XLVIII. Having before touched upon mulcts or pecuniary punishments, I will here frankly make known to you a reflection, which many years ago occurred to me on this mode of punishing, and which occasioned me to look upon it in no very favourable light. I say, I have considered that the burden of the mulct is not only loaded on the shoulders of the guilty, but many times sits equally, if not more heavy, on those of the innocent. A father of a family, with a scanty income, commits a crime, and by way of chastising him, he is fined a hundred ducats. The substraction of this sum, is not felt by him only who was guilty of the offence, but by his wife and his children also; and they are those who commonly suffer the most; for as every one loves himself better than his nearest relations, and the delinquent being master of the house, he keeps as large a share of the good things it contains for his own use as he thinks proper, and seldom curtails himself of the gratifications he enjoyed before, either with respect to food, raiment, or diversions. The saving to make good the sum taken from him is pinched out of the rest of his household. His own expences are the same, and the inconvenience occasioned by the deduction is chiefly borne by his wife and children. Don’t be surprized then, that I look with an unfavourable eye on a punishment, the greatest portion of which falls more on the innocent than the guilty. I confess, however, that many times this is unavoidable, and the levying pecuniary penalties established by law, for certain offences and neglects, is inevitable; besides which, there is a necessity to distrain for money, to defray the expences of law charges. What can be done then in this case? Why, you can only determine, to reduce this mode of punishment, within as narrow a compass as possible. XLIX. The honour of the Judges also requires this should be done, because the vulgar, when they see mulcts laid on with a heavy hand, and do not perceive the money arising from them applied to purposes of public benefit, such as the building of bridges, the repairing of highways, the making of aqueducts, and in the aid of hospitals for the poor, &c. they easily persuade themselves, that the Judges are interested in the imposition of fines; and although Judges may sometimes be indiscreet and rash, it is necessary to rescue them from those gross imputations, when it can conveniently be done.