Samuel Johnson Letter To British Lawmaker Summary

Hundreds of people were being jailed frequently for they are not able to pay their debts. Samuel Johnson sees this as a waste since nothing is achieved but the oppression of an individual in harsh conditions. In his letter to a British lawmaker, Johnson implores his recipient to end such practices by making note of how illogical it is since money is just being lost and conjuring up vivid descriptions on how the debtors are suffering.
Moreover, Johnson depicts the debtors as individuals who are suffering unreasonably for a crime of not settling their debts. He paints the following image in the lawmaker’s mind: “perish...five thousand men, overborne with sorrow, consumed by famine, or putrified by filth” (55-8). With this, Johnson establishes the notion that what they are doing to the debtors is purely inhumane. Johnson urges the British lawmaker into looking at the situation in a more sentimental

He reasons that “the public loss will rise in one year to three hundred thousand pounds” (40-2). Through this, Johnson supplies a logical reason in ending the debtors’ prisons. Johnson also makes note of how ironic the situation is—squandering money to chain people up for not being able to pay their debts. Its impetus is better for the reason why these people are in jail in the first place is due to them contributing to the loss of money and placing them in prison is increasing the loss; there is more money to lose in putting them in jail. Johnson reinforces the idea that what the government will see is that such practices is fruitless; they are continually wasting money on debtors and the debts these people owe will not be paid back at all due to all the trauma they are undergoing while being in jail, it will take them longer to gather what the money. Therefore, the notion of continuing the presence of debtors’ prison will prove to be illogical in the