you and your family are in this situation. Without doubt, Sir, they will call public meetings, they will open subscriptions at their chapels, and in short, adopt every necessary measure in your behalf. Can any one do that violence to their feelings, to imagine that Dr. Rudge, whom you so materially benefitted, by condescending to notice his letters, will be the ungrateful wretch to suffer you to linger in a dungeon while he is enjoying the advantages derived from his correspondence with you. Christians, Sir, must be different from other men, if they can forget so easily the obligations they have been under to individuals when in different circumstances. Mr. Wait too, I do not remember to have seen his name in the list of your subscriptions, but doubtless it must have escaped my observation, he cannot have forgotten his duty so far as to have omitted sending his mite, Wishing you and your fellow prisoners, Mrs. and Miss Carlile, every comfort you can enjoy in your present situation, and that Republicans and Deists may steadily adhere together, and propagate their opinions. I remain your Fellow Citizen and labourer, John Street, (commonly Saint John Street) D. KING. TO MR. D. KING. CITIZEN, Dorchester Gaol, May 26. ACCEPT my thanks for taking upon you the two thousandth part of mine and my sister's fines, for though I am willing to give up every atom of my own property towards meeting them, I do hold it to be the duty of every man who calls himself an enemy to persecution, whether he be of my opinion or not, to take a portion of those fines upon himself. My crime, and that of my sister, is the publication of a book that questions the truth and validity of the Christian system of religion. I published that book under a conviction that it contained more truth than does the Christian system of religion, or all the books connected with that system and in doing this I conceived I performed a duty, a virtuous duty, as a member of the community, under an (To be continued.) Printed and Published by R. CARLILE, 55, Fleet Street. All Communications (post paid) are requested to be sent to Dorchester Gaol, until a further Ad. dress to some House or Shop be given.-Orders, with remittances, or references for payment, will be punctually attended to. Country Agents will find the most liberal Terms for prompt Payment. No. 2. Vol. VI.] LONDON, FRIDAY, June 7, 1822. [PRICE 6d. TO THE REPUBLICANS OF THE ISLAND OF GREAT BRITAIN. CITIZENS, Dorchester Gaol, June 2, Year 3, of the Spanish Revolution. THE subject of my present address is the subject of UNION AMONG REFORMERS, in which I shall endeavour to enquire and to show you upon what point alone a useful and effectual union can take place. In this Island a very great majority of the people have determined upon the necessity and are bent upon the act of reforming the System of Government under which we live. It is admitted by this great majority, that the existing system is bad and pernicious to the general interest. On this point we are all agreed; but on the manner of reforming it, or as to the future form, we are divided, and that into many distinct divisions. Among those divisions, or as one of them, you, the Republicans, are comprised. You demand the right of a complete Flective or Representative System of Government; that is, you first wish that every man shall give his voice towards electing a representative to become his legislator, and after your laws are made, you further contend for the important right of choosing your own magistrates to execute them, or that every man shall hold the same power to choose his magistrate as his legislator, leaving to the Legislature, as a whole, the power to choose an Executive for its acts in the gross, or rather such of its acts as relate to our interests with foreign powers, and a central power at home. Next stands that division of persons who call themselves Radicals, or Radical Reformers, and who contend for nothing further than to have a branch of the Legislature in their possession, or a controul in the House of Commons; allowing two powers of opposite interests to exist with the power of controul over that branch. This they very Printed and Published by R. CARLILE, 55, Fleet-street. strangely call a Radical Reform, but which you, Republicans, consider to be nothing more than a complete humbug and hotch-potch, as a system, but which you readily admit would give the people more power and influence than they have at present, and would lead on to still further Reform, or to that for which you contend for, at once. You say that cannot be called a Radical Reform which leaves any part of the present corrupt system unreformed, and contend that you are the only Radical Reformers; although you do not boast of the epithet of Radicals, seeing, that like most other epithets that are without principles well defined, it is become really corrupt, by being taken up as an epithet by men who will avow no definite principles, but contend that the name is sufficient. Then come the Moderate Reformers, as they are called, who, by way of throwing a tub to the whale, will allow a slight change to be made in the construction of the present House of Commons, but profess to be shocked at the idea of Annual Parliaments and Universal Suffrage. These men, so far from being moderate in their views, are divided among themselves in a most immoderate manner, and each has his own little scheme for changing a borough, for excluding a certain portion of the Placemen from the House, for shortening the present duration of Parliaments, some for giving a suffrage to one district, some to another, and others for different degrees of extending the suffrage alike all over the country. But all this is like the system of the Radicals, humbug and hotch-potch-all a delusion. The immoderate Moderates are all accusing each other of going too far, or not far enough; but they universally look at the Radicals and Republicans with horror and trembling, and feel as a painted female would feel at the idea of having her colours disturbed by a rude embrace, or an accident by pressure in a public company. They fear their prettiness and finery would be all spoiled by coming in contact with the vulgar Radicals and Republicans. They will therefore hold no kind of communion or parley with them, and they are the men who are the real supporters of the corrupt system under which we live. They are, in fact, worse than the managers of that system. Such men are those called Whigs. Next the Radicals, feeling that they stand in the midway between all parties, cry out for union upon their ground, and say to one party, you ought to come down, and to the other, you ought to come up to us; whilst they are treated with indifference and even contempt on both sides, as resting on nothing that is stable and well understood, and the only argument they offer for the union is, that "if you were all as we are, we should be more in numbers!" About their principles they cannot say a word, knowing that they will not bear comparison with those defined by the Republicans. Union can only be useful so far as it tends to effect a useful object; therefore, union, upon any but sound principles, upon such principles as cannot be impeached, is not only useless, but mischievous. If an honest and useful union be required, the only ground to proceed upon is first to examine principles, to select those that cannot be impeached, and then make them the standard for union, instead of setting up the names of men for sign-posts, and crying out, "Come, all good people, look at them and shout, as nothing else is required from you but to pay your weekly pennies to support our show; which, if you will do, you shall be excused from all further struggle for your liberties, as some half dozen of us, like the Catholic Priests, will take the burthen upon ourselves, so as you support us well with your pay. Never mind the consequences whilst we enable you to jog through life so easy." This is exactly the principle upon which that useless, corrupt thing called the Great Northern Radical Union is founded, and although its advocates begin to grow ashamed of its originally avowed principles,. they cannot mend or cover the thing any way. "It is ridiculous, it is preposterous," say they, "to suppose that we had an idea of buying up the corruptions of the House of Commons." Ridiculous and preposterous as may be such a supposition or idea, it is notorious that this was the avowed purpose and ground of union; and there was nothing said about its being "ridiculous or preposterous" until it was so shewn to be by the Republicans. Calculations were actually made and put forth as to what number of pennies would make £25,000; and this sum was stated to be the price of five boroughs, which were to be purchased for Messrs. Hunt, Cartwright, Wooler, Wolseley, and Northmore, or Cobbett, just as Mr. Cobbett should behave himself towards this great Radical Union, and puff it and its managers, or puff them not! In neglecting so to puff it, Mr. C.'s name is struck out of the books! It is further notorious, that calculations have been made as to what number of pennies would buy all the boroughs, and change the course of the agents of corruption, and this has been pompously put forth as fighting the Boroughmongers with their own weapons.' weapons." This is a species of drivelling upon which the Radicals call us to join them! No, Republicans we will not unite with them upon any such principles: they are corrupt, inefficient, and stand impeached; whilst they find no defenders even from among those who have proposed them as a focus for union. The only defence that I have heard, is, "let those who like to subscribe to the Great Radical Northern Union so subscribe, and you who do not like it, be so good as not to laugh at those who do." This of course is a very powerful defence of a principle for union that is to overthrow the whole of the present host of Boroughmongers, and give us a change among the proprietors of the boroughmongering system! The Jews will get hold of the land long before the Radicals get hold of the Boroughs, if they proceed upon their present system. All Other general arguments on the necessity of union have been put forth, in which we are told, that we ought to lay aside all distinctions but that of Reformers, and all unite on that term to put down the tyranny that oppresses us. this would do very well if we were in the same situation as the Greeks, if we were actually in arms against our Turks; but as we are not so in arms, and as we are, and shall probably for some time be obliged to continue, progressing towards Reform by the power of the printing press, and by disseminating knowledge among the mass of the people, it is of the greatest importance that we should not lay aside those distinctions which define our principles, but that we should unite for no other purpose but to propagate the best principles, or such as cannot be impeached, but we are instantly ready to defend them to the letter. If we were actually in arms against our Turks, then the man would be a traitor that should attempt to divide our armed forces by nominal distinctions, so long as the whole were united for the destruction of tyranny. As the case now stands, the only duty of the honest Reformer is, to propagate or to assist in propagating, the best principles; and if there be yet no determination as to which are best, let us discuss them; there can be no better time for that purpose than the present, for we are actually doing nothing else, nor is there a prospect of doing any thing in any other shape for the moment. cannot therefore be better employed than in discussing and propagating the best principles; and unions for any other purpose will lead to nothing but increased disunions. We I admit the word or epithet Reformer is as good as that of Republican, if it be inade the emblem of the same princi |