From Francis Bacon's essay *Of Revenge* (1625). Select the word that fits the blank. "Revenge is a kind of wild ______; which the more man's nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out."

Bacon's epigram works only if revenge is being compared to something that *looks* lawful but operates outside law. Calling revenge *wild justice* — justice in an untamed, lawless form — captures both its appeal and its problem: it resembles justice but escapes the rule of law. "Justice" fits. The full claim then makes sense: the more men incline to it, the more law must displace it. - "Mercy" reverses the moral charge. - "Fashion" trivialises. - "Discovery" is irrelevant.