Page:Montesquieu - The spirit of laws.djvu/174

122 invented the punishment of breaking upon the wheel, the terror of which put a slop for a while to this mischievous practice. But soon after robberies on the high-ways were become as common as ever.

Desertion in our days was grown to a very great height; in consequence of this it was judged proper to punish deserters with death; and yet their number did not diminish. The reason is very natural; a soldier accustomed daily to venture his life, despises or affects to despise the danger of losing it. He is daily habituated to the fear of shame; it would have been therefore much better to have continued a punishment which branded him with infamy for life: the punishment was pretended to be increased, while it was really diminished.

Men must not be led by excess of violence; we ought to make a prudent use of the means which nature has given us to conduct them. If we inquire into the cause of all human corruptions, we shall find that they proceed from the impunity of crimes, and not from the moderation of punishments.

Let us follow nature, who has given shame to man for his scourge; and let the heaviest part of the punishment be the infamy attending it.

But if there be some countries where shame is not a consequence of punishment, this must be owing to tyranny, which has inflicted the same punishments on villains and honest men.

And if there are others where men are deterred only by cruel punishments, we may be sure that this must in a great measure arise from the violence of the government, which has used such punishments for slight transgressions. Rh