JOHN STUART MILL. 



713 



ordinary French literature. If we may judge from what he says after- 

 ward, his acquaintance with the literature was strictly ordinary y he 

 knew nothing of the French Revolution, and it was at a much later 

 period that he studied French authors for the improvement of his 

 style. 



He had still nearly two years before entering on official life ; and he 

 tells us how these were occupied. His father had become acquainted 

 with John Austin, who assisted him in Roman Law, his destination be- 

 ing the bar. He also got deep into Bentham for the first time, and began 

 Psychology. He now read the history of the French Revolution. An 

 undated letter to his fatlier probably belongs to this period. He was 

 on a visit to Mr. and Mrs. Austin at Norwich. The letter begins with 

 a short account of his studies. He read Blackstone (with Mr. Austin) 

 three or four hours daily and a portion of Bentham's " Introduction " (I 

 suppose the Morals and Legislation) in the evening. Among other 

 things, " I have found time to write the defense of Pericles in answer 

 to the accusation which you have with you. I have also found some 

 time to practice the delivery of the accusation, according to your direc- 

 tions." Then follows an account of a visit of ten days with the Austins 

 to the town of Yarmouth, with a description of the place itself. The 

 larger part of the letter is on the politics of Norwich, where " the Cause " 

 (Liberal) prospers ill, being still worse at Yarmouth. He has seen of 

 Radicals many ; of clear-headed men not one. The best is Sir Thomas 

 Beever, whom he wishes to be induced to come to London and see his 

 father and Mr. Grote. At Falmouth he had dined with Radical Palmer, 

 who had opened the borough to the Whigs ; not much better than a 

 mere Radical. " I have been much entertained by a sermon of Mr. Madge, 

 admirable as against Calvinists and Catholics, but the weakness of 

 which as against anybody else I think he himself must have felt." The 

 concluding paragraph of the letter should have been a postscript : 



I wish I had nothing else to tell you, but I must inform you that I have 

 lost my watch. It was lost while I was out of doors, but it is iinpossible that 

 it should have been stolen from my pocket. It must therefore be my own fault. 

 The loss itself (though I am conscious that I must remain without a watch tiU I 

 can buy one for myself) is to me not great — much less so than my carelessness 

 deserves. It must however vex you — and deservedly, from the bad sign which 

 it affords of me. 



On his return from France, he resumed energetically the task of 

 home teaching; making a great improvement in the lot of his pupils, 

 who were exclusively under their father's care in the interval ; for while 

 he scolded them freely for their stupidity and backwardness, he took 

 pains to explain their lessons, which their father never did. He was 

 kept at this work ever after. I remember on one occasion hearing from 

 Mrs. Grote that she had turned up an old letter from James Mill, in an- 

 swer to an invitation to John to accompany Mr. Grote and her on a 



VOL. XIT. — 46 



