Justice
‹ 8 · Outline · 10 ›
9.Retribution, vengeance and compensation
9a.Private revenge and taking justice into one's own hands
See also: Chivalry 7c · Revenge 5c
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 29Telemachus, now grown, resents the wooers' past waste of his goods and vows to bring evil fates upon them.read · scan
- p. 35–38Telemachus longs to take vengeance on the wooers for their cruel transgression.read · scan
- p. 38–39Nestor asks whether Telemachus submits to oppression and hopes Odysseus may requite the wooers' violence.read · scan
- p. 122Odysseus resolves to avenge the devoured companions, seeking renown from Athene.read · scan
- p. 147The wooers' violence will be avenged when Odysseus slays them.read · scan
- p. 183Vengeance against shameless wooers is treated as requital.read · scan
- p. 224Wooers fear the people's disapproval of their plotted murder and possible banishment for their evil deeds.read · scan
- p. 230–231Menelaus foretells Odysseus will bring death on the wooers who defile his bed.read · scan
- p. 241–242She hopes Odysseus and his son will avenge the wooers' violence.read · scan
- p. 248The wooers' waste and disregard for a man's wife will bring bloody reckoning on Odysseus's return.read · scan
- p. 273–274His anger at the wooers' evil deeds and his plan to deal death to them.read · scan
- p. 275–276The toiling woman and Odysseus long for the guilty wooers' punishment.read · scan
- p. 276–277Odysseus prays the gods to avenge the wooers' insolence and shamelessness.read · scan
- p. 278–279The wooers waste the master's goods and do not fear the gods' vengeance; Odysseus swears he will return and slay them.read · scan
Aeschylus, The Libation-BearersVol. 8
- p. 79The question whether one may ask heaven to wreak wrong upon a foe, or a judge or avenger to come.read · scan
- p. 79–83She asks that justice guide the right to victory.read · scan
- p. 91–93Orestes asks Zeus to set right where wrong has stood.read · scan
- p. 95–96Orestes calls for right to meet right and to aid kinsmen's cause against the murderers.read · scan
- p. 116–117Orestes displays the corpses and the robe, claims he justly slew his mother; Aegisthus died as the law bids adulterers die.read · scan
Sophocles, Oedipus the KingVol. 8
- p. 209Oedipus resolves to avenge the dead king and track the murderer to his source.read · scan
- p. 215Oedipus vows to avenge Laius as for his own father, since he holds the throne and wife of the slain king.read · scan
Herodotus, An Account of EgyptVol. 33
- p. 50–52Sesostris takes vengeance on his treacherous brother after returning to Egypt.read · scan
Luke, The Acts of the ApostlesVol. 44
- p. 435Moses avenges an oppressed brother and tries to reconcile quarrelers; the wrongdoer rejects his authority as ruler and judge.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 337–338Pliny resolves to prosecute Helvidius's persecutor, seeking justice for injury when public passion cooled.read · scan
The Destruction of Dá Derga's HostelVol. 49
- p. 215–216Ingcel demands one destruction for another, reciprocal retribution for his own losses.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 29The fisherman claims retribution: the 'Efrit rejected mercy and chose treachery, so God delivered him into the fisherman's hand.read · scan
- p. 411The killing of the wizard is justified as lawful against one who abducted her.read · scan
The Story of the Volsungs and NiblungsVol. 49
- p. 258Rerir's vengeance on his father's slayers is justified as they first wrought evil, though dreadful.read · scan
- p. 346–347Atli claims the gold by right and revenge for beguiling kin.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, PurgatoryVol. 20
- p. 165–166Notes tell of murders, false accusation and the judge Benincasa slain by a bandit's kin, showing injustice and revenge.read · scan
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales; The Nun's Priest's TaleVol. 40
- p. 38The survivor cries for vengeance and justice, and calls on magistrates.read · scan
Traditional BalladsVol. 40
- p. 106–108Kinmont Willie is seized and bound for hanging, and he protests, invoking the border law.read · scan
- p. 148–150They break the treasure house and take the sheriff's silver and money, John's revenge for being denied dinner.read · scan
- p. 150–152Robin says the goods were never the sheriff's willing gift, and John justifies the trick as revenge for being denied dinner.read · scan
- p. 170–172Robin beheads the sheriff as untrustworthy, repaying his treachery with requital.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 73Baglioni says one of the two cardinals caused the sack of Rome and wishes Cellini had killed them.read · scan
- p. 100–101Cellini promises his brother personal revenge rather than legal redress.read · scan
- p. 102–103Cellini carves an axe on the tomb so as not to forget to revenge his brother.read · scan
- p. 104Cellini takes private vengeance, stabbing the arquebusier who killed his brother, despite finding it a low enterprise.read · scan
- p. 104Cellini stabs his brother's killer in revenge; the soldiers regret interrupting, though vengeance was fully satisfied.read · scan
- p. 143–144Friends and nobles bless his hands, judging Pompeo's injury unforgivable and vengeance deserved.read · scan
- p. 154Cellini takes private revenge for the host's high-handedness, destroying fifty crowns of property.read · scan
- p. 303–304Believing his suit unjustly lost, Cellini takes private vengeance by maiming the plaintiff.read · scan
Ambroise Paré, Journeys in Diverse PlacesVol. 38
- p. 14The Bretons cry that the killing is not in the sport; the killer had done so before and slinks away.read · scan
Sir Francis Drake, Sir Francis Drake RevivedVol. 33
- p. 129A general vengeance pursues wrongdoers and the wronged seek redress; the mighty who injure and despise inferiors are requited, as Aesop's fable teaches.read · scan
- p. 166–167Drake protects Spanish prisoners from the Cimaroons' vengeance for Spanish wrongs, ordering their safety.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 92–93Knights are called ministers of God and the armies by which He executes His justice.read · scan
- p. 145Quixote demands to know what wrong was done or suffered so he may chastise or avenge.read · scan
- p. 147Quixote claims his office is righting wrongs, while the injured bachelor says he has been wronged with a broken leg.read · scan
- p. 176Sancho argues the king's justice only chastises crimes; Quixote sees violence needing remedy.read · scan
- p. 183The commissary asks whether the knight expects officers to release those the king condemns; Quixote's private judgment overrides legal authority.read · scan
- p. 207–208Sancho seeks revenge for a wrong suffered without desert and blames the goatherd, who claims he had warned them.read · scan
- p. 272He promises to avenge a traitor who usurped her kingdom against all laws divine and human.read · scan
- p. 296Quixote cites freeing Andrew from a master's beating as proof of why knights-errant are needed to undo wrongs.read · scan
- p. 447The barber accuses Sancho of robbery and calls for justice; Sancho says the spoils were won in lawful war.read · scan
- p. 448Quixote demands the pannel be laid down until the truth is decided and claims lawful conquest.read · scan
Francis Pretty, Sir Francis Drake's Famous Voyage Round the WorldVol. 33
- p. 210–212Spanish judges sitting in judgment on condemned negroes are themselves seized and made to serve the raiders' needs.read · scan
Francis Bacon, Essays, Civil and MoralVol. 3
- p. 15Revenge is wild justice that law should weed out; the first wrong offends the law, revenge puts law out of office.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of DenmarkVol. 46
- p. 179–182Laertes vows vengeance repaid by weight; the King claims his innocence be judgedread · scan
- p. 199–202Hamlet asks whether it is not perfect conscience to requite the king who killed his father and whored his mother.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The TempestVol. 46
- p. 441Retribution for the foul deed against Prospero is delayed but not forgotten.read · scan
Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, Philaster, or Love Lies A-BleedingVol. 47
- p. 721–723Philaster claims to perform 'a piece of justice' in killing Arethusa, telling her to reconcile with Heaven.read · scan
- p. 726Philaster, wounding sleeping Bellario, reasons that there is no justice in the sleep of the guilty.read · scan
John Webster, The Duchess of MalfiVol. 47
- p. 843–845Bosola speaks of joining a just revenge, since the weakest arm is strong when it strikes with the sword of justice.read · scan
- p. 850–852Bosola avenges the Duchess, saying the Cardinal took from Justice her balance and left her only the sword.read · scan
- p. 853–854Bosola declares his revenge for the Duchess, Antonio and Julia, and urges worthy minds to suffer death for what is just.read · scan
Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Life Is a DreamVol. 26
- p. 37Segismund demands a reckoning for his treatment.read · scan
John Milton, Poems Written at Horton, 1632-1638Vol. 4
- p. 57The brother says heaven's just sword should not be raised against its will; he seeks to force restitution.read · scan
John Milton, Samson AgonistesVol. 4
- p. 415Dispute over whether Samson is a murderer and robber or justified in retaliating for Philistine treachery.read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Profession of Faith of a Savoyard VicarVol. 34
- p. 269–270Witnessing injustice rouses resentment and the wish to defend the oppressed, restrained by laws.read · scan
Friedrich Schiller, William TellVol. 26
- p. 381–384Herdsman and hunter hold the killing a deserved reward and no man can blame the deed.read · scan
- p. 477Duke John, his demands for justice despised, takes revenge himself.read · scan
- p. 484–485Tell openly claims his deed shielded his family and freed his country, in contrast to the disguised Duke's murder of his uncle.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 98–99Renzo vows to get justice himself, since justice is only to be had against the poor; threatens to kill Rodrigo.read · scan
- p. 209Crowd shouts to 'get justice' by laying siege to the superintendent's house.read · scan
- p. 211Renzo, horrified at murder, is uncertain plunder is wrong, and resolves to save the superintendent.read · scan
- p. 302Rodrigo preferred summary self-help to obtaining justice by regular means.read · scan
- p. 315He sometimes protects the oppressed and punishes oppressors, a remedy where no public justice exists, but usually serves iniquity.read · scan
- p. 497–498Perpetua insists on claiming his stolen goods back; robbing is a sin but not resisting it is a sin too.read · scan
- p. 587–588Renzo would take justice into his own hands; the friar rebukes him: God alone judges and chastises, and man, a worm, cannot know justice.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 129–131The maids plot revenge against Thumbling for telling on their theft.read · scan
Percy Bysshe Shelley, The CenciVol. 18
- p. 276Men seek casuistical justification of Beatrice yet feel her deed needs justifying, which makes her tragic.read · scan
- p. 310They argue that the offender who mocks law with gold will go unpunished, so the victims must seize redress themselves.read · scan
- p. 313–314Giacomo demands atonement for wrongs and slander from his father, who has escaped account.read · scan
- p. 314Orsino says God draws threads to a just doom, sanctifying the murder; Giacomo accepts a holier judge and avenger in Beatrice.read · scan
- p. 316–318Giacomo doubts whether the deed is just though necessary; Beatrice bids him hold piety, justice and clemency hard.read · scan
- p. 326–328Beatrice and Lucretia justify murdering Cenci as a high and holy deed, hoping Heaven is merciful and just.read · scan
- p. 329Beatrice regards the murder as a just use, the assassin a weapon in God's hand, and a deed not to be repented.read · scan
- p. 331Beatrice claims Earth and Heaven acquit the deed, while a Legate arrives with a warrant for Cenci's arrest.read · scan
- p. 334Beatrice argues human laws bar retribution, then blame the avengers; the murderer was a sword in God's hand.read · scan
Treaty with the Six NationsVol. 43
- p. 232For injuries by individuals, private revenge is forbidden; complaint goes to authorities and equitable provision is made.read · scan
Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the BeagleVol. 29
- p. 128Robbers hide in the thistles and kill with impunity, a lawless country.read · scan
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the MastVol. 23
- p. 167Where officials refuse justice for a murder, American settlers try and shoot the murderer themselves; natives know only will and fear.read · scan
- p. 211Crew retaliate against a disliked agent by drenching his party, exploiting the passengers' ignorance of who is at fault.read · scan
- p. 222Crew avenges the agent's neglect of the men by refusing service and making his tasks hard.read · scan
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Twenty-Four Years AfterVol. 23
- p. 391–392The Vigilance Committee is praised as last resort when vice and fraud hide behind forms of law, suffrage and ballot.read · scan
9b.Blood-feud, weregild and atonement
See also: Revenge 4a · Punishment 7b · Fate 1b · Family 5a
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 106–107He holds the pair in bonds until the bride-price is restored.read · scan
- p. 107–108The gods say Ares owes the adulterer's fine; Hephaestus distrusts pledges of evil folk, and Poseidon guarantees payment.read · scan
- p. 330–331Eupeithes demands vengeance on the slayers of sons and brothers, while Medon claims divine sanction for the slaying.read · scan
Aeschylus, AgamemnonVol. 8
- p. 60–62Old blood shed cries for requital; Agamemnon may pay for the slain.read · scan
- p. 62–63Clytemnestra avows the murder and vaunts it as just requital for the cup of curses Agamemnon filled.read · scan
- p. 64–65Clytemnestra defends the murder as vengeance for Agamemnon's sacrifice of Iphigenia, faulting elders who were silent then.read · scan
- p. 67–68Clytemnestra claims the avenger of Atreus's feast struck through her, requiting the murdered children and Iphigenia: by the sword he sinned, by the sword he dies.read · scan
- p. 71–72Aegisthus hails the day of rightful vengeance, claiming the gods care for men and Agamemnon paid for Atreus's crime.read · scan
Aeschylus, The Libation-BearersVol. 8
- p. 78–79Justice weighs with scales; blood once shed cannot be atoned, vengeance follows and the sinner is pained at last.read · scan
- p. 89–91Chorus invokes the Fates and Zeus: Justice claims her debt, and whoever takes the sword shall perish by the sword.read · scan
- p. 107–109Chorus prays that rightful blow avenge old blood and end the curse of guilt begetting guilt.read · scan
- p. 112Clytemnestra says she who slew by craft shall die by craft; Orestes repays hate where love was due.read · scan
- p. 114–115Chorus hails Justice, child of Zeus, who with Craft brings vengeance, late but righteous, on Agamemnon's murderers.read · scan
Aeschylus, The FuriesVol. 8
- p. 127Furies charge that Apollo, a young god, tramples ancient right by shielding a matricide and asks who could call it rightful.read · scan
- p. 129–131Furies and Apollo dispute whether killing a husband or a mother is worse; Apollo says Right guards the marriage bond.read · scan
- p. 134–136Furies call themselves ministers of Justice: the pure-handed are untouched, but the blood-guilty are avenged.read · scan
- p. 147–148Apollo pleads justly that Orestes rightly avenged the murder of a king; the Furies contest that blood once shed cannot be undone.read · scan
Tacitus, GermanyVol. 33
- p. 104Compensation by cattle for homicide reconciles families, healthy for a free state.read · scan
Chapters from the KoranVol. 45
- p. 916–917Forbids unjust killing, allows kin retribution without excess, commands honest weights and measures and protection of orphans' property.read · scan
- p. 977–978Blood-money is due to the victim's people, varying by tribe and alliance.read · scan
BeowulfVol. 49
- p. 8Grendel refuses payment of wergild or pact of peace to settle the feud.read · scan
- p. 15–18Hrothgar recalls settling Ecgtheow's feud by paying compensation, which earned oaths.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 15The Jinni demands the merchant's death as retribution for an unintended killing.read · scan
- p. 17The Jinni demands blood for blood for his son's death; the sheykh bargains to have shares of the claim remitted.read · scan
Songs from the Elder EddaVol. 49
- p. 397–400Weregild offered as compensation for a slain kinsmanread · scan
The Story of the Volsungs and NiblungsVol. 49
- p. 276–277Sigmund offers gold as atonement for the slain brother though he had never paid weregild before.read · scan
- p. 284–286Hreidmar exacts weregild from the gods for the killing of his son Otter.read · scan
- p. 337–338Atonement by gold offered as compensation for the killing of Sigurd and her son.read · scan
9c.Punishment proportioned to offence
See also: Punishment 4a
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 10Athene says Aegisthus lies in a death that is his due.read · scan
- p. 259–260Penelope rebukes the reckless handmaid, declaring her sin and that her blood shall be on her own head.read · scan
- p. 297Odysseus condemns the wooers for wasting his house, wronging his wife and ignoring gods and men's indignation; he refuses compensation, demanding full payment.read · scan
- p. 303–304Ctesippus is repaid for the ox-foot he threw at the beggar Odysseus; Odysseus denies the soothsayer Leiodes mercy for prayers against his return.read · scan
- p. 305–306Medon is spared for blamelessness, while the wooers, who held Telemachus in no honour, lie dead like netted fish.read · scan
- p. 306–307The wooers honoured no one, good or bad, and met shameful death; Odysseus asks which maids dishonoured him and which are guiltless.read · scan
- p. 307–308Vengeance on the disloyal servants presented as fitting desert for their betrayal.read · scan
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 48Asks that Ch'en Heng be chastised for murdering his prince.read · scan
Aesop, FablesVol. 17
- p. 19The stork repays the fox's trick in kind; retaliation.read · scan
- p. 43Responsibility is assigned to one who incites others to fight even though he bears no weapon.read · scan
The Book of PsalmsVol. 44
- p. 278–281Phinehas executes judgment, stays the plague and is reckoned righteous.read · scan
- p. 285Retribution asked for one who persecuted the poor and needy and showed no kindness.read · scan
Herodotus, An Account of EgyptVol. 33
- p. 42Embalmer who abused a corpse was informed on by a fellow craftsman; women's bodies delayed for protection.read · scan
- p. 69Penalty is measured according to the greatness of the wrong-doing.read · scan
Marcus Tullius Cicero, Letters of CiceroVol. 9
- p. 178–180Defends penalties reaching children as customary in all states and applied to condemned citizens.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 232Brutus justly punishes his sons with death, asserting public right against the tyrant.read · scan
- p. 270Cacus steals the cattle by fraud and force; Hercules avenges the theft.read · scan
- p. 270The robber is punished by death for his crimes.read · scan
Luke, The Gospel According to LukeVol. 44
- p. 405–406Parable of the wicked husbandmen who kill the owner's servants and son to seize the inheritance; the lord will destroy them.read · scan
Plutarch, DemosthenesVol. 12
- p. 216–217Demades is justly put to death for the guilt of his treason.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 319He argues the milder sentence should not be defeated by contrivance.read · scan
- p. 341Senators debate whether Certus should be punished, acquitted, or branded, for his cruelties committed in flattering Domitian.read · scan
- p. 374–375Trajan apportions blame according to how each slave came to enlist.read · scan
Chapters from the KoranVol. 45
- p. 927–928Brothers name the penalty for theft: the one in whose pack the goblet is found becomes the recompense.read · scan
- p. 997–998Cutting off hands of thieves as an example from God.read · scan
- p. 998–999Judge with justice, for God loves the just; retaliation, an eye for an eye, with remission as expiation.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 68–69The Wezir answers an unintended injury with deliberate mutilation and a death sentence, against the plea that it was unintentional.read · scan
- p. 77The 'Efrit admits he is not convinced the prince wronged him yet insists he must not go unpunished.read · scan
- p. 109–110The husband's threat to have every innocent firewood-seller or ass-driver killed shows arbitrary vengeance.read · scan
- p. 141The disproportion between the trivial offence and the cruel mutilation is implicitly shown; the husband protests.read · scan
- p. 229Ja'far arrests the wrongdoing Sultan and Wezir and liberates the wronged Nur-ed-Din, enforcing the Khalifeh's retribution.read · scan
The Song of RolandVol. 49
- p. 109–110Jurfalez demands Ganelon's life as just penalty for his insolent message.read · scan
- p. 194–195The Emperor's justice is satisfied and his wrath subsides after the reprisals.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, HellVol. 20
- p. 45Divine justice apportions torment by kind of malice; fraud, peculiar to man, displeases God more than force.read · scan
- p. 45Divine vengeance falls less heavily on the incontinent, so they are placed apart from the malicious.read · scan
- p. 54It is just that what a man takes from himself he not have again.read · scan
- p. 117–118His severed head is a fitting requital for dividing kin.read · scan
- p. 123–125Stern justice uses the place of his sin to sharpen his suffering.read · scan
- p. 136–137Dante curses Pisa for slackness in punishing, wishing the city drowned for this cruelty.read · scan
- p. 137Even if Ugolino betrayed castles, the children were innocent and had no right to be tortured.read · scan
Jean Froissart, The Chronicles of FroissartVol. 35
- p. 100Bishop argues it is pity for the father to bear the son's default; the king rejects the excuse.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 142The lawyer praises the strict and rigorous justice executed on felons.read · scan
- p. 142Death for theft passes the limits of justice and harms the commonwealth.read · scan
- p. 142Justice on felons is called more beautiful than just or profitable.read · scan
- p. 142Extreme justice is extreme injury; money loss cannot equal a man's life, and offences should not be treated as equal.read · scan
Martin Luther, Address to the Christian Nobility of the German NationVol. 36
- p. 286–287If thieves are hanged, Rome, the greatest robber, deserves punishment; its possessions were never bought or inherited.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 144–145Cardinal de' Medici treats the killing as a lesser crime than Pompeo's offence and refuses to punish.read · scan
- p. 145–146Pope weighs Pompeo's death against Benvenuto's provocation as justification.read · scan
- p. 223–224Cellini contrasts the Pope's just imprisonment for forgery with his own unjust one.read · scan
William Harrison, A Description of Elizabethan EnglandVol. 35
- p. 364Punishment is justified as preventing evil example and corruption of others.read · scan
- p. 366Bystanders take the rope to show willingness to see true justice executed.read · scan
- p. 368Administration of justice keeps England relatively free of merciless murders, with crimes severely punished.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 63Quixote threatens death as just punishment of the supposed abductors' bad works.read · scan
- p. 277The curate denounces the liberator of the galley-slaves for frustrating justice and setting robbers loose to escape deserved punishment.read · scan
- p. 279Sancho objects that the freed men were condemned for great villainies; the dispute over whether to relieve the guilty.read · scan
Captain Walter Bigges, Drake's Great ArmadaVol. 33
- p. 241–242Demands the murderer be delivered for condign punishment; justice done on one of their own company for murder.read · scan
Christopher Marlowe, Edward the SecondVol. 46
- p. 87Young Edward convicts Mortimer by his own letter and orders him hanged and quartered for his father's murder.read · scan
- p. 87–89King sends the suspect mother to trial and offers Mortimer's head to his father's ghost.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King LearVol. 46
- p. 243–244Gloucester proclaims death for anyone who conceals the supposed murderer.read · scan
Richard Corbet, Farewell, Rewards and FairiesVol. 40
- p. 315–316Punishing tell-tales is called a just deed; commonwealth wants such Justices.read · scan
John Winthrop, Arbitrary Government Described and the Government of the Massachusetts Vindicated from That AspersionVol. 43
- p. 97Disproportionate sentences remain unjust despite consent.read · scan
- p. 99Where penalty is satisfaction to the injured, rich and poor have equal right; a poor man's life equals a prince's.read · scan
- p. 104Word of God and light of nature guide just punishment where no penalty is prescribed.read · scan
John Milton, Samson AgonistesVol. 4
- p. 415Lords vary: some vengeful, some mercenary, some generous enough to remit for ransom.read · scan
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's ProgressVol. 15
- p. 271–272The giant is slain to revenge the blood of pilgrims he murdered; his head is set up as a warning.read · scan
William Penn, Some Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 352–353Ruler must be just, ruling in fear of God; partial rewards and punishments cause disorder.read · scan
Daniel Defoe, The Shortest-Way with the DissentersVol. 27
- p. 134–135Justice always seems violence to the offender, since every man is innocent in his own eyes.read · scan
- p. 141–142Executing 'God's Justice' on the Church's enemies is claimed to be right and not cruelty.read · scan
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NationsVol. 10
- p. 477–478Smuggling penalties contradict justice: law creates the temptation then punishes those who yield, more severely as temptation grows.read · scan
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24
- p. 209Guards beheaded with the parade of an execution of justice, though slaughtered unprovoked.read · scan
- p. 273–274Burke condemns confiscation and persecution of the clergy on the pretext of vice as injustice and illogical retaliation.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, EgmontVol. 19
- p. 279–280Egmont orders soldiers who assaulted an innkeeper's daughter flogged and their property to portion her.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 73–74The wrongdoer pronounces her own sentence and it is carried out.read · scan
- p. 178The false bride, tricked by a riddle, pronounces her own sentence, and the deceit is exposed and punished.read · scan
- p. 211–212The cruel sisters fall into poverty and the wronged girl prospers; their wrongs are repaid.read · scan
Thomas Babington Macaulay, MachiavelliVol. 27
- p. 382Posterity punishes a few at hazard for offences shared by many.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 355The judges and council who condemned him are tossed into the air.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On LibertyVol. 25
- p. 274Society as protector of its members must retaliate against infringement of rules protecting others, severely enough.read · scan
Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the BeagleVol. 29
- p. 270Rule charging all men for one hidden lump of ore punishes the innocent collectively and forces mutual watching.read · scan
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1011–1012She thinks the sentence unjust, since he took no life, only one purseread · scan
Robert Browning, A Blot in the 'ScutcheonVol. 18
- p. 386He would take the prescribed vengeance of ancestors' stern verdicts but cannot bear her deceit of the trusting youth.read · scan
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the MastVol. 23
- p. 167–168Justice is unequal: a native murderer goes free while an Indian who killed in hot blood is chained and shot.read · scan
- p. 283–284Sailors' story of the beef-dealer jailed until he eats the old horse he sold as beef is praised as retaliatory justice.read · scan
Sidney Lanier, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1394–1395Unjust punishment: Hamish, weak from hunger, is beaten for the deer's escape.read · scan
9d.Justice among nations: war, conquest and treaty
See also: War and Peace 2a
Aeschylus, AgamemnonVol. 8
- p. 37–38Agamemnon says the gods judged Troy in conclave and gave unanimous sentence of death for the city.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 321Juno charges the Trojans with unjustly seizing foreign lands and promised brides, and blames Paris for the war.read · scan
- p. 355Aeneas holds the Latian suit just and their war causeless against an unoffending man.read · scan
- p. 355Aeneas claims his wars are not unjust: the king broke promised friendship and bride; Drances praises his justice.read · scan
Plutarch, ThemistoclesVol. 12
- p. 22–23Themistocles defends smaller cities' right to a place in the Amphictyonic council against domination by great cities.read · scan
- p. 26He arbitrated between Corcyra and Corinth, earning obligation.read · scan
Plutarch, PericlesVol. 12
- p. 47–48Dispute whether Athens owes allies an account of their contributions.read · scan
Plutarch, AristidesVol. 12
- p. 100Aristides tells the people Themistocles's plan to burn the arsenal is advantageous but most unjust; the Athenians reject it.read · scan
- p. 102–103Aristides is strictly just privately but concedes public policy sometimes demands injustice; he admits removing the treasure is unjust yet expedient.read · scan
Plutarch, CoriolanusVol. 12
- p. 174–175Marcius holds that peace lasts only on fair and just conditions for both sides.read · scan
Plutarch, CaesarVol. 12
- p. 283Cato urges surrendering Caesar to the barbarians to expiate the state's guilt for breaking faith during a treaty.read · scan
Tacitus, GermanyVol. 33
- p. 111–112The Chaucians are noblest Germans, maintaining grandeur by justice not violence, wronging none and yet superior to all.read · scan
The Song of RolandVol. 49
- p. 132–133Roland claims the right is with the Franks and the wrong with the enemy.read · scan
Dante Alighieri, ParadiseVol. 20
- p. 306–308Under Tiberius the Eagle executed divine vengeance; Guelfs and Ghibellines both wrong the imperial standard by severing it from justice.read · scan
Niccolò Machiavelli, The PrinceVol. 36
- p. 84The justice of the cause is conspicuous, since arms are sacred when they are our only hope.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 213Princes practice a freer 'princely justice' unbound by rules, unlike private justice; treaty-breaking would be punished in private men.read · scan
- p. 213–215No man is an enemy who has done no injury; war is waged to redress wrongs to merchants under false legal pretence.read · scan
- p. 215Fair treatment of the unarmed and the yielding; punishing those who resisted, rewarding those who counselled surrender.read · scan
Martin Luther, Address to the Christian Nobility of the German NationVol. 36
- p. 329The Pope took the empire from the Constantinople emperor against God and justice.read · scan
Captain Walter Bigges, Drake's Great ArmadaVol. 33
- p. 230Drake dismisses the French ships untouched and pays for the bark he takes, showing fair dealing toward non-enemies.read · scan
- p. 230Drake demands to know why English merchants were arrested, and the captured ship is treated as lawful prize.read · scan
Edward Haies, Sir Humphrey Gilbert's Voyage to NewfoundlandVol. 33
- p. 266English claim by first discovery is defended as right against French usurpation and Spanish limits.read · scan
- p. 276Rescue of the French prizes contrasted with the crew's continued robbery and spoil.read · scan
- p. 277Robbery and torture of the fishermen contrasted with the fishermen saving their robbers.read · scan
Sir Walter Raleigh, The Discovery of GuianaVol. 33
- p. 313–314Raleigh frames the attack as revenge for Berreo's treachery and broken word.read · scan
Francis Bacon, Essays, Civil and MoralVol. 3
- p. 49Bacon rejects that war is just only after precedent injury.read · scan
- p. 77–78Men enter wars only on specious grounds of justice, since a sense of justice is imprinted in human nature.read · scan
Christopher Marlowe, Edward the SecondVol. 46
- p. 52–54Edward claims victory by justice of the quarrel and cause, not chance.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King LearVol. 46
- p. 303–304Albany says he opposes the French invasion, yet the King and others have just and heavy causes against the state.read · scan
First Charter of VirginiaVol. 43
- p. 56Robbery or hostility against friendly nations' subjects must be redressed by restitution and satisfaction of the injured.read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among MankindVol. 34
- p. 213Right of conquest is no right; capitulations founded on violence are void.read · scan
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24
- p. 287New governments would draw their energy from contempt of justice.read · scan
The Declaration of IndependenceVol. 43
- p. 152–153Appeals to the British people's native justice and kindred ties, which went unheeded.read · scan
Articles of ConfederationVol. 43
- p. 162Sets procedure for judges to settle disputes between states, sworn to judge without favour, affection or hope of reward.read · scan
- p. 163Land-grant disputes between states are settled by the same judicial procedure.read · scan
Treaty with Great Britain (1783)Vol. 43
- p. 177–178Confiscated estates of loyalists are to be restored, laws revised for justice and equity and a spirit of conciliation.read · scan
George Washington, Washington's Farewell AddressVol. 43
- p. 243Nations should observe good faith and justice toward all, guided by exalted justice and benevolence.read · scan
- p. 247–248Justice and humanity oblige nations to maintain peace and amity with others.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 434Spanish minister seeks a pretext because wars without one would be unjust, using claimants' pretended rights.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5
- p. 452It should cleave to the right, defend exiles against despots, and lead reform.read · scan
- p. 467English foreign policy, ruled by trade interest, seldom generous or just, betraying weaker nations.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25
- p. 184Surrender of refugees called a great iniquity.read · scan
Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the BeagleVol. 29
- p. 419–420Compensation is demanded for plunder of a British vessel, and the debt is settled by subscription.read · scan
- p. 425–426Chiefs consider the night attack atrocious since Mrs. Bushby was ill, sparing the sick being a protection.read · scan
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1054–1055Distinction between lawful public war and lawless private killing; war is to defend the right.read · scan
Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln's Second Inaugural AddressVol. 43
- p. 425Firmness in the right as God gives us to see it; a just peace.read · scan
Treaty with Great Britain (1814)Vol. 43
- p. 257Disputed island claims are referred to sworn commissioners to decide impartially on evidence, with decision final.read · scan
- p. 257If commissioners disagree, reports go to a friendly sovereign or state as arbiter whose decision is final.read · scan
- p. 262Commissioners' expenses shared equally; prior land grants remain valid regardless of which party wins the islands.read · scan
John Ruskin, Sesame and LiliesVol. 28
- p. 114–116Nation is merciful to homicides at home yet polite to foreign atrocity.read · scan
Treaty with Spain (1819)Vol. 43
- p. 271–272Land grants are confirmed or voided by fixed rules, and both parties renounce mutual claims for injuries to reconcile.read · scan
- p. 272–273Reciprocal renunciation of claims for injuries and unlawful seizures, with satisfaction to be made to Spanish inhabitants by process of law.read · scan
- p. 273–274A commission is to examine and decide the validity of citizens' claims against Spain according to principles of justice and the laws of nations.read · scan
Treaty with Great Britain (1842)Vol. 43
- p. 280Surrender of fugitive criminals is deemed expedient for the better administration of justice and prevention of crime.read · scan
- p. 284–285Land grants and possessory claims are confirmed and settlers dealt with on liberal principles of equity after the territory changes hands.read · scan
Treaty with MexicoVol. 43
- p. 297–298United States assumes liquidated claims against Mexico and discharges it from other citizens' claims, settling debts finally.read · scan
- p. 298–299A board of commissioners is established to decide the validity of citizens' claims under fixed rules, with evidence sworn and documents supplied.read · scan
- p. 302–303Arbitration by commissioners or a friendly nation is proposed for differences before resort to reprisals.read · scan
Convention Between the United States and the Republic of PanamaVol. 43
- p. 457–458A joint commission with an umpire decides disputes by majority, and its decisions are final.read · scan
‹ 8 · Outline · 10 ›