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. NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. W. F., Carlisle.-The Memorial to Sir Robert Peel, setting forth the miseries and wretchedness of the people of Carlisle, is received. It seems that the Hand-loom Weavers' Commissioners burked" the evidence of the Carlisle weavers, as well as Mr. Atkinson's and Mr. Oastler's. J. E., London.-The Anti-Corn Law “Farrago,” signed “Sidney Smith." with which "a citizen of London has been insulted," is received. If possible, it shall be noticed. 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. cach, 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. Oasiler, in the Fleet Prison. In reply to a numerous list of kind inquirers, “How can we best serve your interest?” Mr., Oustler begs to say. by promoting the circulation of the Fleet Papers, and by procuring Advertisements for their Covers. Mr. Oastier may be allowed to add, that few better mediums Jor 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 Children, and Weavers, patronize these little Fleeters. Charge for Advertisements as under :- Half a page 5 0 2 2 0 The following letters have been received from the Lord Chancellor and the Judges, acknowledging the receipt of the Memorial of the persons detained in the Fleet against The Queen's Prison Bill ':— "The Lord Chancellor's secretary has been desired to acknowledge the receipt by his Lordship of Mr. Calvert Browning's letter of yesterday's date, and of the Memorial which accompained it. House of Lords, 6th May, 1842." "Westminster Hall, 6th May, 1842. "Sir. I am desired by Lord Denman to inform you, that he has received your Memorial, and that his Lordship does not agree with the representation made therein. "I am, Sir, your most obedient servant. "S. BARNES." "Bedford Square, 6th May, 1842. “Charles C. Browning, Esq.” "The Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas has the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Charles Calvert Browning's Memorial, and will direct his immediate attention to the wishes expressed by the Memorialists. To Charles Calvert Browning. Esq." "New Street, Spring Gardens, May 6th, 1842. "Lord Abinger has to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Browning's letter, accompanied by the Memorial, which he has also read. Lord Abinger is apprehensive that any opposition to the Bill in question would come too late from him, as the measure originates with Government, and is nearly in its last stage in the House of Lords. However, he does not perceive that the Memorial alleges any specific grievance as a necessary consequence of this measure, and Le hopes it will turn out that the alarms fell by the Memorialists are not well founded. C. C. Browning, Esq." The following Petition against the Lords' amendments to The Queen's Prison Bill,' was forwarded from the persons detained in the Fleet Prison:— To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled. "The Humble Petition of the undersigned persons, at present confined in her Majesty's prison of the Fleet, Showeth, That your Petitioners are informed, that a Bill, intituled, The Queen's Prison Bill,' was passed by your honourable House in March last, the preamble of which led your Petitioners to suppose that it was intended as a mere measure of economy and convenience for the safe custody of cebtors in one risca instead of three different prisons. • But your Feat oners are informed that to this Bill certain amendments have been added in the House of Lords, changing its character from one of mere Governmental convenience to that of a serious change the Laws relating to debtor and creditor. Your Petitioners respectfully beg to refer to clauses 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18, as regula.ions bearing with unnecessary harshness on parties confined for debt, as unjustly assimilating the process of the civil law as regards debiors, to that of the criminal law a regards felons, and as effecting, by regulation 1, clause 17, a penal addition unexpected and unassumed in the preamble of the Bill, with respect to the act of the 1 & 2 Victoria, cap. 110, intituled, An Act for abolishing Arrest on Mesue Process in Civil Actions, except in certain cases; for extending the remedies of Creditors against the Property of Debtors; and for amending the Laws for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors in Englaud.` That your Petioners humbly and respectfully beg to complain, that these restrictive, harsh, and penal clauses having been introduced into a Bill the preamble of which assumed a different object, your Petitioners have been precluded from their just and constitutional right of petitioning against such & LM before in had passed the House of Commons, and of the advantage of being heard against the petal coatises now complained of in person and by counsel. Your Feu toners humbly and respectfully beg to point out to your honourable House, that the principle of the amendments added to 'The Queen's Prison Bill' in the House of Lords, is to assiPlace the owing of a debt to the commission of a crime, and to treat the debtor detained for debt as a telou convicted of a criminal offence. "Your Fetitioners humbly and respectfully beg leave to protest against the recognition by the Legislatie ca principle so unjust, so unconstitutional, and detrimental to creditors as well as to debtors; and they therefore pray your honourable House to extend to them its pro.ection, and to refuse to agree to the penal and innovating amendments introduced by the House of Lords into The Queen's Frison Bill.' And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray," &c. LETTER XVII. ON COMMERCIAL ECONOMY. "To J. R. MCULLOCH, Esq., Sta-Having already shown you the insufficient and false grounds on which Malthus has rested his two great conclusionus, the one respecting the excessive increase of human species, and the other respecting the scanty nourishment provided for its support, I will tow prove to you, by evidence of the strongest and most satisfactory character, that Malthus himself has destroyed the whole of his own important conclusions by autr.buting the derangement or evil, not to excess of Jopulation, not to deficiency of nourishment provided for its support, but to the misappropriation by man of those materials which have been entrusted to him for the purpose of affording subsistence and support to his species. Now the effect or defect for which we have to account is the absence of sufficiency, inducing the physical destitution of a great portion of mankind. The question then is, whence arises this? Now as to the means. These consist of an immense and incalculable variety of matter furnished by the power of a divine and beneficent Creator. This on the one side. On the other, man cannot create; but by his labour and his intelligence he can modify and appropriate the matter given. The material fund, therefore, though passive or submissive, is yet endued with the capability of being converted, by the active instrumentality of human power, into a great variety of sustenautial, useful, and agreeable modifications, Thus, there are in operation two distinct agencies, the one creative, emanating from God, the other appropriative, emanating from man. As this great and sublime question has been boldly propounded and fully set afloat in the minds of men, it is for the people in general to determine to which of these two agencies they choose to ascribe defective arrangement or error. I have mentioned before, that many persons will be desirous of avoiding, and of persuading others to avoid, all investigation of questions so high and so awful. But this must not be. The way has been opened. The governing principles of the Creator have been examined, and a judgment has been recorded, accepted, and acted upon, which detracts from the benevolence, derogates from the wisdom, and impugns the justice of the author of these principles. We, therefore, who feel our souls affected by a contemplation of the subject, and our minds attracted to an investigation of it. must pursue the arduous course, remembering the deep and awful responsibility we are under of submitting ourselves to the guidance of truth in every step of our progress; and on treading the steep and difficult paths of the sublime ascent, we cannot too often call to mind the beautiful invo cation of Milton ·To proceed :—Oa perusing the larger and more important part of the writings of Malthus, we are led to infer, that he had entirely forgotten his having ever imputed the want and distress which prevail in the human family to any such causes as those of excessive increase of population, and the scanty natural supply of the materials of subsistence, so fully does he account for buman destitution by ascribing it to the acts of man himself, or the derangements which are made in trade. As this branch of the subject is of the highest importance, it is desirable that I should lay before you evidence at considerale length; and I will now advert to the many and remarkable admissions which his works contain on this side of the argument, which is that of wrong, or defective appropriation. These abound in almost every part of the 3rd and 4th books of his Essay on the Principle of Population. In the 3rd book, and the 6th chapter, there occurs a remarkable passage, which treats of the ill-effects produced on capital by the employment of the destitute poor on manufactures, and also another, the tendency of which is, to establish the general ill-effects resulting from competition in trade. They are as follow: The attempts to employ the poor on any great scale in manufactures, have almost invariably failed, and the stock and materials have been wasted. In those few parishes which, by better management or larger funds, bave been enabled to persevere in this system, the effect of these new manufactures in the market must have been to throw out of employment many independent workmen, who were before engaged in fabrications of a similar nature. This effect has been placed in a strong point of view by Daniel de Foe, in an address to Parliament, entitled, Giving alms no Charity. Speaking of the employment of parish children in manufactures, he says, For every skein of worsted these poor children spin, there must be a skein the less spun by some poor family that spun it before; and for every piece of baize so made in London, there must be a piece the less made at Colchester, or somewhere else." Sir F. M. Eden, on the same subject, observes, that whether mops and brooms are made by parish children, or by private workmen, no more can be sold than the public is in want of." ***It may be said, perhaps, that the same reasoning might be applied to any new capital brought into competition in a particular trade or manufacture, which can rarely be done without injuring, in some degree, those who were engaged in it before. But there is a material difference in the two In this, the competition is perfectly fair, and what every man on entering into business must lay his account to.' cases. Now, Sir, it will be evident, that the passage just quoted is, in the highest degree, important, as having a direct bearing upon the great principle involved in the whole inquiry. Malthus has here imputed derangement of the circumstances of a community to a wrong principle of production, or to competition; and I entreat you to direct your attention most particularly to the last paragraph, and to observe the false mode which the writer has resorted to for the purpose of concealing the injurious results of an evil which he admits. He says, that in the case adduced, the proceeding is perfectly fair. Now, the question with which he had to deal was the exact nature of the facts; his duty was to decide, simply, whether, by the course of competition adduced, injury would result or He admits injury, but not knowing how to argue against it, he escapes discussion by introducing the false pallation (false even upon his own showing), it is perfectly fair!' Again, in the 7th chapter of the same book, page 355, there is as follows:- The whole subject is surrounded on all sides by the most formidable difficulties; and in no state of things is it so necessary to recollect the saying of Daniel de Foe, quoted in the last chapter. The manufacturers all over the coun ry, and the Spitalfields weavers in particular, are in the state of the deepest distress, occasioned immediately and directly by the want of demand for the produce of their industry, and the consequent necessity felt by the masters of turning off many of their workmen, in order to proportion the supply to the contracted demand.' benefit accrue. Again, in the same chapter, page 360: On the subject of the distresses of the poor, and particularly the increase of pauperism of late years, the most erroneous opinions have been circufated. During the progress of the war, the increase in the proportion of persons requiring parish assistance was attributed chiefly to the high price of the necessaries of life. We have seen these necessaries of life experience a great and sudden fall, and yet, at the same time, a still larger proportion of the population requiring parish assistance.' Again, at page 365-The PRINCIPAL CAUSES of the increase of pauperism, independently of the present crisis, are, first, the general increase of the manufacturing system, and the unavoidable variations of manufacturing labour.' Again, in the 8th chapter, page 393, alluding to Poland, he writes thus: Here corn is in' abundance, and great quantities of it are yearly exported. But it appears clearly, that it is not either the power of the country to produce food, or even what it actually produces, that limits and regulates the progress of population, but the quantity which, in the actual state of things, is awarded to the labourer, and the rate at which the funds so appropriated increase.' In the present case, the demand for labour is very small, and though the population is inconsiderable, it is greater than the scanty capital of the country can fully employ; the condition of the labourer, therefore, is depressed by his being able to command only such a quantity of food as will maintain a stationary, or very slowly increasing population. It is further depressed by the low relative value of the food which he earns, which gives to any surplus he may possess a very sma I power in the purchase of manufactured commodities or foreign produce.' Under these circumstances, we cannot be surprised that all accounts of Poland should represent the condition of the lower classes of society as extremely miserable; and the other parts of Europe which resemble Poland in the state of their land and capital, resemble it in the condition of their people.' In justice. however, to the agricultural system, it should be observed, that the premature check to the capital, and the demand for labour which occurs in some of the countries of Europe, while land continues in considerable plenty, is not occasioned by the particular direction of their industry, but by the vice of the government and the structure of the society, which prevent its full and fair developement in that direction.' .. By the quotations which I have just made, it is clearly and fully admitted, that the entire virtue of the subject is concentred in the question of the appropriation which man himself has made of the matter which has been ordained for his use. Malthus has here made no allusion whatever to his original and appalling conclusion, which is, that by the law of nature the principle of the expansion of subsistence is not sutheintly large for the principle of the expansion of population. On the contrary, he has ascribed the evil to the misappropriation of matter, that is, to the wrong direction which has been given to the labour of man. My next letter will be a continuation of such evidence. "I remain, Sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM ATKINSON." No. 16. Doughty Street, May 17, 1842.” DR. P. M. M'DOUALL'S FLORIDA MEDICINE. USE OF THIS MEDICINE. There are thousands of unfortunate beings, who are compelled, by hard necessity, to follow unhealthy trades, and ruin their health by unnatural habits of working, eating, and sleeping. Tə such persons, these Pills will be of great advantage, as a preventative of, and immediate relief to, their sufferings. There are thousands of people who voluntarily overload their stomachs with food and drink; who adopt fashionable instead of natural customs; and who give the rein to animal gratification. To such fools, these Pills will be of inestimable value, provided they have sense enough to restrain their unnatural appetites; but unless they observe Nature's laws, they need not expect this medicame to cure them, and then keep them so. Let them read my Treatise, sold by CLEAVE, 1, Shoe Lane, price One Penny. These unfortunate sufferers complain of the horrors of indigestion. nervous affections, and disturbed action of the neart, kidneys, and lungs, all of which arise from that useful organ, she stomach, being disordered in its functions. The evil begins in the stomach, and must be cured there therefore these Pills are prepared for the purpose of destroying the evil effects, by removing the cause of the mischief, and, with the aid of the sufferer, of bringing about a natural performance of the duties of the stomach. OPERATION OF THIS MEDICINE. These Pills will not purge, except when there is two much bile in the system. In the majority of cases they will act silently, surely, and naturally upon the stomach. Nature does not admit of strong purges in lingering diseases; and those who indulge in strong physic do as much injury to the constitution as if they indulged in strong drinks. DOSE OF THIS MEDICINE. Two Pills night and morning to be taken by grown up persons: one night and morning by delicate females and persons under fourteen years of age. To advise a larger dose, would be to make a trade of the medicine, because Nature should be consulted in Pill taking as well as in all other things, and it is as easy to confine the virtue of this medicine to two as to twenty Pills. Three or four Pills may however be taken when required with perfect safets. Observe my Signature, P. M. McDOUALL. Boxes sold, (price 1s. 1d.. stamp included) Orders received, and Agencies appointed, (on the most liberal terms,) at 1, SHOE LANE, FLEET STREET, LONDON, N.B.-No connexion with any other Patent Medicine. 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. NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. "NAT. BAILEY, Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Barnet.-Thanks for his hint, his good wishes, and Queen's Heads. The want of time and of money would prevent Mr. Oastler having the power to adopt Mr. Bailey's suggestions. Mr. Oastler is interesting himself, and using his influence in other ways, to spread the knowledge of the contents of The First Report of the Children's Employment Commissioners." The Fleet Papers will, of course, occasionally refer to that most important volume. 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 Corers. 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 :- 1 5 0 |