(3)

I have lately called your attention to many most remarkable instances of the lamentable incapacity to which I refer; and these have been exhibited chiefly by persons on whom the people have been taught to look as leaders or instructors in the science of social conduct and general government. Perhaps you will retort upon me, that my objection contains nothing new that the same incapacity has been exhibited in all communities of people, and in all ages of the world; and, hence, that it is indissolubly bound up with the destinies of the human race.

I grant this; but, what then? The contest between good and evil still remains. It has ever constituted-it constitutes now-and will henceforward constitute the great conflict. We cannot mingle in the great strife, survey the combatants, choose on which side we ourselves will serve, and endeavour to influence the decisions of other men, without feeling the deepest interest in the resultwithout rejoicing when we see the contest nobly and truly pursued ; and, on the other hand, lamenting deeply when we see defections from the ranks of honour. justice, and truth, occur. It is for the purpose of assisting us in this great conflict that superior light has been given to us. By becoming willing recipients of this light, we derive the ability of distinguishing good from evil, and we acquire the power of becoming the successful servant of the one and the foe of the other. Knowing, then, that the evil has existed, that it exists at the present moment, and having been assured, by unerring authority, that it will continue to exist and even increase in intensity, the great conclusion we have to regard with respect to the destiny of individuals, and communities of individuals, consists in a question of number or degree. The question will be-how many persons are right, and how many are wrong?

Who, then, are they who can avoid entertaining sympathy on this great and momentous question? None but the insensate and lost! When, therefore, we discern so many men becoming traitors to the noblest of all causes; professing the name, but denying the nature; cherishing, in their own persons, the spirit of the world, and refusing admission to the spirit of truth, we cannot but lament, for it is by this process that the moral and spiritual strength of individuals becomes impaired and destroyed; and if of individuals, so of nations. As increase of means, of wealth, and of power, is extended in a nation, so the people become more and more desirous of gratifying their excited inclinations. All become impatient of restraint, and unwilling to submit to any law which shall establish the necessity of one individual foregoing the indulgence of a selfish gratification, in order that the welfare of another may be insured. The disease slowly, though gradually and with certainty, spreads, until at length both governors and governed come to the abominable agreement of sacrificing all good principle of public action, and, by common consent, adopt the maxim that what is pleasant is right-that individual advantage or enjoyment eventuates in public good. This, I contend, is the formidable, the vile, the dangerous, and the prevailing feature of our present social condition. It constitutes an attempt to revive the philosophy of Epicurus by endeavouring to surround viciousness with all the sanctions of moral and physical science. That the general actions and arguments of our countrymen take this fatal direction, I have already shown you, and I will now give you further proof of this appalling fact.

Amongst the number of ingenious devices which the free principle of trade sanctions, and which have been resorted to of late years in this country, for the purpose of getting, or rather filching money, no device has been more ingeniously contrived, more conspicuously advocated, and more generally destructive, than that of joint-stock trading. If the number of these schemes were to be stated, together with the amount of capital proposed to be employed in them, the sum total would be so great as scarcely to come within the compass of credibility. With respect to the character avouched of them, one peculiar feature is placed by their projectors in front of all of them, and that feature is-THE PUBLIC GOOD. Thus, when a party of men of fortune subscribe portions of their property, and constitute themselves a public company, for the purpose of depriving a number of poor and industrious washerwomen of the source by which they procure a scanty livelihood, it is all done under the noble pretext of doing good to the great monster-the Public. There is one paragraph, to be sure, in the Prospectus of the company, which sets forth the large profits which will certainly accrue to those who take a share in the project; but still the good of the public is declared to be the main object of the design. So again with the company of gentlemen who propose to increase their own wealth by encroaching on the trade of the poor milk-sellers. All is done for the public good. Excellent men! Excellent milk! The very milk of human kindness! Likewise in the case of those gentlemen again who propose to accommodate the public by superseding the employment of the hard-working carriers. The advantage to accrue to the public is declared to be incalculable. Thus we may see men who have amassed ample fortunes in business, and who have retired to their suburban villas, or to their mansions in the Regent's Park, and others who are still deriving large incomes from professions and trades, seeking to increase their gains by abstracting something from the businesses of other men. The principle thus set in motion against the poor and the weak, is applied with equal force to other more powerful interests, and even the great business of banking is attacked and prostrated. And this iniquity is all perpetrated unblushingly. The liberal and enlightened philosophy of the age affixes to it the seal of its approbation; and few men are to be found who will characterize these proceedings by appropriate language.

I will now ask you to look earnestly at one of the more recent of these examples of modern cupidity, veiled as I have before described. The scheme has been ushered forth to the country under the title of The British Watch and Clock-Making Company." The leader of this design is a person of no less rank than that of a Duke. It is the Duke of Hamilton. So that here we have one of the highest peers of the realm consenting to become chief competitor in the trade of watch and clock-making. The capital proposed to be invested is 250.0007., and not to exceed 500,000. It is declared, in the Prospectus issued by the company, that a certain Mr. Ingold has, after twenty years of labour and the exercise of great ingenuity, succeeded in inventing machines, "by which [to use the words of the Prospectus] a most incredible number of watches of every variety of size, and of unequalled and uniform accuracy, can be made in a day." It is then proposed, that instead of the various parts of the watches and clocks being made, as they now are, in different

places, and fitted together at the houses of the working 'men, that all the component parts shall be put together under one roof, or in large manufactories, the newly invented machines being applied.

Then there comes a very important passage, which is as follows:-"An examination of the different machines would satisfy any one acquainted with the watch-making business, that there is a POSITIVE CERTAINTY of obtaining a profit of not less than thirty per cent. on the capital employed by the company, AND A STRONG PROBABILITY of a much larger profit." This, of course, is the nectar of the cup-the sparkling, inviting, and inebriating draught, coutaining just so much Lethean admixture as will allay the compunctious visitings of conscience." A positive certainty of thirty per cent, profit, with a strong probability-of much more!! Pretty good trade this, our Grace of Hamilton-head Watch and Clock-Maker of Great Britain! Oh, Shylock! Shylock! how happy thou would have been to have lived in this age of thirty per cent. profit, and probably much more!

The Prospectus contains some observations on the present state and prospects of the watch and clock-making trade; and it is asserted, that the existing competition has compelled the masters to have recourse to every possible means of bringing down the price; and there occurs a passage as follows: The profits of the master, and the wages of the workmen, have been reduced to the lowest scale; and it is painful to add, that in too many instances the work is badly executed."

Then succeeds the following very important assurance: The saving of both time and money, through the proposed improvement in the system of this manufacture, will be so great, that the company will be able to offer to the trade all the component parts of watches (better made, and finished more perfectly than they can be under the present system) at thirty per cent. under the actual price now paid for them."

Thus the community is informed, with respect to the profits accruing to the sellers of watches. and the wages awarded to the workmen, that both are, at present, reduced to the lowest scale; and then this company proceed to declare, that they will sell their commodity thirty per cent. cheaper than this the lowest scale. In the next place, the company introduce a little show of sensibility; for they say "It is painful to add, that in too many instances the work is badly ex

ecuted."

Now, Sir. I entreat you to mark the exquisite, the generous sensibility here displayed. This notable company have the magnanimity to disdain all sensibility about the formidable and cruel fact of underselling the poor workmen, whose wages, they say, are already reduced to the lowest scale; but an expression of pain is elicited from their delicate, tender, and compassionate souls in behalf of the waich. It is painful, they say, to add, that the work is badly executed. Thus, in their estimation, the material is everything-man nothing. All sympathy is for matter-not a morsel is entertained for humanity. The numerous artisans, their wives, children, and all dependent on them, who may be now in the enjoyment of the necessaries, and some of the comforts of life, and able, perhaps, to keep up a tolerably happy home, are to be consigned to want of employment, and its attendant poverty, destitution, and misery, and no expression of pain is elicited; for this, the thirty per cent. profit, and perhaps more, is the potent and all-composing assuasive; but on account of the material or the watch, the feelings of this notable association are painfully awakened. Oh, Chivalry! Chivalry! how is thy character changed! Once the world was accustomed to behold thy prowess engaged in the cause of the weak. To see thee nobly throwing thyself in the gap between the oppressor and the oppressed, and braving an encounter, even to the death, in order to rescue the weak from the fangs of the strong; but in this age of meanness, we are doomed to witness the shame-inflicting spectacle of the head of the noble house of Hamilton and Brandon leading on a band of clock-making comrades for the purpose of making desolate and miserable the humble dwellings of peaceful artisans.

Having described forcibly the evils which arise to the country by being under-sold or deprived of its trade of watch and clock-making, the company arrive at the climax of their project, by holding out the prospect that, eventually, they expect to succeed in depriving foreigners of all their trade in watch and clock-making.

Such, as I have now described. is the true character of this remarkable project, one selected from a large number of a similar progeny, in which the people of this country have been encouraged to take delight. It would be a matter of satisfaction to know by what process of elaborate reasoning, or cunningly devised misrepresentation, the head of the house of Hamilton and Brandon was seduced into giving his assent to become a leader of this full-blown specimen of Utilitarian Philosophy-this exquisite elicitation of the greatest happiness principle.' Let watches and clocks be excellent and cheap, but let men, women, and children perish. Thirty per cent. profit, with a strong probability of much more! Elevated morality! Noble philosophy! Materialism brought to the acme of its perfection. As it was of old, so is it now. On all sides it is exclaimed-Prophecy unto us PLEASANT things! Make your philosophy agreeable and pleasing-administer to the desires of our body, and then we will have it. Our statesmen meanly comply, and instead of truth, prophecy deceits, and by such means bear rule.

We

Free-free-free: this is the great, the insidious charmer. Its offspring are multiplied incalculably-they surround us on every side-they are unceasingly gnawing our heart's core. complain, we deplore, we writhe, we call out in convulsive agony; but the spell of material love being strong, we turn away from the only remedy-the covenants and counsels of divine wisdom. Our sight being attracted more and more by alluring objects, we gratify-gratify-gratify; and deliberately invite the power that stings us to a closer and more endearing embrace.

I remain, Sir, your obedieat servant,

No. 16, Doughty Street, March 13th, 1843.

WILLIAM ATKINSON.

Printed by Vincent Torras & Co., 7, Palace Row, New Road, London.

THE

FLEET PAPERS.

NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

MR. OASTLER is removed from No. 2, in 10, to No. 8, in the State House. No. 8 is on the ground-floor, close to the front door, on the left.-MR. OASTLER begs to remind his friends, that oN MONDAY he is always occupied in writing; so that on that day HE IS NOT Ат Номе."

J. BAG SHOTT, London, is angry with Mr. Oastler for his remarks about the crime and verdict in M Naughten's case. Mr. O. cannot help it—he still thinks that the whole affair is in keeping with the spirit of the age. Why should assassins be responsible, when Ministers may order wholesale murder, as in Affghanistan, and, by inference, be declared irresponsible by Parliament? The wonder of the age is, that he who honestly holds, and boldly maintains the doctrine of irresponsibility, should be denounced as a monster not fit to live. While Mr. Robert Owen's principles are acted upon by the highest authorities, it is "too bad" that HE should be treated with contempt.

JOHN FLOCTON, Leeds.-Sir James Graham would not have consented to support Lord Ashley, if he had not perceived that a centralized scheme of Education would tend to the thraldom of the mind. These centralizing schemes, if persisted in, will destroy every particle of freedom in our institutions.

THE MORNING HERALD says, Mr. Oastler is a Monomaniac. That is characteristic—it is old

news.

Just published, handsomely bound, price 7s. 6d., dedicated, by Special Permission, to Lord Denman, the

JURYMAN'S LEGAL HAND-BOOK, and Manual of Common Law: adapted to the comprehension of Jurors and others, and affording information peculiarly useful to professional gentlemen, yeomen, to the man of business, municipal authorities, the parish officer, &c. &c. By THOMAS H. CORNISH, of Gray's Inn, Esq., Barrister-at-Law.

Part II. of this useful work contains the Marrow of the Jury Laws, with the Duties, Powers, Liabilities, and Qualifications of all GOOD and TRUE JURORS, competent to serve either on Grand, Special, or Petty Juries; or whether on ordinary or particular Inquests, &c. The Origin. Nature, and Solemn Obligation of Oaths, &c. Nature of the Oath taken by our Saviour-the Oath taken by Harold, Queen Victoria, &c.

THE MISUSE OF THE TERM 'POLITICIAN."-By a politician is meant a man who possesses as correct information as he can get respecting the laws he is bound to obey, the JURY LAWS in particular, and the constitution by which he lives and moves, and has his social or political being; a man who is aware that, as a citizen, he has certain rights to exercise, and certain obligations to fulfil, and who takes pains to acquaint himself with their nature, their value, and their extent, in order to use his power rationally, and discharge his duty faithfully.-Juryman's Legal Hand-Book. Longman and Co., Paternoster Row; and E. Spettigue, Chancery Lane.

are regularly published every SATURDAY, at 2d. each; also every four weeks, in Parts, containing four Numbers, at 9d. each.

A few copies, bound in cotton, of Vols. 1 and 2 of the Fleet Papers, at 10s. each volume, may be had of the Publishers, or of Mr. Oastler, at the Queen's Prison.

JOHN PAVEY, 47, HOLYWELL STREET, STRAND.

LETTER II.

ON THE ILLEGALITY OF IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT.

"To MR. RICHARD OASTLER, QUEEN'S BENCH PRISON.

"SIR,-In my last letter on this interesting subject, I concluded by reminding you, and through you your numerous readers, that the result of the late commission' was the great, nay, splendid edition of the STATUTES OF THE REALM. The editorial of this magnificent compilation, this truly gigantic labour, is given to one Sir Edelyne Tomlins, &c.

"Doubtless you are aware, Sir, that the invention of this species of trial, TRIAL BY JURY, has been attributed to the superior genius of our great Alfred. It is plain, however, that the west Saxon monarch was not the originator of this valuable immunity-the merit of Alfred consisting, (as we gather from Runnington, in his Notes on Sir Matthew Hale's History of the Common Law,') according to Sullivan, rather in fixing the number and qualities of the jurors, than in the institution itself. Nor is this enough. I take it for granted that this tribunal was universally established among all the northern natiosn; consult, on this subject, the Juryman's Legal Hand-Book, and Manual of Common Law,' a very useful little work on this and other very important subjects, and one too which, if I mistake not, will find its way not only into the hands of the middle classes, but also into the studio of the M.P. and temporal and spiritual Barons, &c. I advise all my friends to get a copy of this valuable legal expositor-they will be sure to profit by a perusal of its contents, and find that the principles referred to are so interwoven in our constitution, that the earliest accounts of the one gives us also some traces of the other. With us-in England!-tried by jury seems to have been used time out of mind, and to have been coeval with the first civil government established in this country; and though its establishment was shaken for a time by the introduction of the Norman trial by battle, it was also so highly prized by the people, that no conquest, no change of government, could ever prevail to abolish it. Even so, Sir: this I believe to be the true account.

"I must beg you to bear in mind what I have said with reference to this fact, viz. that Englishmen are not indebted to the Barons of Runnymede for the origin of that immortal right,' trial by jury, but only for renewing the ancient laws, and, as it were, re-establishment of the civil freedom of their father-land, which had, from the remotest antiquity, been a free nation,' &c. I say, I must request that you will bear all this in your mind.

Now I must do my best to explain this complex case, by discussing as best I can the constitutional question, that is to say, the legality and the practice-the mercantile usefulness or disservice, as a test of solvency. and, by consequence, a mode of securing payment-and last, though not least, its moral consequences and pernicious effects, &c.

"But before I begin this topic, let me take leave to say, that on this no less vital than deeply interesting question, immense stupidity has been evinced; and, to use the words of an able writer, 'consequences fraught with evil have been evolved by leaving the sound and certain course of legislating on principles, after calm and grave consideration, and legislating on expediency. There are,' says another masterly writer, principles on which we are bound to legislate, or there are not.' Again:-There are,' says Junius, 'great constitutional rights, which cannot, by the ordinary Course of legislation, be infringed, or our time-honoured constitution would appear to be made up of accidental fragments-a work of shreds and patches-a species of "mosaic" of enactments, constructed by expediency, and kept together no one can tell by what, or by whom.' Now, what can be made out of the last paragraph but one? Why, more than sufficient may be inferred from it to constitute a reductio ad absurdum. It will be manifest to almost every thinking man, that even an approach to such a state of things' would also forbode, not impossible events, but a state that every right-minded Briton should do his utmost to repel, as it would be sure to lead to legal, if no other description of anarchy. The Duke of Rohan, in a work on England published early in the seventeenth century, says, England is a great animal, which can never die till it kills itself. Was the Duke right or wrong? Let me entreat you to remember, also, that every breach of veracity indicates some latent vice or some criminal intention, which an individual is ashamed to avow. Alas! yes. And hence the peculiar beauty of sincerity, uniting, in some degree, in itself the graces of all the other moral qualities of which it seeks to demonstrate the existence. Your prison thoughts,' dear Oastler, unlike those of Dr. Dodd, and others of that 'stamp,' must be, as I know they will be, of a rare and higher order. It is not because you are incarcerated in a debtors' prison that, even there, your always temperate and well-directed mind should suffer 'imprisonment' also! No, no! We live and breathe on the soil of England. Be just, and fear not. All good men are your determined friends, goodKing.' Take courage, then, and promulgate the truth-nothing but the truth.

· But I have wandered a little from my topic. To return to my task. In Yorkshire, I believe, they are in the practice of giving a favourite sentiment over their cups-it is this, namely, May our men of principle be our principal men.' Well, this is doctrinal, and admirably propounded. One characteristic of republicanism is the discarding of all principles in legislation, and the enacting of laws to serve any temporary purpose. If that be the case, let us just see how it will work. When Mr. Canning desiderated a new measure, it was his practice first to watch the working of the same. Does it work well?' was the language of that statesman. The same characteristic alluded to was manifested by the adherents of Cromwell, with the same ignorant pertinacity as by the Chartist-Radicals of the present day. Is it not so? Now let me proceed.

In 1650, a short pamphlet was published by several Republicans conjointly, entitled, ' Reasons for the continuance of Arrest'-a creditor's paradoxical reasons, which might have assisted Sir John Campbell, or formed a corollary to that Bill which was brought into Parliament under his name (together with that of Mr. Hawes) and auspices; and though (as some persons think) a disgrace to legislation, was forced on the Peers of Parliament, &c. In this precious document, no

mention whatever is made of Magna Charta! They took care, seems, never to allude to our third Edward's declarations and commands, but which I shall be most careful not to lose sight of, &c. Another section of such worthies as I have only hinted at, were desirous of enacting, or rather originating, new laws between debtor and creditor, on the palpable democratic system' of expediency. This I had forgotten to mention-mind, the democratic system. Have they succeeded? I leave you, Sir, to answer this question-I shall proceed with my narrative. Mark well, if you please, that at the Restoration, there were many writers who came forward, and, like genuine Conservatives, pointed out to the monarch that Magna Charta had been violated by arrest and imprisonment; and complained, in the same pointed and indignant terms as many since, of the violation, the practice, the inutility, and the absurdity of the system, as a system. Among them, I learn from the books, was one William Cole, who entitles his pithy pages, Legal and other Reasons, (with all humility,) presented to his Most Excellent Majesty, King Charles II., and to both his Honourable Houses of Parliament, why the Subjects should not be imprisoned for Debt or Damages, or anything thereunto relating.' Now mark, good 'King.' The work just described was sent to His Majesty Charles II., and the Duke of York, and the Speaker from the King's Bench, October 16, 1675, and led to a bill being prepared, by the especial order of the King, for abolishing the practice of arrest and imprisonment for debt, as being violations of the great Charta. "I shall, in my next letter, resume the discussion of this deeply interesting subject. "I have the honour to remain, Sir,

"Your sympathising and not unfaithful friend,

LETTER L.

"YORK."

WHAT SHALL WE DO? OR REMEDY.

To J. R. M'CULLOCH, Esq.

SIR-By the preceding course of letters which I have addressed to you, I have brought under examination, and also under a strict method of argument, the nature and operation of those TWO great conflicting principles of social economy which have hitherto formed, and which continue to form, the sources of painful doubt and controversy amongst all communities of people. The principles to which I refer are the free principle on the one side, and the regulating or restrictive principle on the other.

In order to insure a complete investigation of this most important subject, I deemed it to be my duty to undertake, in the first instance, a thorough and patient examination of the nature of those arguments which the chief scientific writers have advanced, and which, consequently, are the fruits of long-continued and persevering research, and, therefore, deserving the highest consideration.

If the result of this examination had been the ascertainment that these great and important subjects had been fully and accurately treated, my labours would have been of short duration, and I should have concluded them by directing attention to the main propositions which had been firmly and satisfactorily established; and thus my share of scientific exertion would merely have been that of recommending for early practical adoption those principles of social action which I had found to be so fully and so ably developed and sustained by men who had preceded me in this wide field of interesting investigation.

Unfortunately, however, the result of my analytical labour was not of that pleasing and satisfactory character to which I have just alluded. On the contrary, I discovered, and I have placed on record, so much doubt, so much contrariety of argument, conclusions so manifestly false and injurious, and such ADMITTED incapacity to deal strictly or truly with the questions under investigation, that I have been necessarily led to establish a negative proposition against the general course of argument which has been advanced by all our chief scientific writers, amongst whom you occupy a conspicuous station.

Such being the result of a full and impartial analysis, I have embodied the evidence on which iny objective conclusion is founded, in the early numbers of this correspondence, and it occupies Numbers 1 to 23 inclusive. With respect, however, to the character of an analytical argument, we all know, as I have on a former occasion remarked, how comparatively easy a task it is to argue objectively than affirmatively-to show what is not true than what is true; but he who undertakes to effect the one, is under the strongest obligation to leave no exertion unmade to accomplish the other also. In accordance with this duty, I commenced, in Number 24, arguing the subject affirmatively; and for the purpose of avoiding those impediments which necessarily arise in every scientific investigation by the premature introduction of a multiplicity of matter, leading to a confusion of ideas, I commenced by means of the smallest premises possible, and then proceeded to carry out my inductions step by step. By these means, I succeeded in establishing, demonstratively, a general principle of exchange, possessing the character of perpetuity and universal applicability, suited to the circumstances of all communities of people at all times. Although there are many very important branches of the subject which still require to be constructed, yet, as the general principle which I have developed, and exhibited in operation, is efficient in every instance that CAN arise, I prefer postponing the consideration of the remaining branches of the subject to a future opportunity, and proceeding at once to show the manner in which the general principle to which I have just referred is to be applied, in order to insure a remedy for our existing state of derangement and distress.

As the argument which I am about to construct is a dependent one, or an issue of a preceding proposition, I must, of necessity, take the preceding proposition as granted to me. The premises thus assumed, consist in the principle established by my last, or affirmative argument; and in order