In1765hisfathermarriedMrsAbbot，themotherofCharlesAbbot，afterwardsLordColchester。Bentham’sdislikeofhisstep-motherincreasedthedistancebetweenhimandhisfather。HetookhisM。A。degreein1766andin1767finallyleftOxfordforLondontobegin，ashisfatherfondlyhoped，afighttowardsthewoolsack。Thelad’sdiffidenceandextremeyouthhadindeedpreventedhimfromformingtheusualconnectionswhichhisfatheranticipatedastheresultofacollegelife。Hiscareerasabarristerwasshortandgrievouslydisappointingtotheparentalhopes。Hisfather，liketheElderFairfordinRedgauntlet，had’acauseortwoatnurse’fortheson。Theson’sfirstthoughtwasto’putthemtodeath。’Abriefwasgiventohiminasuit，uponwhich£；50depended。Headvisedthatthesuitshouldbedroppedandthemoneysaved。Otherexperiencesonlyincreasedhisrepugnancetohisprofession。11*
　　AsingularlystrongimpressionhadbeenmadeuponhimbytheMemoirsofTeresaConstantiaPhipps，inwhichthereisanaccountofvexatiouslegalproceedingsastotheheroine’smarriage。Heappearstohavefirstreadthisbookin1759。Then，hesays，the’DemonofChicaneappearedtomeinallhishideousness。
　　Ivowedwaragainsthim。Myvowhasbeenaccomplished！’12*Benthamthuswenttothebarasa’beartothestake。’Hedivergedinmorethanonedirection。
　　HestudiedchemistryunderFordyce1736-1802，andhankeredafterphysicalscience。Hewaslongafterwards1788memberofaclubtowhichSirJosephBanks，JohnHunter，R。L。Edgeworth，andothermenofscientificreputationbelonged。13*Buthehaddriftedintoacourseofspeculation，which，thoughmoregermanetolegalstudies，wasequallyfataltoprofessionalsuccess。
　　Thefatherdespaired，andhewasconsideredtobea’lostchild。’
　　II。FIRSTWRITINGS
　　Thoughlosttothebar，hehadreallyfoundhimself。Hehadtakenthelineprescribedbyhisidiosyncrasy。Hisfather’sinjudiciousforcinghadincreasedhisshynessatthebar，andhewaslikeanowlindaylight。Butnoone，asweshallsee，waslessdiffidentinspeculation。Self-confidenceinaphilosopherisoftentheprivatecreditwhichheopenswithhisimaginationtocompensateforhisincapacityintheroughstrugglesofactivelife。Benthamshrankfromtheworldinwhichhewaseasilybrowbeatentothestudyinwhichhecouldreignsupreme。Hehadnotthestrongpassionswhichpromptcommonplaceambition，andcaredlittlefortheprizesforwhichmostmenwillsacrificetheirlives。Nor，ontheotherhand，canhebecreditedwiththatardentphilanthropyorvehementindignationwhichpromptstoaninternecinestrugglewithactualwrongdoers。HehadnottheardourwhichledHowardtodevotealifetodestroyabuses，orthatwhichturnedSwift’sbloodtogallinthestruggleagainsttriumphantcorruption。Hewasthoroughlyamiable，butofkindlyratherthanenergeticaffections。He，therefore，desiredreform，butsofarfromregardingtherulingclasseswithrancour，tooktheirpartagainstthedemocrats。’Iwasagreatreformist，’hesays，’butneversuspectedthatthe”peopleinpower”wereagainstreform。Isupposedtheyonlywantedtoknowwhatwasgoodinordertoembraceit。’14*Themostrealofpleasuresforhimlayinspeculatinguponthegeneralprinciplesbywhichthe’peopleinpower’shouldbeguided。Toconstructageneralchartforlegislation，tohuntdownsophistries，toexplodemerenoisyrhetoric，toclassifyandarrangeandre-classifyuntilhiswholeintellectualwealthwasneatlyarrangedinproperpigeon-holes，wasadelightforitsownsake。
　　Hewishedwelltomankind；hedetestedabuses，buthehatedneitherthecorruptednorthecorruptors；anditmightalmostseemthatherathervaluedthebenevolentend，becauseitgaveemploymenttohisfaculties，thanvaluedtheemploymentbecauseitledtotheend。Thisisimpliedinhisremarkmadeattheendofhislife。Hewas，hesaid，asselfishasamancouldbe；but’somehoworother’selfishnesshadinhimtakentheformofbenevolence。15*Hewasatanyrateinthepositionofamanwiththeagreeableconvictionthathehasonlytoprovethewisdomofagivencourseinordertosecureitsadoption。
　　Likemanymechanicalinventors，hetookforgrantedthataprocesswhichwasshowntobeusefulwouldthereforebeatonceadopted，andfailedtoanticipatethedeterminedoppositionofthegreatmassof’vestedinterests’
　　alreadyinpossession。
　　Atthisperiodhemadethediscovery，orwhatheheldtobethediscovery，whichgovernedhiswholefuturecareer。Helaiddowntheprinciplewhichwastogivethecluetoallhisinvestigations；and，ashethought，requiredonlytobeannouncedtosecureuniversalacceptance。WhenBenthamrevoltedagainsttheintellectualfoodprovidedatschoolandcollege，henaturallytookupthephilosophywhichatthatperiodrepresentedthereallylivingstreamofthought。TobeamanofenlightenmentinthosedayswastobelongtotheschoolofLocke。Lockerepresentedreason，freethought，andtheabandonmentofprejudice。BesidesLocke，hementionsHume，Montesquieu，Helvé；tius，Beccaria，andBarrington。Helvé；tiusespeciallydidmuchtosuggesttohimhisleadingprinciple，anduponcountrytripswhichhetookwithhisfatherandstep-mother，heusedtolagbehindstudyingHelvé；tius’
　　Del’Esprit。16*Locke，hesaysinanearlynote1773-1774，shouldgivetheprinciples，Helvé；tiusthematter，ofacompletedigestofthelaw。HementionswithespecialinterestthethirdvolumeofHume’sTreatiseonHumanNatureforitsethicalviews：’hefeltasifscalesfellfromhiseyes’whenhereadit。17*DainesBarrington’sObservationsontheStatutes1766interestedhimbymiscellaneoussuggestions。Thebook，hesays，18*
　　wasa’greattreasure。’’Itiseverything，à；proposofeverything；
　　Iwrotevolumesuponthisvolume。’Beccaria’streatiseuponcrimesandpunishmentshadappearedin1764，andhadexcitedtheapplauseofEurope。Theworldwasclearlyreadyforafundamentalreconstructionoflegislativetheories。UndertheinfluenceofsuchstudiesBenthamformulatedhisfamousprinciple——
　　aprinciplewhichtosomeseemedabarrentruism，toothersamereepigram，andtosomeadangerousfalsehood。Benthamaccepteditnotonlyastrue，butasexpressingatruthofextraordinaryfecundity，capableofguidinghimthroughthewholelabyrinthofpoliticalandlegislativespeculation。
　　His’fundamentalaxiom’isthat’thegreatesthappinessofthegreatestnumberisthemeasureofrightandwrong。’19*Benthamhimself20*attributestheauthorshipofthephrasetoBeccariaorPriestley。Thegeneralorderofthoughttowhichthistheorybelongswasofcoursenotthepropertyofanyspecialwriteroranyparticularperiod。HereIneedonlyobservethatthisembodimentofthegeneraldoctrineofutilityormoralityhadbeenstruckoutbyHutchesonintheattemptashistitlesays’tointroduceamathematicalcalculationonsubjectsofmorality。’ThisdefinestheexactreasonwhichmadeitacceptabletoBentham。ForthevaguereferencetoutilitywhichappearsinHumeandotherwritersofhisschool，hesubstitutedaformula，thetermsofwhichsuggestthepossibilityofanaccuratequantitativecomparisonofdifferentsumsofhappiness。InBentham’smindthedifferencebetweenthisandthemoregeneralformulawaslikethedifferencebetweenthestatementthattheplanetsgravitatetowardsthesun，andthemoreprecisestatementthatthelawofgravitationvariesinverselyasthesquareofthedistance。
　　BenthamhopedfornolessanachievementthantobecometheNewtonofthemoralworld。
　　Bentham，afterleavingOxford，tookchambersinLincoln’sInn。Hisfatheronhissecondmarriagehadsettledsomepropertyuponhim，whichbroughtinsome£；90ayear。Hehadtolivelikeagentlemanuponthis，andtogivefourguineasayeartothelaundress，fourtohisbarber，andtwotohisshoeblack。InspiteofJeremy’sdeviationfromthepathofpreferment，thetwowereonfriendlyterms，andwhenthehopesoftheson’sprofessionalsuccessgrewfaint，thefathershowedsympathywithhisliteraryundertakings。
　　JeremyvisitedParisin1770，butmadefewacquaintances，thoughhewasalreadyregardedasa’philosopher。’In1778hewasincorrespondencewithd’Alembert，theabbé；Morellet，andotherphilanthropicphilosophers，butitdoesnotappearatwhattimethisconnectionbegan。21*HetranslatedVoltaire’sTaureauBlonc22*——astorywhichusedto’convulsehimwithlaughter。’
　　AreferencetoitwillshowthatBenthambythistimetooktheVoltaireanviewoftheOldTestament。Bentham，however，wasstillonthesideoftheTories。HisfirstpublicationwasadefenceofLordMansfieldin1770againstattacksarisingoutoftheprosecutionofWoodfallforpublishingJunius’slettertotheking。Thisdefence，containedintwoletters，signedIrenaeus，waspublishedintheGazetteer。Bentham’snextperformancewasremarkableinthesamesense。AmongthefewfriendswhodriftedtohischamberswasJohnLind1737-1781，whohadbeenaclergyman，andafteractingastutortoaprinceinPoland，hadreturnedtoLondonandbecomeawriterforthepress。HehadbusinessrelationswiththeelderBentham，andtheyoungerBenthamwastosomeextenthiscollaboratorinapamphlet23*whichdefendedtheconductofministerstotheAmericancolonies。BenthamobservesthathewasprejudicedagainsttheAmericansbythebadnessoftheirarguments，andthoughtfromthefirst，ashecontinuedtothink，thattheDeclarationofindependencewasahodge-podgeofconfusionandabsurdity，inwhichthethingtobeprovedisallalongtakenforgranted。24*TwootherfriendshipswereformedbyBenthamaboutthistime：onewithJamesTrail，anunsuccessfulbarrister，whoowedaseatinParliamentandsomeminorofficestoLordHertford，andissaidbyRomillytohavebeenamanofgreattalent；andonewithGeorgeWilson，afterwardsaleaderoftheNorfolkcircuit，whohadbecomeknowntohimthroughacommoninterestinDrFordyce’slecturesuponchemistry。
　　Wilsonbecameabosomfriend，andwasoneofBentham’sfirstdisciples，thoughtheywereultimatelyalienated。25*
　　Atthistime，Benthamsays，thathiswas’trulyamiserablelife。’26*
　　yethewasgettingtoworkuponhisgrandproject。Hetellshisfatheron1stOctober1776thatheiswritinghisCriticalElementsofJurisprudence，thebookofwhichapartwasafterwardspublishedastheIntroductiontothePrinciplesofMoralsandLegislation。27*Inthesameyearhepublishedhisfirstimportantwork，theFragmentonGovernment。Theyearwasinmanywaysmemorable。TheDeclarationofIndependencemarkedtheopeningofanewpoliticalera。AdamSmith’sWealthofNationsandGibbon’sDeclineandFallformedlandmarksinspeculationandinhistory；andBentham’svolume，thoughitmadenosuchimpression，announcedaseriousattempttoapplyscientificmethodstoproblemsoflegislation。TheprefacecontainedthefirstdeclarationofhisfamousformulawhichwasappliedtotheconfutationofBlackstone：
　　BenthamwasapparentlyrousedtothiseffortbyrecollectionsoftheOxfordlectures。TheCommentariescontainedacertainquantityofphilosophicalrhetoric；andasBlackstonewasmuchgreaterinaliterarythaninaphilosophicalsense，theresultwasnaturallyunsatisfactoryfromascientificpointofview。HehadvaguelyappealedtothesoundWhigdoctrineofsocialcompact，andwhiledisavowinganystricthistoricalbasishadnotinquiredtoocuriouslywhatwasleftofhissupposedfoundation。Benthampouncedupontheunfortunatebitofverbiage；insisteduponaskingforameaningwhentherewasnothingbutarhetoricalflourish，andtorethewholeflimsyfabrictoragsandtatters。
　　AmorebitterattackuponBlackstone，chiefly，asBowringsays，uponhisdefenceoftheJewishlaw，wassuppressedforfearofthelawoflibel。28*