whentheinsolenceofhisinjusticeisbrokenandhumbledbytheterrorofhisapproachingpunishment；whenheceasestobeanobjectoffear，withthegenerousandhumanehebeginstobeanobjectofpity。Thethoughtofwhatheisabouttosufferextinguishestheirresentmentforthesufferingsofotherstowhichhehasgivenoccasion。Theyaredisposedtopardonandforgivehim，andtosavehimfromthatpunishment，whichinalltheircoolhourstheyhadconsideredastheretributionduetosuchcrimes。Here，therefore，theyhaveoccasiontocalltotheirassistancetheconsiderationofthegeneralinterestofsociety。
Theycounterbalancetheimpulseofthisweakandpartialhumanitybythedictatesofahumanitythatismoregenerousandcomprehensive。Theyreflectthatmercytotheguiltyiscrueltytotheinnocent，andopposetotheemotionsofcompassionwhichtheyfeelforaparticularperson，amoreenlargedcompassionwhichtheyfeelformankind。
Sometimestoowehaveoccasiontodefendtheproprietyofobservingthegeneralrulesofjusticebytheconsiderationoftheirnecessitytothesupportofsociety。Wefrequentlyheartheyoungandthelicentiousridiculingthemostsacredrulesofmorality，andprofessing，sometimesfromthecorruption，butmorefrequentlyfromthevanityoftheirhearts，themostabominablemaximsofconduct。Ourindignationrouses，andweareeagertorefuteandexposesuchdetestableprinciples。Butthoughitistheirintrinsichatefulnessanddetestableness，whichoriginallyinflamesusagainstthem，weareunwillingtoassignthisasthesolereasonwhywecondemnthem，ortopretendthatitismerelybecauseweourselveshateanddetestthem。Thereason，wethink，wouldnotappeartobeconclusive。Yetwhyshoulditnot；ifwehateanddetestthembecausetheyarethenaturalandproperobjectsofhatredanddetestation？Butwhenweareaskedwhyweshouldnotactinsuchorsuchamanner，theveryquestionseemstosupposethat，tothosewhoaskit，thismannerofactingdoesnotappeartobeforitsownsakethenaturalandproperobjectofthosesentiments。Wemustshowthem，therefore，thatitoughttobesoforthesakeofsomethingelse。Uponthisaccountwegenerallycastaboutforotherarguments，andtheconsiderationwhichfirstoccurstous，isthedisorderandconfusionofsocietywhichwouldresultfromtheuniversalprevalenceofsuchpractices。Weseldomfail，therefore，toinsistuponthistopic。
Butthoughitcommonlyrequiresnogreatdiscernmenttoseethedestructivetendencyofalllicentiouspracticestothewelfareofsociety，itisseldomthisconsiderationwhichfirstanimatesusagainstthem。Allmen，eventhemoststupidandunthinking，abhorfraud，perfidy，andinjustice，anddelighttoseethempunished。Butfewmenhavereflecteduponthenecessityofjusticetotheexistenceofsociety，howobvioussoeverthatnecessitymayappeartobe。
Thatitisnotaregardtothepreservationofsociety，whichoriginallyinterestsusinthepunishmentofcrimescommittedagainstindividuals，maybedemonstratedbymanyobviousconsiderations。Theconcernwhichwetakeinthefortuneandhappinessofindividualsdoesnot，incommoncases，arisefromthatwhichwetakeinthefortuneandhappinessofsociety。Wearenomoreconcernedforthedestructionorlossofasingleman，becausethismanisamemberorpartofsociety，andbecauseweshouldbeconcernedforthedestructionofsociety，thanweareconcernedforthelossofasingleguinea，becausethisguineaisapartofathousandguineas，andbecauseweshouldbeconcernedforthelossofthewholesum。Inneithercasedoesourregardfortheindividualsarisefromourregardforthemultitude:butinbothcasesourregardforthemultitudeiscompoundedandmadeupoftheparticularregardswhichwefeelforthedifferentindividualsofwhichitiscomposed。Aswhenasmallsumisunjustlytakenfromus，wedonotsomuchprosecutetheinjuryfromaregardtothepreservationofourwholefortune，asfromaregardtothatparticularsumwhichwehavelost；sowhenasinglemanisinjured，ordestroyed，wedemandthepunishmentofthewrongthathasbeendonetohim，notsomuchfromaconcernforthegeneralinterestofsociety，asfromaconcernforthatveryindividualwhohasbeeninjured。Itistobeobserved，however，thatthisconcerndoesnotnecessarilyincludeinitanydegreeofthoseexquisitesentimentswhicharecommonlycalledlove，esteem，andaffection，andbywhichwedistinguishourparticularfriendsandacquaintance。Theconcernwhichisrequisiteforthis，isnomorethanthegeneralfellow-feelingwhichwehavewitheverymanmerelybecauseheisourfellow-creature。Weenterintotheresentmentevenofanodiousperson，whenheisinjuredbythosetowhomhehasgivennoprovocation。Ourdisapprobationofhisordinarycharacterandconductdoesnotinthiscasealtogetherpreventourfellow-feelingwithhisnaturalindignation；thoughwiththosewhoarenoteitherextremelycandid，orwhohavenotbeenaccustomedtocorrectandregulatetheirnaturalsentimentsbygeneralrules，itisveryapttodampit。