Note 329 — Chapter XVII · LIABILITY.
Reading edition
It is unfortunate that there is no recognised name for the origin or initial stage of the act, as contrasted with the totality of it. Bentham calls the former the act and the latter the action. Principles, ch. 8, sect. 2. Works, I. p. 40. But in common usage these two terms are synonymous, and to use them in this special sense would only lead to confusion.