And in order that we may not perchance be deceived at times by the plausible name of mercy and led into an opposite quality,4 let us see what mercy is, what is its nature, and what its limitations.
Mercy means restraining the mind from vengeance when it has the power to take it, or the leniency of a superior toward an inferior in fixing punishment. In the fear that one definition may not be comprehensive enough, and, so to speak, the case5 be lost, it is safer to offer several; and so mercy may also be termed the inclination of the mind toward leniency in exacting punishment. The following definition will encounter objections, however closely it approaches the truth; if we shall say that mercy is the moderation which remits something from the punishment that is deserved and due, it will be objected that no virtue gives to any man less than his due. Everybody, however, understands that the fact of the case is that mercy consists in stopping short of what might have been deservedly proposed.