have received six millions five hundred thousand pounds of the peoples' money during the last fifty years. The present Marquis of Hertford went to Paris, not long since, and there laid-out one hundred thousand pounds in House-Ornaments and curiosities of one description and another. This money is all gone to France, to enrich that nation; not one penny of it will ever return; and every penny of it came out of our labour!

And, now, Sir, your enemies have exultingly kept you in Gaol; have seized and destroyed all your property; have abused, and called you all sorts of names, in that house which is guarded stronger than any prison in this Kingdom; but, after all, they stand aghast, trembling at the work of their own hands, frightened almost to death; while we stand with tears in our eyes, mourning for those who are pining in Gaols, for the cause of truth and justice! But, we live in hopes to see the day of justice arrive; then we will sing, glory be to thee, Carlile, who hast suffered more for the people of England than any man ever did, or I hope ever will do.

I am, Sir, your obedient, humble Servant,

JAMES HALL.

Note by R. Carlile.-I differ with my intelligent correspondent as to the utility of the fairs in the neighbourhood of the metropolis. I was never present at one of them, and never more than twice passed through that disgrace of London the Bartholomew Fair in Smithfield: but I have seen and heard quite enough to assure me that they are wisely put down; and I should be glad to see them put down all over the country. They are the relics of monkery, instituted and encouraged by the priests to counteract the feelings which their oppressions would otherwise occasion, and are the same as those sports and pastimes allowed to be practised on Sundays by the priests, in the times of the two first Stuarts, to remove the gloom which the churchgoing left upon the minds of the people; but not for any kind of popular benefit or rational improvement.

I have seen country fairs and races; but I never saw any thing of the kind that could be deemed a rational and useful meeting to those assembled; nor any thing of the kind. that ever coustituted decent and useful amusement. Drunkenness, debauchery of all kinds, fights, rapes and robberies, are the common characteristics of English fairs; and if any of these things be useful to the people, then it is unwise to put down such fairs.

More than any thing else, I am astonished at the contrariety in the conduct of our kingly and priestly Government in suppressing those amusements, those vents for popular passions. We see the Bourbons encouraging all kinds of fêtes among the French People, and we can as plainly see the motives for such conduct. It is to evaporate the discontent that would otherwise exist among them.

For my part, I have a perfect contempt, or rather an indifferency of mind, as to what was done or what was not done by our ancestors. I believe, that, in this country, though we have still a hateful legislature, an immoral legislature, the general amount of intelligence bas gone on increasing both our liberties and our happiness; and this I say, with a general view of the country, after having suffered four years imprisonment for no kind of offence, for no kind of immoral conduct. It is this growth of knowledge, and not fairs, routes, wakes, and revels that will go on to increase our liberties and our happiness; and so far as we make ourselves a moral people, so far shall we taste true liberty and true happiness, in spite of all despotic power: and so far alone shall we be accumulating the necessary power to counteract to destroy all the power over us that is despotic and immoral.

All plotting, all conspiracy, all intrigue, I hate and disclaim. I will resort to no such means to work any change in the condition of the people, nor do I wish to see any change brought about by an ignorant and discontented. army. So sure as effect follows cause: so sure will bad means produce bad ends.

TO MR. R. CARLILE, DORCHESTER GAOL.

SIR, London, July 9, 1823. I AM decidedly of your opinion, about the Government of the people. There never was nor there never will be a good Government, formed of King, Lords, and Commons. It is contrary to all moral and rational principles, to expect any goodness from such a corrupted mass of beings. This mass has brought England into such a frightful 'state, in which man never saw any country before. The King has either the power to alter this state or he has not; if the former, what shall we think of him? and, if the latter, what use is he?

To Petition the House of Commons, in its present form, is inconsistent, mischievous, and causes more deception to the people than any man is aware of. When a man petitions for a reform, he thinks

that the House can grant his prayer; but this, were it ever so willing, it cannot do; because, the Members are not, themselves free; and, if ever any reform take place, in the House, it will be by physical force and no other. And my opinion is, that the members ought not to be blamed, for any thing that they may do, or have done. This is my notion of the House; and, if I am in error, I hope that you, or some of your readers, will set me right.

They may say, What? shall nobody be answerable to us? Shall we blame nobody for bringing the nation into its present, miserable, and degraded state? I answer, yes; the LORDS or PEERS are answerable; they are to blame, and they only. Why? because they own all the Boroughs which send members to the House; and, here, the villainous mischief begins!

Every Gentleman who is elected for a Borough, pays, perhaps, five thousand pounds for his seat to the Lord of the Borough. Now, is it not a reasonable thing, to suppose that the elected Gentleman will endeavour to get his money back, and as much more with it as he can. To suppose the reverse is, indeed, contrary to all reason; and, that, every person has not a just right to make a good bargain for himself and his family.

As soon as any Gentlemen is elected, he will, without doubt, say, Why should throw five thousand or even five hundred pounds away from my family? No: I am determined to get it back. How shall I do that? Why, by voting with the Ministers, to be sure, they have all the Loaves and Fishes to give away! Very well, then, he will say, I will vote with them. Then your readers may say, What? the Ministers, in the House of Commons, are free, then, are they? They can grant the prayer of our petition? No: they cannot! for they are, themselves placed, in their present situations, by the Lords?

This House of Lords, is one of the most complete, villainous things in existence! It can and does set every wicked wheel in motion, in every part of the world; but it keeps all its works out of sight, and really appears to do nothing, but what is very good, generous, humane, and exceedingly religious! It (this House, through its instrument the late Castlereagh) caused the French Army to assemble on the borders of Spain three years ago, that was in 1820. It caused the French to enter Spain to make the Spaniards form a House of Peers to enslave their country. And, it will keep both nations in their present state, till the French have spent, perhaps, one hundred millions of money, then, it (this House) will step in, under a cloak of mercy, and pretend to be a friend to both nations; and that Spain shall honour its Noblemen, by forming a House of Peers, for the grand stand that they have made against the French.

It (this House) has not less, at this moment, than fifty quivers, and in each quiver a dozen arrows for its bow; but, they are all out of the people's sight!

One of these arrows is darting into the sides of the French people; by causing the Spanish invasion to be a very expensive undertaking:

that will cause taxes to be laid on the French, to prevent us from comparing our state with theirs. In short, and in fact, It (this House of Peers) is putting down the French and the Spaniards too.

If, It, (this House) force a House of Peers on the Spaniards, they (the Spaniards) will, in less than fifty years, be just in the same state as we now are; because every Peer will have his retaining fee; that fee will, in the first instance, depend upon the Peer's abilities; but in about thirty years, it will depend upon the strength or number of votes that each Peer can give the Government.

Our Peers are now receiving between three and four millions of money, in Pensions, Sinecures, for services and so on, every year. This sum does not drop from the clouds. It comes from somewhere. It comes, indeed, out of the People's labour! Now, suppose the Peers, and their families to spend two millions every year; they will, then, have nearly two more left. With this sum they purchase something; Houses, Land, shares of Canals, Coal-Mines, or something that gave a vote to the owner before it was purchased by the Peer!

If I am correct here, and I think I am, is it not as clear as daylight, that, in the course of a few years, the Peers will have every inch of land, in the nation, in their own possession? We shall keep losing our property; and the Peers will gain it, till they have gotten all! Thus are the people constantly paying their money in taxes to the Peers, for them to purchase the property, and of course the liberties of the people!

I always laugh out-right, when I hear any body talking about property giving any political weight to the owner. If this is to be the case, we are very well represented now; for the Peers have more property than all the rest of the nation put together. And what is still of more importance, as we keep losing our property we shall be better represented; and when all our property is taken from us, and when we have no votes at all, we shall, have arrived at the very highest pitch of perfection in representation.

When any Gentleman is made Peer, the first thing, that the House of Lords does, is, to order the House of Commons, to vote two or three thousand pounds a year, to the new, made Peer; then, they, (the Peers), place him in some situation that gives him six or more thousands a year, till he has gotten a large Park and eight or ten thousand Acres of Land; which Land before it was purchased by the Peer, had, perhaps, thirty thousand owners and each had a vote for a County Member.

Here we see the true cause of all our misery. This is the state into which our House of Peers, is endeavouring to bring all the Powers in Europe. This is the cause of all our labourers, working, with bay-bands round their legs, and old sacks round their shoulders, for six-pence a day. Let any man in London go into the Hay-market, or any other market, to see the country-men come in, on a Market day, with smock-frocks, dirty and all in tatters, hay-bands tied round their hats, faces like skeletons with long beards on, knees

knocking together through weakness for the want of a little strong beer, which our forefathers had in such abundance; but, which beer is now petrified into great Parks for our Task-Masters. I am, Sir, your obedient humble Servant,

JAMES HALL.

SIR,

TO MR. R. CARLILE, DORCHESTER GAOL.

Birmingham, June 10, year 1823 of the Christians' Ghost begotten, Virgin born Idol.

I ENCLOSE YOU £1. 4s. Od. being the amount of a subscription from a few Friends to Civil and Religious Liberty, resident in this town and neighbourhood. I much wish the public spirit of the place would enable me to remit a larger sum; but I am sorry to say the inhabitants, generally speaking, are of so superstitious a cast, that I am persuaded they fancy your liberation would be productive of great evil to the community. I trust however that the day is not far distant when people will see with their eyes open, and no longer suffer themselves to be the dupes of knavish priests and other such vagabonds who live on the plunder, they have the cunning to obtain from their votaries. I sincerely hope that a short time will restore you to the benefits of free locomotion, though I have my doubts whether such will be the case at present: and with every good wish for your welfare and the happiness of your family, and a desire that you may rise proudly triumphant over your desperate and despicable foes, I subscribe myself,

Your friend, and obedient Servant,
W, BUTLER.

No. 25, Lower Temple Street.

TO MR. WILLIAM BUTLER, BIRMINGHAM.

SIR, Dorchester Gaol, June 20, 1823. So long as I can keep even a footing in Birmingham, I have no fear but I shall be able to improve my acquaintance with you. I had lost all footing for about two years; and during that period, I know that endeavours were made to keep me out. I am fully sensible that I labour under the influence of the enmity of all the sects; from the sect of Radicals to the sect of Royalists; from the sect of Freethinking Christians to the sect of Roman Catholics. The principles which