Moral essays. With an English translation by J.W. Basore

ON MERCY :FRAGMENTSExtracts from the treatise " On Mercy "preservedin a letter by Hildebert of ToursIt is the part of mercy to cause some abatement ofa sentence that aims at revenge. He who does notremit the punishment of wTong-doing is a -wTong-doer.It is a fault to punish a fault in full. He shows himselfmerciless whose might is his deHght.It is a shining \'irtue for a prince to punish lessthan he might. It is a virtue to be forced by necessityto take vengeance, not to vTsit it voluntarily.The merciful man when injured savours of somethinggreat and godUke.A good prince punishes no one without beingpunished, proscribes no one "without suffering. Agood prince follows up crime, yet keeps in mind theman whom he is punishing.A good prince masters himself, serves his people,esteems lightly the hfe-blood of no man ; if it is anenemy's, yet it is of one who may become a friend ; ifit is a criminal's, yet it is a human being's ; whoseeverit may be, because he could not give it, heconsiders it a crime to take it away.effusion is ever his confusion.Therefore its2g 449