I conclude with this reflection, that the severity of punishments ought to be in proportiou to the state of the nation. Among a people hardly yet emerged from barbarity, they should be most severe, as strong impressions are required; but, in proportion as the minds of men become softened by their intercourse in society, the severity of punishments should be diminished, if it be intended that the necessary relation between the object and the sensation should be maintained.
From what I have written results the following general theorem, of considerable utility, though not conformable to custom, the common legislator of nations:
That a punishment may not be an act of violence, of one, or of many, against a private member of society, it should be public, immediate, and necessary, the least possible in the case given, proportioned to the crime, and determined by the laws.
Back to: Of Pardons. [Chapter 46, Of Crimes and Punishments]