Mos erat ab hoc principe consilioque
introductus (et dissimillimus, ut mihi latum, ab usibus antiquioribus), quo Imperator,
cum decretum erat a judicio ullum supplicium crudele mortis ad gratificatum aut
dolori rectoris aut malevolentiæ deliciarum, semper orationem habebat ad totum
consilium, in qua loquebatur de sua lenitate et mollitia magna, quæ per orbem
terrarum cognoscerentur. Quæ oratio statim per regnum disseminabatur, nec ulla
res tam populum perterrere solebat quam illa encomia clementiæ regalis; quia,
ut videbant, magnificentiores atque pertinaciores erant laudationes, inhumanior
erat pœna, innocentiorque punitus.
It was a custom introduced by this
prince and his ministry (very different, as I have been assured, from the
practice of former times,) that after the court had decreed any cruel execution,
either to gratify the monarch’s resentment, or the malice of a favourite, the
emperor always made a speech to his whole council, expressing his great lenity
and tenderness, as qualities known and confessed by all the world. This speech
was immediately published throughout the kingdom; nor did any thing terrify the
people so much as those encomiums on his majesty’s mercy; because it was
observed, that the more these praises were enlarged and insisted on, the more
inhuman was the punishment, and the sufferer more innocent.
—Jonathan Swift, De Peregrinationibus Gulliveri (Gulliver’s Travels)
No comments:
Post a Comment