T h e C o l l e C T e d W o r k s o f J e r e m y B e n T h a m t h e Corresp ondenCe of Jeremy Ben T ham E d i t E d b y t i m o t h y L . S . S p r i g g E v o l u m e 2 1 7 7 7 – 8 0 i the collected works of jeremy bentham General Editor J. H. Burns Correspondence Volume 2 ii iii The CORRESPONDENCE of JEREMY BENTHAM Volume 2: 1777– 80 edited by T I M O T H Y L . S . S P R I G G E iv This edition published in 2017 by UCL Press University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT First published in 1968 by The Athlone Press, University of London Available to download free: www.ucl.ac.uk/ucl-press Text © The Bentham Committee, UCL A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from The British Library. This book is published under a Creative Commons 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). This license allows you to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work; to adapt the work and to make commercial use of the work providing attribution is made to the authors (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Attribution should include the following information: Timothy L.S. Sprigge (ed.), The Correspondence of Jeremy Bentham, Vol. 2: 1777–80. The Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham . Edited by J.H. Burns. London, UCL Press, 2017. https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781911576273 Further details about CC BY licenses are available at http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/ ISBN: 978–1–911576–29–7 (Hbk.) ISBN: 978–1–911576–28–0 (Pbk.) ISBN: 978–1–911576–27–3 (PDF) ISBN: 978–1–911576–30–3 (epub) ISBN: 978–1–911576–31–0 (mobi) ISBN: 978–1–911576–32–7 (html) DOI: https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781911576273 v v PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION OF VOLUME 2 The second volume of Jeremy Bentham’s Correspondence was originally published, together with the first volume, in 1968, under the editorship of the late T.L.S. Sprigge and the General Editorship of the late J.H. Burns, thereby forming the first two volumes to be published in the new authoritative edition of The Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham . The Correspondence volumes represent the ‘backbone’, so to speak, of the whole edition, giving scholars the orientation that enables them to begin to make sense of Bentham’s published works and the vast collection of his unpublished papers, consisting of around 60,000 folios in UCL Library and 12,500 folios in the British Library. The present volume has been attractively re-keyed in a typeface that is sympathetic to the original design, and crucially the exact pagination of the original volume has been retained, so that referencing remains stable. The opportunity has been taken to incorporate the corrigenda printed at the conclusion of Volume III of the Correspondence and further corrections identified by the Bentham Project. Dr Benjamin Bourcier (Catholic University of Lille) has kindly checked the accu- racy of the reproduction of the French material according to the con- ventions currently adopted in the edition as a whole. Perhaps the most engaging part of the current volume, which is set within the period of the American War of Independence, is Bentham’s wide-ranging correspondence with his younger brother Samuel, who in 1778 came of age and completed his apprenticeship as a shipwright. Having failed to gain a suitable position at home, in August 1779 Samuel left England for Russia, visited various dockyards in Northern Europe, and in March 1780 arrived at St Petersburg, where he began to make contacts at court with the help of the British Ambassador Sir James Harris. The brothers recognized that Russia offered potential opportu- nities to both of them: a lucrative career and a field for practical exper- imentation for Samuel, and the position of legislative draughtsman for Jeremy. Bentham intended to present a code of penal law to Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, in the hope that she would recognize its merit in terms of promoting the happiness of the community, and authorize its enactment. However, despite repeated claims that his code, or parts of it, were near to completion, Bentham published nothing during the years vi vi P R E F A C E T O T H E N E W E D I T I O N covered by the present volume, with the exception of a short pamphlet entitled A View of the Hard Labour Bill , written in March 1778. This essay was a comment on a proposal to authorize the establishment of two penitentiaries, and enacted as the Penitentiary Act of 1779. The ending of transportation to the American colonies, following the Declaration of Independence of 1776, had forced government to con- sider alternative forms of punishment, and in particular imprisonment at home, at least until an alternative destination for transportation could be found. This whole subject was fertile ground for Bentham, who was working extensively on his theory of punishment and on strategies for preventing crime. Although not published, Bentham did in 1780 print the first 16 chap- ters, and the first two sections of the 17th, of an introduction to his penal code, but finding himself, as he later wrote, ‘entangled in some unsuspected corner of the metaphysical maze’, he abandoned the text. In 1789 he eventually published this printed part of his introduction as An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation , perhaps Bentham’s most famous work. It contains the standard account of the doctrine of classical utilitarianism, though the bulk of the text deals with the theory of punishment and the classification of offences. This work was edited for the Collected Works by J.H. Burns and H.L.A. Hart and published in 1970. In 1780 Bentham also began to make substantial progress on the remainder of the 17th chapter of his introduction, which grew into a book in its own right, and has appeared in the Collected Works as Of the Limits of the Penal Branch of Jurisprudence , edited by the pres- ent writer, and published in 2012. This work constitutes Bentham’s attempt to distinguish between penal law and civil law, and in so doing to ascertain what constituted a complete and single law. It was perhaps in dealing with this problem that Bentham found himself ‘entangled’ in ‘the metaphysical maze’, and the chapter, along with the introduction as a whole, appears to have eventually been abandoned in 1782. The UCL Bentham Papers contain a wealth of manuscripts written during the years covered by the present volume. When they are edited in due course for the Collected Works , they will complement the fasci- nating insights into the development of the mind of arguably our great- est legal philosopher revealed here in his correspondence. Philip Schofield General Editor of The Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham UCL, February 2017 vii vii contents List of Letters in Volume 2 viii Key to Symbols and Abbreviations xv THE CORRESPONDENCE 1777– 80 1 Index 527 The editor’s Preface and Introduction to Volumes 1 and 2 of The Correspondence appear in Volume 1. viii lIst of letters In VolUme 2 Letter Page 195 To Samuel Bentham 4 January 1777 1 196 To Samuel Bentham 13– 17 January 1777 2 197 To Samuel Bentham 18 January 1777 10 198 To Samuel Bentham 19 January 1777 11 199 To Samuel Bentham 22– 23 January 1777 13 200 To Elizabeth Davies and Samuel Bentham 28 January 1777 15 201 To Samuel Bentham 31 January– 5 February 1777 16 202 To Samuel Bentham 8 February 1777 20 203 To Samuel Bentham 14 February 1777 21 204 To Elizabeth Davies February or March 1777 24 205 To Samuel Bentham 3 March 1777 24 206 To Samuel Bentham 9– 10 March 1777 27 207 To Samuel Bentham 14– 15 March 1777 31 208 To Samuel Bentham 17 March 1777 33 209 To Samuel Bentham 22 March 1777 39 210 To Samuel Bentham 3 April 1777 40 211 To Samuel Bentham 5 April 1777 42 212 To Elizabeth Davies 22 April 1777 43 213 To Samuel Bentham 29 April 1777 46 214 To Samuel Bentham 6 May 1777 47 215 To Samuel Bentham 8 May 1777 49 216 To Samuel Bentham 12 May 1777 50 217 To Samuel Bentham 17 May 1777 52 218 To Jeremiah Bentham 3 June 1777 55 219 To Samuel Bentham 3 June 1777 55 220 To Samuel Bentham 16 June 1777 57 221 To Jeremiah Bentham 21 June– 11 July 1777 58 222 To Samuel Bentham and Elizabeth Davies 23 July 1777 61 223 To Richard Clark 29 July 1777 62 224 To Jeremiah Bentham 25 August 1777 63 225 To Samuel Bentham 26– 27 August 1777 65 226 To Jeremiah Bentham 8 October 1777 66 226a To Jeremiah Bentham 21 October 1777 70 227 To Jeremiah Bentham 13 November 1777 71 viii L I S T O F L E T T E R S I N V O L U M E 2 ix ix Letter Page 228 To Jeremiah Bentham 24 November 1777 73 229 To Sarah Wise 12– 13 December 1777 75 230 To Samuel Bentham 19 January 1778 78 231 To Samuel Bentham 21 January 1778 79 232 To Samuel Bentham 23(?) January 1778 80 233 Jeremy Bentham and George Wilson to Samuel Bentham 24 January 1778 82 234 To Samuel Bentham 26 January 1778 83 235 To Samuel Bentham 30 January 1778 84 236 To Samuel Bentham 31 January 1778 86 237 To Samuel Bentham 19 February 1778 88 238 To William Eden 26 March 1778 90 239 William Eden to Jeremy Bentham 27 March 1778 91 240 Jeremy Bentham to William Eden 28 March 1778 92 241 To William Eden 5 April 1778 93 242 To Jeremiah Bentham 10 April 1778 94 243 To Jeremiah Bentham 12 April 1778 94 244 To Samuel Bentham 27 April 1778 95 245 To Samuel Bentham 29 April 1778 96 246 To Samuel Bentham 30 April 1778 97 247 To Samuel Bentham 2 May 1778 98 248 To the Rev. John Forster April/ May 1778 98 249 To Jean Le Rond D’Alembert Spring 1778 115 250 To André Morellet Spring 1778 118 251 To François Jean de Chastellux Spring 1778 120 252 To Jean Le Rond D’Alembert Spring 1778 121 253 To Sir William Blackstone 27 May 1778 122 254 To Samuel Bentham 3 June 1778 123 255 To Samuel Bentham 18 June 1778 125 256 To Samuel Bentham 25 June 1778 127 257 To Samuel Bentham 28 June 1778 129 258 To Samuel Bentham 29 June 1778 130 259 To Samuel Bentham June/ July 1778 131 260 To George Witchell 2 July 1778 132 261 To Samuel Bentham 6 July 1778 133 262 To Samuel Bentham 7 July 1778 136 263 To Samuel Bentham 8 July 1778 138 264 To Samuel Bentham 24 July 1778 138 265 François Jean de Chastellux to Jeremy Bentham 3 July 1778 139 266 Jeremy Bentham to Samuel Bentham 5 August 1778 141 267 To François Jean de Chastellux 4 August 1778 143 L I S T O F L E T T E R S I N V O L U M E 2 x x Letter Page 268 To Sarah Wise 7 August 1778 153 269 To Samuel Bentham 14 August 1778 155 270 To Samuel Bentham 18 August 1778 158 271 To John Lloyd August 1778 160 272 To Samuel Bentham 26 August 1778 161 273 To Samuel Bentham 27– 31 August 1778 164 274 To Samuel Bentham 10– 11 September 1778 167 275 To G. W. Grove 24 September 1778 170 276 Sylvester Douglas to Jeremy Bentham 4 October 1778 171 277 Jeremy Bentham to Samuel Bentham 13 October 1778 172 278 To Samuel Bentham 16 October 1778 174 279 To Samuel Bentham 24 October 1778 178 280 To Samuel Bentham 27 October 1778 181 281 To Samuel Bentham 30 October 1778 184 282 To Samuel Bentham 31 October 1778 186 283 To Samuel Bentham (not sent) 4 November 1778 189 284 To Samuel Bentham 14(?) November 1778 190 285 To Samuel Bentham 21 November 1778 192 286 To Samuel Bentham 21 November 1778 193 287 To Samuel Bentham 6 December 1778 194 288 To Samuel Bentham 9– 10 December 1778 195 289 To Samuel Bentham 11 December 1778 196 290 George Wilson to Jeremy Bentham Circa 12 December 1778 197 291 To Samuel Bentham 12– 13 December 1778 198 292 To Samuel Bentham 19 December 1778 199 293 To Samuel Bentham 20– 21 December 1778 200 294 To Samuel Bentham 23 December 1778 201 295 To Samuel Bentham 29– 30 December 1778 202 296 Rev. John Forster to Jeremy Bentham 12/ 23 October 1778 206 297 To Samuel Bentham 1– 2 January 1779 208 298 To Samuel Bentham 4 January 1779 210 299 To Samuel Bentham 5 January 1779 212 300 To Samuel Bentham 7 January 1779 214 L I S T O F L E T T E R S I N V O L U M E 2 xi xi Letter Page 301 To Samuel Bentham 18 January 1779 217 302 To Samuel Bentham 20– 22 January 1779 219 303 To Samuel Bentham 26– 27 January 1779 224 304 To Samuel Bentham 29 January 1779 231 305 To Samuel Bentham 11 February 1779 233 306 To Samuel Bentham 19 February 1779 234 307 To William Fitzherbert 21 February 1779 235 308 To Samuel Bentham 24 February 1779 239 309 To Samuel Bentham 2 March 1779 243 310 To Samuel Bentham 6 March 1779 245 311 To Franz Ludwig Tribolet 30 March 1779 248 312 To Ann Elizabeth Lind (for Samuel Bentham) 1779 254 313 To Samuel Bentham 16– 17 April 1779 255 314 To Samuel Bentham 4 May 1779 256 315 To Samuel Bentham 16 May 1779 257 316 To the Earl of Sandwich June? 1779 258 317 To Samuel Bentham 12 June 1779 260 318 To the Earl of Sandwich August? 1779 261 319 Jeremy and Samuel Bentham to George Woodward Grove 17 August 1779 263 320 To Samuel Bentham 25– 27 August 1779 265 321 Samuel Bentham to Jeremy Bentham 25 August 1779 270 322 Jeremy Bentham to Samuel Bentham 29 August 1779 271 323 To Samuel Bentham 30 August– 4 September 1779 272 324 To Jeremiah Bentham 1 September 1779 275 325 To Samuel Bentham 10– 28 September 1779 278 326 To George Woodward Grove 12 September 1779 289 327 To the Earl of Shelburne 17 September 1779 290 328 To Jeremiah Bentham 17 September 1779 292 329 To Jeremiah Bentham 23– 24 September 1779 294 330 To Jeremiah Bentham 20 October 1779 298 331 To Jeremiah Bentham 23 October 1779 299 332 Samuel Bentham to Jeremy Bentham 2 October 1779 300 333 Samuel Bentham to Jeremy Bentham 15 October 1779 301 L I S T O F L E T T E R S I N V O L U M E 2 xii xii Letter Page 334 Jeremy Bentham to Jeremiah Bentham 26 October 1779 308 335 To Jeremiah Bentham 1 November 1779 308 336 Jeremy Bentham and others to Samuel Bentham 9 November 1779 309 337 Samuel Bentham to Jeremy Bentham 19 October 1779 320 338 Jeremy Bentham to the Earl of Shelburne 18 November 1779 326 339 To Samuel Bentham 19 November 1779 329 340 John Lind and Jeremy Bentham to Samuel Bentham 19 November 1779 330 341 Jeremy Bentham to Samuel Bentham 19– 26 November 1779 333 342 To Samuel Bentham 4– 28 December 1779 339 343 Jeremiah and Jeremy Bentham to Samuel Bentham 31 December 1779 347 344 Samuel Bentham to Jeremy Bentham 12– 19 December 1779 353 345 Jeremy Bentham to Samuel Bentham 3– 11 January 1780 373 346 To Samuel Bentham 17– 18 January 1780 380 347 To Samuel Bentham 7 February 1780 388 348 Giuseppe Saverio Poli to Jeremy Bentham 14 February 1780 394 349 Samuel Bentham to Jeremy Bentham 21– 29 January 1780 395 350 Jeremy Bentham to Samuel Bentham 30 March– 4 April 1780 399 351 To Samuel Bentham 10 April 1780 414 352 To Samuel Bentham 11 April 1780 420 353 Samuel Bentham to Jeremy Bentham 24 March 1780 422 354 Jeremiah Bentham to Mrs. William Henchman 4 May 1780 423 355 Samuel Bentham to Jeremy Bentham 11– 12 April 1780 426 L I S T O F L E T T E R S I N V O L U M E 2 xiii xiii Letter Page 356 Jeremy Bentham to Samuel Bentham 8– 9 May 1780 432 357 Samuel Bentham to Jeremy Bentham 15 April 1780 442 358 Jeremy Bentham to Samuel Bentham 10– 16 May 1780 444 359 To Samuel Bentham 19 May 1780 452 360 To Samuel Bentham 31 May– 5 June 1780 454 361 To Samuel Bentham 5 June 1780 457 361a To the Attorney-General 8 June 1780 458 362 To the Earl of Shelburne early June 1780 459 363 To the Earl of Sandwich 9 June 1780 460 364 To the Earl of Shelburne 10 June 1780 461 365 To Samuel Bentham 7– 20 June 1780 461 366 Samuel Bentham to Jeremy Bentham 28 May 1780 466 367 Jeremy Bentham to the Earl of Shelburne June/ July 1780 469 368 The Earl of Shelburne to Jeremy Bentham 26 July 1780 470 369 Jeremy Bentham to the Earl of Shelburne 27 July 1780 471 370 To Samuel Bentham 6 August 1780 472 371 Sylvester Douglas to Jeremy Bentham 16 September 1780 481 372 Jeremy Bentham to Samuel Bentham 25 August– 30 October 1780 482 373 To Jeremiah Bentham 15 October 1780 490 374 Samuel Bentham to Jeremy Bentham 15(?) September 1780 492 375 Jeremy Bentham to Samuel Bentham 6 November 1780 494 376 Samuel Bentham to Jeremy Bentham 14 October 1780 500 377 Jeremy Bentham to Samuel Bentham 14 November 1780 503 378 To Samuel Bentham 27 November– 1 December 1780 507 379 Samuel Bentham to Jeremy Bentham 2 December 1780 513 L I S T O F L E T T E R S I N V O L U M E 2 xiv xiv Letter Page 380 Jeremy Bentham to Samuel Bentham 26 December 1780 517 381 To Samuel Bentham 29 December 1780 522 382 To Charles Hanbury 1780 or 1781 524 xv xv key to symbols and abbreVIatIons s y m b o l s / In / Interlineations. Sometimes these are insertions, sometimes alternative versions. Interlineations are not indicated in all cases. | | Space left in Ms. Oxford Word crossed out in Ms. [ to ] No such word in Ms.; it has been supplied by the editor according to sense. < so > Conjectural restoration of mutilated word. < . . . > Word torn away or hidden in binding of Mss. [?] Reading doubtful. [. . .?] Word proved illegible. Editorial comments are printed in italics within square brackets. a b b r e V I a t I o n s Apart from standard abbreviations, the following should be noted:— B.M. I, II, . . . etc.: refers to the main series of Bentham papers in the British Museum, Additional Mss. 33537–64, the volumes of which are numbered from I to XXVIII. Thus B.M. I = Add. Ms. 33537 and so on. U.C.: refers to the Bentham papers in the Library of University College London. Roman numerals refer to the boxes in which the papers are placed, Arabic to the leaves in each box. Bowring: refers to The Works of Jeremy Bentham, published under the superintendence of . . . John Bowring (11 vols.), Edinburgh, 1838– 43. Vols. x and xi contain Bowring’s Memoirs of Bentham. n o t e Apart from sources cited in the notes, a number of standard works of reference have, it will be evident, been heavily drawn upon, notably the following:— Biographie Universelle (1811– 33) Clowes, W. L., The Royal Navy: A History (1897– 1903) Court and City Calendar Dictionary of National Biography K E Y T O S Y M B O L S A N D A B B R E V I AT I O N S xvi xvi Foster, J. (ed.), Alumni Oxonienses (early series, 1891–2; later series 1887– 91) Musgrave’s Obituary prior to 1800 (ed. G. J. Armytage, Harleian Society, 1899– 1901) Namier, L. B. & Brooke, J., The Commons 1754–90 (History of Parlia- ment, 1964) Royal Kalendar Venn, J. & J. A. (ed.), Alumni Cantabrigienses (Part 1, 1925– 7; Part 2, 1940– 54) xvii Correspondence 1777– 80 newgenprepdf xviii 1 195 T o S a m u e l B e n T h a m 1 4 January 1777 (Aet 28) Saturday Jan: 4th 1777. Linc. Inn What are the blank books for? you monkey you, they are the Charta Chymica. You wanted it in some such form, did not you, for day-books? I would have sent you some, not done up in books, besides: but there was none at the place I went to, and I had no possible time to go after it to the original warehouse in Lombard Street. As to the Seal, I beg your pardon, but I could not prevail upon myself to part with it for two reasons: 1st because I want it to shew | | as a pattern, or rather the contrary to a pattern, that he may cut my lion deeper: 2dly I want it to cut a figure with on Monday at Browne’s, where there is to be the Lord knows who. Last year about this time Browne was civil enough you may remember, to | | two 12000 pounders for me to look at, but I had no mind for either of them. They were the quintessence of insipidity—I hope I shan’t have them to meet again. Buckmaster as I have said many’s the good time and oft, and now say again, is the stupidest of all two legged creatures without feathers. Upon his objecting to outside pockets I acquiesced— visibly and manifestly acquiesced; and my expectation was that he would have made the cloaths accordingly. However it is of no consequence—I see cloaths daily with outside pockets: and it is ten to one but what in a little time they come again in fashion besides the people you are likely to be most among will probably be better judges of what is be- coming than what is the fashion. As to the not wearing of silk breeches it is more a whim of Wilson’s than any thing else. His Taylor whom he magnifies so much made no objection at all to mine, and he himself I mean Wilson has two or three times con- fessed voluntarily, or rather exclaimed with an oath into the bar- gain, (what is a great deal from him) that ‘my dress was a very smart one.’ 1 195. 1 B.M. II: 81– 82. Autograph. Docketed (by Bentham?): ‘I.B. Jany. 4th 1777. Battle scheme—Fear of forcing it on the W’s.’ The lower part of the second sheet is torn away. So some of the letter may be missing.