diate actors in it.

Those persons would have carried their own release in their pockets with them to the prison, and therefore could at any time, or under any calamity, such as the illness of a wife or child, release themselves from their imprisonment. It had besides, many features to recommend it, in addition to that which I have just mentioned. A "warrant of attorney" was an instrument which required no affidavit to give it effect, and being printed, required little time in filling up; and as to expense, that did not weigh a feather in the scale; he had had a large fortune with his wife, and had come to the resolve of expending its last shilling, in avenging her murder, as he justly designated her death, from the manner of it; and even if that fortune, large as it was, had failed, he had then Mr. Rothschild, with whom he was on terms of the closest intimacy, to look to, for further funds. Mr. Rothschild had himself suffered from the atrocious system, some thirty-six years before, and would have inevitably sunk under it, had it not been for Mr. Yeats, who generously stepped forward to extricate him. An act of kindness, Mr. Rothschild, than whom a more grateful man could not exist, never lost sight of. It was the circumstances attending the arrest of my friend, more than the arrest itself, that called down his vengeance on the system. His lady was in the last stage of pregnancy when his arrest took place, and a premature labour, which ended fatally, was the immediate consequence. Few men, I believe, ever received the treatment my friend received, from the ruffians that arrested him. The excuse made for

that treatment was, the nature of the process (an execution founded on a bail bond), and the sum, which, no doubt, was considerable; but had the sum been ten, or even a hundred times what it was, it would have been paid, had the ruffians consented to wait till he sent to his bankers. Such was his rage against the system, that he had at first determined to send two or three persons to each of the prisons, labouring under contagious disease; but on my pointing out the inhumanity of such a measure, he at once gave up the thought; he was not, however, long in finding a substitute. An injured man is invariably fertile in discovering means to reach his injurer; and a very few days after I had expressed my disapprobation of his intention to send diseased persons into the prisons, he brought me the "plan" above detailed.

Nothing could exceed the gratification I felt, at the change he had made, and the determination he stated himself to have come to, of adopting the last-mentioned "plan." It possessed many advantages: it required but little penetration to perceive, that in addition to the overwhelming inconvenience it would occasion in the prisons, its weight upon the county, and poor rates would be intolerable. The "Insolvent Court," as voluntary prisoners, could go no length in withdrawing them. Having their liberator in their pockets, and being provided with sufficient money to supply their wants, they would have no necessity to apply to it.

That the "plan" would have succeeded, had it been acted on, there cannot exist a doubt. The principle was tried, on a small scale, in 1825, the

year of the panic; but then, not by design, or previous arrangement, but by the force of circumstances; and though the extra number did not exceed 400, against whom "writs of capias" had been taken out,-and though those 400 did not remain in prison longer than a few days, still a sufficient effect was produced, to satisfy any reasonable man, that had the principle been pushed to the extent of 5,000, and those 5,000 remain in prison voluntarily, nothing on earth could have saved the system from destruction. It is an old saying, and a well-established truth that, let any vicious system have room, and time enough, and it will cure itself. So with the atrocious system of imprisonment for debt":-fill the prisons, and keep them filled,-and its destruction is inevitable. So sensible are the abettors of the system, of this fact, that they actually subscribe large sums annually, to enable the poorer class of victims to pass out of prison through the medium of the "Insolvent Court"! I know one individual alone that subscribes 1,000l. annually for that iniquitous purpose-iniquitous on account of its motive. The "Thatched House," the "Craven Street Institution," and several similar ones, under the name of charitable, are of the same character. It is not because a "plan" is simple, that it should therefore be rejected. The greatest objects that ever were accomplished, have been accomplished by simple means. "It is of no consequence," says Junius, "of what materials an instrument is made,-the question is, is it fit for the work in hand?" Whatever filled the prisons, and kept them filled,-no

matter what that was,-would have accomplished the object my friend had in view-namely, the destruction of the system.

In the face, however, of this certainty, it struck me, that there was great objection to the adoption of the "plan," if any other could be devised, of which the expense would be as trivial, and the result as effectual. The principal-indeed I might say, the sole objection to the "plan" just detailed, was the embarrassment it would occasion the Government. Nothing could induce me to be a party to any "plan," which was likely, in the slightest degree, to embarrass the present Administration, believing, as I most conscientiously do, that the prosperity of the country is bound up with its quiet and permanency. But these were my sentiments-my principles; they had nothing to do with the sentiments or principles of my friend ;-he, in no way participated in them; he had lost a wife-a young and amiable wife, and he lost that "wife," by the atrocious system of "imprisonment for debt,"-and destroy it he would-or perish in the attempt!

Reasoning with an injured man was out of the question; but two alternatives remained to me,— either to join my friend, in his endeavours to carry his "plan" into execution (which I was determined not to do), or devise one, which would be equally economical, and equally certain in its result.

In this dilemma it was my fortune, after a few weeks' deliberation, to adopt the alternative. I devised a "plan" equally economical, and equally certain as to its result. That "plan" your Lordship found detailed in the first "letter" I had the

honour of addressing you on the atrocious system of "imprisonment for debt."

In proceeding to collect materials, on which to found the "plan" presented to your Lordship, above alluded to, I found difficulties heaped on difficulties,—I could procure no information that I could rely on,-those who could give me information, were interested in concealing it;-I was not however discouraged,-I persevered,-I gained light as I progressed,-I traced back consequences to the cause that produced them. This was the true way to conquer the difficulties that opposed me, and, I succeeded. The means by which I succeeded, are not without interest. I had from my earliest days been impressed with the conviction, that all vicious systems in a state, had a rotten foundation, and to overthrow them, nothing more was necessary than to get at their foundation,— draw it forth, and expose it. It is thus that I set about the task of getting at the foundation of the atrocious system of "imprisonment for debt." This, however, was a task not easily accomplished;"the foundation stone" lay low, it was bedded deep,-it was shrouded in darkness. All the other parts of the building were visible,-the "foundation stone" alone, was hid-concealedcovered over.

The more obstacles I found in my way to get at the "foundation stone," the more anxious I became to reach it. I was stimulated by the strangeness of the idea, that a system which was sustained, cherished, and perpetuated by victims, should, nevertheless, find its death blow, in an extra number of