ABSTRACT
It would perhaps be to fall into intellectual vagueness to treat in a manner that is general and uniform for all peoples the question of the institution of corporal punishment for lunatics. For how can we be sure that Negroes who live in servitude on Jamaica, or Russian slaves, shaped by an oppressive system for the whole of their lives, ought not, in the case of insanity, to be subjected to the same harsh and despotic yoke. But … does not the lively sensibility of the Frenchman and his violent reaction – as long as he conserves a glimmer of his reason – against every shocking abuse of power determine on his behalf the forms of repression that are gentlest and most in conformity with his character?
