splendour, to the ruin and destruction of the indefatigable, economical, intelligent and indispensible middle-class, and to the most intolerable labour and privation, and the utter detestation and misery of the inestimable, intelligent, exemplary population.

One altogether; not by a confessed, heterogeneous composition and arrangement; but by indissoluble unity of interest and dependence.

For, as the several members of the body, in their natural union, are but one man so these Seven Powers in unity, are but one system of insufferable usurpation, despotism and oppression.

Which must be demolished for our Radical Salvation, and driven into the hell of infamy and irredeemable destruction, never more to rear its horrible form, and gorge to sickness on the blood and vitals of the People.

Then shall truth be freed from chains and tortures, liberty ascend from the tomb, and justice assume the seat of judgement; whence she shall judge the despots and destroyers of the people.

At whose summons, the usurpers of the public authority and property, shall appear at her bar in their real characters, and shall give an account of their own works.

And they that have acted justly shall enjoy the undisturbed possession of their fairly-acquired property, their civil and political rights as citizens, and the popular esteem; and they that have plundered and oppressed the people, shall disgorge their plunder, and atone for their oppression.

This is the Boroughmongers' Faith; which except the great body of the People understand, declare, and with unity, perseverance and energy act upon, they cannot be saved from slavery.

Destruction be to the Boroughmongering Oligarchy; the Dominant Clergy; the host of Lawyers; the Boroughmongers' Bank, Debt, and Paper Currency; the myriad of Tax, Tithe, and Rate Collectors; the Omnipresent Espionage Police; and the Boroughmongers' Standing Army.

As it was from the beginning of every society, that self-interest was the leading principle of individuals, but under a free, wise, and purely Representative System of Government, was identified with the public welfare and happiness: so it is now wherever such freedom is established, and ever shall be, wherever it reign, time without end. Amen!

TO MR. R. CARLILE, DORCHESTER GAOL.

FELLOW CITIZEN,

Kensington, June 15, in the Year of the Carpenter's Wife's Son, 1822. You profess to be a creature of necessity, so do I, and to the best of my belief I was so from the beginning, and shall be to the end of my existence.

What I mean by necessity is, that man has no free will of his own, that the body is impelled by the mind and the mind is impelled by events and circumstances, or in other words, it is incident after incident that fashions or prepares the mind, and it is incident again that drives the mind to action.

The longest time that I can recollect is from the time I was about two or three years of age, when sitting under the tea-table eating my bread and butter whilst the remainder of our family were regaling themselves with their tea, &c. the fire burnt my face and 1 was under the necessity of making a move; up I jumped; down went the tea-table, China tea-pot, tea-cups, saucers and all; the pot was broke and most of the cups and saucers sheared the same fate.

Now, Sir, I am under the necessity of recollecting that circumstance for a very good reason, which is, that I have not the power to forget it, nor do I know how to possess myself of a means of gaining a power to forget it. The pot I saw broke, and whilst I'retain the use of my faculties, I cannot forget it: but, Sir, I am under the necessity of forgetting what I had for my supper the same evening as the pot was broke, for another very good reason, which is, that I had not the power to recollect what I had, there is certainly something very droll in these circumstances, that I am under the necessity of recollecting the broken China tea-pot, and I am under the necessity of forgetting what I had for supper the same evening that the tea-pot was broke,-now the way I account for this is, the incident of the tea-pot was more calculated to make an impression upon my mind than was the incident of eating my supperso much for recollecting and forgetting.

Again, Sir, I am under the necessity of believing that I have a pen in my hand, for several reasons, which are, I have not the power of disbelieving the fact. I both see the pen and feel it, and it is the sight and feeling of the pen that makes me believe that it is a pen; and it is the sight and feeling of the pen that disempowers me from believing to the contrary-so much for believing and disbelieving.

Again, Sir, I have been under the necessity of writing to you for several reasons, which are as follows, you are labouring for the good of society, you are suffering imprisonment for the good of society, you are now in the act of braving all the prejudices of society, you are likely in the end to be of great service to society, and you cannot have any other motive in view but the good of society; now, Sir, it is your circumstances connected with the circumstances of society that has impelled me to the act of writing; I could never have thought of writing to you about public affairs if you had not first made yourself a public character, consequently, it is your circumstances connected with the public that has obliged me to write, and the quantity I have wrote is just equal to the power or influence that your circumstances connected with the public have had over my mind and powers of intellect. If your circumstances, &c. had had more power over my mind, I should have wrote more, If your circumstances, &c. had had less power over my mind, I should have

wrote less, but as it is, this piece of writing is just what your circumstances, &c. are capable of drawing from a being fashioned and circumstanced in every respect, iu mind and circumstances, as I am, so much for actions, who can say that I am not a creature of necessity.

Well, Sir, a few friends of necessity in the parishes of Hammersmith and Kensington have been under the necessity of opening a subscription to pay the necessary fines, that your enemies have been under the necessity of imposing upon you by the way of extortion; the sum collected for this purpose by this little society of necessaries is three pounds six shillings: I wish it had been more, but the length of our purses upon this occasion has been the dictator to our minds, and we have been under the necessity of beginning upon such a footing, as we hope to be under the necessity of continuing upon; and I make no doubt but your future exertions will impel us to the act of subscribing in future just according as events and circumstances shall dictate, and no otherwise.

論

Sir, this little society of necessaries have heard with pleasure of the safe delivery of Mrs. Carlile of an infant female; whom you have been under the necessity of christening yourself: you seem to be under the necessity of increasing the number of necessarians by all manner of means, whether in prison or out, both by words and actions, and you seem to be decreasing the employment of your enemies, whether in prison or out, by declining to be robbed by the parson: if you go on this way much longer, you will, by necessity, drive all the parsons and bishops to the necessity of going either to a jail or workhouse, and then you will drive me to the necessity of laughing at them.

I hope, Sir, you will be under the necessity of communicating to Mrs. Carlile and sister the best wishes of this little society of necessarians, and tell your sister that we shall be under the necessity of continuing our subscriptions to the discharge of her fines in the same manner as we are under the necessity of subscribing to the discharge of yours until the whole be paid.

I am, Sir, yours &c.

To Mr. Richard Carlile, in the hands of the
Boroughmongers-Dorchester Jail.

SIR,

A NECESSARIAN.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE REPUBLICAN,

As the greater part of my life has been spent in confined circumstances, I have had but little opportunity of improving my mind in natural philosophy; and, although I have generally, since the age of

* Naming, not Christening: she is never to be a Christian nor to come under the hands of a priest. EDITOR.

twenty, had a strong desire to obtain the truth, believing it to be the, most valuable ingredient under the sun, and if properly applied the most useful to society; yet, until a few months past, I have been a slave to superstition; I say slave to superstition, because next to that of supporting myself and family, my labour of inquiry and examina-` tion has been pricipally confined to the system of theology.

Thus I should have continued a slave to superstition, had I not fallen in with Mirabaud's System of Nature," which I have read, and, in part been studying with a great degree of pleasure and satisfaction; I have read "Helvetius on the Mind," and also, "The Deist's Magazine," and some little pieces by Erasmus Perkins, all which have tended to an enlargment of mind, and affords me a larger field for inquiry. But unfortunately my time and opportunity is so small that my disadvantages are very great, having only one day in a week to read, being obliged to work early and late the rest of the week.

The chain of reasoning which Mirabaud makes use of, tends so much to prove the sufficiency of nature, to produce the phenomena, or the appearances which we behold; independent of any other aid, that it appeared to me so just and conclusive, so consistent with reason and probability, as to make me think it might appear so to others of my acquaintance; I therefore spoke of it to one and to another; after a little conversation, some of them agreed to correspond with me upon the subject. I exchanged letters with two or three of them, but the first of them soon grew angry almost to madness. The second was more pleasant and profitable, but for want of time and other circumstances, he has not replied to my last. But the third, which pretended by his conversation and verbal advice, to be the most friendly, has, after a lapse of sixteen or eighteen months, neglected to fulfil his promise, made in the most solemn manner, assuring ine, that if I would write to him on the subject, he would reply to the same in the most friendly and candid disposition; however, I immediately wrote to him by way of introducing an inquiry into the subject, but so much time has gone by, and he has not yet written; his motives for such conduct is best known unto himself. I fear it is with him as it is with most others, who love the darkness of Superstition rather than the light of Truth.

Since then I wrote to a Mr. Hickson, of West Smithfield, boot and shoemaker; at that time he was Elder of the Society calling themselves Freethinking Christians. The first letter I sent him was in consequence of what I heard them say one Sunday morning. The subject they gave out was, "The Immortality of the Hunan Soul:" but they chose to speak to the negative side of the subject, and completely shew, both from reason and Scripture, that the human being was altogether a material being. What I then wrote was to prove to them their inconsistency in holding forth an object of religious worship who could not be identified in matter, whom they call God; while the greater part of professing Christiaus believe Jesus Christ to be God, who was himself altogether a material being. To that I

had no reply, but in consequence of some desultory conversation I had with him afterwards, I took upon me to send him a second letter, founded upon that conversation, giving him a number of ideas which had occurred to me in consequence of some questions he had asked in that conversation; and as I desired, so I proposed to enter into a disquisition of a subject which stood opposed to the systems of theology, which I am led to consider as so many systems of superstition. By way of introducing the subject, I proposed the following questions relative to the "active power in Nature." First, What is that active power-is it an effect produced by an eternal, intelligent, divine Being? Or, secondly, is it the effect of laws, physically constituted and determined by the essences, properties, and qualities of eternal matter, independent of such intelligent Being?

This letter had the effect to draw from him a short reply, if it may be called such-I consider it merely a shuffle altogether to get rid of the subject, and a proof that they, the Freethinking Christians so called, are like other Christians, who would much rather have a religion founded in fable, sophistry, and falsehood, than search to the bottom of things in order to obtain the truth.

In his reply he charges me with having only assumed my points, and says, before he can enter into a disquisition of the subject I must prove my points, which appears to me to be ridiculous and absurd, because if the points were fully proved to the satisfaction of both parties, then there would be an end to controversy. However, I have answered the charge, and have shewn, that as I have given him my opinion, he ought in justice to give me his, in order to shew if his opinion will produce a greater consistency with reason and probability. To which I have not had any answer. It does not appear to me that the Deists are any more consistent with the principle of free enquiry than the Christian theologian, for they are equally as unwilling to enter into a just and fair disquisition of a subject which stands in opposition to theology as the Christian: witness the three questions published in "The Deist's Magazine,” No. VI. p. 136. there recommended to the consideration of the honest theologian, either Deist or Christian. A letter also which was published in the same Magazine, No. VIII. p. 186. intended as an introduction to an inquiry into the consistency or inconsistency of the various systems of theology, with reason and probability— signed T. B. Levant.

The above questions, and others of a similar import, I have circulated among my acquaintances, and they to others, but to very little good effect, as I can get but very little real intelligence from them. I have but very few acquaintance, it is true, and with respect to the sentiments of my mind, as it respects the above questions, I seem to stand almost alone. Mr. Moggridge, of Somer's Town, and Mr. Jones, of Fleet Street, come very near to me on those matters. It is but of late that I have become acquainted with them, and that acquaintance is but slight; however, I have placed some