登陆注册
5589700000068

第68章 BENTHAM'S LIFE(12)

Pitt proceeded to prepare the abortive Poor-law Bill,(81)upon which Bentham (in February 1797)sent in some very shrewd criticisms.They were not published,but are said to have 'powerfully contributed to the abandonment of the measure.'(82)They show Bentham's power of incisive criticism,though they scarcely deal with the general principle.In the following autumn Bentham contributed to Arthur Young's Annals of Agriculture upon the same topic.It had struck him that an application of his Panopticon would give the required panacea.He worked out details with his usual zeal,and the scheme attracted notice among the philanthropists of the time.It was to be a 'succedaneum'to Pitt's proposal.

Meanwhile the finance committee,appointed in 1797,heard evidence from Bentham's friend,Patrick Colquhoun,upon the Panopticon,and a report recommending it was proposed by R.Pole Carew,a friend of Samuel Bentham.Although this report was suppressed,the scheme apparently received an impetus.The Millbank estate was bought in consequence of these proceedings,and a sum of only £1000was wanted to buy out the tenant of one piece of land.Bentham was constantly in attendance at a public office,expecting a final warrant for the money.It never came,and,as Bentham believed,the delay was due to the malice of George III.Had any other king been on the throne,Panopticon in both 'the prisoner branch and the pauper branch'would have been set at work.(83)Such are the consequences of newspaper controversies with monarchs!

After this,in any case,the poor Panopticon,as the old lawyers said,'languishing did live,'and at last 'languishing did die.'Poor Bentham seems to have struggled vainly for a time.He appealed to Pitt's friend,Wilberforce;he appealed to his step-brother Abbot;he wrote to members of parliament,but all was in vain.

Romilly induced him in 1802to suppress a statement of his grievances which could only have rendered ministers implacable.(84)But he found out what would hardly have been a discovery to most people,that officials can be dilatory and evasive;and certain discoveries about the treatment of convicts in New South Wales convinced him that they could even defy the laws and the Constitution when they were beyond inspection.He published (1803)a Plea for the Constitution,showing the enormities committed in the colony,'in breach of Magna Charta,the Petition of Right,the Habeas Corpus Act,and the Bill of Rights.'Romilly in vain told him that the attorney-general could not recommend the author of such an effusion to be keeper of a Panopticon.(85)The actual end did not come till 1811.A committee then reported against the scheme.They noticed one essential and very characteristic weakness.

The whole system turned upon the profit to be made from the criminals'labour by Bentham and his brother.The committee observed that,however unimpeachable might be the characters of the founders,the scheme might lead to abuses in the hands of their successors.The adoption of this principle of 'farming'had in fact led to gross abuses both in gaols and in workhouses;but it was,as I have said,in harmony with the whole 'individualist'theory.The committee recommended a different plan;and the result was the foundation of Millbank penitentiary,opened in 1816.(86)Bentham ultimately received £23,000by way of compensation in 1813.(87)The objections of the committee would now be a commonplace,but Bentham saw in them another proof of the desire to increase government patronage.He was well out of the plan.There were probably few men in England less capable of managing a thousand convicts,in spite of his theories about 'springs of action.'If anything else had been required to ensure failure,it would have been association with a sanguine inventor of brilliant abilities.

Bentham's agitation had not been altogether fruitless.His plan had been partly adopted at Edinburgh by one of the Adams,(88)and his work formed an important stage in the development of the penal system.

Bentham,though he could not see that his failure was a blessing in disguise,had learned one lesson worth learning.He was ill-treated,according to impartial observers.'Never,'says Wilberforce,(89)'was any one worse used.I have seen the tears run down the cheeks of that strong-minded man through vexation at the pressing importunity of his creditors,and the indolence of official underlings when day after day he was begging at the Treasury for what was indeed a mere matter of right.'Wilberforce adds that Bentham was 'quite soured,'and attributes his later opinions to this cause.When the Quarterly Review long afterwards taunted him as a disappointed man,Bentham declared himself to be in 'a state of perpetual and unruffled gaiety,'and the 'mainspring'of the gaiety of his own circle.(90)No one,indeed,could be less 'soured'so far as his habitual temper was concerned.But Wilberforce's remark contained a serious truth.Bentham had made a discovery.He had vowed war in his youth against the 'demon of chicane.'He had now learned that the name of the demon was 'Legion.'To cast him out,it would be necessary to cast out the demon of officialism;and we shall see what this bit of knowledge presently implied.

同类推荐
  • 药性切用

    药性切用

    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。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 谗书

    谗书

    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。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 普陀列祖录

    普陀列祖录

    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。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说如来兴显经

    佛说如来兴显经

    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。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 大方广师子吼经

    大方广师子吼经

    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。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 时间深处

    时间深处

    程立辰是一个骨骼青涩但眼睛成熟又有点阴郁的男生,他有一双介乎于十几岁少年到三十岁男人的眼睛,你望过去,只看到如黑夜般深沉。他不够美好,他很跩,有些漠然,肆意伤害身边的人,但其实他只是一个气场强大而内心脆弱的孩子。他和叫做百里的女生在寂寞的时光中相遇了……
  • 乱世悍妃

    乱世悍妃

    云清歌以为就算她死,也是战死沙场。不成想,兔死狗烹,君王一声令下,她被围剿,万剑穿心而死。再世为人,她是中楚国浣衣局最低等宫女——清浅。找靠山、玩人心、弄权谋……她一心只为复仇。谁知突然有一天,靠山说,“清浅,以我为聘,我娶你。”
  • 礼仪的力量:让你脱颖而出

    礼仪的力量:让你脱颖而出

    礼仪是生活的需要,是工作的需要,是社会的需要,也是人类文明的需要。随着人际交往范围的扩大和交往层面的拓宽,社会文明礼仪规范愈加显示出其特有的必要性和实用性。尤其对年轻人而言,缺乏礼仪修养,必然会影响到人际交往的效果。
  • 绝色天下之极品弃妃

    绝色天下之极品弃妃

    身为颜殿的杀手,没有死在敌人的手中,竟然死在地震上!并且一觉醒来穿越了!照了镜子,吓了一跳,这是什么尊容?鼻青脸肿,外加‘啤酒肚’!什么,她已经怀孕六个月!她相公跟美艳女子在她面前亲热,以为她会一哭二闹三上吊吗?她翘着二郎腿,抚摸着隆起的腹部,一副事不关己高高挂起的模样,结果气的的某王爷脸色发青。相公最宠爱的小妾设计陷害她,她相公不识黑白,想要打掉她的儿子!那可不行!她拿起一旁的七弦琴当做吉他弹,结果一死一伤。…女主宝贝儿子自语:“我堂堂大明星怎能为虎作伥?”*本文纯属虚构,请勿模仿。偶的新文:《狼妃》她是s国最优秀的特工,遇事冷静,出手狠辣。却在一场任务中,被朋友出卖而身亡。再睁眼之时,她是上官府中胆小懦弱,受人欺凌的六小姐。乱世沉浮,风云际会,且看现代女特工,如何扭转卑微的命运,直到光芒四射,绝倾天下。【片段一】:狼群中,即将成为狼口中餐食的小女孩,猛然睁开眼,杀气四射,万丈寒芒让人陡然心惊。望着凶狠的饿狼,她无一丝胆怯,小小的身影站的挺直,阴寒残忍的眼神扫过狼群,狠声道:“伤我者,必付出代价!杀!”【片段二】:“凭你低贱的身份,只能为暖床的宫女,妄想为妃?你是在做梦!”绝美的女子一脸不屑的看着大殿中一身冰冷气息的少女,极尽嘲讽的说道。少女冷漠轻笑,美眸扫向坐在绝美女子身旁面无表情,许久未出声的铁血男子。她在等他的反应。男人清冷的深眸中闪过一丝痛意,“你为何不为本殿下着想?难道一个侧妃的名分都无法满足你吗?”少女傲然地笑,“别说一个侧妃,就是正妃,我也不稀罕,我不会和别的女人共侍一夫!”【片段三】:天蓝白云,晴空万里。某丰神俊朗的男子盯着门前两只通体银白的似狼非狼,似狐狸非狐狸的‘可爱’动物,紧绷的嘴角抽搐不停,“让开。”该死的,这两个畜牲竟敢阻扰他!两只银狼(狐狸)无视男子的怒火,呲牙咧嘴阻挡男子进入。“哼!现在后悔了,想找寒寒了?妄想!滚!”房内少女一脸冷漠,心中窃笑不已……“没有绝对的弱者,所以只有不断的强大,才会俯瞰天下!”推荐偶的文文:《雉妾》已完结青龙国最重视血统,他是青龙国最尊贵的王爷,翻手为云覆手为雨。她为了保住性命,为了生存下去,她不惜成为一个卑贱的侍妾。那一年,她只有十三岁。如果没有那次肮脏的交易,他们将一辈子也没有交点。替他挡剑,赢得他的一个承诺,她将要是他光明正大的女人。
  • 王妃最大

    王妃最大

    上一世,她是心狠手辣的杀手。再睁眼,她是唐家备受欺辱的庶女。嫡母怨恨,外人嫉妒,她见招拆招,坏人名声,逐人出府。爹爹哥哥集体坠崖,家中成年男丁集体被暗杀,族长上门逼迫,她以一己之力护住唐家满门,带血的剑尖挑断了某人的手脚筋:“想要这唐家万贯家财,好,用你的命来换。”皇商连华飞之妹连半夏,堪比男儿,朕心甚慰,特赐予安王正妃之位,下月十九大婚。谁料太后突然薨逝,国丧三年,某王爷心中郁闷,拐个妻子也这么难。王爷很烦恼,情敌怎么那么多。那一天,她一人屠了十万大军,满身鲜血,回到皇城,她被人以妖孽之名关入满是经幡的笼中,受尽折磨。那一天,他长剑直指自己的父亲,逼父退位。手刃八十一名得道高僧,受万民唾弃。金瞳白发,满身是伤,她倒在他怀中:“花问青……他们说我是祸国妖孽。”擦拭着她脸上干涸的血污,他哽咽:“夏夏,你是我最爱的娘子,仅此而已。”
  • 谛魔大人,别乱来!

    谛魔大人,别乱来!

    她咬牙切齿的对面前的男人说道:“白谛,你不要在监视我了!”“为什么不?”“我一点人身自由都没有!”“你连人带心都属于我,要自由做什么?”“我……”男人双目微眯,打断她的话,“别急,有话……慢慢聊。”
  • 希腊神话之爱琴海传说

    希腊神话之爱琴海传说

    希腊七月的阳光,怎么会这么凉?我一个人坐在吱吱呀呀的藤椅上,微仰着头,一晃一晃。长长的白裙拖在铺满落花的地上,在微微的轻风中裙角轻扬。也不知道这是第几日了?近些天总是如此嗜睡。大约是那一日快到了。十年前的世界末日,他淡淡笑着,说一切皆有因缘果报,若有一日再见,我必定——亲手把你全身的血都吸干,一滴都不留下。然后三界顿时失了光明,天空中骤然飘起狂风暴雨。那是——殷红刺眼的血雨。哈笛,我等你来取我性命已经等了很久了!本书书友群,欢迎大家来戳519743452
  • 土豪总裁不好惹

    土豪总裁不好惹

    他冷漠无情,唯独对她温柔深情,给她一切,并高调宣布:“她是我冷少的女人!”他对她百依百顺,她交付身心,却突然发现……她打算离开,却被告知怀孕……重遇,他紧追不放,她瞟他一眼:“先生,你哪位?”他邪魅一笑:“老婆,该回家洗洗睡了!”被折叠、拉伸、翻转N遍后,她哀叹:“土豪总裁不好惹……”误会解除,她才知,他是她的天涯海角,此生都逃不过他的心。
  • 佛说大自在天子因地经

    佛说大自在天子因地经

    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。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 班墨的傀儡

    班墨的傀儡

    班墨的师傅翟卿秋告诉她,她是龙虎山脚下天师府里的一个小天师在泸溪河边捡来的,因为性别原因天师府不能接纳她,故把她丢给对面琵琶山做木头人的师傅翟卿秋。十六年过去,班墨已长成亭亭玉立的女子,对面天师府的天师白发都长出来了,而师傅还是一头青丝,面容一尘不染仿佛从未被岁月吞噬过。