The Opinions of Different Authors Upon the Punishment of Death |
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Page 15
... certainty than by the severity of punishment . For the excessive severity of laws ( says Montesquieu ‡ ) hinders their execution : when the pu nishment surpasses all measure , the public will frequently , out of humanity , prefer ...
... certainty than by the severity of punishment . For the excessive severity of laws ( says Montesquieu ‡ ) hinders their execution : when the pu nishment surpasses all measure , the public will frequently , out of humanity , prefer ...
Page 18
... certainty , than the severity of punishment Hence in a magistrate , the necessity of vigilance , and in a judge of implacability , which , that it may become an useful virtue , should be joined to a mild legislation . The certainty of a ...
... certainty , than the severity of punishment Hence in a magistrate , the necessity of vigilance , and in a judge of implacability , which , that it may become an useful virtue , should be joined to a mild legislation . The certainty of a ...
Page 19
... certainty of the punish- ment , and the privation of the expected advantage . All seve- rity beyond this is superfluous , and therefore tyrannical . Men regulate their conduct by the repeated impression of evils they know , and not by ...
... certainty of the punish- ment , and the privation of the expected advantage . All seve- rity beyond this is superfluous , and therefore tyrannical . Men regulate their conduct by the repeated impression of evils they know , and not by ...
Page 24
... and promising him almost a certainty of eternal happiness upon the easy terms of repentance , contributes much to lessen the horror of the last scene of the tragedy . But he who foresees , that he must pass a 24 MARQUIS BECCARIA .
... and promising him almost a certainty of eternal happiness upon the easy terms of repentance , contributes much to lessen the horror of the last scene of the tragedy . But he who foresees , that he must pass a 24 MARQUIS BECCARIA .
Page 92
... CERTAINTY of punishment carries a terror to the heart , which is not easily overcome ; but when that certainty de- creases , the terror will decrease in the same proportion . ( a ) All writers on the subject of laws , that I have ever ...
... CERTAINTY of punishment carries a terror to the heart , which is not easily overcome ; but when that certainty de- creases , the terror will decrease in the same proportion . ( a ) All writers on the subject of laws , that I have ever ...
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Common terms and phrases
Acquitted appears arson attended barbarous Beccaria benefit of clergy blood burglary capital offences capital punishments committed condemned consequence considered convicted counterfeit crimes crimes and punishments criminal law cruelty danger degree delinquent deter dreadful edit effect Eliz England escape evil example fear felony forgery Guilty Discharged Hand and Discharged hath hope human impunity inflicted injury instance judge jury justice labour larceny legislator legislature less liberty magistrate mankind Marquis of Beccaria ment mercy mind Montesquieu moral murder nation nature never nishment object observed occasion Old Bailey pardon penal laws penalties persons Petty Treason prevent principles prison proportion punished with death punishment of death reason reform reprieve robbed robbery sanguinary seems sentence sentiment severity shew society spectators statutes stealing suffer terror theft thieves thing Thoughts on Executive tion transportation Whipped and Discharged wretches writer
Popular passages
Page 288 - Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his own image.
Page 17 - It is a melancholy truth, that, among the variety of actions which men are daily liable to commit, no less than a hundred and sixty have been declared, by act of parliament, to be felonies without benefit of clergy ; or, in other words, to be worthy of instant death.
Page 185 - Than the soft myrtle: but man, proud man, Drest in a little brief authority, Most ignorant of what he's most assured, His glassy essence, like an angry ape, Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven As make the angels weep; who, with our spleens, Would all themselves laugh mortal.
Page 5 - ... therefore, rarely hinders the commission of a crime, but naturally and commonly prevents its detection, and is, if we proceed only upon prudential principles, chiefly for that reason to be avoided. Whatever may be urged by casuists or politicians, the greater part of mankind, as they can never think that to pick the pocket and to pierce the heart is equally criminal, will scarcely believe that two malefactors so different in guilt can be justly doomed to the same punishment...
Page 119 - Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power ? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is a minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid ; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Page 5 - He who knows not how often rigorous laws produce total impunity, and how many crimes are concealed and forgotten for fear of hurrying the offender to that state in which there is no repentance, has conversed very little with mankind.
Page 16 - If mathematical calculation could be applied to the obscure and infinite combinations of human actions, there might be a corresponding scale of punishments, descending from the greatest to the least: but it will be sufficient that the wise legislator mark the principal divisions, without disturbing the order, lest to crimes of the first degree be assigned punishments of the last.
Page 2 - The learned, the judicious, the pious Boerhaave relates that he never saw a criminal dragged to execution without asking himself: 'Who knows whether this man is not less culpable than me?' On the days when the prisons of this city are emptied into the grave let every spectator of the dreadful procession put the same question to his own heart.