the        
disgrace of none of them4  ,this1 then1 
is the way to avoid confounding the     
relations and invariable nature of      
things1 which1 being unlimited by time  
and in ceaseless operation1 confounds   
and overturns all narrow regulations    
that depart from it4 ,it is not only the
 arts of taste and pleasure which have  
for their universal principle the       

faithful imitation of nature2 but the   
art of politics itself1 at least that   
which is true and permanent1 is subject 
to this general maxim1 since it consists
 in nothing else than the art of        
directing in the best way and to the    
same purposes the immutable sentiments  
of mankind4     ,,chapter ,,xix4  ,,the 
,,promptness ,,of ,,punishments4   ,the 
more speedily and the more nearly in    
connection with the crime committed     
punishment shall follow1 the more just  
and useful it will be4 ,i say more just1
 because a criminal is thereby spared   
those useless and fierce torments of    
suspense which are all the greater in a 
person of vigorous imagination and fully
 conscious of his own weakness2 more    
just also1 because the privation of     
liberty1 in itself a punishment1 can    
only precede the sentence by the        
shortest possible interval compatible   
with the requirements of necessity4     
,imprisonment1 therefore1 is simply the 
safe custody of a citizen pending the   

verdict of his guilt2 and this custody1 
being essentially disagreeable1 ought to
 be as brief and easy as possible4 ,the 
shortness of the time should be measured
 both by the necessary length of the    
preparations for the trial and by the   
seniority of claim to a judgment4 ,the  
strictness of confinement should be no  
more than is necessary either for the   
prevention of escape or for guarding    
against the concealment of the proof of 
crimes4 ,the trial itself should be     
finished in the shortest time possible4 
,what contrast more cruel than that     
between a judge's ease and a defendant's
 anguish8 between the comforts and      
pleasures of an unfeeling magistrate on 
the one hand1 and the tears and         
wretchedness of a prisoner on the other8
 ,in general1 the weight of a punishment
 and the consequence of a crime should  
be as efficacious as possible for the   
restraint of other men and as little    
hard as possible for the individual who 
is punished2 for one cannot call that a 

proper form of society1 where it is not 
an infallible principle1 that its       
members intended1 in constituting it1 to
 subject themselves to as few evils as  
possible4  ,i said that the promptness  
of punishment is more useful1 because   
the shorter the interval of time between
 the punishment and the misdeed1 the    
stronger and the more lasting in the    
human mind is the association of these  
ideas1 crime and punishment1 so that    
insensibly they come to be considered1  
the one as the cause and the other as   
its necessary and inevitable            
consequence4 ,it is a proved fact that  
the association of ideas is the cement  
of the whole fabric of the human        
intellect1 and that without it pleasure 
and pain would be isolated and          
ineffective feelings4 ,the further      
removed men are from general ideas and  
universal principles1 that is1 the more 
commonplace they are1 the more they act 
by their immediate and nearest          
associations1 to the neglect of remoter 

and more complex ones1 the latter being 
of service only to men strongly         
impassioned for a given object of       
pursuit1 inasmuch as the light of       
attention illuminates a single object1  
whilst it leaves the others obscure4    
,they are also of service to minds of a 
higher quality1 because1 having acquired
 the habit of running rapidly over many 
subjects at a time1 they possess        
facility in placing in contrast with one
 another many partial feelings1 so that 
the result of their thoughts1 in other  
words1 their action1 is less perilous   
and uncertain4  ,the close connection1  
therefore1 of crime and punishment is of
 the utmost importance1 if it be        
desirable that in rough and common minds
 there should1 together with the        
seductive idea of an advantageous crime1
 immediately start up the associated    
idea of its punishment4 ,long delay has 
no other effect than the perpetual      
separation of these two ideas2 and      
whatever the impression produced by the 

punishment of a crime1 it produces it   
less as a punishment than as a sight1   
and only produces it when the horror of 
the particular crime1 which would serve 
to strengthen the feeling of the        
punishment1 has been weakened in the    
minds of the spectators4  ,another      
principle would serve admirably to draw 
still closer the important connection   
between a misdeed and its punishment1   
and that is1 that the latter should as  
far as possible conform to the nature of
 the crime4 ,this analogy facilitates   
marvellously the contrast that ought to 
exist between the impulse to the crime  
and the counter-influence of the        
punishment1 the one1 that is1 diverting 
the mind and guiding it to an end quite 
different from that to which the        
seductive idea of transgressing the law 
endeavours to lead it4  ,persons guilty 
of lesser crimes are usually either     
punished in the obscurity of a prison1  
or transported1 as an example to nations
 who have given no offence1 to a distant

 and therefore almost useless servitude4
 ,since the gravest crimes are not those
 which men are tempted to commit on the 
spur of the moment1 the public          
punishment of a great misdeed will be   
regarded by most men as strange and of  
impossible occurrence2 but the public   
punishment of lighter crimes1 to which  
men's thoughts more readily incline1    
will make an impression1 which1 at the  
same time that it diverts the mind from 
them1 will restrain it still more from  
crimes of greater gravity4 ,punishments 
should not only be proportioned to one  
another and to crimes in point of force1
 but also in the mode of their          
infliction4     ,,chapter ,,xx4         
,,certainty ,,of                        
,,punishments--,,pardons4   ,one of the 
greatest preventives of crimes is1 not  
the cruelty of the punishments attached 
to them1 but their infallibility1 and   
consequently that watchfulness on the   
part of the magistrates and that        
inexorable severity on the part of the  

judge which1 to be a useful virtue1 must
 coincide with a mild system of laws4   
,the certainty of a punishment1 moderate
 though it be1 will ever make a stronger
 impression than the fear of another1   
more terrible1 perhaps1 but associated  
with the hope of impunity2 for even the 
least evils when certain always terrify 
men's minds1 and hope1 that gift of     
heaven1 which often makes up to us for  
everything1 always throws into the      
distance the idea of greater evils1     
especially when its force is increased  
by impunity1 which avarice and weakness 
so often grant4  ,it is sometimes the   
custom to release a man from the        
punishment of a slight crime when the   
injured person pardons him3 an act1     
indeed1 which is in accordance with     
mercy and humanity but contrary to      
public policy2 as if a private citizen  
could by his remission do away with the 
necessity of the example in the same way
 that he can excuse the reparation due  
for the offence4 ,the right of punishing

 does not rest with an individual1 but  
with the community as a whole1 or the   
sovereign4 ,an individual can only      
renounce his particular portion of that 
right1 not annul that of all the rest4  
,in proportion as punishments become    
milder1 clemency and pardon become less 
necessary4 ,happy the nation in which   
their exercise should be baneful6       
,clemency1 therefore1 that virtue1 which
 has sometimes made up in a sovereign   
for failings in all the other duties of 
the throne1 ought to be excluded in a   
perfect system of legislation1 where    
punishments are mild and the method of  
trial regular and expeditious4 ,this    
truth will appear a hard one to anybody 
living in the present chaotic state of  
the criminal law1 where the necessity of
 pardon and favours accords with the    
absurdity of the laws and with the      
severity of sentences of punishment4    
,this right of pardon is indeed the     
fairest prerogative of the throne1 the  
most desirable attribute of sovereignty2

 it is1 however1 the tacit mark of      
disapproval that the beneficent         
dispensers of the public happiness      
exhibit towards a code1 which with all  
its imperfections claims in its favour  
the prejudice of ages1 the voluminous   
and imposing array of innumerable       
commentators1 the weighty apparatus of  
unending formalities1 and the adhesion  
of those persons of half-learning who1  
though less feared than real            
philosophers1 are really more dangerous4
 ,but let it be remembered that clemency
 is the virtue of the maker1 not of the 
executor1 of the laws2 that it should be
 conspicuous in the code of laws rather 
than in particular judgments2 that the  
showing to men1 that crimes may be      
pardoned and that punishment is not     
their necessary consequence1 encourages 
the hope of impunity1 and creates the   
belief that sentences of condemnation1  
which might be remitted and are not1 are
 rather violent exhibitions of force    
than emanations of justice4 ,what shall 

be said then when the sovereign grants a
 pardon1 that is1 public immunity to an 
individual1 and when a private act of   
unenlightened kindness constitutes a    
public decree of impunity8 ,let the laws
 therefore be inexorable and their      
administrators in particular cases      
inexorable1 but let the law-maker be    
mild1 merciful1 and humane4 ,let him    
found his edifice1 as a wise architect1 
on the basis of self-love2 let the      
general interest be the sum of the      
interests of each1 and he will no longer
 be constrained1 by partial laws and    
violent remedies to separate at every   
moment the public welfare from that of  
individuals1 and to raise the appearance
 of public security on fear and         
mistrust4 ,as a profound and feeling    
philosopher let him allow men1 that is1 
his brethren1 to enjoy in peace that    
small share of happiness which is given 
them to enjoy in this corner of the     
universe1 in that immense system        
established by the ,first ,cause1 by    

,him ,who ,is4     ,,chapter ,,xxi4     
,,asylums ,,of ,,refuge4   ,there remain
 two questions for me to examine3 the   
first1 whether asylums of refuge are    
just1 and whether international         
agreements of extradition are expedient 
or not4 ,there should be no spot within 
the boundaries of any country           
independent of the laws4 ,every citizen 
should be followed by their power1 as   
every substance is followed by its      
shadow4 ,there is only a difference of  
degree between impunity and the right of
 asylum2 and as the effective influence 
of punishment consists more in its      
inevitability than in its violence1     
asylums do more to invite to crimes than
 punishments do to deter from them4 ,the
 multiplication of asylums is the       
formation of so many petty              
sovereignties2 for where there are no   
laws to command1 there it is easy for   
new laws1 opposed to the general laws of
 a country1 to be formed1 and           
consequently for a spirit opposed to    

that of the whole collective social body
 to arise4 ,all history shows that from 
asylums have issued great revolutions in
 ,states and in the opinions of mankind4
  ,some persons have maintained that a  
crime1 that is1 an action contrary to   
the laws1 is punishable wherever        
committed1 as if the character of       
subject were indelible1 or1 in other    
words1 synonymous with1 nay1 worse than1
 the character of slave2 as if a man    
could be the subject of one kingdom and 
the resident of another1 or as if his   
actions could without contradiction be  
subordinate to two sovereign powers and 
to two legal systems often              
contradictory4 ,so some think that a    
cruel action done1 say1 at              
,constantinople is punishable at ,paris1
 for the abstract reason that he who    
offends humanity deserves to have       
collective humanity for his enemy1 and  
merits universal execration2 as if      
judges were the avengers of human       
sensibility in general1 and not rather  

of the covenants that bind men together4
 ,the place of punishment is the place  
of the crime1 because there1 and there  
only1 is it a compulsory duty to injure 
an individual1 to prevent an injury to  
the public4 ,a villain1 but one who has 
not broken the covenants of the society 
of which he was not a member1 may be an 
object of fear1 and for that reason be  
expelled and exiled by the superior     
power of that society2 but he cannot be 
legally and formally punished1 since it 
is for the laws to avenge1 not the      
intrinsic malice of particular actions1 
but the violation of compacts4  ,but    
whether the international extradition of
 criminals be useful ,i would not       
venture to decide1 until laws more in   
conformity with the needs of humanity1  
until milder penalties1 and until the   
emancipation of law from the caprice of 
mere opinion1 shall have given security 
to oppressed innocence and hated virtue2
 until tyranny shall have been confined1
 by the force of universal reason which 

ever more and more unites the interests 
of kings and subjects1 to the vast      
plains of ,asia2 however much the       
conviction of finding nowhere a span of 
earth where real crimes were pardoned   
might be the most efficacious way of    
preventing their occurrence4            
,,chapter ,,xxii4  ,,of ,,proscription4 
,the second question is1 whether it is  
expedient to place a reward on the head 
of a known criminal1 and to make of     
every citizen an executioner by arming  
him against the offender4 ,either the   
criminal has fled from his country or he
 is still within it4 ,in the first case 
the sovereign encourages the commission 
of a crime and exposes its author to a  
punishment1 being thereby guilty of an  
injury and of an usurpation of authority
 in the dominions of another1 and       
authorising other nations to do the same
 by himself4 ,in the second case the    
sovereign displays his own weakness1 for
 he who has the power wherewith to      
defend himself seeks not to purchase it4

 ,moreover1 such an edict upsets all    
ideas of morality and virtue1 which are 
ever ready to vanish from the human mind
 at the very slightest breath4 ,now the 
laws invite to treachery1 and anon they 
punish it2 with one hand the legislator 
tightens the bonds of the family1 of    
kindred1 and of friendship1 whilst with 
the other he rewards whosoever violates 
and despises them2 always in            
self-contradiction1 he at one moment    
invites to confidence the suspicious    
natures of men1 and at another scatters 
mistrust broadcast among them4 ,instead 
of preventing one crime1 he causes a    
hundred4 ,these are the resources of    
weak nations1 whose laws are but the    
temporary repairs of a ruined building  
that totters throughout4 ,in proportion 
as a nation becomes enlightened1 good   
faith and mutual confidence become      
necessary1 and tend ever more to        
identify themselves with true policy4   
,tricks1 intrigues1 dark and indirect   
paths1 are for the most part foreseen1  

and the general quickness of all men    
collectively over-reaches and blunts    
that of single individuals4 ,the very   
ages of ignorance1 in which public      
morality inclines men to obey the       
dictates of private morality1 serve as  
instruction and experience for the ages 
of enlightenment4 ,but laws which reward
 treachery and stir up clandestine      
hostility by spreading mutual suspicion 
among citizens1 are opposed to this     
union of private and public morality1 a 
union which is so necessary1 and to the 
observance of which individuals might   
owe their happiness1 nations their      
peace1 and the universe a somewhat      
longer period of quiet and repose from  
the evils which at present pervade it4  
,,chapter ,,xxiii4  ,,proportion        
,,between ,,crimes ,,and ,,punishments4 
,not only is it the general interest    
that crimes should not be committed1 but
 that they should be rare in proportion 
to the evils they cause to society4 ,the
 more opposed therefore that crimes are 

to the public welfare1 and the more     
numerous the incentives to them1 the    
stronger should be the repellent        
obstacles4 ,this principle accordingly  
establishes the necessity of a certain  
proportion between crimes and           
punishments4  ,if pleasure and pain are 
the motors of sensitive beings1 if the  
invisible lawgiver of humanity has      
decreed rewards and punishments as one  
of the motives to impel men to even     
their noblest endeavours1 the inexact   
distribution of these motives will give 
rise to that contradiction1 as little   
noticed as it is of common occurrence1  
namely1 that the laws punish crimes     
which are entirely of their own         
creation4 ,if an equal penalty is       
attached to two crimes of unequal injury
 to society1 the greater crime of the   
two1 if it promise a greater advantage  
than the other1 will have no stronger   
motive in restraint of its perpetration4
 ,whoever1 for example1 sees the same   
punishment of death decreed for the man 

who kills a pheasant and the man who    
slays his fellow or falsifies an        
important document1 will draw no        
distinction between such crimes2 and    
thus moral sentiments1 the product only 
of many ages and of much bloodshed1 the 
slowest and most difficult attainment of
 the human mind1 dependent1 it has been 
thought1 on the aid of the most sublime 
motives and on a parade of the gravest  
formalities1 will be destroyed and lost4
  ,it is impossible to prevent all the  
disorders that may arise in the         
universal conflict of human passions4   
,their increase depends on that of      
population and on the crossings of      
private interests1 which cannot be      
directed with geometrical exactness to  
the public welfare4 ,in political       
arithmetic the calculation of           
probabilities must be substituted for   
mathematical exactness4 ,glance at the  
history of the world1 and you will see  
disorders increase with the increase of 
the bounds of empire2 thus national     

feeling being to the same extent        
diminished1 the general inducement to   
crime increases with the greater        
interest of each individual in such     
disorders1 and on this account the      
necessity for aggravating penalties ever
 continues to increase4  ,that force1   
similar to the force of gravitation1    
which constrains us to seek our own     
well-being1 only admits of counteraction
 in proportion to the obstacles opposed 
to it4 ,the effects of this force make  
up the confused series of human actions2
 if these clash together and impede one 
another1 punishments1 which ,i would    
call political obstacles1 prevent bad   
effects from resulting1 without         
destroying the impelling cause1 which   
lies in the sensibility inseparable from
 humanity2 and the legislator1 in       
enacting them1 acts the part of a clever
 architect1 whose function it is to     
counteract the tendency of gravitation  
to cause a building to fall1 and to     
bring to bear all the lines which       

contribute to its strength4  ,given the 
necessity of the aggregation of mankind1
 and given the covenants which          
necessarily result from the very        
opposition of private interests1 a scale
 of offences may be traced1 beginning   
with those which tend directly to the   
destruction of society1 and ending with 
acts of the smallest possible injustice 
committed against individual members of 
it4 ,between these extremes are         
comprised all the actions opposed to the
 public welfare which are called crimes1
 and which by imperceptible degrees     
decrease in enormity from the highest to
 the lowest4 ,if the infinite and       
obscure combinations of human actions   
admitted of mathematical treatment1     
there ought to be a corresponding scale 
of punishments1 varying from the        
severest to the slightest penalty4 ,if  
there were an exact and universal scale 
of crimes and punishments1 we should    
have an approximate and general test by 
which to gauge the degrees of tyranny   

and liberty in different governments1   
the relative state of the humanity or   
wickedness of different nations4 ,but   
the wise legislator will rest satisfied 
with marking out the principal divisions
 in such a scale1 so as not to invert   
their order1 nor to affix to crimes of  
the first degree punishments due to     
those of the last4     ,,chapter ,,xxiv4
  ,,the ,,measure ,,of ,,punishments4   
,we have seen that the true measure of  
crimes is the injury done to society4   
,this is one of those palpable truths   
which1 however little dependent on      
quadrants or telescopes for their       
discovery1 and fully within the reach of
 any ordinary intelligence1 are yet1 by 
a marvellous combination of             
circumstances1 only recognised clearly  
and firmly by some few thinkers1        
belonging to every nationality and to   
every age4 ,but ,asiatic ideas1 and     
passions clothed with authority and     
power1 have1 generally by imperceptible 
movements1 sometimes by violent assaults

 on the timid credulity of mankind1     
dissipated those simple notions1 which  
perhaps formed the first philosophy of  
primitive communities1 and to which the 
enlightenment of this age seems likely  
to reconduct us1 but to do so with that 
greater sureness1 which can be gained   
from an exact investigation into things1
 from a thousand unhappy experiences1   
and from the very obstacles that        
militate against it4  ,they who have    
thought that the criminal's intention   
was the true measure of crimes were in  
the wrong4 ,for the intention depends on
 the actual impression of things upon a 
man1 and on his precedent mental        
disposition1 things which vary in all   
men and in each man1 according to the   
very rapid succession of his ideas1 his 
passions1 and his circumstances4 ,it    
would1 therefore1 be necessary to form  
not only a particular code for each     
citizen1 but a fresh law for every      
crime4 ,sometimes with the best         
intentions men do the greatest evil to  

society2 and sometimes with the very    
worst they do it the greatest good4     
,others again measure crimes rather by  
the rank of the person injured than by  
their importance in regard to the public
 weal4 ,were this the true measure of   
crimes1 any act of irreverence towards  
the ,supreme ,being should be punished  
more severely than the assassination of 
a monarch1 whereas the superiority of   
,his nature affords an infinite         
compensation for the difference of the  
offence4  ,lastly1 some have thought    
that the gravity of an act's sinfulness 
should be an element in the measure of  
crimes4 ,but an impartial observer of   
the true relations between man and man1 
and between man and ,god1 will easily   
perceive the fallacy of this opinion4   
,for the former relationship is one of  
equality2 necessity alone1 from the     
clash of passions and opposing          
interests1 having given rise to the idea
 of the public utility1 the basis of    
human justice4 ,but the other           

relationship is one of dependence on a  
perfect ,being and ,creator1 who has    
reserved to ,himself alone the right of 
being at the same time legislator and   
judge1 and can alone unite the two      
functions without bad effects4 ,if ,he  
has decreed eternal punishments to those
 who disobey ,his omnipotence1 what     
insect shall dare to take the place of  
,divine justice1 or shall wish to avenge
 that ,being1 who is all-sufficient to  
,himself1 who can receive from things no
 impression of pleasure nor of pain1 and
 who alone of all beings acts without   
reaction8 ,the degree of sinfulness in  
an action depends on the unsearchable   
wickedness of the heart1 which cannot be
 known by finite beings without a       
revelation4 ,how1 then1 found thereon a 
standard for the punishment of crimes8  
,in such a case men might punish when   
,god pardons1 and pardon when ,god      
punishes4 ,if men can act contrary to   
the ,almighty by offending ,him1 they   
may also do so in the punishments they  

inflict4     ,,chapter ,,xxv4  ,,the    
,,division ,,of ,,punishments4   ,some  
crimes tend directly to the destruction 
of society or to the sovereign who      
represents it2 others affect individual 
citizens1 by imperilling their life1    
their property1 or their honour2 whilst 
others1 again1 are actions contrary to  
the positive or negative obligations    
which bind every individual to the      
public weal4  ,any action that is not   
included between the two above-indicated
 extremes can only be called a crime or 
punished as such by those who find their
 interest in so calling it4 ,the        
uncertainty of these limits has produced
 in different nations a system of ethics
 contrary to the system of laws1 has    
produced many actual systems of laws at 
total variance with one another1 and a  
quantity of laws which expose even the  
wisest man to the severest penalties4   
,consequently the words virtue and vice 
have become of vague and variable       
meaning1 and from the uncertainty thus  

surrounding individual existence1       
listlessness and a fatal apathy have    
spread over political communities4  ,the
 opinion that each citizen should have  
liberty to do whatsoever is not contrary
 to the laws1 without fear of any other 
inconvenience than such as may arise    
from the action itself--this is the     
political dogma that should be believed 
by the people and promulgated by the    
chief magistrates1 a dogma as sacred as 
that of the incorrupt guardianship of   
the laws1 without which there can be no 
legitimate society2 a just compensation 
to mankind for their sacrifice of that  
entire liberty of action which belongs  
to every sensitive being1 and is only   
limited by the extent of its force4     
,this it is that forms liberal and      
vigorous souls1 and enlightened minds2  
that makes men virtuous with that virtue
 which can resist fear1 and not with    
that flexible kind of prudence which is 
only worthy of a man who can put up with
 a precarious and uncertain existence4  

,whosoever will read with a             
philosophical eye the codes and annals  
of different nations will find almost   
always that the names of virtue and     
vice1 of good citizen and criminal1 are 
changed in the course of ages1 not in   
accordance with the changes that occur  
in the circumstances of a country1 and  
consequently in conformity with the     
general interest1 but in accordance with
 the passions and errors that have      
swayed different legislators in         
succession4 ,he will observe full often1
 that the passions of one age form the  
basis of the morality of later ones2    
that strong passions1 the offspring of  
fanaticism and enthusiasm1 weakened and1
 so to speak1 gnawed away by time 7which
 reduces to a level all physical and    
moral phenomena7 become little by little
 the prudence of the age1 and a useful  
instrument in the hand of the strong man
 and the clever4 ,in this way the       
vaguest notions of honour and virtue    
have been produced2 for they change with

 the changes of time1 which causes names
 to survive things2 as also with the    
changes of rivers and mountains1 which  
form frequently the boundaries of moral 
no less than of physical geography4     
,,chapter ,,xxvi4  ,,crimes ,,of ,,high 
,,treason4   ,the first class of        
crimes--that is1 the worst1 because they
 are the most injurious to society--are 
those known as crimes of high treason4  
,only tyranny and ignorance1 which      
confound words and ideas of the clearest
 meaning1 can apply this name1 and      
consequently the heaviest punishment1 to
 different kinds of crimes1 thus        
rendering men1 as in a thousand other   
cases1 the victims of a word4 ,every    
crime1 be it ever so private1 injures   
society2 but every crime does not aim at
 its immediate destruction4 ,moral1 like
 physical actions1 have their limited   
sphere of activity1 and are differently 
circumscribed1 like all the movements of
 nature1 by time and space2 and         
therefore only a sophistical            

interpretation1 which is generally the  
philosophy of slavery1 can confound what
 eternal truth has distinguished by     
immutable differences4     ,,chapter    
,,xxvii4  ,,crimes ,,against ,,personal 
,,security--,,acts ,,of                 
,,violence--,,punishments ,,of ,,nobles4
   ,after crimes of high treason come   
crimes opposed to the personal security 
of individuals4 ,this security being the
 primary end of every properly          
constituted society1 it is impossible   
not to affix to the violation of any    
citizen's right of personal security one
 of the severest punishments that the   
laws allow4  ,some crimes are injuries  
to a man's person1 others to his        
property1 and the former should         
certainly be punished by corporal       
punishments4  ,offences1 therefore1     
against personal security and liberty   
are among the greatest of crimes4 ,under
 this head fall not only the            
assassinations and thefts of the common 
people1 but those also committed by the 

nobles and magistrates1 whose influence1
 acting with greater force and to a     
greater distance1 destroys in those     
subject to them all ideas of justice and
 duty1 and gives strength to those ideas
 of the right of the strongest1 which   
are equally perilous ultimately to him  
who exercises no less than to him who   
endures it4  ,neither the noble nor the 
rich man ought to be able to pay a price
 for injuries committed against the     
feeble and the poor2 else riches1 which1
 under the protection of the laws1 are  
the prize of industry1 become the       
nourishment of tyranny4 ,whenever the   
laws suffer a man in certain cases to   
cease to be a person and to become a    
thing1 there is no liberty2 for then you
 will see the man of power devoting all 
his industry to gather from the         
numberless combinations of civil life   
those which the law grants in his       
favour4 ,this discovery is the magic    
secret that changes citizens into beasts
 of burden1 and in the hand of the      

strong man forms the chain wherewith to 
fetter the actions of the imprudent and 
the weak4 ,this is the reason why in    
some governments1 that have all the     
semblance of liberty1 tyranny lies      
hidden or insinuates itself unforeseen1 
in some corner neglected by the         
legislator1 where insensibly it gains   
force and grows4  ,men oppose the       
strongest barriers against open tyranny1
 but they see not the imperceptible     
insect1 which gnaws them away1 and makes
 for the invading stream an opening that
 is all the more sure by very reason of 
its concealment from view4  ,of what    
kind1 then1 will be the punishments due 
to the crimes of nobles1 whose          
privileges form so great a part of the  
laws of different countries8 ,i will not
 here inquire whether this traditional  
distinction between nobles and commons  
be advantageous in a government1 or     
necessary in a monarchy2 nor whether it 
be true that a nobility forms an        
intermediate power in restraint of the  

excesses of the two extremes1 and not   
rather a caste which1 in slavery to     
itself and to others1 confines all      
circulation of merit and hope to a very 
narrow circle1 like those fertile and   
pleasant oases scattered among the vast 
sand-deserts of ,arabia2 nor whether1   
supposing it to be true that inequality 
is inevitable and useful in society1 it 
be also true that such inequality should
 subsist between classes rather than    
individuals1 and should remain with one 
part of the body politic rather than    
circulate through the whole2 whether it 
should rather perpetuate itself than be 
subject to constant self-destruction and
 renovation4 ,i will confine myself to  
the punishments proper for nobles1      
affirming that they should be the same  
for the greatest citizen as for the     
least4 ,every distinction of honour or  
of riches presupposes1 to be legitimate1
 a prior state of equality1 founded on  
the laws1 which regard all subjects as  
equally dependent on themselves4 ,one   

must suppose the men1 who renounced     
their natural state of despotic         
independence1 to have said3 #8,let him  
who is more industrious than his fellows
 have greater honours1 and let his fame 
be greater among his successors2 let him
 who is more prosperous and honoured    
hope even to become more so1 but let him
 fear no less than other men to break   
those conditions by virtue of which he  
is raised above them4' ,true it is that 
such decrees did not emanate in a       
convocation of the human race1 but such 
decrees exist in the eternal relations  
of things2 they do not destroy the      
supposed advantages of a nobility1      
though they prevent its abuses2 and they
 make laws feared1 by closing every     
admission to impunity4 ,and if any one  
shall say that the same punishment      
inflicted upon a noble and upon a       
commoner is not really the same1 by     
reason of the diversity of their        
education1 and of the disgrace spread   
over an illustrious family1 ,i will     

reply1 that the sensibility of the      
criminal is not the measure of          
punishment1 but the public injury1 and  
that this is all the greater when       
committed by the more highly favoured   
man2 that equality of punishment can    
only be so when considered              
extrinsically1 being really different in
 each individual2 and that the disgrace 
of a family can be removed by public    
proofs of kindness on the part of the   
sovereign towards the innocent family of
 the criminal4 ,and who is there but    
knows that formalities which strike the 
senses serve as reasonings with the     
credulous and admiring populace8        
,,chapter ,,xxviii4  ,,of ,,injuries    
,,and ,,of ,,honour4   ,injuries that   
are personal and affect a man's         
honour--that is1 the fair share of      
favour that he has a right to expect    
from others--should be punished with    
disgrace4  ,there is a remarkable       
contradiction between the civil laws1   
which set so jealous and supreme a guard

 upon individual life and property1 and 
the laws of so-called honour1 which set 
opinion above everything4 ,this word    
honour is one of those that have served 
as the basis for long and brilliant     
argumentations1 without any fixed or    
permanent idea being attached to it4    
,how miserable is the condition of human
 minds1 more distinctly cognisant of the
 remotest and least important ideas     
about the movements of the heavenly     
bodies1 than of those near and important
 moral notions1 which are ever          
fluctuating and confused1 according as  
the winds of passion impel them and a   
well-guided ignorance receives and      
transmits them6 ,but the seeming paradox
 will vanish1 if one considers1 that1 as
 objects become confused when too near  
the eyes1 so the too great propinquity  
of moral ideas easily causes the        
numerous simple ideas which compose them
 to become blended together1 to the     
confusion of those clear lines of       
demarcation demanded by the geometrical 

spirit1 which would fain measure exactly
 the phenomena of human sensibility4    
,and the wonder will vanish altogether  
from the impartial student of human     
affairs1 who will suspect that so great 
a moral machinery and so many restraints
 are perchance not needed1 in order to  
render men happy and secure4  ,this     
honour1 then1 is one of those complex   
ideas which are an aggregate not only of
 simple ideas but of ideas no less      
complex than themselves1 and which in   
their various presentments to the mind  
now admit and now omit some of their    
different component elements1 only      
retaining some few common ideas1 just as
 in algebra several complex quantities  
admit of a common divisor4 ,to find this
 common divisor in the different ideas  
that men form of honour1 we must cast a 
rapid glance over the first formation of
 communities4  ,the necessity of        
remedying the disorders caused by the   
physical despotism of each man singly   
produced the first laws and the first   

magistrates2 this was the end and object
 of the institution of societies1 and   
this end has always been maintained1    
either in reality or appearance1 at the 
head of all codes1 even of those that   
operated otherwise4 ,but the closer     
contact of men with one another and the 
progress of their knowledge brought     
about an endless series of mutual       
actions and needs1 which ever lay beyond
 the foresight of the laws and below the
 actual power of individuals4 ,from this
 epoch began the despotism of opinion1  
which afforded the only means for       
obtaining from others those benefits and
 averting those evils1 for which the    
laws failed to provide4 ,it is this     
opinion that is the trouble equally of  
the wise man and the fool2 that has     
raised the semblance of virtue to higher
 credit than virtue itself2 that even   
makes the rascal turn missionary1       
because he finds his own interest       
therein4 ,hence the favour of men became
 not only useful but necessary1 if a man

 would not fall below the general level4
 ,hence1 not only does the ambitious man
 seek after such favour as useful to    
himself1 and the vain man go begging for
 it as a proof of his merit1 but the man
 of honour also may be seen to require  
it as a necessity4 ,this honour is a    
condition that very many men attach to  
their own existence4 ,born after the    
formation of society1 it could not be   
placed in the general deposit2 it is    
rather a momentary return to the state  
of nature1 a momentary withdrawal of    
one's self from the dominion of those   
laws which1 under the circumstances1    
fail to afford the sufficient defence   
required of them4  ,hence both in the   
state of extreme political liberty and  
in that of extreme political subjection 
the ideas of honour disappear or get    
perfectly confused with others4 ,for in 
the former the despotism of the laws    
renders the pursuit of the favour of    
others of no avail2 and in the latter   
state the despotism of men1 by          

destroying civil existence1 reduces     
everybody to a precarious and temporary 
personality4 ,honour1 therefore1 is one 
of the fundamental principles of those  
monarchies that are a mitigated form of 
despotism1 being to them what           
revolutions are to despotic ,states1    
namely1 a momentary return to the state 
of nature1 and a reminder to the chief  
ruler of the condition of primitive     
equality4     ,,chapter ,,xxix4         
,,duels4   ,from this necessity of the  
favour of other people arose private    
duels1 which sprang up precisely in an  
anarchical state of the laws4 ,it is    
said they were unknown to antiquity1    
perhaps because the ancients did not    
meet suspiciously armed in the temples1 
the theatres1 or with friends2 perhaps  
because the duel was an ordinary and    
common sight1 presented to the people by
 gladiators1 who were slaves or low     
people1 and freemen disdained to be     
thought and called private gladiators4  
,in vain has it been sought to extirpate

 the custom by edicts of death against  
any man accepting a challenge1 for it is
 founded on that which some men fear    
more than death2 since without the      
favour of his fellows the man of honour 
foresees himself exposed either to      
become a merely solitary being1 a       
condition insufferable to a sociable    
man1 or to become the butt of insults   
and disgrace which1 from their constant 
operation1 prevail over the fear of     
punishment4 ,why is it that the lower   
orders do not for the most part fight   
duels like the great8 ,not only because 
they are disarmed1 but because the need 
of the favour of others is less general 
among the people than among those who1  
in higher ranks1 regard themselves with 
greater suspicion and jealousy4  ,it is 
not useless to repeat what others have  
written1 namely1 that the best method of
 preventing this crime is to punish the 
aggressor--in other words1 the man who  
gives rise to the duel--declaring him to
 be innocent who without his own fault  

has been constrained to defend that     
which existing laws do not assure to    
him1 that is1 opinion4     ,,chapter    
,,xxx4  ,,thefts4   ,thefts without     
violence should be punished by fine4 ,he
 who enriches himself at another's      
expense ought to suffer at his own4     
,but1 as theft is generally only the    
crime of wretchedness and despair1 the  
crime of that unhappy portion of mankind
 to whom the right of property 7a       
terrible1 and perhaps not necessary     
right#fg7 has left but a bare           
subsistence2 and as pecuniary penalties 
increase the number of criminals above  
the number of crimes1 depriving the     
innocent of their bread in order to give
 it to the wicked1 the fittest          
punishment will be that kind of         
servitude which alone can be called     
just1 namely1 the temporary servitude of
 a man's labour and person for the      
compensation of society1 the personal   
and absolute dependence due from a man  
who has essayed to exercise an unjust   

superiority over the social compact4    
,but when the theft is accompanied with 
violence1 the punishment also should be 
a combination of corporal and servile   
punishment4 ,some previous writers have 
shown the evident abuse that arises from
 not distinguishing punishments for     
thefts of violence from those for thefts
 of cunning1 thus making an absurd      
equation between a large sum of money   
and the life of a man4 ,for they are    
crimes of a different nature2 and in    
politics1 as in mathematics1 this axiom 
is most certain1 that between           
heterogeneous quantities the terms of   
difference are infinite2 but it is never
 superfluous to repeat what has hardly  
ever been put into practice4 ,political 
machinery more than anything else       
retains the motion originally given to  
it1 and is the slowest to adapt itself  
to a fresh one4     ,,chapter ,,xxxi4   
,,smuggling4   ,smuggling is a real     
crime against the sovereign and the     
nation2 but its punishment should not be

 one of disgrace1 because its commission
 incurs no disgrace in public opinion4  
,but why does this crime never entail   
disgrace upon its author1 seeing that it
 is a theft against the prince1 and     
consequently against the nation8 ,i     
answer1 that offences which men do not  
consider can be committed against       
themselves do not interest them enough  
to produce public indignation against   
their perpetrator4 ,smuggling is an     
offence of this character4 ,men in      
general1 on whom remote consequences    
make very feeble impressions1 do not    
perceive the harm that smuggling can do 
them1 nay1 often they enjoy a present   
advantage from it4 ,they only perceive  
the injury done to the sovereign2 they  
are not interested1 therefore1 in       
withdrawing their favour from a smuggler
 as much as they are in doing so from a 
man who commits a theft in private life1
 who forges a signature1 or brings upon 
them other evils4 ,the principle is     
self-evident1 that every sensitive being

 only interests himself in the evils    
which he knows4 ,this crime arises from 
the law itself2 since the benefit it    
promises increases with the increase of 
the import duty1 and therefore the      
temptation and the facility of          
committing it increases with the        
circumference of territory to be guarded
 and the small size of the prohibited   
wares4 ,the penalty of losing both the  
prohibited goods1 and whatever effects  
are found with them1 is most just2 but  
its efficacy will be greater in         
proportion as the import duty is lower1 
because men only incur risks relative to
 the advantage derivable from the       
prosperous issue of their undertaking4  
,but ought such a crime to be let go    
unpunished in the case of a man who has 
no effects to lose8 ,no3 there are kinds
 of smuggling of so much importance to  
the revenue 7which is so essential and  
so difficult a part of a good system of 
laws71 that such a crime deserves a     
considerable punishment1 even           

imprisonment or servitude2 but          
imprisonment and servitude conformable  
to the nature of the crime itself4 ,for 
example1 the prison of the              
tobacco-smuggler ought not to be the    
same as that of the assassin or the     
thief2 and the labours of the former1   
limited to the work and service of the  
very treasury he wished to defraud1 will
 be the punishments most conformable to 
the nature of his crime4     ,,chapter  
,,xxxii4  ,,of ,,debtors4   ,the good   
faith of contracts and the security of  
commerce compel the legislator to assure
 to creditors the persons of insolvent  
debtors4 ,but ,i think it important to  
distinguish the fraudulent from the     
innocent bankrupt1 the former of whom   
should receive the same punishment as   
that assigned to false coiners1 since it
 is no greater crime to falsify a piece 
of coined money1 the pledge of men's    
mutual obligations1 than to falsify     
those obligations themselves4 ,but the  
innocent bankrupt--he who1 after a      

searching inquiry1 has proved before his
 judges that the wickedness or          
misfortune of some one else1 or the     
inevitable vicissitudes of human        
prudence1 have despoiled him of his     
substance--for what barbarous reason    
ought such an one to be thrown into     
prison1 and deprived of the only poor   
benefit that remains to him1 a barren   
liberty1 in order to suffer the agonies 
of the really guilty1 and1 in despair at
 his ruined honesty1 to repent perhaps  
of that innocence1 by which he lived    
peacefully under the protection of those
 laws that it was not in his power not  
to offend against8 ,laws1 too1 dictated 
by the powerful by reason of their      
rapacity1 and endured by the feeble by  
reason of that hope1 which generally    
glimmers in the human heart1 and leads  
us to believe that unfavourable         
contingencies are reserved for others1  
favourable ones for ourselves6 ,men left
 to their natural feelings love cruel   
laws1 however much1 as subject to them  

themselves1 it might be for their       
individual interest that they should be 
mitigated2 because their fear of being  
injured by others is greater than their 
desire to inflict injuries themselves4  
,to return to the innocent bankrupt4    
,granting that his obligation should not
 be extinguishable by anything short of 
total payment2 granting that he should  
not be suffered to withdraw from it     
without the consent of the parties      
interested1 nor to transfer under the   
dominion of other laws his industry1    
which should perforce be employed1 under
 penalties1 to enable him to satisfy his
 creditors in proportion to his profits2
 what fair pretext1 ,i ask1 can there   
be1 such as the security of commerce or 
the sacred right of property1 to justify
 the deprivation of his liberty8 ,such a
 deprivation is only of use1 when it is 
sought to discover the secrets of a     
supposed innocent bankrupt by the evils 
of servitude1 a most unusual            
circumstance where a rigorous inquiry is

 instituted4 ,i believe it to be a maxim
 in legislation1 that the amount of     
political inconveniences varies directly
 in proportion to the injury they do the
 public1 and inversely in proportion to 
the difficulty of their proof4  ,it     
would be possible to distinguish a case 
of fraud from a grave fault1 a grave    
fault from a light one1 and this again  
from perfect innocence2 then to affix to
 the first the penalties due for crimes 
of falsification2 to the second lesser  
penalties1 but with the loss of personal
 liberty2 and1 reserving for the last   
degree the free choice of the means of  
recovery1 to deprive the third degree of
 such liberty1 whilst leaving it to a   
man's creditors4 ,but the distinction   
between grave and light should be fixed 
by the blind impartiality of the laws1  
not by the dangerous and arbitrary      
wisdom of a judge4 ,the fixings of      
limits are as necessary in politics as  
in mathematics1 equally in the          
measurement of the public welfare as in 

the measurement of magnitudes4#fh  ,how 
easily might the farseeing legislator   
hinder a large part of culpable         
bankruptcy1 and relieve the misfortunes 
of the industrious and innocent6 ,the   
public and open registration of all     
contracts2 freedom to every citizen to  
consult them in well-kept documents2 a  
public bank formed by wisely-apportioned
 taxes upon prosperous commerce1 and    
intended for the timely relief of any   
unfortunate and innocent member of the  
company2--such measures would have no   
real drawback and might produce         
numberless advantages4 ,but easy1       
simple1 and great laws1 which await but 
the signal of the legislator1 in order  
to scatter riches and strength through a
 nation--laws which would be celebrated 
from generation to generation in hymns  
of gratitude--are either the least      
thought of or the least desired of all4 
,an uneasy and petty spirit1 the timid  
prudence of the present moment1 and a   
circumspect stiffness against           

innovations1 master the feelings of     
those who govern the complex actions of 
mankind4     ,,chapter ,,xxxiii4  ,,of  
,,the ,,public ,,tranquillity4          
,lastly1 among the crimes of the third  
kind are especially those which disturb 
the public peace and civic tranquillity2
 such as noises and riots in the public 
streets1 which were made for the        
convenience of men and traffic1 or      
fanatical sermons that excite the easily
 roused passions of the curious         
multitude4 ,for their passions gather   
force from the number of hearers1 and   
more from a certain obscure and         
mysterious enthusiasm1 than from clear  
and quiet reasoning1 which never has any
 influence over a large mass of men4    
,the lighting of a city by night at the 
public expense2 the distribution of     
guards in the different quarters2 simple
 moral discourses on religion1 but only 
in the silent and holy quiet of         
churches1 protected by public authority2
 speeches on behalf of private and      

public interests in national assemblies1
 parliaments1 or wherever else the      
majesty of sovereignty resides--all     
these are efficacious means for         
preventing the dangerous condensation of
 popular passions4 ,these means are a   
principal branch of that magisterial    
vigilance which the ,french call police2
 but if this is exercised by arbitrary  
laws1 not laid down in a code of general
 circulation1 a door is opened to       
tyranny1 which ever surrounds all the   
boundaries of political liberty4 ,i find
 no exception to this general axiom1    
that #8,every citizen ought to know when
 his actions are guilty or innocent4'   
,if censors1 and arbitrary magistrates  
in general1 are necessary in any        
government1 it is due to the weakness of
 its constitution1 and is foreign to the
 nature of a well organised government4 
,more victims have been sacrificed to   
obscure tyranny by the uncertainty of   
their lot than by public and formal     
cruelty1 for the latter revolts men's   

minds more than it abases them4 ,the    
true tyrant always begins by mastering  
opinion1 the precursor of courage2 for  
the latter can only show itself in the  
clear light of truth1 in the fire of    
passion1 or in ignorance of danger4     
,,chapter ,,xxxiv4  ,,of ,,political    
,,idleness4   ,wise governments suffer  
not political idleness in the midst of  
work and industry4 ,i mean by political 
idleness that existence which           
contributes nothing to society either by
 its work or by its wealth2 which gains 
without ever losing2 which1 stupidly    
admired and reverenced by the vulgar1 is
 regarded by the wise man with disdain1 
and with pity for the beings who are its
 victims2 which1 being destitute of that
 stimulus of an active life1 the        
necessity of preserving or increasing   
the store of worldly goods1 leaves to   
the passions of opinion1 not the least  
strong ones1 all their energy4 ,this    
kind of idleness has been confused by   
austere declaimers with that of riches1 

gathered by industry2 but it is not for 
the severe and narrow virtue of some    
censors1 but for the laws1 to define    
what is punishable idleness4 ,he is not 
guilty of political idleness1 who enjoys
 the fruits of the virtues or vices of  
his ancestors and sells in exchange for 
his pleasures bread and existence to the
 industrious poor1 who carry on         
peacefully the silent war of industry   
against wealth1 instead of by force a   
war uncertain and sanguinary4 ,the      
latter kind of idleness is necessary and
 useful1 in proportion as society       
becomes wider and its government more   
strict4     ,,chapter ,,xxxv4  ,,suicide
 ,,and ,,absence4   ,suicide is a crime 
to which a punishment properly so called
 seems inadmissible1 since it can only  
fall upon the innocent or else upon a   
cold and insensible body4 ,if the latter
 mode of punishing the crime makes no   
more impression on the living than would
 be made by inflicting violence on a    
statue1 the other mode is unjust and    

tyrannical1 inasmuch as political       
freedom necessarily presupposes the     
purely personal nature of punishment4   
,men love life only too much1 and       
everything that surrounds them confirms 
them in this love4 ,the seductive image 
of pleasure1 and hope1 that sweetest    
illusion of mortals1 for the sake of    
which they swallow large draughts of    
evil mixed with a few drops of          
contentment1 are too attractive1 for one
 ever to fear1 that the necessary       
impunity of such a crime should exercise
 any general influence4 ,he who fears   
pain1 obeys the laws2 but death puts an 
end in the body to all the sources of   
pain4 ,what1 then1 will be the motive   
which shall restrain the desperate hand 
of the suicide8  ,whoever kills himself 
does a lesser evil to society than he   
who for ever leaves the boundaries of   
his country1 for whilst the former      
leaves therein all his substance1 the   
latter transports himself together with 
part of his property4 ,nay1 if the power

 of a community consists in the number  
of its members1 the man who withdraws   
himself to join a neighbouring nation   
does twice as great an injury as he who 
simply by death deprives society of his 
existence4 ,the question1 therefore1    
reduces itself to this3 whether the     
leaving to each member of a nation a    
perpetual liberty to absent himself from
 it be advantageous or detrimental4  ,no
 law ought to be promulgated that has   
not force to back it1 or that the nature
 of things deprives of validity2 and as 
minds are ruled by opinion1 which itself
 follows the slow and indirect          
impressions of legislation1 whilst it   
resists those that are direct and       
violent1 the most salutary laws become  
infected with the contempt felt for     
useless laws1 and are regarded rather as
 obstacles to be surmounted than as the 
deposit of the public welfare4          
,moreover1 if1 as was said1 our feelings
 are limited in quantity1 the greater   
respect men may have for things outside 

the laws1 the less will remain to them  
for the laws themselves4 ,from this     
principle the wise administrator of the 
public happiness may draw some useful   
consequences1 the exposition of which   
would lead me too far from my subject1  
which is to demonstrate the uselessness 
of making a prison of the ,state4 ,a law
 with such an object is useless1        
because1 unless inaccessible rocks or an
 unnavigable sea separate a country from
 all others1 how will it be possible to 
close all the points of its             
circumference and keep guard over the   
guardians themselves8 ,a man who        
transports everything he has with him1  
when he has done so cannot be punished4 
,such a crime once committed can no     
longer be punished1 and to punish it    
beforehand would be to punish men's     
wills1 not their actions1 to exercise   
command over their intention1 the freest
 part of human nature1 and altogether   
independent of the control of human     
laws4 ,the punishment of an absent man  

in the property he leaves behind him    
would ruin all international commerce1  
to say nothing of the facility of       
collusion1 which would be unavoidable1  
except by a tyrannical control of       
contracts4 ,and his punishment on his   
return1 as a criminal1 would prevent the
 reparation of the evil done to society1
 by making all removals perpetual4 ,the 
very prohibition to leave a country     
augments people's desire to do so1 and  
is a warning to foreigners not to enter 
it4  ,what should we think of a         
government that has no other means than 
fear for keeping men in a country1 to   
which they are naturally attached from  
the earliest impressions of their       
infancy8 ,the surest way of keeping them
 in their country is to augment the     
relative welfare of each of them4 ,as   
every effort should be employed to turn 
the balance of commerce in our own      
favour1 so it is the greatest interest  
of a sovereign and a nation1 that the   
sum of happiness1 compared with that of 

neighbouring nations1 should be greater 
at home than elsewhere4 ,the pleasures  
of luxury are not the principal elements
 in this happiness1 however much they   
may be a necessary remedy to that       
inequality which increases with a       
country's progress1 and a check upon the
 tendency of wealth to accumulate in the
 hands of a single ruler4#fi  ,but      
commerce and the interchange of the     
pleasures of luxury have this drawback1 
that however many persons are engaged in
 their production1 they yet begin and   
end with a few1 the great majority of   
men only enjoying the smallest share of 
them1 so that the feeling of misery1    
which depends more on comparison than on
 reality1 is not prevented4 ,but the    
principal basis of this happiness ,i    
speak of is personal security and       
liberty under the limitations of the    
law2 with these the pleasures of luxury 
favour population1 and without them they
 become the instrument of tyranny4 ,as  
the noblest wild beasts and the freest  

birds remove to solitudes and           
inaccessible forests1 leaving the       
fertile and smiling plains to the wiles 
of man1 so men fly from pleasures       
themselves when tyranny acts as their   
distributor4  ,it is1 then1 proved that 
the law which imprisons subjects in     
their own country is useless and unjust4
 ,the punishment1 therefore1 of suicide 
is equally so2 and consequently1        
although it is a fault punishable by    
,god1 for ,he alone can punish after    
death1 it is not a crime in the eyes of 
men1 for the punishment they inflict1   
instead of falling on the criminal      
himself1 falls on his family4 ,if anyone
 objects1 that such a punishment can    
nevertheless draw a man back from his   
determination to kill himself1 ,i reply1
 that he who calmly renounces the       
advantages of life1 who hates his       
existence here below to such an extent  
as to prefer to it an eternity of       
misery1 is not likely to be moved by the
 less efficacious and more remote       

consideration of his children or his    
relations4     ,,chapter ,,xxxvi4       
,,crimes ,,of ,,difficult ,,proof4      
,there are some crimes which1 are at the
 same time frequent in society and yet  
difficult to prove1 as adultery1        
pederasty1 infanticide4  ,adultery is a 
crime which1 politically considered1    
derives its force and direction from two
 causes1 namely1 from the variable laws 
in force among mankind1 and from that   
strongest of all attractions which draws
 one sex towards the other4#gj  ,had ,i 
to address nations still destitute of   
the light of religion1 ,i would say that
 there is yet another considerable      
difference between adultery and other   
crimes4 ,for it springs from the abuse  
of a constant and universal human       
impulse1 an impulse anterior to1 nay1   
the cause of the institution of society2
 whereas other crimes1 destructive of   
society1 derive their origin rather from
 momentary passions than from a natural 
impulse4 ,to anyone cognisant of history

 and his kind1 such an impulse will seem
 to be equivalent in the same climate to
 a constant quantity2 and if this be so1
 those laws and customs which seek to   
diminish the sum-total will be useless  
or dangerous1 because their effect will 
be to burthen one half of humanity with 
its own needs and those of others2 but  
those laws1 on the contrary1 will be the
 wisest1 which following1 so to speak1  
the gentle inclination of the plain1    
divide the total amount1 causing it to  
ramify into so many equal and small     
portions1 that aridity or overflowing   
are equally prevented everywhere4       
,conjugal fidelity is always            
proportioned to the number and to the   
freedom of marriages4 ,where marriages  
are governed by hereditary prejudices1  
or bound or loosened by parental power1 
there the chains are broken by secret   
intrigue1 in despite of ordinary        
morality1 which1 whilst conniving at the
 causes of the offence1 makes it its    
duty to declaim against the results4    

,but there is no need of such           
reflections for the man who1 living in  
the light of true religion1 has higher  
motives to correct the force of natural 
effects4 ,such a crime is of so         
instantaneous and secret commission1 so 
concealed by the very veil the laws have
 drawn round it 7a veil necessary1      
indeed1 but fragile1 and one that       
enhances1 instead of diminishing1 the   
value of the desired object71 the       
occasions for it are so easy1 and the   
consequences so doubtful1 that the      
legislator has it more in his power to  
prevent than to punish it4 ,as a general
 rule1 in every crime which by its      
nature must most frequently go          
unpunished1 the penalty attached to it  
becomes an incentive4 ,it is a quality  
of our imagination1 that difficulties1  
if they are not insurmountable nor too  
difficult1 relatively to the mental     
energy of the particular person1 excite 
the imagination more vividly1 and place 
the object desired in larger            

perspective2 for they serve as it were  
as so many barriers to prevent an       
erratic and flighty fancy from quitting 
hold of its object2 and1 while they     
compel the imagination to consider the  
latter in all its bearings1 it attaches 
itself more closely to the pleasant     
side1 to which our mind most naturally  
inclines1 than to the painful side1     
which it places at a distance4          
,pederasty1 so severely punished by the 
laws1 and so readily subjected to the   
tortures that triumph over innocence1 is
 founded less on the necessities of man1
 when living in a state of isolation and
 freedom1 than on his passions when     
living in a state of society and        
slavery4 ,it derives its force not so   
much from satiety of pleasure as from   
the system of education now in vogue1   
which1 beginning by making men useless  
to themselves in order to make them     
useful to others1 causes1 by its too    
strict seclusion1 a waste of all        
vigorous development1 and accelerates   

the approach of old age4  ,infanticide  
equally is the result of the unavoidable
 dilemma in which a woman is placed who 
from weakness or by violence has fallen4
 ,finding herself placed between the    
alternative of infamy on the one side1  
and the death of a being insentient of  
its pains on the other1 how can she fail
 to prefer the latter to the infallible 
misery awaiting both herself and her    
unhappy offspring8 ,the best way to     
prevent this crime would be to give     
efficient legal protection to weakness  
against tyranny1 which exaggerates those
 vices that cannot be hidden by the     
cloak of virtue4  ,i do not pretend to  
diminish the just wrath these crimes    
deserve2 but1 in indicating their       
sources1 ,i think myself justified in   
drawing one general conclusion1 and that
 is1 that no punishment for a crime can 
be called exactly just--that is1        
necessary--so long as the law has not   
adopted the best possible means1 in the 
circumstances of a country1 to prevent  

the crimes it punishes4     ,,chapter   
,,xxxvii4  ,,of ,a ,,particular ,,kind  
,,of ,,crime4   ,the reader of this     
treatise will perceive that ,i have     
omitted all reference to a certain class
 of crime1 which has deluged ,europe    
with human blood2 a crime which raised  
those fatal piles1 where living human   
bodies served as food for the flames1   
and where the blind multitude sought a  
pleasant spectacle and a sweet harmony  
from the low dull groans1 emitted by    
wretched sufferers from volumes of black
 smoke1 the smoke of human limbs1 whilst
 their bones and still palpitating      
entrails were scorched and consumed by  
the flames4 ,but reasonable men will see
 that the place1 the age1 and the       
subject suffer me not to inquire into   
the nature of such a crime4 ,it would be
 too long and remote from my subject to 
show1 how a perfect uniformity of       
thought ought1 contrary to the practice 
of many countries1 to be a necessity in 
a ,state2 how opinions1 which only      

differ by the most subtle and           
imperceptible degrees1 and are          
altogether beyond the reach of human    
intelligence1 can yet convulse society1 
when one of them is not legally         
authorised in preference to the others2 
and how the nature of opinions is such1 
that1 whilst some become clearer by     
virtue of their conflict and opposition1
 7those that are true floating and      
surviving1 but those that are false     
sinking to oblivion17 others again1 with
 no inherent self-support1 require to be
 clothed with authority and power4 ,too 
long would it be to prove1 that         
howsoever hateful may seem the          
government of force over human minds1   
with no other triumphs to boast of but  
dissimulation and debasement1 and       
howsoever contrary it may seem to the   
spirit of gentleness and fraternity1    
commanded alike by reason and the       
authority we most venerate1 it is yet   
necessary and indispensable4 ,all this  
should be taken as clearly proved and   

conformable to the true interests of    
humanity1 if there be anyone who1 with  
recognised authority1 acts accordingly4 
,i speak only of crimes that spring from
 the nature of humanity and the social  
compact2 not of sins1 of which even the 
temporal punishments should be regulated
 by other principles than those of a    
narrow philosophy4     ,,chapter        
,,xxxviii4  ,,false ,,ideas ,,of        
,,utility4   ,false ideas of utility    
entertained by legislators are one      
source of errors and injustice4 ,it is a
 false idea of utility which thinks more
 of the inconvenience of individuals    
than of the general inconvenience2 which
 tyrannises over men's feelings1 instead
 of arousing them into action2 which    
says to ,reason1 #8,be thou subject4'   
,it is a false idea of utility which    
sacrifices a thousand real advantages   
for one imaginary or trifling drawback2 
which would deprive men of the use of   
fire because it burns or of water       
because it drowns2 and whose only remedy

 for evils is the entire destruction of 
their causes4 ,of such a kind are laws  
prohibiting the wearing of arms1 for    
they only disarm those who are not      
inclined nor resolved to commit crimes1 
whilst those who have the courage to    
violate the most sacred laws of         
humanity1 the most important in the     
law-code1 are little likely to be       
induced to respect those lesser and     
purely arbitrary laws1 which are easier 
to contravene with impunity2 and the    
strict observance of which would imply  
the destruction of all personal liberty1
 7that liberty dearest to the           
enlightened legislator and to men       
generally17 subjecting the innocent to  
vexations which only the guilty deserve4
 ,these laws1 whilst they make still    
worse the position of the assailed1     
improve that of their assailants2 they  
increase rather than diminish the number
 of homicides1 owing to the greater     
confidence with which an unarmed man may
 be attacked than an armed one4 ,they   

are not so much preventive of crimes as 
fearful of them1 due as they are to the 
excitement roused by particular facts1  
not to any reasoned consideration of the
 advantages or disadvantages of a       
general decree4 ,again1 it is a false   
idea of utility1 which would seek to    
impart to a multitude of intelligent    
beings the same symmetry and order that 
brute and inanimate matter admits of2   
which neglects present motives1 the only
 constantly powerful influences with the
 generality of men1 to give force to    
remote and future ones1 the impression  
of which is very brief and feeble1      
unless a force of imagination beyond    
what is usual makes up1 by its          
magnifying power1 for the object's      
remoteness4 ,lastly1 it is a false idea 
of utility1 which1 sacrificing the thing
 to the name1 distinguishes the public  
good from that of every individual      
member of the public4 ,there is this    
difference between the state of society 
and the state of nature1 that in the    

latter a savage only commits injuries   
against others with a view to benefit   
himself1 whilst in the former state men 
are sometimes moved by bad laws to      
injure others without any corresponding 
benefit to themselves4 ,the tyrant casts
 fear and dread into the minds of his   
slaves1 but they return by repercussion 
with all the greater force to torment   
his own breast4 ,the more confined fear 
is in its range1 so much the less       
dangerous is it to him who makes it the 
instrument of his happiness2 but the    
more public it is and the larger the    
number of people it agitates1 so much   
the more likely is it that there will be
 some rash1 some desperate1 or some     
clever and bold man who will try to make
 use of others for his own purpose1 by  
raising in them hopes1 that are all the 
more pleasant and seductive as the risk 
incurred in them is spread over a       
greater number1 and as the value        
attached by the wretched to their       
existence diminishes in proportion to   

their misery4 ,this is the reason why   
offences ever give rise to fresh ones3  
that hatred is a feeling much more      
durable than love1 inasmuch as it       
derives its force from the very cause   
that weakens the latter1 namely1 from   
the continuance of the acts that produce
 it4     ,,chapter ,,xxxix4  ,,of       
,,family ,,spirit4   ,such fatal and    
legalised iniquities as have been       
referred to have been approved of by    
even the wisest men and practised by    
even the freest republics1 owing to     
their having regarded society rather as 
an aggregate of families than as one of 
individuals4 ,suppose there to be       
#ajj1jjj individuals1 or #bj1jjj        
families1 of five persons each1         
including its representative head3 if   
the association is constituted by       
families1 it will consist of #bj1jjj men
 and #hj1jjj slaves2 if it be an        
association of individuals1 it will     
consist of #ajj1jjj citizens1 and not a 
single slave4 ,in the first case there  

will be a republic1 formed of #bj1jjj   
little sovereignties2 in the second the 
republican spirit will breathe1 not only
 in the market-places and meetings of   
the people1 but also within the domestic
 walls1 wherein lies so great a part of 
human happiness or misery4 ,in the first
 case1 also1 as laws and customs are the
 result of the habitual sentiments of   
the members of the republic--that is1 of
 the heads of families--the monarchical 
spirit will gradually introduce itself1 
and its effects will only be checked by 
the conflicting interests of            
individuals1 not by a feeling that      
breathes liberty and equality4 ,family  
spirit is a spirit of detail and        
confined to facts of trifling           
importance4 ,but the spirit which       
regulates communities is master of      
general principles1 overlooks the       
totality of facts1 and combines them    
into kinds and classes1 of importance to
 the welfare of the greater number4 ,in 
the community of families sons remain in

 the power of the head of the family so 
long as he lives1 and are obliged to    
look forward to his death for an        
existence dependent on the laws alone4  
,accustomed to submission and fear in   
the freshest and most vigorous time of  
life1 when their feelings are less      
modified by that timidity1 arising from 
experience1 which men call moderation1  
how shall they withstand those obstacles
 in the way of virtue which vice ever   
opposes1 in that feeble and failing     
period of life when despair of living to
 see the fruit of their labours hinders 
them from making vigorous changes8      
,when the community is one of           
individuals1 the subordination that     
prevails in the family prevails by      
agreement1 not by compulsion2 and the   
sons1 as soon as their age withdraws    
them from their state of natural        
dependence1 arising from their          
feebleness and their need of education  
and protection1 become free members of  
the domestic commonwealth1 subjecting   

themselves to its head1 in order to     
share in its advantages1 as free men do 
by society at large4 ,in the other      
condition the sons--that is1 the largest
 and most useful part of a nation--are  
placed altogether at the mercy of their 
fathers2 but in this one there is no    
enjoined connection between them1 beyond
 that sacred and inviolable one of the  
natural ministration of necessary aid1  
and that of gratitude for benefits      
received1 which is less often destroyed 
by the native wickedness of the human   
heart than by a law-ordained and        
ill-conceived state of subjection4      
,such contradictions between the laws of
 a family and the fundamental laws of a 
,state are a fertile source of other    
contradictions between public and       
private morality1 giving rise           
consequently to a perpetual conflict in 
every individual mind4 ,for whilst      
private morality inspires fear and      
subjection1 public morality teaches     
courage and freedom2 whilst the former  

inculcates the restriction of well-doing
 to a small number of persons           
indiscriminately1 the latter inculcates 
its extension to all classes of men2 and
 whilst the one enjoins the constant    
sacrifice of self to a vain idol1 called
 #8the good of the family' 7which is    
frequently not the good of any single   
member that composes it71 the other     
teaches men to benefit themselves1      
provided they break not the laws1 and   
incites them1 by the reward of          
enthusiasm1 which is the precursor of   
their action1 to sacrifice themselves to
 the good of their country4 ,such       
contradictions make men scorn to follow 
virtue1 which they find so complicated  
and confused1 and at that distance from 
them1 which objects1 both moral and     
physical1 derive from their obscurity4  
,how often it happens that a man1 in    
reflecting on his past actions1 is      
astonished at finding himself dishonest4
 ,the larger society grows1 the smaller 
fraction of the whole does each member  

of it become1 and the more is the       
feeling of the commonwealth diminished1 
unless care be taken by the laws to     
reinforce it4 ,societies1 like human    
bodies1 have their circumscribed limits1
 extension beyond which involves        
inevitably a disturbance of their       
economy4 ,the size of a ,state ought    
apparently to vary inversely with the   
sensibility of its component parts2     
otherwise1 if both increase together1   
good laws will find1 in the very benefit
 they have effected1 an obstacle to the 
prevention of crimes4 ,too large a      
republic can only save itself from      
despotism by a process of subdivision1  
and a union of the parts into so many   
federative republics4 ,but how effect   
this1 save by a despotic dictator with  
the courage of ,sylla and as much genius
 for construction as he had for         
destruction8 ,if such a man be          
ambitious1 the glory of all the ages    
awaits him2 and if he be a philosopher1 
the blessings of his fellow-citizens    

will console him for the loss of his    
authority1 even should he not become    
indifferent to their ingratitude4 ,in   
proportion as the feelings which unite  
us to our own nation are weakened1 do   
those for the objects immediately around
 us gain in strength2 and it is for this
 reason that under the severest         
despotism the strongest friendships are 
to be found1 and that the family        
virtues1 ever of an exalted character1  
are either the most common or the only  
ones4 ,it is evident1 therefore1 how    
limited have been the views of the great
 majority of legislators4     ,,chapter 
,,xl4  ,,of ,,the ,,treasury4   ,there  
was a time when nearly all penalties    
were pecuniary4 ,men's crimes were the  
prince's patrimony2 attempts against the
 public safety were an object of gain1  
and he whose function it was to defend  
it found his interest in seeing it      
assailed4 ,the object of punishment was 
then a suit between the treasury1 which 
exacted the penalty1 and the criminal3  

it was a civil business1 a private      
rather than a public dispute1 which     
conferred upon the treasury other rights
 than those conferred upon it by the    
calls of the public defence1 whilst it  
inflicted upon the offender other       
grievances than those he had incurred by
 the necessity of example4 ,the judge   
was1 therefore1 an advocate for the     
treasury rather than an impartial       
investigator of the truth1 an agent for 
the ,chancellor of the ,exchequer rather
 than the protector and minister of the 
laws4 ,but as in this system to confess 
a fault was the same thing as to confess
 oneself a debtor to the treasury1 that 
being the object of the criminal        
procedure in those days1 so the         
confession of a crime1 and a confession 
so managed as to favour and not to hurt 
fiscal interests1 became and still      
remains 7effects always outlasting their
 causes so long7 the centre point of all
 criminal procedure4 ,without such      
confession a criminal convicted by      

indubitable proofs will incur a penalty 
less than the one legally attached to   
his crime2 and without it he will escape
 torture for other crimes of the same   
sort which he may have committed4 ,with 
it1 on the other hand1 the judge becomes
 master of a criminal's person1 to      
lacerate him by method and formality1 in
 order to get from him as from so much  
stock all the profit he can4 ,given the 
fact of the crime as proved1 confession 
affords a convincing proof2 and1 to make
 this proof still less open to doubt1 it
 is forcibly exacted by the agonies and 
despair of physical pain2 whilst at the 
same time a confession that is          
extra-judicial1 that is tendered calmly 
and indifferently1 and without the      
overpowering fears of a trial by        
torture1 is held insufficient for a     
verdict of guilt4 ,inquiries and proofs1
 which throw light upon the fact1 but   
which weaken the claims of the treasury1
 are excluded2 nor is it out of         
consideration for his wretchedness and  

weakness that a criminal is sometimes   
spared from torture1 but out of regard  
for the claims which this entity1 now   
mythical and inconceivable1 might lose4 
,the judge becomes the enemy of the     
accused1 who stands in chains before    
him1 the prey of misery1 of torments1   
and the most terrible future2 he does   
not seek to find the truth of a fact1   
but to find the crime in the prisoner1  
trying to entrap him1 and thinking it to
 the loss of his own credit if he fail  
to do so1 and to the detriment of that  
infallibility which men pretend to      
possess about everything4 ,the evidence 
that justifies a man's imprisonment     
rests with the judge2 in order that a   
man may prove himself innocent1 he must 
first be declared guilty3 that is called
 an offensive prosecution2 and such are 
criminal proceedings in nearly every    
part of enlightened ,europe1 in the     
eighteenth century4 ,the real           
prosecution1 the informative one--that  
is1 the indifferent inquiry into a fact1

 such as reason enjoins1 such as        
military codes employ1 and such as is   
used even by ,asiatic despotism in      
trivial and unimportant cases--is of    
very scant use in the tribunals of      
,europe4 ,what a complex maze of strange
 absurdities1 doubtless incredible to a 
more fortunate posterity6 ,only the     
philosophers of that time will read in  
the nature of man the possible actuality
 of such a system as now exists4        
,,chapter ,,xli4  ,,the ,,prevention    
,,of ,,crimes--,,of                     
,,knowledge--,,magistrates--,,rewards--,
,education4   ,it is better to prevent  
crimes than to punish them4 ,this is the
 chief aim of every good system of      
legislation1 which is the art of leading
 men to the greatest possible happiness 
or to the least possible misery1        
according to calculation of all the     
goods and evils of life4 ,but the means 
hitherto employed for this end are for  
the most part false and contrary to the 
end proposed4 ,it is impossible to      

reduce the turbulent activity of men to 
a geometrical harmony without any       
irregularity or confusion4 ,as the      
constant and most simple laws of nature 
do not prevent aberrations in the       
movements of the planets1 so1 in the    
infinite and contradictory attractions  
of pleasure and pain1 disturbances and  
disorder cannot be prevented by human   
laws4 ,yet this is the chimera that     
narrow-minded men pursue1 when they have
 power in their hands4 ,to prohibit a   
number of indifferent acts is not to    
prevent the crimes that may arise from  
them1 but it is to create new ones from 
them2 it is to give capricious          
definitions of virtue and vice which are
 proclaimed as eternal and immutable in 
their nature4 ,to what should we be     
reduced if everything had to be         
forbidden us which might tempt us to a  
crime8 ,it would be necessary to deprive
 a man of the use of his senses4 ,for   
one motive that drives men to commit a  
real crime there are a thousand that    

drive them to the commission of those   
indifferent acts which are called crimes
 by bad laws2 and if the likelihood of  
crimes is proportioned to the number of 
motives to commit them1 an increase of  
the field of crimes is an increase of   
the likelihood of their commission4 ,the
 majority of laws are nothing but       
privileges1 or a tribute paid by all to 
the convenience of some few4  ,would you
 prevent crimes1 then cause the laws to 
be clear and simple1 bring the whole    
force of a nation to bear on their      
defence1 and suffer no part of it to be 
busied in overthrowing them4 ,make the  
laws to favour not so much classes of   
men as men themselves4 ,cause men to    
fear the laws and the laws alone4       
,salutary is the fear of the law1 but   
fatal and fertile in crime is the fear  
of one man of another4 ,men as slaves   
are more sensual1 more immoral1 more    
cruel than free men2 and1 whilst the    
latter give their minds to the sciences 
or to the interests of their country1   

setting great objects before them as    
their model1 the former1 contented with 
the passing day1 seek in the excitement 
of libertinage a distraction from the   
nothingness of their existence1 and1    
accustomed to an uncertainty of result  
in everything1 they look upon the result
 of their crimes as uncertain too1 and  
so decide in favour of the passion that 
tempts them4 ,if uncertainty of the laws
 affects a nation1 rendered indolent by 
its climate1 its indolence and stupidity
 is thereby maintained and increased2 if
 it affects a nation1 which though fond 
of pleasure is also full of energy1 it  
wastes that energy in a number of petty 
cabals and intrigues1 which spread      
distrust in every heart1 and make       
treachery and dissimulation the         
foundation of prudence2 if1 again1 it   
affects a courageous and brave nation1  
the uncertainty is ultimately destroyed1
 after many oscillations from liberty to
 servitude1 and from servitude back     
again to liberty4  ,would you prevent   

crimes1 then see that enlightenment     
accompanies liberty4 ,the evils that    
flow from knowledge are in inverse ratio
 to its diffusion2 the benefits directly
 proportioned to it4 ,a bold impostor1  
who is never a commonplace man1 is      
adored by an ignorant people1 despised  
by an enlightened one4 ,knowledge1 by   
facilitating comparisons between objects
 and multiplying men's points of view1  
brings many different notions into      
contrast1 causing them to modify one    
another1 all the more easily as the same
 views and the same difficulties are    
observed in others4 ,in the face of a   
widely diffused national enlightenment  
the calumnies of ignorance are silent1  
and authority1 disarmed of pretexts for 
its manifestation1 trembles2 whilst the 
rigorous force of the laws remains      
unshaken1 no one of education having any
 dislike to the clear and useful public 
compacts which secure the common safety1
 when he compares the trifling and      
useless liberty sacrificed by himself   

with the sum-total of all the liberties 
sacrificed by others1 who without the   
laws might have been hostile to himself4
 ,whoever has a sensitive soul1 when he 
contemplates a code of well-made laws1  
and finds that he has only lost the     
pernicious liberty of injuring others1  
will feel himself constrained to bless  
the throne and the monarch that sits    
upon it4  ,it is not true that the      
sciences have always been injurious to  
mankind2 when they were so1 it was an   
inevitable evil4 ,the multiplication of 
the human race over the face of the     
earth introduced war1 the ruder arts1   
and the first laws1 mere temporary      
agreements which perished with the      
necessity that gave rise to them4 ,this 
was mankind's primitive philosophy1 the 
few elements of which were just1 because
 the indolence and slight wisdom of     
their framers preserved them from error4
 ,but with the multiplication of men    
there went ever a multiplication of     
their wants4 ,stronger and more lasting 

impressions were1 therefore1 needed1 in 
order to turn them back from repeated   
lapses to that primitive state of       
disunion which each return to it        
rendered worse4 ,those primitive        
delusions1 therefore1 which peopled the 
earth with false divinities and created 
an invisible universe that governed our 
own1 conferred a great benefit--,i mean 
a great political benefit--upon         
humanity4 ,those men were benefactors of
 their kind1 who dared to deceive them  
and drag them1 docile and ignorant1 to  
worship at the altars4 ,by presenting to
 them objects that lay beyond the scope 
of sense and fled from their grasp the  
nearer they seemed to approach          
them--never despised1 because never well
 understood--they concentrated their    
divided passions upon a single object of
 supreme interest to them4 ,these were  
the first steps of all the nations that 
formed themselves out of savage tribes2 
this was the epoch when larger          
communities were formed1 and such was   

their necessary and perhaps their only  
bond4 ,i say nothing of that chosen     
people of ,god1 for whom the most       
extraordinary miracles and the most     
signal favours were a substitute for    
human policy4 ,but as it is the quality 
of error to fall into infinite          
subdivisions1 so the sciences that grew 
out of it made of mankind a blind       
fanatical multitude1 which1 shut up     
within a close labyrinth1 collides      
together in such confusion1 that some   
sensitive and philosophical minds have  
regretted to this day the ancient savage
 state4 ,that is the first epoch in     
which the sciences or rather opinions   
are injurious4  ,the second epoch of    
history consists in the hard and        
terrible transition from errors to      
truth1 from the darkness of ignorance to
 the light4 ,the great clash between the
 errors which are serviceable to a few  
men of power and the truths which are   
serviceable to the weak and the many1   
and the contact and fermentation of the 

passions at such a period aroused1 are a
 source of infinite evils to unhappy    
humanity4 ,whoever ponders on the       
different histories of the world1 which 
after certain intervals of time are so  
much alike in their principal episodes1 
will therein frequently observe the     
sacrifice of a whole generation to the  
welfare of succeeding ones1 in the      
painful but necessary transition from   
the darkness of ignorance to the light  
of philosophy1 and from despotism to    
freedom1 which result from the          
sacrifice4 ,but when truth1 whose       
progress at first is slow and afterwards
 rapid 7after men's minds have calmed   
down and the fire is quenched that      
purged a nation of the evils it         
suffered71 sits as the companion of     
kings upon the throne1 and is reverenced
 and worshipped in the parliaments of   
free governments1 who will ever dare    
assert that the light which enlightens  
the people is more injurious than       
darkness1 and that acknowledging the    

true and simple relations of things is  
pernicious to mankind8  ,if blind       
ignorance is less pernicious than       
confused half-knowledge1 since the      
latter adds to the evils of ignorance   
those of error1 which is unavoidable in 
a narrow view of the limits of truth1   
the most precious gift that a sovereign 
can make to himself or to his people is 
an enlightened man as the trustee and   
guardian of the sacred laws4 ,accustomed
 to see the truth and not to fear it2   
independent for the most part of the    
demands of reputation1 which are never  
completely satisfied and put most men's 
virtue to a trial2 used to consider     
humanity from higher points of view2    
such a man regards his own nation as a  
family of men and of brothers1 and the  
distance between the nobles and the     
people seems to him so much the less as 
he has before his mind the larger total 
of the whole human species4             
,philosophers acquire wants and         
interests unknown to the generality of  

men1 but that one above all others1 of  
not belying in public the principles    
they have taught in obscurity1 and they 
gain the habit of loving the truth for  
its own sake4 ,a selection of such men  
makes the happiness of a people1 but a  
happiness which is only transitory1     
unless good laws so increase their      
number as to lessen the probability1    
always considerable1 of an unfortunate  
choice4  ,another way of preventing     
crimes is to interest the magistrates   
who carry out the laws in seeking rather
 to preserve than to corrupt them4 ,the 
greater the number of men who compose   
the magistracy1 the less danger will    
there be of their exercising any undue  
power over the laws2 for venality is    
more difficult among men who are under  
the close observation of one another1   
and their inducement to increase their  
individual authority diminishes in      
proportion to the smallness of the share
 of it that can fall to each of them1   
especially when they compare it with the

 risk of the attempt4 ,if the sovereign 
accustoms his subjects1 by formalities  
and pomp1 by severe edicts1 and by      
refusal to hear the grievances1 whether 
just or unjust1 of the man who thinks   
himself oppressed1 to fear rather the   
magistrates than the laws1 it will be   
more to the profit of the magistrates   
than to the gain of private and public  
security4  ,another way to prevent      
crimes is to reward virtue4 ,on this    
head ,i notice a general silence in the 
laws of all nations to this day4 ,if    
prizes offered by academies to the      
discoverers of useful truths have caused
 the multiplication of knowledge and of 
good books1 why should not virtuous     
actions also be multiplied1 by prizes   
distributed from the munificence of the 
sovereign8 ,the money of honour ever    
remains unexhausted and fruitful in the 
hands of the legislator who wisely      
distributes it4  ,lastly1 the surest but
 most difficult means of preventing     
crimes is to improve education--a       

subject too vast for present discussion1
 and lying beyond the limits of my      
treatise2 a subject1 ,i will also say1  
too intimately connected with the nature
 of government for it ever to be aught  
but a barren field1 only cultivated here
 and there by a few philosophers1 down  
to the remotest ages of public          
prosperity4 ,a great man1 who enlightens
 the humanity that persecutes him1 has  
shown in detail the chief educational   
maxims of real utility to mankind2      
namely1 that it consists less in a      
barren multiplicity of subjects than in 
their choice selection2 in substituting 
originals for copies in the moral as in 
the physical phenomena presented by     
chance or intention to the fresh minds  
of youth2 in inclining them to virtue by
 the easy path of feeling2 and in       
deterring them from evil by the sure    
path of necessity and disadvantage1 not 
by the uncertain method of command1     
which never obtains more than a         
simulated and transitory obedience4     

,,chapter ,,xlii4  ,,conclusion4   ,from
 all that has gone before a general     
theorem may be deduced1 of great        
utility1 though little comformable to   
custom1 that common lawgiver of nations4
 ,the theorem is this3 #8,in order that 
every punishment may not be an act of   
violence1 committed by one man or by    
many against a single individual1 it    
ought to be above all things public1    
speedy1 necessary1 the least possible in
 the given circumstances1 proportioned  
to its crime1 dictated by the laws4'    
,,footnotes   #fd ,note that the word   
,right is not opposed to the word       
,force2 but the former is rather a      
modification of the latter2 that is1 the
 modification most advantageous to the  
greater number4 ,and by justice ,i mean 
nothing else than the chain which is    
necessary for holding together private  
interests and preventing their breaking 
away into the original state of         
insociability4  ,one must be careful not
 to attach to this word ,justice the    

idea of anything real1 as of a physical 
force or an independent entity2 it is   
only a human mode of thinking1 a mode   
that has unbounded influence over each  
one's happiness4 ,still less do ,i mean 
that other kind of justice that has     
emanated from ,god1 and has its         
immediate connection with the penalties 
and rewards of a future life4  #fe ,if  
every individual is bound to society1   
society is no less bound to every       
individual by a contract which is       
necessarily obligatory on both sides4   
,this obligation1 which descends from   
the throne to the cabin1 which binds    
equally the greatest and most miserable 
of men1 means nothing but that it is the
 interest of all men that covenants     
advantageous to the greater number      
should be observed4  ,the word          
#8obligation' is one of those which are 
much more frequent in ethics than in any
 other science1 and which are the       
abbreviated symbol of a train of        
reasoning rather than of a single idea4 

,seek for an idea corresponding to the  
word #8obligation' and you will seek in 
vain2 reason about it1 and you will both
 understand yourself and be understood  
by others4  #ff ,according to the       
criminalists the greater the atrocity of
 the crime the greater the credibility  
of the witness4 ,look at the iron maxim 
dictated by the most cruel stupidity3   
,in atrocissimis leviores conjecture    
sufficiunt1 et licet judici jura        
transgredi4 ,translate this into common 
language1 and ,europeans will see one of
 the very many and equally senseless    
rules to which almost without knowing it
 they are subject3 ,in the most         
atrocious crimes 7that is1 in the least 
probable7 the slightest conjectures are 
enough1 and the judge may legitimately  
exceed the law4 ,absurd legal practices 
are often the result of fear1 which is  
the principal source of all human       
contradictions4 ,legislators 7who are   
really only lawyers1 authorised by      
chance to decide about everything1 and  

to become from interested and venal     
writers arbiters and legislators about  
the fortunes of men71 alarmed by the    
condemnation of some innocent person1   
have loaded jurisprudence with          
superfluous formalities and exceptions1 
the exact observance of which would     
cause anarchy to sit with impunity on   
the throne of justice4 ,in their fright 
at some crimes of an atrocious nature   
and difficult to prove1 they thought    
themselves under the necessity of       
getting over the very formalities       
established by themselves2 and so1 now  
with despotic impatience1 now with      
feminine timidity1 they have transformed
 grave trials into a kind of play1 in   
which hazard and subterfuge act the     
principal part4  #fg ,in the original   
manuscript and the first edition there  
was no not4 ,it is unknown how it got   
in1 or whether ,beccaria was aware of   
it4 ,cant1 ,beccaria1 #abg4  #fh        
,commerce and property are not          
themselves an end of the social compact1

 but they may be a means to reach that  
end4 ,to expose all the members of      
society to evils1 for the production of 
which so many circumstances work        
together1 would be to subordinate ends  
to means--a paralogism of all the       
sciences1 but especially of political   
science1 and one into which ,i fell in  
the first editions1 where ,i said that  
the innocent bankrupt ought to be kept  
guarded in pledge of his debts or       
employed as a slave to labour for his   
creditors4 ,i am ashamed of having so   
written4 ,i have been accused of        
irreligion without deserving to be1 and 
,i have been accused of sedition without
 deserving to be4 ,i offended the rights
 of humanity1 and no one reproached me  
for it6  #fi ,where a country's         
boundaries increase at a greater rate   
than its population1 there luxury       
favours despotism1 firstly1 because     
scarcity of men means less industry1 and
 less industry means a greater          
dependence of poverty upon wealth1 and  

greater difficulty and less dread of a  
combination of the oppressed against    
their oppressors2 secondly1 because the 
flatteries1 the services1 the           
distinctions1 the submission1 which     
cause the difference between the strong 
man and the feeble to be all the more   
felt1 are more easily obtained from few 
men than from many1 since men are more  
independent the less subject they are to
 observation1 and are the less subject  
to observation the more numerous they   
are4 ,but where the population increases
 at a faster rate than the boundaries   
are enlarged1 luxury is opposed to      
despotism1 because it gives life to     
men's industry and activity1 and the    
necessity of the poor man offers too    
many pleasures and comforts to the rich 
man for the pleasures of pure           
ostentation1 which increase the idea of 
dependence1 to have the greater place4  
,hence it is observable that in large1  
weak1 and depopulated ,states1 unless   
there are counteracting causes1 the     

luxury of ostentation prevails over the 
luxury of comfort2 but in populous      
rather than large ,states the luxury of 
comfort always causes the diminution of 
that of ostentation4  #gj ,this         
attraction resembles in many points that
 of gravitation1 which moves the        
universe1 because1 like it1 it          
diminishes with distance2 and if the one
 force controls all the movements of    
physical bodies1 the other controls     
those of the mind during the continuance
 of its sway4 ,but they differ in this1 
that1 whilst gravitation is             
counterbalanced by obstacles1 the other 
for the most part gains force and       
strength from the increase of the very  
obstacles opposed to it4      ,,london3 
,,printed ,,by     ,,spottiswoode ,,and 
,,co41 ,,new-,,street ,,square     ,,and
 ,,parliament ,,street