Speech on the Re for m of Parliament, vol. X, p

32. Ibid. — Cf. Reflections, p\>. 296-297 : if they had set up this n<w expérimental government as a uecessary subslilute for an expelled tyranny, mankind would anticipatc the time of iirt^scription, which, through long usage, mellows into legality govcrnments that wcre violent in tlieir louimencement. Ail those vvho bave affections which lead liiem to the conservation of civil order would recognize, even in its cradle, Ihe child as legitimate, which has been produced from those principics of cogcnt expe- (]ii-nc\ to which ail just governnients owe their birth, and on which they justify their continuance. Ihit lhr\ wiil be late and reluclant in giving any sort of couatenance to the opérations of a power, which bas derived its jjirth IVoiii no law and no necessity : but which on tiie contrary has had its origin in those vices and sinister practices by which the social union is often disturbcd an<l sometinies dcstroyed. This asseuddy has hardly a year's itrescription. We bave their own word for it that they bave niado a révolution. To niake a révolution is a measure which, prima fronte, requires an apology.

308 NOTES. (Pp. 2{)-2o)

33. Si nous nous en fions aux conversations de Bentiiain avec Bowring, recueillies par celui-ci aux environs de 1830, Bentbani aurait éprou\é une grande admiration pour la polémique de Burke au temps de la guerre d'Amérique (v. Bowring, vol. X, \). 564 : I was wonderfully taken vvilh his political pamjililets : their eloqutsnce — their dignily — tlieir superiority to otiiers. Al that time I was accustorned to contrast \N'ilkes and Burke, and to think ol" ^Vilkes as a dirty, rascally Icllow, wliile Burke was everything that was noble and higli -minded) et aurait commencé à le détester à partir de 1790 ' Bowring, vol. X, pp. 267,564). Mais il faut, en principe, ne pas ajouter loi aux souvenirs de Bentham vieilli. Philosophe du i)arti radical, il ouhlie qu'il était tory et antiaméricain en 1776, et antijacobin en 1790, que c'est seulement aux environs de 181U qu'il a commencé à considérer Burke comme étant {Book of Fallacies, part. IV, ch. x) <■ this inadman, than Avhom none perhai)s was ever more miscbievous — this incendiary, wlio contributed so much more than any other le light up the flanies of that war, under the miseries occasioncd by wbich the nation is still groaning ».

34. Pour tous les détails relatifs à lord Lansdowne et à son groupe, v. Fitzmaurice, Life of William, earl of Shelburne. (Londres, 1875j.

35. Ràjlemenls observés da7^s la Chambre des Communes pour débattre les matières et pour voter : traduit de l'anglais et mis au jour par le comte de Mirabeau, 1789. — Cf. Bomilly, Mein., vol. 1, pp. 101, 351. Bentham et ïrail auraient aidé Romilly dans son travail (Bowring, X, p. 112). V. lettre de Romilly à Dumont, 9 juin 1789; réponse de Dumont à Romilly, 21 juin 1789. Après la mort du comte de Sarsfield, Mirabeau se charge de la traduction et de la publication.

3(1. Romilly à Bcntliam, 8 oct. 1791 Bowring, vol. X, p. 264i : I believc you understood from me before, what from excessive caution I repcat, that if you think my part of the Tactics worth printing, it is lo be witiiout my name. — An Essay on Political Tactics; or, inquiries concernin.u; the discipline and mode of proceeding proper lo be observed in political assemblies; principally applied to the praclice of the British Parliament, and to the Constitution and situation of the National Assembly of France. Bowring, vol. 11, |ip. 301-373.) ||

37. On retrouve encore ici chez Bentham le et projector » : il attache une grande importance à un « tableau des motions ' ([ui mettra toujours sous les yeux des représentants la question en discussion. Voir ses lettres à Wycombe, du U'i' mars 1789, à Addington, du 24 juillet 180O. (Bowring, vol. X, pp. 19ti, 344.)

38. Bowring, vol. X, p. 219 : Dumont à Bentham, 27 sept. 1789.

39. Dumont, Souvenirs sur Mirabeau, (Paris, 1832) pp. 160-166.

40. Bowring, vol. X, ))p. 226-227. — Drawjht of a Code, etc. Bowring, IV, 306

(Pp. 26-3o) NOTES. 309

'il. Bowring, vol. IV p. 3-21.