W, ofN,y Book IV, chap. viii; vol. II, p

125. C'est une morale d'affranchissement que Bentham enseigne lorsqu'il écrit (Mss. Univ. Coll. n* 98), sous le titre ItUrod, Additions Principles Adverse.,, : The object with the principle of ulility is to work up to the highest pitch possible forevery (var. : each) man themassof pleasure(var.: measure of enjoymcnt), consequontly each pleasure in proportion to the addition it makcs to that mass, of which he and he only can be the judge. Tlie object of a System of law built upon the principle of utility would consequently be the same. The object of the least irrational of the establishc-d Systems in this particular is to differ from this mass on every occasion and as much as possible. Prohibition and permission hâve been torn each from its bases and set dowa upon that of tlio other. Instead of a gênerai ptîrrnission, the establishment of whi(4i rcquires norcason, with hère and theroa prohibition taken ont of it, grounded on spécial reasons, they hâve subsiituted a gênerai prohibition, gri)unded on no reason, soflened onlv by a single permission, granled only and in so far as déniai was impossible. Prohibition baikod by enragcd and sanguinary laws : permission clogiiod and fetlcrcd as much as possible. — Mais v. d'autre part le pa<snge caractLTistiquo du Man. ofPol. Ec. (Bowring, vol. III, p. 3A): « It wouKl... bo a gross error, and an extreinely niischicvous one, to refer to the défalcation thns rcsulting from the mass of liberty or free agcncy, as affordini; aconelusive objection against tlw* interposition of the law for this or;«ny other purposo. Every law whicli does not consist iu the repeal, total or partial, of a coercivo law, is itself a coercive law. To reprobate as a misehief resulting from this or that law, a property which is of tlie very ossen«e of ail law, is to beiray a degree uf blindness aud ignorance one sliould lliink hnrdly possible on the pari of a mind accustomed to ihe contomplalion of any branch of the System of laws — a total unacquaintance with what niay be ealled the logie of the laws. — Yet so impvrfeit is the State of légal knowledge, — marks of this perfeclly surprising, as

(Pp. 219-224) NOTES. 349

it will one day be, as well as much to be lamcnted ignorance, are to be found amoDg tbe most experienced pens, not to mention the most loquacious longues.

126. Bentham, dans sa table des plaisirs, mentionne « tbe pleasures of skill, as ezercised upon particular objccts s, à savoir a those wbicb accompany the application ofsuch particular instruments of enjoyment to their uses, as cannot be so applied without a greater or less sbare of dilTiculty or exertion », — et,dans sa tabledes peines, « the pain of exertion, whether bodily or mental : or the uneasy sensation wiiich is apt to accompany any intense effort whether of raind or body ». {Introi,, chap. V, § iv, 3; §xxi,9 ; Bowring, vol. I, pp. 18-9). Mais il serait absurde de croire que, dans le travail considéré en général, les « plaisirs de l'adresse s puissent comi)enser la « peine de leffort ».

DÉMOCRATES ET UTILITAIRES

1. Essay Xllf Of the Original Contract {Essays^ vol. I, pp. 446-7).

2. Lecky, HisL of England in the XVIIIth cenlunj, vol. III, p. 338.

3. Disçounes concerning Government^ chap. Il, scct. xvi : « As for democracy, ...I believc it can suit only with the eonvenience of a small town, accompanied with such circumstances as arc seldom found. — Cf. Priestley, First Principles of Government y secl. II, éd. 1771, p. 15.

4. ^May XVI, Idea of a j^rfect commonwealth {EssaySy vol. I, p. 492).

5. Price, Observations on the nature of civil liberty^ the principles of governmentf and the justice and policy of the war of America ^ etc. sect. II.

6. Il fait paraître, en 1774, des Proposais for recovering America^ and saving great Britain., dédiés au roi, où déjà il demande la dissolution du parlement, et la convocation d'un parlement nouveau, différemment recruté, annuel, a the writs for that purpose direcling that ail the members returnable within each county coUectively shall be chosen in one gênerai county élection, by ail persous who now enjoy the privilège of voting, whether freeholders, citizens, or burghesses ».

7. Voici le titre de la seconde édition (1777), plus complet que celui de la première : le titre de la première édition est devenu un sous-titre. The Législative Rights of the Commonally vindicated^ or Take your Choice ! Représentation and Respect. — Imposition and Gontempt; Annual Parliaments and Liberty — Long Parliaments and Slavery. Wherein it is

350 NOTES. (Pp. 324-228)

Cuntend»], upon thc uaallerable priaciples of Law aotl the Constitution, tliat an equal and complcle rcprceentatioQ in Parliajnent» and aenoal eltMttions, an>, at this Day, the undoubted Rigbts of the Commonaltv of this Rcalm ; Dotwithstanding tlie supposcd validity of certain Âcts of Parliament ; and wherein is also ^huwn precUdy how fer (and it is to a most alarming Degree) the Peuple are absoiutely ensiaved already, notwithstanding they vainly imagine themselves free, i éd. 1777.

8. C'est grâce à cette succession d'incidents violents que la Con:itilution anglaise ne dégénère pas en une oligarchie étroite, en un & régime vénitien i>, s«ilon l'expression que Disraeli a rendoe fameuse. Mais Bentham avait déjà trouvé la même expression pour caractériser le régime ( Eisay on PolUical Tactics ; Bowring, vol. II, p. 316,' : <^ As to the contents of the debates and thc names of the voters, there are numerous publications which give account of thein. Thèse publications are crimes, but it is to thèse fortunate crimes that England is indebted for her escape from an aristocratie govcrnment ressembling that of Venice ».