第66章 BENTHAM'S LIFE(10)

Lord Lansdowne，on the 3rd January 1789，expresses his pleasure at hearing that Bentham intends to 'take up the cause of the people in France.'(60)Bentham，as we have seen，was already known to some of the French leaders，and he was now taking time by the forelock.He sent to the AbbéMorellet a part of his treatise on Political Tactics，hoping to have it finished by the time of the meeting of the States General.(61)This treatise，civilly accepted by Morellet，and approved with some qualifications by Bentham's counsellors，Romilly，Wilson，and Trail，was an elaborate account of the organisation and procedure of a legislative assembly，founded chiefly on the practice of the House of Commons.It was published in 1816by Dumont in company with Anarchic Fallacies，a vigorous exposure of the Declaration of Rights，which Bentham had judiciously kept on his shelf.Had the French known of it，he remarks afterwards，they would have been little disposed to welcome him.(62)An elaborate scheme for the organisation of the French judiciary was suggested by a report to the National Assembly，and published in March 1790.In 1791，Bentham offered to go to France himself in order to establish a prison on his new scheme (to be mentioned directly)，and become 'gratuitously the gaoler thereof，'(63)The Assembly acknowledged his 'ardent love of humanity，'and ordered an extract from his scheme to be printed for their instruction.The tactics actually adopted by the French revolutionists for managing assemblies and their methods of executing justice form a queer commentary on the philosopher who，like Voltaire's Mamres in the White Bull，continued to 'meditate profoundly'in placid disregard of facts.He was in fact proposing that the lava boiling up in a volcanic eruption should arrange itself entirely according to his architectural designs.But his proposal to become a gaoler during the revolution reaches the pathetic by its amiable innocence.On 26th August 1792，Bentham was one of the men upon whom the expiring Assembly，anxious to show its desire of universal fraternity，conferred the title of citizen.With Bentham were joined Priestley，Paine，Wilberforce，Clarkson，Washington，and others.The September massacres followed.On 18th October the honour was communicated to Bentham.He replied in a polite letter，pointing out that he was a royalist in London for the same reason which would make him a republican in France.He ended by a calm argument against the proion of refugees.(64)The Convention，if it read the letter，and had any sense of humour，must have been amused.The war and the Reign of Terror followed.Bentham turned the occasion to account by writing a pamphlet (not then published)exhorting the French to 'emancipate their colonies.'

Colonies were an aimless burthen，and to get rid of them would do more than conquest to relieve their finances.British fleets and the insurrection of St.Domingo were emancipating by very different methods.

Bentham was，of course，disgusted by the divergence of his clients from the lines chalked out by proper respect for law and order.On 31st October 1793he writes to a friend，expressing his wish that Jacobinism could be extirpated；no price could be too heavy to pay for such a result：but he doubts whether war or peace would be the best means to the end，and protests against the policy of appropriating useless and expensive colonies instead of 'driving at the heart of the monster.'(65)Never was an adviser more at cross-purposes with the advised.It would be impossible to draw a more striking portrait of the abstract reasoner，whose calculations as to human motives omit all reference to passion，and who fancied that all prejudice can be dispelled by a few bits of logic.

Meanwhile a variety of suggestions more or less important and connected with passing events were seething in his fertile brain.He wrote one of his most stinging pamphlets，'Truth versus Ashhurst'in December 1792，directed against a judge who，in the panic suggested by the September massacres，had eulogised the English laws.Bentham's aversion to Jacobin measures by no means softened his antipathy to English superstitions；and his attack was so sharp that Romilly advised and obtained its suppression for the time.

Projects as to war-taxes suggested a couple of interesting pamphlets written in 1793，and published in 1795.In connection with this，schemes suggested themselves to him for improved systems of patents，for limited liability companies and other plans.(66)His great work still occupied him at intervals.