In1765hisfathermarriedMrsAbbot，themotherofCharlesAbbot，afterwardsLordColchester。Bentham’sdislikeofhisstep-motherincreasedthedistancebetweenhimandhisfather。HetookhisM。A。degreein1766andin1767finallyleftOxfordforLondontobegin，ashisfatherfondlyhoped，afighttowardsthewoolsack。Thelad’sdiffidenceandextremeyouthhadindeedpreventedhimfromformingtheusualconnectionswhichhisfatheranticipatedastheresultofacollegelife。Hiscareerasabarristerwasshortandgrievouslydisappointingtotheparentalhopes。Hisfather，liketheElderFairfordinRedgauntlet，had’acauseortwoatnurse’fortheson。Theson’sfirstthoughtwasto’putthemtodeath。’Abriefwasgiventohiminasuit，uponwhich£；50depended。Headvisedthatthesuitshouldbedroppedandthemoneysaved。Otherexperiencesonlyincreasedhisrepugnancetohisprofession。11*
AsingularlystrongimpressionhadbeenmadeuponhimbytheMemoirsofTeresaConstantiaPhipps，inwhichthereisanaccountofvexatiouslegalproceedingsastotheheroine’smarriage。Heappearstohavefirstreadthisbookin1759。Then，hesays，the’DemonofChicaneappearedtomeinallhishideousness。
Ivowedwaragainsthim。Myvowhasbeenaccomplished！’12*Benthamthuswenttothebarasa’beartothestake。’Hedivergedinmorethanonedirection。
HestudiedchemistryunderFordyce1736-1802，andhankeredafterphysicalscience。Hewaslongafterwards1788memberofaclubtowhichSirJosephBanks，JohnHunter，R。L。Edgeworth，andothermenofscientificreputationbelonged。13*Buthehaddriftedintoacourseofspeculation，which，thoughmoregermanetolegalstudies，wasequallyfataltoprofessionalsuccess。
Thefatherdespaired，andhewasconsideredtobea’lostchild。’