Bernard Mandeville

“ But, what is infinitely more valuable, that Punishment likewise would rid without Slaughter, or Probability of Return, the Country of the Vermin of Society, that, perpetually nibbling at our Property, destroy the Comforts of secure and undisturb'd Possession, at the same Time that it would furnish us with an Opportunity of performing the most charitable Action in the World ”

“ Yet it must be some mighty Principle of vast Force and Efficacy; for if he acts consistently, he despises not only Death, but the Wrath of Omnipotence, and a Punishment just at Hand, that shall be everlasting. Will you say that he firmly believes that there is no God, nor Life after this, and that Man is wholly mortal? ”

“ When, free from Fumes of Food, and all intoxicating Comforts, the serious Thoughts of a Criminal shall be obliged to dwell upon his wretched Self, and behold the Prospect of a future State so near, so certainly to come, the loosest and most abandon'd will be brought to Reason. ”

“ I am not ignorant, that in the present Conjuncture, as Cases might be stated, it would be very harsh, and seem to be the Height of Injustice, if we should hinder People from redeeming stolen Goods on all Emergencies whatever. A Man may be vigilant and careful, and his Servants the same, and yet, their Eyes being one Moment turn'd from the Counter, a Shop-Book may be snatched, and carried off, perhaps, a Month before Christmas. This may put a Tradesman of good Business in great Distress: Must he lose it? I say, Yes, if the Publick is to be preferr'd to a private Interest. ”

“ I am sure we could be no Losers. Those likewise that are known to be in Quality superior to common Sailors, might be redeem'd by still a greater Number of Felons; or, at the worst, they could be no Sufferers by the Exchanges of the others.
What I am speaking of, I confess would be a very severe Punishment for Felony; but I cannot imagine, how we can think on the Rigour of it, without reflecting, at the same Time, on the Inhumanity we are guilty of in the small Concern we often shew, for many Years, for the Captivity of those who have deserv'd no Punishment at all. ”

“ There is no greater Encouragement for Men to follow any Labour or Handicraft, than that they are paid as soon as they have done their Work, without any further Trouble. It is from such a Consideration as this, that to encrease the publick Security, the Law not only punishes Stealing, but likewise makes it Felony, knowingly to buy stolen Goods; and moreover perpetuates honest Property, and renders the Right of it inalienable from the injured Owner, who seizes his Goods in what Hands soever he finds them. ”

“ Many that are conscious of their Frailty, and the small Power they have of conquering their Passions, would take an Opportunity from them of adoring the divine Mercy, for having preserved them hitherto from falling into such Crimes; even the Voluptuous, that in the Enjoyment of Youth and Vigour, are enamour'd with Life for the sake of Pleasure, would be startled at them, and thank God that this was not their Case; and several by the Fear of Death only, become more serious and reflecting. ”

“ All the Way, from Newgate to Tyburn, is one continued Fair, for Whores and Rogues of the meaner Sort. Here the most abandon'd Rakehells may light on Women as shameless: Here Trollops, all in Rags, may pick up Sweethearts of the same Politeness: And there are none so lewd, so vile, or so indigent, of either Sex, but at the Time and Place aforesaid, they may find a Paramour. Where the Croud is the least, which, among the Itinerants, is no where very thin, the Mob is the rudest; and here, jostling one another, and kicking Dirt about, are the most innocent Pastimes. ”

“ It is highly criminal in any Man, for Lucre, to connive at a Piece of Felony which he could have hinder'd: But a profess'd Thief-Catcher, above all, ought to be severely punish'd, if it can be proved that he has suffer'd a known Rogue to go on in his Villany, tho' but one Day, after it was in his Power to apprehend and convict him, more especially if it appears that he was a Sharer in the Profit. ”

“ But as all Mariners, as well as Soldiers, share the Fate of those on whose Side they engage, so many of our Sailors are Slaves in Turky, that were taken in French, Dutch, and other Ships, and are consequently not reclaimable by any Treaty made with Great Britain. Tho' these might not deserve the same Regard altogether with those that were taken in Ships of the British Nation; yet, as they are our Countrymen, and have committed no Crime, their Redemption ought not to be deferred one Moment, if they might be had in Exchange for others, whom we have judged not worthy to live amongst us. ”

“ HE Multitude of unhappy Wretches, that every Year are put to Death for Trifles in our great Metropolis, has long been afflicting to Men of Pity and Humanity; and continues to give great Uneasiness to every Person, who has a Value for his Kind. Many good Projects have been thought of to cure this Evil, by sapping the Foundation of it: A Society has been set up to reform our Manners ”

“ The gusto and vitality of the description of the events at Tyburn well illustrate Mandeville's art. He puts us on the scene, lets us see and hear the various actors, gives us telling detail: a bully rolling in the mire; a putrified wig; a drunken old woman on a bulk; refuse flying through the air; trollops in rags; a gin seller "squeez'd up in a corner"; carcasses of dogs and cats. The scene is filled with objects and has movement as well: the mob is a torrent which "bursts through the gate," a "floating multitude." There is "jostling," "kicking dirt," "rolling" ”

“ Man, the most perfect of them, sets an inestimable Value on Life, and knows no Fear equal to the Horror he has against Death. This is to be understood only of Man, in the State of Nature, before he has made Reflections on himself, and what he sees of the Creation ”

“ And the further a Man is removed from Repentance, nay, the more void he seems to be of all Religion, and the less Concern he discovers for Futurity, the more he is admired by our sprightly People: Whereas, he who shews but the least Sorrow for his Sins, or, by his Tears, or Dismality of Gestures, lets us know that he is under Apprehensions of the divine Wrath, is a weak silly Creature, not worth looking at: And he only, in the Opinion of many, dies like a Man, who, in reality, goes off most like a Brute. ”

“ To leap these two Barriers, and free himself at once of the Trouble there is in finding a safe Purchaser, and all Apprehensions of future Danger, a Rogue could not wish or imagine any Thing more effectual than that he might lodge what he has stole in the Hands of the Owner himself, and so receive a Reward for his Pains, and, at the same Time, a Pardon for his Crime, of him, whose Prosecution was the only Thing he had to fear. ”

“ The Mischief that one Man can do as a Thief, is a very Trifle to what he may be the Occasion of, as an Agent or Concealer of Felons. [9] The longer this Practice continues, the more the Number of Rogues must hourly encrease; and therefore it is high Time that regular Book-keeping of stolen Goods should cease, and that all Gangs and Knots of Thieves should be broke and destroy'd as much as is possible, at least, none of them suffer'd to form themselves into Societies that are under Discipline, and act by Order of a Superior. ”

“ As villainous Pawn-brokers, and all Receivers of stolen Goods, have good Reasons to be liberal to those they have dealt with, when in this Distress, so no Felons are here in Want, and reduced to the Allowance of the Prison, but Novices and silly Creatures, that have the least deserved to be punish'd; whereas the Veteran Rogues, and such as have been great Traders, are well provided for. This keeps them up in Debauchery; and many, after Condemnation, persist in their riotous Courses, and pampering their Bodies, whilst the Care that is taken of their Souls is very mean. ”

“ It is possible that a Man of extraordinary Holiness, by anticipating the Joys of Heaven, might embrace a violent Death in such Raptures, as would dispose him to the singing of Psalms: But to require this Exercise, or expect it promiscuously of every Wretch that comes to be hang'd, is as wild and extravagant as the Performance of it is commonly frightful and impertinent: Besides this, there is always at that Place, such a mixture of Oddnesses and Hurry, that from what passes, the best dispos'd Spectator seldom can pick out any thing that is edifying or moving. ”

“ The timeliness of Mandeville's pamphlet extends, of course, beyond its interest in Jonathan Wild, who after all receives comparatively little of Mandeville's attention. The spectacle of Tyburn itself and the civil and moral failures it represented was one which Londoners could scarcely ignore and which for some provided a morbid fascination. Mandeville's vivid description of the condemned criminal in Newgate, his journey to Tyburn, and his "turning off," must have been strikingly forceful to his contemporaries, who knew all too well the accuracy of his description. ”

“ Secondly, It is an Encouragement to Vice, that the most dissolute of both Sexes, and generally young People too, should live promiscuously in the same Place, and have Access to one another. For the rest, the Licentiousness [17] of the Place is abominable, and there are no low Jests so filthy, no Maxims so destructive to good Manners, or Expressions so vile and prophane, but what are utter'd there with Applause, and repeated with Impunity. They eat and drink what they can purchase, every Body has Admittance to them, and they are debarr'd from nothing but going out. ”

“ What is done [28] for the common Good, every Member of the Society may, at one time or other, receive an Advantage from; and therefore quarrelsome People, that love fighting, act very preposterously and inconsistent with their Interest, when they venture to have their Bones broke, for endeavouring to deprive Surgeons of the Means to understand the Structure of them. ”

“ Death being unavoidable, and nothing upon Earth to save him, Self-defence will make him turn his Eyes elsewhere: His continued Abstinence will help to clear his Understanding; then searching after Truth, he will be soon convinced of the Folly and Weakness of those Arguments, by which he had been used to harden his Conscience, keep out Remorse, and fortify his Steadiness in Guilt. ”

“ From what has been said it is evident, that the original Reason why Courage is generally esteemed, is, because it is taken for granted, that both the Principle we act from, and the End we labour for in conquering our Fears, are praise-worthy, and have a visible Tendency, either to the Good of others, or our own spiritual Felicity. ”

“ Here I must observe, that the Possibility of Pardons and Reprieves, that often come very late, and which, with or without Grounds, most Criminals continue to hope for, 'till they are hang'd, is another great Clog, that keeps attach'd to the World those that are less abandon'd, and more relenting than the Generality of them; and who, without that Hindrance, would, in all Probability, prepare themselves for certain Death, which overtakes many whilst they are still doubting of it. ”

“ And if we consider that the changing of Property from one Man to another, is seldom of any Consequence to the Publick, and that all the Mischief that can befal it from Theft, that is, the Loss of Goods that Way sustain'd by private Persons, consists in this, That those who committed it, gain their Point, and come off with Impunity, let who will be the Thief, or the Receiver ”

“ The greatest Charity, therefore, and Compassion we can shew to our Fellow-Creatures, is an extraordinary Severity, and never-ceasing Watchfulness in a Government against the first Approaches of Dishonesty. It is with this View that the Provision of the Legislature, that such Offenders should be punish'd with Death, is to be vindicated; tho' the Punishment is greater than the Laws, framed by God himself for the Jewish Commonwealth, inflicted ”

“ In a rich and potent Kingdom, where worldly Glory is not in Contempt, and to think meanly of our selves seldom taught by Example, whatever it may be by Precept, nothing is counted more provoking, or less to be born with Patience, than to be called a Coward. The vilest Rogues, and most despicable Villains, may own a thousand Crimes, and often brag of the most abominable Actions; but there is scarce one, who will confess that he has no Courage. ”

“ When a Man is to inspire his Readers with an Aversion to what they are unacquainted with, he can never compass his End without furnishing them first with a general Idea of the Thing against which he wou'd raise their Indignation: I could add that, [8] when a Piece is lively and tolerably finish'd, the good-natured Critick will pardon the Meaness of the Design, for the sake of the Colouring and the Application of the Master. ”