Excessive punishments may even corrupt a despotic government; of
this we have an instance in Japan.
Here almost all crimes are punished with death,
[33]
because disobedience to so great an emperor as that of Japan is reckoned an
enormous crime. The question is not so much to correct the delinquent
as to vindicate the authority of the prince. These notions are derived
from servitude, and are owing especially to this, that as the emperor is
universal proprietor, almost all crimes are directly against his
interests.
They punish with death lies spoken before the magistrate;
[34]
aproceeding contrary to natural defence.
Even things which have not the appearance of a crime are severely
punished; for instance, a man that ventures his money at play is put to
death.
True it is that the character of this people, so amazingly
obstinate, capricious, and resolute as to defy all dangers and
calamities, seems to absolve their legislators from the imputation of
cruelty, notwithstanding the severity of their laws. But are men who
have a natural contempt for death, and who rip open their bellies for
the least fancy — are such men, I say, mended or deterred, or rather
are they not hardened, by the continual prospect of punishments?
The relations of travellers inform us, with respect to the education
of the Japanese, that children must be treated there with mildness,
because they become hardened to punishment; that their slaves must not
be too roughly used, because they immediately stand upon their defence.
Would not one imagine that they might easily have judged of the spirit
which ought to reign in their political and civil government from that
which should prevail in their domestic concerns?
A wise legislator would have endeavoured to reclaim people by a just
temperature of punishments and rewards; by maxims of philosophy,
morality, and religion, adapted to those characters; by a proper
application of the rules of honour, and by the enjoyment of ease and
tranquillity of life. And should he have entertained any apprehension
that their minds, being inured to the cruelty of punishments, would no
longer be restrained by those of a milder nature, he would have
conducted himself
[35]
in another manner, and gained his point by
degrees, in particular cases that admitted of any indulgence, he would
have mitigated the punishment, till he should have been able to extend
this mitigation to all cases.
But these are springs to which despotic power is a stranger; it may
abuse itself, and that is all it can do: in Japan it has made its utmost
effort, and has surpassed even itself in cruelty.
As the minds of the people grew wild and intractable, they were
obliged to have recourse to the most horrid severity.
This is the origin, this the spirit, of the laws of Japan. They had
more fury, however, than force. They succeeded the extirpation of
Christianity; but such unaccountable efforts are a proof of their
insufficiency. They wanted to establish a good policy, and they have
shown greater marks of their weakness.
We have only to read the relation of the interview between the
Emperor and the Deyro at Meaco.
[36]
The number of those who were suffocated or murdered in that city by ruffians is incredible; young
maids and boys were carried off by force, and found afterwards exposed
in public places, at unseasonable hours, quite naked, and sewn in linen
bags, to prevent their knowing which way they had passed; robberies were
committed in all parts; the bellies of horses were ripped open, to bring
their riders to the ground; and coaches were overturned, in order to
strip the ladies. The Dutch, who were told they could not pass the night
on the scaffolds without exposing themselves to the danger of being
assassinated, came down, &c.
I shall here give one instance more from the same nation. The
Emperor having abandoned himself to infamous pleasures, lived unmarried,
and was consequently in danger of dying without issue. The Deyro sent
him two beautiful damsels; one he married out of respect, but would not
meddle with her. His nurse caused the finest women of the empire to be
sent for, but all to no purpose. At length, an armourer's daughter
having pleased his fancy,
[37]
he determined to espouse her, and had a son. The ladies belonging to the court, enraged to see a person of such
mean extraction preferred to themselves, stifled the child. The crime
was concealed from the Emperor; for he would have deluged the land with
blood. The excessive severity of the laws hinders, therefore, their
execution: when the punishment surpasses all measure, they are
frequently obliged to prefer impunity to it.
