But again, think if the destruction or serious injury of a man momentarily overcome by wrath or folly can be any atonement to the commonwealth?
Surely it can only be an additional injury to it." Said I: "But suppose the man has a habit of violence,--kills a man a year, for instance ?" "Such a thing is unknown," said he.

"In a society where there is no punishment to evade, no law to triumph over, remorse will certainly follow transgression." "And lesser outbreaks of violence," said I, "how do you deal with them?
for hitherto we have been talking of great tragedies, I suppose ?" Said Hammond: "If the ill-doer is not sick or mad (in which case he must be restrained till his sickness or madness is cured) it is clear that grief and humiliation must follow the ill-deed; and society in general will make that pretty clear to the ill-doer if he should chance to be dull to it; and again, some kind of atonement will follow,--at the least, an open acknowledgement of the grief and humiliation.

Is it so hard to say, I ask your pardon, neighbour ?--Well, sometimes it is hard--and let it be." "You think that enough ?" said I.
"Yes," said he, "and moreover it is all that we _can_ do.

If in addition we torture the man, we turn his grief into anger, and the humiliation he would otherwise feel for _his_ wrong-doing is swallowed up by a hope of revenge for _our_ wrong-doing to him.

He has paid the legal penalty, and can 'go and sin again' with comfort.