, looting was carried
on by soldiers of previously blameless career.

CRIMINALS OF PASSION

This type of criminal, if indeed such he may be called, represents the
antithesis of the common offender, whose evil acts are the outcome of
his ferocious and egotistical impulses, whereas criminals from passion
are urged to violate the law by a pure spirit of altruism. In fact, they
stand in no relation whatsoever to ordinary delinquents, and it is only
by a legislative compromise that they are classed together. They
represent the ultra-violet ray of the criminal spectrum, of which the
vulgar criminal represents the ultra-red. Not only are they free from
the egotism, insensibility, laziness, and lack of moral sense peculiar
to the ordinary criminal, but their abnormality consists in the
excessive development of noble qualities, sensibility, altruism,
integrity, affection, which if carried to an extreme, may result in
actions forbidden by law, or worse still, dangerous to society.

_Physical Characteristics._ These, too, are in complete contrast to
those of the born criminal. The countenance is frequently handsome, with
lofty forehead, serene and gentle expression, and the beard is abundant.
The sensibility is extremely acute; there is a high degree of
excitability and exaggerated reflex action, all characteristics of the
normal (or rather hypernormal) individual, from whom nothing
distinguishes the criminal of passion except the anti-social effects of
his action.

_Psychology._ Here, as in all physical characteristics, criminals of
passion are scarcely distinguishable from their fellow-men, except that
we find in an excessive degree those qualities we consider peculiar to
good and holy persons--love, honour, noble ambitions, patriotism. In
fact, the motive of the crime is always adequate, frequently noble, and
sometimes sublime. Love prompts certain natures to kill those who insult
their beloved ones or are the cause of their dishonour and, in some
cases, even the object of their affection who proves unfaithful. Crimes
of this character are the murder by brothers of the man who dishonours
their sister, the murder of an infant by its unmarried mother, the
murder of an unfaithful wife by her husband. Sometimes the motive is a
patriotic one, as in the cases of Charlotte Corday, Orsini Sand, and
Caserio (Fig. 21) all of whom had been persons of gentle disposition and
blameless conduct up to the moment of their crimes.

This