Punishment
‹ 7 · Outline · 9 ›
8.Mercy, pardon and clemency
8a.Mercy as the virtue of rulers and judges
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 304–305Odysseus kills Leiodes, but the minstrel Phemius and the henchman Medon are spared as blameless, at Telemachus' plea.read · scan
Aesop, FablesVol. 17
- p. 15The lion pardons the mouse and is repaid, showing mercy.read · scan
- p. 20Androcles is condemned to be thrown to the lion, then pardoned.read · scan
- p. 42–43The enemy is about to put the captured trumpeter to death, and he pleads for mercy.read · scan
Herodotus, An Account of EgyptVol. 33
- p. 58The king seeks the thief through a trap, then grants free pardon and reward instead of punishment.read · scan
Plutarch, CiceroVol. 12
- p. 247He never had men beaten or punished with reproach, and let embezzlers keep citizen rights on restitution.read · scan
Plutarch, CaesarVol. 12
- p. 270The conspirators are given up to execution after Cato's speech; Caesar's leniency is contested.read · scan
- p. 309Caesar's clemency: he pardons and even honors former enemies, and a temple to Clemency is decreed.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 344Pliny pleads for pardon of a repentant freedman, arguing clemency is most laudable where resentment is greatest.read · scan
Saint Augustine, The Confessions of St. AugustineVol. 7
- p. 157–158Asks that mercy be exalted above justice and that judgment not be entered against her.read · scan
Chapters from the KoranVol. 45
- p. 929–930Joseph forgoes reproach and grants pardon to the brothers who wronged him.read · scan
The Destruction of Dá Derga's HostelVol. 49
- p. 205–206Conaire commutes the sentence: marauders are exiled to plunder Alba rather than hanged.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 223–224The Khalifeh pardons Sheykh Ibrahim, who begs forgiveness after his drunken insolence.read · scan
- p. 372–373She begs pardon and clemency lest the presumption be punished; the Sultan laughs instead.read · scan
The Voyages to VinlandVol. 43
- p. 17–19Leif lacks the heart to punish his sister as deserved, but predicts ill fortune for her offspring.read · scan
Traditional BalladsVol. 40
- p. 153–155Robin humbles the proud sheriff, making him sleep in the greenwood and swear an oath never to harm outlaws, in place of killing him.read · scan
Sir Thomas Malory, The Holy GrailVol. 35
- p. 165–167The defeated Pridam begs mercy and swears never to war against the lady.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 88–89The Pope pardons the petty theft, waiving any penalty and absolving him fully.read · scan
- p. 105–106The Pope's remark 'now that you are cured, take heed how you live' pardons the killing with a warning.read · scan
- p. 186–188Cellini threatens death to Francesco and dismissal to Ascanio, then relents on pardon.read · scan
- p. 237–238The castellan, moved by conscience, forgives and revokes cruel orders, while the Pope wants vengeance.read · scan
- p. 429–430He tells the Duke not to punish the poisoners but reward them, since the poison did him good.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 71Quixote spares the Biscaine, though deserving of punishment, on condition he submit himself to Dulcinea.read · scan
Sir Walter Raleigh, The Discovery of GuianaVol. 33
- p. 320Martinez is condemned to death for the powder fire, then set adrift alone as mercy.read · scan
Francis Bacon, Essays, Civil and MoralVol. 3
- p. 131In cases of life and death, judges should remember mercy: severe eye on the example, merciful eye on the person.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The TempestVol. 46
- p. 455Prospero forgives his brother's rankest fault and requires only the dukedom's restoration; Alonso begs pardon for his wrongs.read · scan
- p. 461–463He pleads that as they would be pardoned their crimes, they should indulge him; prayer pierces mercy and frees all faults.read · scan
Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, Philaster, or Love Lies A-BleedingVol. 47
- p. 724–726Pharamond vows brutal vengeance on the attacker, while Arethusa forgives him and wants to devise a punishment herself.read · scan
Philip Massinger, A New Way to Pay Old DebtsVol. 47
- p. 938–941Servants kick Marrall away; Wellborn leaves him to conscience rather than prosecution.read · scan
Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Life Is a DreamVol. 26
- p. 18Youth and the sword's history spare Rosaura the penalty for trespass.read · scan
Sir Thomas Browne, Religio MediciVol. 3
- p. 303–304Even misfortunes are mercy, since offences deserve damnation; the judge who fines a murderer shows clemency.read · scan
William Penn, Some Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 327–328Mercy shown is mercy received; do not ruin the insolvent debtor.read · scan
Edmund Burke, A Letter to a Noble LordVol. 24
- p. 410They could not bear the mildest punishment of the greatest criminals; severity of justice made their flesh creep.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, EgmontVol. 19
- p. 277–279Egmont, weary of hanging, orders rioters flogged and discharged and women merely admonished.read · scan
- p. 279–280Egmont replaces beheading of a foreign preacher with escort to the frontier and warning.read · scan
- p. 307–308Egmont urges a general pardon to restore confidence and loyalty.read · scan
- p. 308–309Egmont argues that crimes of frenzy deserve pardon, and merciful monarchs are likened to God; Alva insists no guilty person should escape.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 250–252Asks whether legal rage should pursue guilt already crushed by misfortune; urges relenting.read · scan
Friedrich Schiller, William TellVol. 26
- p. 475–477Melchthal spares Landenberg, who blinded his father, after the old man's pity; he swears never to return.read · scan
George Long, M. Aurelius AntoninusVol. 2
- p. 304Antoninus urged mercy toward Cassius' family and partisans.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25
- p. 179He joined deputation to spare condemned Fenian General Burke's life.read · scan
Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the BeagleVol. 29
- p. 366–367Government thought it a pity to punish useful carpenters and liberated them.read · scan
8b.The argument that pardon is mischievous or must be limited
Marcus Tullius Cicero, Letters of CiceroVol. 9
- p. 122–125Clodius escaped penalty for sedition, depriving the Republic of a precedent for punishing sedition.read · scan
- p. 178–180Cicero argues pardoning crime is mischievous in this war; severe penalties deter traitors and warn imitators, even extending to children.read · scan
Plutarch, CiceroVol. 12
- p. 232–233Cicero deliberates how to treat the convicted conspirators: death is fitting, yet he fears harshness toward nobles and the danger of leniency.read · scan
Niccolò Machiavelli, The PrinceVol. 36
- p. 55–56Scipio failed to punish his lieutenant's outrage on the Locrians, showing the harm of leniency.read · scan
Martin Luther, Address to the Christian Nobility of the German NationVol. 36
- p. 289Laxity in punishing wrongdoing follows from papal exemptions and licence sold for gifts.read · scan
Daniel Defoe, The Shortest-Way with the DissentersVol. 27
- p. 134–135Claims lenity toward Puritans caused the ruin of Charles I; strict execution would have cleared the nation.read · scan
Percy Bysshe Shelley, The CenciVol. 18
- p. 351The Pope declares 'They must die' and refuses pardon.read · scan
Abraham Lincoln, Proclamation of AmnestyVol. 43
- p. 417Certain leaders and officers who aided rebellion are excepted from pardon.read · scan
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the MastVol. 23
- p. 367Reducing sentences for poverty nullifies the law's penalties; the certainty that suffering falls on others is a chief restraint on criminals.read · scan
- p. 367–368Statutory penalties against masters are cut down through appeals to leniency, undermining the law's intended penalty.read · scan
8c.Pardon on repentance or confession
Aristophanes, The FrogsVol. 8
- p. 459–460Chorus urges pardon for past offenders.read · scan
Paul, The Second Epistle of Paul to the CorinthiansVol. 45
- p. 518The punishment inflicted by the majority on the offender suffices; they should now forgive and comfort him.read · scan
Plutarch, AlcibiadesVol. 12
- p. 124Pardon by decree for confession, while those named suffer death.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 254–255Domitian softens Licinianus's banishment as a reward for confession; Nerva later allows him Sicily.read · scan
- p. 404Pliny tortures two female slaves and proposes a general pardon for those who repent.read · scan
- p. 407–408Trajan: Christians need not be sought out, proven ones are punished, those who deny and worship the gods are pardoned on repentance.read · scan
Traditional BalladsVol. 40
- p. 179–181The king grants mercy and pardon to Robin and his company on condition they leave the forest.read · scan
Sir Thomas Malory, The Holy GrailVol. 35
- p. 211The dying king begs mercy for his wrongs and the knights forgive him.read · scan
Sir Thomas More, UtopiaVol. 36
- p. 209–210Adulterers are punished with bondage, pardon possible on repentance; death for repeat; other penalties by council discretion.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 277He prays God to pardon the man who hindered the convicts from receiving the punishment they deserved.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of MacbethVol. 46
- p. 327–330Cawdor's execution: he confessed treason, begged pardon and repented, dying nobly.read · scan
John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4
- p. 180Abdiel warns of Satan's fall and decrees gone forth, urging repentance while pardon may be foundread · scan
John Milton, Samson AgonistesVol. 4
- p. 415Question of pardon and forgiveness of the penitent.read · scan
Daniel Defoe, The Shortest-Way with the DissentersVol. 27
- p. 146–147The obstinate to be ruled with a rod of iron, the returning shown mercy.read · scan
Articles of Capitulation, YorktownVol. 43
- p. 171–172Request that inhabitants who joined the British not be punished is refused as a matter for civil authority.read · scan
Treaty with Great Britain (1783)Vol. 43
- p. 177–178No future confiscations or prosecutions for part taken in the war; those confined are to be set at liberty.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 202–203Sheriff offers a general pardon to those who go home, threatening consequences otherwise.read · scan
- p. 515The Board offers reward and impunity to informers, wanting the crime not to go unpunished for the people's peace.read · scan
Abraham Lincoln, Proclamation of AmnestyVol. 43
- p. 416–417Lincoln grants pardon and amnesty to rebels under the pardoning power, restoring property rights on condition of an oath.read · scan
Robert Browning, A Blot in the 'ScutcheonVol. 18
- p. 399–401Tresham asks pardon for killing Mertoun; Mildred forgives, and he awaits Another's judgment on the deed.read · scan
8d.Pardoning power and its purchase or abuse
Plutarch, CaesarVol. 12
- p. 271Clodius is impeached for impiety against the gods and the public, yet escapes through popular favor and frightened judges.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 119Tobbia is condemned to gallows and stake for false coining, but the Cardinal suspends the sentence.read · scan
- p. 144–145Pompeo's kinsman demands chastisement, which the Cardinal rejects.read · scan
- p. 145–146Pardon for murder is arranged through a safe-conduct and the yearly festival release of twelve outlaws.read · scan
- p. 159Cellini needs a papal pardon and safe-conduct to clear penalties for his homicide.read · scan
- p. 222The Pope is asked to pardon crimes if they can be condoned.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King LearVol. 46
- p. 304–306Edmund plans that Albany's pardon of Lear and Cordelia shall never come.read · scan
- p. 310–314Edmund, dying, tries to reprieve Cordelia and confesses his order to hang her.read · scan
Nathaniel Ward, The Body of LibertiesVol. 43
- p. 75–76Only the General Court may pardon a condemned malefactor; lesser officials may only reprieve.read · scan
John Webster, The Duchess of MalfiVol. 47
- p. 826–827Ferdinand offers a pardon for the murder and then sentences Bosola to die for it.read · scan
Molière, Tartuffe, or The HypocriteVol. 26
- p. 293–295Tartuffe is sent to prison while Orgon is pardoned and rewarded.read · scan
The Instrument of GovernmentVol. 43
- p. 112Council members guilty of corruption are punished, beyond the Protector's pardon.read · scan
Voltaire, Letters on the EnglishVol. 34
- p. 95–96Condemned criminals are spared the gallows and smallpox in exchange for the experiment.read · scan
Constitution of the United StatesVol. 43
- p. 188–189Power to grant reprieves and pardons except in impeachment.read · scan
Percy Bysshe Shelley, The CenciVol. 18
- p. 273–275Pardons were bought for capital crimes, while the daughter and her accomplices were put to death despite pleas.read · scan
- p. 281Cenci buys impunity for murder with gold; the Church compounds his crimes for revenue, and Camillo urges him to repent.read · scan
Walter Bagehot, John MiltonVol. 28
- p. 188Wrongdoers escaped punishment by bribes or hypocritical zeal.read · scan
‹ 7 · Outline · 9 ›