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To be copied multitude of penal laws I neither know: no doubt the multiplicity
of our penal laws is an evil: but a much greater evil, & which is
much more likely to ensnare us, is their 2 want of precision in
enouncing them: s the 1 want of proportion of fixing them: & the
want of publicity in promulging them. Let the Legislature
measure the degree by the ends of punishment: let it explain
itself with precision: let it not notify it's will with sufficient
publicity, & there will be nothing impolitic or wicked in our
penal laws: no fear if of their multitude should ensnare
men's consciences.
The n The Author saw th or thought he saw some difference
in what he calls the natural & municipal Law: this
difference lies was this, that his natural law had only the
moral, & not the legal Sanction: he mistook
not in their directory but in sanctionary part: for the rule
of conduct for a good man & a good Citizen must be the
same: the Characters are inseparable. Here was the
Author's first mistake: Because the sanctions are different
he supposed the end to be so too. He saw likewise or thought
he saw some difference in the sanctionary part &
the difference is, that his natural law has only the moral
sanction, not the legal: here again he mistook: & because
municipal law has the legal sanction, concluded it could
not have the moral: & therefore supposing Conscience
to be I know not what, & affected only the the moral sanction
97
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human laws to be binding upon mens
Consciences, then the multitude of penal
"laws would not only be looked upon as
"an impolitic, but would also be a very wicked
thing, if every such law were a Subject
The mistake of our Author seems
"snare for the conscience of the Subject".
The Author seems to imagine, that the moral sanction has
— He says, what I profess I do not understand.
If the Legislature explains
itself with precision, and notifys it's
will with sufficient publicity, I cannot
understand, how it can ensnare the
conscience of the Subject. I do not mean
to justify the multiplicity of our penal Laws
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Identifier: | JB/096/036/002"JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 96. |
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096 |
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036 |
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002 |
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collectanea |
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recto |
c96 / c97 / c98 / c99 |
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168 |
[[watermarks::gr [quartered royal arms motif]]] |
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[[notes_public::"to be copied" [note not in bentham's hand]]] |
31040 |
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