27。Ibid。,ii,45-67。
28。Ibid。,iii,159。
29。Ibid。,v,21。
30。Stewart’sWorks,ii,165-93;iii,81-97。SchopenhauerTheWorldasWillandIdea,ii,240admiresReid’steachinguponthispoint,andrecommendsusnot’towasteanhouroverthescribblingsofthisshallowwriter’Stewart。
31。Rosmini’sOriginofIdeasEnglishtranslationi,96-176。
32。Ibid。,i,147n。
33。Stewart’sWorks,iv,29,35,35,38,andv,149-88。
34。Ibid。,ii,97,etc。andiii。235,289,417。
35。Works,vii,13-34。
36。Ibid。,vii,26,etc。
37。Works,iv,265。
38。Ibid。,ii,52。
39。Ibid。,v,10。
40。Works,ii,155。
41。Ibid。,ii,337。
42。Works,vi,46;vii,11。
43。Ibid。,vii,46。
44。Ibid。,i,357。
45。Works,vi,320。
46。Ibid。,vi,279。
47。Ibid。,vi,297。
48。Works,vi,295。Cf。v,83。
49。Ibid。,vi,298-99。
50。Ibid。,v,84。
51。InWorks,vi,205-6,hequotesDumont’sBentham;buthisgeneralsilenceisthemoresignificant,asinthelecturesonPoliticalEconomyhemakesfrequentandapprovingreferencestoBentham’stractuponusury。
52。Works,vii,236-38。
53。Ibid。,vi,221。
54。Works,vi,213。
55。Ibid。,vi,199。
56。Works,vi,111。
57。Works,vi,117-18。IhavegivensomedetailsastoStewarts’ssuffereingunderanEnglishproselyteofKantinmyStudiesofaBiographer。
CHAPTERV
BENTHAM’SLIFE
I。EarlyLifeJeremyBentham,1*thepatriarchoftheEnglishUtilitarians,sprangfromtheclassimbuedmostthoroughlywiththetypicalEnglishprejudices。
Hisfirstrecordedancestor,BrianBentham,wasapawnbroker,wholostmoneybythestopoftheExchequerin1672,butwasneitherruined,nor,itwouldseem,alienatedbytheking’sdishonesty。Heleftsomethousandstohisson,Jeremiah,anattorneyandastrongJacobite。AsecondJeremiah,born2ndDecember1712,carriedonhisfather’sbusiness,andthoughhisclientswerenotnumerous,increasedhisfortunebyjudiciousinvestmentsinhousesandlands。AlthoughbroughtupinJacobiteprinciples,hetransferredhisattachmenttotheHanoveriandynastywhenarelationofhiswifemarriedavaletofGeorgeII。Thewife,AliciaGrove,wasdaughterofatradesmanwhohadmadeasmallcompetenceatAndover。JeremiahBenthamhadfalleninlovewithheratfirstsight,andwiselygaveupforhersakeamatchwithafortuneof£;10,000。Thecouplewerefondlyattachedtoeachotherandtotheirchildren。Themarriagetookplacetowardstheendof1744,andtheeldestson,Jeremy,wasborninRedLionStreet,Houndsditch,4thFebruary1747-48
o。s。TheonlyotherchildwhogrewupwasSamuel,afterwardsSirSamuelBentham,born11thJanuary1757。Wheneightyyearsold,Jeremygaveanecdotesofhisinfancytohisbiographer,Bowring,whosaysthattheiraccuracywasconfirmedbycontemporarydocuments,andprovedhismemorytobeaswonderfulashisprecocity。Althoughthechildwasphysicallypuny,hisintellectualdevelopmentwasamazing。Beforehewastwoheburstintotearsatthesightofhismother’schagrinuponhisrefusalofsomeoffereddainty。Beforehewas’breeched,’aneventwhichhappenedwhenhewasthreeandaquarter,heranhomefromadullwalk,orderedafootmantobringlightsandplaceafolioRapinuponthetable,andwasfoundplungedinhistoricalstudieswhenhisparentsreturnedtothehouse。InhisfourthyearhewasimbibingtheLatingrammar,andattheageoffiveyearsninemonthsandnineteendays,ashisfathernotes,hewroteascrapofLatin,carefullypastedamongtheparentalmemoranda。ThechildwasnotalwaysimmuredinLondon。HisparentsspenttheirSundayswiththegrandfatherBenthamatBarking,andmadeoccasionalexcursionstothehouseofMrsBentham’smotheratBrowningHill,nearReading。
Benthamrememberedthelastasa’paradise,’andaloveofflowersandgardensbecameoneofhispermanentpassions。
Jeremycherishedthememoryofhismother’stenderness。Thefather,thoughlesssympathetic,wasproudofhisson’sprecocity,andapparentlyinjudiciousinstimulatingtheunformedintellect。Theboywasalmostadwarfinsize。
Whensixteenhegrewahead,2*andwassofeeblethathecouldscarcelydraghimselfupstairs。Attemptstoteachhimdancingfailedfromtheextremeweaknessofhisknees。3*Heshowedatasteformusic,andcouldscrapeaminuetonthefiddleatsixyearsofage。Hereadallsuchbooksascameinhisway。Hisparentsobjectedtolightliterature,andhewascrammedwithsuchsolidworksasRapin,Burnet’sTheoryoftheEarth,andCave’sLivesoftheApostles。Variousaccidents,however,furnishedhimwithbetterfoodfortheimagination。HeweptforhoursoverCiarissaHarlowe,studiedGulliver’sTravelsasanauthenticdocument,anddippedintoavarietyofsuchbooksasthendriftedintomiddle-classlibraries。AFrenchteacherintroducedhimtosomeremarkablebooks。HereadTé;lé;maque,whichdeeplyimpressedhim,and,ashethought,implantedinhismindtheseedsoflatermoralising。HeattackedunsuccessfullysomeofVoltaire’shistoricalworks,andevenreadCandide,withwhatemotionswearenottold。
Theservantsmeanwhilefilledhisfancywithghostsandhobgoblins。Totheendofhisdayshewasstillhauntedbytheimaginaryhorrorsinthedark,4*
andhesays5*thattheyhadbeenamongthetormentsofhislife。Hehadfewcompanionsofhisownage,andthoughhewas’notunhappy’andwasneversubjectedtocorporalpunishment,hefeltmoreawethanaffectionforhisfather。Hismother,towhomhewasstronglyattached,diedon6thJanuary1759。
Benthamwasthusastrangelyprecocious,andamorbidlysensitivechild,whenitwasdecidedin1755tosendhimtoWestminster。Theheadmaster,DrMarkham,wasafriendofhisfather’s。Westminster,hesays,represented’hell’forhimwhenBrowningHillstoodforparadise。Theinstruction’waswretched。’Thefaggingsystemwasa’horriddespotism。’Thegamesweretoomuchforhisstrength。Hisindustry,however,enabledhimtoescapethebirch,nosmallachievementinthosedays,6*andhebecamedistinguishedinthestudiessuchastheywere。Helearnedthecatechismbyheart,andwasgoodatGreekandLatinverses,whichhemanufacturedforhiscompanionsaswellashimself。Hehadalsotherareraccomplishment,acquiredfromhisearlytutor,ofwritingmoreeasilyinFrenchthanEnglish。SomeofhiswritingswereoriginallycomposedinFrench。Hewas,accordingtoBowring,electedtooneoftheKing’sscholarshipswhenbetweennineandten,butas’ill-usagewasapprehended’theappointmentwasdeclined。7*Hewasataboarding-house,andthelifeoftheboysonthefoundationwasprobablyrougher。InJune1760hisfathertookhimtoOxford,andenteredhimasacommoneratQueen’sCollege。HecameintoresidenceinthefollowingOctober,whenonlytwelveyearsold。OxfordwasnotmorecongenialthanWestminster。HehadtosigntheThirty-nineArticlesinspiteofscruplessuppressedbyauthority。Theimpressionmadeuponhimbythischildishcomplianceneverlefthimtotheendofhislife。8*HisexperienceresembledthatofAdamSmithandGibbon。
Lazinessandvicewereprevalent。AgentlemancommonerofQueen’swaspresidentofa’hellfireclub,’andbrutalhorseplaywasstillpractisedupontheweakerlads。Bentham,stillaschoolboyinage,continuedhisschoolboycourse。
HewroteLatinverses,andoneofhisexperiments,anodeuponthedeathofGeorgeII,wassenttoJohnson,whocalledit’averyprettyperformanceforayoungman。’Healsohadtogothroughtheformofdisputationintheschools。Queen’sCollegehadsomereputationatthistimeforteachinglogic。9*
BenthamwassettoreadWatt’sLogic1725,Sanderson’sCompendiumartisLogicae,1615,andRowning’sCompendiousSystemofNaturalPhilosophy1735-42。
Sometracesofthesestudiesremainedinhismind。
In1763BenthamtookhisB。A。degree,andreturnedtohishome。ltissignificantthatwhenrobbedofallhismoneyatOxfordhedidnotconfideinhisfather。HeWaspayingbyamorbidreservefortheattemptsmadetoforcehimintoprematureactivity。Heacceptedthecareerimposedbyhisfather’swishes,andinNovember1763begantoeathisdinnersinLincoln’sInn。Hereturned,however,toOxfordinDecembertohearBlackstone’slectures。
TheselectureswerethenanoveltyatanEnglishuniversity。TheVinerianprofessorshiphadbeenfoundedin1758inconsequenceofthesuccessofacoursevoluntarilygivenbyBlackstone;andhislecturescontainedthesubstanceofthefamousCommentaries,firstpublished1765-1769。TheyhadagreateffectuponBentham。Hesaysthathe’immediatelydetectedBlackstone’sfallacyrespectingnaturalrights,’thoughtotherdoctrinesillogical,andwassomuchoccupiedbythesereflectionsastobeunabletotakenotes。Bentham’sdissatisfactionwithBlackstonehadnotyetmadehimanopponentoftheconstitutedorder。HewaspresentatsomeoftheproceedingsagainstWilkes,andwasperfectlybewitchedbyLordMansfield’s’Grimgibber’thatis,takeninbyhispompousverbiage。10*