Inthosestatesagoodlegislatorislessbentuponpunishingthanpreventingcrimes；heismoreattentivetoinspiregoodmoralsthantoinflictpenalties。
ItisaconstantremarkoftheChineseauthors[24]thatthemorethepenallawswereincreasedintheirempire，thenearertheydrewtowardsarevolution。Thisisbecausepunishmentswereaugmentedinproportionasthepublicmoralswerecorrupted。
Itwouldbeaneasymattertoprovethatinall，oralmostall，thegovernmentsofEurope，penaltieshaveincreasedordiminishedinproportionasthosegovernmentsfavouredordiscouragedliberty。
Indespoticgovernments，peoplearesounhappyastohaveagreaterdreadofdeaththanregretforthelossoflife；consequentlytheirpunishmentsoughttobemoresevere。Inmoderatestatestheyaremoreafraidoflosingtheirlivesthanapprehensiveofthepainofdying；
thosepunishments，therefore，whichdeprivethemsimplyoflifearesufficient。