10When it made no difference to the fate of a highwayman whether he had killed his victim or merely robbed him of a few pieces of silver, there were no more murders than there were when men like Sir Fraricis Burdett succeeded in lightening the excessive severity of the penal laws
意为: if you just take away death penalty ,there is surely no great harm tosociety ；
lightening 减轻； excessive 过度的,过分的；
more ..than : the same as ..no 与…都不多(两个没多大区别)
11. on earth 人世间； in the world to come 来世；was taken for granted 理所当然地
12. nor 表示和前面一定有联系,并用倒装；gaoler 监狱看守 gaoler-gaol 监狱；
gaol bird；惯犯
10When it made no difference to the fate of a highwayman whether he had killed his victim or merely robbed him of a few pieces of silver, there were no more murders then than there were when men like Sir Fraricis Burdett succeeded in lightening the excessive severity of
the penal laws. 11In those days the sacredness of life on earth was not greatly regarded because a life in the world to come was taken for granted except by a comparatively small minority of philosophers.