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    tertaining one or two guests , never more than two at a ( i 1 e ; and , after dinner , of discussing some particular point with them on which they were most competent to speak . He was a great economist of lime , anxLall his occupations were

    systematically arranged . 1 hough of delicate constitution in his youth , he gradually increased in vigour as he approached manhood , and for 60 years he scarcely suffered from even slight indisposition . At the age of 84 he was not constitutionally older than most men are at 60 , and the clearness and power of his intellect remained nearly unimpaired to the last .

    " The serenity and cheerfulness of his mind , when he became satisfied that his work was done , and that he was about to lie down to his final rest , was truly affecting . On that work he looked back with a feeling which would have been a feeling of triumph , had not the consciousness of how much still remained to be done , changed it to that of sorrow , that he was allowed to do no more : but this feeling again gave place to a calm but deep emotion of exultation , as he recollected that he left behind him able , zealous , and faithful minds , that would enter ipto his labours

    and complete them . " The last subject on which he conversed with me , and the last office in which he employed me , related to the permanent improvement of the circumstances of a family , the junior member of which had contributed , in some degree , to his personal comfort ; and I was deeply impressed and affected by the contrast thus brought to my view , between the selfishness and apathy so often the companions of age , and the generous care for the welfare of others , of which his heart was full .

    " Among the very last things which his hand penned , in a book of memoranda , in which he was accustomed to note down any thought or feeling that passed through his mind , for future revision and use , if susceptible of use , was found the following passage : — " * I am a selfish man , as selfish as any man can be . But in me ,

    somehow or other , so it happens , selfishness has taken the > shap © of benevolence . No other man is there upon earth , the sight of whose sufferings would not to me be a more or less painful one : no man upon earth is there , the sight of whose enjoyments , unless believed by me to be derived from a more than equivalent suffering endured by some other man , would not be of a pleasurable nature rather than of a painful one . Such in me is the force of sympathy V

    " And this force of sympathy governed his very last hour of consciousness . Some time before his death , when he firmly believed he was near that last hour , he said to one of his disciples who was watching over him : —* I now feel that I am dying . Do not let any of the . servants come into the room , and keep away the youths ; it will be distressing to them , and they can be of no service . Yet I must not be alone ; you will remain with me , and you only ; and then we shall have reduced the pain to the least possible amount . "—Lecture , p . 68—60 . He died on the 6 th of June 1832 , in the 86 th year of his age . S , D .

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    Memoranda ofBentham . 21

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1837, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1827/page/23/