In a “postscript,” Fletcher refers to a pamphlet which states that—
“Sixty thousand of the ablest young men in the kingdom, and one hundred thousand horses, are employed in smuggling, whilst one hundred thousand women and children make it their business to hawk about the country the articles which the men have smuggled. If these one hundred and sixty thousand people were employed in fishing, agriculture, spinning, etc., their labour would amount annually to £2,464,000, to which must be added the sum of £1,820,000, the cost of keeping the one hundred thousand horses used[used] by smugglers.... The Dutch catch fish, on our coasts, to the yearly amount of one million sterling.... Fishing and smuggling never flourish together.... In Scotland, there are upwards of ten thousand private stills,” etc., etc.
Thus Fletcher, the polemical divine, turned social reformer; and his efforts to correct the crying evils of the age were not confined to the employment of his pen. In his own parish, there were eighteen public houses,—all of them “nurseries for sin, particularly on Sunday evenings.” He had long desired to correct these abuses; but had seldom been favoured with the services of a churchwarden willing to second his endeavours. Now he had one, who was resolved to act according to the oath he had taken. Fletcher visited several of these dens of iniquity every Sunday, and all of them in their turn. In every one of them, he bore a faithful testimony against their wickedness; and, in some instances, his efforts were attended with much success.[[595]]
At this period, trade was bad, taxes were crushing, and corn was dear. King George the Third, in his speech to “My Lords and Gentlemen,” the members of the two Houses of Parliament, remarked, “The scarcity, and consequent high price of corn, requires your instant interposition.” Corn was scarce, and, in many instances, it was bought and hoarded by execrable speculators, for the purpose of raising the price of it, and increasing their own blood-soaked profits. Fletcher was indignant, and proposed the formation of an association of persons of unblemished character:—
“1. To prosecute legally all engrossers and forestallers of the necessaries of life.
“2. If there be any laws against those who cause an artificial scarcity, by monopolizing the necessaries of life,—to apply to the magistrates to put such laws in force against the offenders,—and, if, through fear or favour, the magistrates refuse, to apply for redress to Quarter Sessions, or to the Court of King’s Bench.
“3. That the members of the Association subscribe, according to their ability, towards defraying the expense of detecting, and legally prosecuting the offenders.”
Fletcher added:—
“If such a plan is entered upon, and carried on in this county” (Salop), “I will gladly become a subscriber of a guinea, provided no illegal steps be taken by the associates.”
This is copied from an unpublished manuscript in Fletcher’s own handwriting. The following also is taken from another original manuscript, written by Fletcher:—