下载辰思小说免费APP
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。
HestudiedchemistryunderFordyce(1736-1802)，andhankeredafterphysicalscience。Hewaslongafterwards(1788)memberofaclubtowhichSirJosephBanks，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’selfis
