Besides The Fear Of An
Ignominious Death, I Believe, Never Deferred Anyone From The
Commission Of A Crime, Because, In Committing It, The Mind Is Roused
To Activity About Present Circumstances.
It is a game at hazard, at
which all expect the turn of the die in their own favour, never
reflecting on the chance of ruin till it comes.
In fact, from what
I saw in the fortresses of Norway, I am more and more convinced that
the same energy of character which renders a man a daring villain
would have rendered him useful to society, had that society been
well organised. When a strong mind is not disciplined by
cultivation it is a sense of injustice that renders it unjust.
Executions, however, occur very rarely at Copenhagen; for timidity,
rather than clemency, palsies all the operations of the present
Government. The malefactor who died this morning would not,
probably, have been punished with death at any other period; but an
incendiary excites universal execration; and as the greater part of
the inhabitants are still distressed by the late conflagration, an
example was thought absolutely necessary; though, from what I can
gather, the fire was accidental.
Not, but that I have very seriously been informed, that combustible
materials were placed at proper distance, by the emissaries of Mr.
Pitt; and, to corroborate the fact, many people insist that the
flames burst out at once in different parts of the city; not
allowing the wind to have any hand in it.
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