The ''Book of Murder'', also known as the Marcus Affair, was a piece of propaganda written in the 1830s in

opposition to the English Poor Laws Mr. Canning was once asked by Mr. Tierney why he did not touch the Poor Law? To which question Mr. Canning replied:—'' "Why do not Governments decide offhand a question growing out of the usages of centuries—interwoven with the habits, and deep ...

. It was presented as the work of one

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

ous "Marcus", and was published by Joshua Hobson. It aimed to incite opposition to the

Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 The ''Poor Law Amendment Act 1834'' (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey. It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the ''Poor Relie ...

, which had altered the nature of poor relief (how the state cared for poor people) in England and Wales. Previously, paupers were eligible for "outdoor relief" (handouts in money or in kind, with recipients living in their own homes); this shifted to "indoor relief", meaning that

workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse' ...

s were built, institutions to provide shelter and basic sustenance. The book came from two pamphlets by "Marcus" – "An Essay of Populousness" and "On the Possibility of Limiting Populousness", which discussed possible infanticide used to tackle a

population explosion Overpopulation or overabundance is a phenomenon in which a species' population becomes larger than the carrying capacity of its environment. This may be caused by increased birth rates, lowered mortality rates, reduced predation or large scale m ...

and killing by gas. The anti-Poor Law campaign alleged these pamphlets were the work of Poor Law Commissioners who were known to hold views on population similar to

Thomas Malthus Thomas Robert Malthus (; 13/14 February 1766 – 29 December 1834) was an English cleric, scholar and influential economist in the fields of political economy and demography. In his 1798 book ''An Essay on the Principle of Population'', Mal ...

. The movement also alleged that copies of the original pamphlet had been suppressed. One of the first to use the Marcus pamphlet to popularize the idea of a conspiracy against the poor in Radical and Chartist circles was the Reverend

Joseph Rayner Stephens Joseph Rayner Stephens (8 March 1805 – 18 February 1879) was a Methodist minister who offended the Wesleyan Conference by his support for separating the Church of England from the State. Resigning from the Wesleyan Connection, he became free t ...

, a proponent of violent resistance to the government who made numerous references to the alleged conspiracy while traveling across the country during the period between his December 1838 arrest and 1839 imprisonment. The books were published by the Chartist leader

Feargus O'Connor Feargus Edward O'Connor (18 July 1796 – 30 August 1855) was an Irish Chartist leader and advocate of the Land Plan, which sought to provide smallholdings for the labouring classes. A highly charismatic figure, O'Connor was admired for his ...

in the '' Northern Star''.

References

External links

The full text of the ''Book of Murder''Online reproduction at the British Library
Law books Poor Law in Britain and Ireland Pamphlets 1830s in the United Kingdom Works published under a pseudonym {{UK-law-book-stub

See also

References

External links