existing specimen of Scottish literary prose. He also translated the
first five books of Livy. He enjoyed the Royal favour, and was Archdeacon
of Moray. He latterly, however, became involved in controversy which led
to his going to Rome, where he _d._, according to one account, about
1550. Another authority, however, states that he was living in 1587.


BENTHAM, JEREMY (1748-1832).--Writer on jurisprudence and politics, _b._
in London, _s._ of a prosperous attorney, _ed._ at Westminster and
Oxford, was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn, but disliking the law, he
made little or no effort to practise, but devoted himself to physical
science and the theory of jurisprudence. In 1776 he _pub._ anonymously
his _Fragment on Government_, an able criticism of Blackstone's
_Commentaries_, which brought him under the notice of Lord Shelburne, and
in 1780 his _Introduction to Principles of Morals and Legislation_. Other
works were _Panopticon_, in which he suggested improvements on prison
discipline, _Discourse on Civil and Penal Legislation_ (1802),
_Punishments and Rewards_ (1811), _Parliamentary Reform Catechism_
(1817), and _A Treatise on Judicial Evidence_. By the death of his _f._
he inherited a competency on which he was able to live in frugal
elegance, not unmixed with eccentricity. B. is the first and perhaps the
greatest of the "philosophical radicals," and his fundamental principle
is utilitarianism or "the greatest happiness of the greatest number," a
phrase of which he is generally, though erroneously, regarded as the
author. The effect of his writings on legislation and the administration
of the law has been almost incalculable. He left his body to be
dissected; and his skeleton, clothed in his usual attire, is preserved in
University College, London.

_Life_ by Bowring in collected works (J.H. Barton, 11 vols., 1844).