NOTICES OF THE FLEET PAPERS.

"The FLEET PAPERS.-That untiring champion of the oppressed, Mr. Richard Oastler, whose exertions in behalf of humanity and justice will be remembered by admiring and grateful thousands, when the veil of oblivion shall have mercifully hidden the memory of his persecutors from the scorn they merit, has addressed, in his Fleet Paper of this week, another of his excruciators to Sir James Graham upon the subject of the new restrictions, introduced by his order, for the future management of the Queen's Prison; as they operate to the exclusion of the wives of the prisoners-the indulgencies hitherto allowed in their favour, being at length withdrawn. It is certainly no justification of a harsh and an unnecessary regulation, that it has lang existed in other places, or that because debtors in Whitecross Street and Horsemonger Lane are treated like felons, and debarred the society of their families in the cheerles captivity to which, in many instances, malignity, under the sanction of a cruel law, has doomed them, that, therefore, all other unfortunates should equally suffer. It does not appear that any necessity existed for the extension of a regulation so likely to be productive of suffering and misery, as that which at once thrusts the wives and daughters of imprisoned debtors into the streets, without, it may be, a home to shelter them, or a husband or father to protect them.

"Oh, this offence is rank-it smells to Heaven.'

"It was a bad man that suggested this addition to the misery of helpless imprisonment. It was a bold one that adopted it, for nothing is more calculated to arouse the sleeping indignation of a people, than persecution for the mere lust of tyranny. Mr. Oastler, it appears, has very judiciously exhibited the deformity of this feature of the Graham Code, as near the fountain head of justice as he might, at the moment, approach, and it is evident that the husband, who stands first in the empire,' is not insensible to the appeal so properly made to him. May we not hope that in transmitting the communication' of Mr. Oastler to the Secretary of State, His Royal Highness strengthened its force by an expression of his own sentiments as a husband and a father, upon such an occasion?

"The following extracts will be read with interest from Mr. Oastler's letter to Sir James Graham:- k * ."—Lloyd's Weekly London Newspaper, June 11, 1843.

"The FLEET PAPERS.-We beg to draw attention to a letter addressed to Sir James Graham, in another part of our paper, on the subject of National Education, which we have extracted from the last number of the Fleet Papers, a little periodical, published by that able, and honest, and persecuted man, Richard Oastler.

Since the days of Cobbett, a more powerful writer of English has not appeared. Oastler is, in fact, for Conservatism what Cobbett was for Radicalism. The peculiar feature in Mr. Oastler's writings is straightforward logical honesty; and what he puts forward on behalf of the Church, on this subject, is peculiarly worthy of consideration, because although an excellent Churchman himself, we believe he has had some reasons for regarding individuals holding dissenting principles with private affection. Private feeling, however, cannot make Richard Oastler swerve. His head and his heart are both in the right place. He knows of the existence of a Church Establishment, and his reason causes him at once to recognize her claims, and boldly and vividly to assert them— how well we leave to the reader's own judgment, We only wish we could keep Sir James Graham in durance while we read to him this letter."—The Church Intelligencer, June 14, 1843.

The following letter was sent to the Keeper of the Queen's Prison by one of the prisoners, who had served his country in the new world :

TO CAPTAIN HUDSON, &c. &c.

The Queen's Prison, July 10, 1843. SIR,I make no apology for calling your attention to the subject of this communication, because I am satisfied that you will do me the honour to receive it in the spirit in which I make it. Yesterday, in pursuance of a notice which was affixed to the chapel-door, all visitors to the friends in this prison were ordered to withdraw at six o'clock. The notice stated distinctly that at the "last-named" hour, viz. six, the bell should ring to warn those who were to retire. In commoa with (I believe) every thinking man in the prison, I felt, that though I should experience no personal inconvenience from the regulation, that it is practically harsh, unjust, and oppressive. I therefore referred to the copy of the "Rules for the conduct and treatment of the prisoners in the Queen's Prison, in pursuance of an Act for consolidating the Queen's Bench, Fleet, and Marshalsea Prisons, and for regulating the Queen's Prison," which had been placed in the hands of every prisoner by the late Marshal; and there I found that "the prison-gates are to be unlocked at eight o'clock in the morning, and locked at nine o'clock every evening, except in term time, and then at ten o'clock." I also found, that relations and friends be admitted to the prisoners between the hours of nine in the morning and six in the evening, except during Divine service, or unless he (the Marshal) shall have good reason for believing that such admission may lead to a breach of discipline or good order in the prison." And after fairly considering these two Rules, I arrived the conclusion that the prison-gates are to be kept open during the time specified not for the convenience of those who have the misfortune to be within these walls, but for that of the friends of the sufferers, ninety-nine out of the hundred of whom have no other portion of the day which they

can devote to their incarcerated husbands, brothers, sisters, children, or friends, than that which is not devoted to their business pursuits;-and I was further convinced that the non-admittance of strangers after six was intended to exclude idlers, loungers, and profligates, who might interrupt the proprieties of the prison.

Finding not one syllable in the last-cited Rule as to turning out all the strangers at six o'clock, and finding also that, in direct opposition to the notice on the chapel-door, the bell was rung at half-past five instead of six o'clock, I arrive at the very obvious conclusion that there must be some mistake in carrying into effect the Rule sanctioned by Parliament; and therefore very respectfully call your attention to the subject.

I forbear entering upon the general questions, moral as well as political, arising from very mature consideration of the Act of Parliament itself—the mode in which it was passed—and a tolerable knowledge of the pernicious consequences of legislation on subjects either wholly unknown or very partially understood. But I cannot refrain from expressing my regret, as a true and kind friend of Conservative, or perhaps Tory principles, from my childhood, that such a law should have passed at such a time.

I beg to add, that now I have no personal interests affected by the law I deprecate, because in the course of a very few days I shall not be under its operation. Its cruel operation on others has alone given birth to this communication.

I have the honour to be, &c.

LIBERTY OF EnglishMEN, OR CRIME AND DEBT.

The following correspondence shows the admirable condition of our laws, in this free land, upon the subject of debtor and creditor. It shows that the debtor, once taken in execution in a distant county, for however small a sum of money, and however ready to pay it, cannot obtain his liberation even by the expensive operation of a writ of habeas corpus, which brings him within the prison of the Court, and the immediate control of the Judges in London; whilst, on the other hand, the man committed upon a coroner's inquest, or otherwise, for trial for the most diabolical MURDER, may be restored to freedom, on bail, by any two sufficiently good-natured Justices of the Peace, in such sum as they think fit to impose!

Queen's Prison, July 17, 1843.

SIR,-I am now (since Friday last) a prisoner here in execution for a debt of 187. 10s., including costs, taken by virtue of an Exchequer writ of capias ad satisfaciendum, at the suit of a private person by the Sheriff of Gloucestershire in that eounty. The officer who arrested me (illegally) in my own house, there refused to take the sum indorsed to be levied by him upon that, the only writ he had against me, and said his orders were to carry me forthwith to the county gaol, which he did, and thence I came here on Friday by habeas corpus. The under-sheriff, on whom I called in Gloucester on the day of my arrest, refused to interfere; and the plaintiff,

is not in England. By a solemn decision of the full court of Queen's Bench, (in a recent action against Mr. CHAPMAN, late Marshal, for an escape,) on demurrer to his plea of discharge by plaintiff's attorney, the Court held that such a plea was no defeuce, as the discharge must be signed by the plaintiff himself.

As the exact sum indorsed to be levied is previously ascertained and plainly expressed upon the back of every writ of capias ad satisfaciendum, there is full information upon every such writ of the sum to be satisfied, and for non-payment of which alone the prisoner is deprived of his precious liberty. It therefore appears to me, and I hope it will appear to you, Sir, (as Chief Governor of this great prison.) that your officer in command here, by whom I am actually imprisoned, ought to be authorized, in all cases of execution, to receive the sum indorsed to be levied on tender to bim or his deputy, and to discharge the prisoner against whom there is no other cause of detainer. This writ is not bailable; therefore the debtor in execution for 187. 10s., with his creditor out of England, is in a worse situation than the man committed for trial for WILFUL MURDER, who may be bailed by two Justices of the Peace!! Trusting, that, in my case at all events, I may be released on payment to the Keeper of this prison, (though CAPTAIN HUDSON thinks he ought not to take it,) I have the honour to be,

Sir James,

Your obedient servant,

To the Right Hon. Sir James Graham, Bart.,
Home Secretary of State.

Whitehall, July 18, 1843. SIR, I am directed by Secretary SIR JAMES GRAHAM to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 17th instant, and to inform you, that the case to which it alludes is one in which the Secretary of State cannot give any assistance.

W. J. CLEAVER'S BOOKS.

1.

A TRIBUTE TO HYDROPATHY.

Just published, in 1 vol. 16mo. Price 18. cloth, gilt edges.

A TRIBUTE TO HYDROPATHY, being a Guide to that System, showing the beneficial effects of its use when judiciously applied.

By J. E. EARDLEY WILMOT, ESQ. (Barrister-at-law).

2.

CYMRY.

Now publishing in Numbers,

THE ECCLESIASTICAL ANTIQUITIES OF THE CYMRY;
OR, THE ANCIENT BRITISH CHURCH-ITS HISTORY, DOCTRINE, AND RITES.

By the Rev. JOHN WILLIAMS, M.A., Perpetual Curate of Nerquis, Flintshire,
and Vice President of the Institut d'Afrique of Paris.

OUR DUTY TO THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND AS SHE IS.
Lectures delivered in St. John's Church, Cheltenham, during Lent, 1843.
By the Rev. ALEXANDER WATSON, M.A., Curate of the Church.

4.

BIRD'S LENT LECTURES.

In one vol. foolscap 8vo. Price 3s. 6d., cloth, a Second Edition of

TWELVE LECTURES ON THE CHURCH

CATECHISM.

By the Rev. CHARLES SMITH BIRD, M.A., Late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.

5.

BEST'S LITURGICAL PRAYER BOOK.

FAMILY PRAYERS. Arranged as a Weekly Course, from the

Liturgy, with a Scriptural Calendar.

By the Hon. and Rev. SAMUEL BEST, Rector of Abbotts Ann.

6.

C. M.'S BOOK FOR CHILDREN.

THE COTTAGE on the COMMON, the LITTLE GLEANERS, &c. &c. Square 16mo. Price 28.

"We had occasion to speak favourably of a former work from the same pen, and the present little volume will be found both interesting and useful for children from about six to ten years old."-Morning Chronicle.

"There is a fine moral feeling, no cant, and a tenderness well calculated to touch the hearts, and through the hearts the affections and sympathies, of the infantine mind. This is a sweet little book for children."-Literary Gazette.

7.

MELBOURNE CHURCH.

Now ready, 1 vol. in demy Sro., cloth, with Plates. Price 5s.

THE HISTORY and ANTIQUITIES of MELBOURNE CHURCH,

DERBYSHIRE.

This Church is believed to have been erected originally by King Ethelred about the year 700. Edited by the Rev. JOSEPH DEANS, Vicar of Melbourne, Perpetual

Curate of Chellaston, Derbyshire, and Domestic Chaplain to the Right Hon. the Earl of Beverley.

W. J. CLEAVER, 80, Baker Street, Portman Square,

V. Torras, Printer, 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.

X. Y. Z., Bradford, Wishes MR. OASTLER to define what he understands by a Dissenter. Surely no man in Bradford, who has read MR. OASTLER'S pamphlet addressed to the Dissenters of that town, can be in ignorance on that subject? Last Sunday week a Dissenter. full of self-conceit, pride, and malice, turning up the white of his eyes, said to a Churchman in this prison "The Devil has tempted me this morning to go to church, but I resisted the temptation. I have three sermons, each ten times better than the one your parson will preach; I shall read them all during your service, and thus get much more good than by going to church." The Dissenter goes to chapel to hear "a good sermon," full of "keen hatred, and now and then a little round abuse of the church”—the Churchman is taught to go to church to worship God-to confess his sins-to pray, and praise, and hear God's word. A PEELITE, Westminster, A well paid one, no doubt, says, "Markets are improving, prosperity is returning, and PEEL's policy is establishing confidence." The silly Oaf! He thinks, because MR. OASTLER is in prison, he can deceive him. Had he said, "PEEL has promoted me-my salary is increased-for the present I am satisfied," MR. OASTLER would have believed him. Once for all, MR. ŎASTLER wishes these ministerial hacks to save themselves the trouble of communicating with him. It is by trusting to the reports of such vermin that Governments are flattered to their ruin. MR. OASTLER has better sources of information, upon which he can always safely rely.

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.

IRELAND,-HER RULERS AND HER AGITATORS.

To the Editor of the Cork Constitution.

London, July 12, 1843.

SIR,—I beg to send you, for optional insertion in your journal, the sequel of some previously published correspondence on the all-absorbing topic of Irish affairs.[Inserted on Cover, No. 29.] That we are on the eve of portentous changes and convulsions, is now becoming painfully plain to all thinking persons; and the pith of the peril consists in this mournful truth, that for all practical purposes of national safety, we are without a Government. We have, it is true, what is called peace in Ireland, but then it is Mr. O'Connell's peace, not the peace of our Sovereign Lady the Queen-a distinction so broad, as to drive us to the conclusion that our rulers have abdi. cated the exercise of rightful authority. I respect Sir Robert Peel as a man of talent, attainment, and great expertness in the details of office. But as a Statesman qualified to grapple with those difficulties which now press upon the British empire, he has been tried and found wanting. Instead of adopting a course of action compounded of wise conciliation and unshrinking firmness, Sir Robert Peel exhibits the sad spectacle of official power without intellectual mastery; and thus the Prime Minister of a mighty nation is tossed to and fro between Routine and Expediency. "Dextrum Scylla latus, lævum implacata Charybdis Obsidet." I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

THOMAS MULOCK.

To Ma. RICHARD OASTLER, QUEEN'S PRISON.

Leeds, June 6, 1843.

SIR,-In reply to yours of the 27th ult., I am unable to offer any consolatory information or remarks. Though a considerable improvement in trade and manufacturing employment has taken place in the manufacturing districts, it is far from satisfactory with the manufacturers; and a great number of workers yet remain unemployed, and others partially so. A thick gloom envelopes the entire horizon, and few or any appear to anticipate the ample change so desirable, except by progressive advance so tardy, as sets efficient relief at so great a distance, as goes far in the extinguishment of hope. The monster-evil, Selfishness! innate in man, is become so universally intense, that an universal remedy is indispensable, in order to attain anything approaching an immediate check to the fatal malady—“universal hostile competition," impelled by insatiate cupidity, aided by the inventive genius of man, prone to evil-furthered by the Satanic philosophy of statesmen, with whom that individual aggrandizement tends to national weal," and that "competition is the soul of trade," are become settled axioms-setting man in antagonistic position against his neighbour -worshipping Mammon-making their gain godliness-wasting and progressively destroying the sole capital stock, or fund, a majority of the human race are in possession of, as the sole means of procuring necessary subsistence, by the substitution of machinery for manual labour! This nation has set an example to all others, most of which are in the ardent pursuit of the fatal plan of under mining and destroying the peace and weal of each and each other more rapidly than Great Britain is effecting that direful result.

This mania (which is calculated to prove as fatal to others, as is at present experienced in the United Queendom) has seized the United States of America, France, Belgium, Holland, Prussia, the German States generally, Switzerland, Italy, Turkey, Russia, &c., whose extension of manufactures collectively will reduce our export trade in (at the lowest) an equal ratio with its increase to all other quarters of the globe, and will ultimately compel all nations to adopt a like isolated policy to that which China has pursued, with a greater amount of peace, during thousands of years, than the collective nations of the world have enjoyed during the like period!

It was boastingly published many years since, by the public press in Manchester, that in the estimation of some cotton manufacturers, from the extent and improvements in machinery and chemistry, this nation could manufacture and finish more goods than the entire manual labour of the universe-hence the cry of free trade, the loud denunciations against monopoly by the rapacious hypocrites of the League, who meditate the monopoly of the manual labour of the universe by manufacturing for all nations-forgetful that such monopoly, if effected, would go far to pauperize a majority of those whose sole dependence is upon the labour of their hands, and deprive them of the means of purchasing, though ever so cheap. Labour, the indispensable and all-diffusive capitalthe origin of and conservator of all other capital, is being inhumanly and sacrilegiously sacrificed at the shrine of redundant rapacious money capital and machinery, which neither consume, produce, nor pays tax or poor-rates!

When will this crying sin be abandoned? That it should be forthwith is indispensable, or the wrath of the Almighty will be poured out upon this devoted nation! To avert such dreadful doom, the poor must be protected, the use of machinery curtailed, employment provided for those whose labour is their meat, drink, clothing, and shelter, and oppression removed far from them. The soil is a most ample resource, and the only one equivalent to the demands of oppressed labour. No other available resource can be found. Existing evils and growing danger demand its being em. braced without delay. The teeming benefits that the unappropriated soil guarantees with winning promise of abounding peace, plenty, and contentment, insomuch that only insanity or judicial blindness can treat it with neglect, or refuse its benignant aid. Late accounts from America show that the great majority of emigrants to the United States are farmers, who emigrate thereto for the purpose of obtaining land to cultivate. Those from this country might be accommodated at home more advantageously. North America is furnished with a redundant supply of common necessaries, at unremunerating prices, except for self-consumption. The facilities for and expenses of cultivation are in favour of home colonization-markets more convenient and easier of access-money readily obtainable for produce, which is far from being the fact in American markets, besides being free from privations and many difficulties that emigrants have to suffer or contend against. By such being furnished with land at home, they would employ British labour, which is not only a dead loss, but is also a grievous charge upon the community, consume British manufactures, uphold the power and stability of the nation. In place of wasting its population and strength by emigration to foreign