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. It was presented as the work of one

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

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 (4 & 5 Will. 4. c. 76) (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the British Whig Party, Whig government of Charles ...

, 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 and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...

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 Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose being the prevention of re ...

used to tackle a

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

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 economist, cleric, and scholar influential 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 Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

and Chartist circles was the Reverend Joseph Rayner Stephens, 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 Chartism, 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 ...

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