登陆注册
16113600000058

第58章 BENTHAM'S LIFE(2)

Laziness and vice were prevalent.A gentleman commoner of Queen's was president of a 'hellfire club,'and brutal horseplay was still practised upon the weaker lads.Bentham,still a schoolboy in age,continued his schoolboy course.

He wrote Latin verses,and one of his experiments,an ode upon the death of George II,was sent to Johnson,who called it 'a very pretty performance for a young man.'He also had to go through the form of disputation in the schools.Queen's College had some reputation at this time for teaching logic.(9)Bentham was set to read Watt's Logic (1725),Sanderson's Compendium artis Logicae,(1615),and Rowning's Compendious System of Natural Philosophy (1735-42).

Some traces of these studies remained in his mind.

In 1763Bentham took his B.A.degree,and returned to his home.lt is significant that when robbed of all his money at Oxford he did not confide in his father.He Was paying by a morbid reserve for the attempts made to force him into premature activity.He accepted the career imposed by his father's wishes,and in November 1763began to eat his dinners in Lincoln's Inn.He returned,however,to Oxford in December to hear Blackstone's lectures.

These lectures were then a novelty at an English university.The Vinerian professorship had been founded in 1758in consequence of the success of a course voluntarily given by Blackstone;and his lectures contained the substance of the famous Commentaries,first published 1765-1769.They had a great effect upon Bentham.He says that he 'immediately detected Blackstone's fallacy respecting natural rights,'thought other doctrines illogical,and was so much occupied by these reflections as to be unable to take notes.Bentham's dissatisfaction with Blackstone had not yet made him an opponent of the constituted order.He was present at some of the proceedings against Wilkes,and was perfectly bewitched by Lord Mansfield's 'Grimgibber'that is,taken in by his pompous verbiage.(10)In 1765his father married Mrs Abbot,the mother of Charles Abbot,afterwards Lord Colchester.Bentham's dislike of his step-mother increased the distance between him and his father.He took his M.A.degree in 1766and in 1767finally left Oxford for London to begin,as his father fondly hoped,a fight towards the woolsack.The lad's diffidence and extreme youth had indeed prevented him from forming the usual connections which his father anticipated as the result of a college life.His career as a barrister was short and grievously disappointing to the parental hopes.His father,like the Elder Fairford in Redgauntlet,had 'a cause or two at nurse'for the son.The son's first thought was to 'put them to death.'A brief was given to him in a suit,upon which ?50depended.He advised that the suit should be dropped and the money saved.Other experiences only increased his repugnance to his profession.(11)A singularly strong impression had been made upon him by the Memoirs of Teresa Constantia Phipps,in which there is an account of vexatious legal proceedings as to the heroine's marriage.He appears to have first read this book in 1759.Then,he says,the 'Demon of Chicane appeared to me in all his hideousness.

I vowed war against him.My vow has been accomplished!'(12)Bentham thus went to the bar as a 'bear to the stake.'He diverged in more than one direction.

He studied chemistry under Fordyce (1736-1802),and hankered after physical science.He was long afterwards (1788)member of a club to which Sir Joseph Banks,John Hunter,R.L.Edgeworth,and other men of scientific reputation belonged.(13)But he had drifted into a course of speculation,which,though more germane to legal studies,was equally fatal to professional success.

The father despaired,and he was considered to be a 'lost child.'

II.FIRST WRITINGS

Though lost to the bar,he had really found himself.He had taken the line prescribed by his idiosyncrasy.His father's injudicious forcing had increased his shyness at the bar,and he was like an owl in daylight.But no one,as we shall see,was less diffident in speculation.Self-confidence in a philosopher is often the private credit which he opens with his imagination to compensate for his incapacity in the rough struggles of active life.Bentham shrank from the world in which he was easily browbeaten to the study in which he could reign supreme.He had not the strong passions which prompt commonplace ambition,and cared little for the prizes for which most men will sacrifice their lives.Nor,on the other hand,can he be credited with that ardent philanthropy or vehement indignation which prompts to an internecine struggle with actual wrongdoers.He had not the ardour which led Howard to devote a life to destroy abuses,or that which turned Swift's blood to gall in the struggle against triumphant corruption.He was thoroughly amiable,but of kindly rather than energetic affections.He,therefore,desired reform,but so far from regarding the ruling classes with rancour,took their part against the democrats.'I was a great reformist,'he says,'but never suspected that the "people in power"were against reform.I supposed they only wanted to know what was good in order to embrace it.'(14)The most real of pleasures for him lay in speculating upon the general principles by which the 'people in power'should be guided.To construct a general chart for legislation,to hunt down sophistries,to explode mere noisy rhetoric,to classify and arrange and re-classify until his whole intellectual wealth was neatly arranged in proper pigeon-holes,was a delight for its own sake.

同类推荐
  • 佛说分别善恶所起经

    佛说分别善恶所起经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 谷音

    谷音

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 太上登真三矫灵应经

    太上登真三矫灵应经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 犬韬

    犬韬

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 经济文集

    经济文集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 王牌总裁的甜心宝贝

    王牌总裁的甜心宝贝

    那一年,她高二,他大一,第一次见面,她不可救药的爱上了他,他却视她为玩物,一次次的伤害,让容思琴也恨上了这个男人。他追她六年,换来的却是他和杀父仇人在一起。带上满身的伤痕。她走了,再不出现在她的面前,他却日夜思念,原来,他以深深沦陷,再见面,“爸爸你不会不要我吧!”是爱还是不爱!
  • 护世魔君

    护世魔君

    黎风在唐朝生,被神龙附体经几千年修行,成就一代散魔.21世纪某天,亡妻祭日,黎风遇上两个外星人,一场大战,他被打入异界.异界,是一个充满魔幻色彩的世界,面对功力全失,面对无法取舍的情感纠葛,面对未知的危险,宫廷政变,种族战变-他被迫陷入,他准备意外地大干一场!一次情感纠葛中,他不料法术失控,被邪恶法师吸去数千年元神记忆.自此,他被人救后,记忆回到唐朝儿时……
  • 杠上黑道教父:总裁的前妻

    杠上黑道教父:总裁的前妻

    他是黑道教父,迷天盟的龙头老大,黑道说一不二的领军人物。树大招风,枪打出头鸟——为了心爱的女人周全,他娶了她。一桩没有爱的婚姻,他用钱买了她的一生,她为了钱出卖了自己的一生。她痛恨“大哥”。厌恶“老大”——却将自己的一生,交给了自己最痛恨、最厌恶的男人。
  • 福妻驾到

    福妻驾到

    现代饭店彪悍老板娘魂穿古代。不分是非的极品婆婆?三年未归生死不明的丈夫?心狠手辣的阴毒亲戚?贪婪而好色的地主老财?吃上顿没下顿的贫困宭境?不怕不怕,神仙相助,一技在手,天下我有!且看现代张悦娘,如何身带福气玩转古代,开面馆、收小弟、左纳财富,右傍美男,共绘幸福生活大好蓝图!!!!快本新书《天媒地聘》已经上架开始销售,只要3.99元即可将整本书抱回家,你还等什么哪,赶紧点击下面的直通车,享受乐乐精心为您准备的美食盛宴吧!)
  • 死神之强者的世界

    死神之强者的世界

    想去海贼王世界却来到死神世界,真的,我很烦,你们谁都别惹我![哈]——
  • 上善若水上善若书

    上善若水上善若书

    曾经一直以来都是你等的我,现在换我来等你!一场爱的接力赛,一场等待的接力赛…陈湛兮最年轻的女上校,被称“国民女神”……她的前途无量,她的官可以升得比别人快,但却会比别人要危险好多倍。她的坚强,没理由;她的勇敢,没顾忌;她的独立,没抱怨;她的善良,没理由;她的勤劳,没停歇。在别人眼里,她是女汉子,是魔鬼训练师,但在崔锦暮眼里,她是一个令人心痛的女生。她的肩膀不仅背负着他的幸福,还背负着整个国家、人民的幸福。“先天下之忧而忧,后天下之乐而乐”这是陈湛兮的座右铭。这样的一个女孩子会有什么样的表现呢?敬请期待…
  • 观澜亭

    观澜亭

    ?再见。??即是不再相见。??浅凝转过身,走进夕阳的余晖之中,走向了远方的地平线。??离别总是在夕阳下,相聚总是在清晨;??离别伴随着伤感,相见充盈着喜悦。??在这乱世之中,离别也意味着是诀别。即便浅凝是燕国的公主。
  • 海的君主

    海的君主

    天地初开后随着文明的发展,人类逐渐步入了文明时代。慢慢的有极小的一部分人误打误撞的拥有了超越鬼怪,甚至神明的力量,他们被称为逆者。逆天道而为,斩鬼怪,斗天神。人,鬼,神与天道,到底什么才是大道,让我们一起来看看修仙的起源吧!
  • 第五纪文明

    第五纪文明

    人类文明繁衍至今,已经经过了数以万年的漫长历程。自古至今,所有有关于人类来源的探索,均无法完全解释现有文明的起点。从古化石中获取的信息,都只能得到一个通用的信息——他们并不是我们的祖先!我们究竟从何处来?我们存在的意义到底是什么?我们又该往何处去?通过本书,我们一起来掀起“进化论”这个蒙蔽了全人类最终极谎言的一角,窥探它背后的蛛丝马迹。
  • 腹黑女佣很蛮缠:墨少你站住!

    腹黑女佣很蛮缠:墨少你站住!

    “上帝亲笔塑造~我化身天使只为守护你…”听完某人的深情告白男人嘴角狠狠抽搐,他反问:“你确定不是化身恶魔来折磨我的?!”赌约、卖身契、沦为凄惨女佣,一年之内却意外搞定帝幻U市势力遮天人物染墨羽,她跨坐在某人的大腿上,掐着他脖子:“折磨,虐待都是你的荣幸,快点叫我小仙女~”