17 Sept. 1803

Evidence

Instructions

Considerations

Of a quantity of pecuniary interest represented by any given sum (say ,100) the force will be in a prodigious degree different, according as a result of the decision to the witness will be gain or loss to the amount of that same sum according as it is gain to that amount or lost to that same amount that will be the result. The mischief /suffering/ produced to a man by a loss to any given amount is much more than equivalent /equal/ to the enjoyment that would be produced by gain to that same amount. If a man who has /is worth/ ,400 gains ,200 his fortune after the gain /acquisition/ is to his fortune before the acquisition but as to 4: if a man who has ,400, loses ,200 his fortune after the loss is to his fortune before the loss but as 3 to 6. If a man who has ,400 gains another /other/ ,400 his condition after the accession is not very high: if a man who has ,400 loses the ,400 his condition after the loss is as low as it ever can be. When a man who had originally ,400 receives a gain of ,400, his state /fortune/ is capable of receiving accession upon accession without end: but when a man whose original fortune was as ,400 has lost ,400, his loss at that single [...?] is as great as it can be /there is no room, in [...?] for any further losses/.