Excerpt from Observations on a Late Publication, Intituled, Thoughts on Executive Justice: To Which Is Added, a Letter Containing Remarks on the Same Work The abfurd and barbarous notions ofjufiice, which prevailed for ages, have been exploded, and humane and rational prmcxples have been adopted in their fiead. That cri minal profecutions ought always to be carried on for the fake of the public, and never to gratify the pafiions of individuals; that the primary object of the legifla ture ihould be to prevent crimes, and not to chaf'tife criminals that that object cannot pofiibly be ar tained by the mere terror of pu nifnment and that unlefs a jud proportion be obferved between the various degrees of crimes, in the penalties appointed for them, the law muft ferve to excite ra. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.