The first edition of Malthus's Essay on Population had appeared in 1798, followd by a second much enlarged edition in 1803, and further editions in 1806 and 1807. However distasteful to Hazlitt and his circle, the first edition had been viewed as no more than a speculation in reply to a speculation (Godwin's theory of the perfectibility of man), and it showed little or no class rancour. In the second edition, however, Malthus had advocated moral restraint by the poor, and urged the discontinuance of Poor Law Relief.
Hazzlitt's attack on the legislative application of Malthus's theories began with three letters contributed to Cobbett's Political Register between March and may of 1807. In preparing his material for a book, Hazlitt added two more letters and a long commentary. Catherine MacLean in Born under Saturn (London, 1943, pp. 229-230) states: "it is again as the defender of Liberty that he takes the field, in opposition to a theory which was in danger of being converted into one of the instruments of power that was corrupt, or at least suspect ... this time he comes forard in defence of the Liberty of the poorest sons of the soil, which he thinks may well be hacked at and whittled away by any legislation ushered in under the shadow of Malthus. He pled for the liberties of those who were not sufficiently articulate to make any effective assertion of, or any effective protest against the diminuation of their rights."