TEXT 13: Jeremy Bentham, 1748—1832

The philosopher and jurist Jeremy Bentham was born in London on the 15^th of February 1748. He proved to be something of a child prodigy: while still a toddler he was discovered sitting at his father's desk reading a multi-volume history of England, and he began to study Latin at the age of three. At twelve, he was sent to Queen's College, Oxford, by his father, a prosperous attorney, who decided that Jeremy would follow him into the law, feeling quite sure that his brilliant son would one day be Lord Chancellor of England.

Bentham, however, soon became disillusioned with the law, especially after hearing the lectures of the leading authority of the day, Sir William Blackstone. Instead of practicing the law, he decided to write about it, and he spent his life criticising the existing law and suggesting ways for its improvement. His father's death in 1792 left him financially independent, and for nearly forty years he lived quietly in Westminster, producing between ten and twenty sheets of manuscript a day, even when he was in his eighties. For those who have never read a line of Bentham, he will always be associated with the doctrine of Utilitarianism and his attempts to make the punishment more precisely fit the crime. This, however, was only his starting point for a radical critique of society, which aimed to test the usefulness of existing institutions, practices and beliefs against an objective evaluative standard. He was an outspoken advocate of law reform, a pugnacious critic of established political doctrines like natural law, and the first to produce a utilitarian justification for democracy. He also had much to say on subjects as diverse as prison reform, religion, poor relief and international law. A visionary far ahead of his time, he advocated universal suffrage.

By the 1820s Bentham had become a widely respected figure, both in Britain and in other parts of the world. His ideas were to influence greatly the reforms of public administration made during the nineteenth century, and his writings are still at the centre of academic debate, especially as regards social policy and legal positivism and welfare economics.

PART III. NOTORIOUS CRIMINALS

TEXT 14: Cain

According to the Bible, he was the first murderer. The story is told in Genesis, Chapter Four. He was a tiller of the soil and his brother Abel was a shepherd. They were both sons of Adam and Eve. When the Lord accepted Abel's offerings and rejected those of his, he was very "wroth and his countenance fell". He fell upon his brother Abel and killed him. When the Lord asked him where his brother was, he asked the famous question "am I my brother's keeper?". For his crime, he was banished to be a wanderer over the earth, but to prevent him from being killed, God put a mark upon him to protect him. According to the Bible, he went to live in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

TEXT 15: Marcus Junius Brutus, 85—42 B.C., Gaius Longinus Cassius, d. 42 B.C.

These two Roman generals were the leaders of conspiracy to murder Julius Caesar, the man who invaded Britain and was one of the greatest Roman generals. Both had distinguished careers, having been promised governorships by Caesar. One was even a personal friend of Caesar's but was convinced by the other that Caesar, who by then was dictator of Rome, was a tyrant who must be got rid of. On the Ides (15^th) of March 44 B.C. Caesar was stabbed to death on the steps of the Capitol, the senate house of Rome, both men taking part in the murder. Unfortunately, the conspiracy then began to crumble and the two generals fled to Macedonia to raise an army. They were defeated at the battle of Philip by Caesar's nephew Octavian and Roman military hero Mark Anthony. After the battle one committed suicide, while the other ordered his servant to kill him.

TEXT 16: Caligula, A.D. 12—41

This Roman Emperor will always be remembered for his great cruelty and love of bloodshed. On one occasion, at one of the famous games, at which the gladiators performed, he is said to have remarked that he wished that the Roman people had only one neck so that he could kill them all with one blow. There is little doubt this his extreme cruelty was due to madness, as he started his reign in a very reasonable way. However, after a strange illness, he began to act as though insane and declared himself a god and even gave his horse a high public office. In the end he was murdered by a member of his own bodyguard as he left the games on 24^th January A.D. 41.