ABSTRACT
The more prompt and closer the punishment is to the crime, the more just and useful it will be. More just because the deprivation of liberty is itself a punishment and should not precede the sentence except where absolutely necessary. In general, the burden of a punishment and the consequence of a crime must be directed to others, all the while inflicting the least possible hardship on those who suffer it, because one cannot regard a society as legitimate that does not hold to the infallible principle that its citizens should wish to be subjected to the least evil possible. The close proximity of the punishment to the crime is therefore of supreme importance. If a rough and ready vulgar mind is seduced by the picture of an advantageous crime, it immediately sees the risk in doing it because it is associated with the idea of punishment.
