ne
part of the people do not cause the other part to lead miserable lives.
There can be no morality, no virtue, no sincerity, no honesty, amongst a
people continually suffering from want; and, it is cruel, in the last
degree, to punish such people for almost any sort of crime, which is, in
fact, not crime of the heart, not crime of the perpetrator, but the crime
of his all-controlling necessities.--To what degree the main body of the
people, in England, _are now_ poor and miserable; how deplorably wretched
they now are; this we know but too well; and now, we will see what was
their state before this vaunted "REFORMATION." I shall be very particular
to cite my _authorities_ here. I will _infer_ nothing; I will give no
"_estimate_;" but refer to authorities, such as no man can call in
question, such as no man can deny to be proofs _more_ complete than if
founded on oaths of credible witnesses, taken before a judge and jury. I
shall begin with the account which FORTESCUE gives of the state and manner
of living of the English, in the reign of Henry VI.; that is, in the 15th
century, when the Catholic Church was in the height of its glory.
FORTESCUE was Lord Chief Justice of England for nearly twenty years; he
was appointed Lord High Chancellor by Henry VI. Being in exile, in France,
in consequence of the wars between the Houses of York and Lancaster, and
the King's son, Prince Edward, being also in exile with him, the
Chancellor wrote a series of Letters, addressed to the Prince, to explain
to him the nature and effects of the Laws of England, and to induce him to
study them and uphold them. This work, which was written in Latin, is
called _De Laudibus Legum Angliae_; or, PRAISE OF THE LAWS OF ENGLAND. This
book was, many years ago, translated into English, and it is a book of
Law-Authority, quoted frequently in our courts of this day. No man can
doubt the truth of _facts_ related in such a work. It was a work written
by a famous lawyer for a prince; it was intended to be read by other
contemporary lawyers, and also by all lawyers in future. The passage that
I am about to quote, relating to the state of the English, was _purely
incidental_; it was not intended to answer any temporary purpose. It _must
have been a true account_.--The Chancellor, after speaking generally of
the nature of the laws of England, and of the difference between them and
the laws of France, proceeds to show the difference in their effects, by a
descrip