lated a volume of one of Marmontel's tales. As early as 1776 he was busy upon a work which he at first intended to entitled 'The Critical Elements of Jurisprudence.' It was printed in 1780, but it was not given to the world until 1789, when it was published as 'Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation,' perhaps the greatest and most distinctive work by Bentham. In 1776 he published anonymously his 'Fragment on Government, or a Comment on the Commentaries; being an Examination of what is delivered on the subject of Government in general in the Introduction to Sir William Blackstone's Commentaries; with a Preface, in which is given a critique on the work at large.' The design of the book was to point out some capital blemishes in the Commentaries, 'particularly this grand and fundamental one, the antipathy to reform,' and to expose 'the universal inaccuracy and confusion which seemed to my apprehension to pervade the whole.' Bentham's acute criticisms are coloured by intense antipathy to Blackstone, whose lectures he had attended at Oxford in 1763, and whose fallacies about natural rights he, lad though he was, had detected. He had, too, no admiration for the character of one who was, he thought, always 'eager to hold the cup of flattery to the lips of high station.' Admirably written, free from the diffuseness and pronounced mannerisms of his later productions, the book is a model of controversial literature. Bentham's observations went far beyond the text upon which he proposed to comment. They were destructive of the theories in jurisprudence and political philosophy which were then prevalent, and 'were the first publication by which men at large were invited to break loose from the trammels of authority and ancestor wisdom on the field of law.' The 'Fragment on Government' was a new point of departure in jurisprudence. Criticisms so masterly could come, it was felt, from no ordinary writer, and the 'Fragment' was variously attributed to Lord Mansfield and Lord Camden. Some features of the style induced Dr. Johnson to assign it to Dunning.
About this time Bentham was engaged in investigations respecting punishment, the results of which were eventually embodied in his 'Rationale of Punishments and Rewards.' Like many of his works, this did not see the light until long after it was composed. Dumont first published it at Paris in 1811, under the title of 'Théorie des Peines et des Récompenses.' 'The manuscripts from which I have extracted "La Théorie des Peines,"' he writes, 'were written in 1775. Those which have supplied me with "La Théorie des Récompenses are a little later; they were not thrown aside as useless, but laid aside as rough-hewn materials which might at a future day be published and form part of a general system of legislation, or as studies which the author had made for his own use.' Not until 1826 was this work brought before the world in an English form, though as early as 1778 Bentham had published, in a pamphlet entitled 'View of the Hard Labour Bill,' some of his views on punishment.
Not the least important result of the 'Fragment on Government' was the opening to Bentham of a society wholly different from that in which he had hitherto moved. So much was Lord Shelburne impressed by the work that he called on Bentham at his chambers, and told him that he wished to make his acquaintance. This led to a visit to Shelburne House, and also one of some weeks to Bowood. He became a frequent visitor there, and his influence over Lord Shelburne was great. In many ways this intimacy benefited Bentham. It restored his good humour and his spirits, which had been not a little damped by his failure at the bar. 'Lord Shelburne,' said Bentham once in his emphatic way, 'raised me from the bottomless pit of humiliation — he made me feel that I was something.' While at Bowood he was engaged in completing his 'Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation;' but he also took part in the amusement of the house. he played the violin to the ladies' accompaniment on the harpsichord. His letters from Bowood are bright, witty, cheerful, full of politics and gossip, with pointed sketches of Camden, Pitt, Dunning, Barré, and other illustrious guests. These were pleasant days to Bentham. 'I do what I please, and have what I please. I ride and read with the son, walk with the dog, stroke the leopard, drive little Henry out in his coach, and play at chess and billiards with the ladies.' These days were, too, tinted with romance. Bentham lost his heart to one of the ladies who graced that bright and distinguished household. His suit terminated unhappily for him. To the same lady he appears to have made years afterwards, in 1805, an offer of marriage. Her answer, dignified and affectionate, refusing his offer did not drive the memory of her from his thoughts. In a letter written in 1827, a few years before his death, he says: 'I am alive, more than two months advanced in my eightieth year, more lively than when you presented me in ceremony with a flower in Green Lane. Since that day not a single
