118 JOSEPH PRIESTLEY. [LEOT. 



farther would nave shown Priestley that his material- 

 ism was, essentially, very little different from the 

 Idealism of his contemporary, the Bishop of Cloyne. 



As Priestley's philosophy is mainly a clear state- 

 ment of the views of the deeper thinkers of his day, 

 so are his political conceptions based upon those of 

 Locke. Locke's aphorism that " the end of govern- 

 ment is the good of mankind," is thus expanded by 

 Priestley : 



" It must necessarily be understood, therefore, whether it be 

 expressed or not, that all people live in society for their mutual 

 advantage; so that the good and happiness of the members, 

 that is, of the majority of the members, of any state, is the 

 great standard by which everything relating to that state must 

 finally be determined." ] 



The little sentence here interpolated, " that is, of 

 the majority of the members of any state," appears to 

 be that passage which suggested to Bentham, accord- 

 ing to his own acknowledgment, the famous "greatest 

 happiness" formula, which by substituting "happi- 

 ness " for " good," has converted a noble into an 

 ignoble principle. But I do not call to mind that 

 there is any utterance in Locke quite so outspoken as 

 the following passage in the "Essay on the First 

 Principles of Government." After laying down as 

 "a fundamental maxim in all governments," the 

 proposition that "kings, senators, and nobles" are 

 "the servants of the public," Priestley goes on to 

 say: 



1 " Essay on the First Principles of Government." Second edition, 

 1771, p. 13. 



