As soon as Kisa\nwoke up she realised something was wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She turned over\nautomatically in the straw to find Siddhattha and give him her breast. In the\nhalf-light she groped for her baby, but found a bundle that was heavy and\ninert. Her heart suddenly pounding, she gently shook him: there was no\nresponse. His face was still and set. His flesh was cold and rigid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kisa sprang up\nwith a cry, clutching her baby to her. Surely he just needed some milk, or a\ncuddle? He would come round. Not her first-born! Not the fine, healthy baby\nthat all her neighbours had admired!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her husband\nstirred, then went back to sleep. But her mother-in-law, across the room, sat\nup at her cry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cKisa, what is\nit?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s\nSiddhattha! He\u2019s cold. He won\u2019t move!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her\nmother-in-law came up to her and felt the child. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\nKisa. He\u2019s dead.\u201d In the dim morning light Kisa could just see her eyes, which\nwere full of compassion. \u201cSometimes the gods take them and we don\u2019t know why.\nIt happened to me. Three of my babies died before Vasettha was born.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kisa looked at\nthe earthen floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou will have\nmore,\u201d her mother-in-law went on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a few\nmoments a succession of ideas passed through Kisa\u2019s mind: her joy at the birth\nof a healthy boy, after her painful labour, only a few weeks before; her belief\nthat he would grow into a fine man; intense mortification at the joy that had\nbeen suddenly denied here; then, finally, guilt. It must be a punishment for\nsomething she had done wrong. But what?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a\nmistake!\u201d Kisa cried abruptly, \u201cHe can\u2019t be dead. I don\u2019t deserve this!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With that she\ntore out of the house and down the street, still clutching her dead baby. She\ndidn\u2019t know where she was going, only that she had to get away and find someone\nto fix this mistake. She cried out and muttered to herself as she ran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cKisa! Why are\nyou making so much noise?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A familiar\nharsh voice had hailed her from a rooftop. She turned in confusion. It was\nDona, the corpulent Brahmin who employed her to clean his house. He sat on his\nroof-top every morning to recite prayers to the rising sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my baby,\u201d\nshe managed to say, \u201cMy mother-in-law says he is dead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She looked up\ntowards the Brahmin for a moment, but did not meet his eyes. She recalled how\nDona had unsuccessfully tried to seduce her about a year ago, though he had\nresentfully left her alone after she became pregnant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHa! All you\ndeserve, girl, for neglecting your duty! It is your own karma!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She could not\ndefy him, but nor could she accept his judgement. She fled further down the\nstreet and squatted beneath the banyan tree by the well, moaning softly to\nherself. She became wrapped up in her own self-pitying world for a while,\nabstracted from all contact with others. Some women of a different caste, who\nwere drawing water from the well, ignored her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally there\ncame a touch at her elbow. It was Rupa, her closest friend since childhood. She\nseemed to have heard the news. \u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d She said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suddenly the\ntorment from which Kisa had fled re-awakened in her. \u201cHe\u2019s not dead!\u201d she\ncried, \u201cI don\u2019t deserve this! I\u2019m not guilty!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPerhaps it is a sin from a past life, not\nfrom this one,\u201d Rupa gently suggested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, no, I have\ndone no sin.\u201d Here she thought again about the sin she had avoided with Dona.\n\u201cI will find a real holy man who knows this, that I have done no sin. He will\nunderstand, then he can make Siddhattha all right again!\u201d She was suddenly\nresolved, her heart beating fast again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut he\u2019s\ndead\u2026. \u201c began Rupa, then realised that her friend was in no state to accept\nthis. Then an idea occurred to her. \u201cI do know a holy man\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWho? Where?\u201d\ndemanded Kisa eagerly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe came to the\nmango grove yesterday, a very famous holy man. They call him Buddha, and they\nsay he can read people\u2019s minds and do great miracles. But the Brahmins hate\nhim. Dona will forbid you to see him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the mango\ngrove?\u201d The hairs prickled on the back of Kisa\u2019s neck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kisa\nimmediately ran off, still with the bundle in her arms, straight for the mango\ngrove outside the town. Rupa called after her, warning her of her parents\u2019 and\nemployer\u2019s disapproval, but soon saw it was no use, and went back to her work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Kisa\narrived at the mango grove, the Buddha and his followers had just risen from\ntheir morning meditation, and were about to go into the town on their\nalms-round. One of the followers intercepted her as she entered the grove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPlease could I\nsee Buddha?\u201d she begged, \u201cIt\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot now,\u201d said\nthe follower, \u201cThe Master is about to begin his alms-round. Come back this\nafternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the Buddha\nwas already coming towards them, and Kisa ran away from the follower and up to\nhim, falling on her knees before him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPlease,\u201d she\nsaid, \u201cMy name is Kisa, and they say my baby has died, but it\u2019s all a mistake.\nI\u2019ve done nothing wrong! Please can you bring my baby back to life?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was\nshaking, too nervous to observe the Buddha\u2019s serene, compassionate expression,\nor the animation of his disciples, who were gathering around them. Bring her\nbaby back to life? The Master did not do cheap tricks like that. This woman\nought to know better than to ask him for such a thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Buddha\npondered for a few moments, then at length he said, \u201cI teach the way to end all\nsuffering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kisa\u2019s spirits\nrose. Did that mean he could end hers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut there is\nonly one way I can suggest to end your anguish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He paused.\nSurely that meant he could bring her baby back to life!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFetch me a\ngrain of mustard seed. Just one single grain will do. But it must come from a\nhouse where no-one has ever died.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She immediately\nleapt up. \u201cYes sir, I\u2019ll do that. It won\u2019t take long. I\u2019ll be back very soon,\nsir.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mad with\nanxiety, she thought that the Buddha would soon depart on his alms-round, and\nshe must get the mustard-seed straight away before then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She ran to the\nnearest house, close to the mango grove. She did not know the people there, but\nsurely they could not refuse her simple request?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A woman opened\nthe door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPlease \u2013 I\nknow this is strange \u2013 but could I have a grain of mustard seed? The Buddha\u2019s\nabout to go on his alms-round and he needs it for my baby.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The woman\nlooked extremely puzzled, and did not move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, and there\nmustn\u2019t have been anybody died in the house. The mustard seed must come from a\nhouse where nobody has died.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The woman\nsmiled mirthlessly, \u201cThen I\u2019m sorry, I can\u2019t help you there. My father died in\nthis house only a few months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before she\nreached the next house, Kisa had begun to realise that the requirement of\nsomeone not having died in the house was likely to be important. This time she\nbegan with, \u201cPlease could you tell me whether anyone has died in this house?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes, miss, my\ngranddaughter died here only last year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe gods took\nmy mother from here five years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy uncle died\nhere only last week. You must know him, he sold vegetables in the town. Have\nyou not heard?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDied? People\ndie all the time. Why do you ask?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After twenty\nhouses, Kisa was once again distraught. How could she get back to the Buddha in\ntime now? She went back to the well and sat down again beneath the banyan tree.\nShe looked again at the frozen face of her child. People died all the time. And\nhe was dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The words of\nthe Buddha came back to her: \u201cThere is only one way I can suggest to end your\nanguish,\u201d he had said. She suddenly realised that he hadn\u2019t actually promised\nto bring her child back to life. Of course, if she had thought about it she\nwould probably have realised that lots of people die, but she had been too\nupset to think. She began to realise, though, that Siddhattha was one of the\npeople who had to die. Maybe she didn\u2019t deserve it, but the fact was that he\nwas dead. As acceptance gradually filled her she slowly began to weep tears of\nrelief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a while\nshe got up and went back home. The little body was cremated by the river bank\nthat very afternoon, with Dona officiating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That evening,\nas the sun was sinking, she returned to the mango grove to see the Buddha\nagain. She found him deep in discussion with his disciples, but they broke off\nas she approached. She bowed respectfully before the Buddha, with a heavy heart\nbut composed mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI did not find\nthe mustard seed, sir, for I believe there is not one house in the whole town\nwhere no-one has died. I believe you sent me on that errand so I should learn\nthat I\u2019m not the only one. Am I right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou are right,\nmy daughter. It is good that you have understood this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have another\nquestion, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPlease ask\nit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou said that\nyou teach the way to end suffering. Please teach me what that way is. How is it\npossible to end suffering?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI cannot take\naway old age, sickness, withering and death, but I can help you overcome the\nanguish these things bring with them. The first step in that way you have\nalready gone, which is to recognise that suffering exists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDid I deserve\nit? Is it a punishment?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMaybe, maybe\nnot. That is not important. But once you have accepted that suffering exists,\nyou can begin the Path which ends anguish. The Path is a long and difficult\nPath, but if you become my disciple, I will teach you more of this Path.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nused to be a good friend of Immanuel Kant\u2019s. In our youth we were students\ntogether at the university, and when he was a young tutor we used to play\nbilliards together. Kant used to empty my pockets in the most civilised manner\npossible, simply by applying his skill, and I never had the heart to refuse to\nbet, knowing how useful he found the money. As we got older, I moved away to Berlin. Kant stayed in\nK\u00f6nigsberg, and our contact grew less frequent. Whenever I came back to\nK\u00f6nigsberg to visit friends and relatives, though, he always gave me a warm\nwelcome. He would entertain me to dinner, always eager for news from the\ncapital, where he had never been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\nwas on one such occasion later in our lives, when I found myself asking Kant\u2019s\nmoral advice. We had been out of touch for some time \u2013 at least two years \u2013\nwhen I visited on this occasion, and as I met him again I realised how much I\nregretted this and valued contact with my upright friend. He was delighted to\nsee me after such a long interval, and extremely hospitable, despite being much\noccupied with his work. He had recently published his first important book on\nethics, his Groundwork of the Metaphysics\nof Morals<\/em>, but I could never have the patience for reading such heavy stuff\nmyself. I wanted his advice for a more practical reason, without lots of\ntheory, and I had a sense that he might be able to help me. The problem was one\nthat lay close to my heart, though, and at first I was not quite sure how to\napproach it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo\nyou really believe, my friend, that your moral philosophy can provide guidance\nto every man in every circumstance?\u201d I asked, between mouthfuls of liver\nsausage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf\nit could not guide every man in every circumstance, it would not be a moral\nphilosophy!\u201d Kant replied. \u201cNo duty is moral if it is not universal. It must be\nincumbent on all, equally, without exception, if it is to be a moral duty. In\nmy view that is the whole difference between moral duties and other kinds of\nduties. A moral duty is a universal duty, but a non-moral duty is one that only\napplies in some particular set of circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen,\nas my situation is one where I would like to know my moral duty, I wonder if I\ncould ask your advice about one particular case.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow\ncould I refuse such advice to such an old friend! Go ahead, Walter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\nis about my wife.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kant\u2019s\neyes widened slightly in surprise, and I realised that I had never told him\nabout my marriage. I remembered thinking of writing to him to let him know, but\nthen feeling uncomfortable about doing so and doing something else instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\ndon\u2019t believe I have met the good lady,\u201d said Kant. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t think you can\nhave been long married, can you? For when I saw you last, as far as I remember,\nthere was no mention of marriage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\nwere married in Berlin\nlast year. It is late in my life to give up being a bachelor, I know, but I had\nbegun to see old age ahead, and believe that I would need a young wife to help\nme through it. Then I met Kisa, a very pretty and spirited young thing, who\nseemed quite happy to marry a dull old fellow like me. I was flattered by how\neagerly she accepted my proposal, and we got married very quickly. But she\u2019s\nnot much of a traveller \u2013like yourself, Immanuel \u2013 so I\u2019ve never brought her to\nK\u00f6nigsberg.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For\na moment I almost fancied I saw a flicker of emotion in Kant\u2019s eyes, which I\nmight have ascribed to a touch of envy, had I not known him better. I knew he\nwould never marry, for I could never imagine what wife would be able to live\nwith so much stern rectitude and precision, tempered though it often was with\nkindness. Nor would he ever allow thoughts of female company to distract him\nfrom the discipline of his work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cStill,\nyou have made the marriage now, so presumably it is not your marriage that you\nwish to ask my advice about?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIndeed\nnot. There is more to tell. Very soon after we were married, Kisa fell\npregnant, and earlier this year a baby was born: a handsome boy in good\nhealth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\nhad no idea you were a father as well. My congratulations!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m\nafraid congratulations are now no longer appropriate. Two weeks ago the baby\ndied, very suddenly and mysteriously.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m\nvery sorry to hear that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe\ntrouble is, that when I left Berlin\ntwo days ago, Kisa had still not got over this. She has been absolutely\ndestroyed by the death. I had to leave because I could not bear to be in the\nhouse with her any longer. She still carries the corpse of the baby around with\nher, and will not let it go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGood\nheavens! After two weeks!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe\nflesh has been rotting, and the corpse has begun to stink, but she still\ncarries it around with her and speaks to it, and tries to feed it from her\nbreast. She will not listen to any reason, and when I try to take the baby away\nshe becomes absolutely savage and clings onto it fiercely.\u201d The pain of\nrecalling all this, so recent, began to rise to my throat, and I had to cover\nmy face with my hands. \u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d When I looked up again, Kant was looking\ndirectly at me with eyes full of compassion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\nsounds like madness, Walter. Have you seen a physician?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes,\nseveral. They all said that the baby should be taken from her forcibly, and she\nshould be taken to a hospital for the insane. But I cannot bear to do it, for I\nfeel that it is my fault that she is like this, that I brought her to this by\nmarrying her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCome,\ncome! How could it be your fault?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf\nI had not married her so young, she would not have had to face this. I feel\nthat I married her for my comfort, not hers, and somehow this has been my\npunishment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo,\nWalter, this is irrational. You cannot be to blame.\u201d Kant got up and began to\npace the room, somewhat stiffly, leaving his potatoes uneaten. \u201cFor who would\nblame any man for acting as you did? You did not marry her against her will,\nbut she freely entered into the contract. You have not treated her as a means\nto an end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\ndon\u2019t think you understand. Before we were married, yes, she was free enough:\nfree as a bird that willingly flies into its cage, to have the door shut on it.\nBut after we were married, when she became pregnant, she began to change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn\nwhat way?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe\nbegan to lose interest in things. She did not sleep. She became listless. When\nI asked her what was the matter, she would not tell me. But looking back at it\nnow, I believe she felt trapped.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut\nshe did not tell you so?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo.\nShe would never admit it. Then when her baby was born, suddenly she was so\nhappy again, she was so devoted to it. She had a new interest in life. I began\nto think that what she had been through was just a phase women go through after\nmarriage, and that now she was a mother we would all be happy. And so it seemed\n\u2013 until the baby died.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\nsee. Well, perhaps she did feel trapped. But I still do not think you are to\nblame at all. When we enter a contract like marriage, freely, we are using our\npractical reason. It is our responsibility to consider such a step carefully,\nand to ensure that we are acting in accordance with duty, not simply in\naccordance with desire. If we act rashly in making such a contract,\nnevertheless we are responsible for our step and should act in accordance with\nour commitments. As long as she was an adult in possession of her reason, it\nwas her responsibility to act autonomously in deciding whether to marry you. So\nyou have not abused her in any way. Your conscience should be clear, Walter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nnodded, and realised that I felt relieved. With such an upright man before me,\nI could believe what he said, and feel more fully absolved than any Christian\npriest could have made me. \u201cBut Immanuel,\u201d I went on, \u201cIt is not just that I\nfeel guilty. I cannot bear to send her to an asylum. I do not know what to do\nnext.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kant\npaused in his pacing. \u201cWhat to do next? Hm. Well, you asked me about my moral\nphilosophy. This is my moral philosophy: act according to that maxim which you\ncan will to be a universal law. So, look at yourself and your situation. Try to\nleave your feelings behind and use reason alone, for feelings will not lead you\nto do your duty. Think what you would wish every man in your situation to do,\nwhat principle you would wish him to follow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\ndo not know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThink\nof the possible courses of action before you. What could you do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\ncould take the baby away from her by force and bury it, and send her to the\nhospital.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd\nif you did that, what principle would you be following?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\ndo not understand.\u201d I became confused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat\nwould you be trying to do? What would be the intention behind that action if\nyou were to do it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\nwould be trying to help her, and release her from suffering; and myself too, I\nsuppose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd\nwould you not want every man to act in that way in similar circumstances?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes,\nI suppose so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen\nyou would be following a universal maxim. You would be doing your duty. I\nbelieve that you should follow what your reasoning tells you to do, not your\nfeelings of guilt. In any case, what else could you do? What alternative course\nof action is there?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\ncould leave her to carry on like this \u2013 with this mad pretence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd\nif you did that, what maxim would you be following?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\npaused, confused again. \u201cI\u2019m not sure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen\nlet me tell you, Walter. You would be indulging your irrational feelings of\nguilt. If you would not want every man in your circumstance to indulge his\nirrational feelings of guilt, then do not act in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nswallowed. \u201cYes, I think I see. It is hard, but I think you have given me the\nright advice. Indeed, you have told me what I ought to have known for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\nis not just your duty to yourself that is involved, Walter; it is your duty to\nher. You are bound to her by a contract for the rest of your days. It is your\nduty to do what will be best for her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes,\nyes, I see. I think I have to go. Yes, I must get the next stagecoach back to Berlin, without delay.\nThank you, Immanuel: I am immensely indebted to you for what you have made\nclear to me this evening.\u201d I looked into his eyes and saw only stern\nfriendship. \u201cI don\u2019t know why I had to come as far as K\u00f6nigsberg to start\nthinking straight, but I am grateful to you nevertheless. I will write and let\nyou know the issue of this business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leaving\nmy long-neglected liver sausage half-eaten, I rushed from the room. Jeremy Bentham to James\nMill, esquire<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dear\nJames,<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nyour last letter you ask me a vexing question which it has been much my trouble\nto try to answer, though I think I have it now. You ask me whether it is truly\nfor the greatest good of the greatest number that everyone should judge by\nutilitarian principles, given that some will not judge them justly. At first I\nfound this question in your letter, but put it by for a while upon more\npressing business. However, a most vexing incident recently has made me once\nmore conscious of it, and meant I most instantly required a solution of it. I\nwill explain the circumstance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\nis a young man, the son of my neighbour, Sir William Hunt, who is also called\nWilliam and has always been a most credulous youth. He was much struck with the\ndoctrines of utilitarianism when listening to me talking to Sir William as a\nboy, and would often ask me about them. When he got a bit older though, he\nstarted to go into the city and do the things that young gentlemen do, in\ncompany with his friends. Sometimes his father wouldn\u2019t see him for days on\nend, but he didn\u2019t seem too concerned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then\none day, when I called upon Sir William upon some other business, I found him\nvery downcast. He explained that he was very disappointed in young William, who\nhad always been so much his father\u2019s favourite, and so eager about\nutilitarianism. He had just heard some very disappointing news about him (and\nhere he begged my secrecy), that he had got a wench with child! All this\nsporting in London\nhad clearly done him no good, and his dubious friends no better. I expressed my\ndisapprobation of his behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But\nthe news got worse as the months went by. It seemed that the girl was not just\nsome serving maid, but come from quite a respectable family, though fallen on\nhard times and not well-off. Her parents, on hearing the news, threw her out of\nthe house and would have nothing more to do with her. Sir William insisted that\nhis son find her a place to live, and paid for it from his own expenses, to\nsave her from the workhouse. All this bad news came to me in instalments from\nSir William, who badly needed a confidant. I was very happy to relieve him and\nsympathise, but it never occurred to me at this time that the business would\ncome to more closely concern myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then,\nlast week, I heard that the baby had been born: a sickly and fretful baby. Sir\nWilliam continued to ensure that the girl was quietly taken care of, and it\nseemed that young William was remorseful and wanted to marry her, but Sir\nWilliam would not hear of him throwing away his prospects and his reputation in\nsuch a way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then\njust yesterday, to my astonishment, I received a call from young William. He\ncame in with a furtive, hunted expression and said immediately, \u201cMr Bentham,\nplease, I need your help. You must hide me!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHide\nyou? Whatever for? And who from? If this is some game\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo,\nno,\u201d he insisted, \u201cI am in earnest. The constables are looking for me. I have\ndone no wrong, but I have broken the law. I know you will help me, for I have\nonly followed the principles you always taught.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At\nthis point a foreboding of the young man\u2019s real na\u00efvet\u00e9 and its effects struck\nme, but I still pretended mere astonishment. \u201cFollowed the principles I always\ntaught? But the constables are after you? What have you done?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\nkilled the baby, Kisa\u2019s baby. I thought she would be pleased, but she didn\u2019t\nunderstand at all. She went and told the constables. It was all to produce the\ngreatest happiness of the greatest number, you see. I was unhappy, Kisa was\nunhappy, the baby was unhappy, my father was unhappy, her father was unhappy.\nWhat was the life of a sickly child, like to die anyway, compared to all that\nunhappiness it was causing? I was sure I was doing the right thing.\u201d He went on\nlike this at some length, justifying himself in the most ludicrous fashion\nimaginable, until I interrupted him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\nfool!\u201d I cried, \u201cYou absolute fool! I never taught you this! Can\u2019t you see that\nif the state were to bring in a law for the killing of sickly and illegitimate\ninfants, that would be one thing, but to take it into your own hands another!\nDear God! Now you are a murderer and may be hanged! If it were left to the\njudgement of every man who begets a bastard that he might kill it, where would\nthe country be! Full of infanticides and bloody babes! Utilitarianism does not\noverride the law, but bids you follow the law for the greatest happiness of\nall, and where it wants alteration argue your case in parliament! If you break\nthe law you must meet its penalties. You will go to the scaffold!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nboy looked absolutely terrified. His whole security had collapsed in a moment,\nfor he seemed to have absolutely believed that I would support him in a secret\nmoral crusade against the law. At length he cried, \u201cPlease, help me! I have\nbeen such a fool. I felt it was wrong when I plunged in the knife, but I made\nmyself do it for the greater good. Please help me!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\nwill not defend you.\u201d I replied, \u201cIf you give your na\u00efve utilitarian justification\nas defence, you will be laughed out of court.\u201d Then it occurred to me that\nutilitarianism would also become the laughingstock of London, and many good purposes we have for\nreform, which would indeed really bring greater happiness, would be set back for\nmany years. \u201cI have a good mind to let you hang for this\u201d I said, not quite\ntruly, \u201cbut I will help you as much as I can for your father\u2019s sake. Go and\nhide in the cellar for now: if the constables call I don\u2019t think they will\nsearch this house when I give my word falsely, breaking the law myself for your\nsake. I will try to make arrangements to get you abroad, and I will tell Sir\nWilliam what has passed secretly after you are gone, but no-one else. You must\nmake a new life for yourself, giving up all expectation of inheritance, all\nfamiliar habits, and count yourself lucky to be alive. Go!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So,\nhaving explained the circumstances, it is now that I must ask your help, dear\nJames. Please could you use your position at the East India Company to find him\na secret passage out of London\non a ship? It does not matter where. A ship bound for India might drop him en route, perhaps in Lisbon, with little\ntrouble, I think. I will undertake to get him to the docks in a closed\ncarriage, if you will arrange a discreet passage on board ship. As soon as\npossible, for he cannot stay hiding in my cellar for ever, and I have already\nput off two constables and Sir William.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But\nmy tale is not yet done, for it is not only the boy that had to be considered\nif the reputation of utilitarianism is to be saved. I also had to see the girl\nand ensure her silence. I travelled in haste to the lodgings I knew had been\nfound for her by Thames Street,\nand found to my relief that she had told no-one else but the constables. My\nrelief on this score, however, was tempered by distress at the distracted state\nI found her in, still holding the dead baby. At first I started to explain to\nher why William had done the deed, why I was also concerned, and why it was\nimportant to maintain silence, but I soon realised this was useless, for she\nwas not taking in my words. All I could get out of her was that she loved the\nbaby, that William was evil, but that she felt she had done the killing too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow\ncan you have done it?\u201d I asked, \u201cWasn\u2019t it William who killed the child?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut\nI was complaining!\u201d She cried, \u201cWhen really the baby was the best thing that\never happened to me, the greatest thing I ever loved! It was me who did it\nreally!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Suddenly\nI was struck by another thought, and no longer attempted to remove this idea\nfrom her mind. Her confusion might do what her clarity could not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nthen did the hardest thing I have ever done, though with mature consideration\nand, I think, a clear conscience. I went and told the constable that it was my\nregrettable duty to inform him that, on talking to Miss Kisa in relation to the\nlegal aspects of the case, she had herself confessed to killing the baby,\nmeaning that her accusation against young Mr William Hunt must be false. I may\nhave to commit perjury in court before all this is finished, but in a good\ncause. If you wonder at me, James, think of all the thousands, nay millions,\nwho will benefit from the utilitarian reforms we are proposing. What is the\nlife of a girl compared to all that unhappiness relieved?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nthen immediately returned home, so have not yet been informed whether Miss Kisa\nhas been arrested, or how that case is progressing. You may think that if it\nsucceeds, then young William can be saved from his exile. I would not agree\nwith this line of thinking, for to remove all risk he must not be in the\ncountry when this case goes to court, and there is also a risk that the case\nmay fail because her testimony will be so inconsistent. Perhaps he can return\nafter a few years when it has all blown over. I think we can rely upon Sir\nWilliam\u2019s discretion particularly in that case, and of course I know I can rely\nabsolutely on yours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nthink that I now probably no longer need to answer the question you posed in\nyour last letter. Certainly those who do not judge justly should not attempt to\njudge by utilitarian principles. Heaven save utilitarianism from those who do\nnot judge it justly! We must make a stronger point from now on, I believe, of\nstating that utilitarianism is a principle for legislators, not for personal\nconduct. For personal conduct we should follow law and common morality, the\nfollowing of which is in general for the greatest happiness of the greatest\nnumber, and thus indirectly supported by our principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yours\netc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jeremy Bentham <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nVariation 14: Bentham<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Go to main page for this book<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Theme: The Buddha As soon as Kisa woke up she realised something was wrong. She turned over automatically in the straw to find Siddhattha and give him her breast. In the half-light she groped for her baby, but found a bundle that was heavy and inert. Her heart suddenly pounding, she gently shook him: there […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":426,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_oct_exclude_from_cache":false,"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertmellis.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/656"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertmellis.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertmellis.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertmellis.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertmellis.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertmellis.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":660,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertmellis.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/656\/revisions\/660"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertmellis.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertmellis.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}