Traités. Principes de législation, chap. XIII

3. Bowring, vol. X, p. 69 : Sundry Memoranda of Bentham, made in 1773-1774. — Punishment. — Origin of the Vindictive Principle. Cf. Mss. Univ. Coll. n- 96. — Punishinent, Us End. NVith respect lo the Progress of Society, we may conceive thrce Kpochs : distinguishable in idea, tlio' i-uuning into one anothcr impereeptibly in fact. — The iirst, wbich is past, in which every man actuatcd by the vindictive principle, inflicting an

(Pp. 96-98) NOTES. 311

arbitrary pnnishment for a received offence, moreorless intense according lo tjie greater or less violence of his passion . — The second, which is présent, in which the Idea of a Public being formed and establishod, thc suprême power in the State, taking the rod of vengeance oui of the hand of the Individual, uses it according to settled rules slill governed however in great measure by the saine principle. — The third, which is yet to corne, in which ail traces of the vindictive principle being entirely obliterated, Prévention shall be the sole end and object of a Pénal Législation. — Bentham ajoute, entre crochets, cette observation irreligieuse : «c In which vengeance will be left to that Sovereign to whom it belongs, and tohimonly^. — Les plus anciens manuscrits de Bentham que nous possédions, et qui semblent remonter à 1772 (Mss Univ. Coll. n" 73), contiennent, sous la rubrique Noncon^ diverses réfutations du principe de sympathie et d'antipathie; Bentham y critique les sentiments d'horreur irraisonnée qu'inspirent certains délits, tels que le Suicide, l'Infanticide, la Pédérastie : « To produce the reason which sways their opinion, to proportion the strength of their attachment toan opinion to the force of the reasons produced is a strain of candor and fair dealing uot very common among men, I mean cven of those who are not conscioug of being swayed by any corrupt motives, and of whom the worst that can be said is, that they are carried away by their préjudice ». Cf. Mss. Univ. Coll. n' 96 : sous le titre PunisIimerU [Afler End] HUjlU of — Deafh. — Varions persons at varions times bave entertained doubts, concerning the right of societies to inflict capital pnnishment. — A situation full.of unhappiness, when people are agitated with doubts which are of such a nature as to admit of no solution : which isthe case which happens in ail instances, where, as hère, the terms in which they conceive theni hâve in ^lity no meaning ; the word « right > where disjoined both from positive Law and from expediency is of that sort : he who persists in seeking a third sensé for it mustexpect onlyto plunge himself more and more into darkness and distraction.