James Baron Lord Abinger, of Abinger, in the county of Surrey, Lord Chief Baron of Her Majesty's Court of Exchequer. "The humble Memorial of the undersigned persons, being at this time confined in Her Majesty's Prison of the Fleet, Showeth, "That some of your Memorialists are at this present time confined in the Fleet Prison under processes issuing from the High Court of Chancery, that other of your Memorialists are confined under the process of commitment issuing from the Superior Courts of Common Law, and that other of your Memorialists are confined under the penal clauses of an Act passed for the relief of Insolvent Debtors; and understanding that a Bill is now under the consideration of the Supreme Court of Legislation of this country, for the purpose of taking out of the custody of your Lordships the guardianship of their persons, and placing them under criminal jurisdiction, they have deemed it necessary to supplicate your Lordships on the occasion, trusting, that those privileges which have been conferred on debtors and individuals committed under the process of the Civil Law, may not, without due consideration. be now abrogated. "Your Memorialists approach your Lordships with some degree of confidence, being fully aware, that during the present century some millions of money have been voted by Parliament for ameliorating the condition of criminal prisoners; and they cannot conceive that an Act of Parliament should now by your Lordships be allowed to pass, reducing debtors to the situation of criminals. “Your Memorialists beg leave, respectfully, to refer your Lordships to the opinion expressed by that eminent commentator on the Laws of England, Mr. Justice Blackstone, who declared, that a prisoner committed for civil offences at once came under the guardianship of the Judges of the land; and your Memorialists beg to say, that although measures have, at various times, been brought forward inconsistent with those privileges they are now anxious your Lordships should preserve, such attempts have been hitherto repudiated; and the orders that have emanated from your Lordships' Courts have always tended to soften the condition of the unfortunate debtor. "Your Memorialists beg to say, in support of the arguments they adduce, that they wish to instance the appointment of the Governor of this Prison, who had been previously Governor of Newgate, and who had been recommended to Mr. Justice Dallas to hold the patent he now enjoys; but that Judge declared, upon conferring that patent, that he did so upon the recommendation of others, as his own mind would never have induced him to appoint an individual who had been the gaoler of a Criminal Prison to have the governance of those whom, through misfortune or other circumstances, it might be his Lordship's painful duty to commit to prison. "Your Memorialists are unwilling to trouble your Lordships by referring at length to those periods of English history when the unfortunate situation of persons confined in debtors' prisons came particularly under the notice not only of the Sovereigns, but of the Judges of the land; but they wish to lead your attention to those orders which issued under the Great Seal during the period of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and also those delivered to Sir Jeremy Whitcote in the nineteenth year of the reign of Charles II., when the letters patent were granted to him for the governance of the Fleet Prison and the amelioration of the condition of the prisoners. "Your Memorialists beg to urge on their behalf various reasons why they should not be deprived of your Lordships' protection, and they wish to instance the case of a Chancery prisoner, who may be so unfortunate as to be the heir-at-law to a testator, under whose will he derives no pecuniary benefit. A question may arise between those who are benefited in the assets, and a necessity may likewise arise, which nothing save a decision of the High Court of Chancery can remedy. To such proceedings the heir-at-law must be a necessary party; and although he may be a person moving in a respectable sphere of life, his means may not enable him to obtain a copy of those proceedings, which the law imposes on him the necessity of taking and paying for, and he is thereupon committed to a debtors' prison for that contempt, which his intention never premeditated, but which bis want of means was solely the cause of his committing. "Your Memorialists beg to urge the case of those confined for the non-payment of their debts, many of whom have remained in prison for the purpose of gradually liquidating those obligations, or of effecting arrangements with their creditors, in order to obviate that feeling of odium which they consider would attach to their characters, did they avail themselves of the laws passed for the benefit of insolvents. "Your Memorialists beg further to refer your Lordships to the cases of insolvent debtors adjudicated under the provisions of an Act passed for their relief, and your Memorialists do not consider your Lordships can, upon reflection, now carry into law a measure which inflicts an additional punishment on those who are suffering under the present enactment of an Act passed for a specific purpose. Your Memorialists, under the whole circumstances they have stated, consider the Bill now before the Houses of Parliament, entitled The Queen's Prison Bill,' as one calculated to further oppress those already afflicted, and a measure that must, if carried into operation, place the unfortunate under the same penalties as the criminal. 66 Your Memorialists have ever received the kindest protection under your Lordships' jurisdictions, and they believe they do not go too far in saying, that they have shown upon all occasions an obedience to all the orders that may have emanated from your Lordships' Courts; and they now supplicate your Lordships not to relinquish, in the hour of their utmost need, that governance of their privileges which your Lordships' predecessors and yourselves have never as ye: allowed to be infringed. Printed by Vincent Torras & Co., 7, Palace Row, New Road, London. THE FLEET PAPERS. THESE Papers are principally intended for the perusal of the friends of Christianity and the Constitution; particularly the Clergy and the Aristocracy, and of all persons who are possessed of Property. The object of the writer will be to explain the reason for the present alarming state of English society, and the consequent insecurity of life and property; also to offer some remarks upon the folly and wickedness of attempting to uphold our Institutions, particularly that of Private Property, by the unconstitutional means of Centralization, Commissioning, Espionage, and force; finally, to state his own views on the best mode of restoring Peace, Contentment, Security, and Prosperity, to every rank of the people of England. The author is perfectly aware of the fact, that every Parliamentary leader is now only attempting to legislate for the present moment-putting off the evil day -making laws "from hand to mouth," in the hope that some unforeseen, fortunate event may enable succeeding Statesmen to legislate for permanency. He is also convinced that there is a mode of successfully re-establishing our Institutions upon their original foundation-Christianity;-and that that is the only way to preserve them from the encroachments of political partisans, who are now paving the way to universal Ruin, Anarchy, and Despotism. Just published. price 2d., LETTER to the EDITOR of the TIMES, on the Lord Chancellor's and Sold by Clements, 21, Little Pulteney Street, Golden Square; Koller, 9, Opera Arcade, Pall Mall; and Warren, Princes Street, Leicester Square. THE FLEET PAPERS, BY RICHARD OASTLER, Are published every SATURDAY, in NUMBERS, at 2d. each; also in PARTS, containing four weekly numbers, with Ornamental Covers, at 9d. each, BY PAVEY, Holywell Street, Strand, and STEILL, Paternoster Row, London. Back Numbers and Parts are always on sale. The Fleet Papers may be had of any Bookseller in the United Kingdom. Many complaints are made that the Fleet Papers cannot be obtained in the Provinces. If persons who wish to have them WILL ORDER THEM OF THEIR REGULAR BOOKSELLERS, they will be sure to obtain them. A few copies of the first volume of the Fleet Papers may be had, at 10s. each, by applying to Mr. Oastler, in the Fleet Prison. In reply to a numerous list of kind inquirers, "How can we best serve your interest?" Mr. Oastler begs to say, by promoting the circulation of the Fleet Papers, and by procuring Advertisements for their Covers. Mr. Oastler may be allowed to add, that few better mediums for advertising can be found than the Fleet Papers; they circulate in every district, and amongst every rank. In the Palace and the Cottage, readers of the Fleet Papers are to be found. Clergymen, Landlords, and Farmers, Ministers of State, Ploughboys, Factory Chil dren, and Weavers, patronize these little Fleeters. Charge for Advertisements as under :- Half a page 2 52 0 0 NEW LEEDS JOURNAL. This day is published, the Third Number of THE LEEDS CONSERVATIVE JOURNAL, a Saturday Newspaper, Price 44d. Handsomely printed on the Largest Sheet allowed to a Penny Stamp; containing all the matter commonly found in Political and Agricultural Journals; with the addition of Literary Review, Scientific Disquisition, and Light Reading for the Lovers of Amusement, Printed and Published by R. PERRING & Co., at their General Printing Office, 23, Commercial Street, Leeds, (opposite the Union Bank,) where Orders, Advertisements, and Communications are received. Orders and Advertisements will also be received by the usual News Agents and Booksellers in Town or Country. Mr. Perring has withdrawn from the Intelligencer for reasons which will be fully related hereafter. He respectfully solicits the support of his Friends, and will endeavour to prove himself worthy of it. N.B.-Books, Pamphlets, and all the work of a well-appointed Printing Office, executed with accuracy and dispatch, in the first style of the Art, and on reasonable terms. "The FLEET PAPERS.-We have not of late been able to overtake any notice of Mr. Oastler's vigorous writings, from a consciousness that there were points on which, being free to differ with the writer, honest and outspoken as we esteem him, a controversy might have ensued, for which we have no especial inclination. Most of our readers will, however, appreciate the following comprehensive review of Sir Robert Peel's position on assuming the reins of government, which we borrow from Mr. Oastler's current number; and which embodies particulars 'we would not willingly let die '-they are such as it were well the country, the Cabinet, and Sir Robert himself should constantly remember:"-Berwick and Kelso Warder, May 7, 1842. (Extracted from the Hull and East Riding Times, January 18, 1842.) "We mentioned, some weeks since, that it was in contemplation to raise a fund for the permanent support of Mr. Oastler, as an unflinching advocate of those Constitutional and benevolent principles which lie at the foundation of our most cherished Institutions, and conduce so materially to the welfare of society. The noble design is now fairly before the public, under the appropriate denomination of THE OASTLER TESTIMONIAL.' We advertise a prospectus of it in our columns to-day; and our object in now returning to the subject is to bespeak for that prospectus the earnest attention of our numerous readers. "It were superfluous in this, Mr. Oastler's native and beloved county, where until recently he has spent all his time, and where his active benevolence has so frequently led him to enumerate the public services which render him so well deserving of such a tribute as this from his countrymen, and the claims of which have become so greatly strengthened by his present situation as the inmate of a debtors' prison,-not only deprived of his liberty, but, in the words of the prospectus, debarred the full exercise of those admirable faculties of mind and body which are so well adapted to procure an ample provision for himself and family.' As a politician, the constant object of this high-minded and patriotic man has been to maintain the principles upon which the British Constitution is founded-uniting the monarchy, the aristocracy, and the entire body of the people in a mutual and just support of each other;' while, as a philanthropist, it has been his great aim to maintain the cause of the industrious poor, protecting them against violence, oppression, and wrong. In such a career as this, he must be more than human who, fearlessly doing his duty, could pass unscathed; but the projectors of this Testimonial, record of Mr. Oastler, as an important fact, showing the true and valuable nature of his services, that those who have been so placed as to be best acquainted with his motives and his proceedings, have proved themselves to be his warmest and most constant public supporters, as well as private friends. No considerations of private iuterest have ever restrained him in the discharge of what he conceived to be his public duly. Had it not been so, he would no doubt, in a worldly sense, have been in very different circumstances. a Christian poet, in a spirit-stirring apostrophe to liberty, has well observed 'Prisons expect the wicked, and were built As And forcibly do these lines apply to Mr. Oastler's wrongs-those grievous wrongs which so greatly enhance his claim upon the sympathy and the regard of all who are attached to that sacred cause in which he has incurred them. Certainly Mr. Oastler is in one sense rich already. He is in the enjoyment of an approving conscience, and of the love and gratitude of troops of friends' The poor his clients, and Heaven's smile his fee.' Still it will be for his country a noble achievement, and a lasting honour-and to himself a cheering and inspiring recompense-if he, his amiable wife, and their adopted daughter, are re-united under the roof-tree of a happy home, planted and watered by the hands of his grateful fellow-subjects. "The Fund, it will be seen, is to be under the controul of five trustees-viz. our excellent neighbours Lord Feversham and Mr. Busfeild Ferrand, M.P,, Sir George Sinclair, Mr. Walter, and Mr. John Fielden, M.P.,-names which furnish an ample guarantee, not only for the due fulfilment of the object in view, but also for the worth and importance of that object." LETTER XVI. ON COMMERCIAL ECONOMY. "To J. R. M'CULLOCH, Esq., "SIR,-In this letter, I propose to continue my examination of the manner in which Malthus has attempted to solve one of the mightiest and most interesting problems on which the mind of man can be brought to reflect. "On alluding to the destitute and wretched condition to which a great part of the human family is consigned, Malthus has ventured to ascribe this condition to the principle of the increase of the human species, which he has characterized as excessively prolitic. Having directed his thoughts to the whole sphere of the material globe on which we dwell, and discerned this to have a prescribed boundary, that is, a limited or definite extent, he then directed his attention to the material or corporeal substance of which the human frame is composed; and this he discerned to be susceptible of unlimited or indefinite increase. On contrasting these two material substances-the one having a prescribed limit, the other having no prescribed limit-he advanced boldly, without due consideration, and for the purpose of sustaining his own invention, to a most appalling, false, and impious conclusion. He inferred, that that which is, in its nature, fixed or limited, must be overborne, in process of time, by that which is, in its nature, unlimited and constantly increasing. Now, a theory thus based, opens to us a wide, an ingenious, and, it must be admitted, a very philosophical speculation; but when we presume to apply such reasoning to the subject under consideration, the question is, whether we have for the foundation of our argument solid fact, or whether it be merely a phantom, raised by a deceived imagination; whether there has actually been any such increase of people as exceeds the matter provided for their support; and, moreover, whether any such increase is at all likely to occur. Touching this important question, I have already proved to you the erroneous nature of those calculations on which Malthus has based his theory of the increase of population. I have also proved to you, that the actual rate of increase of population in England has not been nearly so great as that which Malthus himself assigned as the rate of increase of the means of sustaining population. The inquiry, therefore, to which we have to direct our chief attention-to apply the whole power of our understanding, is the finding how all men may be able to get possession of the means of support. "It is this branch of the inquiry, namely, the RIGHT law of exchanging the general productions of labour, or that which we agree to call capital, which has hitherto perplexed all writers; and I have made you acquainted with how much honourable candour Malthus admitted this. Far better would it have been for his own reputation, and far better would it have been for the wellbeing and happiness of his country, if Malthus had stopped at this point of progress, and adopted the determination of not writing more until his mind had acquired the mastery of those great subjects to which he had directed his attention. But he found himself involved in darkness; he admitted the intensity of this darkness and the difficulty arising from it, yet, unhappily, he persevered in his course. "As he proceeded on his investigations, it became necessary for him to enter upon the consideration of compound and complicated propositions; and the duty of proving being to him a matter of insuperable difficulty admitted by himself to be such, hence, undoubtedly, arose the hurried and unreasoning manner in which he has emerged from the obstacles which surrounded him, in order that, having fabricated, he might support and adopt those two notorious principles of increase, namely, the geometrical as applicable to population, and the arithmetical as applicable to capital-which he designed as the guides of his subsequent calculations. At page 14 of his Essay on Population,' he draws his conclusion by the following passage :"It may fairly be pronounced, therefore, that, considering the present average state of the earth, the means of subsistence, under circumstances the most favourable to human industry, could not possibly be made to increase faster than in an arithmetical ratio.' "I will now bring under your notice the nature of the arithmetical ratio within which Malthus has asserted that the law of the formation of capital is confined; and I will show you that it has no coincidence with a well-known and universally recognized state of facts. I will here re-state the steps or degrees of this rate, as laid down by Malthus; thus: 1, 2, 3 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.' To put this rate of progress to the test, I will commence the first issue at the period of time taken by Mr. Hallam, alluded to in a preceding letter, namely, the year 1086. The following table will show the rate of increase assignable to the formation of capital, under the arithmetical progression during each succeeding cycle of twenty-five years, and also annually up to the year 1836, "The result of this rate of calculating shows, that on commencing the hypothetical argument With regard, then, to the main argument of Malthus, the facts which I have collated neces- Before, however, I leave this part of the argument, I desire to press on your notice a most "No. 16, Doughty Street, May 10, 1812." "I remain, Sir, your obedient servant, Printed by Vincent Torras & Co., 7, Palace Row, New Road, London. |