Page:Essay on Crimes and Punishments (1775).djvu/252

lxii WHAT is the result? Masters, to avoid opprobrium,content themselves with discharging the thief, who afterwards steals from another, and gradually becomes familiar with dishonesty. The punishment being the same for a small theft as for a greater, he will naturally steal as much as he can, and at last will not scruple to turn assassin to prevent detection.

IF, on the contrary, the punishment be proportioned to the crime; if those who are guilty of a breach of trust be condemned to labour for the public, the master will not hesitate to bring the offender to justice, and the crime will be less frequent: so true it is, that rigorous laws are often productive of crimes.

HE celebrated Du Verger de Hauranne, Abbé de St. Cyran, one of the founders of Port Royal, in the year 1608,