flNJVERSTY of CALIF 
 AT 
 sGELES 
 XJBRAi^i
 
 AN ESSAY 
 
 PRINCIPLE OF POPULATION; 
 
 .-S 
 
 A VIEW OF ITS PAST AND PRESENT EFFECTS 
 
 HUMAN HAPPINESS; 
 
 WITH 
 
 AN INQUIRY INTO OUR PROSPECTS RESPECTING THE FUTURE 
 
 REMOVAL OR MITIGATION OF THE EVILS WHICH 
 
 IT OCCASIONS. 
 
 BY T. R. MALTHUS, A. M. 
 
 Late Fello-x of Jesus College, Cambridge, and Professor of History a)id 
 Political Economy in the East-India College, HertforfcJiise. 
 
 VOL, II. 
 
 THE FIFTH EDITION, 
 WITH IMPORTANT ADDITIONS. 
 
 tttn - 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET. 
 1817. 
 
 4 37 f 
 
 .r
 
 
 ' ."' <, 
 
 Printed by W. CLOWES, Northomlx rUnd-court, Strand, London.
 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 THE THIRD VOLUME. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 OF THE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS OR EXPEDIENTS WHICH 
 HAVE BEEN PROPOSED OR HAVE PREVAILED IN 
 SOCIETY, AS THEY AFFECT THE EVILS ARISING 
 FROM THE PRINCIPLE OF POPULATION. 
 
 (Continued.) 
 
 Chap. Pa & e 
 
 XIII. Of increasing Wealth, as it affects the Condi- 
 
 tion of the Poor 1 
 
 XIV. General Observations o . . . 27 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 OF OUR FUTURE PROSPECTS RESPECTING THE RE- 
 MOVAL OR MITIGATION OF THE EVILS ARISING 
 FROM THE PRINCIPLE OF POPULATION. 
 
 Chap. Page 
 
 I. Of moral Restraint, and our Obligation to 
 
 practise this Virtue 63 
 
 II. Of the Effects which would result to Society 
 
 from the Prevalence of moral Restraint . . 84 
 
 Chap.
 
 IV CONTENTS. 
 
 Chap. page 
 
 III. Of the only effectual Mode of improving the 
 
 Condition of the Poor 102 
 
 IV. Objections to this Mode considered 115 
 
 V. Of the Consequences of pursuing the oppo- 
 site Mode 126 
 
 VI. Effects of the Knowledge of the principal 
 
 Cause of Poverty on Civil Liberty 142 
 
 VII. Continuation of the same Subject 166 
 
 VIII. Plan of the gradual Abolition of the Poor- 
 
 Laws proposed 1 75 
 
 IX. Of the Modes of correcting the prevailing 
 
 Opinions on Population 198 
 
 X. Of the Direction of our Charity 211 
 
 XI. Different Plans of improving the Condition 
 
 of the Poor considered 228 
 
 XII. Continuation of the same Subject 256 
 
 XIII. Of the Necessity of general Principles on 
 
 this Subject 28 1 
 
 XIV. Of our rational Expectations respecting the 
 
 future Improvement of Society 308 
 
 Appendix S25 
 
 ESSAY,
 
 E S SAY, 
 
 4c 4-c- 
 
 BOOK II. 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Of increasing Wealth, as it affects the Condition of the 
 Poor. 
 
 1 HE professed object of Adam Smith's 
 Inquiry is the Nature and Causes of the 
 Wealth of Nations. There is another, how- 
 ever, still more interesting, which he occa- 
 sionally mixes with it the causes which 
 affect the happiness and comfort of the 
 lower orders of society, which in every 
 nation form the most numerous class. 
 These two subjects are, no doubt, nearly 
 connected ; but the nature and extent of 
 this connexion, and the mode in which in- 
 vol. ii. b creasing
 
 2 Of increasing Wealth, as it Bk. iii. 
 
 creasing wealth operates on the condition 
 of the poor, have not been stated with suf- 
 ficient correctness and precision. 
 
 Adam Smith, in his chapter on the wages 
 of labour, considers every increase in the 
 stock or revenue of the society as an in- 
 crease in the funds for the maintenance of 
 labour ; and having before laid down the 
 position that the demand for those who live 
 by wages can only increase in proportion 
 to the increase of the funds for the payment 
 of wages, the conclusion naturally follows, 
 that every increase of wealth tends to in- 
 crease the demand for labour and to im- 
 prove the condition of the lower classes of 
 society \ 
 
 Upon a nearer examination, however, it 
 will be found that the funds for the mainte- 
 nance of labour do not necessarily increase 
 with the increase of wealth, and very rarely 
 increase in proportion to it; and that the 
 condition of the lower classes of society 
 does not depend exclusively upon the in- 
 crease of the funds for the maintenance of 
 
 Vol. i. book i. c. 8. 
 
 labour,
 
 Ch. xiii. affects the Condition of the Poor. 3 
 
 labour, or the power of supporting a greater 
 number of labourers. 
 
 Adam Smith defines the wealth of a state 
 to be the annual produce of its land and 
 labour. This definition evidently includes 
 manufactured produce as well as the pro- 
 duce of the land. Now, upon the supposi- 
 tion that a nation, from peculiar situation 
 and circumstances, was unable to procure 
 an additional quantity of food, it is obvious 
 that the produce of its labour would not 
 necessarily come to a stand, although the 
 produce of its land or its power of import- 
 ing corn were incapable of further increase. 
 If the materials of manufactures could be 
 obtained either at home or from abroad, 
 improved skill and machinery might work 
 them up to a greatly increased amount 
 with the same number of hands, and even 
 the number of hands might be considerably 
 increased by an increased taste for manu- 
 factures, compared with war and menial 
 service, and by the employment conse- 
 quently of a greater proportion of the whole 
 population in manufacturing and commer- 
 cial labour 
 
 b 2 That
 
 4 Of increasing Wealth, as it Bk. iii. 
 
 That such a case does not frequently oc- 
 cur will be most readily allowed. It is not 
 only however possible, but forms the spe- 
 cific limit to the increase of population in 
 the natural progress of cultivation, with 
 which limit, the limit to the further pro- 
 gress of wealth is obviously not contempo- 
 rary. But though cases of this kind do 
 not often occur, because these limits are 
 seldom reached ; yet approximations to 
 them are constantly taking place, and in 
 the usual progress of improvement the in- 
 crease of wealth and capital is rarely ac- 
 companied with a proportionately increased 
 power of supporting an additional number 
 of labourers. 
 
 Some ancient nations, which, according 
 to the accounts we have received of them, 
 possessed but an inconsiderable quantity of 
 manufacturing and commercial capital, 
 appear to have cultivated their lands highly 
 by means of an agrarian division of pro- 
 perty, and were unquestionably very popu- 
 lous. In such countries,though full of peo- 
 ple already, there would evidentl y be room 
 for a very great increase of capital and riches; 
 
 but,
 
 Ch. xiii. affects the Condition of the Poor- 5 
 
 but, allowing all the weight that is in any 
 degree probable to the increased production 
 or importation of food occasioned by the 
 stimulus of additional capital, there would 
 evidently not be room for a proportionate 
 increase of the means of subsistence. 
 
 If we compare the early state of our most 
 flourishing European kingdoms with their 
 present state, we shall find this conclusion 
 confirmed almost universally by experience. 
 Adam Smith, in treating of the different 
 progress of opulence in different nations, 
 says, that England, since. the time of Eli- 
 zabeth, has been continually advancing in 
 commerce and manufactures. He then 
 adds, " The cultivation and improvement 
 of the country has no doubt been gra- 
 dually advancing. But it seems to have 
 followed slowly and at a distance the 
 more rapid progress of commerce and 
 manufactures. The greater part of the 
 country must probably have been culti- 
 vated before the reign of Elizabeth, and 
 a very great part of it still remains un- 
 cultivated, and the cultivation of the far 
 greater part is much inferior to what it 
 
 " might
 
 6 Of increasing Wealth, as it Bk. iii. 
 
 " might beV The same observation is 
 applicable to most of the other countries 
 of Europe. The best land would natu- 
 rally be the first occupied. This land, 
 even with that sort of indolent cultivation 
 and great waste of labour which particularly 
 marked the feudal times, would be capable 
 of supporting a considerable population ; 
 and on the increase of capital, the in- 
 creasing taste for conveniences and luxuries, 
 combined with the decreasing power of 
 production in the new land to be taken into 
 cultivation, would naturally and necessarily 
 direct the greatest part of tlus new capital 
 to commerce and manufactures, and oc- 
 casion a more rapid increase of wealth 
 than of population. 
 
 The population of England accordingly 
 in the reign of Elizabeth appears to have 
 been nearly five millions, which would not 
 be very far snort of the half of what it is at 
 present; but when we consider the very great 
 proportion which the products of commer- 
 cial and manufacturing industry now bear to 
 the quantity of food raised for human con- 
 
 Vol. ii. book iv. c. 4, p. 133. 
 
 sumption,
 
 Ch. xiii. affects the Condition of the Poor. 7 
 
 sumption, it is probably a very low estimate 
 to say that the mass of wealth or the stock 
 and revenue of the country must, inde- 
 pendently of any change in the value of 
 the circulating medium, have increased 
 above four times. Few of the other coun- 
 tries in Europe have increased to the same 
 extent in commercial and manufacturing 
 wealth as England ; but as far as they have 
 proceeded in this career, all appearances 
 clearly indicate that the progress of their 
 general wealth has been greater than the 
 progress of their means of supporting an 
 additional population. 
 
 That every increase of the stock or re- 
 venue of a nation cannot be considered as 
 an increase of the real funds for the main- 
 tenance of labour will appear in a striking 
 light in the case of China. 
 
 Adam Smith observes, that China has 
 probably long been as rich as the nature of 
 her laws and institutions will admit; but 
 intimates that with other laws and institu- 
 tions, and if foreign commerce were held 
 in honour, she might still be much richer. 
 
 If trade and foreign commerce were held 
 
 in
 
 8 Of increasing Wealth, as it Bk. iii, 
 
 in great honour in China, it is evident 
 that, from the great number of her labourers 
 and the cheapness of her labour, she might 
 work up manufactures for foreign sale to a 
 great amount. It is equally evident that, 
 from the great bulk of provisions and the 
 prodigious extent of her inland territor}', 
 she could not in return import such a 
 quantity as would be an)' sensible addition 
 to her means of subsistence. Her immense 
 amount of manufactures therefore she would 
 either consume at home, or exchange for lux- 
 uries collected from all parts of the world. 
 At present the country appears to be over- 
 peopled compared with what its stock 
 can employ, and no labour is spared in the 
 production of food. An immense capital 
 could not be employed in China in pre- 
 paring manufactures for foreign trade, 
 without altering this state of things, and 
 taking off some labourers from agriculture, 
 which might have a tendency to diminish 
 the produce of the country. Allowing, 
 however, that this would be made up, and 
 indeed more than made up, by the beneficial 
 effects of improved skill and economy of 
 
 labour
 
 Ch. xiii. affects the Condition of the Poor. 9 
 
 labour in the cultivation of the poorest 
 lands, yet, as the quantity of subsistence 
 could be but little increased, the demand 
 for manufactures which would raise the 
 price of labour, would necessarily be fol- 
 lowed by a proportionate rise in the price 
 of provisions, and the labourer would be 
 able to command but little more food than 
 before. The country would, however, ob- 
 viously be advancing in wealth ; the ex- 
 changeable value of the annual produce 
 of its land and labour would be annually 
 augmented ; yet the real funds for the 
 maintenance of labour would be nearly 
 stationary. The argument perhaps appears 
 clearer when applied to China, because it 
 is generally allowed that its wealth has been 
 long stationary, and its soil cultivated nearly 
 to the utmost a . 
 
 In all these cases, it is not on account of 
 
 a How far this latter opinion is to be depended 
 upon it is not very easy to say. Improved skill and a 
 saving of labour would certainly enable the Chinese to 
 cultivate some lands with advantage which they cannot 
 cultivate now, but the more general use of horses instead 
 of men might prevent this extended cultivation from giving 
 any encouragement to an increase of people. 
 
 any
 
 10 Of increasing Wealth, as it Bk. iii. 
 
 any undue preference given to commerce 
 and manufactures, compared with agri- 
 culture, that the effect just described takes 
 place, but merely because the powers of 
 the earth in the production of food have 
 narrower limits than the skill and tastes of 
 mankind in giving value to raw materials, 
 and consequently in the approach towards 
 the limits of subsistence there is naturally 
 more room, and consequently more encou- 
 ragement, for the increase of the one species 
 of wealth than of the other. 
 
 It must be allowed then, that the funds 
 for the maintenance of labour do not ne- 
 cessarily increase with the increase of wealth, 
 and very rarely increase in proportion to it. 
 
 But the condition of the lower classes of 
 society certainly does not depend exclu- 
 sively upon the increase of the funds for 
 the maintenance of labour, or the means 
 of supporting more labourers. That these 
 means form always a very powerful ingre- 
 dient in the condition of the poor, and the 
 main ingredient in the increase of popula- 
 tion, is unquestionable. But, in the first 
 place, the comforts of the lower classes of 
 
 society
 
 Ch. xiii. affects the Condition of the Poor. 11 
 
 society do not depend solely upon food, nor 
 even upon strict necessaries ; and they 
 cannot be considered as in a good state 
 unless they have the command of some 
 conveniences and even luxuries. Secondly, 
 the tendency in population fully to keep 
 pace with the means of subsistence must 
 in general prevent the increase of these 
 means from having a great and permanent 
 effect in improving the condition of the 
 poor. And, thirdly, the cause which has 
 the most lasting effect in improving the 
 situation of the lower classes of society 
 depends chiefly upon the conduct and pru- 
 dence of the individuals themselves, and is 
 therefore not immediately and necessarily 
 connected with an increase in the means of 
 subsistence. 
 
 With a view therefore to the other causes 
 which affect the condition of the labouring 
 classes, as well as the increase of the 
 means of subsistence, it may be desira- 
 ble to trace more particularly the mode 
 in which increasing wealth operates, and to 
 state both the disadvantages as well as the 
 advantages with which it is accompanied. 
 
 In
 
 12 Of increasing JVealth, as it Bk. iii. 
 
 In the natural and regular progress of a 
 country to a state of great wealth and po- 
 pulation, there are two disadvantages to 
 which the lower classes of society seem 
 necessarily to be subjected. The first is, 
 a diminished power of supporting children 
 under the existing habits of the society with 
 respect to the necessaries of life. And the 
 .second the employment of a larger pro- 
 portion of the population in occupations 
 less favourable to health, and more exposed 
 to fluctuations of demand and unsteadiness 
 of wages. 
 
 A diminished power of supporting 
 children is an absolutely unavoidable con- 
 sequence of the progress of a country 
 towards the utmost limits of its population. 
 If we allow that the power of a given quan- 
 tity of territory to produce food has some 
 limit, we must allow that as this limit is 
 approached, and the increase of population 
 becomes slower and slower, the power of 
 supporting children will be less and less, 
 till finally, when the increase of produce 
 .stops, it becomes only sufficient to maintain, 
 on an average, families of such a size as will
 
 Ch. xiii. affects the Condition of the Poor. 13 
 
 not allow of a further addition of num- 
 bers. This state of things is generally accom- 
 panied by a fall in the corn price of labour ; 
 but should this effect be prevented by the 
 prevalence of prudential habits among the 
 lower classes of society, still the result just 
 described must take place; and though, from 
 the powerful operation of the preventive 
 check to increase, the wages of labour esti- 
 mated even in corn might not be low, yet 
 it is obvious that in this case the power of 
 supporting children would rather be nomi- 
 nal than real ; and the moment this power 
 began to be exercised to its apparent extent, 
 it would cease to exist. 
 
 The second disadvantage to which the 
 lower classes of society are subjected in the 
 progressive increase of wealth is, that a 
 larger portion of them is engaged in un- " 
 healthy occupations, and in employments 
 in which the wages of labour are exposed to 
 much greater fluctuations than in agricul- 
 ture, and the simpler kinds of domestic trade. 
 
 On the state of the poor employed in ma- 
 nufactories with respect to health, and the 
 
 fluctuations
 
 14 Of increasing Wealth, as it Bk. iii. 
 
 fluctuations of wages, I will beg leave to 
 quote a passage from Dr. Aikin's Descrip- 
 tion of the Country round Manchester: 
 
 " The invention and improvements of ma- 
 " chines to shorten labour have had a sur- 
 " prising influence to extend our trade, 
 " and also to call in hands from all parts, 
 " particularly children for the cotton-mills. 
 " It is the wise plan of Providence, that in 
 " this life there shall be no good without its 
 " attendant inconvenience. There are 
 " many which are too obvious in these cot- 
 " ton-mills, and similar factories, which 
 " counteract that increase of population 
 " usually consequent on the improved faci- 
 " lity of labour. In these, children of a 
 " very tender age are employed, many of 
 " them collected from the work-houses in 
 " London and Westminster, and trans- 
 " ported in crowds as apprentices to mas- 
 u ters resident many hundred miles distant, 
 " where they serve unknown, unprotected 
 " and forgotten by those to whose care 
 " nature or the laws had consigned them. 
 " These children are usually too long con- 
 
 " fined
 
 Ch. xiii. affects the Condition of the Poor. 15 
 
 " fined to work in close rooms, often during 
 " the whole night. The air they breathe 
 " from the oil, &c., employed in the ma- 
 " chinery, and other circumstances, is in- 
 " jurious; little attention is paid to their 
 " cleanliness; and frequent changes from 
 " a warm and dense to a cold and thin at- 
 " mosphere are predisposing causes to 
 " sickness and debility, and particularly to 
 " the epidemic fever which is so generally 
 " to be met with in these factories. It is 
 " also much to be questioned if society does 
 " not receive detriment from the manner 
 " in which children are thus employed 
 " during their early years. They are not 
 " generally strong to labour, or capable of 
 " pursuing any other branch of business 
 " when the term of their apprenticeship 
 " expires. The females are wholly unin- 
 " structed in sewing, knitting, and other 
 " domestic affairs requisite to make them 
 " notable and frugal wives and mothers. 
 " This is a very great misfortune to them 
 " and to the public, as is sadly proved by 
 " a comparison of the families of labourers 
 " in husbandry and those of manufac- 
 
 " turers
 
 16 Of increasing Wealth, as it Bk. iii. 
 
 " turers in general. In the former we meet 
 " with neatness, cleanliness and comfort; 
 " in the latter with filth, rags and poverty, 
 " although their wages may be nearly 
 " double to those of the husbandman. It 
 " must be added that the want of early re- 
 " ligious instruction and example, and the 
 " numerous and indiscriminate association 
 " in these buildings, are very unfavourable 
 " to their future conduct in life V 
 
 In the same work it appears that the re- 
 gister for the collegiate church of Manches- 
 ter, from Christmas, 1793, to Christmas, 
 1794, shewed a decrease of 168 marriages, 
 538 christenings, and 250 burials. In the 
 parish of Rochdale, in the neighbourhood, 
 a still more melancholy reduction in pro- 
 portion to the number of people took place. 
 In 1792' the births were 746, the burials 
 
 * P. 219. Dr. Aikin says that endeavours have been 
 made to remedy these evils, which in some factories have 
 been attended with success. And it is very satisfactory 
 to be able to add, that since this account was written, the 
 situation of the children employed in the cotton-mills has 
 been further very essentially improved, partly by the in- 
 terference of the legislature, and partly by the humane 
 and liberal exertions of individuals. 
 
 646,
 
 Ch. xiii. affects the Condition of the Poor. 17 
 
 646, and the marriages 339. In 1794 the 
 births were 373, the burials 671, and the 
 marriages 199- The cause of this sudden 
 check to population was the failure of de- 
 mand and of commercial credit which oc- 
 curred at the commencement of the war, 
 and such a check could not have taken 
 place in so sudden a manner without the 
 most severe distress, occasioned by the sud- 
 den reduction of wages. 
 
 In addition to the fluctuations arising 
 from the changes from peace to war and 
 from war to peace, it is well known how 
 subject particular manufactures are to fail 
 from the caprices of taste. The weavers of 
 Spitalfields were plunged into the most se- 
 vere distress by the fashion of muslins in- 
 stead of silks; and great numbers of work- 
 men in Sheffield and Birmingham were for 
 a time thrown out of employment owing to 
 the adoption of shoe strings and covered 
 buttons, instead of buckles and metal but- 
 tons. Our manufactures, taken in the mass, 
 have increased with prodigious rapidity, but 
 in particular places they have failed; and 
 the parishes where this has happened are in- 
 
 vol. .ii. c variably
 
 18 Of increasing Wealth, as it Bk. it 
 
 variably loaded with a crowd of poor in the 
 most distressed and miserable condition. 
 
 In the evidence brought before the House 
 of Lords during the inquiries which pre- 
 ceded the Corn-Bill of 1815, various ac- 
 counts are produced from different manu- 
 factories, intended to shew that the high 
 price of corn has rather the effect of lowering 
 than of raising the price of manufacturing 
 labour a . Adam Smith has clearly and cor- 
 rectly stated that the money price of labour 
 depends upon the money price of provisions, 
 and the state of the demand and the supply 
 of labour. And he shews* how much he 
 thinks it is occasionally affected by the latter 
 cause, by explaining in what manner it may 
 vary in an opposite direction from the price 
 of provisions during the pressure of a scar- 
 city. The accounts brought before the 
 House of Lords are a striking illustration of 
 this part of his proposition ; but they cer- 
 tainly do not prove the incorrectness of the 
 other part of it, as it is quite obvious that, 
 whatever may take place for a few years, 
 the supply of manufacturing labour cannot 
 
 * Reports, p. 5 1 . 
 
 possibly
 
 Ch, xiii. affects the Condition of the Poor. 19 
 
 possibly be continued in the market unless 
 the natural or necessary price, that is, the 
 price necessary to continue it in the market, 
 be paid, and this of course is not done un- 
 less the money price be so proportioned to 
 the price of provisions, that labourers are 
 enabled to bring up families of such a size 
 as will supply the number of hands re- 
 quired. 
 
 But though these accounts do not in any 
 decree invalidate the usual doctrines re- 
 specting labour, or the statements of Adam 
 Smith, they shew very clearly the great 
 fluctuations to which the condition of the 
 manufacturing labourer is subjected. 
 
 In looking over these accounts it will be 
 found that in some cases the price of weav- 
 ing has fallen a third, or nearly one-half, at 
 the same time that the price of wheat has 
 risen a third, or nearly onehalf ; and yet these 
 proportions do not always express the full 
 amount of the fluctuations, as it sometimes 
 happens that when the price is low, the state 
 of the demand will not allow of the usual 
 number of hours of working ; and when the 
 price is high, it will admit of extra hours. 
 
 c 2 That
 
 20 Of increasing Wealth, as it Bk. iii. 
 
 That from the same causes there are 
 sometimes variations of a similar kind in 
 the price of task-work in agriculture will be 
 readily admitted; but, in the first place, 
 they do not appear to be nearly so consi- 
 derable; and secondly, the great mass of 
 agricultural labourers is employed by the 
 day, and a sudden and general fall in the 
 money price of agricultural day-labour is 
 an event of extremely rare occurrence a . 
 
 It must be allowed then, that in the na- 
 tural and usual progress of wealth, the 
 means of marrying early and supporting a 
 family are diminished, and a greater pro- 
 portion of the population is engaged in em- 
 ployments less favourable to health and mo- 
 rals, and more subject to fluctuations in the 
 price of labour, than the population em- 
 ployed in agriculture. 
 
 These are no doubt considerable disad- 
 vantages, and they would be sufficient to 
 
 * Almost the only instance on record in this country is 
 that which has lately taken place (1815 and 1816), occa- 
 sioned by an unparalleled fall in the exchangeable value of 
 the raw produce, which has necessarily disabled the holders 
 of it from employing the same quantity of labour at the 
 same price. 
 
 render
 
 Ch. xiii. affects the Condition of the Poor. 2i 
 
 render the progress of riches decidedly un- 
 favourable to the condition of the poor, if 
 they were not counteracted by advantages 
 which nearly, if not fully, counterbalance 
 them. 
 
 And, first, it is obvious that the profits 
 of stock are that source of revenue from 
 which the middle classes are chiefly main- 
 tained ; and the increase of capital, which 
 is both the cause and effect of increasing 
 riches, may be said to be the efficient 
 cause of the emancipation of the great body 
 of society from a dependence on the land- 
 lords. In a country of limited extent, con- 
 sisting of fertile land divided into large 
 properties, as long as the capital remains 
 inconsiderable, the structure of society is 
 most unfavourable to liberty and good go- 
 vernment. This was exactly the state of 
 Europe in the feudal times. The landlords 
 could in no other way spend their incomes 
 than by maintaining a great number of 
 idle followers ; and it was by the growth of 
 capital in all the employments to which it is 
 directed that the pernicious power of the 
 landlords was destroyed, and their de- 
 pendent
 
 22 Of increasing Wealthy as it Bk. iii. 
 
 pendent followers were turned into mer- 
 chants, manufacturers, tradesmen, farmers, 
 and independent labourers ; a change of 
 prodigious advantage to the great body of 
 society, including the labouring classes. 
 
 Secondly ; in the natural progress of cul- 
 tivation and wealth, the production of an 
 additional quantity of corn will require 
 more labour, while, at the same time, from 
 the accumulation and better distribution of 
 capital, the continual improvements made 
 in machinery, and the facilities opened to 
 foreign commerce, manufactures and fo- 
 reign commodities will be produced or 
 purchased with less labour; and conse- 
 quently a given quantity of corn will com- 
 mand a much greater quantity of manu- 
 factures and foreign commodities than while 
 the country was poor. Although, there- 
 fore, the labourer may earn less corn 
 than before, the superior value which 
 every portion which he does . not consume 
 in kind will have in the purchase of con- 
 veniences, may . more than counterba- 
 lance this diminution. He will not in- 
 deed have the same power of maintaining 
 
 a large
 
 Ch. x-iii. affects the Condition of the Poor. 23 
 
 ,a large family ; but with a small family 
 he may be better lodged and clothed, and 
 better able to command the decencies and 
 comforts of life. 
 
 Thirdly ; it seems to be proved by expe- 
 rience, that the lower classes of society 
 seldom acquire a decided taste for conve- 
 niences and comforts till they become 
 plentiful compared with food, which they 
 never do till food has become in some de- 
 gree scarce. If the labourer can obtain 
 the full support of himself and family by 
 two .or three days' labour; and if, to furnish 
 himself with conveniences and comforts, he 
 must work three or four days more, he will 
 generally think the sacrifice too great conir 
 pared with the objects to be obtained, which 
 are not strictly necessary to hirn, and will 
 therefore often prefer the luxury of idleness 
 to the luxury of improved lodging and 
 clothing. This is said by Humboldt to be 
 particularly the case in some parts of South 
 America, and to a certain extent prevails 
 in Ireland, India, and all countries where 
 food is plentiful compared with capital and 
 manufactured commodities. On the other 
 
 hand,
 
 24 Of increasing Wealth, &s it Bk. iik 
 
 hand, if the main part of the labourers 
 time be occupied in procuring food, habits 
 of industry are necessarily generated, and 
 the remaining time, which is but inconsi- 
 derable compared with the commodities it 
 will purchase, is seldom grudged. It is 
 under these circumstances, particularly 
 when combined with a good government, 
 that the lower classes of society are most 
 likely to acquire a decided taste for the 
 conveniences and comforts of life ; and 
 this taste may be such as even to prevent, 
 after a certain period, a further fall in the 
 corn price of labour. But if the corn price 
 of labour continues tolerably high while 
 the relative value of commodities compared 
 with corn falls very considerably, the la- 
 bourer is placed in a most favourable situ- 
 ation. Owing to his decided taste for con- 
 veniences and comforts, the good corn 
 wages of labour will not generally lead to 
 early marriages; yet in individual cases, 
 where large families occur, there will be the 
 means of supporting them independently, 
 by the sacrifice of the accustomed conve- 
 niences and comforts ; and thus the poorest 
 
 of
 
 Ch. xiii. affects the Condition of the Poor. 25 
 
 of the lower classes will rarely be stinted in 
 food, while the great mass of them will not 
 only have sufficient means of subsistence, 
 but be able to command no inconsiderable 
 quantity of those conveniences and com- 
 forts, which, at the same time that they 
 gratify a natural or acquired want, tend 
 unquestionably to improve the mind and 
 elevate the character. 
 
 On an attentive review then of the effects 
 of increasing wealth on the condition of the 
 poor, it appears that, although such an in- 
 crease does not imply a proportionate in- 
 crease of the funds for the maintenance 
 of mere labour, yet it brings with it 
 advantages to the lower classes of society 
 which may fully counterbalance the disad- 
 vantages with which it is attended ; and, 
 strictly speaking, the good or bad condition 
 of the poor is not necessarily connected with 
 any particular stage in the progress of so- 
 ciety to its full complement of wealth. A 
 rapid increase of wealth indeed, whether it 
 consists principally in additions to the means 
 of subsistence or to the stock of conve- 
 niences and comforts, will always, ceteris 
 
 paribus,
 
 26 Of increasing Wealth , %c. 13k. iii. 
 
 paribus, have a favourable effect on the 
 poor ; but the influence even of this cause 
 is greatly modified and altered by other 
 circumstances, and nothing but the union 
 of individual prudence with the skill and 
 industry which produce wealth can per- 
 manently secure to the lower classes of so- 
 ciety that share of it which it is on every 
 account so desirable that they should 
 possess. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 ( 27 ) 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 General Observations. 
 
 IT has been observed, that many countries 
 at the period of their greatest degree of 
 populousness have lived in the greatest 
 plenty, and have been able to export corn ; 
 but at other periods, when their population 
 was very low, have lived in continual po- 
 verty and want, and have been obliged to 
 import cor.n. Egypt, Palestine, Rome, 
 Sicily and- Spain are cited as particular 
 exemplifications of this fact ; and it has 
 been inferred that an increase of population 
 in any state, not cultivated to the utmost, 
 will tend rather to augment than diminish 
 the relative plenty of the whole society : 
 and that, as Lord Kaimes observes, a 
 country cannot easily become too popu- 
 lous for agriculture ; because agriculture 
 has the signal property of producing food 
 
 in
 
 28 General Observations. Bk. iii. 
 
 in proportion to the number of con- 
 sumers a . 
 
 The general facts, from which these in- 
 ferences are drawn, there is no reason to 
 doubt ; but the inferences by no means 
 follow from the premises. It is the nature 
 of agriculture (as it has before been ob- 
 served), particularly when well conducted, 
 to produce support for a considerable num- 
 ber above that which it employs ; and con- 
 sequently if these members of the society, 
 or, as Sir James Steuart calls them, the 
 free hands, do not increase, so as to reach 
 the limit of the number which can be sup- 
 ported by the surplus produce, the whole 
 population of the country may continue 
 for ages increasing with the 'improving 
 state of agriculture, and yet always be able 
 to export corn. But this increase, after a 
 certain period, will be very different from 
 the natural and unrestricted increase of po- 
 pulation ; it will merely follow the slow 
 augmentation of produce from the gradual 
 improvement of agriculture ; and popula- 
 
 a Sketches of the History of Man ; b. i. sketch i. p. 106, 
 107. 8vo. 1788. 
 
 tion
 
 Ch. xiv. General Observations. 29 
 
 tion will still be checked by the difficulty 
 of procuring subsistence. The precise 
 measure of the population in a country 
 thus circumstanced will not indeed be the 
 quantity of food, because part of it is ex- 
 ported, but the quantity of employment. 
 The state of this employment however will 
 necessarily regulate the wages of labour, 
 on which the power of the lower classes of 
 people to procure food depends ; and ac- 
 cording as the employment of the country 
 is increasing, whether slowly or rapidly, 
 these wages will be such, as either to check 
 or encourage early marriages ; such, as to 
 enable a labourer to support only two or 
 three, or as many as five or six children. 
 
 In stating that in this, and all the other 
 cases and systems which have been consi- 
 dered, the progress of population will be 
 mainly regulated and limited by the real 
 wages of labour, it is necessary to remark 
 that practically the current wages of labour 
 estimated in the necessaries of life do not 
 always correctly represent the quantity of 
 these necessaries which it is in the power, of 
 the lower classes to consume; and that 
 
 sometimes
 
 30 General Observations. Bk. iii. 
 
 sometimes the error is in excess and some- 
 times in defect. 
 
 In a state of things when the prices of 
 corn and of all sorts of commodities are 
 rising, the money wages of labour do not 
 always rise in proportion ; but this appa- 
 rent disadvantage to the labouring classes 
 is sometimes more than counterbalanced 
 by the plenty of employment, the quantity 
 of task-work that can be obtained, and the 
 opportunity given to women and children 
 to add considerably to the earnings of the 
 family. In this case, the power of the la- 
 bouring classes to command the necessaries 
 of life is much greater than is implied by 
 the current rate of their wages, and will of 
 course have a proportionably greater effect 
 on the population. 
 
 On the other hand, when prices are ge- 
 nerally falling, it often happens that the 
 current rate of wages does not fall in pro- 
 portion ; but this apparent advantage is in 
 the same manner often more than counter- 
 balanced by the scarcity of work, and the 
 impossibility of finding employment for all 
 the members of a labourer's family who are 
 
 able
 
 Ch. xiv. General Observations. 31 
 
 able and willing to be industrious. In this 
 case, the powers of the labouring classes to 
 command the necessaries of life will evi- 
 dently be less than is implied by the cur- 
 rent rate of their wages. 
 
 In the same manner parish allowances 
 distributed to families, the habitual prac- 
 tice of task-work, and the frequent employ- 
 ment of women and children, will affect 
 population like a rise in the real wages of 
 labour. And, on the other hand, the paying 
 of every sort of labour by the day, the ab- 
 sence of employment for women and chil- 
 dren, and the practice among labourers of 
 not working more than three or four days in 
 the week, either from inveterate indolence, 
 or any other cause, will affect population 
 liKe a low price of labour. 
 
 In all these cases the real earnings of the 
 labouring classes throughout the year, es- 
 timated in food, are different from the ap- 
 parent wages ; but it will evidently be the 
 average earnings' of the families of the 
 labouring classes throughout the year on 
 which the encouragement to marriage, 
 and the power of supporting children, will 
 
 depend,
 
 32 General Observations. Bk. iii. 
 
 depend, and not merely the wages of day- 
 labour estimated in food. 
 
 An attention to this very essential point 
 will explain the reason why, in many in- 
 V /stances, the progress of population does 
 [ not appear to be regulated by what are 
 \ usually called the real wages of labour ; 
 and why this progress may occasionally be 
 greater, when the price of a day's labour 
 will purchase rather less than the medium 
 quantity of corn, than when it will pur- 
 chase rather more. 
 
 In our own country, for instance, about 
 the middle of the last century, the price of 
 corn was very low ; and, for twenty years 
 together, from 1735 to 1755, a day's labour 
 would, on. an average, purchase a peck of 
 wheat. During this period, population in- 
 creased at a moderate rate ; but not by any 
 means with the same rapidity as from 
 1790 to 1811, when the average wages of 
 day-labour would not in general purchase 
 quite so much as a peck of wheat. In the lat- 
 ter case, however, there was a more rapid ac- 
 cumulation of capital, and a greater demand 
 for labour ; and though the continued rise 
 
 , of
 
 Ch. xiv. General Observations. 33 
 
 of provisions still kept them rather ahead 
 of wages, yet the fuller employment for 
 every body that would work, the greater 
 quantity of task-work done, the higher re- 
 lative value of corn compared with manu- 
 factures, the increased use of potatoes, 
 and the greater sums distributed in parish 
 allowances, unquestionably gave to the 
 lower classes of society the power of com- 
 manding a greater quantity of food, and 
 will account for the more rapid increase of 
 population in the latter period, in perfect 
 consistency with the general principle. 
 
 On similar grounds, if, in some warm 
 climates and rich soils, where corn is cheap, 
 the quantity of food earned by a day's la- 
 bour be such as to promise a more rapid 
 progress in population than is really known 
 to take place, the fact will be fully ac- 
 counted for, if it be found that inveterate 
 habits of indolence, fostered by a vicious 
 gbvernment, and a slack demand for la- 
 bour, prevent any thing like constant em- 
 ployment 3 . It would of course require high 
 
 corn 
 
 a This observation is exemplified in the slow progress 
 VOL. II. D of
 
 34 General Observations. Bk. in 
 
 corn wages of day-labour even to keep up 
 the supply of a stationary population, where 
 the days of working would only amount to 
 half of the year. 
 
 In the case also of the prevalence of pru- 
 dential habits, and a decided taste for the con- 
 veniences and comforts of life, as, according 
 to the supposition, these habits and tastes do 
 not operate as an encouragement to early 
 marriages, and are not in fact spent almost 
 entirely in the purchase of corn, it is quite 
 consistent with the general principles laid 
 down, that the population should not pro- 
 ceed at the same rate as is usual, cateris 
 paribus, in other countries, where the corn 
 wages of labour are equally high. 
 
 The quantity of employment in any 
 country will not of course vary from year to 
 year, in the same manner as the quantity 
 of produce must necessarily do, from the 
 variation of the seasons ; and consequently 
 the check from want of employment will be 
 much more steady in its operation, and 
 
 of population in some parts of the Spanish dominions 
 in America, compared with its progress in the United 
 States. 
 
 much
 
 Ch, xiv. General Observations. 35 
 
 much more favourable to the lower classes 
 of people, than the check from the imme- 
 diate want of food. The first will be the 
 preventive check ; the second the positive 
 check. When the demand for labour is 
 either stationary, or increasing very slowly, 
 people not seeing any employment open 
 by which they can support a family, or the 
 w r ages of common labour being inadequate 
 to this purpose, will of course be deterred 
 from marrying. But if a demand for la- 
 bour continue increasing with some rapi- 
 dity, although the supply of food be un- 
 certain, on account of variable seasons and 
 a dependence on other countries, the po- 
 pulation will evidently go on, till it is posi- 
 tively checked by famine or the diseases 
 arising from severe want. 
 
 Scarcity and extreme poverty therefore 
 may or may not accompany an increasing 
 population, according to circumstances : 
 but they must necessarily accompany a 
 permanently declining population ; be- 
 cause there never has been, nor probably 
 ever will be, any other cause than want of 
 food, which makes the population of a 
 d 2 country
 
 36 General Observations. Bk. iiii 
 
 country permanently decline. In the nu- 
 merous instances of depopulation which 
 occur in history, the causes may always be 
 traced to the want of industry or the ill 
 direction of that industry, arising from 
 violence, bad government, ignorance, &c, 
 which first occasion a want of food, and 
 of course depopulation follows. When 
 Rome adopted the custom of importing all 
 her corn, and laying all Italy into pasture, 
 she soon declined in population. The 
 causes of the depopulation of Egypt and 
 Turkey have already been adverted to; 
 and in the case of Spain, it was certainly 
 not the numerical loss of people occasioned 
 by the expulsion of the Moors, but the 
 industry and capital thus expelled, which 
 permanently injured her population. When 
 a country has been depopulated by violent 
 causes, if a bad government with its usual 
 concomitant insecurity of property ensue, 
 (which has generally been the case in all 
 those countries which are now less peopled 
 than formerly), neither the food nor the 
 population can recover itself; and the in- 
 habitants will probably live in severe want. 
 
 But
 
 Ch. xiv. General Observations. 37 
 
 But when an accidental depopulation takes 
 place, in a country which was before po- 
 pulous and industrious and in the habit of 
 exporting corn, if the remaining inhabit- 
 ants be left at liberty to exert, and do exert, 
 their industry in the same direction as be- 
 fore, it is a strange idea to entertain, that 
 they would then be unable to supply them- 
 selves with corn in the same plenty ; par- 
 ticularly as the diminished numbers would 
 of course cultivate principally the more 
 fertile parts of their territory, and not be 
 obliged, as in their more populous state, to 
 apply to ungrateful soils. Countries in 
 this situation would evidently have the 
 same chance of recovering their former 
 number, as they had originally of reaching 
 this number ; and indeed if absolute popu- 
 lousness were necessary to relative plenty, 
 as some agriculturists have supposed 3 , it 
 
 would 
 
 * Among others, I allude more particularly to Mr. An- 
 derson, who, in a Calm Investigation into the Circum- 
 stances which have led to the present Scarcity of Grain 
 in Britain (published in 1801), has laboured with extra- 
 ordinary earnestness, and I believe with the best inten- 
 tions, to impress this curious truth on the minds of his 
 a . . ,. _ countrymen, 
 
 4<HU
 
 38 General Observations. Bk. iii. 
 
 would be impossible for new colonies to 
 increase with the same rapidity as old 
 states. 
 
 The prejudices on the subject of popu- 
 
 countrymen. The particular position which he attempts 
 to prove is, that an increase of population in any state ' 
 whose fields have not been made to attain their highest 
 possible degree of productiveness (a thing that probably 
 has nicer yet been seen on this globe), will necessarily have 
 its means of subsistence rather augmented than diminished 
 by that augmentation of its population; and the reverse. 
 The proposition is, to be sure, expressed rather obscurely; 
 but from the context, his meaning evidently is, that every 
 increase of population tends to increase relative plenty, 
 and vice versa. He concludes his proofs by observing 
 that, if the facts which he has thus brought forward and 
 counected do not serve to remove the fears of those, 
 who doubt the possibility of this country producing 
 abundance to sustaiu us increasing population (were it 
 to augment in a ratio greatly more progressive than it has 
 yet done), he should doubt whether they could be con- 
 vinced of it, were one even to rise from the dead to tell 
 them so. I agree with Mr. A. entirely, respecting the 
 impoitanee of directing a greater part of the national 
 industry to agriculture ; but from the circumstance of its 
 being possible for a country, with a certain direction of 
 its industry, always to grow corn sufficient for its own 
 supplies, although it may be very populous, he has been 
 led into tl:t stian.e error of supposing, that an agricul- 
 tural cvuUki) could support an unchecked population. 
 
 lation
 
 Ch. xiv. General Observations. 39 
 
 lation bear a very striking resemblance to 
 the old prejudices about specie ; and we 
 know how slowly and with what difficulty 
 these last have yielded to juster concep- 
 tions. Politicians observing that states 
 which were powerful and prosperous were 
 almost invariably populous, have mistaken 
 an effect for a cause, and have concluded, 
 that their population was the cause of their 
 prosperity, instead of their prosperity being 
 the [cause of their population ; as the old 
 political economists concluded that the 
 abundance of specie was the cause of 
 national wealth, instead of being the effect 1 
 of it. The annual produce of the land and 
 labour, in both these instances, became in 
 consequence a secondary consideration ; 
 and its increase, it was conceived, would 
 naturally follow the increase of specie in 
 the one case, or of population in the other. 
 The folly of endeavouring by forcible 
 means to increase the quantity of specie in 
 any country, and the absolute impossibility 
 of accumulating it beyond a certain level 
 by any human laws that can be devised, 
 are now fully established, and have been 
 
 completely
 
 40 General Observations. Bk. iii. 
 
 completely exemplified in the instances of 
 Spain and Portugal. But the illusion still 
 remains respecting population ; and under 
 this impression almost every political trea- 
 tise has abounded in proposals to encourage 
 population, with little or no comparative 
 reference to the means of its support. Yet 
 surely the folly of endeavouring to increase 
 the quantity of specie in any country, with- 
 out an increase of the commodities which it 
 is to circulate, is not greater than that of 
 endeavouring to increase the number of 
 people, without an increase of the food 
 which is- to maintain them ; and it will be 
 found that the level, above which no hu- 
 man laws can raise the population of a 
 country, is a limit more fixed and impass- 
 able than the limit to the accumulation of 
 specie. However improbable in fact, it is 
 possible to conceive that means might be 
 invented of retaining a quantity of specie 
 in a state, greatly beyond what was de- 
 manded by the produce of its land and 
 labour and the relative state of other coun- 
 tries. But when by great encouragements 
 population has been raised to such a height, 
 
 that
 
 Ch. xiv. General Observations. 41 
 
 that this produce is meted out to each in- 
 dividual in the smallest portions that can 
 support life, no stretch of ingenuity can 
 even conceive the possibility of going 
 further. 
 
 It has appeared, I think, clearly, in the 
 review of different societies given in the 
 former part of this work, that those coun- 
 tries, the inhabitants of which were sunk 
 in the most barbarous ignorance or op- 
 pressed by the most cruel tyranny, however j 
 low they might be in actual population, 
 were very populous in proportion to their 
 means of subsistence; and upon the 
 slightest failure of the seasons generally 
 suffered the severities of want. Igno- 
 rance and despotism seem to have no 
 tendency to destroy the passion which 
 prompts to increase ; but they effectu- 
 ally destroy the checks to it from rea- 
 son and foresight. The improvident bar- 
 barian who thinks only of his present 
 wants, or the miserable peasant who, from 
 his political situation, feels little security of 
 reaping what he has sown, will seldom be 
 deterred from gratifying his passions by 
 
 the
 
 42 General Observations, Bk. iii. 
 
 the prospect of inconveniences, which 
 cannot be expected to press on him under 
 three or four years. But though this want 
 of foresight, which is fostered by ignorance 
 and despotism, tends thus rather to en- 
 courage the procreation of children, it is 
 absolutely fatal to the industry which is to 
 support them. Industry cannot exist with- 
 out foresight and security. The indolence 
 of the savage is well known ; and the poor 
 Egyptian or Abyssinian farmer without 
 capital, who rents land which is let out 
 yearly to the highest bidder, and who is 
 constantly subject to the demands of his 
 tyrannical masters, to the casual plunder of 
 an enemy, and not unfrequently to the 
 violation of his miserable contract, can have 
 no heart to be industrious, and, if he had, 
 could not exercise that industry with suc- 
 cess. Even poverty itself, which appears 
 to be the great spur to industry, when it 
 has once passed certain limits, almost ceases 
 to operate. The indigence which is hope- 
 less destroys all vigorous exertion, and con- 
 fines the efforts to what is sufficient for bare 
 existence. It is the hope of bettering our 
 
 condition,
 
 Ch. xiv. General Observations. 43 
 
 condition, and the fear of want, rather than 
 want itself, that is the best stimulus to in- 
 dustry ; and its most constant and best di- 
 rected efforts will almost invariably be found 
 among a class of people above the class of 
 the wretchedly poor. 
 
 The effect of ignorance and oppression 
 will therefore always be to destroy the 
 springs of industry, and consequently to 
 diminish the annual produce of the land 
 and labour in any country ; and this di- 
 minution will inevitably be followed by a 
 decrease of the population, in spite of the 
 birth of any number of children whatever 
 annually. The desire of immediate gratifi- 
 cation, and the removal of the restraints to 
 it from prudence, may perhaps, in such 
 countries, prompt universally to early mar- 
 riages ; but when these habits have once 
 reduced the people to the lowest possible 
 state of poverty, they can evidently have 
 no further effect upon the population. Their 
 only effect must be on the degree of mor- 
 tality ; and there is no doubt, that, if we 
 could obtain accurate bills of mortality in 
 those southern countries, where very few 
 
 women
 
 44 General Observations. Bk. iii. 
 
 women remain unmarried, and all marry 
 young, the proportion of the annual deaths 
 would be 1 in 17, 18, or 20, instead of 1 
 in 34, 36, or 40, as in European states 
 where the preventive check operates. 
 
 That an increase of population, when it 
 follows in its natural order, is both a great 
 positive good in itself, and absolutely ne- 
 cessary to a further increase in the annual 
 produce of the land and labour of any 
 country, I should be the last to deny. 
 The only question is, what is the order of 
 its progress? In this point Sir James 
 Steuart, who has in general explained this 
 subject so well, appears to me to have 
 fallen into an error. He determines, that 
 multiplication is the efficient cause of agri- 
 culture, and not agriculture of multiplica- 
 tion \ But though it may be allowed, that 
 the increase of people, beyond what could 
 easily subsist on the natural fruits of the 
 earth, first prompted man to till the ground ; 
 and that the view of maintaining a family, 
 or of obtaining some valuable consideration 
 in exchange for the products of agriculture, 
 
 Polit. Econ. tol. i. b. i. c. xviii. p. 114. 
 
 Still
 
 Ch. xiv. General Observations. 45 
 
 still operates as the principal stimulus to 
 cultivation ; yet it is clear that these pro- 
 ducts, in their actual state, must be be- 
 yond the lowest wants of the existing po- 
 pulation, before any permanent increase 
 can possibly be supported. We know, 
 that a multiplication of births has in num- 
 berless instances taken place, which has 
 produced no effect upon agriculture, and 
 has merely been followed by an increase 
 of diseases ; but perhaps there is no instance, 
 where a permanent increase of agriculture 
 has not effected a permanent increase of 
 population somewhere or other. Conse- 
 quently, agriculture may with more pro- 
 priety be termed the efficient cause of po- 
 pulation, than population of agriculture a ; 
 though they certainly re-act upon each other, 
 and are mutually necessary to each other's 
 support. This indeed seems to be the 
 
 a Sir James Steuart explains himself afterwards by say- 
 ing, that he means principally the multiplication of those 
 persons, who have some valuable consideration to give 
 for the products of agriculture : but this is evidently not 
 mere increase of population, and such an explanation 
 seems to admit the incorrectness of the general propo- 
 sition. 
 
 hinge
 
 46 General Observations. Bk. iii. 
 
 hinge on which the subject turns ; and all 
 the prejudices respecting population have, 
 perhaps, arisen from a mistake about the 
 order of precedence. 
 
 The author of U Ami des Homines, in a 
 chapter on the effects of a decay of agri- 
 culture upon population, acknowledges that 
 he had fallen into a fundamental error in 
 considering population as the source of re- 
 venue; and that he was afterwards fully 
 convinced that revenue was the source of 
 population \ From a want of attention to 
 this most important distinction, statesmen, 
 in pursuit of the desirable object of popu- 
 lation, have been led to encourage early 
 marriages, to reward the fathers of families, 
 and to disgrace celibacy ; but this, as the 
 same author justly observes, is to dress 
 and water a piece of land without sowing 
 it, and yet to expect a crop. 
 
 What is here said of the order of prece- 
 dence with respect to agriculture and po- 
 pulation, does not invalidate what was said 
 in an earlier part of this work on the ten- 
 dency to an oscillation or alternation in the 
 
 Tom. viii. p. 84, 12mo. 9 vols. 1762. 
 
 increase
 
 Ch. xiv. General Observations. 47 
 
 increase of population and food in the na- 
 tural course of their progress. In this pro- 
 gress nothing is more usual than for the 
 population to increase at certain periods 
 faster than food ; indeed it is a part of the 
 general principle that it should do so ; and 
 when the money wages of labour are pre- 
 vented from falling by the employment 
 of the increasing population in manufac- 
 tures, the rise in the price of corn which 
 the increased competition for it occasions 
 is practically the most natural and frequent 
 stimulus to agriculture. But then it must 
 be recollected that the great relative in- 
 crease of population absolutely implies a 
 previous increase of food at some time or 
 other greater than the lowest wants of the 
 people. Without this, the population could 
 not possibly have gone forward a . 
 
 a According to the principle of population, the human 
 race has a tendency to increase faster than food. It 
 has therefore a constant tendency to people a country fully 
 up to the limits of subsistence, but by the laws of nature 
 it can never go beyond them, meaning, of course, by 
 these limits, the lowest quantity of food which will main- 
 tain a stationary population. Population, therefore, can 
 never, strictly speaking, precede food. 
 
 Universally,
 
 48 General Observations. Bk. iii. 
 
 Universally, when the population of a 
 country is for a longer or shorter time sta- 
 tionary, owing to the low corn wages of 
 labour, a case which is not unfrequent, it 
 is obvious that nothing but a previous in- 
 crease of food, or at least an increase of 
 the portion awarded to the labourer, can 
 enable the population again to proceed 
 forwards. 
 
 And, in the same manner, with a view 
 to any essential improvement in the con- 
 dition of the labourer, which is to give him 
 a greater effective command over the means 
 of comfortable subsistence, it is absolutely 
 necessary that, setting out from the lowest 
 point, the increase of food must precede 
 and be greater than the increase of popu- 
 lation. 
 
 Strictly speaking then, as man cannot 
 live without food, there can be no doubt 
 that in the order of precedence food must 
 take the lead; although when, from the 
 state of cultivation and other causes, the 
 average quantity of food awarded to the 
 labourer is considerably more than sufficient 
 to maintain a stationary population, it is 
 
 quite
 
 Ch. xiv. General Observations. 49 
 
 quite natural that the diminution of this 
 quantity, from the tendency of population 
 to increase, should be one of the most 
 powerful and constant stimulants to agri- 
 culture. 
 
 It is worthy also of remark that on this 
 account a stimulus to the increase of agri- 
 culture is much more easy when, from the 
 prevalence of prudential restraint, or any 
 other cause, the labourer is well paid ; as 
 in this case a rise in the price of corn, oc- 
 casioned either by the increase of popula- 
 tion or a foreign demand, will increase for 
 a time the profits of the farmer, and often 
 enable him to make permanent improve- 
 ments ; whereas, when the labourer is paid 
 so scantily that his wages will not allow even 
 of any temporary diminution without a 
 diminution of population, the increase of 
 cultivation and population must from the 
 first be accompanied with a fall of profits. 
 The prevalence of the preventive check to 
 population and the good average wages of 
 the labourer will rather promote than pre- 
 vent that occasional increase and decrease 
 of them, which as a stimulus seems to be 
 
 vol, n. b favourable
 
 50 General Observations. Bk. iii. 
 
 favourable to the increase both of food and 
 population. 
 
 Among the other prejudices which have 
 prevailed on the subject of population, it 
 has been generally thought that, while there 
 is either waste anion the rich or land re- 
 maining uncultivated in any country, the 
 complaints for want of food cannot be justly 
 founded ; or at least that the pressure of 
 distress upon the poor is to be attributed to 
 the ill conduct of the higher classes of so- 
 ciety and the bad management of the land. 
 The real effect however of these two cir- 
 cumstances is merely to narrow the limit of 
 the actual population ; but they have little 
 or no influence on what may be called the 
 average pressure of distress on the poorer 
 members of society. If our ancestors had 
 been so frugal and industrious, and had 
 transmitted such habits to their posterity, 
 that nothing superfluous was now con- 
 sumed by the higher classes, no horses were 
 used for pleasure, and no land was left un- 
 cultivated, a striking difference would appear, 
 in the state of the actual population ; but 
 probably none whatever in the state of the 
 
 lower
 
 Ch. xiv. General Observations. 51 
 
 lower classes of people, with respect to the 
 price of labour, and the facility of support- 
 ing a family. The waste among the rich, 
 and the horses kept for pleasure, have in- 
 deed a little the effect of the consumption 
 of grain in distilleries, noticed before with 
 regard to China. On the supposition, that 
 the food consumed in this manner may be 
 withdrawn on the occasion of a scarcity, 
 and be applied to the relief of the poor, 
 they operate certainly, as far as they go, 
 like granaries, which are only opened at 
 the time that they are most wanted, and 
 must therefore tend rather to benefit than 
 to injure the lower classes of society. 
 
 With regard to uncultivated land, it is 
 evident that its effect upon the poor is 
 neither to injure nor to benefit them. The 
 sudden cultivation of it will indeed tend to 
 improve their condition for a time, and the 
 neglect of lands before cultivated will cer- 
 tainly make their situation worse for a cer- 
 tain period ; but when no changes of this 
 kind are going forward, the effect of uncul- 
 tivated land on the lower classes operates 
 merely like the possession of a smaller terri- 
 e 2 torr.
 
 52 General Observations. Bk. iii. 
 
 tory. It may indeed be a point of some im- 
 portance to the poor, whether a country be 
 in the habit of exporting or importing corn ; 
 but this point is not necessarily connected 
 with the complete or incomplete cultivation 
 of the whole territory, but depends upon 
 the proportion of the surplus produce to 
 those who are supported by it ; and in fact 
 this proportion is generally the greatest, in 
 countries which have not yet completed the 
 cultivation of all their territory. If every 
 inch of land in this country were well cul- 
 tivated, there would be no reason to expect, 
 merely from this circumstance, that we 
 should be able to export corn. Our power 
 in this respect would depend entirely on 
 the proportion of the surplus produce to 
 the commercial population; and this of 
 course would in its turn depend on the direc- 
 tion of capital to agriculture or commerce. 
 It is not probable that any country with 
 a large territory should ever be completely 
 cultivated ; and I am inclined to think 
 that we often draw very inconsiderate con- 
 clusions against the industry and govern- 
 ment of states from the appearance of un- 
 cultivated
 
 Ch. xiv. General Obse?vations. 53 
 
 cultivated lands in them. It seems to be 
 the clear and express duty of every govern- 
 ment to remove all obstacles and give every 
 facility to the enclosure and cultivation of 
 Umd ; but when this has been done, the 
 rest must be left to the operation of indivi- 
 dual interest ; and upon this principle it 
 cannot be expected that any new land 
 should be brought into cultivation, the 
 manure and the labour necessary for which 
 might be employed to greater advantage 
 on the improvement of land already in cul- 
 tivation ; and this is a case which will very 
 frequently occur. In countries possessed 
 of a large territory, there will always be 
 a great quantity of land of a middling 
 quality, which requires constant dressing to 
 prevent it from growing worse, but which 
 would admit of very great improvement, 
 if a greater quantity of manure and labour 
 could be employed upon it. The great 
 obstacle to the melioration of land is the 
 difficulty, the expence, and sometimes the 
 impossibility, of procuring a sufficient 
 quantity of dressing. As this instrument 
 of improvement, therefore, is in practice 
 
 limited,
 
 54 General Observations. Bk. iii. 
 
 limited, whatever ii may be in theory, the 
 question will always be, how it may be 
 most profitably employed ? And in any in- 
 stance, where a certain quantity of dressing 
 and labour, employed to bring new land 
 into cultivation, would have yielded a per- 
 manently greater produce, if employed 
 upon old land, both the individual and the 
 nation are losers. Upon this principle, it 
 is not uncommon for farmers in some situ- 
 ations never to dress their poorest land, 
 but to get from it merely a scanty crop 
 every three or four years, and to employ 
 the whole of their manure, which they prac- 
 tically feel is limited, on those parts of their 
 farms where it will produce a greater pro- 
 portional effect. 
 
 The case will be different, of course, in a 
 small territory with a great population, 
 supported on funds not derived from their 
 own soil. In this case there will be little or no 
 choice of land, and a comparative supera- 
 bundance of manure; and under such circum- 
 stances the poorest soils may be brought un- 
 der cultivation. But for this purpose, it is 
 not mere population that is wanted, but a 
 
 population
 
 Ch. xiv. General Observations. 55 
 
 population which can obtain the produce 
 of other countries, while it is gradually im- 
 proving its own ; otherwise it would be 
 immediately reduced in proportion to the 
 limited produce of this small and barren 
 territory ; and the melioration of the land 
 might perhaps never take place ; or, if it 
 did, it would take place very slowly indeed, 
 and the population would always be ex- 
 actly measured by this tardy rate, and could 
 not possibly increase beyond it. 
 
 This subject is illustrated in the cultiva- 
 tion of the Campine in Brabant, which, ac- 
 cording to the Abbe Mann % consisted ori- 
 ginally of the most barren and arid sand. 
 Many attempts were made by private indi- 
 viduals to bring it under cultivation, but 
 without success ; which proves, that, as a 
 farming project, and considered as a sole 
 dependence, the cultivation of it would not 
 answer. Some religious houses, however, 
 at last settled there ; and being supported 
 by other funds, and improving the land 
 
 a Memoir on the Agriculture of the Netherlands, pub- 
 lished in vol. i. of Communications to the Board of 
 Agriculture, p. 225. 
 
 merely
 
 56 General Observations. Bk. iii, 
 
 merely as a secondary object, they' by de- 
 grees, in the course of some centuries, 
 brought nearly the whole under cultivation, 
 letting it out to farmers as soon as it was 
 sufficiently improved. 
 
 There is no spot, however barren, which 
 might not be made rich this way, or by 
 the concentrated population of a manufac- 
 turing town ; but this is no proof whatever 
 that, with respect to population and food, 
 population has the precedence ; because 
 this concentrated population could not pos- 
 sibly exist without the preceding existence 
 of an adequate quantity of food in the sur- 
 plus produce of some other district. 
 
 In a country like Brabant or Holland, 
 where territory is the principal want, and 
 not manure, such a district as the Campine 
 is described to be may perhaps be culti- 
 vated with advantage. But in countries 
 possessed of a large territory, and with a 
 considerable quantity of land of a middling 
 quality, the attempt to cultivate such a 
 spot would be a palpable misdirection and 
 waste both of individual and national 
 resources. 
 
 The
 
 Ch. xiv. General Observations. 57 
 
 The French have already [found their 
 error in bringing under cultivation too 
 great a quantity of poor land. They are 
 now sensible, that they have employed in 
 this way a portion of labour and dressing, 
 which would have produced a permanently 
 better effect, if it had been applied to the 
 further improvement of better land. Even 
 in China, which is so fully cultivated and 
 so fully peopled, barren heaths have been 
 noticed in some districts ; which proves 
 that, distressed as the people appear to be 
 for subsistence, it does not answer to them 
 to employ any of their manure on such 
 spots. These remarks will be still further 
 confirmed, if we recollect that, in the cul- 
 tivation of a large surface of bad land, there 
 must necessarily be a great waste of seed 
 corn. 
 
 We should not therefore be too ready to 
 make inferences against the internal eco- 
 nomy of a country from the appearance of 
 uncultivated heaths, without other evidence. 
 But the fact is, that, as no country has ever 
 reached, or probably ever will reach, its 
 highest possible acme of produce, it ap- 
 pears
 
 58 General Observations. Bk. iii. 
 
 pears always as if the want of industry, or 
 the ill direction of that industry, was the 
 actual limit to a further increase of produce 
 and population, and not the absolute re- 
 fusal of nature to yield any more : but a 
 man who is locked up in a room may be 
 fairly said to be confined by the walls of it, 
 though he may never touch them ; and 
 with regard to the principle of population, 
 it is never the question whether a country 
 will produce any more, but whether it may 
 be made to produce a sufficiency to keep 
 pace with a nearly unchecked increase of 
 people. In China, the question is not, 
 whether a certain additional quantity of 
 rice might be raised by improved culture ; 
 but whether such an addition could be ex- 
 pected during the next twenty-five years, 
 as would be sufficient to support an addi- 
 tional three hundred millions of people. 
 And in this country, it is not the question 
 whether by cultivating all our commons 
 we could raise considerably more corn 
 than at present ; but whether Ave could 
 raise sufficient for a population of 
 twenty millions in the next twenty-five 
 
 years,
 
 Ch. xiv. General Observations. 59 
 
 years, and forty millions in the next fifty 
 
 vears\ 
 
 The 
 
 * It may be thought that the effects here referred to as 
 resulting from greatly increased resources, could not 
 take place in a country where there were towns and ma- 
 nufactories ; and that they are not quite consistent with 
 what was said in a former part of this work, namely, that 
 the ultimate check to population (the want of food) is 
 never the immediate check, except in cases of actual 
 famine. 
 
 If the expressions are unguardedly strong, they will 
 certainly allow of considerable mitigation, without any 
 sensible diminution in the practical force and application 
 of the argument. But 1 am inclined to think that, though 
 they are unquestionably strong, they are not very far from 
 the truth. The great cause which fills towns and manu- 
 factories is an insufficiency of employment, and conse- 
 quently of the means of support in the country ; and if 
 each labourer, in the parish where he was born, could 
 command food, clothing, and lodging for ten children, 
 the population of the towns would soon bear but a small 
 proportion to the population in the country. And if to this 
 consideration we add that, in the case supposed, the pro- 
 portion of births and marriages in towns would be greatly 
 increased, and all the mortality arising from poverty 
 almost entirely removed, I should by no means be sur- 
 prised (after a short interval for the change of habits) at 
 an increase of population, even in China, equal to that 
 which is referred to in the text. 
 
 With regard to this country, as it is positively known 
 
 that
 
 60 General Observations. Bk. iii. 
 
 The allowing of the produce of the earth 
 to be absolutely unlimited, scarcely re- 
 moves the weight of a hair from the argu- 
 ment, which depends entirely upon the 
 
 that the rate of increase has changed from that which 
 would double the population in 120 years, or more, to 
 that which would double it in 55 years, under a great in- 
 crease of towns and manufactures, I feel very little doubt 
 that, if the resources of the country were so augmented 
 and distributed, as that every man could marry at 18 or 20, 
 tvith a certainty of being able to support the largest family, 
 the population of the British Isles would go on increasing 
 at a rate which would double the population in 25 years. 
 It appears, from our registers, that England is a healthier 
 country than America. At the time that America was 
 increasing with extraordinary rapidity, in some of her 
 towns the deaths exceeded the births. In the English 
 towns, with their present improvements, I do not think 
 this would ever be the case, if all the lower classes 
 could marry as soon as they pleased, and there was little 
 or no premature mortality from the consequences of 
 poverty. 
 
 But whether the habits and customs of an old state 
 could be so changed by an abundance of food, as to make 
 it increase nearly like a new colony, is a question of mere 
 curiosity. The argument only requires that a change 
 from scanty to abundant means of supporting a family 
 should occasion, in old states, a marked increase of po- 
 pulation; and this it is conceived cannot possibly be 
 denied. 
 
 differently
 
 Ch. xiv. General Observations. 61 
 
 differently increasing ratios of population 
 and food: and all that the most enlightened 
 governments and the most persevering and 
 best guided efforts of industry can do is to 
 make the necessary checks to population 
 operate more equably, and in a direction 
 to produce the least evil ; but to remove 
 them is a task absolutely hopeless. 
 
 ESSAY,
 
 ESSAY, 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 OF OUR FUTURE PROSPECTS RESPECTING 
 THE REMOVAL OR MITIGATION OF THE 
 EVILS ARISING FROM THE PRINCIPLE 
 OF POPULATION. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Of moral Restraint, and our Obligation to practise 
 this Virtue. 
 
 As it appears that, in the actual state of 
 every society which has come within our 
 review, the natural progress of population 
 has been constantly and powerfully check- 
 ed ; and as it seems evident that no im- 
 proved form of government, no plans of emi- 
 gration, no benevolent institutions, and no 
 degree or direction of national industry, 
 
 can
 
 G4 Of moral Restraint. Bk. iv. 
 
 can prevent the continued action of a great 
 check to population in some form or other; 
 it follows that we must submit to it as an in- 
 evitable law of nature; and the only in- 
 quiry that remains is, how it may take place 
 with the least possible prejudice to the vir- 
 tue and happiness of human society. All 
 the immediate checks to population, which 
 have been observed to prevail in the same 
 and different countries, seem to be resolv- 
 able into moral restraint, vice and misery ; 
 and if our choice be confined to these three, 
 we cannot long hesitate in our decision re- 
 specting which it would be most eligible to 
 encourage. 
 
 In the first edition of this essay I ob- 
 served, that as from the laws of nature it 
 appeared, that some check to population 
 must exist, it was better that this check 
 should arise from a foresight of the difficul- 
 ties attending a family. and the fear of de- 
 pendent poverty, than from the actual pre- 
 sence of want and sickness. This idea will 
 admit of being pursued further; and I am 
 inclined to think that, from the prevailing 
 opinions respecting population, which un- 
 
 duobtedly
 
 Ch. i. Of moral Restraint. G5 
 
 doubtedly originated in barbarous ages, 
 and have been continued and circulated by 
 that part of every community which may 
 be supposed to be interested in their sup- 
 port, we have been prevented from attend- 
 ing to the clear dictates of reason and na- 
 ture on this subject. 
 
 Natural and moral evil seem to be the in- 
 struments employed by the Deity in admo- 
 nishing us to avoid any mode of conduct, 
 which is not suited to our being, and will 
 consequently injure our happiness. If we 
 are intemperate in eating and drinking, our 
 health is disordered ; if we indulge the trans- 
 ports of anger, we seldom fail to commit 
 acts of which we afterwards repent; if we 
 multiply too fast, we die miserably of po- 
 verty and contagious diseases. The laws of 
 nature in all these cases are similar and uni- 
 form. They indicate to us that we have 
 followed these impulses too far, so as to 
 trench upon some other law, which equally 
 demands attention. The uneasiness we feel 
 from repletion, the injuries that we inflict on 
 ourselves or others in anger, and the incon- 
 veniences we suffer on the approach of po- 
 
 vol. ii. f verty,
 
 66 Of moral Restraint. Bk. iv. 
 
 verty, are all admonitions to us to regulate 
 these impulses better ; and if we heed not 
 this admonition, we justly incur the penalty 
 of our disobedience, and our sufferings ope- 
 rate as a warning to others. 
 
 From the inattention of mankind hitherto 
 to the consequences of increasing too fast, 
 it must be presumed, that these conse- 
 quences are not so immediately and power- 
 fully connected with the conduct which 
 leads to them, as in the other instances; but 
 the delayed knowledge of particular ef- 
 fects does not alter their nature, or our ob- 
 ligation to regulate our conduct according- 
 ly, as soon as we are satisfied of what this 
 conduct ought to be. In many other in- 
 stances it has not been till after long and 
 painful experience, that the conduct most 
 favourable to the happiness of man has been 
 forced upon his attention. The kind of 
 food, and the mode of preparing it, best 
 suited to the purposes of nutrition and the 
 gratification of the palate ; the treatment 
 and remedies of different disorders ; the bad 
 effects on the human frame of low and 
 marshy situations ; the invention of the most 
 
 convenient
 
 Ch. i. Of moral Restraint. 67 
 
 convenient and comfortable clothing ; the 
 construction of good houses ; and all the ad- 
 vantages and extended enjoyments, which 
 distinguish civilized life, were not pointed 
 out to the attention of man at once ; but 
 were the slow and late result of experience, 
 and of the admonitions received by repeated 
 failures. 
 
 Diseases have been generally considered 
 as the inevitable inflictions of Providence ; 
 but perhaps a great part of them may 
 more justly be considered as indications that 
 we have offended against some of the laws 
 of nature. The plague at Constantinople, 
 and in other towns of the East, is a constant 
 admonition of this kind to the inhabitants. 
 The human constitution cannot support 
 such a state of filth and torpor ; and as dirt, 
 squalid poverty and indolence are in the 
 highest degree unfavourable to happiness 
 and virtue, it seems a benevolent dispensa- 
 tion, that such a state should by the laws 
 of nature produce disease and death, as a 
 beacon to others to avoid splitting on the 
 same rock. 
 
 The prevalence of the plague in London 
 f 2 till
 
 s 
 
 68 Of moral Restraint. Bk. iv. 
 
 till the year 1666 operated in a proper man- 
 ner on the conduct of our ancestors ; and the 
 removal of nuisances, the construction of 
 drains, the widening of the streets and the 
 giving more room and air to their houses, 
 had the effect of eradicating completely 
 this dreadful disorder, and of adding greatly 
 to the health and happiness of the inha- 
 bitants. 
 
 In the history of every epidemic it has 
 almost invariably been observed that the 
 lower classes of people, whose food was 
 poor and insufficient, and who lived crowd- 
 ed together in small and dirty houses, were 
 the principal victims. In what other man- 
 ner can Nature point out to us that, if we 
 increase too fast for the means of subsis- 
 tence, so as to render it necessary for a con- 
 siderable part of the society to live in this 
 miserable manner, we have offended against 
 one of her laws ? This law she has declared 
 exactly in the same manner as she declares 
 that intemperance in eating and drinking 
 will be followed by ill health; and that, 
 however grateful it may be to us at the mo- 
 ment to indulge these passions to excess, 
 
 this
 
 Ch. i. Of moral Restraint. 69 
 
 this indulgence will ultimately produce un- 
 happiness. It is as much a law of nature 
 that repletion is bad for the human frame, 
 as that eating and drinking, unattended 
 with this consequence, are good for it. 
 
 An implicit obedience to the impulses 
 of our natural passions would lead us into 
 the wildest and most fatal extravagancies ; 
 and yet we have the strongest reasons for 
 believing that all these passions are so ne- 
 cessary to our being, that they could not 
 be generally weakened or diminished, 
 without injuring our happiness. The most 
 powerful and universal of all our desires is 
 the desire of food, and of those things, 
 such as clothing, houses, &c, which are 
 immediately necessary to relieve us from 
 the pains of hunger and cold. It is ac- 
 knowledged by all, that these desires put in 
 motion the greatest part of that activity, 
 from which the multiplied improvements 
 and advantages of civilized life are derived ; 
 and that the pursuit of these objects, and 
 the gratification of these desires, form the 
 principal happiness of the larger half of 
 mankind, civilized or uncivilized, and are 
 
 indispensably
 
 70 Of moral Restraint. Bk. iv. 
 
 indispensably necessary to the more refined 
 enjoyments of the other half. We are all 
 conscious of the inestimable benefits that 
 we derive from these desires, when directed 
 in a certain manner ; but we are equally 
 conscious of the evils resulting from them, 
 when not directed in this manner ; so much 
 so, that society has taken upon itself to 
 punish most severely what it considers as 
 an irregular gratification of them. And 
 yet the desires in both cases are equally na- 
 tural, and, abstractedly considered, equally 
 virtuous. The act of the hungry man who 
 satisfies his appetite by taking a loaf from 
 the shelf of another, is in no respect to be 
 distinguished from the act of him who does 
 the same thing with a loaf of his own, but 
 by its consequences. From the considera- 
 tion of these consequences, we feel the most 
 perfect conviction, that, if people were not 
 prevented from gratifying their natural de- 
 sires with the loaves in the possession of 
 others, the number of loaves would univer- 
 sally diminish. This experience is the 
 foundation of the laws relating to property, 
 and of the distinctions of virtue and vice, 
 
 in
 
 Ch. i. Of moral Restraint. 71 
 
 in the gratification of desires otherwise 
 perfectly the same. 
 
 If the pleasure arising from the gratifica- 
 tion of these propensities were universally 
 diminished in vividness, violations of pro- 
 perty would become less frequent ; but 
 this advantage would be greatly overba- 
 lanced by the narrowing of the sources of 
 enjoyment. The diminution in the quan- 
 tity of all those productions, which con- 
 tribute to human gratification, would be 
 much greater in proportion than the dimi- 
 nution of thefts ; and the loss of general 
 happiness on the one side would be beyond 
 comparison greater than the gain of hap- 
 piness on the other. When we contemplate 
 the constant and severe toils of the greatest 
 part of mankind, it is impossible not to be 
 forcibly impressed with the reflection, that 
 the sources of human happiness would be 
 most cruelly diminished, if the prospect of 
 a good meal, a warm house and a comfort- 
 able fireside in the evening, were not incite- 
 ments sufficiently vivid, to give interest and 
 cheerfulness to the labours and privations 
 of the day. 
 
 After
 
 72 Of moral Restraint. Bk. iv. 
 
 After the desire of food, the most power- 
 ful and general of our desires is the passion 
 between the sexes, taken in an enlarged 
 sense. Of the happiness spread over hu- 
 man life by this passion very few are 
 unconscious. Virtuous love, exalted by 
 friendship, seems to be that sort of mixture 
 of sensual and intellectual enjoyment, par- 
 ticularly suited to the nature of man, and 
 most powerfully calculated to awaken the 
 sympathies of the soul and produce the most 
 exquisite gratifications. Perhaps there is 
 scarcely a man, who has once experienced 
 the genuine delight of virtuous love, how- 
 ever great his intellectual pleasures may 
 have been, who does not look back to that 
 period as the sunny spot in his whole life, 
 where his imagination loves most to bask, 
 which he recollects and contemplates with 
 the fondest regret, and which he would 
 most wish to live over again. 
 
 It has been said by Mr. Godwin, in order 
 to shew the evident inferiority of the plea- 
 sures of sense, " Strip the commerce of the 
 " sexes of all its attendant circumstances, 
 " and it would be generally despised/' 
 
 He
 
 Ch. i. Of moral Restraint. 73 
 
 He might as well say to a man who ad- 
 mired trees, strip them of their spreading 
 branches and lovely foliage, and what 
 beauty can you see in a bare pole ? But it 
 was the tree with the branches and foliage, 
 and not without them, that excited admi- 
 ration. It is " the symmetry of person, 
 " the vivacity, the voluptuous softness of 
 " temper, the affectionate kindness of 
 " feeling, the imagination and the wit a " 
 of a woman, which excite the passion of 
 love, and not the mere distinction of her 
 being; a female. 
 
 It is a very great mistake to suppose that 
 the passion between the sexes only operates 
 and influences human conduct, when the 
 immediate gratification of it is in contem- 
 plation. The formation and steady pursuit 
 of some particular plan of life has been 
 justly considered as one of the most per- 
 manent sources of happiness ; but I am 
 inclined to believe, that there are not many 
 of these plans formed, which are not con- 
 nected in a considerable degree with the 
 prospect of the gratification of this passion, 
 
 * Political Justice, vol. i. b. i. c. v. p. 72, 8vo. 
 
 and
 
 74 Of moral Restraint. Bk. iv. 
 
 and with the support of children arising 
 from it. The evening meal, the warm 
 house, and the comfortable fireside, would 
 lose half of their interest, if we were to 
 exclude the idea of some object of affec- 
 tion, with whom they were to be shared. 
 
 We have also great reason to believe that 
 the passion between the sexes has the most 
 powerful tendency to soften and meliorate 
 the human character, and keep it more 
 alive to all the kindlier emotions of bene- 
 volence and pity. Observations on savage 
 life have generally tended to prove that 
 nations, in which this passion appeared to 
 be less vivid, were distinguished by a fero- 
 cious and malignant spirit, and particularly 
 by tyranny and cruelty to the sex. If in- 
 deed this bond of conjugal affection were 
 considerably weakened, it seems probable, 
 either that the man would make use of his 
 superior physical strength, and turn his 
 wife into a slave, as among the generality 
 of savages ; or at best, that every little in- 
 equality of temper, which must necessarily 
 occur between two persons, would produce 
 
 a total
 
 Ch. i. Of moral Restraint. 75 
 
 a total alienation of affection ; and this 
 could hardly take place, without a diminu- 
 tion of parental fondness and care, which 
 would have the most fatal effect on the 
 happiness of society. 
 
 It may be further remarked, and obser- 
 vations on the human character in different 
 countries warrant us in the conclusion, that 
 the passion is stronger, and its general 
 effects in producing gentleness, kindness 
 and suavity of manners, much more power- 
 ful, where obstacles are thrown in the way 
 of very early and universal gratification. 
 In some of the southern countries, where 
 every impulse may be almost immediately 
 indulged, the passion sinks into mere animal 
 desire, is soon weakened and almost extin- 
 guished by excess, and its influence on the 
 character is extremely confined. But in 
 European countries, where, though the 
 women are not secluded, yet manners have 
 imposed considerable restraints on this 
 gratification, the passion not only rises in 
 force, but in the universality and beneficial 
 tendency of its effects ; and has often the 
 
 greatest
 
 76 Of moral Restraint. Bk. iv. 
 
 greatest influence in the formation and im- 
 provement of the character, where it is the 
 least gratified. 
 
 Considering then the passion between 
 the sexes in all its bearings and relations, 
 and including the endearing engagement 
 of parent and child resulting from it, few 
 will be disposed to deny that it is one of 
 the principal ingredients of human happi- 
 ness. Yet experience teaches us that much 
 evil flows from the irregular gratification of 
 it; and though the evil be of little weight 
 in the scale, when compared with the good, 
 yet its absolute quantity cannot be incon- 
 siderable, on account of the strength and 
 universality of the passion. It is evident 
 however, from the general conduct of all 
 governments in their distribution of punish- 
 ments, that the evil resulting from this 
 cause is not so great and so immediately 
 dangerous to society, as the irregular gra- 
 tification of the desire of property ; but 
 placing this evil in the most formidable 
 point of view, we should evidently purchase 
 a diminution of it at a very high price, by 
 the extinction or diminution of the passion 
 
 which
 
 Ch. i. Of moral Restraint. 77 
 
 which causes it; a change, which would 
 probably convert human life either into a 
 cold and cheerless blank, or a scene of 
 savage and merciless ferocity. 
 
 A careful attention to the remote as well 
 as immediate effects of all the human pas- 
 sions, and all the general laws of nature, 
 leads us strongly to the conclusion, that, 
 under the present constitution of things, 
 few or none of them would admit of being 
 greatly diminished, without narrowing the 
 sources of good, more powerfully than the 
 sources of evil. And the reason seems to 
 be obvious. They are, in fact, the materials 
 of all our pleasures, as well as of all our 
 pains ; of all our happiness, as well as of 
 all our misery ; of all our virtues, as well as 
 of all our vices. It must therefore be re- 
 gulation and direction that are w r anted, not 
 diminution or extinction. 
 
 It is justly observed by Paley, that 
 " Human passions are either necessary to 
 " human welfare, or capable of being made, 
 ft and in a great majority of instances are 
 " in fact made, conducive to its happiness. 
 " These passions are strong and general ; 
 
 " and
 
 78 Of moral Restraint. Bk. iv. 
 
 " and perhaps would not answer their pur- 
 " pose, unless they were so. But strength 
 " and generality, when it is expedient that 
 " particular circumstances should be re- 
 " spected, become, if left to themselves, 
 " excess and misdirection. From which 
 " excess and misdirection the vices of man- 
 " kind (the causes no doubt of much mi- 
 " sery) appear to spring. This account, 
 " while it shews us the principle of vice, 
 " shews us at the same time the province 
 " of reason and self-government V 
 
 O ur virtue, therefore, as reasonable beings, 
 evidently consists in educing from the ge- 
 neral materials, which the Creator has placed 
 under our guidance, the greatest sum of 
 human happiness ; and as natural impulses 
 are abstractedly considered good, and only 
 to be distinguished by their consequences, 
 a strict attention to these consequences, 
 and the regulation of our conduct conform- 
 ably to them, must be considered as our 
 principal duty. 
 
 The fecundity of the human species is, 
 
 in some respects, a distinct consideration 
 
 * Natural Theology, c. xxvi. p. 547. 
 
 from
 
 Ch. i. Of moral Restraint. 79 
 
 from the passion between the sexes, as it 
 evidently depends more upon the power of 
 women in bearing children, than upon the 
 strength or weakness of this passion. It is 
 however a law exactly similar in its great 
 features to all the other laws of nature. It 
 is strong and general, and apparently would 
 not admit of any very considerable diminu- 
 tion, without being inadequate to its object; 
 the evils arising from it are incidental to 
 these necessary qualities of strength and 
 generality ; and these evils are capable of 
 being very greatly mitigated and rendered 
 comparatively light by human energy and 
 virtue. We cannot but conceive that it is 
 an object of the Creator, that the earth 
 should be replenished ; and it appears to 
 me clear that this could not be effected 
 without a tendency in population to increase 
 faster than food ; and as with the present 
 law of increase, the peopling of the earth 
 does not proceed very rapidly, we have un- 
 doubtedly some reason to believe, that this 
 law is not too powerful for its apparent 
 object. The desire of the means of sub- 
 sistence would be comparatively confined 
 
 in
 
 80 Of moral Restraint. Bk.iv. 
 
 in its effects, and would fail of pro- 
 ducing that general activity so necessary to 
 the improvement of the human faculties, 
 were it not for the strong and universal 
 effort of population to increase with greater 
 rapidity than its supplies. If these two 
 tendencies were exactly balanced, I do not 
 see what motive there would be sufficiently 
 strong to overcome the acknowledged in- 
 dolence of man, and make him proceed in 
 the cultivation of the soil. The population 
 of any large territory, however fertile, would 
 be as likely to stop at five hundred, or five 
 thousand, as at five millions, or fifty mil- 
 lions. Such a balance therefore would 
 clearly defeat one great purpose of creation ; 
 and if the question be merely a question of 
 degree, a question of a little more or a little 
 less strength, we may fairly distrust our 
 competence to judge of the precise quantity 
 necessary to answer the object with the 
 smallest sum of incidental evil. In the pre- 
 sent state of things we appear to have under 
 our guidance a great power, capable of 
 peopling a desert region in a small num- 
 ber of years; and yet, under other cir- 
 cumstances,
 
 Ch. i. Of moral Restraint. 81 
 
 cumstances, capable of being confined 
 by human energy and virtue to any limits 
 however narrow, at the expence of a small 
 comparative quantity of evil. The analogy 
 of all the other laws of nature would be 
 completely violated, if in this instance alone 
 there were no provision for accidental 
 failures, no resources against the vices of 
 mankind, or the partial mischiefs resulting 
 from other general laws. To effect the ap- 
 parent object without any attendant evil, it 
 is evident that a perpetual change in the 
 law of increase would be necessary, varying 
 with the varying circumstances of each 
 country. But instead of this, it is not only 
 more consonant to the analogy of the other 
 parts of nature, but we have reason to 
 think that it is more conducive to the for- 
 mation and improvement of the human 
 mind, that the law should be uniform, and 
 the evils incidental to it, under certain cir- 
 cumstances, left to be mitigated or removed 
 by man himself. His duties in this case 
 vary with his situation ; he is thus kept 
 more alive to the consequences of his ac- 
 tions ; and his faculties have evidently 
 vol. ii. g greater
 
 82 Of moral Restraint. Bk. iv. 
 
 greater play and opportunity of improve- 
 ment, than if the evil were removed by a 
 perpetual change of the law according to 
 circumstances. 
 
 Even if from passions too easily subdued, 
 or the facility of illicit intercourse, a state of 
 celibacy were a matter of indifference, and 
 notti state of some privation, the end of na- 
 ture in the peopling of the earth would be 
 apparently liable to be defeated. It is of 
 the very utmost importance to the happi- 
 ness of mankind, that population should 
 not increase too fast ; but it does not ap- 
 pear, that the object to be accomplished 
 would admit of any considerable diminu- 
 tion in the desire of marriage. It is clearly 
 the duty of each individual not to marry 
 till he has a prospect of supporting his 
 children ; but it is at the same time to be 
 wished that he should retain undiminished 
 his desire of marriage, in order that he may 
 exert himself to realize this prospect, and 
 be stimulated to make provision for the 
 support of greater numbers. 
 
 It is evidently therefore regulation and di- 
 rection which are required with regard to the 
 
 principle
 
 Ch. i. Of moral Restraint. 83 
 
 principle of population, not diminution or 
 alteration. And if moral restraint be the 
 only virtuous mode of avoiding the in- 
 cidental evils arising from this principle, 
 our obligation to practise it will evidently 
 rest exactly upon the same foundation as 
 our obligation to practise any of the other 
 virtues. 
 
 Whatever indulgence we may be dis- 
 posed to allow to occasional failures in the 
 discharge of a duty of acknowledged diffi- 
 culty, yet of the strict line of duty we can- 
 not doubt. Our obligation not to marry 
 till we have a fair prospect of being able to 
 support our children will appear to deserve 
 the attention of the moralist, if it can be 
 proved that an attention to this obligation is 
 of most powerful effect in the prevention 
 of misery ; and that, if it were the general 
 custom to follow the first impulse of nature, 
 and marry at the age of puberty, the univer- 
 sal prevalence of every known virtue in the 
 greatest conceivable degree would fail of 
 rescuing society from the most wretched and 
 desperate state of want, and all the diseases 
 and famines which usually accompany it. 
 g 2 CHAP.
 
 ( 84 ) 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Of the Effects which reould result to Society from the 
 Prevalence of moral Restraint. 
 
 ONE of the principal reasons which have 
 prevented an assent to the doctrine of the 
 constant tendency of population to increase 
 beyond the means of subsistence, is a great 
 unwillingness to believe that the Deity 
 would by the laws of nature bring beings 
 into existence, which by the laws of nature 
 could not be supported in that existence. 
 But if, in addition to that general activity 
 and direction of our industry put in motion 
 by these laws, we further consider that the 
 incidental evils arising from them are con- 
 stantly directing our attention to the proper 
 check to population, moral restraint ; and 
 if it appear that, by a strict obedience 
 to the duties pointed out to us by the light 
 of nature and reason, and confirmed and 
 sanctioned by revelation, these evils may 
 
 be
 
 Ch. ft. Of the Effects on Society, $c. 85 
 
 be avoided ; the objection will, I trust, be 
 removed, and all apparent imputation on 
 the goodness of the Deity be done away. 
 
 The heathen moralists never represented 
 happiness as attainable on earth, but 
 through the medium of virtue ; and among 
 their virtues prudence ranked in the first 
 class, and by some was even considered as 
 including every other. The Christian 
 religion places our present as well as 
 future happiness in the exercise of those 
 virtues, which tend to fit us for a state of 
 superior enjoyment ; and the subjection of 
 the passions to the guidance of reason, 
 which, if not the whole, is a principal 
 branch of prudence, is in consequence most 
 particularly inculcated. 
 
 If, for the sake of illustration, we might 
 be permitted to draw a picture of society, 
 in which each individual endeavoured to 
 attain happiness by the strict fulfilment of 
 those duties, which the most enlightened of 
 the ancient philosophers deduced from the 
 laws of nature, and which have been directly 
 taught, and received such powerful sanc-r 
 tions in the moral code of Christianity, \t 
 
 would
 
 86 Of the Effects on Society Bk. iv. 
 
 would present a very different scene from 
 that which we now contemplate. Every 
 act, which was prompted by the desire of 
 immediate gratification, but which threat- 
 ened an ultimate overbalance of pain, would 
 be considered as a breach of duty ; and 
 consequently no man, whose earnings were 
 only sufficient to maintain two children, 
 would put himself in a situation in which he 
 might have to maintain four or five, how- 
 ever he might be prompted to it by the 
 passion of love. This prudential restraint, 
 if it were generally adopted, by narrowing 
 the supply of labour in the market, would, 
 in the natural course of things, soon raise 
 its price. The period of delayed gratifica- 
 tion would be passed in saving *he earnings 
 which were above the wants of a single man, 
 and in acquiring habits of sobriety, industry 
 and economy, which would enable him in 
 a few years to enter into the matrimonial 
 contract without fear of its consequences. 
 The operation of the preventive check in 
 this way, by constantly keeping the popu- 
 lation within the limits of the food, though 
 constantly following its increase, would give 
 
 a real
 
 Ch. ii. of moral Restraint. 87 
 
 a real value to the rise of wages ; and the 
 sums saved by labourers before marriage, 
 very different from those forced advances 
 in the price of labour or arbitrary parochial 
 donations, which, in proportion to their 
 magnitude and extensiveness, must of ne- 
 cessity be followed by a proportional ad- 
 vance in the price of provisions. As the 
 wages of labour would thus be sufficient to 
 maintain with decency a large family, and 
 as every married couple would set out with 
 a sum for contingencies, all abject poverty 
 would be removed from society ; or would 
 at least be confined to a very few, who had 
 fallen into misfortunes, against which no 
 prudence or foresight could provide. 
 
 The interval between the age of puberty 
 and the period at which each individual 
 might venture on marriage must, according 
 to the supposition, be passed in strict chas- 
 tity ; because the law of chastity cannot be 
 violated without producing evil. The ef- 
 fect of any thing like a promiscuous inter- 
 course, which prevents the birth of children, 
 is evidently to weaken the best affections of 
 the heart, and in a very marked manner to 
 
 degrade
 
 88 Of the Effects on Society Bk. iv. 
 
 degrade the female character. And any 
 other intercourse would, without improper 
 arts, bring as many children into the so- 
 ciety as marriage, with a much greater pro- 
 bability of their becoming a burden to it. 
 
 These considerations shew that the virtue 
 of chastity is not, as some have supposed, 
 a forced produce of artificial society ; but 
 that it has the most real and solid founda- 
 tion in nature and reason ; being apparently 
 the only virtuous mean of avoiding the vice 
 and misery which result so often from the 
 principle of population. 
 
 In such a society as we have been sup- 
 posing, it might be necessary for some of 
 both sexes to pass many of the early years 
 of life in the single state ; and if this were 
 general, there would certainly be room for 
 a much greater number to marry afterwards, 
 so that fewer, upon the whole, would be 
 condemned to pass their lives in celibacy. 
 If the custom of not marrying early pre- 
 vailed generally, and if violations of chastity 
 were equally dishonourable in both sexes, 
 a more familiar and friendly intercourse 
 between them might take place without 
 
 danger.
 
 Ch. ii. of moral Restraint. 89 
 
 danger. Two young people might con- 
 verse together intimately without its being 
 immediately supposed that they either in- 
 tended marriage or intrigue ; and a much 
 better opportunity would thus be given to 
 both sexes of finding out kindred disposi- 
 tions, and of forming those strong and 
 lasting attachments, without which the mar- 
 ried state is generally more productive of 
 misery than of happiness. The earlier 
 years of life would not be spent without 
 love, though without the full gratification 
 of it. The passion, instead of being ex- 
 tinguished, as it now too frequently is, by 
 early sensuality, would only be repressed 
 for a time, that it might afterwards burn 
 with a brighter, purer and steadier flame ; 
 and the happiness of the married state, in- 
 stead of only affording the means of im- 
 mediate indulgence, would be looked for- 
 ward to as the prize of industry and virtue, 
 and the reward of a genuine and constant 
 attachment \ 
 
 The 
 
 a Dr, Currie, in his interesting observations on the 
 character and condition of the Scotch peasantry, prefixed 
 to his Life of Burns, remarks, with a just knowledge of 
 
 human
 
 90 Of the Effects on Society Bk. tr: 
 
 The passion of love is a powerful stimulus 
 in the formation of character, and often 
 prompts to the most noble and generous 
 exertions ; but this is only when the af- 
 fections are centred in one object, and ge- 
 nerally when full gratification is delayed 
 by difficulties a . The heart is perhaps 
 
 human nature, that, " in appreciating the happiness and 
 " virtue of a community, there is perhaps no single crite- 
 " rion on which so much dependence may be placed a* 
 " the state of the intercourse between the sexes. Where 
 " this displays ardour of attachment, accompanied by 
 " purity of conduct, the character and the influence of 
 " women rise, our imperfect nature mounts in the scale 
 " of moral excellence ; and from the source of this single 
 " affection, a stream of felicity descends, which branches 
 " into a thousand rivulets that enrich and adorn the field 
 " of life. Where the attachment between the sexes sinks 
 " into an appetite, the heritage of our species is compa- 
 " ratively poor, and man approaches to the condition of 
 " the brutes that perish." Vol. i. p. 18. 
 
 Dr. Currie observes, that the . Scottish peasant 
 in the course of his passion often exerts a spirit of ad- 
 venture, of which a Spanish cavalier need not be 
 ashamed. Burns' Works, vol. i. p. 16. It is not to be 
 doubted that this kind of romantic passion, which, Dr. C. 
 says, characterizes the attachment of the humblest people 
 of Scotland, and which has been greatly fostered by the 
 elevation of mind given to them by a superior education, 
 has had a most powerful and most beneficial influence on 
 the national character. never
 
 Ch. ii. of moral Restraint. 91 
 
 never so much disposed to virtuous con- 
 duct, and certainly at no time is the virtue 
 of chastity so little difficult to men, as 
 when under the influence of such a passion. 
 Late marriages taking place in this way 
 would be very different from those of the 
 same name at present, where the union is 
 too frequently prompted solely by interested 
 views, and the parties meet, not unfre- 
 quently, with exhausted constitutions, and 
 generally with exhausted affections. The 
 late marriages at present are indeed princi- 
 pally confined to the men ; of whom there 
 are few, however advanced in life, who, if 
 they determine to marry, do not fix their 
 choice on a young wife. A young woman 
 without fortune, when she has passed her 
 twenty-fifth year, begins to fear, and with 
 reason, that she may lead a life of celibacy; 
 and with a heart capable of forming a strong 
 attachment, feels, as each year creeps on, 
 her hopes of finding an object on which to 
 rest her affections gradually diminishing, 
 and the uneasiness of her situation aggra- 
 vated by the silly and unjust prejudices of 
 the world. If the general age of mar- 
 riage
 
 02 Of the Effects on Society Bk. iv. 
 
 riage among women were later, the period 
 of youth and hope would be prolonged, and 
 fewer would be ultimately disappointed. 
 
 That a change of this kind would be a 
 most decided advantage to the more vir- 
 tuous half of society, we cannot for a mo- 
 ment doubt. However impatiently the 
 privation might be borne by the men, it 
 would be supported by the women readily 
 and cheerfully ; and if they could look for- 
 wards with just confidence to marriage at 
 twenty-seven or twenty-eight, I fully believe, 
 that, if the matter were left to their free 
 choice, they would clearly prefer waiting till 
 this period, to the being involved in all the 
 cares of a large family at twenty-five. The 
 most eligible age of marriage however could 
 not be fixed ; but must depend entirely on 
 circumstances and situation. There is no 
 period of human life, at which nature more 
 strongly prompts to an union of the sexes , 
 than from seventeen or eighteen to twenty. 
 In every society above that state of de- 
 pression, which almost excludes reason and 
 foresight, these early tendencies must ne- 
 cessarily be restrained ; and. if, in the ac-> 
 
 tual
 
 Ch. ii. of moral Restraint. 93 
 
 tual state of things, such a restraint on the 
 impulses of nature be found unavoidable, 
 at what time can we be consistently released 
 from it, but at that period, whatever it may 
 be, when, in the existing circumstances of 
 the society, a fair prospect presents itself 
 of maintaining a family ? 
 
 The difficulty of moral restraint will per- 
 haps be objected to this doctrine. To him 
 who does not acknowledge the authority of 
 the Christian religion, I have only to say 
 that, after the most careful investigation, 
 this virtue appears to be absolutely neces- 
 sary, in order to avoid certain evils which 
 would otherwise result from the general 
 laws of nature. According to his own 
 principles, it is his duty to pursue the 
 greatest good consistent with these laws ; 
 and not to fail in this important end, and 
 produce an overbalance of misery by a 
 partial obedience to some of the dictates of 
 nature, while he neglects others. The path 
 of virtue, though it be the only path which 
 leads to permanent happiness, has always 
 been represented by the heathen moralists 
 as of difficult ascent. 
 
 To
 
 94 Of the Effects on Society Bk. iv. 
 
 To the Christian I would say that the 
 Scriptures most clearly and precisely point 
 it out to us as our duty, to restrain our 
 passions within the bounds of reason ; and 
 it is a palpable disobedinece of this law to 
 indulge our desires in such a manner as 
 reason tells us will unavoidably end in mi- 
 sery. The Christian cannot consider the 
 difficulty of moral restraint as any argu- 
 ment against its being his duty ; since, in 
 almost every page of the sacred writings, 
 man is described as encompassed on all 
 sides by temptations which it is extremely 
 difficult to resist ; and though no duties are 
 enjoined, which do not contribute to his 
 happiness on earth as well as in a future 
 state, yet an undeviating obedience is never 
 represented as an easy task. 
 
 There is in general so strong a tendency 
 to love in early youth, that it is extremely 
 difficult at this period to distinguish a ge- 
 nuine from a transient passion. If the ear- 
 lier years of life were passed by both sexes 
 in moral restraint, from the greater facility 
 that this would give to the meeting of kin- 
 dred dispositions, it might even admit of a 
 
 doubt,
 
 Ch. ii. of moral Restraint. 95 
 
 doubt, whether more happy marriages 
 would not take place, and consequently 
 more pleasure from the passion of love, 
 than in a state such as that of America, 
 the circumstances of which allow of a 
 very early union of the sexes. But if we 
 compare the intercourse of the sexes in such 
 a society as I have been supposing, with 
 that which now exists in Europe, taken un- 
 der all its circumstances, it may safely be 
 asserted, that, independently of the load of 
 misery which would be removed, the sum 
 of pleasurable sensations from the passion of 
 love would be increased in a very great 
 degree. 
 
 If we could suppose such a system gene- 
 ral, the accession of happiness to society in 
 its internal economy would scarcely be 
 greater than in its external relations. It 
 might fairly be expected that war, that great 
 pest of the human race, would, under such 
 circumstances, soon cease to extend its ra- 
 vages so widely and so frequently as it does 
 at present. 
 
 One of its first causes and most powerful 
 impulses was undoubtedly an insufficiency 
 
 of
 
 96 Of the Effects on Society Bk. iv. 
 
 of room and food ; and greatly as the cir- 
 cumstances of mankind have changed since 
 it first began, the same cause still continues 
 to operate and to produce, though in a 
 smaller degree, the same effects. The am- 
 bition of princes would want instruments of 
 destruction, if the distresses of the lower 
 classes of people did not drive them under 
 their standards. A recruiting serjeant al- 
 ways prays for a bad harvest and a want 
 of employment, or, in other words, a redun- 
 dant population, 
 fin the earlier ages of the world, when 
 war was the great business of mankind, and 
 the drains of population from this cause 
 were, beyond comparison, greater than in 
 modern times, the legislators and statesmen 
 of each country, adverting principally to 
 the means of offence and defence, encou- 
 raged an increase of people in every possible 
 way, fixed a stigma on barrenness and ce- 
 libacy, and honoured marriage. The po- 
 pular religions followed these prevailing opi- 
 nions. In many countries the prolific power 
 of nature was the object of solemn worship. 
 In the religion of Mahomet, which was 
 
 established
 
 Ch. ii. of moral Restraint . 97 
 
 established by the sword, and the promul- 
 gation of which in consequence could not 
 be unaccompanied by an extraordinary de- 
 struction of its followers, the procreation of 
 children to glorify the Creator was laid 
 down as one of the principal duties of 
 man ; and he, who had the most numerous 
 offspring, was considered as having best 
 answered the end of his creation. The 
 prevalence of such moral sentiments had 
 naturally a great effect in encouraging mar- 
 riage ; and the rapid procreation, which 
 followed, was partly the effect and partly 
 the cause of incessant war. The vacancies 
 occasioned by former desolations made 
 room for the rearing of fresh supplies ; and 
 the overflowing rapidity, with which these 
 supplies followed, constantly furnished fresh 
 incitements and fresh instruments for re- 
 newed hostilities. Under the influence of 
 such moral sentiments, it is difficult to con- 
 ceive how the fury of incessant war should 
 ever abate. J $&*f 
 
 It is a pleasing confirmation of the truth 
 and divinity of the Christian religion, and 
 of its being adapted to a more improved 
 
 vol. ii. h state
 
 98 Of the Effects on Society Bk.iv. 
 
 state of human society, that it places our 
 duties respecting marriage and the procre- 
 ation of children in a different light from 
 that in which they were before beheld. 
 
 Without entering minutely into the sub- 
 ject, which would evidently lead too far, 
 I think it will be admitted, that, if we apply 
 the spirit of St. Paul's declarations respecting 
 marriage to the present state of society and 
 the known constitution of our nature, the 
 natural inference seems to be, that, when 
 marriage does not interfere with higher 
 duties, it is right ; when it does, it is wrong. 
 According to the genuine principles of 
 moral science, " The method of coming at 
 " the will of God from the light of nature 
 " is, to inquire into the tendency of the 
 *' action to promote or diminish the general 
 " happiness V There are perhaps few ac- 
 tions that tend so directly to diminish the 
 general happiness, as to marry without the 
 means of supporting children. He who 
 commits this act, therefore, clearly offends 
 against the will of God ; and having be- 
 come a burden on the society in which he 
 
 x Paley's Moral Philosophy, vol. i. b. ii. c. ir. p. 65. 
 
 lives,
 
 Ch. ii. of moral Restraint. 99 
 
 lives, and plunged himself and family into 
 a situation, in which virtuous habits are 
 preserved with more difficulty than in any 
 other, he appears to have violated his duty 
 to his neighbours and to himself, and thus 
 to have listened to the voice of passion in 
 opposition to his higher obligations. 
 
 In a society, such as I have supposed, 
 all the members of which endeavour to 
 attain happiness by obedience to the moral 
 code derived from the light of nature, and 
 enforced by strong sanctions in revealed 
 religion, it is evident that no such marriages 
 could take place ; and the prevention of a 
 redundant population, in this way, would 
 remove one of the principal encourage- 
 ments to offensive war ; and at the same 
 time tend powerfully to eradicate those two 
 fatal political disorders, internal tyranny 
 and internal tumult, which mutually pro- 
 duce each other. 
 
 Indisposed to a war of offence, in a war 
 of defence, such a society would be strong 
 as a rock of adamant. Where every family 
 possessed the necessaries of life in plenty, 
 and a decent portion of its comforts and 
 h 2 conveniences,
 
 100 Of the Effects on Society Bk. iv 
 
 conveniences, there could not exist that 
 hope of change, or at best that melancholy 
 and disheartening indifference to it, which 
 sometimes prompts the lower classes of 
 people to say, " Let what will come, we 
 " cannot be worse off than we are now/' 
 Every heart and hand would be united to 
 repel an invader, when each individual felt 
 the value of the solid advantages which he 
 enjoyed, and a prospect of change presented 
 only a prospect of being deprived of them. 
 As it appears therefore, that it is in the 
 power of each individual to avoid all the 
 evil consequences to himself and society 
 resulting from the principle of population, 
 by the practice of a virtue clearly dictated 
 to him' by the light of nature, and expressly 
 enjoined in revealed religion ; and as we 
 have reason to think, that the exercise of 
 this virtue to a certain degree would tend 
 rather to increase than diminish individual 
 happiness ; we can have no reason to im- 
 peach the justice of the Deity, because his 
 general laws make this virtue necessary, 
 and punish our offences against it by the 
 evils attendant upon vice, and the pains 
 
 that
 
 Ch. ii. of moral Restraint. 101 
 
 that accompany the various forms of pre- 
 mature death. A really virtuous society, 
 such as I have supposed, would avoid these 
 evils. It is the apparent object of the 
 Creator to deter us from vice by the pains 
 which accompany it, and to lead us to virtue 
 by the happiness that it produces. This 
 object appears to our conceptions to be 
 worthy of a benevolent Creator. The laws 
 of nature respecting population tend to pro- 
 mote this object. No imputation, there- 
 fore, on the benevolence of the Deity, can 
 be founded on these laws, which is not 
 equally applicable to any of the evils ne- 
 cessarily incidental to an imperfect state of 
 existence. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 ( 102 ) 
 
 CHAP, in. 
 
 Of the only effectual Mode of improving the Condition of 
 the Poor. 
 
 JlxE who publishes a moral code, or sys- 
 tem of duties, however firmly he may be 
 convinced of the strong obligation on each 
 individual strictly to conform to it, has 
 never the folly to imagine that it will be 
 universally or even generally practised. 
 But this is no valid objection against the 
 publication of the code. If it were, the 
 same objection would always have applied ; 
 we should be totally without general rules ; 
 and to the vices of mankind arising from 
 temptation would be added a much longer 
 list, than we have at present, of vices from 
 ignorance. 
 
 Judging merely from the light of nature, 
 if we feel convinced of the misery arising 
 from a redundant population on the one 
 hand, and of the evils and unhappiness, 
 particularly to the female sex, arising from 
 promiscuous intercourse, on the other, I do 
 
 not
 
 Ch. iii. Of the only effectual Mode, $c. 103 
 
 not see how it is possible for any person 
 who acknowledges the principle of utility, 
 as the great criterion of moral rules, to es- 
 cape the conclusion, that moral restraint, 
 or the abstaining from marriage till we are 
 in a condition to support a family, with a 
 perfectly moral conduct during that period, 
 is the strict line of duty ; and when revela- 
 tion is taken into the question, this duty 
 undoubtedly receives very powerful confir- 
 mation. At the same time I believe that 
 few of my readers can be less sanguine 
 than I am in their expectations of any sud- 
 den and great change in the general conduct 
 of men on this subject : and the chief rea- 
 son why in the last chapter I allowed my- 
 self to supp ose the universal prevalence of 
 this virtue was, that I might endeavour to 
 remove any imputation on the goodness of 
 the Deity, by shewing, that the evils arising 
 from the principle of population were ex- 
 actly of the same nature as the generality 
 of other evils which excite fewer complaints ; 
 that they were increased by human igno* 
 ranee and indolence, and diminished by 
 human knowledge and virtue; and on the 
 
 supposition
 
 104 Of the only effectual Mode of Bk. vf 
 
 supposition that each individual strictly 
 fulfilled his duty, would be almost totally 
 removed ; and this without any general di- 
 minution of those sources of pleasure, 
 arising from the regulated indulgence of 
 the passions, which have been justly consi- 
 dered as the principal ingredients of human: 
 happiness. .. 
 
 If it will answer any purpose of illustra- 
 tion, I see no harm in drawing the picture 
 of a society, in which each individual is 
 supposed strictly to fulfil his duties; nor 
 does a writer appear to be justty liable to 
 the imputation of being visionary, unless 
 he make such universal or general obe- 
 dience necessary to the practical utility of 
 his system, and to that degree of moderate 
 and partial improvement, which is all that 
 can rationally be expected frorn the most 
 complete knowledge of our duties. 
 
 But in this respect there is an essential 
 difference between that improved state of 
 society, which I have supposed in the last 
 chapter, and most of the other speculations 
 on this subject. The improvement there 
 supposed, if we ever should make ap- 
 proaches
 
 Ch. iii. improving the Condition of the Poor. .105 
 
 proaches towards it, is to be effected in 
 the way in which we have been in the habit 
 of seeing all the greatest improvements 
 effected, by a direct application to the in- 
 terest and happiness of each individual. 
 It is not required of us to act from motives 
 to which we are unaccustomed ; to pursue 
 a general good, which we may not distinctly 
 comprehend, or the effect of which may be 
 weakened by distance and diffusion. The 
 happiness of the whole is to be the result 
 of the happiness of individuals, and to 
 begin first with them. No co-operation is 
 required. Every step tells. He who per- 
 forms his duty faithfully will reap the full 
 fruits of it, whatever may be the number 
 of others who fail. This duty is intelligible 
 to the humblest capacity. It is merely, 
 that he is not to bring beings into the world, 
 for whom he cannot find the means of sup- 
 port. When once this subject is cleared 
 from the obscurity thrown over it by paro- 
 chial laws and private benevolence, every 
 man must feel the strongest conviction of 
 such an obligation. If he cannot support 
 his children, they must starve ; and if he 
 
 marry
 
 1Q6 Of the only effectual Mode of Bk. iv. 
 
 marry in the face of a fair probability that 
 he shall not be able to support his children, 
 he is guilty of all the evils, which he thus 
 brings upon himself, his wife and his off- 
 spring. It is clearly his interest, and will 
 tend greatly to promote his happiness, to 
 defer marrying, till by industry and eco- 
 nomy he is in a capacity to support the 
 children that he may reasonably expect 
 from his marriage; and as he cannot 
 in the mean time gratify his passions with- 
 out violating an express command of God, 
 and running a great risk of injuring him- 
 self, or some of his fellow-creatures, consi- 
 derations of his own interest and happiness 
 will dictate to him the strong obligation 
 to a moral conduct while he remains un- 
 married. 
 
 However powerful may be the impulses 
 of passion, they are generally in some de- 
 gree modified by reason. And it does not 
 seem entirely visionary to suppose that, if 
 the true and permanent cause of poverty 
 were clearly explained and forcibly brought 
 home to each man's bosom, it would have 
 some, and perhaps not an inconsiderable, 
 
 influence
 
 Ch. iii. improving the Condition of the Poor. i07 
 
 influence on his conduct ; at least the expe- 
 riment has never yet been fairly tried. 
 Almost every thing, that has been hitherto 
 done for the poor, has tended, as if with 
 solicitous care, to throw a veil of obscurity 
 over this subject, and to hide from them 
 the true cause of their poverty. When the 
 wages of labour are hardly sufficient to 
 maintain two children, a man marries, and 
 has five or six ; he of course finds himself 
 miserably distressed. He accuses the in- 
 sufficiency of the price of labour to main- 
 tain a family. He accuses his parish for 
 their tardy and sparing fulfilment of their 
 obligation to assist him. He accuses the 
 avarice of the rich, who suffer him to want 
 what they can so well spare. He accuses 
 the partial and unjust institutions of society, 
 which have awarded him an inadequate 
 share of the produce of the earth. He 
 accuses perhaps the dispensations of Pro- 
 vidence, which have assigned to him a 
 place in society so beset with unavoidable 
 distress and dependence. In searching for 
 objects of accusation, he never adverts to 
 the quarter from which his misfortunes ori- 
 ginate.
 
 108 Of the only effectual Mode of Bk.br * 
 
 ginate. The last person that he would think 
 of accusing is himself, on whom in fact the 
 principal blame lies, except so far as he 
 has been deceived by the higher classes of 
 society. He may perhaps wish that lie had 
 not married, because he now feels the incon- 
 veniences of it ; but it never enters into his 
 head that he can have done any thing wrong. 
 He has always been told, that to raise up 
 subjects for his king and country is a very 
 meritorious act. He has done this, and yet 
 is suffering for it ; and it cannot but strike 
 him as most extremely unjust and cruel in 
 his king and country, to allow him thus to 
 suffer, in return for giving them what they 
 are continually declaring that they particu- 
 larly want. 
 
 Till these erroneous ideas have been cor- 
 rected, and the language of nature and 
 reason has been generally heard on the sub- 
 ject of population, instead of the language 
 of error and prejudice, it cannot be said, 
 that any fair experiment has been made 
 wi^h the understandings of the common 
 people ; and we cannot justly accuse them 
 of improvidence and want of industry, till 
 
 they
 
 Ch. iii. improving the Condition of the Poor. 109 
 
 they act as they do now, after it has been 
 brought home to their comprehensions, that 
 they are themselves the. cause of their own 
 poverty ; that the means of redress are in 
 their own hands, and in the hands of no 
 other persons whatever ; that the society in 
 which they live, and the government which 
 presides over it, are without any direct 
 power in this respect ; and that however 
 ardently they may desire to relieve them, 
 and whatever attempts they may make to 
 do so, they are really and truly unable to 
 execute what they benevolently wish, but 
 unjustly promise ; that, when the wages of 
 labour will not maintain a family, it is an 
 incontrovertible sign that their king and 
 country do not want more subjects, or at 
 least that they cannot support them ; that, 
 if they marry in this case, so far from ful- 
 filling aduty to society, they are throwing an 
 useless burden on it, at the same that they 
 are plunging themselves into distress ; and 
 that they are acting directly contrary to the 
 will of God, and bringing down upon them- 
 selves various diseases, which might all, or 
 the greater part, have been avoided, if they 
 
 had
 
 110 Of the only effectual Mode of Bk. ir. 
 
 had attended to the repeated admonitions, 
 which he gives by the general laws of na- 
 ture to every being capable of reason. 
 
 Paley, in his Moral Philosophy, observes, 
 that " in countries in which subsistence is 
 " become scarce, it behoves the state to 
 " watch over the public morals with in- 
 " creased solicitude; for nothing but the 
 " instinct of nature, under the restraint of 
 " chastity, will induce men to undertake 
 " the labour, or consent to the sacrifice of 
 " personal liberty and indulgence, which 
 " the support of a family in such circum- 
 " stances requires'/' That it is always 
 the duty of a state to use every exertion 
 likely to be effectual in discouraging vice 
 and promoting virtue, and that no tem- 
 porary circumstances ought to cause any 
 relaxation in these exertions, is certainly 
 true. The means therefore proposed are 
 always good ; but the particular end in 
 view in this case appears to be absolutely 
 criminal. We wish to force people into 
 marriage, when from the acknowledged 
 scarcity of subsistence they will have little 
 
 a Vol. ii. c. jci. p. 352. 
 
 chance
 
 Ch. iii. improving the Condition of the Poor. Ill 
 
 chance of being able to support their chil- 
 dren. We might as well force people into 
 the water who are unable to swim. In 
 both cases we rashly tempt Providence. 
 Nor have we more reason to believe that a 
 miracle will be worked to save us from 
 the misery and mortality resulting from 
 our conduct in the one case than in the 
 other. 
 
 The object of those, who really wish to 
 better the condition of the lower classes of 
 society, must be to raise the relative pro- 
 portion between the price of labour and the 
 price of provisions, so as to enable the 
 labourer to command a larger share of the 
 necessaries and comforts of life. We have 
 hitherto principally attempted to attain this 
 end by encouraging the married poor, and 
 consequently increasing the number of la- 
 bourers, and overstocking the market with 
 a commodity which we still say that we wish 
 to be dear. It would seem to have required 
 no great spirit of divination, to foretel the 
 certain failure of such a plan of proceeding. 
 There is nothing however like experience. 
 It has been tried in many different countries, 
 
 and
 
 112 Of the only effectual Mode of Bk. iv* 
 
 and for many hundred years, and the success 
 has always been answerable to the nature 
 of the scheme. It is really time now to try 
 something else. 
 
 When it was found that oxygen, or 
 pure vital air, would not cure consump- 
 tions, as was expected, but rather aggra- 
 vated their symptoms, trial was made of an 
 air of the most opposite kind. I wish we 
 had acted with the same philosophical spi- 
 rit in our attempts to cure the disease of 
 poverty ; and having found that the pouring 
 in of fresh supplies of labour only tended 
 to aggravate the symptoms, had tried what 
 would be the etfect of withholding a little 
 these supplies. 
 
 ; In all old and fully-peopled states it is 
 from this method, and this alone, that we 
 can rationally expect any essential and per- 
 manent melioration in the condition of the 
 lower classes of people. 
 
 In an endeavour to raise the proportion 
 of the quantity of provisions to the number 
 of consumers in any country, our attention 
 would naturally be first directed to the in- 
 creasing of the absolute quantity of pro- 
 visions ;
 
 Ch. iii. improving the Condition of the Poo?\ 113 
 
 visions ; but finding that, as fast as we did 
 this, the number of consumers more than 
 kept pace with it, and that with all our ex- 
 ertions we were still as far as ever behind, 
 we should be convinced, that our efforts 
 directed only in this way would never suc- 
 ceed. It would appear to be setting the 
 tortoise to catch the hare. Finding, there- 
 fore, that from the laws of nature we could 
 not proportion the food to the population, 
 our next attempt should naturally be, to 
 proportion the population to the food. If 
 we can persuade the hare to go to sleep, 
 the tortoise may have some chance of over- 
 taking her. . 
 
 We are not however to relax our efforts 
 in increasing the quantity of provisions, but 
 to combine another effort with it ; that of 
 keeping the population, when once it has 
 been overtaken, at such a distance behind, 
 as to effect the relative proportion which 
 we desire ; and thus unite the two grand 
 desiderata, a great actual population, and a 
 state of society, in which abject poverty 
 and dependence are comparatively but little 
 
 vol. ir. i known;
 
 114 Of the only effectual Mode, fyc. Bk. iv. 
 
 known ; two objects which are far from 
 being incompatible. 
 
 If we be really serious in what appears to 
 be the object of such general research, the 
 mode of essentially and permanently bet- 
 tering the condition of the poor, we must 
 explain to them the true nature of their 
 situation, and shew them, that the with- 
 holding of the supplies of labour is the only 
 possible way of really raising its price ; and 
 that they themselves, being the possessors 
 of this commodity, have alone the power 
 to do this. 
 
 I cannot but consider this mode of di- 
 mnishing poverty as so perfectly clear in 
 theory, and so invariably confirmed by the 
 analogy of every other commodity which is 
 brought to market, that nothing but its 
 being shewn to be calculated to produce 
 greater evils than it proposes to remedy, can 
 justify us in not making the attempt to put 
 it into execution. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 ( 115 ) 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Objections to this Mode considered. 
 
 ONE objection which perhaps will be 
 made to this plan is, that from which alone 
 it derives its value a market rather under- 
 stocked with labour. This must undoubt- 
 edly take place in a certain degree ; but by 
 no means in such a degree as to affect the 
 wealth and prosperity of the country. But 
 putting this subject of a market under- 
 stocked with labour in the most unfavour- 
 able point of view, if the rich will not sub- 
 mit to a slight inconvenience necessarily 
 attendant on the attainment of what they 
 profess to desire, they cannot really be in 
 earnest in their professions. Their bene- 
 volence to the poor must be either childish 
 play or hypocrisy ; it must be either to 
 amuse themselves or to pacify the minds of 
 the common people with a mere show of 
 attention to their wants. To wish to better 
 
 i 2 the
 
 116 Objections to this Mode considered. Bk. iv^ 
 
 the condition of the poor by enabling them 
 to command a greater quantity of the ne- 
 cessaries and comforts of life, and then to 
 complain of high wages, is the act of a 
 silly boy who gives away his cake and then 
 cries for it. A market overstocked with 
 labour, and an ample remuneration to each 
 labourer, are objects perfectly incompatible 
 with each other. In the annals of the 
 world they never existed together ; and to 
 couple them even in imagination betrays a 
 gross ignorance of the simplest principles 
 of political economy. 
 
 A second objection that may be made 
 to this plan is, the diminution of population 
 that it would cause. It is to be considered, 
 however, that this diminution is merely 
 relative ; and when once this relative di- 
 minution has been effected, by keeping the 
 population stationary, while the supply of 
 food has increased, it might then start 
 afresh, and continue increasing for ages, 
 with the increase of food, maintaining al- 
 ways nearly the same relative proportion to 
 it. I can easily conceive that this country, 
 with a proper direction of the national in- 
 dustry,.
 
 Ch. iv. Objections to this Mock considered. 117 
 
 dustry, might, in the course of some cen- 
 turies, contain two or three times its pre- 
 sent population, and yet every man in the 
 kingdom be much better fed and clothed 
 than he is at present. While the springs 
 of industry continue in vigour, and a suf- 
 ficient part of that industry is directed to 
 agriculture, we need be under no appre- 
 hensions of a deficient population ; and 
 nothing perhaps would tend so strongly to 
 excite .a spirit of industry and economy 
 among the poor, as a thorough knowledge 
 that their happiness must always depend 
 principally upon themselves ; and that, if 
 they obey their passions in opposition to 
 their reason, or be not industrious and 
 frugal Avhile they are single, to save a sum 
 for the common contingencies of the mar- 
 ried state, they must expect to suffer the 
 natural evils which Providence has prepared 
 for those who disobey its repeated admo- 
 nitions. 
 
 A third objection which may be started 
 to this plan, and the only one which ap- 
 pears to me to have any kind of plausibility, 
 is that, by endeavouring to urge the duty 
 
 of
 
 118 Objections to this Mode considered. Bk. iv. 
 
 of moral restraint on the poor, we may in- 
 crease the quantity of vice relating to the 
 sex. 
 
 I should be extremely sorry to say. any 
 thing, which could either directly or re- 
 motely be construed unfavourably to the 
 cause of virtue; but I certainly cannot 
 think that the vices which relate to the sex 
 are the only vices which are to be consi- 
 dered in a moral question ; or that they 
 are even the greatest and most degrading 
 to the human character. They can rarely 
 or never be committed without producing 
 unhappiness somewhere or other, and there- 
 fore ought always to be strongly reprobated : 
 but there are other vices, the effects of 
 which are still more pernicious ; and there 
 are other situations, which lead more cer- 
 tainly to moral offences than the refraining 
 from marriage. Powerful as may be the 
 temptations to a breach of chastity, I am 
 inclined to think that they are impotent, in 
 comparison of the temptations arising from 
 continued distress. A large class of women, 
 and many men, I have no doubt, pass a 
 considerable part of their lives consistently 
 
 with
 
 Ch. iv. Objections to this Mode considered. 119 
 
 with the laws of chastity ; but I believe 
 there will be found very few, who pass 
 through the ordeal of squalid and hopeless 
 poverty, or even of long continued em- 
 barrassed circumstances, without a great 
 moral degradation of character. 
 
 In the higher and middle classes of so- 
 ciety, it is a melancholy and distressing 
 sight to observe, not unfrequently, a man 
 of a noble and ingenuous disposition, once 
 feelingly alive to a sense of honour and in- 
 tegrity, gradually sinking under the pressure 
 of circumstances, making his excuses at 
 first with a blush of conscious shame, afraid 
 of seeing the faces of his friends from 
 whom he may have borrowed money, re- 
 duced to the meanest tricks and subter- 
 fuges to delay or avoid the payment of his 
 just debts; till ultimately grown familiar 
 with falsehood and at enmity with the 
 world, he loses all the grace and dignity 
 of man. 
 
 To the general prevalence of indigence, 
 and the extraordinary encouragements 
 which we afford in this country to a total 
 want of foresight and prudence among the 
 
 common
 
 120 Objections to this Mode considered. Bk. iv. 
 
 common people a , is to be attributed a con- 
 siderable part of those continual depreda- 
 tions on property, and other more atrocious 
 crimes, which drive us to the painful re- 
 source of such, a number of executions b . 
 According to Mr. Colquhoun, above twenty 
 thousand miserable individuals of various 
 classes rise up every morning without know- 
 ing how or by what means they are to be 
 
 Mr. Colquhoun, speaking of the poor-laws, observes, 
 that " In spite of all the ingenious arguments which have 
 " been used in favour of a system, admitted to be wisely 
 " conceived in its origin, the effects it has produced incon- 
 " testably prove that, with respect to the mass of the 
 " poor, there is something radically wrong in the execu- 
 " tion. If it were not so, it is impossible that there 
 u could exist in the metropolis such an inconceivable 
 " portion of human misery, amidst examples of munifi- 
 " cence and benevolence unparalleled in any age or coun- 
 " try." Police of Metropolis, c. xiii. p. 359. 
 
 In the effects of the poor-laws, I fully agree with 
 Mr. Colquhoun ; but I cannot agree with him in admitting, 
 that the system was well conceived in its origin. I at- 
 tribute still more evil to the original ill conception, than 
 to the subsequent ill execution. 
 
 b Mr. Colquhoun observes, that " Indigence in the 
 " present state of society may be considered as a principal 
 " cause of the increase of crimes." Police of Metro- 
 polis, c. xiii. p.352. 
 
 supported
 
 Ch. iv. Objections to this Mode considered. 121 
 
 supported during the passing day, or where, 
 in many instances, they are to lodge on the 
 succeeding night \ It is by these unhappy 
 persons that the principal depredations on 
 the public are committed: and supposing but 
 few of them to be married, and driven to these 
 acts from the necessity of supporting their 
 children ; yet still it is probably true, that the 
 too great frequency of marriage amongst 
 the poorest classes of society, is one of the 
 principal causes of the temptations to these 
 crimes. A considerable part of these un- 
 happy wretches will probably be found to be 
 the offspring of such marriages, educated in 
 workhouses where every vice is propagated, 
 or bred up at home in filth and rags, with an 
 utter ignorance of every moral obligation b 
 A still greater part perhaps consists of per- 
 sons, who, being unable for some time to 
 get employment owing to the full supply of 
 labour, have been urged to these extremities 
 by their temporary wants ; and, having 
 thus lost their characters, are rejected, 
 even when their labour may be wanted, 
 
 * Police of Metropolis, c. xi. p. 313. 
 
 * Id. c. xi. xii. p. 355, 370. 
 
 by
 
 122 Objections to this Mode considered. Bk. iv. 
 
 by the well-founded caution of civil so- 
 ciety a . 
 
 When 
 
 Police of the Metropolis, c. xiii. p. 353, et seq. In 
 so large a town as London, which must necessarily en- 
 courage a prodigious influx of strangers from the country, 
 there must be always a great many persons out of work ; 
 and it is probable, that some public institution for the 
 relief of the casual poor upon a plan similar to that pro- 
 posed by Mr. Colquhoun (c. xiii. p. 371) would, under 
 very judicious management, produce more good than evil. 
 But for this purpose it would be absolutely necessary 
 that, if work were provided by the institution, the sum 
 that a man could earn by it should be less than the worst 
 paid common labour; otherwise the claimants would 
 rapidly increase, and the funds would soon be inadequate 
 to their object. In the institution at Hamburgh, which 
 appears to have been the most successful of any yet esta- 
 blished, the nature of the work was such, that, though 
 paid above the usual price, a person could not easily earn 
 by it more than eighteen pence a week. It was the deter- 
 mined principle of the managers of the institution, to 
 reduce the support which they gave lower than what any 
 industrious man or woman in such circumstances could 
 earn. (Account of the Management of the Poor in Ham- 
 burgh, by C. Voght, p. 18.) And it is to this principle 
 that they attribute their success. It should be observed 
 however, that neither the institution at Hamburgh, nor 
 that planned by Count Rumford in Bavaria, has subsisted 
 long enough for us to be able to pronounce on their per- 
 manent good effects. It will not admit of a doubt, that 
 
 institutions
 
 Ch. iv. Objections to this Mode considered. 123 
 
 When indigence does not produce overt 
 acts of vice, it palsies every virtue. Under 
 the continued temptations to a breach of 
 chastity, occasional failures may take place, 
 and the moral sensibility in other respects 
 not be very strikingly impaired ; but the 
 continued temptations which beset hopeless 
 poverty, and the strong sense of injustice 
 that generally accompanies it from an ig- 
 norance of its true cause, tend so powerfully 
 to sour the disposition, to harden the heart 
 and deaden the moral sense, that, generally 
 speaking, virtue takes her flight clear away 
 from the tainted spot, and does not often 
 return. 
 
 Even with respect to the vices which re- 
 institutions for the relief of the poor, on their first esta- 
 blishment, remove a great quantity of distress. The only 
 question is, whether, as succeeding generations arise, the 
 increasing funds necessary for their support, and the in- 
 creasing numbers that become dependent, are not greater 
 evils than that which was to be remedied; and whether 
 the country will not ultimately be left with as much men- 
 dicity as before, besides all the poverty and dependence 
 accumulated in the public institutions. This seems to 
 be nearly the case in England at present. It may be 
 doubted whether we should have more beggars if we had 
 ao poor-laws. 
 
 late
 
 124 Objections to this Mode considered. Bk. iv. 
 
 late to the sex, marriage has been found to 
 be by no means a complete remedy. 
 Among the higher classes, our Doctors' 
 Commons, and the lives that many married 
 men are known to lead, sufficiently prove 
 this ; and the same kind of vice, though 
 not so much heard of among the lower 
 classes of people, is probably in all our 
 great towns not much less frequent. 
 
 Add to this, that abject poverty, parti- 
 cularly when joined with idleness, is a state 
 the most unfavourable to chastity that can 
 well be conceived. The passion is as strong, 
 or nearly so, as in other situations ; and 
 every restraint on it from personal respect, 
 or a sense of morality, is generally re- 
 moved. There is a degree of squalid po- 
 verty, in which, if a girl was brought up, I 
 should say, that her being really modest at 
 twenty was an absolute miracle. Those 
 persons must have extraordinary minds in- 
 deed, and such as are not usually formed 
 under similar circumstances, who can con- 
 tinue to respect themselves, when no other 
 person whatever respects them. If the 
 children thus brought up were even to 
 
 marry
 
 Ch. iv. Objections to this Mode considered. 125 
 
 marry at twenty, it is probable, that they 
 would have passed some years in vicious 
 habits before that period. 
 
 If after all, however, these arguments 
 should appear insufficient ; if we reprobate 
 the idea of endeavouring to encourage the 
 virtue of moral restraint among the poor, 
 from a fear of producing vice ; and if we 
 think, that to facilitate marriage by all 
 possible means is a point of the first conse- 
 quence to the morality and happiness of 
 the people ; let us act consistently, and be- 
 fore we proceed, endeavour to make our- 
 selves acquainted with the mode by which 
 alone we can effect our object. 
 
 CHAP,
 
 ( 126 ) 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Of the Consequences of pursuing the opposite Mode. 
 
 IT is an evident truth that, whatever may 
 be the rate of increase in the means of sub- 
 sistence, the increase of population must 
 be limited by it, at least after the food has 
 once been divided into the smallest shares 
 that will support life. All the children 
 born, beyond what would be required to 
 keep up the population to this level, must 
 necessarily perish, unless room be made for 
 them by the deaths of grown persons. It 
 has appeared indeed clearly in the course 
 of this work, that in all old states the mar- 
 riages and births depend principally upon 
 the deaths, and that there is no encourage- 
 ment to early unions so powerful as a great 
 mortality. To act consistently therefore, 
 we should facilitate, instead of foolishly 
 and vainly endeavouring to impede, the 
 operations of nature in producing this mor- 
 tality ;
 
 Ch. v. Of the Consequences, &$c. 127 
 
 talitj; and if we dread the too frequent 
 visitation of the horrid form of famine, we 
 should sedulously encourage the other forms 
 of destruction, which we compel nature to 
 use. Instead of recommending cleanliness 
 to the poor, we should encourage contrary 
 habits. In our towns we should make the 
 streets narrower, crowd more people into 
 the houses, and court the return of the 
 plague. In the country, we should build 
 our villages near stagnant pools, and parti- 
 cularly encourage settlements in all marshy 
 and unwholesome situations a . But above 
 all, we should reprobate specific remedies 
 
 a Necker, speaking of the proportion of the births in 
 France, makes use of a new and instructive expression 
 on this subject, though he hardly seems to be sufficiently 
 aware of it himself. He says, " Le nombre des naissances 
 " est a celui des habitans de un a vingt-trois et vingt- 
 t( quatre dans les lieux contraries par la nature, ou par 
 " des circonstances morales : ce mcme rapport dans la plus 
 " grande partie de la France, est de un a 25,25f . & 26." 
 Administ. des Finances, torn. i. c. ix. p. 254. 12mo. It 
 would appear therefore, that we had nothing more to do, 
 than to settle people in marshy situations, and oppress 
 them by a bad government, in order to attain what poli- 
 ticians have hitherto considered as so desirable a great 
 proportion of marriages and a great proportion of births. 
 
 for
 
 128 Of the Consequences Bk. iv. 
 
 for ravaging diseases ; and those benevo- 
 lent, but much mistaken men, who have 
 thought they were doing a service to man- 
 kind by projecting schemes for the total 
 extirpation of particular disorders. If by 
 these and similar means the annual mor- 
 tality were increased from 1 in 36 or 40, 
 to 1 in 18 or 20, we might probably every 
 one of us marry at the age of puberty, and 
 yet few be absolutely starved. 
 
 If however, we all marry at this age, and 
 yet still continue our exertions to impede 
 the operations of nature, we may rest 
 assured that all our efforts will be vain. 
 Nature will not, nor cannot, be defeated in 
 her purposes. The necessary mortality 
 must come, in some form or other ; and 
 the extirpation of one disease will only be 
 the signal for the birth of another perhaps 
 more fatal. We cannot lower the waters 
 of misery by pressing them down in dif- 
 ferent places, which must necessarily make 
 them rise somewhere else : the only way in 
 which we can hope to effect our purpose, is 
 by drawing them off. To this course na- 
 ture is constantly directing our attention 
 
 by
 
 Ch. v. of pursuing the opposite Mode. 129 
 
 by the chastisements which await a contrary 
 conduct. These chastisements are more or 
 less severe, in proportion to the degree in 
 which her admonitions produce their in- 
 tended effect. In this country at present 
 these admonitions are by no means entirely 
 neglected. The preventive check to po- 
 pulation prevails to a considerable degree, 
 and her chastisements are in consequence 
 moderate : but if we were all to marry at 
 the age of puberty, they would be severe 
 indeed. Political evils would probably oe 
 added to physical. A people goaded by 
 constant distress, and visited by frequent 
 returns of famine, could not be kept down 
 but by a cruel despotism. We should ap- 
 proach to the state of the people in Egypt 
 or Abyssinia ; and I would ask, whether in 
 that case it is probable, that we should be 
 more virtuous ? 
 
 Physicians have long remarked the great 
 changes which take place in diseases ; and 
 that, while some appear to yield to the 
 efforts of human care and skill, others seem 
 to become in proportion more malignant 
 
 vol. xi. k and
 
 130 Of the Consequences Bk. iv. 
 
 and fatal. Dr. William Heberden pub- 
 lished, not long since, some valuable ob- 
 servations on this subject deduced from the 
 London bills of mortality. In his preface, 
 speaking of these bills, he says, " the gra- 
 " dual changes they exhibit in particular 
 " diseases correspond to the alterations, 
 u which in time are known to take place 
 " in the channels through which the great 
 ** stream of mortality is constantly flowing *." 
 In the body of his work, afterwards, speaking 
 of some particular diseases, he observes with 
 that candour which always distinguishes 
 true science : " It is not easy to give a satis- 
 " factory reason for all the changes which 
 " may be observed to take place in the 
 1* history of diseases. Nor is it any dis- 
 " grace to physicians, if their causes are 
 " often so gradual in their operation, or so 
 " subtile, as to elude investigation V 
 
 I hope I shall not be accused of pre- 
 sumption, in venturing to suggest that, 
 
 a Observations on the Increase and Decrease of dif- 
 ferent Diseases. Preface, p. 5. 4to. 1801. 
 k Id. p. 43, 4to. 1801. 
 
 under
 
 Ch. v. of pursuing the opposite Mode. 131 
 
 under certain circumstances, such changes 
 must take place ; and perhaps without any 
 alteration in those proximate causes, which 
 are usually looked to on these occasions. 
 If this should appear to be true, it will not 
 seem extraordinary that the most skilful 
 and scientific physicians, whose business 
 it is principally to investigate proximate 
 causes, should sometimes search for these 
 causes in vain. 
 
 In a country which keeps its population 
 at a certain standard, if the average number 
 of marriages and births be given, it is evi- 
 dent that the average number of deaths will 
 also be given ; and, to use Dr. Heberden's 
 metaphor, the channels, through which 
 the great stream of mortality is constantly 
 flowing, will always convey off a given 
 quantity. Now if we stop up any of these 
 channels, it is perfectly clear, that the 
 stream of mortality must run with greater 
 force through some of the other channels ; 
 that is, if we eradicate some diseases, others 
 will become proportionally more fatal. In 
 this case the only distinguishable cause is 
 the damming up a necessary outlet of mor- 
 
 k 2 tality.
 
 132 Of the Consequences Bk. iv 
 
 tality \ Nature, in the attainment of her 
 great purposes, seems always to seize upon 
 the -weakest part. If this part be made 
 strong by human skill, she seizes upon the 
 next weakest part, and so on in succession; 
 not like a capricious deity, with an inten- 
 tion to sport with our sufferings, and con- 
 stantly to defeat our labours ; but like a 
 kind, though sometimes severe instructor, 
 with the intention of teaching us to make 
 all parts strong, and to chase vice and 
 misery from the earth. In avoiding one 
 fault we are too apt to run into some other; 
 but we always find Nature faithful to her 
 great object, at every false step we commit, 
 ready to admonish us of our errors, by the 
 infliction of some physical or moral evil. 
 If the prevalence of the preventive check 
 to population in a sufficient degree were to 
 remove many of those diseases, which now 
 afflict us, yet be accompanied by a consi- 
 derable increase of the vice of promiscuous 
 intercourse, it is probable that the disorders 
 
 * The way in which it operates is probably by in- 
 creasing poverty, iu consequence of a supply of labour 
 too rapid for the demand. 
 
 and
 
 Ch. v. of pursuing the opposite Mode. 133 
 
 and unhappiness, the physical and moral 
 evils arising from this vice, would increase 
 in strength and degree ; and, admonishing 
 us severely of our error, would point to the 
 only line of conduct approved by nature, 
 reason and religion, abstinence from mar- 
 riage till we can support our children, and 
 chastity till that period arrives. 
 
 In the case just stated, in which the po- 
 pulation and the number of marriages are 
 supposed to be fixed, the necessity of a 
 change in the mortality of some diseases, 
 from the diminution or extinction of others, 
 is capable of mathematical demonstration. 
 The only obscurity which can possibly in- 
 volve this subject, arises from taking into 
 consideration the effect that might be pro- 
 duced by a diminution of mortality in in- 
 creasing the population, or in decreasing 
 the number of marriages. That the re- 
 moval of any of the particular causes of 
 mortality can have no further effect upon 
 population than the means of subsistence 
 will allow, and that it has no certain and 
 necessary influence on these means of sub- 
 sistence, are facts of which the reader must 
 
 be
 
 134 Of the Consequences Bk.iv. 
 
 be already convinced. Of its operation in 
 tending to prevent marriage, by diminishing 
 the demand for fresh supplies of children, 
 I have no doubt; and there is reason to 
 think, that it had this effect in no inconsi- 
 derable degree on the extinction of the 
 plague, which had so long and so dread- 
 fully ravaged this country. Dr. Heberden 
 draws a striking picture of the favourable 
 change observed in the health of the people 
 of England since this period ; and justly 
 attributes it to the improvements which 
 have gradually taken place, not only in 
 London but in all great towns ; and in the 
 manner of living throughout the kingdom, 
 particularly with respect to cleanliness and 
 ventilation*. But these causes would not 
 have produced the effect observed, if they 
 had not been accompanied by an increase 
 of the preventive check ; and probably the 
 spirit of cleanliness, and better mode of 
 living, which then began to prevail, by 
 spreading more generally a decent and 
 useful pride, principally contributed to this 
 
 * Observations on Increase and Decrease Of Diseases, 
 p.S5. 
 
 increase.
 
 Ch. v. of pursuing the opposite Mode. 135 
 
 increase. The diminution in the number 
 of marriages, however, was not sufficient 
 to make up for the great decrease of mor- 
 tality, from the extinction of the plague, 
 and the striking reduction of the deaths in 
 the dysentery*. While these and some 
 other disorders became almost evanescent, 
 consumption, palsy, apoplexy, gout, lunacy, 
 and the small-pox, became more mortal b . 
 The widening of these drains was neces- 
 sary to carry off the population which still 
 remained redundant, notwithstanding the 
 increased operation of the preventive check, 
 and the part which was annually disposed 
 of and enabled to subsist by the increase 
 of agriculture. 
 
 Dr. Haygarth, in the Sketch of his bene- 
 volent plan for the extermination of the 
 casual small-pox, draws a frightful picture 
 of the mortality which has been occasioned 
 by this distemper, attributes to it the slow 
 progress of population, and makes some 
 curious calculations on the favourable ef- 
 fects which would be produced in this 
 
 a Observ. on Inc. and Dec. of Diseases, p. 34. 
 b Id. p. '36, et seq. 
 
 respect
 
 136 Of the Consequences Bk. iv. 
 
 respect by its extermination \ His conclu- 
 sions, however, I fear, would not follow 
 from his premises. I am far from doubting 
 that millions and millions of human beings 
 have been destroyed by the small-pox. 
 But were its devastations, as Dr. Haygarth 
 supposes, many thousand degrees greater 
 than the plague b , I should still doubt whe- 
 ther the average population of the earth 
 had been diminished by them. The small- 
 pox is certainly one of the channels, and a 
 very broad one, which nature has opened 
 for the last thousand years, to keep down 
 the population to the level of the means of 
 subsistence ; but had this been closed, 
 others would have become wider, or new 
 ones would have been formed. In ancient 
 times the mortality from war and the plague 
 was incomparably greater than in modern. 
 On the gradual diminution of this stream of 
 mortality, the generation and almost uni- 
 versal prevalence of the small-pox is a great 
 and striking instance of one of those changes 
 in the channels of mortality, which ought 
 
 Vol. i. part ii. sect. v. and vi. 
 * Id. 3. viii. p. 164. 
 
 to
 
 Ch. v. of pursuing the opposite Mode. 137 
 
 to awaken our attention and animate us to 
 patient and persevering investigation. For 
 my own part I feel not the slightest doubt, 
 that, if the introduction of the cow-pox 
 should extirpate the small-pox, and yet the 
 number of marriages continue the same, 
 we shall find a very percepticle difference 
 in the increased mortality of some other 
 diseases. Nothing could prevent this effect 
 but a sudden start in our agriculture ; and 
 if this should take place, it will not be so 
 much owing to the number of children 
 saved from death by the cow-pox inocula- 
 tion, as to the alarms occasioned among the 
 people of property by the late scarcities % 
 and to the increased gains of farmers, 
 which have been so absurdly reprobated. 
 I am strongly however inclined to believe 
 that the number of marriages will not, in 
 this case, remain the same ; but that the 
 gradual light, which may be expected to be 
 thrown on this interesting topic of human 
 
 a The scarce harvests of 1799 and 1800. The start 
 here alluded to, certainly took place from 1801 to 1814, 
 and provision was really made for the diminished mor- 
 tality. 
 
 inquiry,
 
 138 Of the Consequences Bk. iv. 
 
 inquiry, will teach us how to make the ex- 
 tinction of a mortal disorder a real blessing 
 to us, a real improvement in the general 
 health and happiness of the society. 
 
 If, on contemplating the increase of vice 
 which might contingently follow an attempt 
 to inculcate the duty of moral restraint, and 
 the increase of misery that must necessarily 
 follow the attempts to encourage marriage 
 and population, we come to the conclusion, 
 not to interfere in any respect, but to leave 
 every man to his own free choice, and re- 
 sponsible only to God for the evil which he 
 does in either way ; this is all I contend for ; 
 I would on no account do more ; but I 
 contend, that at present we are very far 
 from doing this. 
 
 Among the lower classes of society, where 
 the point is of the greatest importance, the 
 poor-laws afford a direct, constant and syste- 
 matical encouragement to marriage, by re- 
 moving from each individual that heavy 
 responsibility, which he would incur by the 
 laws of nature, for bringing beings into the 
 world which he could not support. Our pri- 
 vate benevolence has the same direction as 
 
 the
 
 Ch. v. of pursuing the opposite Mode. 139 
 
 the poor-laws, and almost invariably tends 
 to encourage marriage, and to equalize as 
 much as possible the circumstances of mar- 
 ried and single men. 
 
 Among the higher classes of people, the 
 superior distinctions which married women 
 receive, and the marked inattentions to 
 which single women of advanced age 
 are exposed, enable many men, who are 
 agreeable neither in mind nor person, and 
 are besides in the wane of life, to choose a 
 partner among the young and fair, instead 
 of being confined, as nature seems to dic- 
 tate, to persons of nearly their own age 
 and accomplishments. It is scarcely to be 
 doubted, that the fear of being an old maid, 
 and of that silly and unjust ridicule, which 
 folly sometimes attaches to this name, drives 
 many women into the marriage union with 
 men whom they dislike, or at best to whom 
 they are perfectly indifferent. Such mar- 
 riages must to every delicate mind appear 
 little better than legal prostitutions; and 
 they often burden the earth with unneces- 
 sary children, without compensating for it 
 
 by
 
 140 Of the Consequences Bk. iv. 
 
 by an accession of happiness and virtue to 
 the parties themselves. 
 
 Throughout all the ranks of society, the 
 prevailing opinions respecting the duty and 
 obligation of marriage cannot but have a 
 very powerful influence. The man who 
 thinks that, in going out of the world with- 
 out leaving representatives behind him, he 
 shall have failed in an important duty to so- 
 ciety, will be disposed to force rather than 
 to repress his inclinations on this subject ; 
 and when his reason represents to him the 
 difficulties attending a family, he will en- 
 deavour not to attend to these suggestions, 
 will still determine to venture, and will hope 
 that, in the discharge of what he conceives 
 to be his duty, he shall not be deserted by 
 Providence. 
 
 In a civilized country, such as England, 
 where a taste for the decencies and com- 
 forts of life prevails among a very large 
 class of people, it is not possible that the 
 encouragements to marriage from positive 
 institutions and prevailing opinions should 
 entirely obscure the light of nature and rea- 
 son
 
 Ch. v. of pursuing the opposite Mode. 141 
 
 sou on this subject; but still they contri- 
 bute to make it comparatively weak and 
 indistinct. And till this obscurity is re- 
 moved, and the poor are undeceived with 
 respect to the principal cause of their 
 poverty, and taught to know, that their fu- 
 ture happiness or misery must depend 
 chiefly upon themselves, it cannot be said 
 that, with regard to the great question of 
 marriage, we leave every man to his own 
 free and fair choice. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 ( 143 ) 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Effects of the Knowledge of t lie principal Cause of Poverty 
 on Civil Liberty. 
 
 IT may appear, perhaps, that a doctrine, 
 which attributes the greatest part of the 
 sufferings of the lower classes of society 
 exclusively to themselves, is unfavourable 
 to the cause of liberty, as affording a 
 tempting opportunity to governments of 
 oppressing their subjects at pleasure, and 
 laying the whole blame on the laws of na- 
 ture and the imprudence of the poor. We 
 are not however to trust to first appear- 
 ances ; and I am strongly disposed to be- 
 lieve that those who will be at the pains to 
 consider this subject deeply will be con- 
 vinced, that nothing would so powerfully 
 contribute to the advancement of rational 
 freedom, as a thorough knowledge gene- 
 rally circulated of the principal cause of 
 poverty ; and that the ignorance of this 
 
 cause,
 
 Ch. vi. Effects of the Knowledge, &$c. 14$ 
 
 cause, and the natural consequences of 
 this ignorance, form at present one of the 
 chief obstacles to its progress. 
 
 The pressure of distress on the lower 
 classes of people, together with the habit of 
 attributing this distress to their rulers, ap- 
 pears to me to be the rock of defence, the 
 castle, the guardian spirit of despotism. 
 It affords to the tyrant the fatal and un- 
 answerable plea of necessity. It is the 
 reason why every free government tends 
 constantly to destruction ; and that its ap- 
 pointed guardians become daily less jealous 
 of the encroachments of power. It is the 
 reason why so many noble efforts in the 
 cause of freedom have failed ; and why al- 
 most every revolution, after long and pain- 
 ful sacrifices, has terminated in a military 
 despotism. While any dissatisfied man of 
 talents has power to persuade the lower 
 classes of people that all their poverty and 
 distress arise solely from the iniquity of 
 the government, though perhaps the great- 
 est part of what they suffer is unconnected 
 with this cause, it is evident that the seeds 
 of fresh discontents and fresh revolutions 
 
 are
 
 144 Effects of the Knowledge of Bk. iv. 
 
 are continually sowing. When an esta- 
 blished government has been destroyed, 
 finding that their poverty is not removed, 
 their resentment naturally falls upon the 
 successors to power ; and when these have 
 been immolated without producing the de- 
 sired effect, other sacrifices are called for, 
 and so on without end. Are we to be 
 surprised that, under such circumstances, 
 the majority of well-disposed people, finding 
 that a government with proper restrictions 
 is unable to support itself against the re- 
 volutionary spirit, and weary and exhausted 
 with perpetual change to which they can 
 see no end, should give up the struggle in 
 despair, and throw themselves into the 
 arms of the first power which can afford 
 them protection against the horrors of 
 anarchy ? 
 
 A mob, which is generally the growth of 
 a redundant population goaded by resent- 
 ment for real sufferings, but totally ignorant 
 of the quarter from which they originate, 
 is of all monsters the most fatal to freedom. 
 It fosters a prevailing tyranny, and en- 
 genders one where it was not ; and though, 
 
 in
 
 Ch.vi. the principal Cause of Poverty, 8$c. 145 
 
 in its dreadful fits of resentment, it appears 
 occasionally to devour its unsightly off- 
 spring ; yet no sooner is the horrid deed 
 committed, than, however unwilling it may 
 be to propagate such a breed, it imme- 
 diately groans with a new birth. 
 
 Of the tendency of mobs to produce ty- 
 ranny Ave may not perhaps be long without 
 an example in this country. As a friend to 
 freedom, and naturally an enemy to large 
 standing armies, it is with extreme reluc- 
 tance that I am compelled to acknowledge 
 that, had it not been for the great orga- 
 nized force in the country, the distresses of 
 the people during the late scarcities % en- 
 couraged by the extreme ignorance and 
 folly of many among the higher classes, 
 might have driven them to commit the most 
 dreadful outrages, and ultimately to involve 
 the country in all the horrors of famine. 
 Should such periods often recur, (a recur- 
 rence which we have too much reason to 
 apprehend from the present state of the 
 country,) the prospect which opens to our 
 view is melancholy in the extreme. The 
 
 a 1800 and 1801. 
 
 vol. ii. l English
 
 146 Effects of the Knowledge of Bk. iv. 
 
 English constitution will be seen hastening 
 with rapid strides to the Euthanasia foretold 
 by Hume, unless its progress be inter- 
 rupted by some popular commotion ; and 
 this alternative presents a picture still 
 more appalling to the imagination. If po- 
 litical discontents were blended with the 
 cries of hunger, and a revolution were lo 
 take place by the instrumentality of a mob 
 clamouring for want of food, the conse- 
 quences would be unceasing change and 
 unceasing carnage, the bloody career of 
 which nothing but the establishment of 
 some complete despotism could arrest. 
 
 We can scarcely believe that the ap- 
 pointed guardians of British liberty should 
 quietly have acquiesced in those gradual 
 encroachments of power which have taken 
 place of late years, but from the apprehension 
 of these still more dreadful evils. Great as 
 has been the influence of corruption, I 
 cannot yet think so meanly of the country 
 gentlemen of England, as to believe that 
 they would thus have given up a part of 
 their birthright of liberty, if they had not 
 been actuated by a real and genuine fear 
 
 that
 
 Ch. vi. the principal Cause of Poverty, #c. 147 
 
 that it was then in greater danger from the 
 people than from the crown. They ap- 
 peared to surrender themselves to govern- 
 ment, on condition of being protected from 
 the mob ; but they never would have made 
 this melancholy and disheartening sur- 
 render, if such a mob had not existed either 
 in reality or in imagination. That the fears 
 on this subject were artfully exaggerated 
 and increased beyond the limits of just ap- 
 prehension, is undeniable; but I think it is 
 also undeniable that the frequent declama- 
 tions which were heard against the unjust 
 institutions of society, and the delusive ar- 
 guments on equality which were circulated 
 among the lower classes, gave us just rea- 
 son to suppose that, if the vox populi had 
 been allowed to speak, it would have ap- 
 peared to be the voice of error and ab- 
 surdity, instead of the vox Dei. 
 
 To say that our conduct is not to be re- 
 gulated by circumstances, is to betray an 
 ignorance of the most solid and incontro- 
 vertible principles of morality. Though 
 the admission of this principle may some- 
 times afford a cloak to changes of opinion 
 
 l 2 that
 
 148 Effects of the Knowledge of Bk. iv. 
 
 that do not result from the purest motives ; 
 yet the admission of a contrary principle 
 would be productive of infinitely worse 
 consequences. The phrase of " existing 
 circumstances" has, I believe, not unfre- 
 quently created a smile in the English 
 House of Commons ; but the smile should 
 have been reserved for the application of 
 the phrase, and not have been excited by 
 the phrase itself. A very frequent repe- 
 tition of it has indeed, of itself, rather a 
 suspicious air; and its application should 
 always be watched with the most jealous 
 and anxious attention ; but no man 
 ought to be judged in limine for saying, 
 that existing circumstances had obliged 
 him to alter his opinions and conduct. The 
 country gentlemen were perhaps too ea- 
 sily convinced that existing circumstances 
 called upon them to give up some of the 
 most valuable privileges of Englishmen ; 
 but as far as they were really convinced of 
 this obligation, they acted consistently with 
 the clearest rule of morality. 
 
 The degree of power to be given to the 
 civil government, and the measure of our 
 
 submission
 
 Ch. vi. the principal Cause of Poverty, fyc. 149 
 
 submission to it, must be determined by ge- 
 neral expediency; and in judging of this ex- 
 pediency every circumstance is to be taken 
 into consideration ; particularly the state of 
 public opinion, and the degree of igno- 
 rance and delusion prevailing among the 
 common people. The patriot who might 
 be called upon by the love of his country 
 to join with heart and hand ia a rising of 
 the people for some specific attainable ob- 
 ject of reform, if he knew that they were 
 enlightened respecting their own situation, 
 and would stop short when they had at- 
 tained their demand, would be called upon 
 by the same motive to submit to very great 
 oppression rather than give the slightest 
 countenance to a popular tumult, the mem- 
 bers of which, at least the greater number 
 of them, were persuaded that the destruc- 
 tion of the Parliament, the Lord Mayor and 
 the monopolizers, would make bread cheap, 
 and that a revolution would enable them all 
 to support their families. In this case it is 
 more the ignorance and delusion of the 
 lower classes of people that occasions the 
 
 oppression,
 
 150 Effects of the Knowledge of Bk. iv. 
 
 oppression, than the actual disposition of 
 the government to tyranny. 
 
 That there is however in all power a con- 
 stant tendency to encroach is an incontro- 
 vertible truth, and cannot be too strongly 
 inculcated. The checks, which are neces- 
 sary to secure the liberty of the subject, 
 will always in some degree embarrass and 
 delay the operations of the executive go- 
 vernment. The members of this govern- 
 ment feeling these inconveniences, while 
 they are exerting themselves, as they con- 
 ceive, in the service of their country, and 
 conscious perhaps of no ill intention towards 
 the people, will naturally be disposed, 
 on every occasion, to demand the suspen- 
 sion or abolition of these checks ; but if 
 once the convenience of ministers be put 
 in competition with the liberties of the 
 people, and we get into a habit of relying 
 on fair assurances and personal character, 
 instead of examining, with the most scru- 
 pulous and jealous care, the merits of each 
 particular case, there is an end of British 
 freedom. If we once admit the principle, 
 
 that
 
 Ch. vi. the principal Cause of Poverty, S?c. 151 
 
 that the government must know better with 
 regard to the quantity of power which it 
 wants, than we can possibly do with our li- 
 mited means of information, and that there- 
 fore it is our duty to surrender up our private 
 judgments, we may just as well at the same 
 time surrender up the whole of our consti- 
 tution. Government is a quarter in which 
 liberty is not n^r cannot be very faithfully 
 preserved. If \ e are wanting to ourselves, 
 and inattentive to our great interests in this 
 respect, it is the height of folly and unrea- 
 sonableness to expect, that government will 
 attend to them for us. Should the British 
 constitution ultimately lapse into a despot- 
 ism, as has been prophesied, I shall think 
 that the country gentlemen of England will 
 have much more to answer for than the 
 ministers. 
 
 To do the country gentlemen justice, 
 however, I should readily acknowledge that 
 in the partial desertion of their posts as 
 guardians of British freedom, which has al- 
 ready taken place, they have been actuated 
 more by fear than corruption. And the 
 principal reason of this fear was, I conceive, 
 
 the
 
 162 Effects of the Knowledge of Bk. iv. 
 
 the ignorance and delusions of the common 
 people, and the prospective horrors which 
 were contemplated, if in such a state of 
 mind they should by any revolutionary 
 movement obtain an ascendant. 
 
 The circulation of Paine's Rights of Man, 
 it is supposed, has done great mischief 
 among the lower and middling classes of 
 people in this country. This is probably 
 true ; but not because man is without rights, 
 or that these rights ought not to be known ; 
 but because Mr. Paine has fallen into some 
 fundamental errors respecting the principles 
 of government, and in many important 
 points has shewn himself totally unacquaint- 
 ed with the structure of society, and the 
 different moral effects to be expected from 
 the physical difference between this coun- 
 try and America. Mobs of the same de- 
 scription as those collections of people 
 known by this name in Europe could not 
 exist in America. The number of people 
 without property is there, from the physi- 
 cal state of the country, comparatively 
 small ; and therefore the civil power, which 
 is to protect property, cannot require the 
 
 same
 
 Ch. vi. the principal Cause of Poverty, tyc. 153 
 
 same degree of strength. Mr. Paine very 
 justly observes, that whatever the apparent 
 cause of any riots may be, the real one is 
 always want of happiness ; but when he goes 
 on to say, it shews that something is wrong 
 in the system of government, that injures 
 the felicity by which society is to be pre- 
 served, he falls into the common error of 
 attributing all want of happiness to govern- 
 ment. It is evident that this want of hap- 
 piness might have existed, and from igno- 
 rance might have been the principal cause 
 of the riots, and yet be almost wholly un- 
 connected with any of the proceedings of 
 government. The redundant population of 
 an old state furnishes materials of unhap- 
 piness, unknown to such a state as that of 
 America ; and if an attempt were to be 
 made to remedy this unhappiness by dis- 
 tributing the produce of the taxes to the 
 poorer classes of society, according to the 
 plan proposed by Mr. Paine, the evil would 
 be aggravated a hundred fold, and in a 
 very short time no sum that the society 
 could possibly raise would be adequate to 
 the proposed object. 
 
 Nothing would so effectually counteract 
 
 the
 
 154 Effects of the Knowledge of Bk. iv. 
 
 the mischiefs occasioned by Mr. Paine's 
 Rights of Man, as a general knowledge of 
 the real rights of man. What these rights 
 are it is not my business at present to ex- 
 plain ; but there is one right which man has 
 generally been thought to possess, which I , 
 am confident he neither does nor can pos- . 
 sess a right to subsistence when his labou r 
 will not fairly purchase it. Our laws inderjd 
 say that he has this right, and bind the j so- 
 ciety to furnish employment and food to 
 those who cannot get them in the reg\ liar 
 market ; but in so doing they attempt c to 
 reverse the laws of nature ; and it is in con- 
 sequence to be expected, not only that they 
 should fail in their object, but that the poor, 
 who were intended to be benefitted, s should 
 suffer most cruelly from the inhuir t an de- 
 ceit thus practised upon them. 
 
 The Abbe Raynal has said, that ' u Avant 
 " toutes les loix sociales Thomme avoit le 
 " droit de subsister \" He might.with just 
 as much propriety have said th ^t, before 
 the institution of social laws, eve) ry man had 
 a right to live a hundred years. Undoubl- 
 
 a Raynal, Hist. de Indes, vol. x. s. x. p. 32fi, 8vo. 
 
 edly
 
 Ch. vi. the principal Cause of Poverty, &;c. 155 
 
 edly he had then, and has still, a good 
 right to live a hundred years, nay a thou- 
 sand, if he can, without interfering with the 
 right of others to live ; but the affair in 
 both cases is principally an affair of 
 power, not of right. Social laws very 
 greatly increase this power, by enabling a 
 much greater number to subsist than could 
 subsist without theni, and so far very greatly 
 enlarge le droit de subsister ; but, neither be- 
 fore nor after the institution of social laws, 
 could an unlimited number subsist ; and be- 
 fore, as well as since, he who ceased to 
 have the power ceased to have the right. 
 
 If the great truths on these subjects were 
 more generally circulated, and the lower 
 classes of people could be convinced that 
 by the laws of nature, independently of any 
 particular institutions, except the great one 
 of property, which is absolutely necessary 
 in order to attain any considerable produce, 
 no person has any claim of right on society 
 for subsistence, if his labour will not pur- 
 chase it, the greatest part of the mischievous 
 declamation on the unjust institutions of so- 
 ciety would fall powerless to the ground. 
 The poor are by no means inclined to be 
 
 visionary
 
 156 Effects of the Knowledge of Bk. iv. 
 
 visionary. Their distresses are always real, 
 though they are not attributed to the real 
 causes. If these causes were properly ex- 
 plained to them, and they were taught to 
 know what part of their present distress was 
 attributable to government, and what part 
 to causes totally unconnected with it, dis- 
 content and irritation among the lower 
 classes of people would shew themselves 
 much less frequently than at present ; and 
 when they did shew themselves, would be 
 much less to be dreaded. The efforts of tur- 
 bulent and discontented men in the middle 
 classes of society might safely be disregard- 
 ed, if the poor were so far enlightened re- 
 specting the real nature of their situation, as 
 to be aware that by aiding them in their 
 schemes of renovation, they would prbba- 
 bh T be promoting the ambitious views of 
 others, without in any respect benefitting 
 themselves. And the country gentlemen 
 and men of property in England might se- 
 curely return to a wholesome jealousy of the 
 encroachments of power; and instead of 
 daily sacrificing the liberties of the subject 
 on the altar of public safety, might, with- 
 out any just apprehension from the people, 
 
 not
 
 Ch. vi. the principal Cause of Poverty, 8$c. 157 
 
 not only tread back all their late steps, but 
 firmly insist upon those gradual reforms, 
 which the lapse of time and the storms of 
 the political world have rendered neces- 
 sary, to prevent the gradual destruction of 
 the British constitution. 
 
 All improvements in governments must 
 necessarily originate with persons of some 
 education ; and these will of course be 
 found among the people of property. What- 
 ever may be said of a few, it is impossible 
 to suppose that the great mass of the people 
 of property should be really interested in 
 the abuses of government. They merely 
 submit to them from the fear that an endea- 
 vour to remove them might be productive 
 of greater evils. Could we but take away 
 this fear, reform and improvement would 
 proceed with as much facility as the re- 
 moval of nuisances, or the paving and 
 lighting of the streets. In human life we 
 are continually called upon to submit to a 
 lesser evil in order to avoid a greater ; and 
 it is the part of a wise man to do this rea- 
 dily and cheerfully ; but no wise man will 
 submit to any evil, if he can get rid of it 
 
 without
 
 158 Effects of the Knowledge of Bk. iv. 
 
 without danger. Remove all apprehension 
 from the tyranny or folly of the people, 
 and the tyranny of government could not 
 stand a moment. It would then appear in its 
 proper deformity, without palliation, with- 
 out pretext, without protector. Naturally 
 feeble in itself, when it was once stripped 
 naked, and deprived of the support of pub- 
 lic opinion and of the great plea of neces- 
 sity, it would fall without a struggle. Its 
 few interested defenders would hide their 
 heads abashed, and would be ashamed any 
 longer to support a cause, for which no 
 human ingenuity could invent a plausible 
 argument. 
 
 The most successful supporters of tyranny 
 are without doubt those general declaimers, 
 who attribute the distresses of the poor, and 
 almost all the evils to which society is sub- 
 ject, to human institutions and the iniquity 
 of governments. The falsity of these accu- 
 sations, and the dreadful consequences that 
 would result from then* being generally 
 admitted and acted upon, make it abso- 
 lutely necessary that they should at all 
 events be resisted; not only on account of the 
 
 immediate
 
 Ch. vi. the principal { ^ause of Poverty, fyc. 159 
 
 immediate revolutu )nary horrors to be ex- 
 pected from ti mo vement of the people 
 acting under such it npressions (a conside- 
 ration which must ; at all times have very 
 great weight) ; but a lso on account of the 
 extreme probability t hat such a revolution 
 would terminate in a 1 nuch worse despotism 
 than that which it had destroyed. On these 
 grounds a genuine fi fiend of freedom, a 
 zealous advocate for tl le real rights of man, 
 might be found amonj 2; the defenders of a 
 considerable degree oi ? tyranny. A cause 
 bad in itself might be su pported by the good 
 and the virtuous, merel} T because that which 
 was opposed to it was much worse ; and 
 because it was absolutely necessary at the 
 moment to make a choice I between the two. 
 Whatever therefore may be the intention of 
 those indiscriminate accusations against 
 governments, their real effect" undoubtedly 
 is, to add a weight of talents and princip les 
 to the prevailing power, which it never 
 would have received otherwise. 
 
 It is a truth, which I trust has been s uffi- 
 ciently proved in the course of this w ork, 
 that under a government constructed u pon 
 
 Uhe
 
 160 Effects of the Knowledge of Bk. iv. 
 
 the best and purest principles, and executed 
 by men of the highest talents and integrity, 
 the most squalid poverty and wretchedness 
 might universally prevail from an inatten- 
 tion to the prudential check to population. 
 And as this cause of unhappiness has 
 hitherto been so little understood, that the 
 efforts of society have always tended rather 
 to aggravate than to lessen it, we have the 
 strongest reasons for supposing that, in all 
 the governments with which we are ac- 
 quainted, a great part of the misery to be 
 observed among the lower classes of the 
 people arises from this cause. 
 
 The inference therefore which Mr. Paine 
 and others have drawn against governments 
 from the unhappiness of the people, is pal- 
 pably unfair; and before we give a sanction 
 to such accusations, it is a debt we owe to 
 truth and justice, to ascertain how much of 
 this unhappiness arises from the principle 
 of population, and how much is fairly to 
 be attributed to government. When this 
 distinction has been properly made, and 
 all the vague, indefinite and false accu- 
 sations removed, government would remain, 
 
 as
 
 Ch. vi. the principal Cause of Poverty, fyc. 361 
 
 as it ought to be, clearly responsible for the 
 rest; and the amount of this would still be 
 such as to make the responsibility very 
 considerable. Though government has but 
 little power in the direct and immediate 
 relief of poverty, yet its indirect influence 
 on the prosperity of its subjects is striking 
 and incontestable. And the reason is, that 
 though it is comparatively impotent in its 
 efforts to make the food of a country keep 
 pace with an unrestricted increase of popu- 
 lation, yet its influence is great in giving 
 the best direction to those checks, which in 
 some form or other must necessarily take 
 place. It has clearly appeared in the for- 
 mer part of this work, that the most despotic 
 and worst-governed countries, however 
 low they might be in actual population, 
 were uniformly the most populous in pro- 
 portion to their means of subsistence ; and 
 the necessary effect of this state of things 
 must of course be very low wages. In such 
 countries the checks to population arise 
 more from the sickness and mortality con- 
 sequent on poverty, than from the prudence 
 and foresight which restrain the frequency 
 vol. ii. m and
 
 162 Effects of the Knowledge of Bk. iv. 
 
 and universality of early marriages. The 
 checks are more of the positive and less of 
 the preventive kind. 
 
 The first grand requisite to the growth of 
 prudential habits is the perfect security of 
 property ; and the next perhaps is that re- 
 spectability and importance, which are 
 given to the lower classes by equal laws, 
 and the possession of some influence in the 
 framing of them. The more excellent there- 
 fore is the government, the more does it 
 tend to generate that prudence and eleva- 
 tion of sentiment, by which alone in the 
 present state of our being poverty can be 
 avoided. 
 
 It has been sometimes asserted that the 
 only reason why it is advantageous that the 
 people should have some share in the go- 
 vernment, is that a representation of the 
 people tends best to secure the framing of 
 good and equal laws ; but that, if the same 
 object could be attained under a despotism, 
 the same advantage would accrue to the 
 community. If however the representative 
 system, by securing to the lower classes of 
 society a more equal and liberal mode of 
 
 treatment
 
 Ch. vi. the principal Cause of Poverty, fyc. 163 
 
 treatment from their superiors, gives to each 
 individual a greater personal respeclabilty, 
 and a greater fear of personal degradation; 
 it is evident that it will powerfully co-ope- 
 rate with the security of property in ani- 
 mating the exertions of industry, and in 
 generating habits of prudence ; and thus 
 more powerfully tend to increase the riches 
 and prosperity of the lower classes of the 
 community, than if the same laws had ex- 
 isted under a despotism. 
 
 But though the tendency of a free con- 
 stitution and a good government to diminish 
 poverty be certain ; yet their effect in this 
 way must necessarily be indirect and slow, 
 and very different from the direct and im- 
 mediate relief, which the lower classes of 
 people are too frequently in the habit of 
 looking forward to as the consequence of a 
 revolution. This habit of expecting too 
 much, and the irritation occasioned by dis- 
 appointment, continually give a wrong di- 
 rection to their efforts in favour of liberty, 
 and constantly tend to defeat the accom- 
 plishment of those gradual reforms in go- 
 vernment, and that slow melioration of the 
 m 2 condition
 
 164 Effects of the Knowledge of Bk. iv. 
 
 condition of the lower classes of society, 
 which are really attainable. 
 
 It is of the very highest importance 
 therefore, to know distinctly what govern- 
 ment cannot do, as well as what it can. If 
 I were called upon to name the cause, 
 which, in my conception, had more than 
 any other contributed to the very slow pro- 
 gress of freedom, so disheartening to every 
 liberal mind, I should say that it was the 
 confusion that had existed respecting the 
 causes of the unhappiness and discontents 
 which prevail in society; and the advantage 
 which governments had been able to take, 
 and indeed had been compelled to take, of 
 this confusion, to confirm and strengthen 
 their power. I cannot help thinking there- 
 fore, that a knowledge generally circulated, 
 that the principal cause of want and un- 
 happiness is only indirectly connected with 
 government, and totally beyond its power 
 directly to remove ; and that it depends 
 upon the conduct of the poor themselves ; 
 would, instead of giving any advantage 
 to governments, give a great additional 
 weight to the popular side of the question,
 
 Ch. vi. the principal Cause of Poverty, fyc. 165 
 
 by removing the dangers with which 
 from ignorance it is at present accompa- 
 nied ; and thus tend, in a very powerful 
 manner, to promote the cause of rational 
 freedom. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 ( 166 ) 
 
 CHAP. VII 
 
 Continuation of the same Subject 11 . 
 
 1 HE reasonings of the foregoing chapter 
 have been strikingly confirmed by the 
 events of the last two or three years. Per- 
 haps there never was a period when more 
 eiToneous views were formed by the 
 lower classes of society of the effects to be 
 expected from reforms in the government, 
 when these erroneous views were more imme- 
 diately founded on a total misapprehension 
 of the principal cause of poverty, and when 
 they more directly led to results unfavour- 
 able to liberty. 
 
 One of the main causes of complaint 
 against the government has been, that a 
 considerable number of labourers, who are 
 both able and willing to work, are wholly 
 out of employment, and unable conse- 
 quently to command the necessaries of life. 
 
 * Written in 1817. 
 
 That
 
 Ch. vii. Continuation of the same Subject. 167 
 
 That this state of things is one of the 
 most afflicting events that can occur in 
 civilized life, that it is a natural and par- 
 donable cause of discontent among the 
 lower classes of society, and that every 
 eifort should be made by the higher classes 
 to mitigate it, consistently with a proper 
 care not to render it permanent, no man of 
 humanity can doubt. But that such a 
 state of things may occur in the best-con- 
 ducted and most economical government 
 that ever existed is as certain, as that go- 
 vernments have not the power of com- 
 manding with effect the resources of a 
 country to be progressive, when they are 
 naturally stationary or declining. 
 
 It will be allowed that periods of pro- 
 sperity may occur in any well-governed 
 state, during which an extraordinary sti- 
 mulus may be given to its wealth and po- 
 pulation, which cannot in its nature be 
 permanent. If, for instance, new channels 
 of trade are opened, new colonies are pos- 
 sessed, new inventions take place in machi- 
 nery, and new and great improvements are 
 made in agriculture, it is quite obvious that 
 
 while
 
 168 Continuation of the same Subject. Bk. iv. 
 
 while the markets at home and abroad will 
 readily take off at advantageous prices the 
 increasing produce, there must be a rapid 
 increase of capital, and an unusual stimulus 
 given to the population. On the other 
 hand, if subsequently these channels of 
 trade are either closed by accident or con- 
 tracted by foreign competition ; if colonies 
 are lost, or the same produce is supplied 
 from other quarters ; if the markets, either 
 from glut or competition, cease to extend 
 with the extension of the new machinery ; 
 and if the improvements in agriculture from 
 any cause whatever cease to be progressive, 
 it is as obvious that, just at the time when 
 the stimulus to population has produced its 
 greatest effect, the means of employing and 
 supporting this population may, in the 
 natural course of things, and without any 
 fault whatever in the government, become 
 deficient. This failure must unavoidably 
 produce great distress among the labouring 
 classes of society ; but it is quite clear that 
 no inference can be drawn from this distress 
 that a radical change is required in the go- 
 vernment ; and the attempt to accomplish 
 
 such
 
 Ch. vii. Continuation of the same Subject. 169 
 
 such a change might only aggravate the 
 evil. 
 
 It has been supposed in this case, that 
 the government has in no respect by its 
 conduct contributed to the pressure in 
 question, a supposition which in practice 
 perhaps will rarely be borne out by the fact. 
 It is unquestionably in the power of a go- 
 vernment to produce great distress by war 
 and taxation, and it requires some skill to 
 distinguish the distress which is the natural 
 result of these causes, from that which is 
 occasioned in the way just described. In 
 our own case unquestionably both descrip- 
 tions of causes have combined, but the 
 former in a greater degree than the latter. 
 War and taxation, as far as they operate 
 directly and simply, tend to destroy or 
 retard the progress of capital, produce and 
 population ; but during the late war these 
 checks to prosperity have been much more 
 than overbalanced by a combination of 
 circumstances which has given an extraor- 
 dinary stimulus to production. That for 
 this overbalance of advantages the country 
 cannot be considered as much indebted to 
 
 the
 
 170 Continuation of the same Subject, Bk. iv. 
 
 the government, is most certain. The go- 
 vernment during the last twenty-five years 
 has shewn no very great love either of 
 peace or liberty ; and no particular eco- 
 nomy in the use of the national resources. 
 It has proceeded in a very straight-forward 
 manner to spend great sums in war, and to 
 raise them by very heavy taxes. It has no 
 doubt done its part towards the dilapida- 
 tion of the national resources. But still 
 the broad fact must stare every impartial 
 observer in the face, that at the end of the 
 war in 1814 the national resources were 
 not dilapidated ; and that not only were 
 the wealth and population of the country 
 considerably greater than they were at the 
 commencement of the war, but that they 
 had increased in the interval at a more 
 rapid rate than was ever experienced 
 before. 
 
 Perhaps this may justly be considered 
 as one of the most extraordinary facts in 
 history ; and it certainly follows from it, 
 that the sufferings of the country since the 
 peace have not been occasioned so much 
 by the usual and most natural effects to be 
 
 expected
 
 Ch. vii. Continuation of the same Subject. 171 
 
 expected from war and taxation, as by the 
 sudden ceasing of an extraordinary sti- 
 mulus to production, the distresses conse- 
 quent upon which, though increased no 
 doubt by the weight of taxation, do not 
 essentially arise from it, and are not di- 
 rectly therelore, and immediately, to be 
 relieved by its removal. 
 
 That the labouring classes of society 
 should not be fully aware that the main 
 causes of their distress are to a certain ex- 
 tent and for a certain time, irremediable, 
 is natural enough ; and that they should 
 listen much more readily and Avillingly to 
 those who confidently promise immediate 
 relief, rather than to those who can only 
 tell them unpalatable truths, is by no means 
 surprising. But it must be allowed that 
 full advantage has been taken by the po- 
 pular orators and writers of a crisis which 
 has given them so much power. Partly 
 from ignorance, and partly from design, 
 every thing that could tend to enlighten 
 the labouring classes as to the real nature 
 of their situation, and encourage them to 
 
 bear
 
 172 Continuation of the same Subject. Bk. iv. 
 
 bear an unavoidable pressure with patience, 
 has been either sedulously kept out of their 
 view, or clamorously reprobated ; and every 
 thing that could tend to deceive them, to 
 aggravate and encourage their discontents, 
 and to raise unreasonable and extravagant 
 expectations as to the relief to be expected 
 from reform, has been as sedulously brought 
 forward. Jf under these circumstances the 
 reforms proposed had been accomplished, 
 it is impossible that the people should not 
 have been most cruelly disappointed ; and 
 under a system of universal suffrage and 
 annual parliaments, a general disappoint- 
 ment of the people would probably lead to 
 every sort of experiment in government, 
 till the career of change was stopped by a 
 military despotism. The warmest friends 
 of genuine liberty might justly feel alarmed 
 at such a prospect. To a cause conducted 
 upon such principles, and likely to be at- 
 tended with such results, they could not of 
 course, consistently with their duty, lend 
 any assistance. And, if with great diffi- 
 culty, and against the sense of the great 
 
 mass
 
 Ch. vii. Continuation of the same Subject. 173 
 
 mass of petitioners, they were to effect a 
 more moderate and more really useful re- 
 form, they could not but feel certain that 
 the unavoidable disappointment of the peo- 
 ple would be attributed to the half-mea- 
 sures which had been pursued ; and that 
 they would be either forced to proceed to 
 more radical changes, or submit to a total 
 loss of their influence and popularity by 
 stopping short while the distresses of the 
 people were unrelieved, their discontents 
 unallayed, and the great panacea on which 
 they had built their sanguine expectations 
 untried. 
 
 These considerations have naturally pa- 
 ralyzed the exertions of the best friends of 
 liberty ; and those salutary reforms which 
 are acknowledged to be necessary in order 
 to repair the breaches of time, and improve 
 the fabric of our constitution, are thus ren- 
 dered much more difficult, and conse- 
 quently much less probable. 
 
 But not only have the false expectations 
 and extravagant demands suggested by the 
 leaders of the people given an easy victory 
 to government over every proposition for 
 
 reform,
 
 174 Continuation of the same Subject. Bk. iv. 
 
 reform, whether violent or moderate, but 
 they have furnished the most fatal instru- 
 ments of offensive attack against the con- 
 stitution itself. They are naturally calcu- 
 lated to excite some alarm, and to check 
 moderate reform ; but alarm, when once 
 excited, seldom knows where to stop, and 
 the causes of it are particularly liable to be 
 exaggerated. There is reason to believe 
 that it has been under the influence of ex- 
 aggerated statements, and of inferences 
 drawn by exaggerated fears from these 
 statements, that acts unfavourable to liberty 
 have been passed without an adequate ne- 
 cessity. But the power of creating these 
 exaggerated fears, and of passing these acts, 
 has been unquestionably furnished by the 
 extravagant expectations of the people. 
 And it must be allowed that the present 
 times furnish a very striking illustration of 
 the doctrine, that an ignorance of the prin- 
 cipal cause of poverty is peculiarly unfa- 
 vourable, and thai a knowledge of it must 
 be peculiarly favourable, to the cause of 
 civil liberty. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 ( 175 ) 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Plan of the gradual Abolition of the Poor Laws 
 proposed. 
 
 IF the principles in the preceding chapters 
 should stand the test of examination, and 
 we should ever feel the obligation of en- 
 deavouring to act upon them, the next in- 
 quiry would be, in what way we ought prac- 
 tically to proceed. The first grand obstacle 
 which presents itself in this country is the 
 system of the poor-laws, which has been 
 justly stated to be an evil, in comparison of 
 which the national debt, with all its mag- 
 nitude of terror, is of little moment a . The 
 rapidity with which the poor's rates have 
 increased of late years presents us indeed 
 with the prospect of such an extraordinary 
 proportion of paupers in the society, as 
 would seem to be incredible in a nation 
 
 a Reports of the Society for bettering the Condition of 
 the Poor, vol. iii. p. 21. 
 
 flourishing
 
 176 Plan of the gradual Abolition Bk. iv. 
 
 flourishing in arts, agriculture and com- 
 merce, and with a government which 
 has generally been allowed to be the 
 best that has hitherto stood the test of ex- 
 perience*. 
 
 Greatly as we may be shocked at such a 
 prospect, and ardently as we may wish to 
 remove it, the evil is now so deeply seated, 
 and the relief given by the poor-laws so 
 widely extended, that no man of humanity 
 could venture to propose their immediate 
 abolition. To mitigate their effects however, 
 and stop their future increase, to which, if 
 left to continue upon their present plan, we 
 can see no probable termination, it has 
 been proposed to fix the whole sum to be 
 raised at its present rate, or any other 
 that might be determined upon ; and to 
 make a law, that on no account this sum 
 should be exceeded. The objection to this 
 plan is, that a very large sum would be 
 
 If the poor's rates continue increasing as rapidly as 
 they have done on the average of the last ten years, how 
 melancholy are our future prospects ! The system of the 
 poor-laws has been justly stated by the French to be la 
 plaie politique de VAnghterre la plus dexorante. (Comite 
 de Mendicite.) 
 
 still
 
 Ch. viii. of the Poor-Laws proposed. 17f 
 
 still to be raised, and a great number of 
 people to be supported ; the consequence 
 of which would be, that the poor would not 
 be easily able to distinguish the alteration 
 that had been made. Each individual 
 would think that he had as good a right to 
 be supported when he was in want as any 
 other person ; and those who unfortunately 
 chanced to be in distress, when the fixed 
 sum had been collected, would think them- 
 selves particularly ill used on being ex- 
 cluded from all assistance, while so many 
 others were enjoying this advantage. If 
 the sum collected were divided among all 
 that were in want, however their numbers 
 might increase, though such a plan would 
 not be so unfair with regard to those who 
 became dependent after the sum had been 
 fixed, it would undoubtedly be very hard 
 upon those who had been in the habit of 
 receiving a more liberal supply, and had 
 done nothing to justify its being taken from 
 them ; and in both cases it would certainly 
 be unjust in the society to undertake the 
 support of the poor, and yet, if their num- 
 bers increased, to feed them so sparingly, 
 vol, in. n that
 
 178 Plan of the gradual Abolition Bk. \r. 
 
 that they must necessarily die of hunger 
 and disease. 
 
 I have reflected much on the subject of 
 the poor-laws, and hope therefore that I 
 shall be excused in venturing to suggest a 
 mode of their gradual abolition, to which I 
 confess that at present I can see no ma- 
 terial objection. Of this indeed I feel 
 nearly convinced, that, should we ever 
 become so sufficiently sensible of the wide- 
 spreading tyranny, dependence, indolence 
 and unhappiness which they create, as se- 
 riously to make an effort to abolish them, 
 we shall be compelled by a sense of justice 
 to adopt the principle, if not the plan, 
 which I shall mention. It seems impossible 
 to get rid of so extensive a system of sup- 
 port, consistently with humanity, without 
 applying ourselves directly to its vital prin- 
 ciple, and endeavouring to counteract that 
 deeply-seated cause which occasions the 
 rapid growth of all such establishments, 
 and invariably renders them inadequate to 
 their object. As a previous step even to 
 any considerable alteration in the present 
 system, which would contract or stop the 
 
 increase
 
 Ch. vin. of the Poor-Laws proposed. 179 
 
 increase of the relief to be given, it appears 
 to me that we are bound in justice and 
 honour formally to disclaim the right of 
 the poor to support. 
 
 To this end, I should propose a regula- 
 tion to be made, declaring, that no child 
 born from any marriage, taking place after 
 the expiration of a year from the date of 
 the law, and no illegitimate child born two 
 years from the same date, should ever be 
 entitled to parish assistance. And to give 
 a more general knowledge of this law, and 
 to enforce it more strongly on the minds of 
 the lower classes of people, the clergyman 
 of each parish should, after the publication 
 of banns, read a short address, stating the 
 strong obligation on every man to support 
 his own children ; the impropriety, and 
 even immorality, of marrying without a 
 prospect of being able to do this ; the evils 
 which had resulted to the poor themselves 
 from the attempt which had been made to 
 assist by public institutions in a duty which 
 ought to be exclusively appropriated to 
 parents ; and the absolute necessity which 
 had at length appeared of abandoning all 
 n 2 such
 
 180 Plan of the gradual Abolition Bk. iv. 
 
 such institutions, on account of their pro- 
 ducing effects totally opposite to those 
 which were intended. 
 
 This would operate as a fair, distinct 
 and precise notice, which no man could 
 well mistake ; and, without pressing hard 
 on any particular individuals, would at 
 once throw off the rising generation from 
 that miserable and helpless dependence 
 upon the government and the rich, the 
 moral as well as physical consequences of 
 which are almost incalculable. 
 
 After the public notice which I have 
 proposed had been, given, and the system 
 of poor-laws had ceased with regard to the 
 rising generation, if any man chose to marry, 
 without a prospect of being able to support 
 a family, he should have the most perfect 
 liberty so to do. Though to marry, in this 
 case, is, in my opinion, clearly an immoral 
 act, yet it is not one which society can 
 justly take upon itself to prevent or punish ; 
 because the punishment provided for it by 
 the laws of nature falls directly and most 
 severely upon the individual who commits 
 the act, and through him, only more re- 
 motely
 
 Ch. viii. of the Poor- Laws proposed. 181 
 
 motely and feebly, on the society. When 
 Nature will govern and punish for us, it is a 
 very miserable ambition to wish to snatch 
 the rod from her hands, and draw upon 
 ourselves the odium of executioner. To 
 the punishment therefore of Nature he 
 should be left, the punishment of want. 
 He has erred in the face of a most clear 
 and precise warning, and can have no just 
 reason to complain of any person but him- 
 self when he feels the consequences of his 
 error. All parish assistance should be de- 
 nied him ; and he should be left to the un- 
 certain support of private charity. He 
 should be taught to know, that the laws of 
 Nature, which are the laws of God, had 
 doomed him and his family to suffer for 
 disobeying their repeated admonitions; that 
 he had no claim of right on society for the 
 smallest portion of food, beyond that which 
 his labour would fairly purchase ; and that 
 if he and his family were saved from feeling 
 the natural consequences of his imprudence, 
 he would owe it to the pity of some kind 
 benefactor, to whom, therefore, he ought to 
 be bound by the strongest ties of gratitude. 
 
 If
 
 182 Plan of the gradual Abolition Bk. iv. 
 
 If this system were pursued, we need be 
 under no apprehensions that the number 
 of persons in extreme want would be be- 
 yond the power and the will of the bene- 
 volent to supply. The sphere for the ex- 
 ercise of private charity would, probably 
 not be greater than it is at present ; and 
 the principal difficulty would be, to restrain 
 the hand of benevolence from assisting 
 those in distress in so indiscriminate a man- 
 ner as to encourage indolence and want of 
 foresight in others. 
 
 With regard to illegitimate children, after 
 the proper notice had been given, they 
 should not be allowed to have any claim to 
 parish assistance, but be left entirely to 
 the support of private charity. If the pa- 
 rents desert their child, they ought to be 
 made answerable for the crime. The infant 
 is, comparatively speaking, of little value 
 to the society, as others will immediately 
 supply its place. Its principal value is on 
 account of its being the object of one of 
 the most delightful passions in human na- 
 ture parental affection. But if this value 
 be disregarded by those who are alone in a 
 
 capacity
 
 Ch. viii. of the Poor- Laws proposed. 183 
 
 capacity to feel it, the society cannot be 
 called upon to put itself in their place; 
 and has no further business in its protection 
 than to punish the crime of desertion or in- 
 tentional ill treatment in the persons whose 
 duty it is to provide for it. 
 
 At present the child is taken under the 
 protection of the parish % and generally 
 dies, at least in London, within the first 
 year. The loss to the society is the same ; 
 but the crime is diluted by the number of 
 people concerned, and the death passes as 
 a visitation of Providence, instead of being 
 considered as the necessary consequence of 
 the conduct of its parents, for which they 
 ought to be held responsible to God and to 
 society. 
 
 The desertion of both parents, however, 
 is not so common as the desertion of one. 
 When a servant or labouring man has an 
 illegitimate child, his running away is per- 
 
 * I fully agree with Sir F. M. Eden, in thinking that 
 the constant public support which deserted children re- 
 ceive is the cause of their very great numbers in the two 
 most opulent countries of Europe, France and England. 
 State of the Poor, vol. i. p. 339. 
 
 fectly
 
 184 Plan of the gradual Abolition Bk. iv. 
 
 fectly a matter of course ; and it is by no 
 means uncommon for a man who has a wife 
 and large family to withdraw into a distant 
 county, and leave them to the parish ; in- 
 deed I once heard a hard-working good 
 sort of man propose to do this, as the best 
 mode of providing for a wife and six chil- 
 dren a . If the simple fact of these frequent 
 desertions were related in some countries, a 
 strange inference would be drawn against 
 the English character; but the wonder 
 would cease when our public institutions 
 were explained. 
 
 By the laws of nature, a child is confided 
 directly and exclusively to the protection of 
 its parents. By the laws of nature, the mo- 
 ther of a child is confided almost as strongly 
 and exclusively to the man who is the fa- 
 ther of it. If these ties were suffered to re- 
 main in the state in which nature has left 
 them, and the man were convinced that the 
 
 " That many of the poorer classes of the community 
 " avail themselves of the liberality of the law, and leave 
 " their wives and children on the parish, the reader will 
 " find abundant proof in the subsequent part of this 
 " work." Sir F. M. Eden on the State of the Poor, 
 vol. i. p. 339- 
 
 woman
 
 Ch. viii. of the Poor- Laws proposed. 185 
 
 woman and the child depended solely upon 
 him for support, I scarcely believe that 
 there are ten men breathing so atrocious 
 as to desert them. But our laws, in oppo- 
 sition to the laws of nature, say, that if the 
 parents forsake their child, other persons 
 will undertake to support it; or, if the man 
 forsake the woman, that she shall still meet 
 with protection elsewhere ; that is, we take 
 all possible pains to weaken and render null 
 the ties of nature, and then say that men 
 are unnatural. But the fact is, that the so- 
 ciety itself, in its body politic, is the unna- 
 tural character, for framing laws that thus 
 counteract the laws of nature, and give 
 premiums to the violation of the best and 
 most honourable feelings of the human 
 heart. 
 
 It is a common thing in most parishes, 
 when the father of an illegitimate child can 
 be seized, to endeavour to frighten him into 
 marriage by the terrors of a jail ; but such 
 a proceeding cannot surely be too strongly 
 reprobated. In the first place, it is a most 
 shallow policy in the parish officers ; for, if 
 they succeed, the effect upon the present 
 
 system
 
 186 Plan of the gradual Abolition Bk. iv. 
 
 system will generally be, the having three 
 or four children to provide for, instead of 
 one. And in the next place, it is difficult 
 to conceive a more gross and scandalous 
 profanation of a religious ceremony. Those 
 who believe that the character of a woman 
 is restored by such a forced engagement, 
 or that the moral worth of the man is en- 
 hanced by affirming a lie before God, have, 
 I confess, very different ideas of delicacy 
 and morality from those which I have been 
 taught to consider as just. If a man de- 
 ceive a woman into a connexion with him 
 under a promise of marriage, he has un- 
 doubtedly been guilty of a most atrocious 
 act, and there are few crimes which merit 
 a more severe punishment ; but the last 
 that I should choose is that which will 
 oblige him to affirm another falsehood, 
 which will probably render the woman that 
 he is to be joined to miserable, and will bur- 
 den the society with a family of paupers. 
 
 The obligation on every man to support 
 his children, whether legitimate or illegiti- 
 mate, is so clear and strong, that it would 
 be just to arm society with any power to 
 
 enforce
 
 Ch. viii. of the Poor- Laws proposed. 187 
 
 enforce it, which would be likely to answer 
 the purpose. But I am inclined to believe 
 that no exercise of the civil power, however 
 rigorous, would be half so effectual as a 
 knowledge generally circulated, that chil- 
 dren were in future to depend solely for 
 support upon their parents, and would be 
 left only to casual charity if they were 
 deserted. 
 
 It may appear to be hard that a mother 
 and her children, who have been guilty of 
 no particular crime themselves, should suffer 
 for the ill conduct of the father ; but this is 
 one of the invariable laws of nature ; and, 
 knowing this, we should think twice upon 
 the subject, and be very sure of the ground 
 on which we go, before we presume syste- 
 matically to counteract it. 
 
 I have often heard the goodness of the 
 Deity impeached on account of that part 
 of the Decalogue in which he declares that 
 he will visit the sins of the father upon the 
 children ; but the objection has not perhaps 
 been sufficiently considered. Without a 
 most complete and fundamental change in 
 the whole constitution of human nature ; 
 
 without
 
 188 Plan of the gradual Abolition Bk. iv. 
 
 without making man an angel, or at least 
 something totally different from what he is 
 at present ; it seems absolutely necessary 
 that such a law should prevail. Would it 
 not require a perpetual miracle, which is 
 perhaps a contradiction in terms, to pre- 
 vent children from being affected in their 
 moral and civil condition by the conduct 
 of their parents ? What man is there, that 
 has been brought up by his parents, who 
 is not at the present moment enjoying 
 something from their virtues, or suffering 
 something from their vices ; who, in his 
 moral character, has not been elevated in 
 some degree by their prudence, their justice, 
 their benevolence, their temperance, or de- 
 pressed by the contraries ; who, in his civil 
 condition, has not been raised by their re- 
 putation, their foresight, their industry, 
 their good fortune, or lowered by their want 
 of character, their imprudence, their indo- 
 lence, and their adversity? And how much 
 does a knowledge of this transmission of 
 blessings contribute to excite and invigorate 
 virtuous exertion? Proceeding upon this 
 certainty, how ardent and incessant are the 
 
 efforts
 
 Ch. viii. of the Poor-Laws proposed. 189 
 
 efforts of parents to give their children a 
 good education, and to provide for their 
 future situation in the world ! If a man 
 could neglect or desert his wife and chil- 
 dren without their suffering any injury, how 
 many individuals there are, who, not being 
 very fond of their wives, or being tired of 
 the shackles of matrimony, would withdraw 
 from household cares and difficulties, and 
 resume their liberty and independence as 
 single men ! But the consideration that 
 children may suffer for the faults of their 
 parents has a strong hold even upon vice ; 
 and many who are in such a state of mind, 
 as to disregard the consequences of their 
 habitual course of life, as far as relates to 
 themselves, are yet greatly anxious that 
 their children should not suffer from their 
 vices and follies. In the moral government 
 of the world, it seems evidently necessary, 
 that the sins of the fathers should be visited 
 upon the children ; and if in our over- 
 weening vanity we imagine, that we can 
 govern a private society better by endea- 
 vouring systematically to counteract this law, 
 
 lam
 
 190 Plan of the gradual Abolition Bk. it. 
 
 I am inclined to believe, that we shall find 
 ourselves very greatly mistaken. 
 
 If the plan which I have proposed were 
 adopted, the poor's rates in a few years 
 would begin very rapidly to decrease, and 
 in no great length of time would be com- 
 pletely extinguished ; and yet, as far as it 
 appears to me at present, no individual 
 would be either deceived or injured, and 
 consequently no person could have a just 
 right to complain. 
 
 The abolition of the poor-laws however 
 is not of itself sufficient ; and the obvious 
 answer to those who lay too much stress 
 upon this system is, to desire them to look 
 at the state of the poor in some other coun- 
 tries where such laws do not prevail, and 
 to compare it with their condition in Eng- 
 land. But this comparison, it must be 
 acknowledged, is in many respects unfair ; 
 and would by no means decide the question 
 of the utility or inutility of such a system. 
 England possesses very great natural and 
 political advantages, in which perhaps the 
 countries, that we should in this case com- 
 pare
 
 Ch. viii. of the Poor- Laws proposed. 191 
 
 pare with her, would be found to be pal- 
 pably deficient. The nature of her soil and 
 climate is such, that those almost universal 
 failures in the crops of grain, which are 
 known in some countries, never occur in 
 England. Her insular situation and ex- 
 tended commerce are peculiarly favourable 
 for importation. Her numerous manufac- 
 tures employ nearly all the hands that are 
 not engaged in agriculture, and afford the 
 means of a regular distribution of theannual 
 produce of the land and labour to the whole 
 of her inhabitants. But, above all, through- 
 out a very large class of the people, a de- 
 cided taste for the conveniencies and com- 
 forts of life, a strong desire of bettering 
 their condition (that master-spring of public 
 prosperity), and, in consequence, a most 
 laudable spirit of industry and foresight, are 
 observed to prevail. These dispositions, 
 so contrary to the hopeless indolence re- 
 marked in despotic countries, are generated 
 by the constitution of the English govern- 
 ment, and the excellence of its laws, which 
 secure to every individual the produce of 
 his industry. When, therefore, on a com- 
 parison
 
 192 Plan of the gradual Abolition Bk. iv. 
 
 parison with other countries, England ap- 
 pears to have the advantage in the state of 
 her poor, the superiority is entirely to be 
 attributed to these favourable circumstances, 
 and not to the poor-laws. A woman with 
 one bad feature may greatly excel in beauty 
 some other, who may have this individual 
 feature tolerably good ; but it would be 
 rather strange to assert, in consequence, that 
 the superior beauty of the former was occa- 
 sioned by this particular deformity. The 
 poor-laws have constantly tended to counter- 
 act the natural and acquired advantages of 
 this country. Fortunately these advantages 
 have been so considerable, that though 
 weakened they could not be overcome ; 
 and to these advantages, together with the 
 checks to marriage, which the laws them- 
 selves create, it is owing that England has 
 been able to bear up so long against this 
 pernicious system. Probably there is not 
 any other country in the world, except 
 perhaps Holland before the revolution, 
 which could have acted upon it so com- 
 pletely for the same period of time, without 
 utter ruin. 
 
 It
 
 Ch. viii. of the Poor- Laws proposed. 193 
 
 It has been proposed by some to establish 
 poor-laws in Ireland ; but from the de- 
 pressed state of the common people, there 
 is little reason to doubt, that, on the esta- 
 blishment of such laws, the whole of the 
 landed property would very soon be ab- 
 sorbed, or the system be given up in 
 despair. 
 
 In Sweden, from the dearths which are 
 not unfrequent, owing to the general failure 
 of crops in an unpropitious climate and the 
 impossibility of great importations in a poor 
 country, an attempt to establish a system 
 of parochial relief such as that in England 
 (if it were not speedily abandoned from the 
 physical impossibility of executing it) would 
 level the property of the kingdom from one 
 end to the other, and convulse the social 
 system in such a manner, as absolutely to 
 prevent it from recovering its former state 
 on the return of plenty. 
 
 Even in France, with all her advantages 
 of situation and climate, the tendency to 
 population is so great, and the want of fore- 
 sight among the lower classes of the people 
 so remarkable, that if poor-laws were esta- 
 
 vol. vii. o blished,
 
 194 Plan of the gradual Abolition Bk. iv. 
 
 blished, the landed property would soon 
 sink under the burden, and the wretchedness 
 of the people at the same time be increased. 
 On these considerations the committee de 
 Mendicit6,a.t the beginning of the revolution, 
 very properly and judiciously rejected the 
 establishment of such a system, which had 
 been proposed. 
 
 The exception of Holland, if it were an 
 exception, would arise from very particular 
 circumstances her extensive foreign trade 
 and her numerous colonial emigrations, 
 compared with the smallness of her territory, 
 together with the extreme unhealthiness of a 
 great part of the country, which occasions 
 a much greater average mortality than is 
 common in other states. These, I con- 
 ceive, were the unobserved causes which 
 principally contributed to render Holland 
 so famous for the management of her poor, 
 and able to employ and support all who 
 applied for relief. 
 
 No part of Germany is sufficiently rich 
 to support an extensive system of parochial 
 relief; but I am inclined to think, that 
 from the absence of itthe lower classes of the 
 
 people
 
 Ch. viii. of the Poor-Laws proposed. 195 
 
 people, in some parts of Germany, are in a 
 better situation than those of the same class 
 in England. In Switzerland, for the same 
 reason, their condition, before the late 
 troubles, was perhaps universally superior. 
 And in a journey through the duchies of 
 Holstein and Sleswick belonging to Den- 
 mark, the houses of the lower classes of 
 people appeared to me to be neater and 
 better, and in general there were fewer in- 
 dications of poverty and wretchedness 
 among them, than among the same ranks 
 in this country. 
 
 Even in Norway, notwithstanding the dis- 
 advantage of a severe and uncertain cli- 
 mate, from the little that I saw in a few 
 weeks' residence in the country, and the in- 
 formation that I could collect from others, 
 I am inclined to think that the poor are, 
 on the average, better off than in England. 
 Their houses and clothing are often supe- 
 rior ; and though they have no white bread, 
 they have much more meat, fish and milk than 
 our labourers ; and I particularly remarked, 
 that the farmers' boys were much stouter 
 and healthier looking lads than those of the 
 
 o % same
 
 196 Plan of the gradual Abolition Bk. iv. 
 
 same description in England. This degree 
 of happiness, superior to what could be 
 expected from the soil and climate, arises 
 almost exclusively from the degree in which 
 the preventive check to population ope- 
 rates ; and the establishment of a system of 
 poor-laws, which would destroy this check, 
 would at once sink the lower classes of the 
 people into a state of the most miserable 
 poverty and wretchedness ; would diminish 
 their industry, and consequently the pro- 
 duce of the land and labour of the country ; 
 would weaken the resources of ingenuity in 
 times of scarcity ; and ultimately involve 
 the country in all the horrors of continual 
 famines. 
 
 If, as in Ireland, Spain, and many of 
 the southern countries, the people are in 
 so degraded a state, as to propagate their 
 species without regard to consequences, it 
 matters little whether they have poor-laws 
 or not. Misery in all its various forms 
 must be the predominant check to their 
 increase. Poor-laws, indeed, will always 
 tend to aggravate the evil, by diminishing 
 the general resources of the country ; and 
 
 in
 
 Ch. viii. of the Poor- Laws proposed. 197 
 
 in such a state of things can exist only 
 for a very short time ; but with or without 
 them, no stretch of human ingenuity and 
 exertion can rescue the people from the 
 most extreme poverty and wretchedness. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 ( 198 ) 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Of the Modes of correcting the prevailing Opinions on 
 Population. 
 
 IT is not enough to abolish all the positive 
 institutions which encourage population ; 
 but we must endeavour, at the same time, 
 to correct the prevailing opinions which 
 have the same, or perhaps even a more 
 powerful effect. This must necessarily be 
 a work of time ; and can only be done by 
 circulating juster notions on these subjects, 
 in writings and conversation ; and by en- 
 deavouring to impress as strongly as possible 
 on the public mind, that it is not the duty 
 of man simply to propagate his species, 
 but to propagate virtue and happiness ; 
 and that, if he has not a tolerably fair 
 prospect of doing this, he is by no means 
 called upon to leave descendants. 
 
 Among the higher ranks of society, we 
 have not much reason to apprehend the too 
 
 great
 
 Ch. ix. Of the Modes of correcting, %c. 199 
 
 great frequency of marriage. Though the 
 circulation of juster notions on this subject 
 might, even in this part of the community, 
 do much good, and prevent many unhappy 
 marriages ; yet whether we make particular 
 exertions for this purpose or not, we may 
 rest assured that the degree of proper pride 
 and spirit of independence almost invari- 
 ably connected with education and a cer- 
 tain rank in life will secure the operation 
 of the prudential check to marriage to a 
 considerable extent. All that the society 
 can reasonably require of its members is, 
 that they should not have families without 
 being able to support them. This may be 
 fairly enjoined as a positive duty. Every 
 restraint beyond this must be considered 
 as a matter of choice and taste ; but from 
 what we already know of the habits which 
 prevail among the higher ranks of life, we 
 have reason to think that little more is 
 wanted to attain the object required, than 
 to award a greater degree of respect and 
 of personal liberty to single women, and to 
 place them nearer upon a level with mar- 
 ried women ; a change, which, indepen- 
 dently
 
 200 Of the Modes of correcting the Bk. vr. 
 
 dently of any particular purpose in view, 
 the plainest principles of equity seem to 
 demand. 
 
 If, among the higher classes of society, 
 the object of securing the operation of the 
 prudential check to marriage to a sufficient 
 degree appear to be attainable without 
 much difficulty, the obvious mode of pro- 
 ceeding with the lower classes of society, 
 where the point is of the principal import- 
 ance, is to endeavour to infuse into them a 
 portion of that knowledge and foresight, 
 which so much facilitates the attainment 
 of this object in the educated part of the 
 community. 
 
 The fairest chance of accomplishing this 
 end would probably be by the establish- 
 mant of a s}stem of parochial education 
 upon a plan similar to that proposed by 
 Adam Smith a . In addition to the usual 
 subjects of instruction, and those which he 
 has mentioned, I should be disposed to lay 
 considerable stress on the frequent expla- 
 nation of the real state of the lower classes 
 of society, as affected by the principle of 
 
 * Wealth of Nations, vol. iii. b. v. c. L p. 187. 
 
 population,
 
 Ch. ix. prevailing Opinions on Population. 201 
 
 population, and their consequent depend- 
 ence on themselves for the chief part of 
 their happiness or misery. It would be by 
 no means necessary or proper in these ex- 
 planations to underrate, in the smallest 
 degree, the desirableness of marriage. It 
 should always be represented as, what it 
 really is, a state peculiarly suited to the 
 nature of man, and calculated greatly to 
 advance his happiness and remove the 
 temptations to vice ; but, like property or 
 any other desirable object, its advantages 
 should be shewn to be unattainable, except 
 under certain conditions. And a strong 
 conviction in a young man of the great 
 desirableness of marriage, with a conviction 
 at the same time that the power of sup- 
 porting a family was the only condition 
 which would enable him really to enjoy its 
 blessings, would be the most effectual mo- 
 tive imaginable to industry and sobriety 
 before marriage, and would powerfully urge 
 him to save that superfluity of income 
 which single labourers necessarily possess, 
 for the accomplishment of a rational and 
 desirable object, instead of dissipating it, 
 
 as
 
 202 Of the Modes of correcting the Bk. iv. 
 
 as is now usually done, in idleness and 
 vice. 
 
 If in the course of time a few of the sim- 
 plest principles of political economy could 
 be added to the instructions given in these 
 schools, the benefit to society would be 
 almost incalculable 3 . In some conversa- 
 tions 
 
 * Adam Smith proposes, that the elementary parts of 
 geometry and mechanics should be taught in these parish 
 schools ; and I cannot help thinking, that the common 
 principles by which markets are regulated might be made 
 sufficiently clear, to be of considerable use. It is cer- 
 tainly a subject that, as it interests the lower classes of 
 people very nearly, would be likely to attract their atten- 
 tion. At the same time it must be confessed, that it is 
 impossible to be in any degree sanguine on this point, re- 
 collecting how very ignorant in general the educated part 
 of the community is of these principles. If, however, 
 political economy cannot be taught to the common peo- 
 ple, I really think that it ought to form a braneh of 
 University education. Scotland has set us an example 
 in this respect, which we ought not to be so slow to imi- 
 tate. It is of the utmost importance, that the gentlemen 
 of the country, and particularly the clergy, should not 
 from ignorance aggravate the evils of scarcity, every time 
 that it unfortunately occurs. During the late dearths, 
 half of the gentlemen and clergymen in the kingdom richly 
 deserved to have been prosecuted for sedition. After 
 inflaming the minds of the common people against the 
 
 farmer
 
 Ch. ix. prevailing Opinions on Population. 203 
 
 tions with labouring men, during the late 
 scarcities % I confess that I was to the last 
 degree disheartened, at observing their in- 
 veterate prejudices on the subject of grain; 
 and I felt very strongly the almost absolute 
 incompatibility of a government really free 
 with such a degree of ignorance. The de- 
 lusions are of such a nature, that, if acted 
 upon, they must at all events be repressed 
 by force ; and it is extremely difficult to 
 give such a power to the government as 
 will be sufficient at all times for this pur- 
 pose, without the risk of its being employed 
 improperly, and endangering the liberty of 
 the subject. 
 
 We have lavished immense sums on the 
 
 farmers and corn-dealers, by the manner in which they 
 talked of them or preached about them, it was but a 
 feeble antidote to the poison which they had infused, 
 coldly to observe that, however the poor might be op- 
 pressed or cheated, it was their duty to keep the peace. 
 It was little better than Antony's repeated declaration, 
 that the conspirators were all honourable men; which did 
 not save either their bouses or their persons from the 
 attacks of the mob. Political economy is perhaps the 
 only science, of which it may be said that the ignorance 
 of it is not merely a deprivation of good, but produces 
 great positive evil. 
 
 1$00 and 1801. We
 
 204 Of the Modes of correcting the Bk. iv. 
 
 poor, which we have every reason to think 
 have constantly tended to aggravate their 
 misery. But in their education and in the 
 circulation of those important political 
 truths that most nearly concern them, 
 which are perhaps the only means in our 
 power of really raising their condition, and 
 of making them happier men and more 
 peaceable subjects, we have been miserably 
 deficient. It is surely a great national 
 disgrace, that the education of the lower 
 classes of people in England should be left 
 merely to a few Sunday schools, supported 
 by a subscription from individuals, who 
 can give to the course of instruction in 
 them any kind of bias which they please. 
 And even the improvement of Sunday 
 schools (for, objectionable as they are in 
 some points of view, and imperfect in all, 
 I cannot but consider them as an improve- 
 ment) is of very late date a . 
 
 The arguments which have been urged 
 against instructing the people appear to 
 me to be not only illiberal, but to the last 
 degree feeble ; and they ought, on the con- 
 
 a Written in 1803. 
 
 trary,
 
 Ch. ix. prevailing Opinions on Population. 205 
 
 trary, to be extremely forcible, and to be 
 supported by the most obvious and striking 
 necessity, to warrant us in withholding the 
 means of raising the condition of the lower 
 classes of people, when they are in our 
 power. Those who will not listen to any 
 answer to these arguments drawn from 
 theory, cannot, I think, refuse the testimony 
 of experience ; and I would ask, whether 
 the advantage of superior instruction which 
 the lower classes of people in Scotland are 
 known to possess, has appeared to have 
 any tendency towards creating a spirit of 
 tumult and discontent amongst them. And 
 yet, from the natural inferiority of its soil 
 and climate, the pressure of want is more 
 constant, and the dearths are not only 
 more frequent, but more dreadful than in 
 England. In the case of Scotland, the 
 knowledge circulated among the common 
 people, though not sufficient essentially to 
 better their condition by increasing, in an 
 adequate degree, their habits of prudence 
 and foresight, has yet the effect of making 
 them bear with patience the evils which 
 they suffer, from being aware of the folly 
 
 and
 
 206 Of the Modes of correcting the Bk. iv. 
 
 and inefficacy of turbulence. The quiet 
 and peaceable habits of the instructed 
 Scotch peasant, compared with the tur- 
 bulent disposition of the ignorant Irish- 
 man, ought not to be without effect upon 
 every impartial reasoner. 
 
 The principal argument that I have heard 
 advanced against a system of national edu- 
 cation in England is, that the common 
 people would be put in a capacity to read 
 such works as those of Paine, and that the 
 consequences would probably be fatal to 
 government. But on this subject I agree 
 most cordially with Adam Smith a in 
 thinking, that an instructed and well-in- 
 formed people would be much less likely 
 to be led away by inflammatory writings, 
 and much better able to detect the false 
 declamation of interested and ambitious 
 demagogues, than an ignorant people. One 
 or two readers in a parish are sufficient to 
 circulate any quantity of sedition ; and if 
 these be gained to the democratic side, they 
 will probably have the power of doing much 
 more mischief, by selecting the passages 
 
 a Wealth of Nations, vol. iii. b. v. c. i. p. 192. 
 
 best
 
 Ch. ix. prevailing Opinions on Population. 207 
 
 best suited to their hearers, and choosing 
 the moments when their oratory is likely to 
 have the most effect, than if each indivi- 
 dual in the parish had been in a capacity 
 to read and judge of the whole work him- 
 self; and at the same time to read and 
 judge of the opposing arguments, which we 
 may suppose would also reach him. 
 
 But in addition to this, a double weight 
 would undoubtedly be added to the obser- 
 vation of Adam Smith, if these schools 
 were made the means of instructing the 
 people in the real nature of their situation ; 
 if they were taught, what is really true, that 
 without an increase of their own industry 
 and prudence no change of government 
 could essentially better their condition ; 
 that, though they might get rid of some 
 particular grievance, yet in the great point 
 of supporting their families they would be 
 but little, or perhaps not at all benefitted ; 
 that a revolution would not alter in their 
 favour the proportion of the supply of la- 
 bour to the demand, or the quantity of 
 food to the number of the consumers ; and 
 that if the supply of labour were greater 
 
 than
 
 208 Of the Modes of correcting the Bk. vr. 
 
 than the demand, and the demand for food 
 greater than the supply, they might suffer 
 the utmost severity of want, under the freest, 
 the most perfect, and best executed govern- 
 ment, that the human imagination could 
 conceive. 
 
 A knowledge of these truths so obviously 
 tends to promote peace and quietness, to 
 weaken the effect of inflammatory writings 
 and to prevent all unreasonable and ill-di- 
 rected opposition to the constituted autho- 
 rities, that those who would still object to 
 the instruction of the people may fairly be 
 suspected of a wish to encourage their ig- 
 norance, as a pretext for tyranny, and an 
 opportunity of increasing the power and the 
 influence of the executive government. 
 
 Besides explaining the real situation of 
 the lower classes of society, as depending 
 principally upon themselves for their hap- 
 piness or misery, the parochial schools 
 would, by early instruction and the judi- 
 cious distribution of rewards, have the 
 fairest chance of training up the rising ge- 
 neration in habits of sobriety, industry, in- 
 dependence and prudence, and in a proper 
 
 discharge
 
 Ch. ix. prevailing Opinions on Population. 209 
 
 discharge of their religious duties ; which 
 would raise them from their present de- 
 graded state, and approximate them, in 
 some degree, to the middle classes of so- 
 ciety, whose habits, generally speaking, are 
 certainly superior. 
 
 In most countries, among the lower classes 
 of people, there appears to be something 
 like a standard of wretchedness, a point 
 below which they will not continue to marry 
 and propagate their species. This standard 
 is different in different countries, and is 
 formed by various concurring circumstances 
 of soil, climate, government, degree of 
 knowledge and civilization, &c. The prin- 
 cipal circumstances which contribute to 
 raise it are liberty, security of property, 
 the diffusion of knowledge, and a taste for 
 the conveniences and the comforts of life. 
 Those which contribute principally to lower 
 it are despotism and ignorance. 
 
 In an attempt to better the condition of 
 the lower classes of society, our object 
 should be to raise this standard as his^h as 
 possible, by cultivating a spirit of inde- 
 pendence, a decent pride, and a taste for 
 
 vol. ii. p cleanliness
 
 210 Of the Modes of correcting, 8$c. Bk.i*. 
 
 cleanliness and comfort. The effect of a 
 good government in increasing the pru- 
 dential habits and personal respectability 
 of the lower classes of society has already 
 been insisted on ; but certainly this effect 
 will always be incomplete without a good 
 system of education ; and indeed it may be 
 said that no government can approach to 
 perfection, that does not provide for the 
 instruction of the people. The benefits 
 derived from education are among those, 
 which may be enjoyed without restriction 
 of numbers ; and as it is in the power of 
 governments to confer these benefits, it is 
 undoubtedly their duty to do it. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 ( 211 ) 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Of the Direction of our Charity. 
 
 AN important and interesting inquiry yet 
 remains, relating to the mode of directing 
 our private charity, so as not to interfere 
 with the great object in view, of meliorating 
 the condition of the lower classes of peoples 
 by preventing the population from pressing 
 too hard against the limits of the means of 
 subsistence. 
 
 The emotion which prompts us to relieve 
 our fellow-creatures in distress is, like all 
 our other natural passions, general, and in 
 some degree indiscriminate and blind. Our 
 feelings of compassion may be worked up 
 to a higher pitch by a well- wrought scene 
 in a play, or a fictitious tale in a novel, 
 than by almost any events in real life : and 
 if among ten petitioners we were to listen 
 only to the first impulses of our feelings 
 without making further inquiries, we should 
 p 2 undoubtedly
 
 212 Of the Direction of on?- Charity. Bk. iv. 
 
 undoubtedly give our assistance to the best 
 actor of the party. It is evident therefore, 
 that the impulse of benevolence, like the 
 impulses of love, of anger, of ambition, the 
 desire of eating and drinking, or any other 
 of our natural propensities, must be regu- 
 lated by experience, and frequently brought 
 to the test of utility, or it will defeat its in- 
 tended purpose. 
 
 The apparent object of the passion be- 
 tween the sexes is the continuation of the 
 species, and the formation of such an inti- 
 mate union of views and interests between 
 two persons as will best promote their hap- 
 piness, and at the same time secure the 
 proper degree of attention to the helpless- 
 ness of infancy and the education of the 
 rising generation ; but if every man were to 
 obey at all times the impulses of nature in 
 the gratification of this passion, without 
 regard to consequences, the principal part 
 of these important objects would not be at- 
 tained, and even the continuation of the 
 species might be defeated by a promiscuous 
 intercourse. 
 
 The apparent end of the impulse of be- 
 nevolence
 
 Ch. x. Of the Direction of our Charity. 213 
 
 nevolence is, to draw the whole human race 
 together, but more particularly that part of 
 it which is of our own nation and kindred, 
 in the bonds of brotherly love ; and by 
 giving men an interest in the happiness and 
 misery of their fellow-creatures, to prompt 
 them, as they have power, to mitigate the 
 partial evils arising from general laws, and 
 thus to increase the sum of human happi- 
 ness ; but if our benevolence be indiscri- 
 minate, and the degree of apparent distress 
 be made the sole measure of our liberality, 
 it is evident that it will be exercised almost 
 exclusively upon common beggars, while 
 modest unobtrusive merit, struggling with 
 unavoidable difficulties, yet still maintaining 
 some slight appearances of decency and 
 cleanliness, will be totally neglected. We 
 shall raise the worthless above the worthy ; 
 we shall encourage indolence and check in- 
 dustry ; and in the most marked manner 
 subtract from the sum of human happiness. 
 Our experience has indeed informed us 
 that the impulse of benevolence is not so 
 strong as the passion between the sexes, 
 and that, generally speaking, there is much 
 
 less
 
 214 Of the Direction of our -Charity. Bk. iv. 
 
 less danger to be apprehended from the 
 indulgence of the former than of the latter ; 
 but independently of this experience and 
 of the moral codes founded upon it, we 
 should be as much justified in a general in- 
 dulgence of the former passion as in follow- 
 ing indiscriminately every impulse of our 
 benevolence. They are both natural pas- 
 sions, excited by their appropriate objects, 
 and to the gratification of which we are 
 prompted by the pleasurable sensations 
 which accompany them. As animals, or 
 till we know their consequences, our only 
 business is to follow these dictates of na- 
 ture ; but as reasonable beings, we are 
 under the strongest obligations to attend to 
 their consequences ; and if they be evil to 
 ourselves or others, we may justly consider 
 it as an indication, that such a mode of in- 
 dulging these passions is not suited to our 
 state or conformable to the will of God. 
 As moral agents therefore, it is clearly our 
 duty to restrain their indulgence in these 
 particular directions ; and by thus carefully 
 examining the consequences of our natural 
 passions, and frequently bringing them to 
 
 the
 
 Ch. x. Of the Direction of our Charity. 215. 
 
 the test of utility, gradually to acquire a 
 habit of gratifying them only in that way, 
 which, being unattended with evil, will clearly 
 add to the sum of human happiness, and 
 fulfil the apparent purpose of the Cre- 
 ator. 
 
 Though utility therefore can never be the 
 immediate excitement to the gratification 
 of any passion, it is the test by which alone 
 we can know, independently of the revealed 
 will of God, whether it ought or ought 
 not to be indulged ; and is therefore the 
 surest criterion of moral rules which can be 
 collected from the light of nature. All the 
 moral codes, which have inculcated the 
 subjection of the passions to reason, have 
 been, as I conceive, really built upon this 
 foundation, whether the promulgators of 
 them were aware of it or not. 
 
 I remind the reader of these truths, in 
 order to apply them to the habitual direc- 
 tion of our charity; and if we keep the 
 criterion of utility constantly in view, we 
 may find ample room for the exercise of 
 our benevolence, without interfering with 
 the great purpose which we have to ac- 
 complish. 
 
 One
 
 216 Of the Direction of our Charity. Bk. iv. 
 
 One of the most valuable parts of charity 
 is its effect upon the giver. It is more 
 blessed to give than to receive. Supposing 
 it to be allowed that the exercise of our 
 benevolence in acts of charity is not, upon 
 the whole, really beneficial to the poor; 
 yet we could never sanction any endeavour 
 to extinguish an impulse, the proper gra- 
 tification of which has so evident a tendency 
 to purify and exalt the human mind. But 
 it is particularly satisfactory and pleasing 
 to find that the mode of exercising our 
 charity, which, when brought to the test of 
 utility, will appear to be most beneficial to 
 the poor, is precisely that, which will have 
 the best and most improving effect on the 
 mind of the donor. 
 
 The quality of charity, like that of mercy, 
 
 " is not strained ; 
 " It droppeth as the gentle rain from Heav'n 
 " Upon the earth beneath." 
 
 The immense sums distributed to the poor 
 in this country by the parochial laws are 
 improperly called charity. They want its 
 most distinguishing attribute; and, as might 
 be expected from an attempt to force that 
 which loses its essence the moment it ceases 
 
 to
 
 Ch. x. Of the Direction of our Charity. 217 
 
 to be voluntary, their effects upon those 
 from whom they are collected are as pre- 
 judicial as on those to whom they are dis- 
 tributed. On the side of the receivers of 
 this miscalled charity, instead of real relief, 
 we find accumulated distress and more ex- 
 tended poverty ; on the side of the givers, 
 instead of pleasurable sensations, unceasing 
 discontent and irritation. 
 
 In the great charitable institutions sup- 
 ported by voluntary contributions, some of 
 which are certainly of a prejudicial tend- 
 ency, the subscriptions, I am inclined to 
 fear, are sometimes given grudgingly, and 
 rather because they are expected by the 
 world from certain stations and certain for- 
 tunes, than because they are prompted by 
 motives of genuine benevolence ; and as 
 the greater part of the subscribers do not 
 interest themselves in the management of 
 the funds or in the fate of the particular 
 objects relieved, it is not to be expected 
 that this kind of charity should have any 
 strikingly beneficial influence on the minds 
 of the majority who exercise it. 
 
 Even in the relief of common beggars, 
 
 we
 
 218 Of the Direction of our Charity. Bk. iv. 
 
 we shall find that we are often as much in- 
 fluenced by the desire of getting rid of the 
 importunities of a disgusting object, as by 
 the pleasure of relieving it. We wish that 
 it had not fallen in our way, rather than re- 
 joice in the opportunity given us of assisting 
 a fellow-creature. We feel a painful emo- 
 tion at the sight of so much apparent misery ; 
 but the pittance we give does not relieve it. 
 We know that it is totally inadequate to 
 produce any essential effect. We know be- 
 sides, that we shall be addressed in the 
 same manner at the corner of the next 
 street ; and we know that we are liable to 
 the grossest impositions. We hurry there- 
 fore sometimes by them, and shut our ears 
 to their importunate demands. We give no 
 more than we can help giving without doing 
 actual violence to our feelings. Our charity 
 is in some degree forced ; and, like forced 
 charity, it leaves no satisfactory impression 
 on the mind, and cannot therefore have any 
 very beneficial and improving effect on the 
 heart and affections. 
 
 But it is far otherwise with that volun- 
 tary and active charity, which makes itself 
 
 acquainted
 
 Ch. x. Of the Direction of our Charity. 219 
 
 acquainted with the objects which it relieves ; 
 which seems to feel, and to be proud of the 
 bond that unites the rich with the poor ; which 
 enters into their houses, informs itself not 
 only of their wants, but of their habits and 
 dispositions ; checks the hopes of clamorous 
 and obtrusive poverty, with no other re- 
 commendation but rags ; and encourages, 
 with adequate relief, the silent and retiring 
 sufferer, labouring under unmerited diffi- 
 culties. This mode of exercising our cha- 
 rity presents a very different picture from 
 that of any other ; and its contrast with 
 the common mode of parish relief cannot 
 be better described than in the words of 
 Mr. Townsend, in the conclusion of his 
 admirable dissertation on the Poor-Laws. 
 Nothing in nature can be more disgusting 
 than a parish pay-table, attendant upon 
 which, in the same objects of misery, 
 are too often found combined, snuff, 
 gin, rags, vermin, insolence and abusive 
 language ; nor in nature can any thing 
 be more beautiful than the mild compla- 
 cency of benevolence hastening to the 
 humble cottage to relieve the wants of 
 
 " industry
 
 220 Of the Direction of our Charity. Bk. iv. 
 
 " industry and virtue, to feed the hungry, 
 " to clothe the naked, and to soothe the 
 "sorrows of the widow with her tender 
 " orphans ; nothing can be more pleasing, 
 " unless it be their sparkling eyes, their 
 " bursting tears, and their uplifted hands, 
 " the artless expressions of unfeigned gra- 
 " titude for unexpected favours. Such 
 " scenes will frequently occur, whenever 
 " men shall have power to dispose of their 
 " own property/' 
 
 I conceive it to be almost impossible that 
 any person could be much engaged in such 
 scenes without daily making advances in 
 virtue. No exercise of our affections can 
 have a more evident tendency to purify 
 and exalt the human mind. It is almost 
 exclusively this species of charity that bless- 
 eth him that gives ; and, in a general view, 
 it is almost exclusively this species of cha- 
 rity which blesseth him that takes ; at least 
 it may be asserted that there are but few 
 other modes of exercising our charity, in 
 which large sums can be distributed, with- 
 out a greater chance of producing evil than 
 good. 
 
 The
 
 Ch. x. Of the Direction of our Charity. 221 
 
 The discretionary power of giving or 
 withholding relief, which is, to a certain 
 extent, vested in parish officers and justices, 
 is of a very different nature, and will have 
 a very different effect, from the discrimina- 
 tion which may be exercised by voluntary 
 charity. Every man in this country, under 
 certain circumstances, is entitled by law to 
 parish assistance ; and unless his disqualifi- 
 cation is clearly proved, has a right to 
 complain if it be withheld. The inquiries 
 necessary to settle this point, and the ex- 
 tent of the relief to be granted, too often 
 produce evasion and lying on the part of 
 the petitioner, and afford an opening to 
 partiality and oppression in the overseer. 
 If the proposed relief be given, it is of 
 course received with unthankfulness ; and 
 if it be denied, the party generally 
 thinks himself severely aggrieved, and 
 feels resentment and indignation at his 
 treatment. 
 
 In the distribution of voluntary charity 
 nothing of this kind can take place. The 
 person who receives it is made the proper 
 subject of the pleasurable sensation of gra- 
 titude; and those who do not receive it 
 
 cannot
 
 222 Of the Direction of our Charity. Bk. iv. 
 
 cannot possibly conceive themselves in the 
 slightest degree injured. , Every man has a 
 right to do what he will with his own, and 
 cannot, in justice, be called upon to render 
 a reason why he gives in the one case, and 
 abstains from it in the other. This kind of 
 despotic power, essential to voluntary cha- 
 rity, gives the greatest facility to the selec- 
 tion of worthy objects of relief, without 
 being accompanied by any ill consequences; 
 and has further a most beneficial effect 
 from the degree of uncertainty which must 
 necessarily be attached to it. It is in the 
 highest degree important to the general 
 happiness of the poor, that no man should 
 look to charity as a fund on which he may 
 confidently depend. He should be taught 
 that his own exertions, his own industry 
 and foresight, are his only just ground of 
 dependence ; that if these fail, assistance 
 in his distresses can only be the subject of 
 rational hope; and that even the foundation 
 of this hope will depend in a considerable 
 degree on his own good conduct, and the 
 consciousness that he has not involved him- 
 self in these difficulties by his indolence or 
 imprudence. 
 
 That
 
 Ch. x. Of the Direction of our Charity. 223 
 
 That in the distribution of our charity we 
 are under a strong moral obligation to in- 
 culcate this lesson on the poorly a proper 
 discrimination, is a truth of which I cannot 
 feel a doubt. If all could be completely 
 relieved, and poverty banished from the 
 country, even at the expense of three- 
 fourths of the fortunes of the rich, I would 
 be the last to say a single syllable against 
 relieving all, and making the degree of dis- 
 tress alone the measure of our bounty. But 
 as experience has proved, I believe, with- 
 out a single exception, that poverty and 
 misery have always increased in proportion 
 to the quantity of indiscriminate charity, 
 are we not bound to infer, reasoning as 
 we usually do from the laws of nature, that 
 it is an intimation that such a mode of 
 distribution is not the proper office of be- 
 nevolence ? - 
 
 The laws of nature say, with St. Paul, 
 " If a man will not work, neither shall he 
 " eat/' They also say that he is not rashly 
 to trust to Providence. They appear in- 
 deed to be constant and uniform for the 
 express purpose of telling him what he is 
 
 to
 
 224 Of the Direction of our Charity. Bk. iv. 
 
 to trust to, and tl*at, if he marry without a 
 reasonable prospect of supporting a family, 
 he must expect to suffer want. These inti- 
 mations appear from the constitution of 
 human nature to be absolutely necessary, 
 and to have a strikingly beneficial tendency. 
 If in the direction either of our public or 
 our private charity we say that though a 
 man will not work, yet he shall eat ; and 
 though he marry without being able to sup- 
 port a family, yet his family shall be sup- 
 ported ; it is evident that we do not merely 
 endeavour to mitigate the partial evils 
 arising from general laws, but regularly and 
 systematically to counteract the obviously 
 beneficial effects of these general laws 
 themselves. And we cannot easily con- 
 ceive, that the Deity should implant any 
 passion in the human breast for such a 
 purpose. 
 
 In the great course of human events, the 
 best-founded expectations will sometimes 
 be disappointed ; and industry, prudence 
 and virtue not only fail of their just reward-, 
 but be involved in unmerited calamities. 
 Those who are thus suffering in spite of the 
 
 best-directed
 
 Ch. x. Of the Direction of our Charity. 225 
 
 best-directed endeavours to avoid it, and 
 from causes which they could not be ex- 
 pected to foresee, are the genuine objects 
 of charity. In relieving these, we exercise 
 the appropriate office of benevolence, that 
 of mitigating the partial evils arising from 
 general laws ; and in this direction of oui 
 charity therefore we need not apprehend any 
 ill consequences. Such objects ought to be 
 relieved, according to our means, liberally 
 and adequately, even though the worthless 
 were in much more severe distress. 
 
 When indeed this first claim on our be- 
 nevolence was satisfied, we might then turn 
 our attention to the idle and improvident ; 
 but the interests of human happiness most 
 clearly require, that the relief which we 
 afford them should not be abundant. We 
 may perhaps take upon ourselves, with 
 great caution, to mitigate the punishments 
 which they are suffering from the laws of 
 nature, but on no account to remove them 
 entirely. They are deservedly at the bot- 
 tom in the scale of society ; and if we raise 
 them from this situation, we not only pal- 
 
 vol. ii. q pably
 
 226 Of the Direction of our Charity. Bk. ir. 
 
 pably defeat the end of benevolence, but 
 commit a most glaring injustice to those 
 who are above them. They should on no 
 account be enabled to command so much 
 of the necessaries of life, as can be obtained 
 by the wages of common labour. 
 
 It is evident that these reasonings do not 
 apply to those cases of urgent distress 
 arising from disastrous accidents, uncon- 
 nected with habits of indolence and impro- 
 vidence. If a man break a leg or an arm, 
 we are not to stop to inquire into his moral 
 character before we lend him our assist- 
 ance; but in this case we are perfectly 
 consistent, and the touchstone of utility 
 completely justifies our conduct. By af- 
 fording the most indiscriminate assistance 
 in this way, we are in little danger of en- 
 couraging people to break their arms and 
 legs. According to the touchstone of 
 utility, the high approbation which Christ 
 gave to the conduct of the good Samaritan, 
 who followed the immediate impulse of his 
 benevolence in relieving a stranger in the 
 urgent distress of an accident, does not, in 
 
 the
 
 Ch. x. Of the Direction of our Charity. 227 
 
 the smallest degree, contradict the expres- 
 sion of St. Paul, " If a man will not work, 
 " neither shall he eat/' 
 
 We are not however, in any case, to lose 
 a present opportunity of doing good, from 
 the mere supposition that we may meet pos- 
 sibly with a worthier object. In all doubtful 
 cases it may safely be laid down as our duty 
 to follow the natural impulse of our benevo- 
 lence; but when, in fulfilling our obligations 
 as reasonable beings to attend to the con- 
 sequences of our actions, we have, from 
 our own experience and that of others, 
 drawn the conclusion that the exercise of 
 our benevolence in one mode is prejudicial, 
 and in another is beneficial in its effects; 
 we are certainly bound, as moral agents, 
 to check our natural propensities in the one 
 direction, and to encourage them and ac- 
 quire the habits of exercising them in the 
 other. 
 
 Q 2 CHAP.
 
 ( 228 ) 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 Different Plans of improving the Condition of the Poor 
 considered. 
 
 IN the distribution of our charity, or in 
 any efforts which we may make to better 
 the condition of the lower classes of society, 
 there is another point relating to the main 
 argument of this work* to which we must 
 be particularly attentive. We must on no 
 account do any thing which tends directly 
 to encourage marriage, or to remove, in any 
 regular and systematic manner, that ine- 
 quality of circumstances which ought al- 
 ways to exist between the single man and 
 the man with a family. The writers who 
 have best understood the principle of po- 
 pulation appear to me all to have fallen 
 into very important errors on this point. 
 
 Sir James Steuart, who is fully aware of 
 what he calls vicious procreation, and of 
 the misery that attends a redundant popu- 
 lation, recommends, notwithstanding, the 
 
 general
 
 Ch. xi. Different Plans of 'improving } 8$c. 229 
 
 general establishment of foundling hospi- 
 tals ; the taking of children under certain 
 circumstances from their parents, and sup- 
 porting them at the expense of the state; 
 and particularly laments the inequality of 
 condition between the married and single 
 man, so ill proportioned to their respective 
 wants a . He forgets, in these instances, 
 that if, without the encouragement to mul- 
 tiplication of foundling hospitals, or of 
 public support for the children of some 
 married persons, and under the discou- 
 ragement of great pecuniary disadvantages 
 on the side of the married man, population 
 be still redundant, which is evinced by the 
 inability of the poor to maintain all their 
 children ; it is a clear proof that the funds 
 destined for the maintenance of labour 
 cannot properly support a greater popula- 
 tion ; and that, if further encouragements 
 to multiplication be given and discourage- 
 ments removed, the result must be, an in- 
 crease somewhere or other of that vicious 
 procreation, which he so justly reprobates. 
 Mr. Townsend, who in his Dissertation 
 
 * Political Economy, vol. i. b. i. c. xiii. 
 
 on
 
 230 Different Plans of improving the Bk. iv. 
 
 on the Poor-Laws has treated this subject 
 with great skill and perspicuity, appears to 
 me to conclude with a proposal, which 
 violates the principles on which he had rea- 
 soned so well. He wishes to make the benefit 
 clubs, or friendly societies, which are now 
 voluntarily established in many parishes, 
 compulsory and universal ; and proposes 
 as a regulation that an unmarried man 
 should pay a fourth part of his wages, and 
 a married man with four children not more 
 than a thirtieth part a . 
 
 I must first remark that the moment 
 these subscriptions are made compulsory, 
 they will necessarily operate exactly like a 
 direct tax upon labour, which, as Adam 
 Smith justly states, will always be paid, 
 and in a more expensive manner, by the 
 consumer. The landed interest therefore 
 would receive no relief from this plan, but 
 would pay the same sum as at present, only 
 in the advanced price of labour and of 
 commodities, instead of in the parish rates. 
 A compulsory subscription of this kind 
 would have almost all the bad effects of the 
 
 a Dissertation on the Poor-Laws, p. 89, 2d edit. 1787. 
 
 present
 
 Ch. xi. Condition of the Poor considered. 231 
 
 present system of relief, and though altered 
 in name would still possess the essential 
 spirit of the poor-laws. 
 
 Dean Tucker, in some remarks on a plan 
 of the same kind, proposed by Mr. Pew, 
 observed that, after much talk and reflec- 
 tion on the subject, he had come to the 
 conclusion, that they must be voluntary 
 associations, and not compulsory assem- 
 blies. A voluntary subscription is like a 
 tax upon a luxury, and does not necessarily 
 raise the price of labour. 
 
 It should be recollected also, that in a 
 voluntary association of a small extent, 
 over which each individual member can 
 exercise a superintendence, it is highly 
 probable that the original agreements will 
 all be strictly fulfilled, or, if they be not, 
 every man may at least have the redress of 
 withdrawing himself from the club. But in 
 an universal compulsory subscription, which 
 must necessarily become a national concern, 
 there would be no security whatever for the 
 fulfilment of the original agreements ; and 
 when the funds failed, which they certainly 
 would do, when all the idle and dissolute 
 
 were
 
 232 Different Flans of improving the Bk. iv. 
 
 were included, instead of some of the most 
 industrious and provident, as at present, a 
 larger subscription would probably be de- 
 manded, and no man would have the right 
 to refuse it. The evil would thus go on 
 increasing as the poor-rates do now. If 
 indeed the assistance given were always 
 specific, and on no account to be increased, 
 as in the present voluntary associations, 
 this would certainly be a striking advan- 
 tage; but the same advantage might be 
 completely attained by a similar distribu- 
 tion of the sums collected by the parish 
 rates. On the whole therefore, it appears 
 to me that, if the friendly societies were 
 made universal and compulsory, it would be 
 merely a different mode of collecting parish 
 rates ; and any particular mode of distri- 
 bution might be as well adopted upon one 
 system as upon the other. 
 
 With regard to the proposal of making 
 single men pay a fourth part of their 
 earnings weekly, and married men with 
 families only a thirtieth part, it would evi- 
 dently operate as aheavy fine upon bachelors, 
 and a high bounty upon children ; and is 
 
 therefore
 
 Ch. xi. Condition of the Poor considered. 233 
 
 therefore directly adverse to the general 
 spirit, in which Mr. Townsend's excellent 
 dissertation is written. Before he intro- 
 duces this proposal, he lays it down as a 
 general principle, that no system for the 
 relief of the poor can be good, which does 
 not regulate population by the demand for 
 labour 8 ; but this proposal clearly tends to 
 encourage population without any reference 
 to the demand for labour, and punishes a 
 young man for his prudence in refraining 
 from marriage, at a time, perhaps, when 
 this demand may be so small, that the 
 wages of labour are totally inadequate to 
 the support of a family. I should be 
 averse to any compulsory system whatever 
 for the poor; but certainly if single men 
 were compelled to pay a contribution for 
 the future contingencies of the married 
 state, they ought in justice to receive a 
 benefit proportioned to the period of their 
 privation ; and the man who had contri- 
 buted a fourth of his earnings for merely 
 one year, ought not to be put upon a level 
 
 P. 84. 
 
 with
 
 234 Different Plans of improving the Bk. iv. 
 
 with him who had contributed this propor- 
 tion for ten years. 
 
 Mr. Arthur Young, in most of his works, 
 appears clearly to understand the principle 
 of population, and is fully aware of the 
 evils, which must necessarily result from an 
 increase of people beyond the demand for 
 labour and the means of comfortable sub- 
 sistence. In his Tour through France he 
 has particularly laboured on this point, and 
 shewn most forcibly the misery, which re- 
 sults in that country from the excess of 
 population occasioned by the too great 
 divison of property. Such an increase he 
 justly calls merely a multiplication of 
 wretchedness. " Couples marry and pro- 
 " create on the idea, not the reality, of a 
 " maintenance ; they increase beyond the 
 " demand of towns and manufactures ; and 
 " the consequence is, distress, and numbers 
 " dying of diseases arising from insufficient 
 " nourishment \" 
 
 In another place he quotes a very sensible 
 passage from the report of the committee of 
 
 * Travels in France, vol. i. c. xii. p. 408. 
 
 mendicity,
 
 Ch. xi. Condition of the Poor considered. 235 
 
 mendicity, which, alluding to the evils of 
 over-population, concludes thus, " II fau- 
 " droit enfin necessairement que le prix de 
 " travail baiss&t par la plus grande con- 
 " currence de travailleurs, d'ou resulteroit 
 " un indigence complette pour ceux qui 
 " ne trouveroient pas de travail, et une 
 " subsistence incomplette pour ceux monies 
 " auxquels il ne seroit pas refuse." And 
 in remarking upon this passage, he ob- 
 serves, " France itself affords an irrefra- 
 gable proof of the truth of these senti- 
 ments ; for I am clearly of opinion, from 
 the observations I made in every pro- 
 vince of the kingdom, that her popula- 
 tion is so much beyond the proportion 
 of her industry and labour, that she would 
 be much more powerful and infinitely 
 more flourishing, if she had five or six 
 millions less of inhabitants. From her 
 too great population she presents in every 
 quarter such spectacles of wretchedness, 
 as are absolutely inconsistent with that 
 degree of national felicity, which she was 
 capable of attaining, even under the old 
 government. A traveller much less at- 
 
 " tentive
 
 236 Different Plans of improving the Bk. iv. 
 
 " tentive than I was to objects of this kind 
 
 " must see at every turn most unequivocal 
 
 " signs of distress. That these should exist, 
 
 " no one can wonder, who considers the 
 
 " price of labour and of provisions, and 
 
 " the misery into which a small rise in the 
 
 " price of wheat throws the lower classes \" 
 " If you would see," he says, " a dis- 
 
 " trict with as little distress in it as is con- 
 
 " sistent with the political system of the 
 
 " old government of France, you must as- 
 
 " suredly go where there are no little pro- 
 
 " prietors at all. You must visit the great 
 
 " farms in Beauce, Picardy, part of Nor- 
 
 " mandy and Artois, and there you will 
 
 " find no more population than what is 
 
 " regularly employed and regularly paid ; 
 
 " and if in such districts you should, con- 
 
 " trary to this rule, meet with much dis- 
 
 " tress, it is twenty to one but that it is in 
 
 " a parish, which has some commons which 
 
 " tempt the poor to have cattle to have 
 
 " property and in consequence misery. 
 
 " When you are engaged in this political 
 
 " tour, finish it by seeing England, and 
 
 Travels in France, vol. i. c. xvii. p. 469. 
 
 " I will
 
 Ch. xi. Condition of the Poor considered. 237 
 
 " I will shew you a set of peasants well 
 " clothed, well nourished, tolerably drunken 
 " from superfluity, well lodged and at their 
 " ease ; and yet amongst them, not one in a 
 " thousand has either land or cattle V A 
 little further on, alluding to encouragements 
 to marriage, he says of France. " The predo- 
 " minant evil of the kingdom is the having 
 " so great a population, that she can neither 
 " employ nor feed it ; why then encourage 
 " marriage ? Would you breed more peo- 
 " pie, because you have more already than 
 " you know what to do with ? You have 
 " so great a competition for food, that your 
 " people are starving or in misery ; and 
 " you would encourage the production of 
 u more, to increase that competition. It 
 " may almost be questioned, whether the 
 " contrary policy ought not to be em- 
 *' braced ; whether difficulties should not 
 " be laid on the marriage of those, who 
 " cannot make it appear that they have 
 " the prospect of maintaining the children 
 " that shall be the fruit of it ? But why 
 " encourage marriages, which are sure to 
 Travels in France, vol. i. c. xvii. p. 471. 
 
 " take
 
 238 Different Plans of improving the Bk. iv. 
 
 " take place in all situations in which they 
 " ought to take place? There is no, in- 
 " stance to be found of plenty of regular 
 " employment being first established , where 
 " marriages have not followed in a propor- 
 " tionate degree. The policy therefore, at 
 " best, is useless, and may be pernicious/' 
 After having once so clearly understood 
 the principle of population, as to express 
 these and many other sentiments on the 
 subject, equally just and important, it is 
 not a little surprising to find Mr. Young, in 
 a pamphlet, entitled, The Question of Scar- 
 city plainly stated, and Remedies considered, 
 (published in 1800,) observing, that " the 
 " means, which would of all others perhaps 
 " tend most surely to prevent future scar- 
 " cities so oppressive to the poor as the pre- 
 " sent, would be to secure to every country 
 " labourer in the kingdom, that has three 
 " children and upwards, half an acre of 
 " land for potatoes ; and grass enough to 
 " feed one or two cows a . * * * * If each 
 " had his ample potatoe-ground and a cow, 
 " the price of wheat would be of little more 
 
 * P. 77. 
 
 " consequence
 
 Ch. xi. Condition of the Poor considered. 239 
 
 " consequence to them than it is to their 
 " brethren in Ireland/' 
 
 " Every one admits the system to be 
 " good, but the question is how to en- 
 " force it." 
 
 I was by no means aware that the excel- 
 lence of the system had been so generally 
 admitted. For myself I strongly protest 
 against being included in the general term 
 of every one, as I should consider the adop- 
 tion of this system as the most cruel and 
 fatal blow to the happiness of the lower 
 classes of people in this country that they 
 had ever received. 
 
 Mr. Young however goes on to say, that 
 " The magnitude of the object should make 
 " us disregard any difficulties, but such as 
 " are insuperable : none such would pro- 
 " bably occur, if something like the follow- 
 " ing means were resorted to. 
 
 " I. Where there are common pastures, 
 " to give to a labouring man having 
 " children, a right to demand an allotment 
 " proportioned to the family, to be set out 
 " by the parish officers, &c, * * * and a 
 " cow bought. Such labourer to have both 
 
 "for
 
 240 Different Plans of improving the Bk. iv. 
 
 " for life, paying 40s. a year till the price of 
 " the cow, &c, was reimbursed : at his 
 " death to go to the labourer having the 
 " most numerous family, for life, paying 
 " shillings a week to the widow of his 
 
 " predecessor. 
 
 " II. Labourers thus demanding allot- 
 " ments by reason of their families to have 
 " land assigned and cows bought, till the 
 " proportion so allotted amounts to one 
 " of the extent of the common. 
 
 " III. In parishes where there are no 
 " commons, and the quality of the land 
 " adequate, every cottager having 
 " children, to whose cottage there is not 
 * within a given time land sufficient for a 
 " cow, and half an acre of potatoes, as- 
 " signed at a fair average rent, subject to 
 " appeal to the sessions, to have a right to 
 " demand shillings per week of the pa- 
 " rish for every child, till such land be as- 
 " signed ; leaving to landlords and tenants 
 " the means of doing it. Cows to be found 
 " by the parish under an annual reimburse- 
 " ment\" 
 
 P. 78. 
 
 " The
 
 Ch. xi. Condition of the Poor considered. 241 
 
 " The great object is, by means of milk 
 " and potatoes, to take the mass of the 
 " country poor from the consumption of 
 " wheat, and to give them substitutes 
 " equally wholesome and nourishing, and 
 " as independent of scarcities, natural and 
 " artificial, as the providence of the Al- 
 " mighty will admit V 
 
 Would not this plan operate, in the most 
 direct manner, as an encouragement to mar- 
 riage and a bounty on children, which Mr. 
 Young has with so much justice reprobated 
 in his travels in France ? and does he se- 
 riously think that it would be an eligible 
 thing to feed the mass of the people in this 
 country on milk and potatoes, and make 
 them as independent of the price of corn 
 and demand for labour as their brethren in 
 Ireland ? 
 
 The specific cause of the poverty and mi- 
 sery of the lower classes of people in France 
 and Ireland is, that from the extreme sub- 
 division of property in the one country, and 
 the facility of obtaining a cabin and pota- 
 toes in the other, a population is brought 
 
 8 P. 79- 
 vol. ii. it into
 
 242 Different Plans of improving the Bk. iv. 
 
 into existence, which is not demanded by 
 the quantity of capital and employment in 
 the country ; and the consequence of which 
 must therefore necessarily be, as is very 
 justly expressed in the Report of the Com- 
 mittee of Mendicity before mentioned, to 
 lower in general the price of labour by too 
 great competition ; from which must result 
 complete indigence to those who cannot find 
 employment, and an incomplete subsist- 
 ence even to those who can. 
 
 The obvious tendency of Mr. Young's 
 plan is, by encouraging marriage and fur- 
 nishing a cheap food, independent of the 
 price of corn, and of course of the demand 
 for labour, to place the lower classes of 
 people exactly in this situation. 
 
 It may perhaps be said, that our poor- 
 laws at present regularly encourage mar- 
 riage and children, by distributing relief in 
 proportion to the size of families ; and that 
 this plan, which is proposed as a substitute, 
 would merely do the same thing in a less ob- 
 jectionable manner. But surely, in endea- 
 vouring to get rid of the evil of the poor- 
 laws, we ought not to retain their most per- 
 nicious
 
 Ch. xi. Condition of the Poor considered. 243 
 
 nicious quality ; and Mr. Young must know* 
 as well as I do, that the principal reason 
 why poor-laws have invariably been found 
 ineffectual in the relief of the poor is, that 
 they tend to encourage a population, which 
 is not regulated by the demand for labour. 
 Mr. Young himself, indeed, expressly takes 
 notice of this effect in England, and ob- 
 serves that, notwithstanding the unrivalled 
 prosperity of her manufactures, " popula- 
 " tion is sometimes too active, as we see 
 " clearly by the dangerous increase of 
 " poor's rates in country villages V 
 
 But the fact is, that Mr. Young's plan 
 w r ould be incomparably more powerful in 
 encouraging a population beyond the de- 
 mand for labour, than our present poor- 
 laws. A laudable repugnance to the re- 
 ceiving of parish relief, arising partly from 
 a spirit of independence not yet extinct, 
 and partly from the disagreeable mode in 
 which the relief is given, undoubtedly deters 
 many from marrying with a certainty of 
 falling on the parish ; and the proportion of 
 births and marriages to the whole popula- 
 
 a Travels in France, vol. i. c. xvii. p. 470. 
 
 r 2 tion
 
 244 Different Plans of improving the Bk. iv. 
 
 tion, which has before been noticed, clearly 
 proves that the poor-laws do not encourage 
 marriage so much as might be expected 
 from theory. But the case would be very 
 different, if, when a labourer had an early 
 marriage in contemplation, the terrific 
 forms of workhouses and parish officers, 
 which might disturb his resolution, were to 
 be exchanged for the fascinating visions of 
 land and cows. If the love of property, as 
 Mr. Young has repeatedly said, will make 
 a man do much, it would be rather strange 
 if it would not make him marry ; an action 
 to which, it appears from experience, that 
 he is by no means disinclined. 
 
 The population, which would be thus 
 called into being, would be supported by 
 the extended cultivation of potatoes, and 
 would of course go on without any reference 
 to the demand for labour. In the present 
 state of things, notwithstanding the flourish- 
 ing condition of our manufactures and the 
 numerous checks to our population, there 
 is no practical problem so difficult, as to 
 find employment for the poor ; but this dif- 
 ficulty would evidently be aggravated a 
 
 hundred
 
 Ch. xi. Condition of tlie Poor considered. 245 
 
 hundred fold, under the circumstances here 
 supposed. 
 
 In Ireland, or in any other country, 
 where the common food is potatoes, and 
 every man who wishes to marry may obtain 
 a piece of ground sufficient, when planted 
 with this root, to support a family, prizes 
 may be given till the treasury is exhausted 
 for essays on the best means of employing 
 the poor ; but till some stop to the progress 
 of population naturally arising from this 
 state of things takes place, the object in 
 view is really a physical impossibility a . 
 
 Mr. Young has intimated, that, if the 
 people were fed upon milk and potatoes, 
 they would be more independent of scar- 
 cities than at present ; but why this should 
 
 * Dr. Crumpe's Prize Essay on the best means of 
 finding employment for the people is an excellent treatise, 
 and contains most valuable information ; but till the ca- 
 pital of the country is better proportioned to its popula- 
 tion, it is perfectly chimerical to expect success in any 
 project of the kind. I am also strongly disposed to be- 
 lieve that the indolent and turbulent habits of the lower 
 Irish can never be corrected, while the potatoe system 
 enables them to increase so much beyond the regular 
 demand for labour. 
 
 be
 
 246 Different Plans of improving the Bk. iv. 
 
 be the case I really cannot comprehend. 
 Undoubtedly people who live upon pota- 
 toes will not be much affected by a scarcity 
 of wheat ; but is there any contradiction in 
 the supposition -of a failure in the crops of 
 potatoes ? I believe it is generally under- 
 stood that they are more liable to suffer 
 damage during the winter than grain. From 
 the much greater quantity of food yielded 
 by a given piece of land when planted with 
 potatoes, than under any other kind of cul- 
 tivation, it would naturally happen that, 
 for some time after the introduction of this 
 root as the general food of the lower classes 
 of people, a greater quantity would be 
 grown than was demanded, and they would 
 live in plenty. Mr. Young, in his Travels 
 through France, observes, that, " In dis- 
 " tricts which contain immense quantities 
 " of waste land of a certain degree of fer- 
 " tility, as in the roots of the Pyrenees, 
 " belonging to communities ready to sell 
 " them, economy and industry, animated 
 " with the views of settling and marrying, 
 " flourish greatly ; in such neighbourhoods 
 " something like an American increase 
 
 " takes
 
 Ch. xi. Condition of the Poor considered. 247 
 
 " takes place, and if the land be cheap 
 " little distress is found. But as procrea- 
 " tion goes on rapidly under such circum- 
 " stances, the least check to subsistence 
 " is attended with great misery ; as wastes 
 " becoming dearer, or the best portions 
 " being sold, or difficulties arising in the 
 " acquisition ; all which circumstances I 
 " met with in those mountains. The mo- 
 " ment that any impediment happens, the 
 " distress of such a people will be propor- 
 " tioned to the activity and vigour, which 
 " had animated population a . M 
 
 This description will apply exactly to 
 what would take place in this country, on 
 the distribution of small portions of land to 
 the common people, and the introduction 
 of potatoes as their general food. For a 
 time the change might appear beneficial, 
 and of course the idea of property would 
 make it, at first, highly acceptable to the 
 poor ; but as Mr. Young in another place 
 says, " You presently arrive at the limit, 
 " beyond which the earth, cultivate it as 
 " you please, will feed no more mouths ; 
 
 a Travels in France, vol. i. c. xvii. p. 40Q. 
 
 " yet
 
 248 Different Plans of improving the Bk. iv 
 
 " yet those simple manners, which instigate 
 " to marriage, still continue ; what then is 
 " the consequence, but the most dreadful 
 " misery imaginable ? \" 
 
 When the commons were all divided, 
 and difficulties began to occur in procuring 
 potatoe-grounds, the habit of early mar- 
 riages, which had been introduced, would 
 occasion the most complicated distress ; 
 and when from the increasing population, 
 and diminishing sources of subsistence, the 
 average growth of potatoes was not more 
 than the average consumption, a scarcity 
 of potatoes would be, in every respect, as 
 probable as a scarcity of wheat at present ; 
 and, when it did arrive, it would be beyond 
 all comparison more dreadful. 
 
 When the common people of a country 
 live principally upon the dearest grain, as 
 they do in England on wheat, they have 
 great resources in a scarcity ; and barley, 
 oats, rice, cheap soups and potatoes, all 
 present themselves as less expensive, yet at 
 the same time wholesome means of nourish- 
 ment ; but when their habitual food is the 
 * Travels in France, vol. i. c. xvii. p. 409. 
 
 lowest
 
 Ch. xi. Condition of the Poor considered. 249 
 
 lowest in this scale, they appear to be ab- 
 solutely without resource, except in the 
 bark of trees, like the poor Swedes ; and a 
 great portion of them must necessarily be 
 starved. 
 
 The wages of labour will always be re- 
 gulated by the proportion of the supply to 
 the demand. And as, upon the potatoe 
 system, a supply more than adequate to 
 the demand would very soon take place, 
 and this supply might be continued at a 
 very cheap rate, on account of the cheap- 
 ness of the food which would furnish it, the 
 common price of labour would soon be re- 
 gulated principally by the price of potatoes 
 instead of the price of wheat, as at present ; 
 and the rags and wretched cabins of Ireland 
 would follow of course. 
 
 When the demand for labour occasion- 
 ally exceeds the supply, and wages are re- 
 gulated by the price of the dearest grain, 
 they will generally be such as to yield 
 something besides mere food, and the com- 
 mon people may be able to obtain decent 
 houses and decent clothing. If the con- 
 trast between the state of the French and 
 
 English
 
 250 Different Plans of improving the Bk. iv. 
 
 English labourers, which Mr. Young has 
 drawn, be in any degree near the truth, the 
 advantage on the side of England has been 
 occasioned precisely and exclusively by 
 these two circumstances ; and if, by the 
 adoption of milk and potatoes as the ge- 
 neral food of the common people, these 
 circumstances were totally altered, so as to 
 make the supply of labour constantly in a 
 great excess above the demand for it, and 
 regulate wages by the price of the cheapest 
 food, the advantage would be immediately 
 lost, and no efforts of benevolence could 
 prevent the most general and abject 
 poverty. 
 
 Upon the same principle it would by no 
 means be eligible that the cheap soups of 
 Count Rumford should be adopted as the 
 general food of the common people. They 
 are excellent inventions for public institu- 
 tions, and as occasional resources ; but if 
 they were once universally adopted by the 
 poor, it would be impossible to prevent the 
 price of labour from being regulated by them ; 
 and the labourer, though at first he might 
 havemore to spare forother expenses, besides 
 
 food.
 
 Ch. xi. Condition of the Poor considered. 251 
 
 food, would ultimately have much less to 
 spare than before. 
 
 The desirable thing, with a view to the 
 happiness of the common people, seems to 
 be, that their habitual food should be dear, 
 and their wages regulated by it ; but that, 
 in a scarcity, or other occasional distress, 
 the cheaper food should be readily and 
 cheerfully adopted a . With a view of ren- 
 dering this transition easier, and at the 
 same time of making an useful distinction 
 between those who are dependent on parish 
 relief and those who are not, I should think 
 that one plan, which Mr. Young proposes, 
 would be extremely eligible. This is " to 
 " pass an act prohibiting relief, so far as 
 " subsistence is concerned, in any other 
 " manner than by potatoes, rice and soup ; 
 " not merely as a measure of the moment, 
 
 * It is certainly to be wished that every cottage in 
 England should have a garden to it well stocked with 
 vegetables. A little variety of food is in every point of 
 view highly useful. Potatoes are undoubtedly a most 
 valuable assistance, though I should be very sorry ever to 
 see them the principal dependence of our labourers. 
 
 " but
 
 252 Different Plans of improving the Bk. iv. 
 
 " but permanently \" I do not think that 
 this plan would necessarily introduce these 
 articles as the common food of the lower 
 classes ; and if it merely made the transition 
 to them in periods of distress easier, and at 
 the same time drew a more marked line than 
 at present between dependence and inde- 
 pendence, it would have a very beneficial 
 effect. 
 
 As it is acknowledged that the introduc- 
 tion of milk and potatoes, or of cheap 
 soups, as the general food of the lower 
 classes of people, would lower the price of 
 labour, perhaps some cold politician might 
 propose to adopt the system, with a view 
 of underselling foreigners in the markets of 
 Europe. I should not envy the feelings 
 which could suggest such a proposal. I 
 really cannot conceive any thing much 
 more detestable than the idea of knowingly 
 condemning the labourers of this country 
 
 * Question of Scarcity, &c. p. 80. This might be 
 done, at least with regard to workhouses. In assisting 
 the poor at their own homes, it might be subject to some 
 practical difficulties. 
 
 to
 
 Ch. xi. Condition of the Poor considered. 253 
 
 to the rags and wretched cabins of Ireland, 
 for the purpose of selling a few more broad 
 cloths and calicoes a . The wealth and 
 
 power 
 
 a In this observation I have not the least idea of al- 
 luding to Mr. Young, who, I firmly believe, ardently 
 wishes to improve the condition of the lower classes of 
 people ; though I do not think that his plan would effect 
 the object in view. He either did not see those conse- 
 quences which I apprehend from it ; or he has a better 
 opinion of the happiness of the common people in Ireland 
 than I have. In his Irish tour he seemed much struck with 
 the plenty of potatoes which they possessed, and the absence 
 of all apprehension of want. Had he travelled in 1800 
 and 1801, his impressions would by all accounts have 
 been very different. From the facility which has hitherto 
 prevailed in Ireland of procuring potatoe-grounds, scarcities 
 have certainly been rare, and all the effects of the system 
 have not yet been felt, though certainly enough to make it 
 appear very far from desirable. 
 
 Mr. Young has since pursued his idea more in detail, in 
 a pamphlet entitled, An Inquiry into the Propriety of ap- 
 plying Wastes to the better Maintenance and Support of 
 the Poor. But the impression on my mind is still the 
 same ; and it appears to be calculated to assimilate the 
 condition of the labourers of this country to that of the 
 lower classes of the Irish. Mr. Young seems, in a most 
 unaccountable manner, to have forgotten all his general 
 principles on this subject. He has treated the question of 
 a provision for the poor, as if it was merely, How to 
 
 provide
 
 254 Different Plans of improving the Bk. iv. 
 
 power of nations are, after all, only de-f 
 sirable as they contribute to happiness. In 
 this point of view, I should be very far 
 from undervaluing them, considering them, 
 in general, as absolutely necessary means 
 to attain the end; but if any particular 
 case should occur, where they appear to 
 be in direct opposition to each other, we 
 cannot rationally doubt which ought to be 
 preferred . 
 
 Fortunately, however, even on the nar- 
 rowest political principles, the adoption of 
 such a system would not answer. It has 
 always been observed that those, who work 
 chiefly on their own property, work very in- 
 
 provide in the cheapest and best manner for a given num- 
 ber of people. If this had been the sole question, it would 
 never have taken so many hundred years to resolve. But 
 . the real question is, How to provide for those who are in 
 want, in such a manner as to prevent a continual accumu- 
 lation of their numbers r and it will readily occur to the 
 reader, that a plan of giving them land and cows cannot 
 promise much success in this respect. If, after all the 
 commons had been divided, the poor-laws were still to 
 continue in force, no good reason can be assigned why the 
 rates should not in a few years be as high as they are at 
 present, independently of all that had been expended in 
 die purchase of land and stock. 
 
 dolently
 
 Ch. xi. Condition of the Poor considered. 255 
 
 dolently and unwillingly when employed for 
 others ; and it must necessarily happen, 
 when, from the general adoption of a very 
 cheap food, the population of a country 
 increases considerably beyond the demand 
 for labour, that habits of idleness and tur- 
 bulence will be generated, most peculiarly 
 unfavourable to a flourishing state of manu- 
 factures. In spite of the cheapness of la- 
 bour in Ireland, there are few manufactures 
 which can be prepared in that country for 
 foreign sale so cheap as in England : and 
 this is in a great measure owing to the want 
 of those industrious habits which can only 
 be produced by regular employment. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 ( 256 ) 
 
 CHAP. XII \ 
 
 Continuation of the same Subject. 
 
 1 HE increasing portion of the society 
 which has of late years become either 
 wholly or partially dependent upon parish 
 assistance, together with the increasing 
 burden of the poor's rates on the landed 
 property, has for some time been working 
 a gradual change in the public opinion 
 respecting the benefits resulting to the la- 
 bouring classes of society, and to society in 
 general, from a legal provision for the poor. 
 But the distress which has followed the 
 peace of 1814, and the great and sudden 
 pressure which it has occasioned on the 
 parish rates, have accelerated this change 
 in a very marked manner. More just and 
 enlightened views on the subject are daily 
 gaining ground ; the difficulties attending 
 a legal provision for the poor are better un- 
 
 a Written in 1817- 
 
 derstood,
 
 Ch. xii. Continuation of the same Subject 257 
 
 derstood, and more generally acknow- 
 ledged ; and opinions are now seen in 
 print, and heard in conversation, which 
 twenty years ago would almost have been 
 considered as treason to the interests of the 
 state. 
 
 This change of public opinion, stimu- 
 lated by the severe pressure of the mo- 
 ment, has directed an unusual portion of 
 attention to the subject of the poor-laws ; 
 and as it is acknowledged that the present 
 system has essentially failed, various plans 
 have been proposed either as substitutes or 
 improvements. It may be useful to inquire 
 shortly how far the plans which have already 
 been published are calculated to accom- 
 plish the ends which they propose. It is 
 generally thought that some measure of 
 importance will be the result of the present 
 state of public opinion. To the permanent 
 success of any such measure, it is abso- 
 lutely necessary that it should apply itself 
 in some degree to the real source of the 
 difficulty. Yet there is reason to fear, 
 that notwithstanding the present improved 
 
 vol. ii. s knowledge
 
 258 Continuation of the same Subject. Bk. W. 
 
 knowledge on the subject, this point may 
 be too much overlooked. 
 
 Among the plans which appear to have 
 excited a considerable degree of the public 
 attention, is one of Mr. Owen. I have 
 already adverted to some views of Mr. Owen 
 in a chapter on Systems of Equality, and 
 spoken of his experience with the respect 
 which is justly due to it. If the question 
 were merely how to accommodate, support 
 and train, in the best manner, societies of 
 1200 people, there are perhaps few persons 
 more entitled to attention than Mr. Owen : 
 but in the plan which he has proposed, he 
 seems totally to have overlooked the nature 
 of the problem to be solved. This pro- 
 blem is, How to provide for those who are in 
 want, in such a manner as to prevent a conti- 
 nual increase of their numbers, and of the 
 proportion which they bear to the whole society. 
 And it must be allowed that Mr. Owen's 
 plan not only does not make the slightest 
 approach towards accomplishing this ob- 
 ject, but seems to be peculiarly calculated 
 to effect an object exactly the reverse of it, 
 
 that
 
 Ch. xii. Continuation of the same Subject. 259 
 
 that is, to increase and multiply the number 
 of paupers. 
 
 If the establishments which he recom- 
 mends could really be conducted according 
 to his apparent intentions, the order of na- 
 ture and the lessons of providence would 
 indeed be in the most marked manner re- 
 versed ; and the idle and profligate would 
 be placed in a situation which might justly 
 be the envy of the industrious and virtuous. 
 The labourer or manufacturer who is now 
 ill lodged and ill clothed, and obliged to 
 work twelve hours a day to maintain his 
 family, could have no motive to continue 
 his exertions, if the reward for slackening 
 them, and seeking parish assistance, was 
 good lodging, good clothing, the mainte- 
 nance and education of all his children, and 
 the exchange of twelve hours hard work in 
 an unwholesome manufactory for four or 
 five hours of easy agricultural labour on a 
 pleasant farm. Under these temptations, 
 the numbers yearly falling into the new esta- 
 blishments from the labouring and manu- 
 facturing classes, together with the rapid 
 increase by procreation of the societies 
 
 s 2 themselves,
 
 260 Continuation of the same Subject. Bk. ir. 
 
 themselves, would very soon render the 
 first purchases of land utterly incompetent 
 to their support More land must then be 
 purchased, and fresh settlements made; 
 and if the higher classes of society were 
 bound to proceed in the system according 
 to its apparent spirit and intention, there 
 cannot be a doubt that the whole nation 
 would shortly become a nation of paupers 
 with a community of goods. 
 
 Such a result might not perhaps be 
 alarming to Mr. Owen. It is just possible 
 indeed that he may have had this result in 
 contemplation when he proposed his plan, 
 and have thought that it was the best mode 
 of quietly introducing that community of 
 goods which he believes is necessary to 
 complete the virtue and happiness of so- 
 ciety. But to those who totally dissent 
 from him as to the effects to be expected 
 from a community of goods ; to those who 
 are convinced that even his favourite doc- 
 trine, that a man can be trained to produce 
 more than he consumes, which is no doubt 
 true at present, may easily cease to be true, 
 when cultivation is pushed beyond the 
 bounds prescribed to it by private pro- 
 perty;*
 
 Ch. xii. Continuation of the same Subject. 261 
 
 perty ; a the approaches towards a system of 
 this kind will be considered as approaches 
 towards a system of universal indolence, 
 poverty and wretchedness. 
 
 Upon the supposition then, thatMr.O wen's 
 plan could be effectively executed, and that 
 the various pauper societies scattered over 
 the country could at first be made to realize 
 his most sanguine wishes, such might be 
 expected to be their termination in a 
 moderately short time, from the natural 
 and necessary action of the principle of 
 population. 
 
 But it is probable that the other grand 
 objection to all systems of common pro- 
 perty would even at the very outset con- 
 found the experience of Mr. Owen, and 
 destroy the happiness to which he looks 
 forward. In the society at the Lanerk 
 Mills, two powerful stimulants to industry 
 and good conduct are in action, which 
 would be totally wanting in the societies 
 proposed. At Lanerk, the whole of every 
 man's earnings is his own ; and his powei 
 of maintaining himself, his wife and chil- 
 dren, in decency and comfort, will be in 
 
 " See vol. II. c. x. b. iii. p. 431. exact
 
 262 Continuation of the same Subject. Bk. iv. 
 
 exact proportion to his industry, sobriety 
 and economy. At Lanerk, also, if any 
 workman be perseveringly indolent and 
 negligent, if lie get drunk and spoil his 
 work, or if in any way he conduct himself 
 essentially ill, he not only naturally suffers 
 by the diminution of his earnings, but may 
 at any time be turned off', and the society 
 be relieved from the influence and example 
 of a profligate and dangerous member. On 
 the other hand, in the pauper establish- 
 ments proposed in the present plan, the 
 industry, sobriety and good conduct of 
 each individual, would be very feebly in- 
 deed connected with his power of main- 
 taining himself and family comfortably ; 
 and in the case of persevering idleness and 
 misconduct, instead of the simple and ef- 
 fective remedy of dismission, recourse must 
 be had to a system of direct punishment 
 of some kind or other, determined, and 
 enforced hy authority, which is always 
 painful and distressing, and generally in- 
 efficient. 
 
 I confess it appears to me that the most 
 successful experience, in such an establish- 
 ment
 
 Ch. xii. Continuation of the same Subject. 263 
 
 ment as that of Lanerk, furnishes no ground 
 whatever to say what could be done towards 
 the improvement of society in an establish- 
 ment where the produceof all the labour em- 
 ployed would go to a common stock, and 
 dismissal from the very nature and object of 
 the institution, would be impossible. If un- 
 der such disadvantages the proper manage- 
 ment of these establishments were within the 
 limits of possibility, what judgment, what 
 firmness, what patience, would be required 
 for the purpose ! But where are such quali- 
 ties to be found in sufficient abundance to 
 manage one or two millions of people ? 
 
 On the whole then it may be concluded, 
 that Mr. Owen's plan would have to en- 
 counter obstacles that really appear to be 
 insuperable, even at its first outset; and 
 that if these could by any possible means 
 be overcome, and the most complete success 
 attained, the system would, without some 
 most unnatural and unjust laws to prevent 
 the progress of population, lead to a state 
 of universal poverty and distress, in which, 
 though all the rich might be made poor, 
 none of the poor could be made rich, not 
 
 even
 
 264 Continuation of the same Subject. Bk. iv. 
 
 even so rich as a common labourer at 
 present. 
 
 The plan for bettering the condition of 
 the labouring classes of the community, 
 published by Mr. Curwen, is professedly a 
 slight sketch ; but principles, not details, 
 are what it is our present object to con- 
 sider; and the principles on which he would 
 proceed are declared with sufficient dis- 
 tinctness, when he states the great objects 
 of his design to be, 
 
 1. Meliorating the present wretched con- 
 dition of the lower orders of the people. 
 
 2. Equalizing by a new tax the present 
 poor's rates, which must be raised for their 
 relief. 
 
 3. And giving to all those, who may 
 think proper to place themselves under its 
 protection, a voice in the local manage- 
 ment and distribution of the fund destined 
 for their support. 
 
 The first proposition is, of course, or 
 ought to be, the object of every plan pro- 
 posed. And the two last may be considered 
 as the modes by which it is intended to ac- 
 complish it. 
 
 But
 
 Ch. xii. Continuation of the same Sitbject. 265 
 
 But it is obvious that these two propo- 
 sitions, though they may be both desirable 
 on other accounts, not only do not really 
 touch, but do not even propose to touch, 
 the great problem. We wish to check the 
 increase and diminish the proportion of 
 paupers, in order to give greater wealth, 
 happiness and independence to the mass of 
 the labouring classes. But the equalization 
 of the poor's rates, simply considered, would 
 have a very strong tendency to increase 
 rather than to diminish the number of 
 the dependent poor. At present the pa- 
 rochial rates fall so very heavily upon 
 one particular species of property, that the 
 persons, whose business it is to allow them, 
 have in general a very strong interest in- 
 deed to keep them low ; but if they fell 
 equally on all sorts of property, and parti- 
 cularly if they were collected from large 
 districts, or from counties, the local distri- 
 butors would have comparatively but very 
 feeble motives to reduce them, and they 
 might be expected to increase with great 
 rapidity. 
 
 It may be readily allowed, however, that 
 
 the
 
 266 Continuation of the same Subject. Bk. iv. 
 
 the peculiar weight with which the poor's 
 rates press upon land is essentially unfair. 
 It is particularly hard upon some country 
 parishes, where the births greatly exceed 
 the deaths, owing to the constant emigra- 
 tions which are taking place to towns and 
 manufactories, that, under any circum- 
 stances, a great portion of these emigrants 
 should be returned upon them, when old, 
 disabled, or out of work. Such parishes 
 may. be totally without the power of fur- 
 nishing either work or support for all the 
 persons born within their precincts. In 
 fact, the same number would not have been 
 born in them, unless these emigrations had 
 taken place. And it is certainly hard 
 therefore that parishes so circumstanced 
 should be obliged to receive and maintain 
 all who may return to them in distress. 
 Yet, in the present state of the country, the 
 most pressing evil is not the weight upon 
 the land, but the increasing proportion of 
 paupers. And, as the equalization of the 
 rates would certainly have a tendency to 
 increase this proportion, I should be sorry 
 to see such a measure introduced, even if 
 
 it
 
 Ch. xii. Continuation of the same Subject. 267 
 
 it were easily practicable, unless acccompa- 
 nied by some very strong and decisive li- 
 mitations to the continued increase of the 
 rates so equalized. 
 
 The other proposition of Mr. Curwen 
 will, in like manner, be found to afford no 
 security against the increase of pauperism. 
 We know perfectly well that the funds of 
 the friendly societies, as they are at present 
 constituted, though managed by the con- 
 tributors themselves, are seldom distributed 
 with the economy necessary to their per- 
 manent efficiency ; and in the national 
 societies proposed, as a considerable part 
 of the fund would be derived from the poor's 
 rates, there is certainly reason to expect 
 that every question which could be in- 
 fluenced by the contributors would be de^ 
 termined on principles still more indulgent 
 and less economical. 
 
 On this account it may well be doubted, 
 whether it would ever be advisable to mix 
 any public money, derived from assess- 
 ments, with the subscriptions of the la- 
 bouring classes. The probable result would 
 be, that in the case of any failure in the 
 
 funds
 
 268 Continuation of the same Subject. Bk. vt. 
 
 funds of such societies,arising from erroneous 
 calculations and too liberal allowances, it 
 would be expected that the whole of the 
 deficiency should be made up by the as- 
 sessments. And any rules which might have 
 been made to limit the amount applied in 
 this way would probably be but a feeble 
 barrier against claims founded on a plan 
 brought forward by the higher classes of 
 society. 
 
 Another strong objection to this sort of 
 union of parochial and private contribu- 
 tions is, that from the first the members of 
 such societies could not justly feel them- 
 selves independent. If one half or one 
 third of the fund were to be subscribed from 
 the parish, they would stand upon a very 
 different footing from the members of the 
 present benefit-clubs. "While so consi- 
 derable a part of the allowances to which 
 they might be entitled in sickness or in age 
 would really come from the poor's rates, 
 they would be apt to consider the plan as 
 what, in many respects, it really would 
 be, only a different mode of raising the 
 rates. If the system were to become ge- 
 neral,
 
 Ch. xii. Continuation of the same Subject. 269 
 
 neral, the contributions of the labouring 
 classes would have nearly the effects of a 
 tax on labour, and such a tax has been 
 generally considered as more unfavourable 
 to industry and production than most other 
 taxes. 
 
 The best part of Mr. Curwen's plan is 
 that which proposes to give a credit to each 
 contributor in proportion to the amount of 
 his contributions, and to make his allow- 
 ance in sickness, and his annuity in old 
 age, dependent upon this amount ; but 
 this object could easily be accomplished 
 without the objectionable accompaniments. 
 It is also very properly observed, that 
 " want of employment must rurnish no 
 " claims on the society ; for, if this excuse 
 " were to be admitted, it would most proba- 
 " bly be attended with the most pernicious 
 " consequences/' Yet it is at the same 
 time rather rashly intimated, that employ- 
 ment must be found for all who are able to 
 work ; and, in another place, it is observed, 
 that timely assistance would be aiforded by 
 these societies, without degradation, on all 
 temporary occasions of suspended labour. 
 
 On
 
 270 Continuation of the same Subject. Bk. ir. 
 
 On the whole, when it is considered that 
 a large and probably increasing amount of 
 poor's rates would be subscribed to these 
 societies ; that on this account their mem- 
 bers could hardly be considered as inde- 
 pendent of parish assistance ; and that the 
 usual poor's rates would still remain to be 
 applied as they are now, without any pro- 
 posed limitations, there is little hope that 
 Mr. Curwen's plan would be successful in 
 diminishing the whole amount of the rates 
 and the proportion of dependent poor. 
 
 There are two errors respecting the ma- 
 nagement of the poor, into which the public 
 seem inclined to fall at the present moment. 
 The first is a disposition to attach too much 
 importance to the effects of subscriptions 
 from the poor themselves, without sufficient 
 attention to the mode in which they are 
 distributed. But the mode of distribution 
 is much the more important point of the 
 two; and if this be radically bad, it is of 
 little consequence in what manner the sub- 
 scriptions are raised, whether from the poor 
 themselves or from any other quarter. If 
 the labouring classes were universally to 
 
 contribute
 
 Ch. xii. Continuation of the same Subject. 271 
 
 contribute what might at first appear a very 
 ample proportion of their earnings, for their 
 own support in sickness and in old age, 
 when out of work, and when the family 
 consisted of more than two children ; it is 
 quite certain that the funds would become 
 deficient. Such a mode of distribution im- 
 plies a power of supporting a rapidly in- 
 creasing and unlimited population on a 
 limited territory, and must therefore termi- 
 nate in aggravated poverty. Our present 
 friendly societies or benefit-clubs aim at 
 only limited objects, which are susceptible 
 of calculation ; yet many have failed, and 
 many more it is understood are likely to 
 fail from the insufficiency of their funds. If 
 any society were to attempt to give much 
 more extensive assistance to its members ; 
 if it were to endeavour to imitate what is 
 partially effected by the poor-laws, or to 
 accomplish those objects which Condorcet 
 thought were within the power of proper 
 calculations ; the failure of its funds, however 
 large at first, and from whatever sources de- 
 rived, would be absolutely inevitable. In 
 short, it cannot be too often or too strongly- 
 impressed
 
 272 Continuation of the same Subject. Bk. iv. 
 
 impressed upon the public, especially when 
 any question for the improvement of the 
 condition of the poor is in agitation, that 
 no application of knowledge and ingenuity 
 to this subject, no efforts either of the poor 
 or of the rich, or both, in the form of con- 
 tributions, or in any other way, can possi- 
 bly place the labouring classes of society in 
 such a state as to enable them to marry ge- 
 nerally at the same age in an old and fully- 
 peopled country as they may do with per- 
 fect safety and advantage in a new one. 
 
 The other error towards which the public 
 seems to incline at present is that of laying 
 too much stress upon the employment of the 
 poor. It seems to be thought that one of 
 the principal causes of the failure of our 
 present system is the not having properly 
 executed that part of the 43d of Elizabeth 
 which enjoins the purchase of materials to 
 set the poor to work. It is certainly desi- 
 rable, on many accounts, to employ the 
 poor when it is practicable, though it will 
 always be extremely difficult to make peo- 
 ple work actively who are without the usual 
 and most natural motives to such exertions ; 
 
 and
 
 Ch. xii. Continuation of the same Subject. 273 
 
 and a system of coercion involves the ne- 
 cessity of placing great power in the hands 
 of persons very likely to abuse it. Still 
 however it is probable that the poor might 
 be employed more than they have hitherto 
 been, in a way to be advantageous to their 
 habits and morals, without being prejudi- 
 cial in other respects. But we should fall 
 into the grossest error if we were to imagine 
 that any essential part of the evils of the 
 poor-laws, or of the difficulties under which 
 we are at present labouring, has arisen from 
 not employing the poor ; or if we were to 
 suppose that any possible scheme for giving 
 work to all who are out of employment can 
 ever in any degree apply to the source of 
 these evils and difficulties, so as to prevent 
 their recurrence. In no conceivable case 
 can the forced employment of the poor, 
 though managed in the most judicious 
 manner, have any direct tendency to pro- 
 portion more accurately the supply of la- 
 bour to the natural demand for it. And 
 without great care and caution it is obvious 
 that it may have a pernicious effect of an 
 opposite kind. When, for instance, from 
 vol. ii. T deficient
 
 274 Continuation of the same Subject. Bk. iv. 
 
 deficient demand or deficient capital, la- 
 bour has a strong tendency to fall, if we 
 keep it up to its usual price by creating an 
 artificial demand by public subscriptions 
 or advances from the government, we evi- 
 dently prevent the population of the coun- 
 try from adjusting itself gradually to its di- 
 minished resources, and act much in the 
 same manner as those, who would prevent 
 the price of corn from rising in a scarcity, 
 which must necessarily terminate in in- 
 creased distress. 
 
 Without then meaning to object to all 
 plans for employing the poor, some of 
 which, at certain times and with proper re- 
 strictions, may be useful as temporary mea- 
 sures, it is of great importance, in order to 
 prevent ineffectual efforts and continued 
 disappointments, to be fully aware that the 
 permanent remedy which we are seeking 
 cannot possibly come from this quarter. 
 
 It may indeed be affirmed with the most 
 perfect confidence that there is only one 
 class of causes from which any approaches 
 towards a remedy can be rationally ex- 
 pected ; and that consists of whatever 
 
 has
 
 Ch. xii. Continuation of the same Subject 275 
 
 has a tendency to increase the prudence 
 and foresight of the labouring classes. 
 This is the touchstone to which every plan 
 proposed for the improvement of the condi- 
 tion of the poor should be applied. If the 
 plan be such as to co-operate with the lessons 
 of Nature and Providence, and to encourage 
 and promote habits of prudence and fore- 
 sight, essential and permanent benefit may 
 be expected from it : if it has no tendency 
 of this kind, it may possibly still be good as 
 a temporary measure, and on other ac- 
 counts, but we may be quite certain that it 
 does not apply to the source of the specific 
 evil for which we are seeking a remedy. 
 
 Of all the plans which have yet been pro- 
 posed for the assistance of the labouring 
 classes, the saving-banks, as far as they go, 
 appear to me much the best, and the most 
 likely, if they should become general, to 
 effect a permanent improvement in the con- 
 dition of the lower classes of society. By 
 giving to each individual the full and entire 
 benefit of his own industry and prudence, 
 they are calculated greatly to strengthen the 
 lessons of Nature and Providence ; and a 
 t 2 young
 
 276 Continuation of the same Subject. Bk. iv. 
 
 young man, who had been saving from four- 
 teen or fifteen with a view to marriage at 
 four or five and twenty, or perhaps much 
 earlier, would probably be induced to wait 
 two or three years longer if the times were 
 unfavourable ; if corn were high ; if wages 
 were low ; or if the sum he had saved had 
 been found by experience not to be suffi- 
 cient to furnish a tolerable security against 
 want. A habit of saving a portion of pre- 
 sent earnings for future contingencies can 
 scarcely be supposed to exist without ge- 
 neral habits of prudence and foresight ; 
 and if the opportunity furnished by pro- 
 vident banks to individuals, of reaping the 
 full benefit of saving, should render the 
 practice general, it might rationally be ex- 
 pected that, under the varying resources of 
 the country, the population would be ad- 
 justed to the actual demand for labour, at 
 the expense of less pain and less poverty ; 
 and the remedy thus appears, so far as it 
 goes, to apply to the very root of the evil. 
 The great object of saving-banks, bow- 
 ever, is to prevent want and dependence 
 by enabling the poor to provide against 
 
 contingencies
 
 Ch. xii. Cotitiw* 1 * * 1 fthe same Subject. 277 
 
 contingencies themselves. And in a na- 
 txxval state of society, such institutions, with 
 the aid of private charity well directed, 
 would probably be all the means necessary 
 to produce the best practicable effects. In 
 the present state of things in this country 
 the case is essentially different. With so 
 very large a body of poor habitually de- 
 pendent upon public funds, the institutions 
 of saving-banks cannot be considered in 
 the light of substitutes for the poor's rates. 
 The problem how to support those who are 
 in want in such a manner as not continu- 
 ally to increase the proportion which they 
 bear to the whole society will still remain 
 to be solved. But if any plan should be 
 adopted either of gradually abolishing or 
 gradually reducing and fixing the amount 
 of the poor's rates, saving-banks would es- 
 sentially assist it; at the same lime that 
 they would receive a most powerful aid in 
 return. 
 
 In the actual state of things, they have 
 been established at a period likely to be 
 particularly unfavourable to them a pe- 
 riod of very general distress, and of the 
 
 most
 
 278 Continuation of the same Subject. Bk. iv. 
 
 most extensive parochial assistance ; and 
 the success which has attended them, even 
 under these disadvantages, seems clearly to 
 shew, that in a period of prosperity and 
 good wages, combined with a prospect of 
 diminished parochial assistance, they might 
 spread very extensively, and have a consi- 
 derable effect on the general habits of the 
 people. 
 
 With a view to give them greater encou- 
 ragement at the present moment, an act 
 has been passed allowing persons to receive 
 parish assistance at the discretion of the 
 justices, although they may have funds of 
 their own under a certain amount in a 
 saving-bank. But this is probably a short- 
 sighted policy. It is sacrificing the prin- 
 ciple for which saving-banks are esta- 
 blished, to obtain an advantage which, on 
 this verv account, will be comparatively 
 of little value. We wish to teach the la- 
 bouring classes to rely more upon their 
 own exertions and resources, as the only way 
 of really improving their condition ; yet 
 we reward their saving by making them 
 still dependent upon that very species 
 
 of
 
 Ch. xii. Continuation of the same Subject. 279 
 
 of assistance which it is our object that 
 thev should avoid. The progress of saving- 
 banks under such a regulation will be 
 but an equivocal and uncertain symptom of 
 good ; whereas without such a regulation 
 every step would tell, every fresh deposition 
 would prove, the growth of a desire to become 
 independent of parish assistance ; and both 
 the great extension of the friendly societies, 
 and the success of the saving-banks in pro- 
 portion to the time they have been esta- 
 blished, clearly shew that much progress 
 might be expected in these institutions under 
 favourable circumstances, without resorting 
 to a measure which is evidently calculated 
 to sacrifice the end to the means. 
 
 With regard to the plans which have 
 been talked of for reducing and limiting 
 the poor's rates, they are certainly of a kind 
 to apply to the root of the evil ; but they 
 would be obviously unjust without a formal 
 retraction of the right of the poor to sup- 
 port ; and for many years they would un- 
 questionably be much more harsh in their 
 operation than the plan of abolition which 
 I have ventured to propose in a preceding 
 
 chapter.
 
 280 Continuation of the same Subject. Bk.ir, 
 
 chapter. A t the same time, if it be thought 
 that this country cannot entirely get rid of 
 a system which has been so long interwoven 
 in its frame, a limitation of the amount of 
 the poor's rates, or rather of their propor- 
 tion to the wealth and population of the 
 country which would be more rational and 
 just, accompanied with a very full and fair 
 notice of the nature of the change to be 
 made, might be productive of essential be- 
 nefit, and do much towards improving the 
 habits and happiness of the poor. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 ( 281 ) 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Of the Necessity of general Principles on this Subject* 
 
 IT has been observed by Hume, that of all 
 sciences there is none where first appear- 
 ances are more deceitful than in politics 8 . 
 The remark is undoubtedly very just, and 
 is most peculiarly applicable to that de- 
 partment of the science, which relates to 
 the modes of improving the condition of 
 the lower classes of society. 
 
 We are continually hearing declamations 
 against theory and theorists, by men who 
 pride themselves upon the distinction of 
 being practical. It must be acknowledged 
 that bad theories are very bad things, and 
 the authors of them useless and sometimes 
 pernicious members of society. But these 
 advocates of practice do not seem to be 
 aware that they themselves very often come 
 under this description, and that a great 
 
 * Essay xi. vol. i. p. 431. 8vo. 
 
 part
 
 282 Of the Necessity oj &m eral Bk. ir. 
 
 part of them may be classed aiong the 
 most mischievous theorists of their time. 
 When a man faithfully relates any facts, 
 which have come within the scope of his 
 own observation, however confined it may 
 have been, he undoubtedly adds to the 
 sum of general knowledge, and confers a 
 benefit on society. But when from this 
 confined experience, from the manage- 
 ment of his own little farm, or the details 
 of the workhouse in his neighbourhood, he 
 draws a general inference, as is frequently 
 the case, he then at once erects himself 
 into a theorist ; and is the more dangerous, 
 because, experience being the only just 
 foundation for theory, people are often 
 caught merely by the sound of the word, 
 and do not stop to make the distinction 
 between, that partial experience which, on 
 such subjects, is no foundation whatever 
 for a just theory, and that general expe- 
 rience, on which alone a just theory can 
 be founded. 
 
 There are perhaps few subjects on which 
 human ingenuity has been more exerted 
 than the endeavour to meliorate the con- 
 dition
 
 Ch. xiii. Principles on this Subject. 283 
 
 dition of the poor ; and there is certainly 
 no subject in which it has so completely 
 failed. The question between the theorist 
 who calls himself practical, and the ge- 
 nuine theorist, is, whether this should prompt 
 us to look into all the holes and corners of 
 workhouses, and content ourselves with 
 mulcting the parish officers for their waste 
 of cheese-parings and candle-ends, and with 
 distributing more soups and potatoes ; or to 
 recur to general principles, which shew us 
 at once the cause of the failure, and prove 
 that the system has been from the beginning 
 radically erroneous. There is no subject 
 to which general principles have been so 
 seldom applied ; and yet, in the whole com- 
 pass of human knowledge, I doubt if there 
 be one in which it is so dangerous to lose 
 sight of them; because the partial and im- 
 mediate effects of a particular mode of giving 
 assistance are so often directly opposite to 
 the general and permanent effects. 
 
 It has been observed in particular dis- 
 tricts, where cottagers are possessed of 
 small pieces of land, and are in the habit 
 of keeping cows, that during the late scar- 
 cities
 
 284 Of the Necessity of general Bk. ir. 
 
 cities some of them were able to support 
 themselves without parish assistance, and 
 others with comparatively little a . 
 
 According to the partial view in which 
 this subject has been always contemplated, 
 a general inference has been drawn from 
 such instances, that, if we could place all 
 our labourers in a similar situation, they 
 would all be equally comfortable, and 
 equally independent of the parish. This is 
 an inference, however, that by no means 
 follows. The advantage, which cottagers 
 who at present keep cows enjoy, arises in 
 a great measure from its being peculiar, 
 and would be considerably diminished if 
 it were made general. 
 
 A farmer or gentleman has, we will sup- 
 pose, a certain number of cottages on his 
 farm. Being a liberal man, and liking to 
 see all the people about him comfortable, 
 he may join a piece of land to each cot- 
 tage sufficient to keep one or two cows, 
 and give besides high wages. His labourers 
 
 See an Inquiry into the State of Cottagers in the Coun- 
 ties of Lincoln and Rutland, by Robert Gourlay. Annals 
 of Agriculture, vol. xxxvii. p. 514. 
 
 will
 
 Ch. xiii. Principles on this Subject. 285 
 
 will of course live in plenty, and be able to 
 rear up large families ; but his farm may 
 not require many hands : and though he may 
 choose to pay those that he employs well, he 
 will not probably wish to have more labour- 
 ers on his land than his work requires. He 
 does not therefore build more houses ; and 
 the children of the labourers whom he em- 
 ploys must evidently emigrate, and settle 
 in other countries. While such a system 
 continues peculiar to certain families or 
 certain districts, the emigrants would easily 
 be able to find work in other places ; and 
 it cannot be doubted that the individual 
 labourers employed on these farms are in 
 an enviable situation, and such as we might 
 naturally wish was the lot of all our labour- 
 ers. But it is perfectly clear that such a 
 system could not, in the nature of things, 
 possess the same advantages, if it were 
 made general ; because there would then be 
 no countries to which the children could 
 emigrate with the same prospect of finding 
 work. Population would evidently increase 
 beyond the demand of towns and manufac- 
 tories,
 
 286 Of the Necessity of general Bk. iv. 
 
 tories, and the price of labour would uni- 
 versally fall. 
 
 It should be observed also, that one of 
 therreasons why the labourers who at pre- 
 sent keep cows are so comfortable, is, that 
 they are able to make considerable profit 
 of the milk which they do not use them- 
 selves ; an advantage which would evi- 
 dently be very much diminished, if the 
 system were universal. And though they 
 were certainly able to struggle through the 
 late scarcities with less assistance than their 
 neighbours, as might naturally be expected, 
 from their having other resources besides 
 the article which in those individual years 
 was scarce ; yet if the system were uni- 
 versal, there can be no reason assigned 
 why they would not be subject to suffer 
 as much from a scarcity of grass and a 
 mortality among cows a , as our common 
 
 labourers 
 
 * At present the loss of a cow, which must now and 
 then happen, is generally remedied by a petition and 
 subscription ; and as the event is considered as a most 
 serious misfortune to a labourer, these petitions are for 
 the most part attended to ; but if the cow system were 
 
 universal,
 
 Ch. xiii. Principles on this Subject. 287 
 
 labourers do now from a scarcity of wheat. 
 We should be extremely cautious therefore 
 of trusting to such appearances, and of 
 drawing a general inference from this kind 
 of partial experience. 
 
 The main principle, on which the society 
 for increasing the comforts and bettering 
 the condition of the poor professes to pro- 
 ceed, is excellent. To give effect to that 
 master-spring of industry, the desire of 
 bettering our condition a is the true mode 
 of improving the state of the lower classes; 
 and we may safely agree with Sir Thomas 
 Bernard, in one of his able prefaces, that 
 whatever encourages and promotes habits 
 of industry, prudence, foresight, virtue and 
 cleanliness, among the poor, is beneficial 
 to them and to the country ; and whatever 
 removes or diminishes the incitements to 
 any of these qualities is detrimental to the 
 state, and pernicious to the individual b . 
 
 universal, losses would occur so frequently, that they 
 could not possibly be repaired in the same way, and 
 families would be continually dropping from comparative 
 plenty into want. 
 
 a Preface to vol. ii. of the Reports. 
 
 k Preface to vol. iii. of the Reports. 
 
 Sir
 
 288 Of the Necessity of general Bk. iv. 
 
 Sir Thomas Bernard indeed himself seems 
 in general to be fully aware of the difficul- 
 ties, which the society has to contend with 
 in the accomplishment of its object. But 
 still it appears to be in some danger of 
 falling into the error before alluded to, of 
 drawing general inferences from insufficient 
 experience. Without adverting to the plans 
 respecting cheaper foods and parish shops, 
 recommended by individuals, the beneficial 
 effects of which depend entirely upon their 
 being peculiar to certain families or certain 
 parishes, and would be lost if they were 
 general, by lowering the wages of labour; 
 I shall only notice one observation of a 
 more comprehensive nature, which occurs 
 in the preface to the second volume of the 
 Reports. It is there remarked that the ex- 
 perience of the society seemed to warrant 
 the conclusion, that the best mode of re- 
 lieving the poor was, by assisting them at 
 their own homes, and placing out their 
 children as soon as possible in different 
 employments, apprenticeships, &c. I really 
 believe that this is the best, and it is cer- 
 tainly the most agreeable, mode in which 
 
 . occasional
 
 Ch. xiii. Principles on this Subject. 289 
 
 occasional and discriminate assistance can 
 be given. But it is evident that it must be 
 done with caution, and cannot be adopted 
 as a general principle, and made the foun- 
 dation of universal practice. It is open 
 exactly to the same objection as the cow 
 system, which has just been noticed, and 
 that part of the act of the 43d of Elizabeth, 
 which directs the overseers to employ and 
 provide for the children of the poor. A 
 particular parish, where all the children, 
 as soon as they were of a proper age, were 
 taken from their parents and placed out in 
 proper situations, might be very comfort- 
 able ; but if the system were general, and 
 the poor saw that all their children would 
 be thus provided for, every employment 
 would presently be overstocked with hands, 
 and the consequences need not be again 
 repeated. 
 
 Nothing can be more clear than that it 
 is within the power of money, and of the 
 exertions of the rich, adequately to relieve 
 a particular family, a particular parish, and 
 even a particular district. But it will be 
 
 vol. ii. u equally
 
 290 Of the Necessity of general Bk. iv. 
 
 equally clear, if we reflect a moment on the 
 subject, that it is totally out of their power 
 to relieve the whole country in the same 
 way ; at least without providing a regular 
 vent for the overflowing numbers in emi- 
 gration, or without the prevalence of a 
 particular virtue among the poor, which 
 the distribution of this assistance tends ob- 
 viously to discourage. 
 
 Even industry itself is, in this respect, 
 not very different from money. A man 
 who possesses a certain portion of it, above 
 what is usually possessed by his neighbours, 
 will, in the actual state of things, be almost 
 sure of a competent livelihood ; but if all 
 his neighbours were to become at once as 
 industrious as himself, the absolute portion 
 of industry which he before possessed 
 would no longer be a security against want. 
 Hume fell into a great error, when he as- 
 serted that " almost all the moral as well 
 " as natural evils of human life arise from 
 " idleness ;" and for the cure of these ills 
 required only that the whole species should 
 possess naturally an equal diligence with 
 
 that,
 
 Ch. xiii. Principles on this Subject. 291 
 
 that, which many individuals are able to 
 attain by habit and reflection a . It is evi- 
 dent that this given degree of industry 
 possessed by the whole species, if not com- 
 bined with another virtue of which he takes 
 no notice, would totally fail of rescuing 
 society from want and misery, and would 
 scarcely remove a single moral or physical 
 evil of all those to which he alludes. 
 
 I am aware of an objection, which will, 
 with great appearance of justice, be urged 
 against the general scope of these rea- 
 sonings. It will be said that to argue thus 
 is at once to object to every mode of as- 
 sisting the poor, as it is impossible, in the 
 nature of things, to assist people indivi- 
 dually, without altering their relative situ- 
 ation in society, and proportionally de- 
 pressing others ; and that as those who 
 have families are the persons naturally most 
 subject to distress, and as we are certainly 
 not called upon to assist those who do not 
 want our aid, we must necessarily, if we act 
 at all, relieve those who have children, and 
 thus encourage marriage and population, 
 
 a Dialogues on Natural Religion, part xi, p. 212. 
 
 tr 2 I have
 
 292 Of the Necessity of general Bk. iv. 
 
 I have already observed however, and I 
 here repeat it again, that the general prin- 
 ciples on these subjects ought not to be 
 pushed too far, though they should always 
 be kept in view ; and that many cases may 
 occur, in which the good resulting from the 
 relief of the present distress may more than 
 overbalance the evil to be apprehended 
 from the remote consequence. 
 
 All relief in instances of distress, not 
 arising from idle and improvident habits, 
 clearly comes under this description ; and 
 in general it may be observed, that it is 
 only that kind of systematic and certain 
 relief, on which the poor can confidently 
 depend, whatever may be their conduct, 
 that violates general principles in such a 
 manner as to make it clear that the general 
 consequence is worse than the particular 
 evil. 
 
 Independently of this discriminate and 
 occasional assistance, the beneficial effects 
 of which I have fully allowed in a preceding 
 chapter, I have before endeavoured to shew, 
 that much might be expected from a better 
 and more general system of education. 
 
 Every
 
 Ch. xiii. Principles on this Subject. 293 
 
 Every thing that can be clone in this way 
 has indeed a very peculiar value ; because 
 education is one of those advantages, which 
 not only all may share without interfering 
 with each other, but the raising of one 
 person may actually contribute to the 
 raising of others. \i\ for instance, a man 
 by education acquires that decent kind of 
 pride and those juster habits of thinking, 
 which will prevent him from burdening 
 society with a family of children which he 
 cannot support, his conduct, as far as an 
 individual instance can go, tends evidently 
 to improve the condition of his fellow-la- 
 bourers ; and a contrary conduct from ig- 
 norance would tend as evidently to de- 
 press it. 
 
 I cannot help thinking also, that some- 
 thing might be done towards bettering the 
 situation of the poor by a general improve- 
 ment of their cottages, if care were taken, 
 at the same time, not to make them so large 
 as to allow of two families settling in them ; 
 and not to increase their number faster than 
 the demand for labour required. One of 
 the most salutary and least pernicious 
 
 checks
 
 294 Of the Necessity of general Bk. ivy 
 
 checks to the frequency of early marriages 
 in this country is the difficulty of procuring 
 a cottage, and the laudable habits which 
 prompt a labourer rather to defer his mar- 
 riage some years in the expectation of 
 a vacancy, than to content himself with 
 a wretched mud cabin, like those in 
 Ireland \ 
 
 Even the cow system, upon a more con- 
 fined plan, might not be open to objection. 
 With any view of making it a substitute 
 for the poor-laws, and of giving labourers a 
 right to demand land and cows in proportion 
 to their families ; or of taking the common 
 people from the consumption of wheat, and 
 feeding them on milk and potatoes ; it ap- 
 pears to me, I confess, truly preposterous : 
 
 Perhaps, however, this is not often left to his choice, 
 on account of the fear which every parish has of increasing 
 its poor. There are many ways by which our poor-laws 
 operate in counteracting their first obvious tendency to 
 increase population, and this is one of them. I have 
 little doubt that it is almost exclusively owing to these 
 counteracting causes, that we have been able to per- 
 severe in this system so long, and that the condition of 
 the poor has not been go much injured by it as might 
 have been expected. 
 
 but
 
 Ch. xiii. Principles on this Subject. 295 
 
 but if it were so ordered as merely to 
 provide a comfortable situation for the 
 better and more industrious labourers, 
 and to supply at the same time a very im- 
 portant want among the poor in general, 
 that of milk for their children ; I think that 
 it would be extremely beneficial, and might 
 be made a very powerful incitement to ha- 
 bits of industry, economy and prudence. 
 With this view however, it is evident that 
 only a certain portion of labourers in each 
 parish could be included in the plan ; that 
 good conduct, and not mere distress, should 
 have the most valid claim to preference ; 
 that too much attention should not be paid 
 to the number of children ; and that uni- 
 versally, those who had saved money enough 
 for the purchase of a cow, should be pre- 
 ferred to those who required to be furnished 
 with one by the parish a . 
 
 One 
 
 * The act of Elizabeth, which prohibited the building 
 of cottages, unless four acres of land were annexed to 
 them, is probably impracticable in a manufacturing 
 country like England ; but, upon this principle, certainly 
 the greatest part of the poor might possess land; be- 
 cause
 
 296 Of the Necessity of general Bk. iv. 
 
 One should undoubtedly be extremely 
 unwilling not to make as much use as pos- 
 sible of that known stimulus to industry 
 and economy, the desire of, and attach- 
 ment to, property : but it should be recol- 
 lected that the good effects of this stimulus 
 shew themselves principally when this pro- 
 perty is to be procured or preserved by 
 personal exertions ; and that they are by 
 no means so general under other circum- 
 stances. If any idle man with a family 
 could demand and obtain a cow and some 
 land, I should expect to see both very often 
 neglected. 
 
 It has been observed that those cottagers, 
 who keep cows, are more industrious and 
 more regular in their conduct, than those 
 who do not. This is probably true, and 
 what might naturally be expected ; but the 
 inference that the way to make all people 
 industrious is to give them cows, may by 
 no means be quite so certain. Most of 
 
 cause the difficulty of procuring such cottages would 
 always operate as a powerful check to their increase. 
 The effect of such a plan would be very different from 
 that of Mr. Young. 
 
 those
 
 Ch. xiii. Principles on this Subject. 297 
 
 those who keep cows at present have pur- 
 chased them with the fruits of their own in- 
 dustry. It is therefore more just to say 
 that their industry has given them a cow, 
 than that a, cow has given them their in- 
 dustry ; though I would by no means be 
 understood to imply that the sudden pos- 
 session of property never generates indus- 
 trious habits. 
 
 The practical good effects, which have 
 been already experienced from cottagers 
 keeping cows R , arise in fact from the sys- 
 tem being nearly such as the confined plan 
 which I have mentioned. In the districts 
 where cottagers of this description most 
 abound, they do not bear a very large 
 proportion to the population of the whole 
 parish; they consist in general of the better 
 sort of labourers, who have been able to 
 purchase their own cows ; and the peculiar 
 comforts of their situation arise more from 
 the relative than the positive advantages 
 which they possess. 
 
 * Inquiry into the State of Cottagers in the Counties 
 of Lincoln and Rutland, by Robert Gourlay, Annals of 
 Agriculture, vol. xxxvii. p, 514. 
 
 From
 
 298 Of the Necessity of' general Bk. iv. 
 
 From observing therefore their industry 
 and comforts, we should be very cautious 
 of inferring that we could give the same 
 industry and comforts to all the lower classes 
 of people, by giving them the same pos- 
 sessions. There is nothing, that has given 
 rise to such a cloud of errors, as a confu- 
 sion between relative and positive, and be- 
 tween cause and effect. 
 
 It may be said, however, that any plan 
 of generally improving the cottages of the 
 poor, or of enabling more of them to keep 
 cows, would evidently give them the power 
 of rearing a greater number of children, 
 and, by thus encouraging population, vio- 
 late the principles which I have endea- 
 voured to establish. But if I have been 
 successful in making the reader comprehend 
 the principal bent of this work, he will be 
 aware that the precise reason why I think 
 that more children ought not to be born 
 than the country can support is, that the 
 greatest possible number of those that are 
 born may be supported. We cannot, in 
 the nature of things, assist the poor in any 
 way, without enabling them to rear up to 
 
 manhood
 
 Ch. xiii. Principles on this Subject. 299 
 
 manhood a greater number of their children. 
 But this is, of all other things, the most de- 
 sirable, both with regard to individuals 
 and the public. Every loss of a child from 
 the consequences of poverty must evidently 
 be preceded and accompanied by great 
 misery to individuals ; and in a public 
 view, every child that dies under ten years 
 of age is a loss to the nation of all that had 
 been expended in its subsistence till that 
 period. Consequently, in every point of 
 view, a decrease of mortality at all ages is 
 what we ought to aim at. We cannot 
 however effect this object, without first 
 crowding the population in some degree 
 by making more children grow up to man- 
 hood ; but we shall do no harm in this re- 
 spect, if, at the same time, we can impress 
 these children with the idea, that, to possess 
 the same advantages as their parents, they 
 must defer marriage till they have a fair 
 prospect of being able to maintain a family. 
 And it must be candidly confessed that, if 
 we cannot do this, all our former efforts will 
 have been thrown away. It is not in the 
 nature of things that any permanent and 
 
 general
 
 300 Of the Necessity of general Bk. iv. 
 
 general improvement in the condition of 
 the poor can be effected without an increase 
 in the preventive check ; and unless this 
 take place, either with or without our efforts, 
 every thing that is done for the poor must 
 be temporary and partial : a diminution of 
 mortality at present will be balanced by an 
 increased mortality in future ; and the im- 
 provement of their condition in one place 
 will proportionally depress it in another. 
 This is a truth so important, and so little 
 understood, that it can scarcely be too often 
 insisted on. 
 
 Paley, in a chapter on population, pro- 
 vision, &c, in his Moral Philosophy, ob- 
 serves, that the condition most favourable 
 to the population of a country, and at the 
 same time to its general happiness, is " that 
 " of a laborious frugal people ministering 
 " to the demands of an opulent luxurious 
 " nation a ." Such a form of society has 
 
 not, 
 
 Vol. ii. c. xi. p. 359- From a passage in Paley's 
 Natural Theology, I am inclined to think that subse- 
 quent reflection induced him to modify some of his for- 
 mer ideas on the subject of population. He states most 
 
 justly
 
 Ch. xiii. Principles on this Subject. 301 
 
 not, it must be confessed, an inviting aspect. 
 Nothing but the conviction of its being ab- 
 solutely necessary could reconcile us to the 
 idea often millions of people condemned to 
 incessant toil, and to the privation of every 
 thing but absolute necessaries, in order to 
 minister to the excessive luxuries of the 
 other million. But the fact is, that 
 such a form of society is by no means 
 necessary. It is by no means necessary 
 that the rich should be excessively luxurious, 
 in order to support the manufactures of a 
 country ; or that the poor should be de- 
 prived of all luxuries, in order to make 
 them sufficiently numerous. The best, and 
 in every point of view the most advan- 
 tageous manufactures in this country, are 
 those which are consumed by the great 
 body of the people. The manufactures 
 which are confined exclusively to the rich 
 
 justly (ch. xxv. p. 539), that mankind will in every coun- 
 try breed up to a certain point of distress. If this be 
 allowed, that country will evidently be the happiest, 
 where the degree of distress at this point is the least ; 
 and consequently, if the diffusion of luxury, by producing 
 the check sooner, tend to diminish this degree of distress, 
 it is certainly desirable. 
 
 are
 
 302 Of the Necessity of general Bk. iv. 
 
 are not only trivial, on account of the com- 
 parative smallness of their quantity, but are 
 further liable to the great disadvantage of 
 producing much occasional misery among 
 those employed in them, from changes of 
 fashion. It is the diffusion of luxury there- 
 fore among the mass of the people, and 
 not an excess of it in a few, that seems to 
 be most advantageous, both with regard to 
 national wealth and national happiness ; 
 and what Palev considers as the true evil 
 and proper danger of luxury, I should be 
 disposed to consider as its true good and 
 peculiar advantage. If, indeed, it be al- 
 lowed that in every society, not in the state 
 of a new colony, some powerful check to 
 population must prevail ; and if it be ob- 
 served that a taste for the comforts and 
 conveniencies of life will prevent people 
 from marrying, under the certainty of being 
 deprived of these advantages ; it must be 
 allowed that we can hardly expect to find 
 any check to marriage so little prejudicial 
 to the happiness and virtue of society as 
 the general prevalence of such a taste; 
 and consequently, that the extension of 
 
 luxury
 
 Ch. xiii. Principles on this Subject, 303 
 
 luxury in this sense of the term is par- 
 ticularly desirable, and one of the best 
 means of raising that standard of 
 wretchedness alluded to in a former 
 chapter. 
 
 It has been generally found that the 
 middle parts of society are most favourable 
 to virtuous and industrious habits, and to 
 the growth of all kinds of talents. But it is 
 evident that all cannot be in the middle. 
 Superior and inferior parts are in the na- 
 ture of things absolutely necessary ; and 
 not only necessary, but strikingly benefi- 
 cial. If no man could hope to rise, or fear 
 to fall in society ; if industry did not bring 
 with it its reward, and indolence its punish- 
 ment ; we could not expect to see that 
 animated activity in bettering our condi- 
 tion, which now forms the master-spring of 
 public prosperity. But in contemplating 
 the different states of Europe, we observe 
 a very considerable difference in the rela- 
 tive proportions of the superior, the middle 
 and the inferior parts ; and from the effect 
 of these differences it seems probable, that 
 our best-grounded expectations of an in- 
 crease
 
 304 Of the Necessity of general Bk. iv. 
 
 crease in the happiness of the mass of hu- 
 man society are foimded in the prospect of 
 an increase in the relative proportions of 
 the middle parts. And if the lower classes 
 of people had acquired the habit of propor- 
 tioning the supplies of labour to a stationary 
 or even decreasing demand, without an 
 increase of misery and mortality, as at pre- 
 sent, we might even venture to indulge a 
 hope that at some future period the pro- 
 cesses for abridging human labour, the pro- 
 gress of which has of late years been so 
 rapid, might ultimately supply all the wants 
 of the most wealthy society with less per- 
 sonal effort than at present ; and if they 
 did not diminish the severity of individual 
 exertion, might, at least, diminish the num- 
 ber of those employed in severe toil. If 
 the lowest classes of society were thus di- 
 minished, and the middle classes increased, 
 each labourer might indulge a more rational 
 hope of rising by diligence and exertion 
 into a better station ; the rewards of indus- 
 try and virtue would be increased in num- 
 ber; the lottery of human society would 
 appear to consist of fewer blanks and more 
 
 prizes ;
 
 Oil. xiii. Principles on this Subject. 305 
 
 prizes ; and the sum of social happiness 
 would be evidently augmented. 
 
 To indulge however in any distant views 
 of this kind, unaccompanied by the evils 
 usually attendant on a stationary or de- 
 creasing demand for labour, we must sup- 
 pose the general prevalence of such pru- 
 dential habits among the poor, as would 
 prevent them from marrying, when the 
 actual price of labour, joined to what they 
 might have saved in their single state, 
 would not give them the prospect of being 
 able to support a wife and five or six chil- 
 dren without assistance. And undoubt- 
 edly such a degree of prudential restraint 
 would produce a very striking melioration 
 in the condition of the lower classes of 
 people. 
 
 It may be said perhaps, that even this 
 degree of prudence might not always avail, 
 as when a man marries he cannot tell what 
 number of children he shall have, and 
 many have more than six. This is cer- 
 tainly true ; and in this case I do not think 
 that any evil would result from making a 
 certain allowance to every child above this 
 
 vol. ii. x number;
 
 306 Of the Necessity of general Bk. iv. 
 
 number ; not with a view of rewarding a 
 man for his large family, but merely of re- 
 lieving him from a species of distress which 
 it would be unreasonable in us to expect 
 that he should calculate upon. And with 
 this view, the relief should be merely such 
 as to place him exactly in the same situation 
 as if he had had six children. Montesquieu 
 disapproves of an edict of Lewis the Four- 
 teenth, which gave certain pensions to 
 those who had ten and twelve children, 
 as being of no use in encouraging popula- 
 tion 8 . For the very reason that he disap- 
 proves of it, I should think that some law 
 of the kind might be adopted without 
 danger, and might relieve particular indi- 
 viduals from a very pressing and unlooked- 
 for distress, without operating in any re- 
 spect as an encouragement to marriage. 
 
 If at some future period any approach 
 should be made towards the more general 
 prevalence of prudential habits with respect 
 to marriage among the poor, from which 
 alone any permanent and general improve- 
 ment of their condition can arise ; I do not 
 
 Esprit des Loix, liv. xxiii. c. xxvii. 
 
 think
 
 Ch. xiii. Principles on this Subject. 307 
 
 think that the narrowest politician need be 
 alarmed at it, from the fear of its occasioning 
 such an advance in the price of labour, as 
 will enable our commercial competitors to 
 undersell us in foreign markets. There 
 are four circumstances that might be ex- 
 pected to accompany it, which would pro- 
 bably either prevent, or fully counterba- 
 lance, any effect of this kind. These are, 
 1st, the more equable and lower price of 
 provisions, from the demand being less 
 frequently above the supply. 2dly, the 
 removal of that heavy burden on agricul- 
 ture, and that great addition to the present 
 wages of labour, the poor's rates. 3dly, 
 the national saving of a great part of that 
 sum, which is expended without return in 
 the support of those children, who die pre- 
 maturely from the consequences of poverty. 
 And, lastly, the more general prevalence 
 of economical and industrious habits, par- 
 ticularly among unmarried men, which 
 would prevent that indolence, drunkenness 
 and waste of labour which at present are 
 too frequently a consequence of high wages. 
 
 x 2 CHAP.
 
 ( 308 ) 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 Of our rational Expectations respecting the future 
 Improvement of Society. 
 
 IN taking a general and concluding view 
 of our rational expectations respecting the 
 mitigation of the evils arising from the prin- 
 ciple of population, it may be observed 
 that though the increase of population in a 
 geometrical ratio be incontrovertible, and 
 the period of doubling, when unchecked, 
 has been uniformly stated in this work ra- 
 ther below than above the truth ; yet there 
 are some natural consequences of the pro- 
 gress of society and civilization, which ne- 
 cessarily repress its full effects. These are, 
 more particularly, great towns and manu- 
 factures, in which we can scarcely hope, 
 and certainly not expect, to see any very 
 material change. It is undoubtedly our 
 duty, and in every point of view highly 
 desirable, to make towns and manufac- 
 turing
 
 Ch. xiv. Of oar rational Expectations, fyc. 309 
 
 turing employments as little injurious as 
 possible to the duration of human life ; 
 but, after all our efforts, it is probable that 
 they will always remain less healthy than 
 country situations and country employ- 
 ments ; and consequently, operating as 
 positive checks, will diminish in some de- 
 gree the necessity of the preventive check. 
 
 In every old state, it is observed that a 
 considerable number of grown-up people 
 remain for a time unmarried. The duty of 
 practising the common and acknowledged 
 rules of morality during this period has 
 never been controverted in theory, however 
 it may have been opposed in practice. This 
 branch of the duty of moral restraint has 
 scarcely been touched by the reasonings of 
 this work. It rests on the same foundation 
 as before, neither stronger nor weaker. 
 And knowing how incompletely this duty 
 has hitherto been fulfilled, it would cer- 
 tainly be visionary to expect that it would 
 be completely fulfilled. 
 
 The part which has been affected by the 
 reasonings of this work is not therefore that 
 which relates to our conduct during the 
 
 period
 
 310 Of our rational Expectations Bk. if. 
 
 period of celibacy, but lo the duty of ex- 
 tending this period till we have a prospect 
 of being able to maintain our children. 
 And it is by no means visionary to indulge 
 a hope of some favourable change in this 
 respect ; because it is found by experience 
 that the prevalence of this kind of pru- 
 dential restraint is extremely different in 
 different countries, and in the same coun- 
 tries at different periods. 
 
 It cannot be doubted that throughout 
 Europe in general, and most particularly 
 in the northern states, a decided change 
 has taken place in the operation of this 
 prudential restraint, since the prevalence 
 of those warlike and enterprising habits 
 which destroyed so many people. In later 
 times the gradual diminution and almost 
 total extinction of the plagues, which so 
 frequently visited Europe in the seven- 
 teenth and beginning of the eighteenth 
 centuries, produced a change of the same 
 kind. And in this country, it is not to be 
 doubted that the proportion of marriages 
 has become smaller, since the improvement 
 of our towns, the less frequent returns of 
 
 epidemics
 
 Ch. xiv. respect i?ig future Improvements. 311 
 
 epidemics arid the adoption of habits of 
 greater cleanliness. During the late scar- 
 cities it appears that the number of mar- 
 riages diminished a ; and the same motives, 
 which prevented many people from marry- 
 ing during such a period, would operate 
 precisely in the same way, if, in future, 
 the additional number of children reared 
 to manhood from the introduction of the 
 cow-pox, were to be such as to crowd all 
 employments, lower the price of labour and 
 make it more difficult to support a family. 
 
 Universally, the practice of mankind on 
 the subject of marriage has been much su- 
 perior to their theories ; and however fre- 
 quent may have been the declamations on 
 the duty of entering into this state, and the 
 advantage of early unions to prevent vice, 
 each individual has practically found it 
 necessary to consider of the means of sup- 
 porting a family, before he ventured to 
 take so important a step. That great vis 
 mtdicatrix reipublicte, the desire ot bettering 
 our condition, and the fear 01 making it 
 worse, has been constantly in action, and 
 
 a 1800 and 1801. 
 
 has,
 
 312 Of our rational Expectations Bk. iv, 
 
 has been constantly directing people into 
 the right road, in spite of all the declama- 
 tions which tended to lead them aside. 
 Owing to this powerful spring of health in 
 every state, which is nothing more than an 
 inference from the general course of the 
 laws of nature irresistibly forced on each 
 man's attention, the prudential check to mar- 
 riage has increased in Europe; and itcannot 
 be unreasonable to conclude that it will still 
 make further advances. If this take place 
 without any marked and decided increase 
 of a vicious intercourse with the sex, the 
 happiness of society will evidently be pro- 
 moted by it ; and with regard to the danger 
 of such increase, it is consolatory to remark 
 that those countries in Europe, where mar- 
 riages are the least latest or frequent, are by 
 no means particularly distinguished by vices 
 of this kind. It has appeared, that Nor- 
 way, Switzerland, England and Scotland 
 are above all the rest in the prevalence of 
 the preventive check ; and though I do not 
 mean to insist particularly on the virtuous 
 habits of these countries, yet I think that 
 no person would select them as the coun- 
 tries
 
 Ch. xiv. respecting future Improvements. 313 
 
 tries most marked for profligacy of man- 
 ners. Indeed, from the little that 1 know 
 of the continent, I should have been inclined 
 to select them as most distinguished for 
 contrary habits, and as rather above than 
 below their neighbours in the chastity of 
 their women, and consequently in the vir- 
 tuous habits of their men. Experience 
 therefore seems to teach us that it is pos- 
 sible for moral and physical causes to coun- 
 teract the effects that might at first be ex- 
 pected from an increase of the check to 
 marriage ; but allowing all the weight to 
 these effects which is in any degree pro- 
 bable, it may be safely asserted, that the 
 diminution of the vices arising from indi- 
 gence would fully counterbalance them ; 
 and that all the advantages of diminished 
 mortality and superior comforts, which 
 would certainly result from an increase of 
 the preventive check, may be placed en- 
 tirely on the side of the gains to the cause 
 of happiness and virtue. 
 
 It is less the object of the present work to 
 propose new plans of improving society, 
 than to inculcate the necessity of resting 
 
 contented
 
 314 Of our rational Expectations Bk. iv. 
 
 contented with that mode of improvement 
 which is dictated by the course of nature, 
 and of not obstructing the advances which 
 would otherwise be made in this way. 
 
 It would be undoubtedly highly advan- 
 tageous that all our positive institutions, and 
 the whole tenour of our conduct to the poor, 
 should be such as actively to co-operate with 
 that lesson of prudence inculcated by the 
 common course of human events ; and if 
 we take upon ourselves sometimes to miti- 
 gate the natural punishments of impru- 
 dence, that we could balance it by increas- 
 ing the rewards of an opposite conduct. 
 But much would be done, if merely the in- 
 stitutions which directly tend to encourage 
 marriage were gradually changed, and we 
 ceased to circulate opinions and inculcate 
 doctrines, which positively counteract the 
 lessons of nature. 
 
 The limited good, which it is sometimes 
 in our power to effect, is often lost by at- 
 tempting too much, and by making the 
 adoption of some particular plan essentially 
 necessary even to a partial degree of suc- 
 cess. In the practical application of the 
 
 reasonings
 
 Ch. xiy. respecting future Improvements. 315 
 
 reasonings of this work, I hope that I have 
 avoided this error. I wish to press on the 
 recollection of the reader, that, though I 
 may have given some new views of old facts, 
 and may have indulged in the contempla- 
 tion of a considerable degree of possible im- 
 provement, that I might not shut out that 
 prime cheerer hope; yet in my expecta- 
 tions of probable improvement and in sug- 
 gesting the means of accomplishing it, I 
 have been very cautious. The gradual abo- 
 lition of the poor-laws has already often 
 been proposed, in consequence of the prac- 
 tical evils which have been found to flow 
 from them, and the danger of their becom- 
 ing a weight absolutely intolerable on the 
 landed property of the kingdom. The es- 
 tablishment of a more extensive system of 
 national education has neither the advantage 
 of novelty with some, nor its disadvantages 
 with others, to recommend it. The practi- 
 cal good effects of education have long been 
 experienced in Scotland ; and almost every 
 person who has been placed in a situation 
 to judge, has given his testimony that edu- 
 cation appears to have a considerable effect 
 
 in
 
 316 Of our rational Expectations Bk. iv. 
 
 in the prevention of crimes % and the pro- 
 motion of industry, morality and regular 
 conduct. Yet these are the only plans 
 which have been offered '; and though the 
 adoption of them in the modes suggested 
 would very - powerfully contribute to for- 
 ward the object of this work and better the 
 condition of the poor^ yet if nothing be 
 done in this way, I shall not absolutely de- 
 spair of some partial good resulting from 
 general effects of the reasoning. 
 
 If the principles which I have endea- 
 voured to establish be false, I most sincere- 
 ly *hope to see them completely refuted; 
 but if they be true, the subject is so import- 
 ant, and interests the question of human 
 happiness so nearly, that it is impossible 
 
 .* 
 
 * Mr. Howard found fewer prisoners in Switzerland 
 and Scotland than in other countries, which he attributed 
 to a more regular education among the lower classes of the 
 Swiss and the Scotch. During the number of years which the 
 late Mr. Fielding presided at Bow-street, only six Scotch- 
 men were brought before him. He used to say, -that of 
 the persons committed the greater part were Irish. Pre- 
 face to vol. iii. of the Reports of the Society for bettering 
 the Condition of the Poor, p. 32. 
 
 they
 
 Ch. xiv. respecting future Improvements. 317 
 
 they should not in time be more fully 
 known and more generally circulated, whe- 
 ther any particular efforts be made for the 
 purpose or not. 
 
 Among the higher and middle classes 
 of society, the effect of this knowledge 
 will, I hope, be to direct without relax- 
 ing their efforts in bettering the condition of 
 the poor ; to shew them what they can and 
 what they cannot do ; and that, although 
 much may be done by advice and instruc- 
 tion, by encouraging habits of prudence 
 and cleanliness, , by discriminate charity, 
 and by any mode of bettering the present 
 condition of the poor which is followed by 
 an increase of the preventive check ; yet 
 that, without this last effect, all the former 
 efforts would be futile ; and that, in any old 
 and well-peopled state, to assist the poor in 
 such a manner as to enable them to marry 
 as early as they please, and rear up large 
 families, is a physical impossibility. This 
 knowledge, by tending to prevent the rich 
 from destroying the good effects of their 
 own exertions, and wasting their efforts in 
 a direction where success is unattainable, 
 
 would
 
 318 Of our rational Expectations 13 k. i v. 
 
 would confine their attention to the proper 
 objects, and thus enable them to do more 
 good. 
 
 Among the poor themselves, its effects 
 would be still more important. That the 
 principal and most permanent cause of po- 
 verty has little or no direct relation to forms 
 of government, or the unequal division of 
 property; and that, as the rich do not in 
 reality possess the power of finding employ- 
 ment and maintenance for the poor, the 
 poor cannot, in the nature of things, possess 
 the right to demand them ; are important 
 truths flowing from the principle of popula- 
 tion, which, when properly explained, would 
 by no means be above the most ordinary 
 comprehensions. And it is evident that 
 every man in the lower classes of society, 
 who became acquainted with these truths, 
 would be disposed to bear the distresses in 
 which he might be involved with more pa- 
 tience ; would feel less discontent and irri- 
 tation at the government and the higher 
 classes of society, on account of his po- 
 verty ; would be on all occasions less dis- 
 posed to insubordination and turbulence; 
 
 and
 
 Ch. xiv. respecting future Improvements. 319 
 
 and if he received assistance, either from 
 any public institution or from the hand of 
 private charity, he would receive it with 
 more thankfulness, and more justly appre- 
 ciate its value. 
 
 If these truths were by degrees more ge- 
 nerally known (which in the course of time 
 does not seem to be improbable from the 
 natural effects of the mutual interchange of 
 opinions), the lower classes of people, as a 
 body, would become more peaceable and 
 orderly, would be less inclined to tumul- 
 tuous proceedings in seasons of scarcity, 
 and would at all times be less influenced 
 by inflammatory and seditious publications, 
 from knowing how little the price of labour 
 and the means of supporting a family de- 
 pend upon a revolution. The mere know- 
 ledge of these truths, even if they did not 
 operate sufficiently to produce any marked 
 change in the prudential habits of the poor 
 with regard to marriage, would still have a 
 most beneficial effect on their conduct in a 
 political light ; and undoubtedly, one of 
 the most valuable of these effects would be 
 the power, that would result to the higher 
 
 and
 
 320 Of our rational Expectations Bk. iv. 
 
 and middle classes of society, of gradually 
 improving their governments % without the 
 apprehension of those revolutionary ex- 
 cesses, the fear of which, at present, 
 threatens to deprive Europe even of that 
 degree of liberty, which she had before ex- 
 perienced to be practicable, and the salu- 
 tary effects of which she had long enjoyed. 
 From a review of the state of society in 
 former periods, compared with the present, 
 I should certainly say that the evils re- 
 sulting from the principle of population 
 have rather diminished than increased, even 
 under the disadvantage of an almost total 
 ignorance of their real cause. And if we 
 can indulge the hope that this ignorance 
 will be gradually dissipated, it does not 
 
 * I cannot believe that the removal of all unjust grounds 
 of discontent against constituted authorities would render 
 the people torpid and indifferent to advantages, which are 
 really attainable. The blessings of civil liberty are so 
 great that they surely cannot need the aid of false co- 
 louring to make them desirable. I should be softy to 
 think that the lower classes of people could never be 
 animated to assert their rights but by means of such illu- 
 sory promises, as will generally make the remedy of re- 
 sistance much worse than the disease which it was intended 
 to cure. 
 
 seem
 
 Ch. xiv. respecting future Improvements. 321 
 
 seem unreasonable to expect that they will 
 be still further diminished. The increase 
 of absolute population, which will of course 
 take place, will evidently tend but little to 
 weaken this expectation, as every thing 
 depends upon the relative proportion be- 
 tween population and food, and not on the 
 absolute number of people. In the former 
 part of this work it appeared that the coun- 
 tries, which possessed the fewest people, 
 often suffered the most from the effects of 
 the principle of population ; and it can 
 scarcely be doubted that, taking Europe 
 throughout, fewer famines and fewer dis- 
 eases arising from want have prevailed in the 
 last century than in those which preceded it. 
 
 On the whole therefore, though our fu- 
 ture prospects respecting the mitigation of 
 the evils arising from the principle of po- 
 pulation may not be so bright as we could 
 wish, yet they are far from being entirely 
 disheartening, and by no means preclude 
 that gradual and progressive improvement 
 in human society, which, before the late 
 wild speculations on this subject, was the 
 object of rational expectation. To the laws 
 
 vql. in. y of
 
 322 Of our rational Expectations Bk.iv. 
 
 of property and marriage, and to the ap- 
 parently narrow principle of self-love which 
 prompts each individual to exert himself 
 in bettering his condition, we are indebted 
 for all the noblest exertions of human ge- 
 nius, for every thing that distinguishes the 
 civilized from the savage state. A strict 
 inquiry into the principle of population 
 obliges us to conclude that we shall never 
 be able to throw down the ladder, by which 
 we have risen to this eminence ; but it by 
 no means proves, that we may not rise 
 higher by the same means. The structure 
 of society, in its great features, will pro- 
 bably always remain unchanged. We have 
 every reason to believe that it will always 
 consist of a class of proprietors and a class 
 of labourers ; but the condition of each, 
 and the proportion which they bear to each 
 other, may be so altered, as greatly to im- 
 prove the harmony and beauty of the 
 whole. It would indeed be a melancholy 
 reflection that, while the views of physical 
 science are daily enlarging, so as scarcely 
 to be bounded by the most distant horizon, 
 the science of moral and political philo- 
 sophy
 
 Ch. xiv. respecting future Improvements. 323 
 
 sophy should be confined within such nar- 
 row limits, or at best be so feeble in its 
 influence, as to be unable to counteract the 
 obstacles to human happiness arising from 
 a single cause. But however formidable 
 these obstacles may have appeared in some 
 parts of this work, it is hoped that the ge- 
 neral result of the inquiry is such, as not to 
 make us give up the improvement of hu- 
 man society in despair. The partial good 
 which seems to be attainable is worthy of 
 all our exertions ; is sufficient to direct our 
 efforts, and animate our prospects. And 
 although we cannot expect that the virtue 
 and happiness of mankind will keep pace 
 with the brilliant career of physical disco- 
 very; yet if we are not wanting to ourselves, 
 we may confidently indulge the hope that, 
 to no unimportant extent, they will be in- 
 fluenced by its progress and will partake in 
 its success. 
 
 y 2 APPENDIX

 
 APPENDIX, 
 
 IN the preface to the second edition of this 
 Essay, I expressed a hope that the detailed 
 manner, in which I had treated the subject and 
 pursued it to its consequences, though it might 
 open the door to many objections, and expose 
 me to much severity of criticism, might be sub- 
 servient to the important end of bringing a 
 subject so nearly connected with the happiness 
 of society into more general notice. Conforma- 
 bly to the same views I should always have 
 felt willing to enter into the discussion of any 
 serious objections that were made to my prin- 
 ciples or conclusions, to abandon those which 
 appeared to be false, and to throw further lights, 
 if I could, on those which appeared to be true. 
 But though the work has excited a degree of 
 public attention much greater than I could have 
 presumed to expect, yet very little has been 
 written to controvert it; and of that little, 
 
 the
 
 326 APPENDIX. 
 
 the greatest part is so full of illiberal declama- 
 tion, arid so entirely destitute of argument, as 
 to be evidently beneath notice. What I have 
 to say therefore at present, will be directed 
 rather more to the objections which have been 
 urged in conversation, than to those which have 
 appeared in print. My object is to correct 
 some of the misrepresentations which have 
 gone abroad respecting two or three of the 
 most important points of the Essay; and I 
 should feel greatly obliged to those who have 
 not had leisure to read the whole work, if they 
 would cast their eyes over the few following 
 pages, that they may not, from the partial and 
 incorrect statements which they have heard, 
 mistake the import of some of my opinions, 
 and attribute to me others which I have never 
 held. 
 
 The first grand objection that has been made 
 to my principles is, that they contradict the 
 original command of the Creator, to increase 
 and multiply and replenish the earth. But 
 those who have urged this objection ha\e cer- 
 tainly either not read the work, or have directed 
 their attention solely to a few detached pas- 
 sages, and have been unable to seize the bent 
 and spirit of the whole. I am fully of opinion, 
 that it is the duty of man to obey this command 
 of his Creator ; nor is there, in my recollection, 
 
 a single
 
 APPENDIX. 327 
 
 a single passage in the work, which, taken with 
 the context, can, to any reader of intelligence, 
 warrant the contrary inference. 
 
 Every express command given to man by his 
 Creator is given in subordination to those great 
 and uniform laws of nature, which he had pre- 
 viously established ; and we are forbidden both 
 by reason and religion to expect that these 
 laws will be changed in order to enable us to 
 execute, more readily any particular precept. 
 It is undoubtedly true that, if man were enabled 
 miraculously to live without food, the earth 
 would be very rapidly replenished : but as we 
 have not the slightest ground of hope that such 
 a miracle will be worked for this purpose, it 
 becomes our positive duty as reasonable crea- 
 tures, and with a view of executing the com- 
 mands of our Creator, to inquire into the laws 
 which he has established for the multiplication 
 of the species. And when we find, not only 
 from the speculative contemplation of these 
 laws, but from the far more powerful and im- 
 perious suggestions of our senses, that man 
 cannot live without food, it is a folly exactly of 
 the same kind to attempt to obey the will of our 
 Creator by increasing population without re- 
 ference to the means of its support, as to attempt 
 to obtain an abundant crop of corn by sowing 
 it on the way-side and in hedges, where it can- 
 not
 
 328 APPENDIX. 
 
 not receive its proper nourishment. Which is 
 it, I would ask, that best seconds the bene- 
 volent intentions of the Creator in covering the 
 earth with esculent vegetables, he who with 
 care and foresight duly ploughs and prepares 
 a piece of ground, and sows no more seed than 
 he expects will grow up to maturity, or he 
 who scatters a profusion of seed indifferently 
 over the land, without reference to the soil on 
 which it falls, or any previous preparation for 
 its reception ? 
 
 It is an utter misconception of my argument 
 to infer that I am an enemy to population. I 
 am only an enemy to vice and misery, and con- 
 sequently to that unfavourable proportion be- 
 tween population and food, which produces 
 these evils. But this unfavourable proportion 
 has no necessary connexion with the quantity 
 of absolute population which a country may 
 contain. On the contrary, it is more fre- 
 quently found in countries which are very thinly 
 peopled, than in those which are populous. 
 
 The bent of my argument on the subject of 
 population may be illustrated by the instance 
 of a pasture farm. If a young grazier were 
 told to stock his land well, as on his stock 
 would depend his profits and the ultimate suc- 
 cess of his undertaking, he would certainly have 
 been told nothing but what was strictly true : 
 
 and
 
 APPENDIX. 320 
 
 and he would have to accuse himself, not his 
 advisers, if, in pursuance of these instructions, 
 he were to push the breeding of his cattle till 
 they became lean and half-starved. His in- 
 structor, when he talked of the advantages of 
 a large stock, meant undoubtedly stock in 
 proper condition, and not such a stock as, 
 though it might be numerically greater, was in 
 value much less. The expression of stocking 
 a farm well does not refer to particular num- 
 bers, but merely to that proportion which is 
 best adapted to the farm, whether it be a poor 
 or a rich one, whether it will carry fifty head of 
 cattle or five hundred. It is undoubtedly ex- 
 tremely desirable that it should carry the 
 greater number, and every effort should be 
 made to effect this object: but surely that 
 farmer could not be considered as an enemy to 
 a large quantity of stock, who should insist 
 upon the folly and impropriety of attempting to 
 breed such a quantity, before the land was put 
 into a condition to bear it. 
 
 The arguments which I have used respecting 
 the increase of population are exactly of the 
 same nature as these just mentioned. I believe 
 that it is the intention of the Creator that the 
 earth should be replenished*; but certainly 
 
 * This opinion I have expressed, page 491 of the 4to. 
 edit, and p. 79/ vol. iii. of this edit. 
 
 with
 
 830 APPENDIX. 
 
 with a healthy, virtuous and happy population, 
 not an unhealthy, vicious and miserable one. 
 And if, in endeavouring to obey the command 
 to increase and multiply, we people it only 
 with beings of this latter description and suffer 
 accordingly, we have no right to impeach the 
 justice of the command, but our irrational mode 
 of executing it. 
 
 In the desirableness of a great and efficient 
 population, I do not differ from the warmest 
 advocates of increase. I am perfectly ready to 
 acknowledge with the writers of old that it is 
 not extent of territory, but extent of population 
 that measures the power of states. It is 
 only as to the mode of obtaining a vigorous 
 and efficient population that I differ from them ; 
 and in thus differing I conceive myself entirely 
 borne out by experience, that great test of all 
 human speculations. 
 
 It appears from the undoubted testimony of 
 registers, that a large proportion of marriages 
 and births is by no means necessarily connected 
 with a rapid increase of population, but is often 
 found in countries where it is either stationary 
 or increasing very slowly. The population of 
 such countries is not only comparatively ineffi- 
 cient from the general poverty and misery of 
 the inhabitants, but invariably contains a much 
 larger proportion of persons in those stages of 
 
 life,
 
 APPENDIX. 331 
 
 life, in which they are unable to contribute 
 their share to the resources or the defence of 
 the state. 
 
 This is most strikingly illustrated in an in- 
 stance which I have quoted from M. Muret, in 
 a chapter on Switzerland, where it appeared, 
 that in proportion to the same population, the 
 Lyonais produced 16 births, the Pays de Vaud 
 1 1, and a particular parish in the Alps only 8 ; 
 but that at the age of 20 these three very dif- 
 ferent numbers were all reduced to the same*. 
 In the Lyonais nearly half of the population 
 was under the age of puberty, in the Pays de 
 Vaud one-third, and in the parish of the Alps 
 only one-fourth. The inference from such facts 
 is unavoidable, and of the highest importance 
 to society. 
 
 The power of a country to increase its re- 
 sources or defend its possessions must depend 
 principally upon its efficient population, upon 
 that part of the population which is of an age 
 to be employed effectually in agriculture, com- 
 merce or war ; but it appears with an evidence 
 little short of demonstration, that in a country, 
 the resources of which do not naturally call for 
 a larger proportion of births, such an increase, 
 so far from tending to increase this efficient 
 
 a Page 271, 4to. edit, and p. 472, vol. i. of this edit. 
 
 population,
 
 332 APPENDIX* 
 
 population, would tend materially to diminish 
 it. It would undoubtedly, at first, increase the 
 number of souls in proportion to the means of 
 subsistence, and therefore cruelly increase the 
 pressure of want ; but the numbers of persons 
 rising annually to the age of puberty might not 
 be so great as before, a larger part of the pro- 
 duce would be distributed without return to 
 children who would never reach manhood, and 
 the additional population, instead of giving 
 additional strength to the country, would essen- 
 tially lessen this strength and operate as a con- 
 stant obstacle to the creation of new resources. 
 
 We are a little dazzled at present by the po- 
 pulation and power of France, and it is known 
 that she has always had a large proportion of 
 births: but if any reliance can be placed on 
 what are considered as the best authorities on 
 this subject, it is quite certain that the advan- 
 tages which she enjoys do not arise from any 
 thing peculiar in the structure of her popula- 
 tion ; but solely from the great absolute quan- 
 tity of it, derived from her immense extent of 
 fertile territory. 
 
 Necker, speaking of the population of France, 
 says that it is so composed, that a million of 
 individuals present neither the same force in 
 war, nor the same capacity for labour, as an 
 equal number in a country where the people 
 
 are
 
 APPENDIX. 333 
 
 are less oppressed and fewer die in infancy . 
 And the view which Arthur Young has given 
 of the state of the lower classes of the people 
 at the time he travelled in France, which was 
 just at the commencement of the revolution, 
 leads directly to the same conclusion. According 
 to the Statistigue Ginerale et Farticulilre de la 
 France, lately published, the proportion of the 
 population under twenty is almost -$ ; in Eng- 
 land it is probably not much more than -Jg. \ 
 
 Consequently 
 
 Necker sur les Finances, torn. i. ch. ix. p. 263, 
 12mo. 
 
 b I do not mention these numbers here, as vouching in 
 any degree for their accuracy, but merely for the sake of 
 illustrating the subject. Unfortunately there are no data 
 respecting the classifications of the population of different 
 countries according to age, on which any reliance can be 
 placed with safety. I have reason to think that those 
 given in the Statistigue Gene'rale were not taken from 
 actual enumerations ; and the proportion of the popula- 
 tion under 20, mentioned in the text for England, is en- 
 tirely conjectural, and certainly too small. Of this, how- 
 ever, we may be quite sure, that when two countries, 
 from the proportion of their births to deaths, increase 
 nearly at the same rate, the one, in which the births and 
 deaths bear the greatest proportion to the whole popu- 
 lation, will have the smallest comparative number of per- 
 sons above the age of puberty. That England and 
 Scotland have, in every million of people which they 
 
 contain,
 
 334 APPENDIX. 
 
 Consequently out of a population of ten mil- 
 lions England would have a million more of 
 persons above twenty than France, and would 
 upon this supposition have at least three or 
 four hundred thousand more males of a military 
 age. If our population were of the same de- 
 scription as that of France, it must be increased 
 
 contain, more individuals fit for labour than France, the 
 data we have are sufficient to determine ; but in what 
 degree this difference exists cannot be ascertained, with- 
 out better information than we at present possess. On 
 account of the more rapid increase of population in 
 England than in France before the revolution, England 
 ought, ceteris paribus, to have had the largest proportion 
 of births ; yet in France the proportion was yt or -gV, 
 and in England only -^o". 
 
 The proportion of persons capable of bearing arms 
 i has been sometimes calculated at one-fourth, and some- 
 times at one-fifth, of the whole population of a country. 
 The reader will be aware of the prodigious difference 
 between the two estimates, supposing them to be appli- 
 cable to two different countries. In the one case, a 
 population of twenty millions would yield five millions 
 of effective men ; and in the other case, the same popu- 
 lation would only yield four millions. We cannot surely 
 doubt which of the two kinds of population would be of 
 the most valuable description, both with regard to actual 
 strength and the creation of fresh resources. Probably, 
 however, there are no two countries in Europe in which 
 the difference in this respect is so great as that between 
 one-fourth and one-fifth. 
 
 numerically
 
 APPENDIX. 335 
 
 numerically by more than a million and a half, 
 in order to enable us to produce from England 
 and Wales the same number of persons above 
 the age of twenty as at present ; and if we had 
 only an increase of a million, our efficient strength 
 in agriculture, commerce and war, would be in 
 the most decided manner diminished, while at 
 the same time the distresses of the lower 
 classes would be dreadfully increased. Can 
 any rational man say that an additional popula- 
 tion of this description would be desirable, 
 either in a moral or political view ? And yet 
 this is the kind of population which invariably 
 results from direct encouragements to marriage, 
 or from the want of that personal respectability 
 which is occasioned by ignorance and despotism. 
 It may perhaps be true that France fills her 
 armies with greater facility and less interruption 
 to the usual labours of her inhabitants than 
 England; and it must be acknowledged that 
 poverty and want of employment are powerful 
 aids to a recruiting serjeant ; but it would not 
 be a very humane project to keep our people 
 always in want, for the sake of enlisting them 
 cheaper; nor would it be a very politic project 
 to diminish our wealth and strength with the 
 same economical view. We cannot attain in- 
 compatible objects. If we possess the ad- 
 vantage of being able to keep nearly all our 
 
 people
 
 336 APPENDIX. 
 
 people constantly employed, either in agri- 
 culture or commerce, we cannot expect to re- 
 tain the opposite advantage of their being always 
 at leisure, and willing to enlist for a very small 
 sum \ But we may rest perfectly assured that 
 while we have the efficient population, we 
 shall never want men to fill our armies, if we 
 propose to them adequate motives. 
 
 In many parts of the Essay I have dwelt 
 much on the advantage of rearing the requisite 
 population of any country from the smallest 
 number of births. I have stated expressly, 
 that a decrease of mortality at all ages is what 
 we ought chiefly to aim at; and as the best 
 criterion of happiness and good government, 
 instead of the largeness of the proportion of 
 births, which was the usual mode of judging, 
 I have proposed the smallness of the proportion 
 dying under the age of puberty. Conscious 
 that I had never intentionally deviated from 
 these principles, I might well be rather sur- 
 prised to hear that I had been considered by 
 some as an enemy to the introduction of the 
 vaccine inoculation, which is calculated to at- 
 
 This subject is strikingly illustrated in Lord Selkirk's 
 lucid and masterly observations " On the present State of 
 the Highlands, and on the Causes and probable Conse- 
 quences of Emigration," to which I can with confidence 
 
 refer the reader. 
 
 tain
 
 APPENDIX. 337 
 
 tain the very end which I have uniformly con- 
 sidered as so desirable. I have indeed inti- 
 mated what I still continue most firmly to be- 
 lieve, that if the resources of the country would 
 not permanently admit of a greatly accelerated 
 rate of increase in the population (and whether 
 they would or not must certainly depend upon 
 other causes besides the number of lives saved 
 by the vaccine innoculation) a , one of two things 
 would happen, either an increased mortality of 
 some other diseases, or a diminution in the 
 proportion of births. But I have expressed 
 my conviction that the latter effect would take 
 place ; and therefore consistently with the 
 opinions which I have always maintained, I 
 ought to be, and am, one of the warmest 
 friends to the introduction of the cow-pox. In 
 making every exertion which I think likely to 
 be effectual, to increase the comforts and di- 
 minish the mortality among the poor, I act in 
 the most exact conformity to my principles. 
 Whether those are equally consistent who pro- 
 
 a It should be remarked however, that a young person 
 saved from death is more likely to contribute to the crea- 
 tion of fresh resources than another birth. It is a great 
 loss of labour and food to begin over again. And uni- 
 versally it is true that, under similar circumstances, that 
 article will come the cheapest to market, which is ac- 
 companied by fewest failures. 
 
 vol. ii. z fess
 
 338 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 fess to have the same object in view, and yet 
 measure the happiness of nations by the large 
 proportion of marriages and births, is a point 
 which they would do well to consider. 
 
 It has been said by some, that the natural 
 checks to population will always be sufficient 
 to keep it within bounds, without resorting to 
 any other aids ; and one ingenious writer has 
 remarked that I have not deduced a single ori- 
 ginal fact from real observations, to prove the 
 inefficiency of the checks which already prevail*. 
 These remarks are correctly true, and are 
 truisms exactly of the same kind as the asser- 
 tion that man cannot live without food. For, 
 undoubtedly as long as this continues to be a 
 law of his nature, what are here called the 
 natural checks cannot possibly fail of being ef- 
 fectual. Besides the curious truism that these 
 assertions involve, they proceed upon the very 
 strange supposition, that the ultimate object of 
 my work is to check population ; as if any thing 
 could be more desirable than the most rapid 
 increase of population, unaccompanied by 
 vice and misery. But of course my ultimate 
 object is to diminish vice and misery, and any 
 
 * I should like much to know what description of facts 
 this gentleman had in view, when he made this observation. 
 If 1 could have found one of the kind, which seems here 
 to be alluded to, it would indeed have been truly original. 
 
 checks
 
 APPENDIX. 339 
 
 checks to population, which may have been sug- 
 gested, are solely as means to accomplish this 
 end. To a rational being, the prudential check 
 to population ought to be considered as equally 
 natural with the check from poverty and pre- 
 mature mortality which these gentlemen seem 
 to think so entirely sufficient and satisfactory ; 
 and it will readily occur to the intelligent reader, 
 that one class of checks may be substituted for 
 another, not only without essentially diminish- 
 ing the population of a country, but even under 
 a constantly progressive increase of it a . 
 
 On the possibility of increasing very consi- 
 derably the effective population of this country, 
 I have expressed myself in some parts of my 
 work more sanguinely, perhaps, than expe- 
 rience would warrant. I have said, that in the 
 course of some centuries it might contain two 
 or three times as many inhabitants as at pre- 
 sent, and yet every person be both better fed and 
 better clothed b . And in the comparison of the 
 increase of population and food at the beginning 
 of the Essay, that the argument might not seem 
 
 a Both Norway and Switzerland, where the preventive 
 check prevails the most, are increasing with some rapidity 
 in their population; and in proportion to their means of 
 subsistence, they can produce mort males of a military 
 age than any other country of Europe. 
 
 k P. 512, 4to. edit. p. 117, vol. iii. of this edit. 
 
 z 2 t
 
 340 APPENDIX. 
 
 to depend upon a difference of opinion respect' 
 ing facts, I have allowed the produce of the 
 earth to be unlimited, which is certainly going 
 too far. It is not a little curious therefore, thattt 
 should still continue to be urged against me as an 
 argument, that this country might contain two 
 or three times as many inhabitants ; and it is 
 still more curious, that some persons, who have 
 allowed the different ratios of increase on which 
 all my principal conclusions are founded, have 
 still asserted that no difficulty or distress could 
 arise from population, till the productions of 
 the earth could not be further increased. I 
 doubt whether a stronger instance could readily 
 be produced of the total absence of the power 
 of reasoning, than this assertion, after such a 
 concession, affords. It involves a greater ab- 
 surdity than the saying that because a farm 
 can by proper management be made to carry 
 an additional stock of four head of cattle every 
 year, that therefore no difficulty or inconve- 
 nience would arise if an additional forty were 
 placed in it yearly. 
 
 The power of the earth to produce subsist- 
 ence is certainly not unlimited, but it is strictly 
 speaking indefinite ; that is, its limits are not 
 defined, and the time will probably never ar- 
 rive when we shall be able to say that no fur- 
 ther labour or ingenuity of man could make 
 
 further
 
 APPENDIX. 341 
 
 further additions to it. But the power of ob- 
 taining an additional quantity of food from the 
 earth by proper management, and in a certain 
 time, has the most remote relation imaginable 
 to the power of keeping pace with an unre- 
 stricted increase of population. The know- 
 ledge and industry, which would enable the 
 natives of New Holland to make the best use of 
 the natural resources of their country, must, 
 without an absolute miracle, come to them 
 gradually and slowly ; and even then, as it has 
 amply appeared, would be perfectly ineffectual 
 as to the grand object ; but the passions which 
 prompt to the increase of population are always 
 in full vigour, and are ready to produce their 
 full effect even in a state of the most helpless 
 ignorance and barbarism. It will be readily 
 allowed, that the reason why New Holland, in 
 proportion to its natural powers, is not so po- 
 pulous as China, is the want of those human 
 institutions which protect property and encou- 
 rage industry ; but the misery and vice which 
 prevail almost equally in both countries, from 
 the tendency of population to increase faster 
 than the means of subsistence, form a distinct 
 consideration, and arise from a distinct cause. 
 They arise from the incomplete discipline of 
 the human passions ; and no person with the 
 slightest knowledge of mankind has ever had 
 the hardihood to affirm that human institutions 
 
 could
 
 342 APPENDIX. 
 
 could completely discipline all the human 
 passions. But I have already treated this 
 subject so fully in the course of the work, 
 that I am ashamed to add any thing further 
 here. 
 
 The next grand objection which has been 
 urged against me, is my denial of the right of 
 the poor to support. 
 
 Those who would maintain this objection 
 with any degree of consistency, are bound to 
 shew, that the different ratios of increase with 
 respect to population and food, which I at- 
 tempted to establish at the beginning of the 
 Essay, are fundamentally erroneous ; since on 
 the supposition of their being true, the con- 
 clusion is inevitable. If it appear, as it must 
 appear on these ratios being allowed, that it is 
 not possible for the industry of man to produce 
 sufficient food for all that would be born, if 
 every person were to marry at the time when 
 he was first prompted to it by inclination, it 
 follows irresistibly, that all cannot have a right 
 to support. Let us for a moment suppose an 
 equal division of property in any country. If 
 under these circumstances one half of the so- 
 ciety were by prudential habits so to regulate 
 their increase, that it exactly kept pace with 
 their increasing cultivation, it is evident that 
 the individuals of this portion of society 
 would always remain as rich as at first. 
 
 If
 
 APPENDIX. 343 
 
 If the other half during the same time married 
 at the age of puberty, when they would pro- 
 bably feel most inclined to it, it is evident that 
 they would soon become wretchedly poor. 
 But upon what plea of justice or equity could 
 this second half of the society claim a right, in 
 virtue of their poverty, to any of the posses- 
 sions of the first half? This poverty had arisen 
 entirely from their own ignorance or impru- 
 dence ; and it would be perfectly clear, from 
 the manner in which it had come upon them, 
 that if their plea were admitted, and they were 
 not suffered to feel the particular evils resulting 
 from their conduct, the whole society would 
 shortly be involved in the same degree of 
 wretchedness. Any voluntary and temporary 
 assistance, which might be given as a measure 
 of charity by the richer members of the society 
 to the others, while they were learning to make 
 a better use of the lessons of nature, would be 
 quite a distinct consideration, and without 
 doubt most properly applied ; but nothing like 
 a claim of right to support can possibly be 
 maintained, till we deny the premises ; till we 
 affirm that the American increase of population 
 is a miracle, and does not arise from the greater 
 facility of obtaining the means of subsistence a . 
 
 In 
 a It has been said that I have written a quarto volume to 
 
 prove,
 
 344 APPENDIX. 
 
 In fact, whatever we may say in our declama- 
 tions on this subject, almost the whole of our 
 conduct is founded on the non-existence of this 
 right. If the poor had really a claim of right 
 to support, I do not think that any man could 
 justify his wearing broad cloth, or eating as 
 much meat as he likes for dinner ; and those 
 who assert this right, and yet are rolling in their 
 carriages, living every day luxuriously and 
 keeping even their horses on food of which 
 their fellow-creatures are in want, must be al- 
 lowed to act with the greatest inconsistency. 
 Taking an individual instance without reference 
 to consequences, it appears to me that Mr. God- 
 prove, that population increases in a geometrical/ and 
 food in an arithmetical ratio ; but this is not quite true. 
 The first of these propositions I considered as proved the 
 moment the American increase was related, and the second 
 proposition as soon as it was enunciated. The chief object 
 of my work was to inquire what effects these laws, which 
 I considered as established in the first six pages, had pro- 
 duced, and were likely to produce, on society ; a subject 
 not very readily exhausted. The principal fault of my 
 details is, that they are not sufficiently particular; but 
 this was a fault which it was not in my power to remedy. 
 It would be a most curious, and, to every philosophical 
 mind, a most interesting, piece of information, to know 
 the exact share of the full power of increase which each 
 existing check prevents ; but at present 1 see no mode of 
 obtaining such information. 
 
 win's
 
 APPENDIX. 345 
 
 win's argument is irresistible. Can it be pre* 
 tended for a moment that a part of the mutton 
 which I expect to eat to-day would not be much 
 more beneficially employed on some hard- 
 working labourer, who has not perhaps tasted 
 animal food for the last week, or on some poor 
 family, who cannot command sufficient food of 
 any kind fully to satisfy the cravings of hun- 
 ger ? If these instances were not of a nature 
 to multiply in proportion as such wants were 
 indiscriminately gratified, the gratification of 
 them, as it would be practicable, would be 
 highly beneficial ; and in this case I should not 
 have the smallest hesitation in most fully al- 
 lowing the right. But as it appears clearly, 
 both from theory and experience, that, if the 
 claim were allowed, it would soon increase 
 beyond the possibility of satisfying it ; and that 
 the practical attempt to do so would involve the 
 human race in the most wretched and universal 
 poverty ; it follows necessarily that ourconduct, 
 which denies the right, is more suited to the 
 present state of our being, than our declama- 
 tions which allow it. 
 
 The great Author of nature, indeed, with that 
 wisdom which is apparent in all his works, has not 
 left this conclusion to the cold and speculative con- 
 sideration of general consequences. By making 
 the passion of self-love beyond comparison 
 
 stronger
 
 346 APPENDIX. 
 
 stronger than the passion of benevolence, he 
 has at once impelled us to that line of conduct, 
 which is essential to the preservation of the 
 human race. If all that might be born could 
 be adequately supplied, we cannot doubt, that 
 he would have made the desire of giving to 
 others as ardent as that of supplying ourselves. 
 But since, under the present constitution of 
 things, this is not so, he has enjoined every 
 man to pursue, as his primary object, his own 
 safety and happiness, and the safety and hap- 
 piness of those immediately connected with 
 him ; and it is highly instructive to observe that, 
 in proportion as the sphere contracts and the 
 power of giving efFectuat assistance increases, 
 the desire increases at the same time. In the 
 case of children, who have certainly a claim of 
 right to the support and protection of their pa- 
 rents, we generally find parental affection 
 nearly as strong as self-love : and except in a 
 few anomalous cases, the last morsel will be 
 divided into equal shares. 
 
 By this wise provision the most ignorant are 
 led to promote the general happiness, an end 
 which they would have totally failed to attain, 
 if the moving principle of their conduct had 
 been benevolence*. Benevolence indeed, as 
 
 the 
 
 * In saying this let me not be supposed to give the 
 
 slightest
 
 APPENDIX. 347 
 
 the great and constant source of action, would 
 require the most perfect knowledge of causes 
 and effects, and therefore can only be the attri- 
 bute of the Deity. In a being so short-sighted 
 as man, it would lead into the grossest errors, 
 and soon transform the fair and cultivated soil 
 of civilized society into a dreary scene of want 
 and confusion. 
 
 But though benevolence cannot in the pre- 
 sent state of our being be the great moving 
 principle of human actions, yet, as the kind 
 corrector of the evils arising from the other 
 stronger passion, it is essential to human hap- 
 piness ; it is the balm and consolation and grace 
 of human life, the source of our noblest efforts 
 in the cause of virtue, and of our purest and 
 most refined pleasures. Conformably to that 
 system of general laws, according to which the 
 Supreme Being appears with very few excep- 
 tions to act, a passion so strong and general as 
 self-love could not prevail without producing 
 much partial evil : and to prevent this passion 
 from degenerating into the odious vice of 
 
 slightest sanction to the system of morals inculcated in 
 the Fable of the Bees, a system which I consider as ab- 
 solutely false, and directly contrary to the just definition 
 of virtue. The great art of Dr. Mandeville consisted in 
 misnomers. 
 
 selfishness,
 
 348 APPENDIX. 
 
 selfishness*, to make us sympathize in the 
 pains and pleasures of our fellow-creatures, and 
 feel the same kind of interest in their happiness 
 and misery as in our own, though diminished in 
 degree ; to prompt us often to put ourselves in 
 their place, that we may understand their wants, 
 acknowledge their rights and do them good as 
 we have opportunity ; and to remind us conti- 
 nually, that even the passion which urges us to 
 procure plenty for ourselves was not implanted 
 in us for our own exclusive advantage, but as 
 the means of procuring the greatest plenty for 
 all ; these appear to be the objects and offices 
 of benevolence. In every situation of life there 
 is ample room for the exercise of this virtue : 
 and as each individual rises in society, as he 
 advances in knowledge and excellence, as his 
 power of doing good to others becomes greater, 
 and the necessary attention to his own wants 
 less, it will naturally come in for an increasing 
 share among his constant motives of action. 
 
 a It seems proper to make a decided distinction be- 
 tween self-love and selfishness, between that passion, 
 which under proper regulations is the source of all ho- 
 nourable industry, and of all the necessaries and conve- 
 niences of life, and the same passion pushed to excess, 
 when it becomes useless and disgusting, and consequently 
 vicious. 
 
 In
 
 APPENDIX 349 
 
 Iii situations of high trust and inPuerce it ought 
 to have a very large share, and in all public 
 institutions it should be the great moving prin- 
 ciple. Though we have often reason to fear 
 that our benevolence may not take the most 
 beneficial direction, we need never apprehend 
 that there will be too much of it in society. 
 The foundations of that passion on which our 
 preservation depends, are fixed so deeply in 
 our nature, that no reasonings or addresses to 
 our feelings can essentially disturb it. It is 
 just therefore and proper that all the positive 
 precepts should be on the side of the weaker 
 impulse ; and we may safely endeavour to in- 
 crease and extend its influence as much as we 
 are able, if at the same time we are constantly 
 on the watch, to prevent the evil which may 
 arise from its misapplication. 
 
 The law, which in this country entitles the 
 poor to relief, is undoubtedly different from a 
 full acknowledgment of the natural right ; and 
 from this difference, and the many counter- 
 acting causes that arise from the mode of its 
 execution, it will not of course be attended 
 with the same consequences. But still it is an 
 approximation to a full acknowledgment, and 
 as such appears to produce much evil, both 
 with regard to the habits and the temper of 
 the poor. I have in consequence ventured to 
 
 suggest
 
 350 APPENDIX. 
 
 suggest a plan of gradual abolition, which, as 
 might be expected, has not met with universal 
 approbation. I can readily understand any 
 objections that may be made to it on the plea, 
 that, the right having been once acknowledged 
 in this country, the revocation of it might at 
 first excite discontents ; and I should therefore 
 most fully concur in the propriety of proceeding 
 with the greatest caution, and of using all pos- 
 sible means of preventing any sudden shock to 
 the opinions of the poor. But I have never 
 been able to comprehend the grounds of the 
 further assertion, which I have sometimes heard 
 made, that if the poor were really convinced 
 that they had no claim of right to relief, they 
 would in general be more inclined to be dis- 
 contented and seditious. On these occasions, 
 the only way I have of judging is to put myself 
 in imagination in the place of the poor man, 
 and consider how I should feel in his situation. 
 If I were told that the rich by the laws of na- 
 ture and the laws of the land were bound to 
 support me, I could not, in the first place, feel 
 much obligation for such support ; and, in the 
 next place, if I were given any food of an infe- 
 rior kind, and could not see the absolute ne- 
 cessity of the change, which would probably be 
 the case, I should think that I had good reason 
 to complain. I should feel, that the laws had 
 
 been
 
 APPENDIX. 351 
 
 been violated to my injury, and that I had been 
 unjustly deprived of my right. Under these 
 circumstances, though I might be deterred by 
 the fear of an armed force from committing any 
 overt acts of resistance, yet I should consider 
 myself as perfectly justified in so doing, if this 
 fear were removed ; and the injury, which I 
 believed that I had suffered, might produce the 
 most unfavourable effects on my general dis- 
 positions towards the higher classes of society. 
 I cannot indeed conceive any thing more irri- 
 tating to the human feelings, than to experience 
 that degree of distress, which, in spite of all 
 our poor-laws and benevolence, is not unfre- 
 quently felt in this country ; and yet to believe 
 that these sufferings were not brought upon me 
 either by my own faults, or by the operation of 
 those general laws which, like the tempest, the 
 blight or the pestilence, are continually falling 
 hard on particular individuals, while others en- 
 tirely escape, but were occasioned solely by 
 the avarice and injustice of the higher classes 
 of society. 
 
 On the contrary, if I firmly believed that by 
 the laws of nature, which are the laws of God, 
 I had no claim of right to support, I should, in 
 the first place, feel myself more strongly bound 
 to a life of industry and frugality ; but if want, 
 notwithstanding, came upon me, I should con- 
 sider
 
 352 APPENDIX. 
 
 sider it in the light of sickness, as an evil inci- 
 dental to my present state of being, and which, 
 if I could not avoid, it was my duty to bear 
 with fortitude and resignation. I should know 
 from past experience, that the best title I could 
 have to the assistance of the benevolent would 
 be, the not having brought myself into distress 
 by my own idleness or extravagance. What I 
 received would have the best effect on my 
 feelings towards the higher classes. Even if it 
 were much inferior to what I had been accus- 
 tomed to, it would still, instead of an injury, 
 be an obligation ; and conscious that I had no 
 claim of right, nothing but the dread of absolute 
 famine, which might overcome all other con- 
 siderations, could palliate the guilt of resistance. 
 
 I cannot help believing that, if the poor in 
 this country were convinced that they had no 
 claim of right to support, and yet in scarcities 
 and all cases of urgent distress were liberally 
 relieved, which I think they would be ; the 
 bond, which unites the rich with the poor, 
 would be drawn much closer than at present ; 
 and the lower classes of society, as they would 
 have less real reason for irritation and discon- 
 tent, would be much less subject to these uneasy 
 sensations. 
 
 Among those who have objected to my de- 
 claration, that the poor have no claim of right 
 
 to
 
 APPENDIX. 353 
 
 to support, is Mr. Young, who, with a harsh- 
 ness not quite becoming a candid inquirer after 
 truth, has called my proposal for the gradual 
 abolition of the poor-laws a horrible plan, and 
 asserted that the execution of it would be a 
 most iniquitous proceeding. Let this plan 
 however be compared for a moment with that 
 which he himself and others have proposed, of 
 fixing the sum of the poor's rates, which on no 
 account is to be increased. Under such a law, 
 if the distresses of the poor were to be aggra- 
 vated tenfold, either by the increase of numbers 
 or the recurrence of a scarcity, the same sum 
 would invariably be appropriated to their relief. 
 If the statute which gives the poor a right to 
 support were to remain unexpunged, we should 
 add to the cruelty of starving them the in- 
 justice of still professing to relieve them. If 
 this statute were expunged or altered, we should 
 virtually deny the right of the poor to support, 
 and only retain the absurdity of saying, that 
 they had a right to a certain sum ; an absurdity 
 on which Mr. Young justly comments with 
 much severity in the case of France \ In both 
 
 cases 
 
 a The National Assembly of France, though they dis- 
 approved of the English poor-laws, still adopted their 
 principle, and declared, that the poor had a right to pe- 
 cuniary assistance ; that the Assembly ought to consider 
 
 VOL. II. 2 A such
 
 354 APPENDIX. 
 
 cases the hardships which they would suffer 
 would be much more severe, and would come 
 upon them in a much more unprepared state, 
 than upon the plan proposed in the Essay. 
 
 According to this plan all that are already 
 married, and even all that are engaged to marry 
 during the course of the year, and all their 
 children, would be relieved as usual ; and only 
 those who marry subsequently, and who of 
 course may be supposed to have made better 
 provision for contingencies, would be out of the 
 pale of relief. 
 
 Any plan for the abolition of the poor-laws 
 
 such a provision as one of its first and most sacred duties ; 
 and that, with this view, an expense ought to be incurred 
 to the amount of 50 millions a year. Mr. Young justly 
 observes that he does not comprehend how it is possible 
 to regard the expenditure of 50 millions as a sacred duty, 
 and not extend that 50 to 100 (if necessity should demand 
 it), the 100 to 200, the 200 to 300, and so on in the same 
 miserable progression which has taken place in England. 
 Travels in France, c. xv. p. 439* 
 
 I should be the last man to quote Mr. Young against 
 himself, if I thought he had left the path of error for the 
 path of truth, as such kind of inconsistency I hold to be 
 highly praiseworthy. But thinking, on the contrary, that 
 he has left truth for error, it is surely justifiable to remind 
 him of his former opinions. We may recall to a vicious 
 man his former virtuous conduct, though it would be use- 
 less and indelicate to remind a virtuous man of the vices 
 which he had relinquished. 
 
 must
 
 APPENDIX. 355 
 
 must presuppose a general acknowledgment 
 that they are essentially wrong, and that it is 
 necessary to tread back our steps. With this 
 acknowledgment, whatever objections may be 
 made to my plan, in the too frequently short- 
 sighted views of policy, I have no fear of com- 
 paring it with any other that has yet been ad- 
 vanced, in point of justice and humanity ; and of 
 course the terms iniquitous and horrible " pass 
 by me like the idle wind, which I regard not." 
 
 Mr. Young, it would appear, has now given 
 up this plan. He has pleaded for the privilege 
 of being inconsistent, and has given such reasons 
 for it that I am disposed to acquiesce in them, 
 provided he confines the exercise of this privi- 
 lege to different publications, in the interval 
 between which he may have collected new 
 facts. But I still think it not quite allowable 
 in the same publication : and yet it appears 
 that in the very paper, in which he has so 
 severely condemned my scheme, the same 
 arguments, which he has used to reprobate it, 
 are applicable with equal force against his own 
 proposal, as there explained. 
 
 He allows that his plan can provide only for 
 
 a certain number of families, and has nothing 
 
 to do with the increase from them 3 ; but in 
 
 allowing this, he allows that it does not reach 
 
 a Annals of Agriculture, No. 239, p- 219. 
 
 2 a 2 the.
 
 356 APPENDIX. 
 
 the grand difficulty attending a provision for 
 the poor. In this most essential point, after 
 reprobating me for saying, that the poor have 
 no claim of right to support, he is compelled to 
 adopt the very same conclusion ; and to own 
 that " it might be prudent to consider the 
 " misery to which the progressive population 
 " might be subject, when there was not a suf- 
 " ficient demand for them in towns and manu 
 " factures, as an evil which it was absolutely 
 " and physically impossible to prevent." Now 
 the sole reason why I say that the poor have 
 no claim of right to support, is the physical 
 impossibility of relieving this progressive popu- 
 lation. Mr. Young expressly acknowledges 
 this physical impossibility ; yet with an incon- 
 sistency scarcely credible still declaims against 
 my declaration. 
 
 The power, which the society may possess 
 of relieving a certain portion of the poor, is a 
 consideration perfectly distinct from the general 
 question ; and I am quite sure I have never 
 said that it is not our duty to do all the good 
 that is practicable. But this limited power of 
 assisting individuals cannot possibly establish 
 a general right. If the poor have really a natural 
 right to support, and if our present laws be only 
 a confirmation of this right, it ought certainly to 
 extend unimpaired to all who are in distress, 
 
 to
 
 APPENDIX. 357 
 
 to the increase from the cottagers as well as 
 to the cottagers themselves : and it would be 
 a palpable injustice in the society, to adopt 
 Mr. Youngs plan, and purchase from the pre- 
 sent generation the disfranchisement of their 
 posterity. 
 
 Mr. Young objects very strongly to that pas- 
 sage of the Essay a , in which I observe that a 
 man, who plunges himself into poverty and de- 
 pendence by marrying without any prospect of 
 being able to maintain his family, has more 
 reason to accuse himself than the price of la- 
 bour, the parish, the avarice of the rich, the 
 institutions of society, and the dispensations of 
 Providence; except as far as he has been 
 deceived by those who ought to have instructed 
 him. In answer to this, Mr. Young says that 
 the poor fellow is justified in everyone of these 
 complaints, that of Providence alone excepted ; 
 and that, seeing other cottagers living com- 
 fortably with three or four acres of land, he has 
 cause to accuse institutions which deny him 
 that which the rich could well spare, and which 
 would give him all he wants h . I would beg 
 Mr. Young for a moment to consider how the 
 
 " Book iv. c. iii. p. 506, 4to. edit. vol. iii. p. 106, 
 of this edition. 
 
 u Annals of Agriculture, No. 239, p. 226. 
 
 matter
 
 358 APPENDIX. 
 
 matter would stand, if his own plan were com- 
 pletely executed. After all the commons had 
 been divided as he has proposed, if a labourer 
 had more than one son, in what respect would 
 the second or third be in a different situation 
 from the man that I have supposed ? Mr. Young 
 cannot possibly mean to say that, if he had the 
 very natural desire of marrying at twenty, he 
 would still have a right to complain that the 
 society did not give him a house and three or 
 four acres of land. He has indeed expressly 
 denied this absurd consequence, though in so 
 doing he has directly contradicted the declara- 
 tion just quoted*. The progressive population, 
 he says, would, according to his system, be 
 cut off from the influence of the poor-laws, and 
 the encouragement to marry would remain ex- 
 actly in that proportion less than at present. 
 Under these circumstances, without land, with- 
 out the prospect of parish relief, and with the 
 price of labour only sufficient to maintain two 
 children, can Mr. Young seriously think that 
 the poor man, if he be really aware of his 
 situation, does not do wrong in marrying, and 
 ought not to' accuse himself for following what 
 Mr. Young calls the dictates of God, of nature 
 and of revelation? Mr. Young cannot be un- 
 
 * Annals of Agriculture, No. 239, p. 214. 
 
 aware
 
 APPENDIX. &>9 
 
 aware of the wretchedness that must inevitably 
 follow a marriage under such circumstances. 
 His plan makes no provision whatever for 
 altering these circumstances. He must there- 
 fore totally disregard all the misery arising 
 from excessive poverty ; or, if he allows that 
 these supernumerary members must necessa- 
 rily wait, either till a cottage with land becomes 
 vacant in the country, or that by emigrating to 
 towns they can find the means of providing for 
 a family, all the declamation, which he has 
 urged with such pomp against deferring mar- 
 riage in my system, would be equally appli- 
 cable in his own. In fact, if Mr. Young's plan 
 really attained the object, which it professes to 
 have in view, that of bettering the condition of 
 the poor ; and did not defeat its intent by en- 
 couraging a too rapid multiplication, and con- 
 sequently lowering the price of labour; it 
 cannot be doubted that not only the supernu- 
 merary members just mentioned, but all the 
 labouring poor, must wait longer before they 
 could marry than they do at present. 
 
 The following proposition may be said to be 
 capable of mathematical demonstration. In a 
 country, the resources of which will not per- 
 manently admit of an increase of population 
 more rapid than the existing rate, no improve- 
 ment in the condition of thepeople, which would 
 
 tend
 
 360 APPENDIX. 
 
 tend to diminish mortality, could possibly take 
 place without being accompanied by a smaller 
 proportion of births, supposing of course no 
 particular increase of emigration*. To a per- 
 son who has considered the subject, there is no 
 proposition in Euclid, which brings home to 
 the mind a stronger conviction than this; and 
 there is no truth so invariably confirmed by all 
 the registers of births, deaths and marriages, 
 that have ever been collected. In this country 
 it has appeared that, according to the returns 
 of the Population Act b , the proportion of births 
 
 * With regard to the resources of emigration, I refer 
 the reader to the chapter on that subject in the Essay. 
 Nothing is more easy than to say that three-fourths of the 
 habitable globe are yet unpeopled ; but it is by no means 
 so easy to fill these parts with flourishing colonies. The 
 peculiar circumstances which have caused the spirit of 
 emigration in the Highlands, so clearly explained in the 
 able work of Lord Selkirk before referred to, are not of 
 constant recurrence; nor is it by any means to be wished 
 that they should be so. And yet without some such 
 circumstances, people are by no means very ready to 
 leave their native soil, and will bear much distress at 
 home, rather than venture on these distant regions. I am 
 of opinion, that it is both the duty and interest of govern- 
 ments to facilitate emigration; but it would surely be 
 unjust to oblige people to leave their country and kindred 
 against their inclinations. 
 
 "The Returns of 1801. 
 
 to
 
 APPENDIX. 361 
 
 to deaths is about 4 to 3. This proportion 
 with a mortality of 1 in 40 would double the 
 population in 83 years and a half a ; and as we 
 cannot suppose that the country could admit of 
 more than a quadrupled population in the next 
 hundred and sixty-six years, we may safely say 
 that its resources will not allow of a perma- 
 nent rate of increase greater than that which is 
 taking place at present. But if this be granted, 
 it follows as a direct conclusion, that if 
 Mr. Young's plan, or any other, really suc- 
 ceeded in bettering the condition of the poor, 
 and enabling them to rear more of their chil- 
 dren, the vacancies in cottages in proportion 
 to the number of expectants would happen 
 slower than at present, and the age of marriage 
 must inevitably be later. 
 
 "With regard to the expression of later mar- 
 riages, it should always be recollected that it 
 refers to no particular age, but is entirely com- 
 parative. The marriages in England are later 
 than in France, the natural consequence of that 
 prudence and respectability generated by a 
 better government; and can we doubt that 
 good has been the result ? The marriages in 
 this country now are later than they were be- 
 fore the revolution ; and I feel firmly persuaded, 
 
 a Table iii. p. 238, 4to. edit. ; and Table ii. p. 168, vol. 
 ii. of this edition. 
 
 that
 
 36:5 APPENDIX. 
 
 that the increased healthiness observed of late 
 years could not possibly have taken place with- 
 out this accompanying circumstance. Two or 
 three years in the average age of marriage, by 
 lengthening each generation, and tending, in a 
 small degree, both to diminish the prolifickness 
 of marriages, and the number of born living to 
 be married, may make a considerable differ- 
 ence in the rate of increase, and be adequate to 
 allow for a considerably diminished mortality. 
 But I would- on no account talk of any limits 
 whatever. The only plain and intelligible mea- 
 sure with regard to marriage, is the having a 
 fair prospect of being able to maintain a family. 
 If the possession of one of Mr. Youngs cottages 
 would give the labourer this prospect, he would 
 be quite right to marry ; but if it did not, or if 
 he could only obtain a rented house without 
 land, and the wages of labour were only suffi- 
 cient to maintain two children, does Mr. Young, 
 who cuts him off from the influence of the poor- 
 laws, presume to say, that he would still be 
 right in marrying ? 
 
 * The lowest prospect, with which a man can be jus- 
 tified in marrying, seems to be the power, when in 
 health, of earning such wages as, at the average price of 
 corn, will maintain the average number of living children 
 to a marriage. 
 
 Mr. Young
 
 APPENDIX. 363 
 
 Mr. Young has asserted that I have made 
 perfect chastity in the single state absolutely ne- 
 cessary to the success of my plan; but this surely 
 is a misrepresentation. Perfect virtue is indeed 
 necessary, to enable man to avoid all the moral 
 and physical evils which depend upon his own 
 conduct ; but who ever expected perfect virtue 
 upon earth ? I have said, what I conceive to be 
 strictly true, that it is our duty to defer mar- 
 riage till we can feed our children ; and that it 
 is also our duty not to indulge ourselves in 
 vicious gratifications; but I have never said 
 that I expected either, much less both, of 
 these duties to be completely fulfilled. In this, 
 and a number of other cases, it may happen 
 that the violation of one of two duties will en- 
 able a man to perform the other with greater 
 facility ; but if they be really both duties, and 
 both practicable, no power on earth can absolve 
 a man from the guilt of violating either. This 
 can only be done by that God, who can weigh 
 the crime against the temptation, and will 
 temper justice with mercy. The moralist is 
 still bound to inculcate the practice of both 
 duties; and each individual must' be left to 
 act under the temptations to which he is 
 exposed, as his conscience shall dictate. What- 
 ever I may have said in drawing a picture pro* 
 fessedly visionary, for the sake of illustration ; 
 
 in
 
 364 APPENDIX. 
 
 in the practical application of my principles I 
 have taken man as he is, with all his imperfec- 
 tions on his head. And thus viewing him, and 
 knowing that some checks to population must 
 exist, I have not the slighest hesitation in say- 
 ing, that the prudential check to marriage is 
 better than premature mortality. And in this 
 decision I feel myself completely justified by 
 experience. 
 
 In every instance that can be traced, in which 
 an improved government has given to its sub- 
 jects a greater degree of foresight, industry 
 and personal dignity, these effects, under si- 
 milar circumstances of increase, have invariably 
 been accompanied by a diminished proportion 
 of marriages. This is a proof that an increase 
 of moral worth in the general character is not 
 at least incompatible with an increase of tempta- 
 tions with respect to one particular vice ; and 
 the instances of Norway, Switzerland, England 
 and Scotland, adduced in the last chapter of 
 the Essay, shew that, in comparing different 
 countries together, a smaller proportion of 
 marriages and births does not necessarily imply 
 the greater prevalence even of this particular 
 vice. This is surely quite enough for the le- 
 gislator. He cannot estimate with tolerable 
 accuracy the degree in which chastity in the 
 single state prevails. His general conclusions 
 
 must
 
 APPENDIX. 365 
 
 must be founded on general results, and these 
 are clearly in his favour. 
 
 To much of Mr. Young's plan, as he has at 
 present explained it, I should by no means ob- 
 ject. The peculiar evil which I apprehended 
 from it, that of taking the poor from the con- 
 sumption of wheat, and feeding them on milk 
 and potatoes, might certainly be avoided by a 
 limitation of the number of cottages ; and I en- 
 tirely agree with him in thinking, that we should 
 not be deterred from making 500,000 families 
 more comfortable, because we cannot extend 
 the same relief to all the rest. I have indeed 
 myself ventured to recommend a general im- 
 provement of cottages, and even the cow system 
 on a limited scale; and perhaps with proper 
 precautions a certain portion of land might be 
 given to a considerable body of the labouring 
 classes. 
 
 If the law which entitles the poor to support 
 were to be repealed, I should most highly ap- 
 prove of any plan which would tend to render 
 such repeal more palatable on its first pro- 
 mulgation: and in this view, some kind of 
 compact with the poor might be very desirable. 
 A plan of letting land to labourers under certain 
 conditions has lately been tried in the parish of 
 Long Newnton in Gloucestershire ; and the re- 
 sult, with a general proposal founded on it, 
 
 has
 
 366 APPENDIX. 
 
 has been submitted to the public by Mr. Est- 
 court. The present success has been very 
 striking ; but in this, and every other case of 
 the kind, we should always bear in mind, that 
 no experiment respecting a provision for the 
 poor can be said to be complete till succeeding 
 generations have arisen 8 . I doubt if ever there 
 has been an instance of any thing like a liberal 
 institution for the poor, which did not succeed 
 on its first establishment, however it might 
 have failed afterwards. But this consideration 
 should by no means deter us from making such 
 experiments, when present good is to be ob- 
 tained by them, and a future overbalance of 
 evil is not justly to be apprehended. It should 
 only make us less rash in drawing our inferences. 
 With regard to the general question of the 
 advantages to the lower classes of possessing 
 land, it should be recollected that such pos- 
 
 a In any plan, particularly of a distribution of land, as 
 a compensation for the relief given by the poor-laws, the 
 succeeding generations would form the grand difficulty. 
 All others would be perfectly trivial in comparison. For a 
 time every thing might go on very smoothly, and the rates 
 be much diminished ; but afterwards, they would either 
 increase again as rapidly as before, or the scheme would 
 be exposed to all the same objections which have been 
 made to mine, without the same justice and consistency 
 to palliate them. 
 
 session*
 
 APPENDIX. 367 
 
 sessions are by no means a novelty. Formerly 
 this system prevailed in almost every country 
 with which we are acquainted, and prevails at 
 present in many countries, where the peasants 
 are far from being remarkable for their com- 
 forts, but are, on the contrary, very poor, and. 
 particularly subject to scarcities. With respect 
 to this latter evil, indeed, it is quite obvious 
 that a peasantry which depends principally on 
 its possessions in land, must be more exposed 
 to it than one which depends on the general 
 wages of labour. When a year of deficient 
 crops occurs in a country of any extent and 
 diversity of soil, it is always partial, and some 
 districts are more affected than others. But 
 when a bad crop of grass, corn or potatoes, or 
 a mortality among cattle, falls on a poor man 
 whose principal dependence is on two or three . 
 acres of land, he is in the most deplorable and 
 helpless situation. He is comparatively without 
 money to purchase supplies, and is not for a 
 moment to be compared with the man, who 
 depends on the wages of labour, and who will 
 of course be able to purchase that portion of the 
 general crop, whatever it may be, to which his 
 relative situation in the society entitles him. 
 In Sweden, where the farmers' labourers are 
 paid principally in land, and often keep two or 
 three cows, it is not uncommon for the peasants 
 
 of
 
 368 APPENDIX. 
 
 of one district to be almost starving, while 
 their neighbours at a little distance are living 
 in comparative plenty. It will be found indeed 
 generally, that, in almost all the countries 
 which are particularly subject to scarcities and 
 famines, either the farms are very small, or the 
 labourers are paid principally in land. China, 
 Indostan, and the former state of the Highlands 
 of Scotland, furnish some proofs among many 
 others of the truth of this observation ; and in 
 reference to the small properties of France, 
 Mr. Young himself in his Tour particularly 
 notices the distress arising from the least failure 
 of the crops ; and observes that such a defi- 
 ciency, as in England passes almost without 
 notice, in France is attended with dreadful 
 calamities \ 
 
 Should any plan therefore of assisting the 
 poor by land be adopted in this country, it 
 would be absolutely essential to its ultimate 
 success, to prevent them from making it their 
 principal dependence. And this might pro- 
 bably be done by attending strictly to the two 
 following rules. Not to let the division of land 
 be so great as to interrupt the cottager essen- 
 
 a Travels in France, vol. i. c. xii. p. 409- That coun- 
 try will probably be the least liable to scarcities, in which 
 agriculture is carried on as the most flourishing manufac- 
 ture of the state. 
 
 tially
 
 APPENDIX. 369 
 
 tially in his usual labours ; and always to stop 
 in the further distribution of land and cottages, 
 when the price of labour, independently of any 
 assistance from land, would not at the average 
 price of corn maintain three, or at least two 
 children. Could the matter be so ordered, 
 that the labourer in working for others should 
 still continue to earn the same real command 
 over the necessaries of life that he did before, 
 a very great accession of comfort and happiness 
 might accrue to the poor from the possession 
 of land, without any evil that I can foresee at 
 present. But if these points were not attended 
 to, I should certainly fear an approximation to 
 the state of the poor in France, Sweden and 
 Ireland ; nor do I think that any of the partial 
 experiments that have yet taken place afford 
 the slightest presumption to the contrary. The 
 result of these experiments is indeed exactly 
 such as one should have expected. Who could 
 ever have doubted that, if without lowering the 
 price of labour, or taking the labourer off from 
 his usual occupations, you could give him the 
 produce of one or two acres of land and the 
 benefit of a cow, you would decidedly raise his 
 condition ? But it by no means follows that he 
 would retain this advantage, if the system were 
 so extended, as to make the land his principal 
 dependence, to lower the price of labour, and, 
 vol. ,11. -2b in
 
 370 APPENDIX. 
 
 in the language of Mr. Young, to take the poor 
 from the consumption of wheat and feed them 
 on milk and potatoes. It does not appear to 
 me so marvellous, as it does to Mr. Young, 
 that the very same system, which in Lincoln- 
 shire and Rutlandshire may produce now the 
 most comfortable peasantry in the British do- 
 minions, should in the end, if extended without 
 proper precautions, assimilate the condition of 
 the labourers of this country to that of the 
 lower classes of the Irish. 
 
 It is generally dangerous and impolitic in 
 a government to take upon itself to regulate 
 the supply of any commodity in request ; and 
 probably the supply of labourers forms no 
 exception to the general rule. I would on no 
 account therefore propose a positive law to re- 
 gulate their increase; but as any assistance 
 which the society might give them cannot, in 
 the nature of things, be unlimited, the line may 
 fairly be drawn where we please ; and with re- 
 gard to the increase from this point, every 
 thing would be left as before to individual ex- 
 ertion and individual speculation. 
 
 If any plan of this kind were adopted by the 
 government, I cannot help thinking that it 
 might be made the means of giving the best 
 kind of encouragement and reward to those 
 who are employed in our defence. If the pe- 
 riod
 
 APPEXDIX. 371 
 
 riod of enlisting were only for a limited time, 
 and at the expiration of that time every person 
 who had conducted himself well were entitled to 
 a house and a small portion of land, if a country 
 labourer, and to a tenement in a town and a 
 small pension, if an artificer (all inalienable), a 
 very strong motive would be held out to young 
 men, not only to enter into the service of their 
 country, but to behave well in that service; 
 and in a short time, there would be such a 
 martial population at home as the unfortunate 
 state of Europe seems in a most peculiar manner 
 to require. As it is only limited assistance 
 that the society can possibly give, it seems in 
 every respect fair and proper that, in regu- 
 lating this limit, some important end should be 
 attained. 
 
 If the poor-laws be allowed to remain exactly 
 in their present state, we ought at least to be 
 aware to what cause it is owing, that their ef- 
 fects have not been more pernicious than they 
 are observed to be ; that we may not com- 
 plain of, or alter those parts, without which 
 we should really not have the power of con- 
 tinuing them. The law which obliges each 
 parish to maintain its own poor is open to many 
 objections. It keeps the overseers and church- 
 wardens continually on the watch to prevent 
 new comers, and constantly in a state of dis- 
 2 b 2 pute
 
 372 APPENDIX. 
 
 pute with other parishes. It thus prevents the 
 free circulation of labour from place to place, and 
 renders its price very unequal in different parts 
 of the kingdom. It disposes all landlords 
 rather to pull down than to build cottages on 
 their estates ; and this scarcity of habitations 
 in the country, by driving more to the towns 
 than would otherwise have gone, gives a re- 
 lative discouragement to agriculture, and a re- 
 lative encouragement to manufactures. These, 
 it must be allowed, are no inconsiderable evils ; 
 but if the cause which occasions them were re- 
 moved, evils of much greater magnitude would 
 follow. I agree with Mr. Young in thinking, 
 that there is scarcely a parish in the kingdom, 
 where, if more cottages were built, and let at 
 any tolerably moderate rents, they would not be 
 immediately filled with new couples. I even 
 agree with him in thinking that in some places 
 this want of habitations operates too strongly 
 in preventing marriage. But I have not the 
 least doubt that, considered generally, its ope- 
 ration in the present state of things is most be- 
 neficial ; and that it is almost exclusively owing 
 to this cause that we have been able so long 
 to continue the poor-laws. If any man could 
 build a hovel by the road-side, or on the neigh- 
 bouring waste, without molestation; and yet 
 were secure that he and his family would al- 
 ways
 
 APPENDIX. 373 
 
 ways be supplied with work and food by the 
 parish, if they were not readily to be obtained 
 elsewhere ; I do not believe that it would be 
 long before the physical impossibility of exe- 
 cuting the letter of the poor-laws would ap- 
 pear. It is of importance therefore to be aware 
 that it is not because this or any other society 
 has really the power of employing and support- 
 ing all that might be born, that we have been 
 able to continue the present system ; but be- 
 cause by the indirect operation of this system, 
 not adverted to at the time of its establishment 
 and frequently reprobated since, the number 
 of births is always very greatly limited, and 
 thus reduced within the pale of possible 
 support. 
 
 The obvious tendency of the poor-laws is cer- 
 tainly to encourage marriage ; but a closer at- 
 tention to all their indirect as well as direct 
 effects may make it a matter of doubt to what 
 extent they really do this. They clearly tend, 
 in their general operation, to discourage so- 
 briety and economy, to encourage idleness and 
 the desertion of children, and to put virtue and 
 vice more on a level than they otherwise would 
 be ; but I will not presume to say positively 
 that they greatly encourage population. It is 
 certain that the proportion of births in this 
 country compared with others in similar cir- 
 cumstances
 
 374 appendix. 
 
 cumstances is very small ; but this was to be 
 expected from the superiority of the govern- 
 ment, the more respectable state of the people, 
 and the more general diffusion of a taste for 
 cleanliness and conveniences. And it will rea- 
 dily occur to the reader, that owing to these 
 causes, combined with the twofold operation of 
 the poor-laws, it must be extremely difficult tp 
 ascertain, with any degree of precision, what 
 has been their effect on population 3 . 
 
 The only argument of a general nature against 
 the Essay, which strikes me as having any con- 
 siderable force, is the following. It is against 
 the application of its principles, not the prin- 
 ciples themselves, and has not, that I know of, 
 been yet advanced in its present form. It may 
 be said that, according to my own reasonings 
 
 * The most favourable light, in which the poor-laws 
 can posibly be placed, is to say that under all the circum- 
 stances, with which they have been accompanied, they do 
 not much encourage marriage ; and undoubtedly the re- 
 turns of the Population Act seem to warrant the assertion. 
 Should this be true, many of the objections which have 
 been urged in the Essay against the poor-laws will 
 
 t 
 
 be removed ; but I wish to press on the attention of the 
 reader, that they will in that case be removed in strict 
 conformity to the general principles of the work, and in a 
 manner to confirm, not to invalidate, the main positions 
 which it has attempted to establish. 
 
 and
 
 APPENDIX. 375 
 
 and the facts stated in my work, it appears 
 that the diminished proportion of births, which 
 I consider as absolutely necessary to the per- 
 manent improvement of the condition of the poor, 
 invariably follows an improved government, and 
 the greater degree of personal respectability 
 which it gives to the lower classes of society. 
 Consequently allowing the desirableness of the 
 end, it is not necessary, in order to obtain it, 
 to risk the promulgation of any new opinions 
 which may alarm the prejudices of the poor, 
 and the effect of which we cannot with certainty 
 foresee; but we have only to proceed in im- 
 proving our civil polity, conferring the benefits 
 of education upon all, and removing every ob- 
 stacle to the general extension of all those 
 privileges and advantages which may be enjoyed 
 in common ; and we may be quite sure that the 
 effect, to which I look forward, and which can 
 alone render these advantages permanent, will 
 follow. 
 
 I acknowledge the truth and force of this 
 argument, and have only to observe, in an- 
 swer to it, that it is difficult to conceive, that 
 we should not proceed with more celerity and 
 certainty towards the end in view, if the prin- 
 cipal causes, which tend to promote or retard 
 it, were generally known. In particular, I 
 cannot help looking forward to a very decided 
 
 improvement
 
 376 APPENDIX. 
 
 improvement in the habits and temper of the 
 lower classes, when their real situation has 
 been clearly explained to them; and if this 
 were done gradually and cautiously, and ac- 
 companied with proper moral and religious in- 
 structions, I should not expect any danger 
 from it. I am always unwilling to believe, that 
 the general dissemination of truth is prejudicial. 
 Cases of the kind are undoubtedly conceivable ; 
 but they should be admitted with very great 
 caution. If the general presumption in favour 
 of the advantage of truth were once essentially 
 shaken, all ardour in its cause would share the 
 same fate ; and the interests of knowledge and 
 virtue most decidedly suffer. It is besides a 
 species of arrogance not lightly to be encou- 
 raged, for any man to suppose that he has pene- 
 trated further into the laws of nature than the 
 great Author of them intended, further than is 
 consistent with the good of mankind. 
 
 Under these impressions I have freely given 
 my opinions to the public. In the truth of the 
 general principles of the Essay I confess that I 
 feel such a confidence, that, till something has 
 been advanced against them very different in- 
 deed from any thing that has hitherto appeared, 
 I cannot help considering them as incontro- 
 vertible. With regard to the application of 
 these principles, the case is certainly different ; 
 
 and
 
 APPENDIX. 377 
 
 and as dangers of opposite kinds are to be 
 guarded against, the subject will of course ad- 
 mit of much latitude of opinion. At all events, 
 however, it must be allowed that, whatever 
 may be our determination respecting the advan- 
 tages or disadvantages of endeavouring to cir- 
 culate the truths on this subject among the poor, 
 it must be highly advantageous that they should 
 be known to all those who have it in their power 
 to influence the laws and institutions of society. 
 That the body of an army should not in all cases 
 know the particulars of their situation may 
 possibly be desirable ; but that the leaders - 
 should be in the same state of ignorance will 
 hardly, I think, be contended. 
 
 If it be really true, that without a diminished 
 proportion of births a we cannot attain any per- 
 manent improvement in the health and happi- 
 ness of the mass of the people, and cannot 
 secure that description of population, which, 
 by containing a larger share of adults, is best 
 calculated to create fresh resource's, and conse- 
 quently to encourage a continued increase of 
 
 a It should always be recollected that a diminished 
 proportion of births may take place under a constant an- 
 nual increase of the absolute number. This is in fact 
 exactly what has happened in England and Scotland 
 during the last forty years. 
 
 efficient
 
 378 APPENDIX. 
 
 efficient population ; it is surely of the highest 
 importance that this should be known, that, if 
 we take no steps directly to promote this 
 effect, we should not under the influence of 
 the former prejudices on this subject, endea- 
 vour to counteract it \ And if it be thought 
 
 unadviseable 
 
 * We should be aware that a scarcity of men, owing 
 either to great losses, or to some particular and unusual 
 demand, is liable to happen in every country ; and in no 
 respect invalidates the general principle that has been ad- 
 vanced. Whatever may be the tendency to increase, it is 
 quite clear that an extraordinary supply of men cannot be 
 produced either in six months, or six years; but even with 
 a view to a more than usual supply, causes which tend to 
 diminish mortality are not only more certain but more 
 rapid in their effects, than direct encouragements to mar- 
 riage. An increase of births may, and often does, take 
 place, without the ultimate accomplishment of our ob- 
 ject ; but supposing the births to remain the same, it is 
 impossible for a diminished mortality not to be accom- 
 panied by an increase of effective population. 
 
 We are very apt to be deceived on this subject by the 
 almost constant demand for labour, which prevails iu 
 every prosperous country ; but we should consider that 
 in countries which can but just keep up their population, 
 as the price of labour must be sufficient to rear a family 
 of a certain number, a single man will have a super- 
 fluity, and labour would be in constant demand at the 
 price of the subsistence of an individual. It cannot be 
 doubted that in this country we could soon employ double 
 
 the
 
 APPENDIX. 379 
 
 unadviseable to abolish the poor-laws, it cannot 
 be doubted, that a knowledge of those general 
 principles, which render them inefficient in 
 their humane intentions, might be applied so 
 far to modify them and regulate their execution, 
 as to remove many of the evils with which 
 they are accompanied, and make them less 
 objectionable. 
 
 There is only one subject more which I shall 
 notice, and that is rather a matter of feeling 
 than of argument. Many persons, whose un- 
 derstandings are not so constituted that they 
 
 the number of labourers, if we could have them at our 
 own price ; because supply will produce demand, as 
 well as demand supply. The present great extension of 
 the cotton trade did not originate in an extraordinary 
 increase of demand at the former prices, but in an in- 
 creased supply at a much cheaper rate, which of course 
 immediately produced an extended demand. As we 
 cannot however obtain men at sixpence a day by improve- 
 ments in machinery, we must submit to the necessary 
 conditions of their rearing ; and there is no man, who has 
 the slighest feeling for the happiness of the most nume- 
 rous class of society, or has even just views of policy on 
 the subject, who would not rather choose that the requi- 
 site population should be obtained by such a price of la- 
 bour, combined with such habits, as would occasion a 
 very small mortality, than from a great proportion of 
 births, of which comparatively few would reach man- 
 hood. 
 
 can
 
 380 APPENDIX. 
 
 can regulate their belief or disbelief by their 
 likes or dislikes, have professed their perfect 
 conviction of the truth of the general principles 
 contained in the Essay ; but at the same time 
 have lamented this conviction, as throwing a 
 darker shade over our views of human nature, 
 and tending particularly to narrow our pro- 
 spects of future improvement. In these feelings 
 I cannot agree with them. If, from a review 
 of the past, I could not only believe that a fun- 
 damental and very extraordinary improvement 
 in human society was possible, but feel a firm 
 confidence that it would take place, I should 
 undoubtedly be grieved to find, that I had over- 
 looked some cause, the operation of which 
 would at once blast my hopes. But if the con- 
 templation of the past history of mankind, from 
 which alone we can judge of the future, renders 
 it almost impossible, to feel such a confidence, 
 I confess that I had much rather believe that 
 some real and deeply-seated difficulty existed, 
 the constant struggle with which was calcu- 
 lated to rouse the natural inactivity of man, to 
 call forth his faculties, and invigorate and im- 
 prove his mind ; a species of difficulty, which it 
 must be allowed is most eminently and pecu- 
 liarly suited to a state of probation ; than that 
 nearly all the evils of life might with the most 
 perfect facility be removed, but for the per- 
 
 verseness
 
 APPENDIX. 381 
 
 verseness and wickedness of those who influ- 
 ence human institutions a . 
 
 A person who held this latter opinion must 
 necessarily live in a constant state of irritation 
 and disappointment. The ardent expectations, 
 with which he might begin life, would soon 
 receive the most cruel check. The regular 
 progress of society, under the most favourable 
 circumstances, would to him appear slow and 
 unsatisfactory ; but instead even of this regular 
 progress, his eye would be more frequently 
 presented with retrograde movements, and the 
 most disheartening reverses. The changes, to 
 which he had looked forward with delight, 
 would be found big with new and unlooked-for 
 evils ; and the characters, on which he had re- 
 posed the most confidence, would be seen fre- 
 quently deserting his favourite cause, either 
 from the lessons of experience or the tempta- 
 
 a The misery and vice arising from the pressure of the 
 population too hard against the limits of subsistence, and 
 the misery and vice arising from promiscuous intercourse, 
 may be considered as the Scylla and Charybdis of human 
 life. That it is possible for each individual to steer clear 
 of both these rocks is certainly true, and a truth which I 
 have endeavoured strongly to maintain ; but that these 
 rocks do not form a difficulty independent of human in- 
 stitutions, no person with any knowledge of the subject 
 can venture to assert. 
 
 tion
 
 382 APPENDIX. 
 
 tion of power. In this state of constant dis- 
 appointment, he would be but too apt to attri- 
 bute every thing to the worst motives; he 
 would be inclined to give up the cause of im- 
 provement in despair ; and judging of the whole 
 from a part, nothing but a peculiar goodness of 
 heart and amiableness of disposition could 
 preserve him from that sickly and disgusting 
 misanthropy, which is but too frequently the 
 end of such characters. 
 
 On the contrary, a person who held the other 
 opinion, as he would set out with more moderate 
 expectations, would of course be less liable to 
 disappointment. A comparison of the best with 
 the worst states of society, and the obvious 
 inference from analogy, that the best were 
 capable of further improvement, would con- 
 stantly present to his mind a prospect suffi- 
 ciently animating to warrant his most perse- 
 vering exertions. But aware of the difficulties 
 with which the subject was surrounded, knowing 
 how often in the attempt to attain one object 
 some other had been lost, and that, though so- 
 ciety had made rapid advances in some direc- 
 tions, it had been comparatively stationary in 
 others, he would be constantly prepared for 
 failures. These failures, instead of creating 
 despair, would only create knowledge ; instead 
 of checking his ardour, would give it a wiser 
 
 and
 
 APPENDIX. 383 
 
 and more successful direction ; and, having 
 founded his opinion of mankind on broad and 
 general grounds, the disappointment of any 
 particular views would not change this opinion; 
 but even in declining age he would probably 
 be found believing as firmly in the reality and 
 general prevalence of virtue as in the existence 
 and frequency of vice ; and to the last, looking 
 forward with a just confidence to those improve- 
 ments in society, which the history of the past, 
 in spite of all the reverses with which it is ac- 
 companied, seems clearly to warrant. 
 
 It may be true that, if ignorance is bliss, 'tis 
 folly to be wise ; but if ignorance be not bliss, 
 as in the present instance ; if all false views of 
 society must not only impede decidedly the 
 progress of improvement, but necessarily ter- 
 minate in the most bitter disappointments to 
 the individuals who form them ; I shall always 
 think that the feelings and prospects of those, 
 who make the justest estimates of our future 
 expectations, are the most consolatory; and 
 that the characters of this description are hap- 
 pier themselves, at the same time that they 
 are beyond comparison more likely to con- 
 tribute to the improvement and happiness of 
 society \ 
 
 a While the last sheet of this Appendix was printing 
 (1807); I heard with some surprise, that an argument had 
 
 been
 
 384 APPENDIX. 
 
 been drawn from the Principle of Population in favour 
 of the slave-trade. As the just conclusion from that 
 principle appears to ine to be exactly the contrary, I 
 cannot help saying a few words on the subject. 
 
 If the only argument against the slave-trade had been, 
 that, from the mortality it occasioned, it was likely to 
 unpeople Africa, or extinguish the human race, some 
 comfort with regard to these fears might, indeed, be 
 drawn from the Principle of Population ; but as the ne- 
 cessity of the abolition has never, that I know of, been 
 urged on the ground of these apprehensions, a reference 
 to the laws which regulate the increase of the human 
 species was certainly most unwise in the friends of the 
 slave-trade. 
 
 The abolition of the slave-trade is defended principally 
 by the two following arguments : 
 
 1st. That the trade to the coast of Africa for slaves, 
 together with their subsequent treatment in the West 
 Indies, is productive of so much human misery, that its 
 continuance is disgraceful to us as men and as Christians. 
 
 2d. That the culture of the West-India islands could 
 go on with equal advantage and much greater security, 
 if no further importation of slaves were to take place. 
 
 With regard to the first argument, it appears, in the 
 Essay on the Principle of Population, that so great is 
 the tendency of mankind to increase, that nothing but 
 some physical or moral check, operating in an excessive 
 and unusual degree, can permanently keep the population 
 of a country below the average means of subsistence. 
 In the West-India islands a constant recruit of labouring 
 negroes is necessary; and consequently the immediate 
 checks to population must operate with excessive and 
 
 unusual
 
 APPENDIX. 385 
 
 unusual force. All the checks to population were found 
 resolvable into moral restraint, vice and misery. In a 
 state of slavery moral restraint cannot have much influ- 
 ence ; nor in any state will it ever continue permanently 
 to diminish the population. The whole effect, therefore, 
 is to be attributed to the excessive and unusual action of 
 vice and misery ; and a reference to the facts contained 
 in the Essay incontrovertibly proves that the condition of 
 the slaves in the West Indies, taken altogether, is most 
 wretched, and that the representations of the friends of 
 the abolition cannot easily have been exaggerated. 
 
 It will be said that the principal reason, why the slaves 
 in the West Indies constantly diminish, is, that the sexes 
 are not in equal numbers, a considerable majority of males 
 being always imported ; but this very circumstance de- 
 cides at once on the cruelty of their situation, and must 
 necessarily be one powerful cause of their degraded moral 
 condition. 
 
 It may be said also, that many towns do not keep up 
 their numbers, and yet that the same objection is not 
 made to them on that account. But the cases will admit 
 of no comparison. If, for the sake of better society or 
 higher wages, people are willing to expose themselves to 
 a less pure air and greater temptations to vice, no hard- 
 ship is suffered that can reasonably be complained of. 
 The superior mortality of towns falls principally upon 
 children, and is scarcely noticed by people of mature age. 
 The sexes are in equal numbers ; and every man, after a 
 few years of industry, may look forward to the happiness 
 of domestic life. If during the time that he is thus 
 waiting, he acquires vicious habits which indispose him to 
 marriage, he has nobody to blame except himself. But 
 
 VOL. II. 2 c with
 
 386 APPENDIX. 
 
 with the negroes the case is totally different. The un- 
 equal number of the sexes shuts out at once the majority 
 of them from all chance of domestic happiness. They 
 have no hope of this kind to sweeten their toils and animate 
 their exertions ; but are necessarily condemned either to 
 unceasing privation or to the most vicious excesses ; and 
 thus shut out from every cheering prospect, we cannot 
 be surprised that they are in general ready to welcome that 
 death, which so many meet with in the prime of life. 
 
 The second argument is no less powerfully supported 
 by the Principle of Population than the first. It ap- 
 pears, from a very general survey of different countries, 
 that, under every form of government, however unjust and 
 tyrannical, in every climate of the known world, however 
 apparently unfavourable to health, it has been found that 
 population, almost with the sole exception above alluded 
 to, has been able to keep itself up to thelevelofthe means 
 of subsistence. Consequently, if by the abolition of the 
 trade to Africa the slaves in the West Indies were placed 
 only iu a tolerable situation, if their civil condition and 
 moral habits were only made to approach to those which 
 prevail among the mass of the human race in the worst- 
 governed countries of the world, it is contrary to the ge- 
 neral laws of nature to suppose that they would not be 
 able by procreation fully to supply the effective demand 
 for labour; and it is difficult to conceive that a popula- 
 tion so raised would not be in every point of view prefer- 
 able to that which exists at present. 
 
 It is perfectly clear therefore, that a consideration of 
 the laws which govern the increase and decrease of the 
 human species, tends to strengthen, in the most powerful 
 manner, all the arguments in favour of the abolition. 
 
 With
 
 APPENDIX. 387 
 
 With regard to the state of society among the African 
 nations, it will readily occur to the reader that, in describing 
 it, the question of the slave-trade was foreign to my pur- 
 pose ; and I might naturally fear that, if I entered upon it, 
 1 should be led into too long a digression. But certainly 
 all the facts which I have mentioned, and which are taken 
 principally from Park, if they do not absolutely prove that 
 the wars in Africa are excited and aggravated by the traffic 
 on the coast, tend powerfully to confirm the supposition. 
 The state of Africa, as I have described it, is exactly such 
 as we should expect in a country, where the capture of 
 men was considered as a more advantageous employment 
 than agriculture or manufactures. Of the state of these 
 nations some hundred years ago, it must be confessed, 
 we have little knowledge that we can depend upon. 
 But allowing that the regular plundering excursions, which 
 Park describes, are of the most ancient date ; yet it is 
 impossible to suppose that any circumstance which, like 
 the European traffic, must give additional value to the 
 plunder thus acquired, would not powerfully aggravate 
 them, and effectually prevent all progress towards a hap- 
 pier order of things. As long as the nations of Europe 
 continue barbarous enough to purchase slaves in Africa, 
 we may be quite sure that Africa will continue barbarous 
 enough to supply them. 
 
 h 2 C 2
 
 1817. 
 
 SINCE the publication of the last edition of 
 this Essay in 1807, two Works have appeared, 
 the avowed objects of which are directly to op- 
 pose its principles and.conclusions. These are 
 the Principles of Population and Production, by 
 Mr. Weyland ; and an Inquiry into the Principle 
 of Population, by Mr. James Grahame. 
 
 I would willingly leave the question as it at pre- 
 sentstands to the judgment of the public, without 
 any attempt on my part to influence it further 
 by a more particular reply ; but as I professed 
 my readiness to enter into the discussion of any 
 serious objections to my principles and conclu- 
 sions, which were brought forward in a spirit 
 of candour and truth ; and as one at least of 
 the publications above mentioned may be so 
 characterized, and the other is by no means de- 
 ficient in personal respect; I am induced shortly 
 to notice them. 
 
 1 should not however have thought it necessary 
 to advert to Mr. Grahame's publication, which 
 is a slight work without any very distinct ob- 
 ject in view, if it did not afford some strange 
 
 specimens
 
 APPENDIX. 389 
 
 specimens of misrepresentation, which it maybe 
 useful to point out. 
 
 Mr. Grahame in his second chapter, speaking 
 of the tendency exhibited by the law of human 
 increase to a redundance of population, observes, 
 that some philosophers have considered this 
 tendency as a mark of the foresight of nature, 
 which has thus provided a ready supply for the 
 waste of life occasioned by human vices and 
 passions ; while " others, of whom Mr. Malthus 
 " is the leader, regard the vices and follies of 
 " human nature, and their various products, 
 " famine, disease and war, as benevolent re- 
 " med'tes by which nature has enabled human 
 " beings to correct the disorders that would 
 " arise from that redundance of population 
 " which the unrestrained operation of her laws 
 " would create a ." 
 
 These are the opinions imputed to me and the 
 philosophers with whom I am associated. If 
 the imputation were just, we have certainly on 
 many accounts great reason to be ashamed of 
 ourselves. For what are we made to say ? In 
 the first place, we are stated to assert that^- 
 mine is a benevolent remedy for want of food, as 
 redundance of population admits of no other in- 
 terpretation than that of a people ill supplied 
 with the means of subsistence, and consequently 
 
 a P. 100. 
 
 the
 
 390 APPENDIX. 
 
 the benevolent remedy of famine here noticed 
 can only apply to the disorders arising from 
 scarcity of food. 
 
 Secondly; we are said to affirm that nature 
 enables human beings by means of diseases to 
 correct the disorders that would arise from a 
 redundance of population ; that is, that man- 
 kind willingly and purposely create diseases, 
 with a view to prevent those diseases which are 
 the necessary consequence of a redundant po- 
 pulation, and are not worse or more mortal than 
 the means of prevention. 
 
 And thirdly, it is imputed to us generally, 
 that we consider the vices and follies of man- 
 kind as benevolent remedies for the disorders 
 arising from a redundant population ; and it 
 follows as a matter of course that these vices 
 ought to be encouraged rather than reprobated. 
 
 It would not be easy to compress in so small 
 a compass a greater quantity of absurdity, in- 
 consistency, and unfounded assertion. 
 
 The two first imputations may perhaps be pe- 
 culiar to Mr. Grahame; and protection from 
 them may be found in their gross absurdity and 
 inconsistency. With regard to the third, it must 
 be allowed that it has not the merit of novelty. 
 Although it is scarcely less absurd than the two 
 others, and has been shewn to be an opinion no 
 where to be found in the Essay, nor legitimately 
 
 to
 
 APPENDIX. 391 
 
 to be inferred from any part of it, it has been 
 continually repeated in various quarters for 
 fourteen years, and now appears in the pages of 
 Mr. Grahame. For the last time I will now no- 
 tice it ; and should it still continue to be brought 
 forward, I think I may be fairly excused from 
 paying the slightest further attention either to the 
 imputation itself, or to those who advance it. 
 
 If I had merely stated that the tendency 
 of the human race to increase faster than 
 the means of subsistence, was kept to a level 
 with these means by some or other of the forms 
 of vice and misery, and that these evils were 
 absolutely unavoidable, and incapable of being 
 diminished by any human efforts ; still I could 
 not with any semblance of justice be accused of 
 considering vice and misery as the remedies of 
 these evils, instead of the very evils themselves. 
 As well nearly might I be open to Mr. Grahame's 
 imputations of considering the famine and dis- 
 ease necessarily arising from a scarcity of food 
 as a benevolent remedy for the evils which this 
 scarcity occasions. 
 
 But I have not so stated the proposition. I 
 have not considered the evils of vice and misery 
 arising from a redundant population as unavoid- 
 able, and incapable of being diminished. On 
 the contrary I have pointed out a mode by which 
 these evils may be removed or mitigated by re- 
 moving or mitigating their cause. I have en- 
 deavoured
 
 392 APPENDIX. 
 
 deavoured to shew that this may be done con- 
 sistently with human virtue and happiness. I 
 have never considered any possible increase of 
 population as an evil, except as far as it might 
 increase the proportion of vice and misery. 
 Vice and misery, and these alone, are the evils 
 which it has been my great object to contend 
 against. I have expressly proposed moral re- 
 straint as their rational and proper remedy; 
 and whether the remedy be good or bad, ade- 
 quate or inadequate, the proposal itself, and 
 the stress which I have laid upon it, is an in- 
 controvertible proof that I never can have con- 
 sidered vice and misery as themselves re- 
 medies. 
 
 But not only does the general tenour of my 
 work, and the specific object of the latter part 
 of it, clearly shew that I do not consider vice 
 and misery as remedies ; but particular passages 
 in various parts of it are so distinct on the sub- 
 ject, as not to admit of being misunderstood 
 but by the most perverse blindness. 
 
 It is therefore quite inconceivable that any 
 writer with the slightest pretension to respect- 
 ability should venture to bring forward such 
 imputations ; and it must be allowed to shew 
 either such a degree of ignorance, or such a 
 total want of candour, as utterly to disqualify 
 him for the discussion of such subjects. 
 
 But Mr. Grahame's misrepresentations are 
 
 not
 
 APPENDIX. 393 
 
 not confined to the passage above referred to. 
 In his Introduction he observes that, in order 
 to check a redundant population, the evils of 
 which I consider as much nearer than Mr. Wal- 
 lace, I " recommend immediate recourse to 
 human efforts, to the restraints prescribed by 
 Condorcet, for the correction or mitigation of 
 the evil a ." This is an assertion entirely with- 
 out foundation. I have never adverted to the 
 check suggested by Condorcet without the 
 most marked disapprobation. Indeed I should 
 always particularly reprobate any artificial and 
 unnatural modes of checking population, both 
 on account of their immorality and their tend- 
 ency to remove a necessary stimulus to in- 
 dustry. If it were possible for each married 
 couple to limit by a wish the number of their 
 children, there is certainly reason to fear that 
 the indolence of the human race would be 
 very greatly increased ; and that neither the 
 population of individual countries, nor of the 
 whole earth, would ever reach its natural and 
 proper extent. But the restraints which I 
 have recommended are quite of a different 
 character. They are not only pointed out by 
 reason and sanctioned by religion, but tend in 
 the most marked manner to stimulate industry. 
 It is not easy to conceive a more powerful en- 
 
 a P. 18. 
 
 couragement
 
 394 APPENDIX. 
 
 couragement to exertion and good conduct 
 than the looking forward to marriage as a state 
 peculiarly desirable ; but only to be enjoyed in 
 comfort, by the acquisition of habits of industry, 
 economy and prudence. And it is in this light 
 that I have always wished to place it a . 
 
 In speaking of the poor-laws in this country, 
 and of their tendency (particularly as they have 
 been lately administered) to eradicate all re- 
 maining spirit of independence among our pea- 
 santry, I observe that, " hard as it may appear 
 " in individual instances, dependent poverty 
 " ought to be held disgraceful ;" by which of 
 course I only mean that such a proper degree 
 of pride as will induce a labouring man to 
 make great exertions, as in Scotland, in order 
 to prevent himself or his nearest relations from 
 falling upon the parish, is very desirable, with 
 a view to the happiness of the lower classes of 
 society. The interpretation which Mr. Gra- 
 hame gives to this passage is, that the rich " are 
 " so to imbitter the pressure oi indigence by 
 " the stings of contumely, that men may be 
 " driven by their pride to prefer even the re- 
 " fuge of despair to the condition of depend - 
 
 a See vol. ii., p. 241, of 4th. edit.; p. 49-3 of the quarto 
 edit. ; and voi. iii., p. 82, of the present edit. 
 
 " ence!!
 
 APPENDIX. 395 
 
 " ence a ! !" a curious specimen of misrepre- 
 sentation and exaggeration. 
 
 I have written a chapter expressly on the 
 practical direction of our charity ; and in de- 
 tached passages elsewhere have paid a just tri- 
 bute to the exalted virtue of benevolence. To 
 those who have read these parts of my work, 
 and have attended to the general tone and spirit 
 of the whole, I willingly appeal, iftheyarebut 
 tolerably candid, against these charges of Mr. 
 Grahame, which intimate that I would root out 
 the virtues of charity and benevolence, without 
 regard to the exaltation which they bestow on 
 the moral dignity of our nature ; and that in my 
 view the " rich are required only to harden 
 their hearts against calamity, and to prevent 
 the charitable visitings of their nature from keep- 
 ing alive in them that virtue which is often 
 the only moral link between them and their 
 fellow-mortals b ." It is not indeed easy to sup- 
 pose that Mr. Grahame can have read the chap- 
 ter to which I allude, as both the letter and 
 spirit of it contradict, in the most express and 
 remarkable manner, the imputations conveyed 
 in the above passages. 
 
 These are a few specimens of Mr. Grahame's 
 
 a P. 236. b Ibid. 
 
 misrepresentations,
 
 396 APPENDIX. 
 
 misrepresentations, which might easily be multi- 
 plied ; but on this subject I will only further 
 remark that it shews no inconsiderable want of 
 candour to continue attacking and dwelling 
 upon passages, which have ceased to form a 
 part of the work controverted. And this 
 Mr. Grahame has done in more instances than 
 one, although he could hardly fail to know that he 
 was combating expressions and passages which 
 1 have seen reason to alter or expunge. 
 
 I really should not have thought it worth 
 while to notice these misrepresentations of 
 Mr. Grahame, if, in spite of them, the style and 
 tone of his publication had not appeared to me 
 to be entitled to more respect than most of my 
 opponents. 
 
 With regard to the substance and aim of 
 Mr. Grahame's work, it seems to be intended to 
 shew that emigration is the remedy provided by 
 nature for a redundant population ; and that if 
 this remedy cannot be adequately applied, 
 there is no other that can be proposed, which 
 will not lead to consequences worse than the 
 evil itself. These are two points which I have 
 considered at length in the Essay; and it cannot 
 be necessary to repeat any of the arguments 
 here. Emigration, if it could be freely used, 
 has been shewn to be a resource, which could 
 not be of long duration. It cannot therefore 
 
 under
 
 APPENDIX. 397 
 
 under any circumstances be considered as an 
 adequate remedy. The latter position is a mat- 
 ter of opinion, and may rationally be held 
 by any person who sees reason to think it 
 well founded. It appears to me, I con- 
 fess, that experience most decidedly contradicts 
 it; but to those who think otherwise, there 
 is nothing more to be said, thanthat they 
 are bound in consistency to acquiesce in 
 the necessary consequences of their opinion. 
 These consequences are, that the poverty and 
 wretchedness arising from a redundant popu- 
 lation, or, in other words, from very Jow 
 wages and want of employment, are absolutely 
 irremediable, and must be continually increasing 
 as the population of the earth proceeds ; and 
 that all the efforts of legislative wisdom and 
 private charity, though they may afford a 
 wholesome and beneficial exercise of human 
 virtue, and may occasionally alter the distribu- 
 tion and vary the pressure of human misery, 
 can do absolutely nothing towards diminishing 
 the general amount or checking the increasing 
 weight of this pressure. 
 
 Mr. Weyland's work is of a much more ela- 
 borate description than that of Mr. Grahame. 
 It has also a very definite object in view : and 
 although, when he enters into the details of his 
 subject, he is compelled entirely to agree with 
 
 me
 
 398 APPENDIX. 
 
 me respecting the checks which practically 
 keep down population to the level of the means 
 of subsistence, and has not in fact given a single 
 reason for the slow progress of population, in 
 the advanced stages of society, that does not 
 clearly and incontrovertibly come under the 
 heads of moral restraint, vice or misery ; yet 
 it must be allowed that he sets out with a bold 
 and distinct denial of my premises, and finishes, 
 as he ought to do from such a beginning, by 
 drawing the most opposite conclusions. 
 
 After stating fairly my main propositions, 
 and, adverting to the conclusion which I have 
 drawn from them, Mr. Weyland says, " Grant- 
 " ing the premises, it is indeed obvious that 
 " this conclusion is undeniable V 
 
 I desire no other concession than this ; and 
 if my premises can be shewn to rest on unsolid 
 foundations, I will most readily give up the 
 inferences I have drawn from them. 
 
 To determine the point here at issue it can- 
 not be necessary for me to repeat the proofs of 
 these premises derived both from theory and 
 experience, which have already so fully been 
 brought forwards. It has been allowed that 
 they have been stated with tolerable clearness ; 
 and it is known that many persons have con- 
 
 Principles of Population and Production, p. 15. 
 
 sidered
 
 APPENDIX. 399 
 
 sidered them as unassailable, who still refuse 
 to admit the consequences to which they appear 
 to lead. All that can be required therefore on 
 the present occasion is to examine the validity 
 of the objections to these premises brought for- 
 ward by Mr. Weyland. 
 
 Mr. Weyland observes, " that the origin of 
 " what are conceived to be the mistakes and 
 " false reasonings, with respect to the principle 
 " of population, appears to be the assumption 
 " of a tendency to increase in the human spe- 
 " cies, the quickest that can be proved pos- 
 " sible in any particular state of society, as 
 " that which is natural and theoretically possi- 
 " ble in all ; and the characterizing of every 
 " cause which tends to prevent such quickest 
 " possible rate as checks to the natural and 
 " spontaneous tendency of population to in- 
 " crease ; but as checks evidently insufficient 
 " to stem the progress of an overwhelming 
 " torrent. This seems as eligible a mode of 
 " reasoning, as if one were to assume the height 
 " of the Irish giant as the natural standard of 
 " the stature of man, and to call every reason, 
 " which may be suggested as likely to pre- 
 " vent the generality of men from reaching 
 " it, checks to their growth*." 
 
 a P. 17. 
 
 Mr. Weyland
 
 400 APPENDIX. 
 
 Mr. Weyland has here most unhappily chosen 
 his illustration, as it is in no respect applicable 
 to the case. In order to illustrate the different 
 rates at which population increases in different 
 countries, by the different heights of men, the 
 following comparison and inference would be 
 much more to the purpose. 
 
 If in a particular country we observed that all 
 the people had weights of different sizes upon 
 their heads, and that invariably each individual 
 was tall or short in proportion to the smallness or 
 greatness of the pressure upon him; that every 
 person was observed to grow when the weight he 
 carried was either removed or diminished, and 
 that the few among the whole people, who were 
 exempted from this burden, were very decidedly 
 taller than the rest; would it not be quite justi- 
 fiable to infer, that the weights which the 
 people carried were the cause of their being in 
 general so short ; and that the height of those 
 without weights might fairly be considered as the 
 standard to which it might be expected that 
 the great mass would arrive, if their growth 
 were unrestricted ? 
 
 For what is it in fact, which we really observe 
 with regard to the different rates of increase 
 in different countries ? Do we not see that, in 
 almost every state to which we can direct our 
 attention, the natural tendency to increase is 
 
 repressed
 
 APPENDIX. 401 
 
 repressed by the difficulty which the mass of 
 the people find in procuring' an ample portion 
 of the necessaries of life, which shews itself 
 more immediately in some or other of the 
 forms of moral restraint, vice and misery? Do 
 we not see that invariably the rates of increase 
 are fast or slow, according as the pressure of 
 these checks is light or heavy ; and that in 
 consequence Spain increases at one rate, France 
 at another, England at a third, Ireland at a 
 fourth, parts of Russia at a fifth, parts of Spanish 
 America at a sixth, and the United States of 
 North America at a seventh ? Do we not see 
 that, whenever the resources of any country 
 increase, so as to create a great demand for 
 labour and give the lower classes of society a 
 greater command over the necessaries of life, 
 the population of such country, though it might 
 before have been stationary or proceeding very 
 slowly, begins immediately to make a start 
 forwards? And do we not see that in those 
 few countries or districts of countries, where 
 the pressure arising from the difficulty of pro- 
 curing the necessaries and conveniencies of life 
 is almost entirely removed, and where in con- 
 sequence the checks to early marriages are 
 very few, and large families are maintained 
 with perfect facility, the rate at which the 
 population increases is always the greatest? 
 vol. ii. 2d And
 
 402 APPENDIX. 
 
 And when to these broad and glaring facts we 
 add, that neither theory nor experience will 
 justify us in believing, either that the passion 
 between the sexes, or the natural prolifick- 
 ness of women, diminishes in the progress of 
 society ; when we further consider that the 
 climate of the United States of America is not 
 particularly healthy, and that the qualities 
 which mainly distinguish it from other coun- 
 tries, are its rapid production and distribution 
 of the means of subsistence ; is not the in- 
 duction as legitimate and correct as possible, 
 that the varying weight of the difficulties at- 
 tending the maintenance of families, and the 
 moral restraint, vice and misery which these 
 difficulties necessarily generate, are the causes 
 of the varying rates of increase observable in 
 different countries; and that, so far from having 
 any reason to consider the American rate of 
 increase as peculiar, unnatural and gigantic, we 
 are bound by every law of induction and ana- 
 logy to conclude that there is scarcely a state 
 in Europe where, if the marriages were as 
 early, the means of maintaining large families 
 as ample, and the employments of the labouring 
 classes as healthy, the rate of increase would 
 not be as rapid, and in some cases, I have no 
 doubt, even more rapid, than in the United 
 States of America ? 
 
 Another
 
 APPENDIX. 403 
 
 Another of Mr. Weyland's curious illustra- 
 tions is the following : He says that the physical 
 tendency of a people in a commercial and 
 manufacturing state to double their number in 
 twenty-five years is "as absolutely gone as the 
 " tendency of a bean to shoot up further into 
 " the air, after it has arrived at its full growth;" 
 and that to assume such a tendency is to build a 
 theory upon a mere shadow, " which, when 
 " brought to the test, is directly at variance 
 " with experience of the fact ; and as unsafe 
 " to act upon, as would be that of a general 
 " who should assume the force of a musket- 
 " shot to be double its actual range, and then 
 " should calculate upon the death of all his 
 " enemies as soon as he had drawn up his 
 " own men for battle within this line of as- 
 " sumed efficiency 3 ." 
 
 Now I am not in the least aware who 
 it is that has assumed the actual range of 
 the shot, or the actual progress of popula- 
 tion in different countries, as very different 
 from what it is observed to be; and there- 
 fore cannot see how the illustration, as 
 brought forward by Mr. Weyland, applies, or 
 how I can be said to resemble his miscalculat- 
 ing general. What I have really done is this 
 (if he will allow me the use of his own me- 
 
 P. 126. 
 2 d 2 taphor)
 
 404 APPENDIX. 
 
 taphor) having observed that the range of 
 musket-balls, projected from similar barrels 
 and with the same quantity of powder of the 
 same strength, was, under different circum- 
 stances, very different, I applied myself to 
 consider what these circumstances were ; and, 
 having found that the range of each ball was 
 greater or less in proportion to the smaller or 
 greater number of the obstacles which it met 
 with in its course, or the rarity or density of the 
 medium through which it passed, I was led to 
 infer that the variety of range observed was 
 owing to these obstacles; and I consequently 
 thought it a more correct and legitimate con- 
 clusion, and one more consonant both to 
 theory and experience, to say that the natural 
 tendency to a range of a certain extent, or the 
 force impressed upon the ball, was always the 
 same, and the actual range, whether long or 
 short, only altered by external resistance; 
 than to conclude that the different distances 
 to which the balls reached must proceed from 
 some mysterious change in the natural tendency 
 of each bullet at different times, although no 
 observable difference could be noticed either 
 in the barrel or the charge. 
 
 I leave Mr. Weyland to determine which 
 would be the conclusion of the natural philo- 
 sopher, who was observing the different velo- 
 cities
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 405 
 
 cities and ranges of projectiles passing through 
 resisting media ; and I do not see why the 
 moral and political philosopher should proceed 
 upon principles so totally opposite. 
 
 But the only arguments of Mr. Weyland 
 against the natural tendency of the human race 
 to increase faster than the means of subsistence, 
 are a few of these illustrations which he has so 
 unhappily applied, together with the acknow- 
 ledged fact, that countries under different cir- 
 cumstances and in different stages of their 
 progress, do really increase at very different 
 rates. 
 
 Without dwelling therefore longer on such 
 illustrations, it may be observed, with regard to 
 the fact of the different rates of increase in 
 different countries, that as long as it is a law of 
 our nature that man cannot live without food, 
 these different rates are as absolutely and 
 strictly necessary as the differences in the power 
 of producing food in countries more or less 
 exhausted ; and that to infer from these dif- 
 ferent rates of increase, as they are actually 
 found to take place, that " population has a 
 " natural tendency to keep within the powers 
 " of the soil to afford it subsistence in every 
 " gradation through which society passes," is 
 just as rational as to infer that every man has 
 a natural tendency to remain in prison who is 
 
 necessarily
 
 406 APPENDIX. 
 
 necessarily confined to it by four strong walls ; 
 or that the pine of the crowded Norwegian 
 forest has no natural tendency to shoot out 
 lateral branches, because there is no room for 
 their growth. And yet this is Mr. Weyland's 
 first and grand proposition, on which the whole 
 of his work turns ! ! ! 
 
 But though Mr. Weyland has not proved, or 
 approached towards proving, that the natural 
 tendency of population to increase is not un- 
 limited ; though he has not advanced a single 
 reason to make it appear probable that a thou- 
 sand millions would not be doubled in twenty- 
 five years just as easily as a thousand, if 
 moral restraint, vice and misery, were equally 
 removed in both cases ; yet there is one part 
 of his argument, which undoubtedly might 
 under certain circumstances be true ; and if 
 true, though it would in no respect impeach 
 the premises of the Essay, it would essentially 
 affect some of its conclusions. 
 
 The argument may be stated shortly thus ; 
 that the natural division of labour arising from 
 a very advanced state of society, particularly 
 in countries where the land is rich, and great 
 improvements have taken place in agriculture, 
 might throw so large a portion of the people 
 into towns, and engage so many in unhealthy 
 occupations, that the immediate checks to po- 
 pulation
 
 APPENDIX. 407 
 
 pulation might be too powerful to be overcome 
 even by an abundance of food. 
 
 It is admitted that this is a possible case ; 
 and, foreseeing this possibility, I provided for it 
 in the terms in which the second proposition of 
 the Essay was enunciated. 
 
 The only practical question then worth at- 
 tending to between me and Mr. Weyland is, 
 whether cases of the kind above stated are to 
 be considered in the light in which I have con- 
 sidered them in the Essay, as exceptions of 
 very rare occurrence, or in the light in which 
 Mr. Weyland has considered them, as a state 
 of things naturally accompanying every stage 
 in the progress of improvement. On either 
 supposition, population would still be repressed 
 by some or other of the forms of moral restraint, 
 vice or misery ; but the moral and political 
 conclusions, in the actual state of almost all 
 countries, would be essentially different. On 
 the one supposition moral restraint would, ex- 
 cept in a few cases of the rarest occurrence, be 
 one of the most useful and necessary of virtues; 
 and on the other, it would be one of the most 
 useless and unnecessary. 
 
 This question can only be determined by an 
 appeal to experience. Mr. Weyland is always 
 ready to refer to the state of this country ; and, 
 in fact, may be said almost to have built his 
 
 system
 
 408 APPENDIX. 
 
 system upon the peculiar policy of a single 
 state. But the reference in this case will en- 
 tirely contradict his theory. He has brought 
 forward some elaborate calculations to shew 
 the extreme difficulty with which the births of 
 the country supply the demands of the towns 
 and manufactories. In looking over them, the 
 reader, without other information, would be dis- 
 posed to feel considerable alarm at the prospect 
 of depopulation impending over the country; 
 or at least he would be convinced that we were 
 within a hair's breadth of that formidable point 
 of non-reproduction, at which, according to 
 Mr. Weyland, the population naturally comes 
 to a full stop before the means of subsistence 
 cease to be progressive. 
 
 These calculations were certainly as appli- 
 cable twenty years ago as they are now ; and 
 indeed they are chiefly founded on observations 
 which were made at a greater distance of time 
 than the period here noticed. But what has 
 happened since ? In spite of the enlargement 
 of all our towns; jn spite of the most rapid 
 increase of manufactories, and of the proportion 
 'of people employed in them ; in spite of the 
 most extraordinary and unusual demands for the 
 army and navy ; in short, in spite of a state of 
 things which, according to Mr.Weyland's theory, 
 ought to have brought us long since to the 
 
 point
 
 APPENDIX. 409 
 
 point of non-repi*oduction, the population of 
 the country has advanced at a rate more 
 rapid than was ever known at any period 
 of its history. During the ten years from 
 1800 to 1811, as I have mentioned in a former 
 part of this work, the population of this country 
 (even after making an allowance for the pre- 
 sumed deficiency of the returns in the first 
 enumeration) increased at a rate which would 
 double its numbers in fifty-five years. 
 
 This fact appears to me at once a full and 
 complete refutation of the doctrine, that, as 
 society advances, the increased indisposition to 
 marriage and increased mortality in great towns 
 and manufactories always overcome the prin- 
 ciple of increase; and that, in the language of 
 Mr. Weyland, " population, so far from having 
 " an inconvenient tendency uniformly to press 
 " against the means of subsistence, becomes 
 " by degrees very slow in overtaking those 
 " means." 
 
 With this acknowledged and glaring fact 
 before him, and with the most striking evi- 
 dences staring him in the face, that even, dur- 
 ing this period of rapid increase, thousands 
 both in the country and in towns were pre- 
 vented from marrying so early as they would 
 have done, if they had possessed sufficient 
 means of supporting a family independently of 
 
 parish
 
 410 AP*ES T DIX. 
 
 parish relief, it is quite inconceivable how a 
 man of sense could bewilder himself in such a 
 maze of futile calculations, and come to a con- 
 clusion so diametrically opposite to experience. 
 
 The fact already noticed, as it applies to the 
 most advanced stage of society known in Eu- 
 rope, and proves incontrovertibly that the actual 
 checks to population, even in the most improved 
 countries, arise principally from an insufficiency 
 of subsistence, and soon yield to increased 
 resources, notwithstanding the increase of towns 
 and manufactories, may I think fairly be consi- 
 dered as quite decisive of the question at issue. 
 
 But in treating of so general and exten- 
 sive a subject as the Principle of Popu- 
 lation, it would surely not be just to take 
 our examples and illustrations only from a 
 single state. And in looking at the other coun- 
 tries Mr. Weyland's doctrine on population is, 
 if possible, still more completely contradicted. 
 Where, I would ask, are the great towns and 
 manufactories in Switzerland, Norway and 
 Sweden, which are to act as the graves of man- 
 kind, and to prevent the possibility of a re- 
 dundant population? In Sweden the propor- 
 tion of the people living in the country is to 
 those who live in town as 13 to 1 ; in England 
 this proportion is about 2 to 1 ; and yet England 
 increases much faster than Sweden. How is 
 
 this
 
 APPENDIX. 411 
 
 this to be reconciled with the doctrine that the 
 progress of civilization and improvement is al- 
 ways accompanied by a correspondent abate- 
 ment in the natural tendency of population to 
 increase ? Norway, Sweden and Switzerland 
 have not on the whole been ill governed ; but 
 where are the necessary " anticipating altera- 
 " tions," which, according to Mr. Weyland, 
 arise in every society as the powers of the soil 
 diminish, and " render so many persons un- 
 " willing to marry, and so many more, who do 
 " marry, incapable of reproducing their own 
 " numbers, and of replacing the deficiency in 
 " the remainder 3 ?'. What is it that in these 
 countries indisposes people to marry, but the 
 absolute hopelessness of being able to support 
 their families ? What is it that renders many 
 more who do marry incapable of reproducing 
 their own numbers, but the diseases generated by 
 excessive poverty by an insufficient supply of 
 the necessaries of life ? Can any man of re- 
 flection look at these and many of the other 
 countries of Europe, and then venture to state 
 that there is no moral reason for repressing the 
 inclination to early marriages ; when it cannot 
 be denied that the alternative of not repressing 
 it must necessarily and unavoidably be pre- 
 mature mortality from excessive poverty ? And 
 
 a P. 124. 
 
 is
 
 412 APPENDIX. 
 
 is it possible to know that in few or none of 
 the countries of Europe the wages of labour, 
 determined in the common way by the supply 
 and the demand, can support in health large 
 families; and yet assert that population does 
 not press against the means of subsistence, and 
 that " the evils of a redundant population can 
 " never be necessarily felt by a country till it 
 " is actually peopled up to the full capacity of 
 " its resources a ?". 
 
 Mr. Weyland really appears to have dictated 
 his book with his eyes blindfolded and his 
 ears stopped. I have a great respect for his 
 character and intentions ; but I must say that 
 it has never been my fortune to meet with a 
 theory so uniformly contradicted by experience. 
 The very slightest glance at the different coun- 
 tries of Europe shews with a force amounting 
 to demonstration, that to all practical pur- 
 . poses the natural tendency of population to 
 increase may be considered as a given quan- 
 tity ; and that the actual increase is regu- 
 lated by the varying resources of each country 
 for the employment and maintenance of labour, 
 in whatever stage of its progress it may be, 
 whether it is agricultural or manufacturing, 
 whether it has few or many towns. Of course 
 this actual increase, or the actual limits of po- 
 
 a P. 123. 
 
 pulation,
 
 APPENDIX. 413 
 
 pulation, must always be far short of the ut- 
 most powers of the earth to produce food ; first, 
 because we can never rationally suppose that 
 the human skill and industry actually exerted 
 are directed in the best possible manner towards 
 the production of food ; and secondly, because 
 as I have stated more particularly in a former 
 part of this work, the greatest production of 
 food which the powers of the earth would admit 
 cannot possibly take place under a system of 
 private property. But this acknowledged truth 
 obviously affects only the actual quantity of 
 food and the actual number of people, and has 
 not the most distant relation to the question 
 respecting the natural tendency of population to 
 increase beyond the powers of the earth to 
 produce food for it. 
 
 The observations already made are sufficient 
 to shew that the four main propositions of 
 Mr. Weyland, which depend upon the first, are 
 quite unsupported by any appearances in the 
 state of human society, as it is known to us in 
 the countries with which we are acquainted. 
 The last of these four propositions is the follow- 
 ing: "This tendency" (meaning the natural 
 tendency of population to keep within the powers 
 of the soil to afford it subsistence) " will have 
 " its complete operation so as constantly to 
 " maintain the people in comfort and plenty in 
 
 " proportion
 
 414 APPENDIX. 
 
 *' proportion as religion, morality, rational li- 
 " berty and security of person and property ap- 
 " proach the attainment of" a perfect influence ". 
 
 In the morality here noticed, moral or 
 prudential restraint from marriage is not in- 
 cluded : and so understood, I have no hesi- 
 tation in saying that this proposition appears 
 to me more directly to contradict the observed 
 laws of nature than to assert that Norway 
 might easily grow food for a thousand millions 
 ofinhabitants. I trust that I am disposed to at- 
 tach as much importance to the effects of mora- 
 lity and religion on the happiness of society, 
 even as Mr. Weyland ; but among the moral du- 
 ties, I certainly include a restraint upon the in- 
 clination to an early marriage when there is no 
 reasonable prospect of maintenance for a family ; 
 and unless this species of virtuous self-denial 
 be included in morality, I am quite at issue 
 with Mr. Weyland; and so distinctly deny his 
 proposition as to say that no degree of religion 
 and morality, no degree of rational liberty and 
 security of person and property, can under the 
 existing laws of nature place the lower classes 
 of society in a state of comfort and plenty. 
 
 With regard to Mr. Wey land's fifth and last 
 proposition b , I have already answered it in a 
 
 C. iii, p. 21. 
 b Id. 22. 
 
 note
 
 APPENDIX. 415 
 
 note which I have added, in the present 
 edition, to the last chapter of the third book a , 
 and will only observe here that an illustration 
 to shew the precedence of population to food, 
 which I believe was first brought forward by 
 an anonymous writer, and appears so to have 
 pleased Mr. Grahame as to induce him to repeat 
 it twice, is one which I would willingly take 
 to prove the very opposite doctrine to that 
 which it was meant to support. The appre- 
 hension that an increasing population would 
 starve b unless a previous increase of food were 
 procured for it, has been ridiculed by comparing 
 it with the apprehension that increasing num- 
 bers would be obliged to go naked unless a 
 previous increase of clothes should precede 
 their births. Now however well or ill-founded 
 may be our apprehensions in the former case, 
 they are certainly quite justifiable in the latter; 
 at least society has always acted as if it thought 
 so. In the course of the next twenty-four 
 hours there will be about 800 children born in 
 England and Wales ; and I will venture to say 
 that there are not ten out of the whole number 
 that come at the expected time, for whom clothes 
 are not prepared before their births. It is said 
 to be dangerous to meddle with edged tools 
 
 a Vol. in. p. 46, et seq. 
 b This I have never said ; I have only said that their 
 condition would be deteriorated, which is strictly true. 
 
 which
 
 416 APPENDIX, 
 
 which we do not know how 4:o handle ; and it 
 is equally dangerous to meddle with illustra- 
 tions which we do not know how to apply, and 
 which may tend to prove exactly the reverse of 
 what we wish. 
 
 On Mr. Weyland's theory it will not be 
 necessary further to enlarge. With regard 
 to the practical conclusions which he has 
 drawn from it in our own country, they are such 
 as might be expected from the nature of the 
 premises. If population, instead of having a 
 tendency to press against the means of subsist- 
 ence, becomes by degrees very slow in over- 
 taking them, Mr. Weyland's inference that we 
 ought to encourage the increase of the labouring 
 classes by abundant parochial assistance to 
 families, might perhaps be maintained. But if 
 his premises be entirely wrong, while his con- 
 clusions are still acted upon, the consequence 
 must be, that universal system of unnecessary 
 pauperism and dependence which we now so 
 much deplore. Already above one-fourth of 
 the population of England and Wales are regu- 
 larly dependent upon parish relief; and if the 
 system which Mr. Weyland recommends, and 
 which has been so generally adopted in the 
 midland counties, should extend itself over the 
 whole kingdom, there is really no saying to 
 what height the level of pauperism may rise. 
 While the system of making anallowance from 
 
 the
 
 APPENDIX. 417 
 
 the parish for every child above two is confined 
 to the labourers in agriculture, whom Mr. Wey- 
 land considers as the breeders of the country, 
 it is essentially unjust, as it lowers without 
 compensation the wages of the manufacturer and 
 artificer : and when it shall become just by 
 including the whole of the working classes, 
 what a dreadful picture does it present ! what 
 a scene of equality, indolence, rags and de- 
 pendence, among one-half or three-fourths of 
 the society! Under such a system to ex- 
 pect any essential benefit from saving banks or 
 any other institutions to promote industry and 
 economy is perfectly preposterous. When the 
 wages of labour are reduced to the level to 
 which this system tends, there will be neither 
 power nor motive to save. 
 
 Mr. Weyland strangely attributes much of 
 the wealth and prosperity of England to the 
 cheap population which it raises by means of 
 the poor-laws ; and seems to think that, if la- 
 bour had been allowed to settle at its natural 
 rate, and all workmen had been paid in pro- 
 portion to their skill and industry, whether 
 with or without families, we should never have 
 attained that commercial and manufacturing 
 ascendancy by which we have been so emi* 
 nently distinguished. 
 
 A practical refutation of so ill-founded an 
 vol. ii. 2 e opinion
 
 418 APPENDIX. 
 
 opinion may be seen in the state of Scotland, 
 which in proportion to its natural resources has 
 certainly increased in agriculture, manufactures 
 and commerce, during the last fifty years, still 
 more rapidly than England, although it may 
 fairly be said to have been essentially without 
 poor-laws. 
 
 It is not easy to determine what is the price 
 of labour most favourable to the progress of 
 wealth. It is certainly conceivable that it may 
 be too high for the prosperity of foreign com- 
 merce. But I believe it is much more fre- 
 quently too low ; and I doubt if there has ever 
 been an instance in any country of very great 
 prosperity in foreign commerce, where the 
 working classes have not had good money 
 wages. It is impossible to sell very largely 
 without being able to buy very largely ; and no 
 country can buy very largely in which the 
 working classes are not in such a state as to be 
 able to purchase foreign commodities. 
 
 But nothing tends to place the lower classes 
 of society in this state so much as a demand 
 for labour which is allowed to take its natural 
 course, and which therefore pays the unmarried 
 man and the man with a family at the same 
 rate ; and consequently gives at once to a very 
 large mass of the working classes the power of 
 purchasing foreign articles of consumption, and 
 
 of
 
 APPENDIX. 419 
 
 of paying taxes on luxuries to no inconsiderable 
 extent. While, on the other hand, nothing 
 would tend so effectually to destroy the power 
 of the working classes of society to purchase ei- 
 ther home manufactures or foreign articles of 
 consumption, or to pay taxes on luxuries, as 
 the practice of doling out to each member of a 
 family an allowance, in the shape of wages and 
 parish relief combined, just sufficient, or only 
 a very little more than to furnish them with 
 the mere food necessary for their mainte- 
 nance. 
 
 To shew that, in looking forward to such an 
 increased operation of prudential restraint as 
 would greatly improve the condition of the 
 poor, it is not necessary to suppose extrava- 
 gant and impossible wages, as Mr. Weyland 
 seems to think, I will refer to the proposition 
 of a practical man on the subject of the price of 
 labour ; and certainly much would be done, if 
 this proposition could be realized, though it 
 must be effected in a very different way from 
 that which he has proposed. 
 
 It has been recommended by Mr. Arthur 
 Young so to adjust the wages of day-labour as 
 to make them at all times equivalent to the pur- 
 chase of a peck of wheat. This quantity, he 
 says, was earned by country labourers during 
 a considerable period of the last century, when 
 2 e 2 the
 
 420 APPENDIX. 
 
 the poor-rates were low, and not granted to a$K 
 sist in the maintenance of those who were able 
 to work. And he goes on to observe that, " as 
 the labourer would (in this case) receive 70 
 bushels of wheat for 47 weeks' labour, exclusive 
 of five weeks for harvest; and as a family of six 
 persons consumes in a year no more than 48 
 bushels ; it is clear that such wages of labour 
 would cut off* every pretence of parochial assist- 
 ance; and of necessity the conclusion would 
 follow, that all right to it in men thus paid 
 should be annihilated for ever \" 
 
 An adjustment of this kind, either enforced 
 by law or used as a guide in the distribution 
 of paiish assistance, as suggested by Mr. Young, 
 would be open to insuperable objections. At 
 particular times it might be the means of con- 
 verting a dearth into a famine. And in its ge- 
 neral operation, and supposing no change of 
 habits among the labouring classes, it would be 
 tantamount to saying that, under all circum- 
 stances, whether the affairs of the country were 
 prosperous or adverse ; whether its resources 
 in land were still great, or nearly exhausted ; 
 the population ought to increase exactly at the 
 same rate, a conclusion which involves an im- 
 possibility. 
 
 If however this adjustment, instead of being 
 * Annals of Agriculture, No. 270, p. Q], note. 
 
 enforced
 
 APPENDIX. 421 
 
 enforced by law, were produced by the increas- 
 ing operation of the prudential check to mar- 
 riage, the effect would be totally different, and 
 in the highest degree beneficial to society. A 
 gradual change in the habits of the labouring 
 classes would then effect the necessary retarda- 
 tion in the rate of increase, and would propor- 
 tion the supply of labour to the effective de- 
 mand, as society continued to advance, not 
 only without the pressure of a diminishing 
 quantity of food, but under the enjoyment of 
 an increased quantity of conveniences and 
 comforts ; and in the progress of cultivation and 
 wealth the condition of the lower classes of 
 society would be in a state of constant im- 
 provement. 
 
 A peck of wheat a day cannot be considered 
 in any light as excessive wages. In the early 
 periods of cultivation, indeed, when corn is 
 low in exchangeable value, much more is fre- 
 quently earned ; but in such a country as Eng- 
 land, where the price of corn, compared with 
 manufactures and foreign commodities, is 
 high, it would do much towards placing the 
 great mass of the labouring classes in a state of 
 comparative comfort and independence; and 
 it would be extremely desirable, with a view 
 to the virtue and happiness of human society, 
 that no land should be taken into cultivation 
 
 that
 
 422 APPENDIX, 
 
 that could not pay the labourers employed 
 upon it to this amount. 
 
 With these wages as the average minimum, 
 all those who were unmarried, or, being mar^ 
 ried, had small families, would be extremely 
 well off; while those who had large families, 
 though they would unquestionably be subjected 
 sometimes to a severe pressure, would in gene- 
 ral be able, by the sacrifice of conveniences 
 and comforts, to support themselves without 
 parish assistance. And not only would the 
 amount and distribution of the wages of labour 
 greatly increase the stimulus to industry and 
 economy throughout all the working classes of 
 the society, and place the great body of them 
 in a very superior situation, but it would fur- 
 nish them with the means of making an effec- 
 tual demand for a great amount of foreign 
 commodities and domestic manufactures, and 
 thus, at the same time that it would promote 
 individual and general happiness, would ad- 
 vance the mercantile and manufacturing pro- 
 sperity of the country 8 . 
 
 Mr. Weyland, 
 
 * The merchants and manufacturers who so loudly cla- 
 mour for cheap corn and low money wages, think only 
 of selling their commodities abroad, and often forget 
 that they have to find a market for their returns at home, 
 which they can never do to any great extent, when the 
 
 money
 
 APPENDIX. 423 
 
 Mr. Weyland, however, finds it utterly im- 
 possible to reconcile the necessity of moral 
 restraint either with the nature of man, or the 
 plain dictates of religion on the subject of mar- 
 riage. Whether the check to population, which 
 he would substitute for it, is more consistent 
 with the nature of a rational being, the precepts 
 of revelation, and the benevolence of the Deity, 
 must be left to the judgment of the reader. 
 This check, it is already known, is no other 
 than the unhealthiness and mortality of towns 
 and manufactories \ And though I have never 
 felt any difficulty in reconciling to the goodness 
 of the Deity the necessity of practising the vir- 
 tue of moral restraint in a state allowed to be 
 a state of discipline and trial; yet I confess 
 that I could make no attempt to reason on the 
 subject, if I were obliged to believe, with 
 Mr. Weyland, that a large proportion of the 
 
 money wages of the working classes, and monied incomes 
 in general, are low. One of the principal causes of the 
 check which foreign commerce has experienced during the 
 last two or three years, has been the great diminution 
 of the home market for foreign produce. 
 
 a With regard to the indisposition to marriage in towns, 
 I do not believe that it is greater than in the country, 
 except as far as it arises from the greater expense of 
 maintaining a family, and the greater facility of illicit 
 intercourse. 
 
 human
 
 424 APPENDIX. 
 
 human race was doomed by the inscrutable 
 ordinations of Providence to a premature death 
 in large towns. 
 
 If indeed such peculiar unhealthiness and 
 mortality were the proper and natural check to 
 the progress of population in the advanced 
 stages of society, we should justly have reason 
 to apprehend that, by improving the healthiness 
 of our towns and manufactories, as we have 
 done in England during the last twenty years, 
 we might really defeat the designs of Provi- 
 dence. And though I have too much respect 
 for Mr. Weyland to suppose that he would de- 
 precate all attempts to diminish the mortality 
 of towns, and render manufactories less de- 
 structive to the health of the children employed 
 in them ; yet certainly his principles lead to 
 this conclusion, since his theory has been com- 
 pletely destroyed by those laudable efforts 
 which have made the mortality of England a 
 country abounding in towns and manufactories, 
 less than the mortality of Sweden a country 
 in a state almost purely agricultural. 
 
 It was my object in the two chapters on 
 Moral Restraint, and its Effects on Society, to 
 shew thit the evils arising from the principle of 
 population were exactly of the same nature as 
 the evils arising from the excessive or irregular 
 gratification of the human passions in general ; 
 
 and
 
 APPENDIX. 425 
 
 and that from the existence of these evils we 
 had no more reason to conclude that the prin- 
 ciple of increase was too strong for the purpose 
 intended by the Creator, than to infer, from the 
 existence of the vices arising from the human 
 passions, that these passions required diminu- 
 tion or extinction, instead of regulation and 
 direction. 
 
 If this view of the subject be allowed to be 
 correct, it will naturally follow that, notwith- 
 standing the acknowledged evils occasioned by 
 the principle of population, the advantages de- 
 rived from it under the present constitution of 
 things may very greatly overbalance them. 
 
 A slight sketch of the nature of these ad- 
 vantages, as far as the main object of the 
 Essay would allow, was given in the two chapters 
 to which I have alluded ; but the subject has 
 lately been pursued with considerable ability 
 in the Work of Mr. Sumner on the Records of 
 the Creation ; and I am happy to refer to it as 
 containing a masterly developement and com- 
 pletion of views, of which only an intimation 
 could be given in the Essay. 
 
 I fully agree with Mr. Sumner as to the bene- 
 ficial effects which result from the principle of 
 population, and feel entirely convinced that the 
 natural tendency of the human race to increase 
 faster than the possible increase of the means 
 
 of
 
 426 APPENDIX. 
 
 of subsistence could not be either destroyed or 
 essentially diminished without diminishing that 
 hope of rising and fear of falling in society, so 
 necessary to the improvement of the human 
 faculties and the advancement of human hap- 
 piness. But with this conviction on my mind, 
 I feel no wish to alter the view which I have 
 given of the evils arising from the principle of 
 population. These evils do not lose their name 
 or nature because they are overbalanced by 
 good : and to consider them in a different light 
 on this account, and cease to call them evils, 
 would be as irrational as the objecting to call the 
 irregular indulgences of passion vicious, and 
 to affirm that they lead to misery, because 
 our passions are the main sources of human 
 virtue and happiness. 
 
 I have always considered the principle of 
 population as a law peculiarly suited to a state 
 of discipline and trial. Indeed I believe that, in 
 the whole range of the laws of nature with 
 which we are acquainted, not one can be pointed 
 out, which in so remarkable a manner tends to 
 strengthen and confirm this scriptural view of 
 the state of man on earth. And as each indi- 
 vidual has the power of avoiding the evil con- 
 sequences to himself and society resulting from 
 the principle of population by the practice of a 
 virtue clearly dictated to him by the light of 
 
 nature,
 
 APPENDIX. 427 
 
 nature, and sanctioned by revealed religion 
 it must be allowed that the ways of God to 
 man with regard to this great law of nature are 
 completely vindicated. 
 
 I have, therefore, certainly felt surprise as well 
 as regret that no inconsiderable part of the ob- 
 jections which have been made to the principles 
 and conclusions of the Essay on Population has 
 come from persons for whose moral and reli- 
 gious character I have so high a respect, that 
 it would have been particularly gratifying to me 
 to obtain their approbation and sanction. This 
 effect has been attributed to some expressions 
 used in the course of the work which have been 
 thought too harsh, and not sufficiently indulgent 
 to the weaknesses of human nature, and the feel- 
 ings of Christian charity. 
 
 It is probable, that having found the bow 
 bent too much one way, I was induced to bend 
 it too much the other, in order to make it 
 straight. But I shall always be quite ready to 
 blot out any part of the work which is consi- 
 dered by a competent tribunal as having a tend- 
 ency to prevent the bow from becoming finally 
 straight, and to impede the progress of truth. 
 In deference to this tribunal I have already ex 
 punged the passages which have been most ob- 
 jected to, and I have made some few further 
 corrections of the same kind in the present 
 
 edition.
 
 428 APPENDIX. 
 
 edition. By these alterations I hope and be- 
 lieve that the work has been improved without 
 impairing its principles. But I still trust that 
 whether it is read with or without these altera- 
 tions, every reader of candour must acknow- 
 ledge that the practical design uppermost in 
 the mind of the writer, with whatever want of 
 judgment it may have been executed, is to 
 improve the condition and increase the happi- 
 ness of the lower classes of society. 
 
 FINIS.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 The Roman Numerals refer to the Volumes ; the Figures to 
 the Pages. 
 
 A BRAM and Lot; their separation, an illustration of 
 the cause which overspread the whole earth with peo- 
 ple, i. 133. 
 Abyssinia ; state of, with respect to the checks to popu- 
 lation, i. 217, 218. 
 excessive depopulation of, by war, i. 220 222. 
 Africa, of the checks to population in different parts of, 
 i. 203. 
 great disposition of the country to population in ge- 
 neral, i. 203. 
 
 counterbalanced by the habits of the Negro nations. 
 See the article Negro. 
 
 state of Abyssinia, i. 217, 218. 
 
 of Egypt, i. 226, 227. 
 
 Agows, an Abyssinian nation, dreadful misery and penury 
 
 of the, i. 219, 220. 
 Agriculture, very great encouragements given to in 
 China, i. 295297- 
 powerful effect of these, i. 298, 299 
 
 (Agriculture,
 
 430 INDEX. 
 
 (Agriculture. Continued.) 
 
 is the sole species of industry by which multitudes cart 
 exist, i. 325, 326 
 
 in France, rather increased than diminished during the 
 revolution, ii. 11, 12. 
 
 statements respecting the present condition of, in that 
 country, ii. 26, note. 
 
 processes for abridging agricultural labour sometimes 
 tend rather to diminish than increase the whole pro- 
 duce, iii. 8, 9- 
 
 the supposition erroneous, that a nation strictly pur- 
 suing an agricultural system will always have more 
 food than necessary for its inhabitants, ii. 381. 
 
 where there is abundance of good land, and no diffi- 
 culties impede either its purchase and distribution, 
 or the foreign vent for raw produce, the profits of 
 stock and prices of labour will be high, ii. '383. 
 
 America, a practical instance of the agricultural system 
 in a state the most favourable to the condition of the 
 labouring classes, ii. 385, 386, 390, 391, 396. 
 
 instances, where, under the agricultural system, the 
 condition of the lower classes is very wretched, ii. 
 391396. 
 
 effects resulting from a combination of the agricultural 
 and commercial systems, ii. 420. 
 
 advantages of such union, ii. 423 440. 
 
 it is calculated to produce the highest national pro- 
 sperity, ii. 441. 
 
 Agriculture, the efficient cause of population rather 
 than population of agriculture, iii. 45, 46 49. 
 
 different effects of the agricultural and commercial 
 systems, ii. 420, 421. 
 
 state of England with respect to agriculture and com- 
 merce in the middle of the last century, iii. 32. 
 
 price of labour considered, in relation to this subject, 
 iii. 32. 
 
 See also the articles Bounties and Plenty. 
 America, period in which population has doubled itself 
 in the northern states of, i. ? 
 
 in the back settlements, i. 7. 
 
 very rapid increase of the English colonies in, ii. 192, 
 193. 
 
 (America.
 
 INDEX. 431 
 
 (America. Continued.) 
 
 actual population of the United States, ii. 194 196. 
 hardships experienced in the first settlement of some 
 
 of the English colonies, ii. 289 291. 
 famine almost impossible there, ii. 213. 
 America a practical instance of the agricultural system 
 in a state the most favourable to the condition of the 
 labouring classes, ii. 383 391, 396. 
 yet the labouring classes in that country not much 
 better situated than those of other countries, ii. 387, 
 388. 
 See also the article Indians. 
 Ancient or modern nations, question of the superior po- 
 
 pulousness of, i. 356 360. 
 Andaman Islanders, state of with respect to the checks 
 
 to population ; scarcity of food ; i. 37, 38. 
 Anderson, Mr. ; his erroneous proposition, that every in- 
 crease of population tends to increase relative plenty, 
 and vice versa, iii. 37, 38, note. 
 Arabia Felix, practice and effect of polygamy in, i. 215, 
 
 216. 
 Arabs. See the article Bedoneens. 
 Ardour, want of, in the men, generated by the hardships 
 
 and dangers of savage life, i. 53 55. 
 Aristotle, saw clearlv the strong tendency of population 
 to increase beyond the means of subsistence ; me- 
 thods proposed by him to repress its redundance, i. 
 334, 338, 3S9- 
 
 limiting the age of marriage, the number of children 
 born, and the period of procreating, i. 335. 
 
 his further observations on the necessity of regulating 
 
 the number of children, i. 336, 337. 
 points out an error in the measures taken to increase the 
 population of Sparta, i. 338. 
 Arts and manufactures necessary in countries, where the 
 
 population is large, i. 326. 
 Asia, checks to population among the modern pastoral 
 tribes of (See the article Tartars), i. 170. 
 
 enumeration of checks, i. 202. 
 
 Augsburgh, proportion of its annual marriages to its po- 
 pulation, i. 449. 
 
 BANKS;
 
 432 INDEX. 
 
 B. 
 
 BANKS ; the increased circulating medium wanted during 
 the late scarcity, supplied principally by the paper 
 of the country banks, ii. 320. 
 this increased issue of paper rather a consequence than 
 
 a cause of the high price of provisions, ii. 322. 
 much better that the issue should have come from the 
 
 country banks than the Bank of Eugland, ii. 323. 
 great advantage may be derived in improving the con- 
 dition of the poor, from the establishment of saving- 
 banks, in which they might put their savings out to 
 interest, iii. 275 277. 
 
 Barbadoes, hardships experienced in the first settlement 
 of the English colony there, ii. 290, 29 1 . 
 
 Barbarism, extreme, of the inhabitants of Tierra del 
 Fuego and of Van Diemen's Land, i. 36, 37 
 
 Bedoweens ; state of, with respect to the checks to po- 
 pulation among them, i. 174, 182 186. 
 
 Beggars, multitude of, in Tibet, i. 289- 
 
 the relief given to common beggars often does not 
 come under the appellation of charity, iii. 217, 218. 
 
 Benefit clubs; plan of improving the condition of the 
 poor by the compulsory and universal establishment 
 of, considered, iii. 230- 233. 
 
 Berlin, proportion of its annual marriages to its popu- 
 lation, i. 451. 
 
 Berne, proofs of the powerful operation of the preventive 
 check to population in the town and canton of, i. 
 485, 486. 
 
 Births; proportion of, to deaths, in Norway, i. 384. 
 
 in different parts of Russia, i. 414, 415. 
 
 in England and Wales, ii. 62, 81 88, 208. 
 
 in France, ii. 32 34. 
 
 in a North-American state, ii. 209. 
 proportion of, to marriages, in England and Wales, 
 
 ii. 67- 
 
 the reason why the proportion of births to wed- 
 dings increases, ii. 145, note. 
 
 {Births.
 
 INDEX. 433 
 
 [Births. Continued.) 
 
 proportion of, to the whole population in Russia, i.420. 
 
 in France, before and during the revolution, ii. 
 13, 141719, note. 
 
 in some parts of Scotland affected by years of scarcity 
 and plenty, ii. 129, 130. 
 
 in England and Wales, ii. 62. 
 
 in different places of the middle parts of Europe, i. 
 456461. 
 
 births in the Greek church in Russia for the year 1799, 
 
 i. 439- 
 a greater mortality naturally produces a greater pro- 
 portion of births, ii. 469. 
 
 See also the articles Fruitfulness and Registers. 
 Boors, state of, in Russia, i. 435 437. 
 Bounties on the exportation of corn considered, ii. 443. 
 examination of the arguments of Dr. Smith in support 
 of his assertion, that the fall of price happened in 
 spite of the bounty, and could not have happened in 
 consequence of it, ii. 453. 
 
 first, that the extension of the foreign market so 
 procured, is at the expense of the home market, ii. 
 453, 454. 
 
 second, that the two taxes paid by the people, on 
 account of the bounty, must either return upon the 
 farmer by raising the price of labour, or diminish 
 the whole market of corn by restraining the popu- 
 lation of the country, ii. 455, 456. 
 
 third, that as the money price of corn regulates that 
 of all other home-made commodities, the advantage 
 to the proprietor from the increased price is not real, 
 ii. 457460. 
 
 fourth, that the nature of things has stamped upon 
 corn a real value, which no bounty upon exporta- 
 tion, no monopoly of the home market, can raise, 
 nor any competition can lower, ii. 460464. 
 
 mode in which a bounty upon exportation operates, 
 ii. 464 470. 
 
 objection to a bounty ; under the most favourable 
 circumstances, it cannot produce permanent cheap- 
 ness, ii. 47 1474. 
 
 vol. ii. 2 f Brahmens,
 
 434 INDEX. 
 
 Brahmens, practice of marriaae among, i. 283. 
 Brandenburgh ; proportion of yearly deaths and births to 
 the population, in the small towns and the villages 
 of, i. 457- 
 variations in the proportions of births to deaths and to 
 
 marriages, at different periods, ii. 180. 
 churmark of; proportion of its annual marriages to 
 its population, i. 449, 451. 
 
 its general mortality, i. 457, 459- 
 
 variations in the proportion of births to deaths and 
 to marriages, in different periods, ii. 179, 180. 
 
 neumark of; general mortality in, i. 459. 
 
 Brazil, Portuguese colony of; quick progress which it 
 made in population, notwithstanding its ill manage- 
 ment, ii. 191, 192. 
 
 British isles ravaged for two centuries by the ancient 
 northern invaders, i. 162, 163. 
 
 variations in the proportions of births to deaths and 
 to marriages, at different periods, ii. 181, 182. 
 
 Brothers, younger, according to the Hindoo customs, 
 cannot marry without disgrace before the eldest, 
 i. 275. 
 in Tibet all the brothers of a family associate with one 
 female, i. 287. 
 
 Bruce, (Mr.) polygamy defended by, i. 213 216. 
 
 Burials. See Deaths. 
 
 c. 
 
 CAMPINE, in Brabant, brought into cultivation from 
 
 the state of a barren and arid sand, iii. 55, 56. 
 Canada, occasional famine among the nations of, i. 83. 
 Cannibalism, among the American Indians and others, i. 
 
 7173,99, 100. 
 had its origin probably in extreme want, i. 72. 
 Casatshia tribe of Tartars ; state of, with respect to the 
 
 checks to population among them, i. 177, 178. 
 Catharine (Empress), beneficial changes effected by, in 
 
 Siberia, i. 247249. 
 
 Celibacy
 
 INDEX. 435 
 
 Celibacy powerfully inculcated in Tibet, i. 28G. 
 Charity, indiscriminate, wherever it exists, will never 
 want objects, i. 289. 
 
 of the Direction of our Charity, iii. 211. 
 
 benevolence, like other impulses, must be frequently 
 brought to the test of utility, iii. 211. 
 
 its pernicious effects if exercised indiscriminately, iii. 
 212 215. 
 
 the effect of charity upon the giver is to purify and 
 exalt the mind, iii. 2 1 6. 
 
 contrary effect, of the sums distributed by the paro- 
 chial laws, iii. 21 6. 
 
 of the subscription given in some cases to the great 
 public institutions, iii. 217. 
 
 of the relief of common beggars, iii. 217, 218. 
 opposite description of real charity : voluntary and 
 
 active, in the relief of proper objects, iii. 219- 
 
 produces daily advances in virtue, in those who 
 practise it, iii. 220. 
 
 the power of giving or withholding relief, vested in 
 parish officers and justices, very different in its 
 nature and effect from voluntary charity, iii. 221. 
 
 beneficial consequences to the general state of the 
 poor, of leaving charity to be voluntary, iii. 22 1 , 222. 
 
 poverty and misery always increase in proportion to 
 the quantity of indiscriminate charity, iii. 223. 
 
 the poor must be left to the natural consequences of 
 their conduct with respect to industry and mar- 
 riage, iii. 224. 
 
 calamities unmerited, or arising from the failure of 
 well-founded expectations, are the genuine objects 
 of charity, iii. 225. 
 
 relief to the idle and improvident, in the severest 
 distress, must be scanty, iii. 225. 
 
 urgent distress, from accidents unconnected with 
 indolence and improvidence, not within these rea- 
 sonings, iii. 226. 
 
 an opportunity of doing good, however, not to be lost 
 from a mere supposed possibility of meeting with a 
 worthier object, iii. 227- 
 Chastity, reason why the disgrace attending its breach in 
 
 (Chastity, 
 2 f 2
 
 436 INDEX. 
 
 (Chastity, reason why the disgrace, &c. Continued.) 
 a woman should be greater than in a man, ii. 263, 
 264. 
 
 the virtue of chastity has a real and solid foundation in 
 nature and reason, iii. 88. 
 
 consideration of the consequences arising to society 
 from want of chastity, compared with those of 
 other vices, iii. 1 18 125. 
 Cheapness of provisions, extraordinary, in the southern 
 
 parts of Siberia, i. 248, 249. 
 Check, ultimate, to the increase of population, is the defi- 
 ciency of the means of subsistence, i. 5, 17. 
 
 the immediate checks, i. 17. 
 
 'these latter may be classed under the heads of preventive 
 and positive checks (See those articles, and their 
 references), ii. 18 32. 
 
 all resolvable into moral restraint, vice, and misery, i. 
 20,21, 23,24. 
 
 proportion in which the preventive and the positive 
 checks prevail according to circumstances, i. 22. 
 
 mode of operation of the general checks described, i. 
 24, 25. 
 
 checks in the lowest stage of human society consi- 
 dered, i. 36. 
 
 among the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, i. 36. 
 
 among the natives of Van Diemen's Land, and of the 
 Andaman Isles, i. 37. 
 
 among the inhabitants of New Holland, i. 38 49. 
 
 among the American Indians, i. 50. 
 
 in the islands of the South Sea, i. 95. 
 
 among the ancient inhabitants of the north of Eu- 
 rope, i. 132. 
 
 among modern pastoral nations, i. 170. 
 
 in different parts of Africa, i. 203. 
 
 in Siberia, northern and southern, i. 233. 
 
 in the Turkish dominions and Persia, i. 255. 
 
 in Indostan and Tibet, i. 269 
 
 in China and Japan, i. 291. 
 
 among the Greeks, i. 325. 
 
 among the Romans, i. 342. 
 
 in Norway, i. 363. 
 
 (Checks
 
 INDEX. 437 
 
 (Checks to the increase of population. Continued.) 
 
 in Sweden, i. 387. 
 
 in Russia, i. 414. 
 
 in the middle parts of Europe, i. 441. 
 
 in Switzerland, i. 463. 
 
 in France, ii. 2. 
 
 in England, ii. 42. 
 
 in Scotland and Ireland, ii. 105. 
 
 the want of food is the most efficient cause of the 
 immediate checks, ii. 196, 197. 
 
 in modern Europe the positive checks prevail less, 
 and the preventive checks more, than in past times, 
 and in the less civilized parts of the world, ii. 217, 
 218. 
 Children, sucking, buried alive with the mother at her 
 death in New Holland, i. 45. 
 
 difficulty of rearing children in a savage life, i. 46. 
 
 frequent abandonment and destruction of them among 
 the American Indians, i. 58, 59- 
 
 in China bound to maintain their parents, i. 302. 
 
 number of, annually exposed at Pekin, i. 316. 
 
 where property is equalized, the number of children 
 should be limited, according to Aristotle, i. 337, 
 338. 
 
 every child that dies under ten years of age is a loss to 
 the nation of all that had been expended in its sub- 
 sistence, iii. 299- 
 
 a specific relief might, without any ill consequence, 
 be given for every child above the number of six, iii. 
 305", 306. 
 
 See also the article Infanticide ; and for various parti- 
 culars, respecting the mortality of children, the article 
 Deaths. 
 China, extent of the empire of, i. 307- 
 
 the Moguls, after conquering its northern provinces, 
 proposed in council to exterminate all its inhabit- 
 ants, i. 171. 
 
 its State with Respect to the Checks to Population, i. 
 
 291. 
 estimate of the number of its inhabitants, i. 292, 293. 
 small number of families in proportion, i. 293. 
 
 ( China ;
 
 438 INDEX. 
 
 (China: its State with Respect to its Checks to Po- 
 pulation. Continued.) 
 causes of its immense population ; excellence of the 
 soil ; i. 294, 295. 
 
 very great encouragements given to agriculture, i. 
 295, 296. 
 
 and to marriage, i. 300. 
 
 effects of these last ; abject state of the poor ; i. 303 
 
 305. 
 inquiry into the immediate checks by which this vast 
 
 population is kept down to the level of the means of 
 
 subsistence, i. S08. 
 
 prudential restraints, i. 309. 
 
 vicious intercourse of the sexes, i.,310. 
 
 epidemic diseases, i. 311. 
 
 exposure of children, and infanticide, i. 313, 314. 
 
 frequent famines, wars, and internal commotions, 
 i. 3)7 S2. 
 
 Its state illustrative of the proposition, that an increase 
 of the stock or revenue of a nation cannot always be 
 considered as an increase of the real funds for the 
 maintenance of labour, iii. 7 10. 
 
 Chiriguanes, their rapid increase on settling in the moun- 
 tains of Peru, i. 76. 
 
 Christianity : the new light in which it has placed our 
 duty with respect to marriage and population a pleas- 
 ing confirmation of its truth and divinity, and of its 
 adaptation to an improved state of society, iii. 
 
 9799- ... 
 Cimbri, irruptions of, into the Roman Empire, i. 138 
 
 140, 152. 
 Circulating Medium, how affected by bounties to the 
 
 poor, ii. 318320. 
 Civil liberty, Effect of the Knowledge of the principal 
 Cause of Poverty on, iii. 142. 
 this would powerfully contribute to the advancement 
 
 of rational freedom, iii. 142. 
 the pressure of distress on the lower classes, with their 
 habit of attributing it to their rulers, the guardian 
 spirit of despotism, iii. 143. 
 a mob the most fatal of all monsters to freedom, iii. 
 144. 
 
 (Civil
 
 INDEX. 439 
 
 (Civil liberty. Continued.) 
 
 its tendency to produce tyranny, iii. 144. 
 
 the degree of power to be given to government, and the 
 
 measure of our submission to it, must be determined 
 
 by general expediency, iii. 148, 149. 
 constant tendency in all power to encroach, iii. 150. 
 the country gentlemen of England, in diminishing their 
 
 vigilance as guardians of freedom, dining the late war, 
 
 actuated less by corruption, than by fear, arising from 
 
 the ignorance and delusions of the common people, 
 
 iii. 151, 152. 
 erroneous principles of Paine's Rights of Man, iii. 
 
 152, 153. 
 a man cannot possess a right to subsistence when his 
 
 labour will not purchase it, iii. 154. 
 
 absurd position of the abbe Raynal on this subject, 
 iii. 154, J 55. 
 
 the general circulation of true principles on this point 
 would counteract the mischievous declamations on 
 the unjust institutions of society, iii. 155. 
 
 if the fear of the tyranny or folly of the people were re- 
 moved, the tyranny of government could not stand, 
 iii. 157. 
 
 ill effect of general declamations imputing all the evils 
 of society to human institutions, iii. 158. 
 
 under the best government a great degree of misery 
 might prevail from inattention to the prudential check 
 to population, iii. 160. 
 
 the influence of a good government is great in giving 
 the best direction to the checks which are inevitable, 
 iii. 161. 
 
 grand requisites to the growth of prudential habits, iii. 
 162. 
 
 powerful effects of a representative system of go- 
 vernment in this respect, iii. 162, 163. 
 
 mischievous consequences of the hopes entertained by 
 the lower classes of immediate relief from a revolu- 
 tion, iii. 163. 
 
 a correct knowledge of the share attributable respec- 
 tively to government, and to the poor themselves, of 
 the unhappiness of society, would powerfully tend 
 
 ( Civil
 
 440 INDEX. 
 
 (Civil liberty. Continued.) 
 
 to promote the cause of rational freedom, iii. 164, 
 KJ3. 
 illustration of this truth by the events of the last two or 
 three years, iii. 166 174. 
 
 Civilized and savage life, comparative advantages and 
 disadvantages of, i. 129, 130. 
 
 Cleves, dukedom of; proportion of its annual marriages 
 to it* population, i. 449- 
 
 Climbing trees ; vast labour in, to which the natives of 
 New Holland are compelled for the means of sub- 
 sistence, i. 40. 
 
 Colonies, new, settled in healthy countries where room 
 and food were abundant, have constantly made a ra- 
 pid progress in population, ii. 189- 
 See also the article Emigration. 
 
 Commerce : Of the Agricultural and Commercial Sys- 
 tems, combined. 
 See under the article Agriculture. 
 
 Comma cial System : effects of, on the prices of corn, 
 ii. 402 
 liable to be affected by foreign competition, ii. 403. 
 
 and b s domestic competition, ii. 404. 
 
 illustration of this point from the state of the cotton 
 trade, ii.403 407. 
 
 Commerce, liable to be affected by the indolence, in- 
 dustry, or caprice of customers, and by the diminu- 
 tion of demand occasioned by the progress of coun- 
 tries in skill and capital, ii. 41 1 419- 
 Condouet, M. : his system of equality a singular instance 
 of attachment to principles contradicted by every 
 daj's experience, ii. 221. 
 
 observations on his statement of the difficulties to be 
 expected in the progiess of his system, and on his 
 plans for their removal ; with respect to preserving 
 the same population, ii. 222. 
 
 to a future excess of population, ii. 226. 
 
 to the organic perfectibility of man, ii. 229. 
 
 the attempt to controvert these paradoxes not useless, 
 ii. 240. 
 Corn : money price of corn increased by an increased 
 
 (Corn.
 
 INDEX. 441 
 
 (Corn. Continued.) 
 
 number of labourers receiving the same money wa- 
 ges, i. 31. 
 
 the price of corn in a scarcity will depend more 
 upon the degree of consumption than on the actual 
 deficiency, ii. 312, 3 IS. 
 
 the consumption of corn diminished by high prices, 
 ii. 313. 
 
 the price of grain raised by bounties to the poor, 
 during the late scarcities, ii. 314. 
 
 causes which render the importation of corn necessary, 
 ii. 443450. 
 
 when corn-crops are unfavourable in one part of Eu- 
 rope, it generally happens that they are more or less 
 so in another, ii. 450, 451. 
 
 objections to restrictions upon the importation of corn, 
 ii. 475, 494499, 504507. 
 
 in what cases such restrictions will apply, ii. 478, 479, 
 480. 
 
 when a country is of such a size that it may be expected 
 finally to produce its own food, restrictions on the 
 importation of corn are proper, ii. 481, 482. 
 
 so, where a country possesses such a soil and cli- 
 mate that the variations in its annual growth of corn 
 are less than in most other countries, ii. 484 491. 
 
 and also, where a state possesses territory enough, 
 not only to maintain, under actual cultivation, a po- 
 pulation adequate to a state of the first rank, but also 
 of sufficient unexhausted fertility to allow of a very 
 great increase of population, ii. 491 494. 
 
 beneficial results of restrictions on the importation of 
 foreign corn in a country possessed of great landed 
 resources, ii. 499 503. 
 on the expediency or propriety of granting bounties on 
 
 the importation of corn : see the article Bounties. 
 See also the articles Argriculture, and Poor-Laws 
 (under Poor). 
 Cottages ; advantage to be derived in bettering the con- 
 dition of the poor, from a general improvement of, 
 iii. 293, 295 note. 
 Coze-Pox. See the article Small-Pox. 
 Cows ; plan of improving the condition of the poor by 
 
 ( Cows.
 
 142 INDEX. 
 
 (Cows. Continued.) 
 
 means of, and of potatoe-grounds, considered, iii. 
 238249- 
 benefit derived by cottagers from keeping cows, arises 
 from its being peculiar, and would be considerably 
 diminished if made general, iii. 296 300. 
 some advantage in bettering the condition of the poor 
 might result from the adoption of this system upon 
 a more confined plan, iii. 294, 295. 
 
 Curtren (Mr.), his plan for meliorating the condition of 
 the poor by equalizing the poor-rates, and giving the 
 poor a voice in the management of the funds de- 
 stined to their support, considered, iii. 264 274. 
 
 D. 
 
 DANTZIC, proportion of its annual marriages to its 
 
 population, i. 449 
 Deaths; proportion of, to births, in Norway, i. 384. 
 
 in different parts of Russia, i. 417 -419- 
 
 in England and Wales, ii. 64 70. 
 particularly between the years 1800 and 1810, ii. 
 
 8991. 
 proportion of, to the population, in Norway, i. 364, 
 
 367. 
 
 in Sweden, i. 388. 
 
 in France, before and during the revolution, ii. 16, 
 17, note 
 
 in different places of the middle parts of Europe, 
 ii. 456 458. 
 
 in Russia, ii. 165, 166. 
 
 in different parts of that country, and average mor- 
 tality, i. 417 419- 
 
 average mortality in Scotland, ii. 106 108. 
 
 dependence of the marriages upon the deaths, in 
 the middle parts of Europe, ii. 442 445. 
 
 proportion of infants dying in Russia within the first 
 year, i. 420. 
 
 the registers of Petersburg give a much greater mor- 
 tality of female children than of male, i. 422. 
 
 comparative mortality at different periods of life in 
 that city, i. 423. 
 
 general mortality there, i. 424. (Deaths,
 
 INDEX. 443 
 
 (Deaths. Continued.) 
 
 prodigious mortality in the foundling-hospital of that 
 city, i. 424, 425. 
 
 deaths in the Greek church in Russia for the year 
 1799, i. 439- 
 
 in countries which have been long tolerably well peo- 
 pled, death is the most powerful encouragement to 
 marriage, i. 455. 
 
 no general measure of mortality for all countries taken 
 together, if obtainable, could be of use, i.458. 
 
 in single states, the mortality will depend greatly 
 upon the proportion of the inhabitants of towns to 
 those of the country, i. 459- 
 
 nearest average measure, according to different 
 writers, i. 459, 460. 
 
 average mortality of villages, i. 389- 
 a greater mortality naturally produces a greater propor- 
 tion of births, i. 469- 
 in a redundant population, every effort to repress a 
 
 great mortality will be vain, iii. 126 141. 
 the average number of deaths must always depend on 
 the average number of marriages and births, iii. 131. 
 See also the article Registers. 
 Debauchery, very early and excessive, among the negro 
 
 nations of Africa, i. 205. 
 Deformed children generally exposed among the Ame- 
 rican Indians, i. 59, 00. 
 Degwessa and > Abyssinian countries, destroyed by war, 
 Dembea, $ i. 221. 
 
 Denmark, state of the poor in, iii. 197. 
 Depopulation of the American Indians accounted for, i. 
 
 8994. 
 Desolation, instance of a very extraordinary one among 
 
 the American Indians by some epidemic, i. 66. 
 Despotism destroys the preventive check to population, 
 
 iii. 41 43. 
 Diseases, may be generally considered as indications that 
 we have offended against some of the laws of na- 
 ture, iii. 67- 
 a diminished malignancy and fatality of some diseases, 
 have been observed to be attended with an equal 
 increase of those qualities in others, iii. 129, 130. 
 
 (Diseases
 
 444 INDEX. 
 
 (Diseases. Continued.) 
 
 such an effect must, under certain circumstances, 
 inevitably take place from the laws of population, 
 iii. 131. 
 
 case of the eventual extirpation of the small-pox by 
 means of the cow-pox, considered, iii. 136, 1S7. 
 
 Distilleries ; the consumption of grain in, c;umot be a 
 cause of famine, but tends entirely in a contrary di- 
 rection, i. 321, 322. 
 
 Distress among the poor, causes of, ii. S07. 
 
 its recurrence cannot be prevented by any sacrifice 
 of the rich, ii. 309. 
 
 Drought, effects of, in Abyssinia, i. 225, 226. 
 
 Drowning of children, Chinese edict to prevent, 315, 
 316. 
 
 Duthil, Scotch parish of, affords an extraordinary in- 
 stance of tendency to rapid increase, ii. 115, 116. 
 
 E. 
 
 EAREEOIE societies in the South-Sea islands, i. 106, 
 
 114. 
 Easter Island ; state of, with respect to the checks to 
 
 population, i. 123, 124. 
 Education, parochial; beneficial effects that would attend 
 
 the establishment of a system of, in promoting among 
 
 the lower ranks the prudential check to population, 
 
 iii. 200. 
 among the usual topics of instruction should be im- 
 pressed just principles on the subjects of population 
 
 and marriage, iii. 201. 
 advantage of adding a few of the simplest principles of 
 
 political economy, iii. 202. 
 we have been miserably deficient in the instruction of 
 
 the poor, perhaps the only means of really raising 
 
 their condition, iii. 203, 204. 
 the arguments against instructing them are extremely 
 
 illiberal and feeble, iii. 204, 205. 
 it has no tendency to create among them a spirit of 
 
 tumult and discontent, iii. 206. 
 
 (Education.
 
 INDEX. 446 
 
 ( Education. Continued.) 
 
 would render them less likely to be led away by in- 
 flammatory writings, ili. 206. 
 
 would produce great positive good in inspiring them 
 with just notions of the causes and the nature of their 
 condition, hi. 207- 
 
 such a plan would contribute to train up the rising ge- 
 neration in habits of sobriety, industry, independence, 
 and prudence, iii. 208, 209- 
 
 would raise higher that standard of wretchedness be- 
 low which mankind will not continue to marry and 
 propagate, iii. 209- 
 
 an attention to the education of the lower classes is the 
 duty of government, iii. 218. 
 
 See also iii. 293, 314. 
 Egypt, the want of industry has occasioned the present 
 low state of its population, i. 226 228, 229- 
 
 immediate causes which repress it to the level of -sub- 
 sistence ; oppression and wretchedness ; i. 230. 
 
 plague and famine, i. 231, 232. 
 
 Emigration of the ancient northern nations, accounted for, 
 i. 164168. 
 
 inhabitants of poor, cold, and thinly-peopled terri- 
 tories, why prompted to, i. 166, 167- 
 
 tends not to depopulate a country, but merely to in- 
 crease the births, ii. 116, 117. 
 
 a certain degree of it is favourable to the population of 
 the country quitted, ii. 196. 
 
 by no means an adequate remedy, but only a slight 
 palliative, to a redundant population in the more 
 cultivated parts of the world, ii. 287. 
 
 in the first peopling of new colonies, the hardships in- 
 variably greater than those suffered in the parent 
 country, ii. 288. 
 
 various instances, ii. 289 292. 
 
 the establishment of colonies in the more thinly peo- 
 pled regions of Europe and Asia would require great 
 resources; examples, ii. 293, 294. 
 
 a reason of frequent failures in colonization, is the 
 unsuitableness of the moral and mechanical habits 
 of the mother country to the new-settled one, ii. 
 293. 
 
 (Emigration.
 
 446 INDEX. 
 
 (Emigration. Continued.) 
 
 a new colony also at first is in the condition of being 
 peopled beyond its actual produce, ii. 295. 
 
 the class most affected by the redundance of popula- 
 tion in a state, are the most unable to begin a new 
 colony in a distant country, ii. 296. 
 
 emigration not likely to be actively assisted by govern- 
 ments, except where particular colonial advantages 
 are proposed, ii. 297. 
 
 even when made most easy, has not produced all the 
 beneficial effects which might be expected, ii. 297. 
 
 the social affections and prudential doubts, will ever be 
 a powerful check upon its efficacy under the most 
 favourable circumstances, ii. 298, 299' 
 
 every resource arising from emigration must be of short 
 continuance, ii. 300. 
 
 as a partial and temporary expedient it is both useful 
 and proper, ii. 302, 305. 
 Encouragements, direct, to population, futile and absurd, 
 i. 186, 187,210,211. 
 
 the customs of some nations, and the prejudices of all, 
 operate in this way, i. 210. 
 
 the reverse, however, seems to be a public object in 
 Tibet, i. 285. 
 
 effect of encouraging the birth of children without pro- 
 perly providing for their support, i. 339- 
 
 positive laws for this purpose, enacted on the urgency 
 of the occasion, and not mixed with religion, seldom 
 calculated to succeed, i. 349- 
 
 pernicious effects of any direct encouragements to mar- 
 riage, i. 453455. 
 England; Checks to Population in, considered, ii. 42. 
 
 the preventive check prevails in a great degree, ii. 42. 
 
 among the higher classes, ii. 43. 
 
 men of liberal education, ii. 43, 44. 
 
 tradesmen and farmers, ii. 44. 
 
 labourers, ii. 45. 
 
 servants, ii. 46. 
 
 results of the returns under the population act ; pro- 
 portion of annual marriages ; ii. 47, 48. 
 proposal of taxes and fines on those who live single, 
 
 (England.
 
 INDEX. 447 
 
 {England. Continued.) 
 
 for the support of the married poor, improper, ii. 
 
 49, 50. 
 annual mortality considered, ii. 50, 51. 
 the void made by the great mortality of London, filled 
 
 by the redundant births from the country, ii. 55, 60. 
 annual proportion of births to the population, ii. 62. 
 
 to the deaths, ii. 64. 
 
 to the marriages, ii. 69- 
 
 the registry of births and deaths more deficient in the 
 former than in the latter part of the century, ii. 
 70, 71. 
 
 calculations of the population from the births and 
 deaths, not to be depended upon, ii. 73, 76. 
 
 average proportion of births to deaths, ii. 208. 
 
 increase of population in England, from 1800 to 1810, 
 ii. 80, 81, 102. 
 
 tables of population in England, from 1780 to 1810, 
 ii. 95, 96. 
 
 observations on the increase of population in England, 
 ii. 97104. 
 Epidemic, dreadful, like the small-pox, in New Holland, 
 i. 47, 48. 
 
 instance of a very extraordinary desolation by a dis- 
 temper of this kind, among the American Indians, i. 
 60, 65. 
 
 epidemics have their seldomer or frequenter returns ac- 
 cording to circumstances, i. 167, note. 
 
 their periodical returns in different countries, ii. 
 
 199- 
 a redundancy of population is among the causes of 
 
 them, ii. 201 203. 
 a severe mortal epidemic is generally succeeded by an 
 
 uncommon healthiness, ii. 205. 
 countries where subsistence is increasing sufficiently 
 
 to encourage population, but not to answer all its 
 
 demands,, most subject to periodical epidemics, ii. 
 
 206, 207. 
 Europe less subject to plagues and wasting epidemics 
 
 now than formerly, ii. 208. 
 they indicate that we have increased too fast for the 
 
 means of subsistence, iii. 68. 
 
 (Epidemic.
 
 448 INDEX. 
 
 (Epidemics. Continued.) 
 
 effects of epidemics on registers of births, deaths, and 
 marriages. See the article Registers. 
 Equality, systems of; in all those proposed by different 
 writers, the principle of population, and the difli- 
 cultes arising from it, very insufficiently estimated, 
 ii. 219. 
 See the articles Condorcet, Godwin, Owen, Spencean 
 System, and Wallace. 
 Equalization of the poor-rates ; Mr. Curwen's plan for, 
 
 considered, iii. 264 267. 
 Errors ; important, on the relief and employment of the 
 
 poor, iii. 270, 273. 
 Europe; Checks to Population among the ancient Inha- 
 bitants of the North of, considered, i. 132. 
 successive migrations of the barbarians of, i. 137, 138. 
 their destructive irruptions into the Roman empire, i. 
 138. 
 
 into other nations (See further the article Germans), 
 i. 147. 
 
 the North not more populous formerly than at present, 
 i. 151. 
 
 error of describing it as a constant reservoir for the 
 supply of other nations, i. 153, 154. 
 
 cause which stopped the continuance of emigrations by 
 
 land from the North, i. 160. 
 these barbarians then spread themselves over other 
 
 countries by sea, i. l6l, 162. 
 
 again confined to their own by a similar cause, i. 
 163. 
 
 objections to the supposition of these emigrations 
 being caused by a redundant population, answered, 
 i. 164166. 
 
 other motives which might have prompted them, i. 
 166, 167. 
 
 striking illustration which this period of history affords 
 
 of the principle of population, i. 168. 
 war and famine the principal checks in the countries 
 
 above noticed, i. 169 
 Of the Checks to Population in the middle Parts of 
 
 Europe (See the names of the different countries), 
 
 i. 441. 
 
 Europe.
 
 INDEX. 449 
 
 (Europe. Continued.) 
 
 In modern Europe the positive checks less prevalent, 
 and the preventive checks more so, than in past 
 times, and in the less civilized parts of the world, 
 ii. 217, 218. 
 
 Evils, arising from the laws of nature, always borne 
 more contentedly than those caused by the measures 
 of a government, i. 410. 
 
 Exactions' of the Turkish governors, a check upon popu- 
 lation, i. 256 258. 
 
 " Existing circumstances;" estimate of this phrase, iii. 
 148. 
 
 Exposure of children ; frequent in China, from the want 
 of means to rear them, i. 304, 31 6, 317. 
 the permission of this practice tends to facilitate mar- 
 riage, and encourage population, i. 3, 29, 330. 
 practice of, among the Romans, i. 343, 344. 
 
 F. 
 
 FAMINE, among the savages of Florida, i. 71. 
 
 sufferings of the Indians near Hudson's Bay, from, 
 i. 82, 83. 
 
 ravages of, in South America, i. 85 87. 
 
 a principal check to population among the ancient na- 
 tions of the north of Europe, i. 169. 
 
 dreadful, in some of the negro nations of Africa, i. 
 209, 210. 
 
 frightful picture of, in Egypt, i. 231, 232. 
 
 frequent in Otaheite, i. 113. 
 
 in China, i. 318 321. 
 
 dreadful famines to which India has in all ages been 
 
 subject, i. 279, 280. 
 the consumption of grain in making spirits cannot be a 
 
 cause of famine, but tends entirely in a contrary 
 
 direction, i. 322. 
 
 in Scotland, ii. 125, 126. 
 
 the traces of the most destructive famines are soon ob- 
 literated, ii. 198. 
 periodical returns of famines and dearths, ii. 200. 
 vol, xi. 2 g Famine.
 
 450 INDEX. 
 
 (Famine. Continued.) 
 
 the increase of population can never absolutely pro- 
 duce, but prepares the way for, famine, ii. 202, 203. 
 reason why a famine seems almost impossible in Ame- 
 rica, ii. 212, 213. 
 See also the article Scarcity. 
 Fecundity of the human species would not admit of any 
 very considerable diminution, without being inade- 
 quate to its object, iii. 78 81. 
 See also the article Fruitfulness. 
 Fertility, extraordinary, of some of the South-Sea islands, 
 i. 103, 104. 
 
 has probably been exaggerated, i. 126, 127* 
 of the southern parts of Siberia, i. 298, 299. 
 
 Fishing afforded a precarious supply of food to the 
 American Indians, i. 50, 51. 
 
 Flanders, though so often the seat of the most destructive 
 wars, has always, after the respite of a few years, ap- 
 peared as rich and as populous as ever, ii. 197, 198. 
 
 Florida, famine among the savages of, i. 77. 
 
 Food, want of, the most efficient of all the checks to 
 population, ii. 196, 197- 
 
 Formosa, island of; its state with respect to the checks 
 to population, i. 125. 
 
 Foundling-hospitals, in every view hurtful to a state, 
 i. 404. 
 management of, and mortality in, that at Petersburgh, 
 i. 425 431. 
 
 that at Moscow, i. 431, 432. 
 
 pernicious nature of establishments of this kind, i. 
 
 433436. 
 those in France, iii. 20, note. 
 France overrun by the ancient Scandinavian nations, i. 
 
 161. 
 State of, with Respect to the Checks to Population, 
 
 ii. 1. . 
 
 population of, undiminished, notwithstanding the losses 
 
 sustained during the revolution, ii. 2. 
 inquiry into the manner in which such a circumstance 
 
 might happen, ii. 2. 
 proportion of unmarried persons to the population, ii. 3. 
 absolute population before the war, ii. 4. 
 
 (France
 
 INDEX. 451 
 
 {France. Continued.) 
 
 proportion of annual marriages, ii. 4, 5. 
 
 losses during the war according to different estimates, 
 ii. 810. 
 
 increase of agriculture, ii. 11, 12. 
 
 increased number of small farms, ii. 12. 
 
 the means of subsistence have probably remained un- 
 impaired, if they have not advanced, ii. 13. 
 
 annual births probably increased during the revolution, 
 and mortality of the stationary inhabitants decreased, 
 ii. 13, 14, 15. 
 
 statements in the Statistique Generate, &c. lately pub- 
 lished, ii. 17 19, note. 
 
 if the marriages have not increased, this will be ac- 
 counted for by the extraordinary advance in the 
 illegitimate births, ii. 18, 19. 
 
 error of Sir Francis D'lvernois in reasoning on the 
 effects of the losses sustained by the revolutionary 
 contest, ii. 20, 21. 
 
 the military strength, though not the numerical popu- 
 lation, impaired by the revolution, ii. 21, 22 24. 
 
 statements from the Analyse des Proces Verbaux des 
 Conseils Generaux de Departement ; with respect to 
 the population ; ii. 25, notes. 
 
 -the state of agriculture, ii. 26, note. 
 
 pressure of the land-tax, ii. 27, note. 
 
 the hospitals, and charitable establishments, &c. 
 ii. 28, note. 
 
 general result of these statements, ii. 29, note. 
 Highest average proportion of births to deaths, ik 32, 
 S3 35. 
 
 beneficial effects produced by the revolution in 
 France, ii. 378, 379- 
 
 destructive consequences which would attend the 
 
 establishment of poor-laws in, iii. 193, 194. 
 misery existing in, from an excess of population, iii. 
 
 234238. 
 source of the advantages which it enjoys in respect to 
 
 population, iii. 332 334. 
 See also the article Paris. 
 Friendly islands; state of, with respect to the checks to 
 
 population, i. 11 9, 120. 
 
 2 g 2 (Friendly
 
 452 INDEX. 
 
 (Friendly islands. Continued.) 
 
 occasional scarcity in, i. 127- 
 Friendly societies. See the article Benefit Clubs. 
 Fruitfulness of marriages, method of ascertaining it, ii. 
 
 133, 134, 135140. 
 proportion of the born which lives to marry, ii. 141. 
 consideration of the earliness of marriages, compared 
 
 with the expectation of life, ii. 154. 
 the proportion of births to marriages forms no criterion 
 
 by which to judge of the rate of increase, ii. 160. 
 the preventive check best measured by the smallness 
 
 of the proportion of yearly births to the population, 
 
 ii. 162164. 
 rate of increase, and period of doubliug, which would 
 
 result from any observed proportion of births to 
 
 deaths, and of these to the whole population, ii. 165. 
 Fruitfulness of marriages at Vevey in Switzerland, 
 
 i. 481. 
 
 estimate of, in different parts of Russia, i. 416. 
 
 among the women of Scotland, ii. 118, 1 19 
 See also the article Fecundity. 
 
 G. 
 
 GALL A y an Abyssinian nation ; singular custom respect- 
 ing polygamy in, i. 212. 
 their massacres in war, i. 214. 
 Garigana, a village of Africa; its inhabitants all de- 
 stroyed by hunger, i. 224. 
 Gelderland; proportion of its annual mortality to its 
 
 population, and of births to deaths, i. 461. 
 Geneva; calculation respecting the probability of life, 
 and the mean life at, in the sixteenth, seventeenth, 
 and eighteenth centuries, i. 469- 
 Germans, ancient; their destructive irruptions into the 
 Roman empire, i. 138 140. 
 their emigrations regular and concerted, i. 141 145, 
 
 149- 
 their vast repeated losses, recruited by the power of 
 population, i. 146 148. 
 
 (Germans
 
 INDEX. 453 
 
 [Germans; ancient. Continued.) 
 
 errors of Gibbon and Montesquieu on this point, 
 i. i49_i52. 
 
 their manners, as described by Tacitus, highly favour- 
 able to the principle of increase, i. 155, 156. 
 rapid succession of human beings among them, i. 
 157159- 
 Germany; state of, with respect to a system of poor- 
 laws, considered, iii. 194, 195. 
 Godwin, Mr.; general character of his Inquiry concern- 
 ing Political Justice, ii. 243. 
 his system of equality impracticable, ii. 243, 244. 
 his error in attributing all the vices and misery of 
 
 society to human institutions, ii. 245. 
 his estimate of the benefits attendant upon his system 
 of equality visionary and false, ii. 246. 
 
 opposite and dreadful picture presented by a ra- 
 tional contemplation of the subject, ii. 247 257. 
 
 places the difficulties arising from an excess of popula- 
 tion at an immeasurable distance, ii. 244. 
 
 these difficulties, on the contrary, of immediate oc- 
 currence, ii. 252, 257. 
 
 in the state of equality supposed by him, the principal 
 laws which at present govern civilized society would 
 be successively dictated by the most imperious ne- 
 cessity, ii. 259- 
 
 administration of property, ii. 260. 
 
 institution of marriage, ii. 263. 
 
 inequality of conditions, ii. 266, 267. 
 
 thus the whole system would inevitably degenerate 
 into a state of society not essentially different from 
 the present, ii. 268. 
 His argument respecting right to relief consideredj 
 iii. 342. 
 
 Gondar, prevalence of putrid fevers at, i. 217- 
 
 Goths, their irruptions into the Roman empire, i. 140, 
 141, 143, 144. 
 
 Government. See the article Civil "Liberty. 
 
 Grahame, Mr., examination and refutation of his misre- 
 presentations and objections to the principles de- 
 veloped in this work, iii. 388 397. 
 
 Grange, parish of, in Scotland, causes of the mortality 
 in, ii. 128, 129. Greeks;
 
 454 INDEX. 
 
 Greeks ; ancient state of, with respect to the checks t& 
 
 population, i. 325. 
 their more equal distribution of property, and the di- 
 vision of the people into small states, tended greatly 
 
 to encourage their increase, i. 326, 327. 
 their overflowing numbers found vent in colonization, 
 
 i. 328. 
 infanticide sanctioned by their legislators, i. 328, 329. 
 measures proposed by Plato and Aristotle to prevent 
 
 a redundancy of population (See their names), i. 
 
 330, 335. 
 the positive checks among them, disease and wars, i. 
 
 340, 341. 
 many of the colonies from ancient Greece in the course 
 
 of one or two centuries rivalled, and even surpassed, 
 
 their mother cities, i. 189, 190. 
 Guiana ; disastrous failure of the attempt of the French, 
 
 in 1663, to form at once a powerful colony in, ii. 
 
 291. 
 
 H. 
 
 HJLBERSTADT, principality of; proportion of its 
 annual marriages to its population, i. 449- 
 
 of its annual mortality to its population, and of 
 births to deaths, i. 46 1. 
 
 variations in the proportions of births to deaths and to 
 marriages at hfferent periods, ii. 183, 184. 
 
 Halle, town of ; proportion of its annual marriages to its 
 population, i. 448. 
 
 Heir male, considered as an object of the first import- 
 ance in the ordinances of Menu, i. 269* 
 
 Highlands of Scotland, probably more redundant in popu- 
 lation than any other part of Great Britain, i. 151. 
 ii. 215. 
 
 History might be made more useful if it embraced sta- 
 tistical subjects, i. 27 30. 
 
 Holland, proportion of annual marriages and deaths in 
 some villages of, i. 444, 445, 447. 
 
 of annual births, to the population, i. 456, 457. 
 the establishment of poor-laws in, considered, iii. 194. 
 
 Holstein,
 
 INDEX. 455 
 
 Holstein, duchy of; comparative state of the poor in, 
 iii. 195- 
 
 Hospitals and charitable establishments; statements re- 
 specting the condition of, in France, ii. 28, note. 
 See the articles Lying-irir-hospitals, and Foundling-hos- 
 pitals. 
 
 Hudson's Bay, famine among the Indians in the neigh- 
 bourhood of, i. 82. 
 
 Hunters, tribes of, must be thinly scattered over the 
 earth, i. 51. 
 their support precarious, i. 84, 85. 
 
 Husbands ; several attached to one woman in a certain 
 tribe of Indostan, and in Tibet, i. 284, 287. 
 
 I. 
 
 ILLEGITIMATE births; proportions of, in France, 
 before and during the revolution, ii. 10, 19, 20. 
 
 case of illegitimate children considered in a plan of a 
 gradual abolition of the poor-laws, iii. 182 189- 
 Improvement in plants, animals, and man, Condorcet's 
 theory of, examined, ii. 229 239- 
 
 in the condition of the poor, different plans of, con- 
 sidered (See under the article Poor), iii. 228. 
 
 Of our rational expectations respecting the future im- 
 provement of society, iii. 308. 
 
 the unhealthiness of great towns and manufactures will 
 always operate as a positive check to population, iii. 
 308. 
 
 some extension of the prudential restraint from mar- 
 riage is probable, iii. 310, 311. 
 
 much good would be done by merely changing gra- 
 dually the institutions tending directly to encourage 
 marriage, and ceasing to circulate erroneous opinions 
 on this subject, iii. 314. 
 
 the beneficial effects that may result from the general 
 reasonings of this work, unconnected with the 
 adoption of any particular plan, iii. 315. 
 
 methods in which these reasonings may operate advan- 
 
 (Improvement
 
 456 INDEX. 
 
 (Improvement of society : of our rational expectation* 
 respecting the future. Continued.) 
 tageously among the higher and middle classes of 
 society, iii. 317- 
 
 among the poor, iii. 318. 
 
 the evils resulting from the principle of population 
 have rather diminished than increased in modern 
 times, and may reasonably be expected still further 
 to decrease, iii. 320. 
 
 general conclusion on this subject, iii. 321 323. 
 Increase of both plants and animals bounded only by th* 
 
 means of subsistence, i. 2, 3. 
 Indians, American ; state of, with respect to the checks 
 to population among them, i. 50. 
 
 their country very thinly peopled at the time of its dis- 
 covery, i. 50, 5 1 . 
 
 means by which their population was kept down to 
 this scanty supply of food, i. 52. 
 
 want of ardour in the men not peculiar to the Ame- 
 rican Indians, but generated by the hardships and 
 dangers of savage life, i. 53, 54. 
 
 unfruitfulness of the women produced by their de- 
 graded and wretched state, and other causes, i. 55, 
 5658. 
 
 frequent abandonment and destruction of children, i. 
 59. 
 
 the cause of the remarkable exemption of these 
 people from deformities, i. 59^ 
 
 polygamy allowed, but seldom practised, i. 60. 
 
 marriages not early, i. 61. 
 
 dangers attending mature age ; alternate gluttony and 
 
 abstinence, i. 62. 
 diseases, i. 63. 
 dreadful epidemics, and contagious distempers, i. 64, 65. 
 
 instance of a very extraordinary desolation by an 
 epidemic, i. 65. 
 
 their liability to pestilential diseases from the dirt of 
 their persons, and closeness and tilth of their 
 cabins, i. 66, 67, 68. 
 
 perpetual and ferocious hostilities of the different 
 nations and tribes, i. 69 7 1 . 
 
 {Indians
 
 IKDEX. 457 
 
 (Indians, American. Continued.) 
 
 rapid increase of them under favourable circumstances, 
 i. 76, 77. 
 
 The immediate checks to their population regulated 
 by the means of subsistence, i. 77, 78. 
 
 in a general view of the American continent, the po- 
 pulation of the Indians seems to press hard against 
 the limit of subsistence, i. 80. 
 
 famine and scarcities among the savages of Florida, 
 and in various other parts, i. 81 88. 
 
 some fortunate train of circumstances necessary to in- 
 duce savages to adopt the pastoral or agricultural 
 state, i. 89. 
 
 the causes of the rapid diminution of their numbers 
 may all be resolved into the three great checks to 
 population (See the article Checks), i. 91. 
 
 their insatiable fondness for spirituous liquors, i. 92. 
 
 their connexion with Europeans has tended to diminish 
 their sources of subsistence, i. 93. 
 
 their average population still nearly on a level with 
 the average quantity of food, i. 94. 
 
 education of the ruder tribes, i. 130. 
 Indostan ; state of, with respect to the checks to po- 
 pulation, i. 269- 
 
 marriage very greatly encouraged, and a male heir con- 
 sidered as an object of the first importance, in the 
 ordinances of Menu, i. 269, 270. 
 
 chastity however inculcated as a religious duty ; and, 
 when strict and absolute, supersedes the obligation 
 of having descendants, i. 271, 272. 
 
 other circumstances which in some degree tend to 
 counteract the encouragement to marriage ; divi- 
 sion into classes, i. 273. 
 
 difficulty in the choice of a wife, i. 274. 
 
 an elder brother remaining unmarried, confines all 
 the other sons to the same state, i. 275. 
 
 manners and disposition of the women, i. 276. 
 
 expedients among different tribes to prevent a nu- 
 merous family, i. 281, 282, 283. 
 
 Industry; the importation of, is of infinitely more con- 
 sequence to the population of a country, than the 
 importation of new inhabitants, i. 250. 
 
 (Industry
 
 458 INDEX. 
 
 (Industry. Continued.) 
 
 the springs of industry are destroyed by ignorance and 
 oppression, iii. 43. 
 
 industry cannot exist without foresight and security, 
 iii. 42. 
 
 if general and equal, would fail to yield the same ad- 
 vantages to individuals, iii. 290, 291. 
 Inequality of conditions Mould inevitably result from a 
 
 state of perfect equality, ii. 266 268. 
 Infanticide, in New Holland, i. 45. 
 
 permitted in Otaheite, i. 107. 
 
 contributes in general to increase the population of a 
 country, i. 108. 
 
 practised on the females only, by a particular tribe in 
 India, i. 282. 
 
 disadvantageous effect of a law relative to price of 
 food in that country, ii. 388, 389. 
 
 the money price of labour there, little more than half 
 what it is in England, ii. 390. 
 
 Chinese edict to prevent the drowning of children, i. 
 315,316. 
 
 practice of, probably originated from the difficulty of 
 rearing children in a savage life, i. 329. 
 
 proposed in a wide extent by Plato, i. 332. 
 
 practised in Italy, as well as in Greece, i. 343, 344. 
 
 See also the article Exposure of Children. 
 Ireland ; state of, with respect to the checks of popula- 
 tion, ii. 131, 132. 
 
 consequences which would attend the establishment of 
 poor-laws in, iii. 193, 196. 
 Iroquois, dreadful instance of a scarcity of provisions 
 
 among a party of, i. 85. 
 Islands ; the great barriers to a further increase of popu- 
 lation in, not peculiar to them more than to conti- 
 nents, though more obvious, i 95, 96. 
 Israelites, on settling in a fertile district of Egypt, doubled 
 their numbers every fifteen years, ii. 190- 
 
 Japan ;
 
 INDEX. 459 
 
 J. 
 
 Japan; state of, with respect to the checks to popula- 
 tion, i. 323. 
 causes of its populousness, i. 323. 
 various checks to its population, i. 324. 
 Jidda, prevalence of putrid fevers at, i. 217. 
 Jura, Scotch island of; overflows with inhabitants, in 
 spite of constant and numerous emigrations, ii. 114. 
 
 K. 
 
 KALMUCKS, destructive wars of, i. 178. 
 
 those who inhabited the fertile steppes of the Wolga ; 
 
 their state, and inquiry into the checks to population 
 
 among them, i. 193, 194. 
 their rapid increase, i. 194, note, 
 this was limited by want of pasture for their numerous 
 
 herds, i. 195. 
 
 by scarcity of subsistence for themselves, i. 196. 
 
 by diseases, i. 197. 
 
 was regulated by the season of scarcity, and not that of 
 plenty, i. 197, 198. 
 
 and in the same manner, by the recurrence of unfa- 
 vourable periods, i. 200. 
 
 check from their customs respecting marriage, i. 201. 
 - promiscuous intercourse, i. 202. 
 Kirgisien Tartars; state of, and inquiry into the checks 
 to population among them, i. 190. 
 their destructive predatory excursions, i. 19 1. 
 national wars, and occasional famines, i. 192. 
 
 L. 
 
 LABOUR, difference between the nomimal and real 
 price of, i. 30, 31, ii. 325. 
 comparative wages of, in England and France, before 
 the revolution, ii. 37, 38. 
 
 (Labour,
 
 460 INDEX. 
 
 (Labour. Continued.) 
 
 the real wages of labour check and regulate the in- 
 crease of the labouring classes, ii. 381, 382. 
 
 the payment of a considerable part of what ought to 
 be the wages of labour, out of the parish rate?, a 
 principal cause of the existing distress among the 
 poor, ii. 366, 367- 
 
 effects of high prices of corn and other commodities 
 on the prices of labour, iii. 30, 31. 
 
 effects of producing supernumerary labourers, i. 241, 
 242. 
 
 reward of labour in China as low as possible, i. 303. 
 
 an increase in the nominal price of labour may some- 
 times only contribute to raise proportionally the 
 price of provisions, without ultimately bettering the 
 condition of the poor, ii. 307, 314, 324. 
 
 its price, when left to find its natural level, is a most 
 important political barometer, expressing the rela- 
 tion between the supply of provisions, and the 
 demand for them, ii. 325. 
 
 a scarcity of provisions must naturally tend to lower, 
 instead of to raise, the price of labour, ii. 326. 
 
 to proportion the price of labour in a scarcity to the 
 price of provisions, is of the same nature as a max- 
 imum, and tends directly to famine, ii. 328. 
 
 absurdity of the common declamation, " that the market 
 price of labour ought always to be sufficient de- 
 cently to support a family, and that employment 
 ought to be found for all who are willing to work," 
 ii. S50. 
 
 if a demand for labour increase rapidly under an uncer- 
 tain supply of food, the population will advance till 
 positively checked by famine, or by diseases arising 
 from severe want, iii. 35. 
 
 estimate of the evil arising from a market rather under- 
 stocked with labour, occasioned by the prevalence 
 of a system of moral restraint among the poor, 
 iii. 115. 
 
 the wages of labour will always be regulated by the 
 proportion of the supply to the demand, iii. 349, 
 350. 
 
 See also the article Poor throughout. 
 
 Land,
 
 INDEX. 461 
 
 Land, uncultivated ; the extent of, has no influence ou 
 the state of distress among the poor, iii. 50. 
 inconsiderate conclusions often drawn against the in- 
 dustry and government of states, from the appear- 
 ance of uncultivated lands in them, iii. 52 57- 
 error of bringing under cultivation too great a quantity 
 of poor land, iii. 57. 
 
 Leipsic, proportion of its annual marriages to its popu- 
 lation, l. 448. 
 
 Leyzin, a village of the Alps ; proportion of births, and 
 extraordinarily high probability of life, in, i. 471,474. 
 
 Liberty. See the article Civil Liberty. 
 
 Life ; calculation respecting the probability of, and the 
 mean life at Geneva, in the sixteenth, seventeenth, 
 and eighteenth centuries, i. 469 
 probability of, in several great cities and some vil- 
 lages, ii. 59 
 
 in Scotland, ii. 106, 107. 
 
 extraordinarily high in a village of the Alps, i. 473, 
 474. 
 
 mean life, and probability of life, in several parts of 
 
 Switzerland, i. 482, 483. 
 increased average duration of, m England and Wales, 
 
 ii. 64. 
 system of M. Condorcet with respect to the indefinite 
 prolongation of human life, examined, ii. 228 232. 
 longevity rare among the negro nations of Africa, i.205. 
 Literary bachelors ; great number of, in China, i. 309. 
 Liverpool, proportion of its annual mortality to its popu- 
 lation, ii. 55. 
 London, proportion of its annual mortality to its popula- 
 tion, ii. 55 61. 
 
 the void made by the great number of deaths, filled 
 by the redundant births from the country, ii. 6l. 
 
 the effects of the dreadful plague in 1666 were not 
 perceptible fifteen or twenty years after, ii. 198. 
 
 its effect in producing such improvements as have 
 completely eradicated that disorder in, iii. 68, 134. 
 
 error of Sir William Petty in predicting that it would 
 contain above five million inhabitants in the year 1800, 
 ii. 207. 
 
 Love,
 
 462 INDEX. 
 
 Love, virtuous; its peculiar delights, and adaptation to 
 the nature of man, iii. 72. 
 improved state in which this passion would exist under 
 
 a system, of moral restraint, iii. 88, 89* 
 such a system would very greatly increase the sum 
 of pleasurable sensations from the passion of love, 
 iii. 94. 
 Lying-in hospitals, probably rather prejudicial than other- 
 wise, i. 404. 
 
 M. 
 
 MAGDEBURG II ', dukedom of; proportion of its 
 annual marriages to its population, i. 449- 
 variations in the proportions of births to deaths and to 
 marriages at different periods, ii. 182. 
 Mahometan Tartars, manners of, i. 175, 179- 
 Mamelukes, their oppressive and destructive government, 
 
 i. 228. 
 Manchester, proportion of its annual mortality to its po- 
 pulation, ii. 55. 
 Manufactures ; attempts to employ the poor in, on any 
 great scale, have almost invariably failed, ii. 346. 
 the general increase of the manufacturing system, and 
 the unavoidable variations of manufacturing labour, 
 a principal cause of existing distress among the 
 poor, ii. 366. 
 unfavourable state of the poor employed in manufac- 
 tories, with respect to health and other circum- 
 stances, iii. 13 16. 
 subject to variations from the caprices of taste, iii. 17 
 19. 
 Marianne Islands ; state of, with respect to the checks 
 
 to population, i. 124, 125. 
 Marquesas Islands, occasional scarcity at, i. 127. 
 Marriage; practice of, in Otaheite, i. 109, HO. 
 
 the average age of marriage almost always nearer to 
 the average age of death than marriage is to birth, 
 ii. 144147. 
 
 (Marriage.
 
 INDEX. 463 
 
 (Marriage. Continued.) 
 
 extensive operation of the national check to early mar- 
 riages, arising from the view of the difficulty attend- 
 ing the support of a large family, ii. 284 286. 
 
 very greatly encouraged in the ordinances of Menu, i. 
 269, 270. 
 
 and in China, i. 300. 
 
 apparent results in the former instance, i. 301, 302. 
 
 in the latter, i. 303 308. 
 
 any positive law limiting the age of marriage both 
 unjust and immoral, ii. 368, 369. 
 
 pernicious effects of any direct encouragements to 
 marriage, i. 453 456. 
 
 the prevailing customs, manners, and prejudices of 
 society, operate injuriously in this respect, iii. 39 41. 
 
 the practice of mankind on the subject has universally 
 been much superior to their theories, iii. 311. 
 
 origin of the prejudice in favour of an indiscriminate 
 encouragement to marriage, iii. 96, 97- 
 
 inference from St. Paul's declarations respecting mar- 
 riage, iii. 98- 
 
 limitations to the age of marriage, proposed by Plato 
 and Aristotle, i. 332, 333, 335. 
 
 the institution of marriage, or something nearly equiva- 
 lent to it, would soon result from a state of perfect 
 equality, and of unrestrained commerce of the sexes, 
 ii. 263. 
 
 the desire of marriage would not admit of any very 
 considerable diminution, iii. 82. 
 
 beneficial effects to be produced by later marriages 
 under a system of moral restraint, considered, iii. 
 90, 91. 
 
 this restraint among the poor themselves, the only 
 effectual means of bettering their condition, iii. 102 
 114. 
 
 consideration of the effect which might be produced 
 by a diminished mortality, in decreasing the number 
 of marriages, iii. 133. 
 
 among the higher ranks, little more is wanted with 
 regard to the prudential check to marriage, than an 
 increased degree of respect and of personal liberty 
 to single women, iii. 200. 
 
 among the lower classes, the .same object would be 
 
 (Marriage.
 
 464 INDEX. 
 
 (Marriage. Continued.) 
 
 attained by the establishment of a proper system 
 of parochial education (See the article Education), 
 ii. 200. 
 the prudential restraint from marriage has increased 
 
 throughout Europe, iii. 510. 
 See also the articles Fruitj'ulness, Prudential and Moral 
 Restraint, and Polygamy. 
 Marriages; proportion of, in Scotland, ii. 108. 
 
 in Norway, small ; cause of this, i. 366 374. 
 
 in the Pays de Vaud, very small, i. 484. 
 proportion of, to the whole population, in Russia, i. 421 . 
 
 in England and Wales, ii. 47- 
 
 later in Scotland than formerly, ii. 111. 
 proportion of, to births, ii. 141 162. 
 
 in England and Wales, ii. 69. 
 dependence of marriages on deaths, i. 442454. 
 number of marriages in the Greek church in Russia for 
 
 the year 1799, i. 439- 
 
 of annual marriages in France before the war, ii. 4, 5. 
 See also the article Registers. 
 
 Maximum sometimes established in the Turkish domi- 
 nions, i. 262. 
 to regulate the price of labour by the price of provi- 
 sions is of the same nature as a maximum, and both 
 measures tend directly to famine, ii. 328. 
 Meat ; a large subscription for the poor would only raise 
 the price of, without enabling them to procure an 
 increased quantity, ii. 308, 309- 
 Menu, extracts from the ordinances of, i. 269 276. 
 Mexico, frequent scarcity of provisions in, i. 86. 
 
 quick progress which the Spanish colony made in popu- 
 lation, notwithstanding its ill management, ii. 190, 191. 
 cruelties of the first settlers, ii. 288, 289- 
 Migrations of mankind, the early, considered, i. 1S3 136. 
 of the ancient Germans, regular and concerted, i. 145 
 149. 
 Miri, or general land-tax paid to the sultan; moderate 
 in itself, but made oppressive and ruinous by the 
 agents of government, i. 256 258. 
 Misery, checks to population which come under this 
 head, i. 23. 
 the general consequence of vice, ibid., note. 
 
 Mob,
 
 INDEX. 465 
 
 Mob, the most fatal of all monsters to freedom, iii. 144. 
 
 its tendency to produce tyranny, iii. 14.3. 
 
 the dread of it caused the late surrenders of the privi- 
 leges of the people to the government, iii. 146, 147. 
 Moguls, after conquering the northern provinces of China, 
 proposed in council to exterminate all its inhabit- 
 ants, i. 171, 172. 
 
 their destructive wars, i. 181. 
 Money cannot be made the means of raising the condition 
 of the poor without proportionably depressing others, 
 ii. 310. 
 
 may confer particular, but not universal, assistance to 
 them, iii. 289, 290. 
 
 See also the article Banks. 
 Moral code ; it is no valid objection against the publica- 
 tion of one, that it will never be universally prac- 
 tised, iii. 102. 
 Moral restraint defined, i. 22, note. 
 
 Of our Obligation to practise this Virtue, iii. 63. 
 it is certainly the best of all the immediate checks to 
 population, iii. 64. 
 
 the opinions respecting population originating in bar- 
 barous ages, have prevented us from attending to the 
 dictates of reason and nature on this subject, iii. 65. 
 
 the evil arising from excessive indulgence of the pas- 
 sions, an admonition for their due limitation, iii. 65. 
 
 the consequences of increasing too fast, though not so 
 obviously connected with the conduct leading to 
 them, are obligatory as to prescribing our duty, 
 iii. 66. 
 
 diseases are indications that we have offended against 
 some of the laws of nature, iii. 67. 
 
 thus epidemics point out that we have increased too 
 fast for the means of subsistence, iii. 68. 
 
 evil effects of an irregular indulgence of the passions, 
 iii. 69- 
 
 a diminution of the pleasure arising from their grati- 
 fication, would however produce a much greater loss 
 than gain to general happiness, iii. 71. 
 
 peculiar delights of virtuous love, iii. 72. 
 
 the passion between the sexes operates permanently 
 upon human conduct, iii. 73. 
 
 vol. ii. 2 h (Moral
 
 466 INDEX. 
 
 (Moral restraint: Of our Obligation to practise this 
 Virtue. Continued.) 
 
 has the most powerful tendency to soften and me- 
 liorate the character, iii. 74. 
 
 is strongest, and has most beneficial effects, where 
 obstacles are thrown in the way of very early and 
 universal gratification, iii. 75. 
 
 the evil resulting from its irregular indulgence, must 
 not be diminished by the extinction or diminution of 
 the passion itself, iii. 76. 
 
 in this and all the other passions, it is only the re- 
 gulation or direction of them that is wanted, iii. 76. 
 
 the province of reason is the government of the pas- 
 sions, iii. 76, 77. 
 
 the fecundity of the species too would not admit of 
 any very considerable diminution, ii. 78 81. 
 
 nor would the desire of marriage, iii. 82. 
 
 the duty of moral restraint rests upon the same foun- 
 dation as our obligation to practise any of the other 
 virtues, iii. 83. 
 
 Of the Effects which would result to Society from the 
 Prevalence of this Virtue, iii. 84. 
 
 removal of any imputation on the goodness of the Deity, 
 for calling beings into existence by the laws of na- 
 ture, which cannot by those laws be supported in 
 existence, iii. 84, 80. 
 
 the subjection of the passions a principal requisite to 
 happiness, iii. 85. 
 
 beneficial state of society exhibiting a great prevalence 
 of the prudential check to population, iii. 85, 86. 
 
 in such a condition, the period before marriage must be 
 passed in strict chastity, iii. 87- 
 
 purity of intercourse between young persons in these 
 circumstances, iii. 88, 89- 
 
 later marriages would prolong the period of youth and 
 hope, and lead to fewer ultimate disappointments, 
 iii- 90,91. 
 
 the most eligible age for them must depend entirely 
 on circumstances and situation, iii. 92. 
 
 objection from the difficulty of moral restraint an- 
 swered, iii. 93, 94. 
 this system would very greatly iucrease the sum of 
 
 (Moral
 
 INDEX. 467 
 
 ( Moral restraint. Effects which would result to Society 
 from its Prevalence. Continued.) 
 pleasurable sensations from the passion of love, 
 iii. 94. 
 
 might be expected to repress the frequency of war, 
 iii. 95, 96. 
 
 great strength of such a state of society in a war of 
 defence, iii. 96 99. 
 
 conclusion : the justice of the Deity unimpeachable, 
 in making this virtue necessary by his general laws, 
 iii. 100. 
 
 This is the only effectual mode of bettering the condi- 
 tion of the poor, iii. 102 114. 
 
 consideration of the objection to this measure, that by 
 endeavouring to urge this duty on the poor, we may 
 increase the quantity of vice relating to the sex, iii. 
 115125. 
 
 Vindication of the principles maintained on the subject 
 of moral restraint, iii. 424 428. 
 
 See also the article Prudential Restraint. 
 Mortality ; order of, extremely variable, i. S64, 365. 
 
 division of the states of Europe into classes in this 
 respect, i. 462. 
 
 has decreased in almost every town in Europe within 
 the last 200 years, ii. 36, 31. 
 
 annual mortality in England and Wales considered, ii. 
 5064. 
 
 different proportions of, in towns and in villages, ii. 
 06, 57- 
 
 See also the article Deaths. 
 Moscow, management of the foundling-hospital at, i. 
 
 431, 432. 
 Mowing; perfection of the art of, in Switzerland and 
 Norway, i. 488. 
 
 N. 
 
 NATURE ; constancy of the laws of, the foundation of 
 
 all human knowledge, ii. 232. 
 Nayrs, their practice with respect to the commerce of 
 
 the sexes, &c, i. 282, 283. 
 Nedad, or putrid fevers of the Tropics, i. 217- 
 
 2 h 2 Negro
 
 468 INDEX. 
 
 Negro nations of Africa ; their habits, powerful checks to 
 population, i. 204. 
 
 constant wars, and want of industry, i. 204, 205. 
 
 shortness of life among them, i. 205. 
 
 practice of marriage, i. 206. 
 
 great and constant exportation of slaves, i. 208. 
 
 the population, notwithstanding all these circumstances, 
 continually pressing beyond the means of subsistence, 
 i. 208. 
 
 practice of polygamy, and its effects considered, i. 2 1 3. 
 
 diseases, i. 217- 
 
 poverty, bad diet, and want of cleanliness, i. 219* 
 
 dreadful instances of famine, i. 210, 220. 
 Newbury ; proportion of its mortality to its population, 
 
 ii. 55. 
 New Caledonia, occasional scarcity at, i. 127, 128. 
 New England, hardships experienced in the first settle- 
 ment of this colony, ii. 290. 
 New Holland; State of the Natives of, with Respect to 
 the Checks to Population, i. 38. 
 
 scarcity of food, i. 3941. 
 
 cruel treatment of their women, and early union of the 
 sexes, i. 42, 43, 44. 
 
 a great part of the women without children, i. 45. 
 
 sucking children buried alive with the mother at her 
 death, i. 45. 
 
 difficulty of rearing children, i. 46. 
 
 wars between different tribes, and perpetual private 
 contests ; manner of living ; and dreadful epidemic, 
 i. 47, 48. 
 
 still the population keeps up to a level with the average 
 supply of food, i. 48, 49. 
 
 Hardships experienced in the first settlement of the co- 
 lony of Port Jackson, ii. 292. 
 New Jersey, average proportion of births to deaths in, ii. 
 
 209, 210. 
 New Zealand; state of, with respect to the checks to po- 
 pulation, i. 98. 
 
 perpetual hostility of the different tribes, and their can- 
 nibalism, i. 98, 99101. 
 
 the population, nevertheless, seldom repressed below 
 the average means of suhsistence, i. 102. 
 
 Nootka Sound,
 
 INDEX- 469 
 
 Nootka Sound, frequent scarcity of provisions at, i. 87, 
 
 88, 89- 
 Ao/M of Europe. See the articles Europe and Germans. 
 Northampton, proportion of its annual mortality to its 
 
 population, ii. ,->5. 
 Norway; State of, with Respect to the Checks to Popu- 
 lation, i. 363. 
 
 its mortality small, yet its population has not rapidly 
 increased, i. 364, 365. 
 
 the preventive checks proportionally great, i. 365. 
 
 causes of the small number of marriages, i. 366. 
 
 unfavourableness of the soil and climate, i. 368 373. 
 
 the preventive check contributes considerably to the 
 smallness of the mortality, i. 376 378. 
 
 obstacles to improved cultivation of the land, i. 
 379382. 
 
 recent advances, however, both in that respect and in 
 population, i. 383, 384. 
 
 the woods are cleared away too precipitately, without 
 consideration of the probable value of the land when 
 cleared, i. 380. 
 
 this country might possibly have been better peopled 
 formerly than at present, but the supposition not 
 probable, i. 384, 385. 
 
 Proportion of its yearly births to the population, i. 457. 
 
 state of the poor better in many respects than in Eng- 
 land, iii. 195. 
 Norwich ; proportion of its annual mortality to its popu- 
 lation, ii. 55. 
 
 o. 
 
 OBJECTIONS, general, to the principle and reasonings 
 
 of this Essay, answered, iii. 325. 
 first, that they contradict the original command of the 
 
 Creator, to increase and multiply and replenish the 
 
 earth, iii. 326. 
 that the natural checks to population will always be 
 
 sufficient, without resorting to any other aids, iii. 338. 
 respecting the practicable increase of population, iii. 
 
 339. 
 
 (Objections
 
 470 INDEX. 
 
 (Objections. Continued.) 
 
 respecting the abolition of the poor-laws, iii. .342. 
 that every practicable benefit may be obtained by im- 
 proved measures of civil policy, without risking the 
 danger of promulgating new opinions which may 
 alarm the prejudices of the poor, iii. 373. 
 respecting the feelings of despondency in some, who 
 lament a conviction of the truth of the principles of 
 this Essay, iii. 379383. 
 Oheitahoo, temporary scarcity at, i. 127- 
 Organic _ perfectibility of man; M. Condorcet's system 
 
 respecting, unwarranted, ii. 229 240. 
 Oscillations in population, in civilized and in savage life, 
 
 i. 2a 33. 
 Ostiacks, their disgusting mode of living, i. 236. 
 Otaheite, its luxuriance extremely favourable to popula- 
 tion, i. 104. 
 some very powerful checks must be traced in the habits 
 
 of the people, i. 106. 
 enumeration of these; Eareeoie societies, i. 106, 
 107. 
 
 infanticide permitted to all classes, i. 108. 
 
 extensive debauchery and promiscuous intercourse, 
 i. 108, 109. 
 
 customs with regard to marriage, and changing of 
 connexions, i. 109, 110. 
 
 frequent and destructive hostilities, i. 1 10, 111. 
 
 human sacrifices, and disorders, i. 1 12. 
 
 even these checks have not always kept down the po- 
 pulation to the level of the means of subsistence, i. 
 112, 113. 
 
 mode of living of the different ranks, i. 113, 114. 
 
 extraordinary depopulation since Captain Cook's last 
 visit, i. 115, 116. 
 
 the population at present repressed considerably below 
 the average means of subsistence, i. 117* 
 
 its fertility probably exaggerated, i. 126, 127. 
 Outca.ts, in Indostan; wretched state of, i. 281. 
 Owen, Mr.; benevolence of his intentions, ii. 274 
 
 examination of the principle of equality proposed 
 by him, ii. 277282. 
 
 Owen
 
 1XDEX. 471 
 
 ( Owen, Mr. Continued ) 
 
 observations on the system of equality proposed by 
 him, ii. '280. 
 
 his system for improving the condition of the poor 
 considered, iii. 258 2(j.'j. 
 
 P. 
 
 PACHAS, their destructive extortion in their provinces, 
 i. 257 202. 
 
 Paine, Mr. ; erroneous principles of his Rights of Man, 
 iii. 152 100. 
 
 Paraguay, occasional scarcity of provisions in, i. 86. 
 
 Paris, proportion of its annual marriages to its popula- 
 tion, i. 451. 
 
 of annual births and deaths to the population, in 
 several villages around, i. 457. 
 
 Parish pay-table, disgusting picture of, iii. 2iy. 
 
 allowances, effects of, on population, iii. 31. 
 Passions, evil effects of an irregular indulgence of, iii. 69- 
 
 a diminution of the pleasure arising from their gratifi-. 
 
 cation would produce a much greater loss than gain 
 
 to general happiness, iii. 71- 
 the passion between the sexes operates permanently 
 
 upon human conduct, hi. 74. 
 
 has the most powerful tendency to soften and me- 
 liorate the character, iii. 74. 
 
 is strongest and has most beneficial effects, where 
 obstacles are thrown in the way of very early and 
 universal gratification, iii. 75. 
 
 the evil resulting from its iregular indulgence, must 
 not be diminished by the extinction or diminution of 
 the passion itself, iii. 76. 
 
 in this and all the other passions, it is only the regula- 
 tion or direction of them that is wanted, iii. 76, 77- 
 Pastoral nations, modern ; state of, with respect to the 
 checks to population (Sec the article Tartars), i. 
 170. 
 
 enumeration of checks, i. 202. 
 
 limits to the population of a conntiy strictly pastoral, i. 
 
 487. 
 
 (Pastoral
 
 472 INDEX. 
 
 (Pastoral nations, modern. Continued.) 
 
 natural excitement which it supplies to emigration, i. 
 
 489- 
 See also the article Shepherds. 
 Pauperism. See Poor. 
 Pays de Vaud, various statistical particulars respecting, i. 
 
 470, 4/8 481, 483. 
 Peasant, Swiss ; remarkable instance of one possessing a 
 
 clear comprehension of the subject of population, 
 
 i. 491494. 
 Peasantry, Russian ; state of, i. 435 437- 
 
 condition of, in France, improved since the revo- 
 lution, ii. 38, 39. 
 
 Perfectibility of man ; M. Condorcet's system respect- 
 ing, examined, ii. 229 239. 
 Persia, late marriages among the lower classes of people 
 of, i.266. 
 
 state of, with respect to the checks to population : 
 the dreadful convulsions in, have been fatal to agri- 
 culture, i. 267- 
 
 small-pox, and other causes, i. 268. 
 Peru ; quick progress which the Spanish colony made in 
 population, notwithstanding its ill management, ii. 
 190, 191. 
 cruelties of the first settlers, ii. 288, 289. 
 Plague, its ravages in the Turkish dominions, i. 264, 265. 
 a constant admonition to the people against their filth 
 
 and torpor, iii.67- 
 does not effectually repress the average of population, 
 
 ii. 198. 
 See also the article Epidemics. 
 Plato, measures proposed by him to regulate popu- 
 lation, i. 330. 
 
 by encouraging, or checking it by means of honours 
 and of marks of disgrace, i. 331. 
 
 by burying the children of the inferior citizens, and 
 all born imperfect, i. 332. 
 
 by limiting the age of marriage and of bearing chil- 
 dren, i. 333. 
 
 lie thus evidently saw the strong tendency of popula- 
 tion to increase bevond the means of subsistence, i. 
 333, 334. 
 
 (Plato.
 
 INDEX, 473 
 
 (Plato. Continued.) 
 
 inconsistencies in his plan observed by Aristotle, i. 
 334, 335. 
 Plenty : On the prevailing Errors respecting this Sub- 
 ject as connected with Population, iii. 27. 
 
 error of supposing that an increase of population in any 
 state not cultivated to the utmost, will tend to aug- 
 ment the relative plenty of the whole society, iii. 27. 
 
 an increase of population arising from the improving 
 state of agriculture, very different from its unre- 
 stricted increase, iii. 28, 29 34. 
 
 if a demand for labour increases rapidly, though the 
 supply of food be uncertain, the population will ad- 
 vance till positively checked by famine, or diseases 
 arising from severe want, iii. 35. 
 
 scarcity and extreme poverty may or may not accom- 
 pany an increasing population, but must necessarily 
 accompany a permanently declining population, 
 iii. 3537. 
 
 the prejudices respecting population strikingly resem- 
 ble the old prejudices about specie, iii. 38 40. 
 
 ignorance, despotism, and oppression will constantly 
 cause a low state of population, in spite of the birth 
 of any number of children annually, iii. 41 43. 
 
 agriculture may more properly be termed the efficient 
 cause of population, than population of agriculture, 
 iii. 44, 45. 
 
 revenue the source of population, and not population 
 of revenue, iii. 46 49- 
 
 waste among the rich, or land remaining uncultivated, 
 do not influence the average distress of the poor, 
 iii. 50. 
 
 inconsiderate conclusions often drawn against the ia- 
 dustry and government of states, from the appear- 
 ance of uncultivated lands in them, iii. 52 57- 
 
 error of bringing under cultivation too great a quantity 
 of poor land, iii. 57. 
 
 the question is not whether the produce of the earth 
 may be absolutely increased, but whether it may be 
 increased so as to keep pace with an unchecked 
 population, iii. 58 6l. 
 
 Plough
 
 474 INDEX. 
 
 Plough in Syria, often only the branch of a tree, i. 259. 
 Poland, an instance where, under the agricultural system, 
 the condition of the lower classes is very wretched, 
 ii. 391, 392. 
 the reason of such wretchedness stated, ii. 392 396. 
 Political economy, great importance of the diffusion of 
 its principles ; they should at least form a branch of 
 university education, iii. 202. 
 Political Justice, general character of Mr. Godwin's work 
 on, ii. 243. 
 See the article Godwin. 
 Polygamy allowed, but seldom used, among the Ameri- 
 can Indians, i. 60. 
 in some degree obligatory on the Mahometans, i. 187- 
 its effect on population considered, i. 212 216. 
 in some negro nations of Africa, sought by the wife 
 
 and not the husband, i. 212. 
 in the Turkish dominions, less productive even in indi- 
 vidual families than monogamy, i. 264. 
 tends to degrade the female character ; and, by being 
 practised among the superior classes, renders it dif- 
 ficult for the lower classes to obtain wives, i. 207? 
 208, 277. 
 For the opposite custom, see the article Husbands. 
 Pomerania, general mortality in, i. 459- 
 proportion of second marriages, ii. 140. 
 variations in the proportions of births to deaths and to 
 marriages at different periods, ii. 180, 181. 
 Poor; measures respecting their relief in Switzerland, 
 and effect of these, i. 495. 
 support of, in Scotland, ii. 120. 
 remarks by Scotch writers, on the state of the poor in 
 
 England, ii. 121, 122. 
 principal causes of pauperism at the present crisis, ii. 
 
 366. 
 Of Poor- Laws: those of England, though they may 
 have alleviated individual misfortune, have spread 
 the evil over a larger surface, ii. 306. 
 causes why, notwithstanding the immense sum annu- 
 ally collected for the poor, so much distress still 
 exists among them, ii. 307. 
 
 (Poor:
 
 INDEX. 475 
 
 f Poor : Poor- Laws. Continued.) 
 
 a subscription for the poor would only increase pro- 
 portionably the price of provisions, ii. 307. 
 
 even if the produce of the country were augmented 
 by that means, a more than proportionate increase 
 of population would follow, ii. 308. 
 
 no possible sacrifices of the rich could for any time 
 prevent the recurrence of distress among the lower 
 classes, ii. 309- 
 
 the condition of some of the poor cannot be raised by 
 means of money without proportionally depressing 
 that of others, ii. 310. 
 
 confirmation of these reasonings, from the late scarci- 
 ties, ii. 311. 
 
 the price of corn in a scarcity will depend more upon 
 the degree of consumption than of the actual de- 
 ficiency, ii. 312, 313. 
 
 high prices certainly diminish consumption, ii. 313. 
 
 the bounties to the poor during the late scarcities ope- 
 rated very powerfully in raising the price of grain, ii. 
 314. 
 
 effect of these also in increasing the circulating me- 
 dium, ii. 318, 319- 
 
 this increase principally supplied by the country banks, 
 ii. 320. 
 
 very great obstacles thus thrown in the way of return- 
 ing cheapness, ii. 321, 322. 
 
 these less, however, than if the increased circula- 
 tion had come from the Bank of England, ii. 323. 
 
 the scarcity fortunately followed by an abundant har- 
 vest and a peace; a rapid fall of prices thus occa- 
 sioned, ii. 323, 324. 
 
 permanent bad consequences which would have fol- 
 lowed from raising the wages of labour during the 
 scarcity, ii. 324. 
 
 the price of labour a most important political barome- 
 ter, expressing the relation between the supply of 
 provisions and the demand for them, ii. 325. 
 
 a scarcity naturally tends to lower, instead of to raise, 
 the price of labour, ii. 326. 
 
 to proportion the price of labour to that of provisions 
 
 (Poor:
 
 476 INDEX. 
 
 ( Poor : Poor-Laws. Continued.) 
 
 is of the nature of a maximum, and tends directly to 
 famine, ii. 328. 
 
 an increase of population without a proportional in- 
 crease of food, must lower the value of each man's 
 earnings, ii. 331. 
 
 ways in which the poor-laws tend to depress the gene- 
 ral condition of the poor, ii. 332. 
 
 - they weaken the disgrace which ought to attend de- 
 pendent poverty, ii. 332, 333. 
 
 have contributed to raise the price of provisions, to 
 lower the real price of labour, and to generate a 
 carelessness and want of frugality among the poor, 
 ii. 334, 335. 
 
 subject the whole class of the common people to a 
 
 set of tyrannical laws, ii. 335, 336. 
 
 if they had never existed, the mass of happiness among 
 the common people would have been greater than 
 it is, ii. 336. 
 
 all systems of the kind tend in effect to create more 
 poor, ii. 337- 
 
 examination of the principle and operation of the fa- 
 mous statute of the forty-third of Elizabeth, ii. 339- 
 
 its due execution as a permanent law is a physi- 
 cal impossibility, ii. 343. 
 
 checks to the increase of the poor, from a spirit of in- 
 dependence and pride among the peasantry, and from 
 the contradictory operation of the poor-laws them- 
 selves, ii. 343, 344. 
 
 attempts to employ the poor on any great scale in ma- 
 nufactures have almost invariably failed, ii. 346. 
 
 this reasoning not to be applied against every mode 
 of employing them on a limited scale, and with pro- 
 per restrictions, ii. S49- 
 
 absurdity of the common declamation on the subject of 
 the poor, ii. 350. 
 
 the inefficiency of the Poor- Rates, even aided by 
 large charitable contributions, is a proof of 
 the inadequacy of the Poor-Laws to accomplish 
 the object for which they were enacted, and to fur- 
 nish employ for the poor, ii. 351 355. 
 
 (Poor :
 
 INDEX. 477 
 
 (Poor: Poor- Laws. Continued.) 
 
 the great object to be kept in view is, to support the 
 people through present distress, in the hope of bet- 
 ter times, ii. 359. 
 
 erroneous opinions concerning the distresses of the 
 poor examined and refuted, ii. 360 368 380. 
 
 Of increasing Wealth as it affects the Condition of the 
 Poor (See the article Wealth J, iii. 1 26. 
 
 Of the only effectual Mode of Improving the Condition 
 of the Poor, iii. 102. 
 
 almost all that has hitherto been done for the poor, 
 has tended to throw a veil of obscurity over the 
 causes of their distress, iii. 107. 
 
 till such erroneous ideas have been corrected, it can- 
 not be said that any fair experiment has been 
 made with their understandings, iii. 108. 
 
 they are themselves the principal authors of their own 
 poverty, and the means of redress are in their hands 
 alone, iii. 109. 
 
 to urge people to marriage when they have little chance 
 of being able to support their children, is rashly to 
 tempt Providence, iii. 110, 111. 
 
 to encourage marriage, and increase the number of 
 labourers, have, in the experience of many centu- 
 ries, constantly failed to improve their condition, 
 iii. 111. 
 
 it is time to try the contrary method, of withholding 
 the supply of labour, and thus proportioning the 
 population to the food, iii. 112. 
 
 the absolute quantity of food to be still increased by 
 every means, iii. 113. 
 
 the result of these reasonings to be inculcated on 
 the poor, and their true situation explained to them, 
 iii. 114. 
 
 Objections to the above Mode considered, iii. 1 15. 
 
 first, a market rather understocked with labour, iii. 115. 
 
 second, the diminution of population that it would 
 cause, iii. 1 16. 
 
 third, that by endeavouring to urge the duty of moral 
 restraint, we may increase the quantity of vice re- 
 lating to the sex, iii. 117- 
 
 (Poor :
 
 478 INDEX. 
 
 (Poor: Poor-Laws. Continued.) 
 
 Of the Consequences of pursuing the opposite Mode, 
 
 iii. 126. 
 every effort to repress a great mortality would be vain, 
 iii. 128 152. 
 "^Consideration of the effect which might be produced 
 by a diminished mortality, in increasing the popula- 
 tion, or in decreasing the number of marriages, iii. 133. 
 
 of the consequence of a possible extirpation of the 
 small-pox by means of the cow-pox, iii. 135. 
 
 it is sufficient to leave every man to his free choice re- 
 specting marriage, which however is very far from 
 being the case at present, iii. 138. 
 
 among the lower classes, the poor-laws and pri- 
 vate benevolence operate as a direct encouragement, 
 iii. 138. 
 
 among the higher classes the existing manners, and 
 in all ranks the prevailing prejudices, have the same 
 tendency, iii. 139, 140. 
 
 the want of employment for the poor not chargeable 
 on the government, iii. 166 174. 
 
 A gradual Abolition of the Poor-Laws recommended, 
 ii. 369- 
 
 plan for such gradual abolition, iii. 1 75. 
 
 extraordinary proportion of paupers in this country, iii. 
 175. 
 
 objection to a specific limitation of the rate to be raised 
 for their relief, as a mode of diminishing their num- 
 ber, iii. 176. 
 
 in adopting a system for the gradual abolition of these 
 laws, the right of the poor to support must be pre- 
 viously and formally disclaimed, iii. 177, 178. 
 
 objections to this disavowal, answered, iii. 342 
 et seq. 
 
 measure for that purpose; future children born beyond 
 
 a certain period, to be declared debarred from parish 
 
 assistance, iii. 179- 
 the liberty of marrying, at any age, on no account to 
 
 be infringed, iii. 180. 
 the sphere for the exercise of private benevolence 
 
 would be less after such a regulation than now, iii. 182. 
 
 (Poor:
 
 INDEX. 479 
 
 (Poor : Poor-Laws. Continued.) 
 
 case of illegitimate children under these circumstances, 
 iii. 182. 
 
 not more eligible at present, iii. 182. 
 
 frequency of their desertion by their parents, iii. 
 183, 184.' 
 
 if no provision were made for them by the laws in 
 such a situation, the ties of nature would be strong 
 enough to retain the parents in their duty, iii. 185. 
 
 pernicious customs of frightening the father of an 
 illegitimate child into marriage by the terrors of a 
 jail, iii. 185, 186. 
 
 the most powerful obligation on every man to sup- 
 port his children, would be the knowledge that they 
 must depend solely on this support, iii. 186. 
 
 objection that a mother and her children should not 
 thus suffer from the misconduct of the father, an- 
 swered, iii. 187 18Q. 
 
 unoppressive extinction of the poor-rates by this plan, 
 iii. 190. 
 
 the superiority in the state of the poor in England 
 exists in spite, and not in consequence, of the poor- 
 laws, iii. 190. 
 
 destructive consequences which would attend the esta- 
 blishment of a system of parochial relief in many of 
 the other countries of Europe, iii. 193 197- 
 
 Objections of Mr. Young to the above plan, and his 
 own plan for the relief of the poor, considered, iii. 
 353_383. 
 
 Different Plans of improving the Condition of the 
 Poor, considered, iii. 228. 
 
 none must tend directly to encourage marriage, iii. 228. 
 
 Sir James Steuart's plan, of a general establish- 
 ment of foundling-hospitals, and of public sup- 
 port to the children of some married persons, iii. 
 228, 229- 
 
 Mr. Townsend's, of a compulsory and universal 
 institution of benerit-clubs, iii. 230 233. 
 
 Mr. Young's, by means of potato-ground and cows, 
 iii. 234 249255. 
 
 Count Rumford's, by means of soup-shops, iii. 
 2,30, 251. 
 
 (Poor-
 
 480 INDEX. 
 
 (Poor. Continued.) 
 
 Mr. Owen's plan, of establishments for the poor, 
 iii. 258263. 
 
 Mr. Curwen's plan, by equalizing the rates, and 
 giving the poor a voice in the management of the 
 funds destined to their support, iii. 264 274. 
 
 plan for assisting the labouring classes, by saving- 
 banks, iii. 275 280. 
 
 Of the Necessity of General Principles on the above 
 Subject, iii. 281. 
 
 distinction between mischievous and genuine theory, 
 iii. 283. 
 
 advantage derived by cottagers from keeping cows arises 
 from its being peculiar, and would be considerably 
 diminished if made general, iii. 284 287. 
 
 measure of relieving the poor at their own homes, and 
 placing out their children as soon as possible, can- 
 not be practised universally, iii. 288. 
 
 the benefits conferred by money, and even by industry, 
 are relative, and would fail if not confined to par- 
 ticular instances, iii. 289- 
 
 objection to these reasonings answered; in many cases 
 the good from the relief of present distress may over- 
 balance the probable evil from the remote conse- 
 quence, iii. 290. 
 
 great advantages might be expected from a better and 
 more general system of education (See also the 
 article Education), iii. 292. 
 
 from a general improvement of cottages, iii. 293. 
 
 from the cow-system, (iii. 234 et seq.) upon a more 
 confined plan, iii. 294, 296, 297- 
 
 objection that the above measures would encourage 
 population, answered, iii. 298. 
 
 effects of luxury on the state of society, and on popu- 
 lation, considered, iii. 300. 
 
 our best-grounded hopes of improvement in the gene- 
 ral mass of happiness, founded on a diminution in 
 the number of the lowest, and an increase in that of 
 the middle classes of society, iii. 303. 
 
 this to be brought about only by the prevalence of 
 prudential habits respecting marriage among the 
 poor, iii. 305. 
 
 (Poor.
 
 INDEX. 481 
 
 (Poor: Of the Necessity of General Principles in Plans 
 for their Relief. Continued.) 
 a specific relief might be given for every child 
 above the number of six without any bad effect, 
 iii. 305. 
 See also the articles Charity and Poverty. 
 Population has a constant tendency to increase beyond 
 the means of subsistence, i. 3, 5. 
 
 this truth evidently seen by Plato, Aristotle, and 
 other philosophers, i. 333, 334, 337, 338. 
 
 period in which it doubles itself; in the northern states 
 of America, i. 7- 
 
 in the back settlements, i. 7. 
 
 other possible periods, i. 8. 
 increases thus in a geometrical ratio, i. 9- 
 
 the increase of subsistence cannot exceed an arith- 
 metical ratio, i. 9, 14. 
 
 effects of these two ratios of increase when brought 
 together, i. 14 16. 
 
 population can only be kept down to its level by the 
 
 strong law of necessity (See the article Checks), i. 7 
 propositions intended to be proved in the present 
 
 Essay, i. 3335. 
 the argument in favour of the slave-trade, deduced from 
 
 the principle of population, examined and refuted, 
 
 iii. 384387- 
 distinction to be carefully made between a redundant 
 
 population and a population actually great, i. 149, 
 .150, 152. 
 the measure of, regulated by subsistence, i. 188. 
 can never increase with great rapidity but when the 
 
 price of labour is very high, i. 253. 
 General Deductions from a View of Society in ancient 
 
 and modern States, ii. 189- 
 comparatively rapid increase which has invariably taken 
 
 place whenever the checks to population nave been 
 
 in any considerable degree removed, ii. 189. 
 
 instanced in the case of new colonies, ii. 189- 
 
 the most destructive wars, plagues, and famines, have 
 but a very temporary influence on the average popu- 
 lation of countries, ii. 197- 
 effect of a superabundant population in producing, or 
 vol. ii. ~* (Population:
 
 482 , INDEX. 
 
 (Population: General Deductions from a View of So- 
 ciety in ancient and modern States. Continued.) 
 aggravating the ravages of epidemic disorders and 
 famines, ii. 199,200. 
 
 severe mortal epidemics generally succeeded by uncom- 
 mon healthiness, ii. 205. 
 
 no estimate of future increase or decrease can be de- 
 pended upon from any existing rate, ii. 207. 
 
 the only true criterion of a real permanent increase in 
 any country, is the increase of the means of sub- 
 sistence, ii. 212. 
 
 countries are populous according to the quantity of 
 human food which they produce or can acquire, and 
 happy according to the liberality with which this 
 food is divided, ii. 214. 
 
 a country left to its own natural progress in civilization, 
 could never be said to be free from distress for want 
 of food, ii. 215. 
 
 conclusion from the whole; the three propositions 
 proved which were announced (i. 33 35) in the 
 outset, ii. 216. 
 
 On the prevailing Errors respecting Population and 
 Plenty (See the article Plenty), iii. 27. 
 
 Effects of Parish Allowances on Population, iii. 31. 
 
 not regulated by the real wages of labour, iii. 32. 
 
 an increasing population not always accompanied by 
 scarcity and extreme poverty, iii. 35, 36. 
 
 exposure of some prevalent prejudices, concerning 
 population, iii. 39 59- 
 
 Of the Modes of correcting the prevailing Opinions on 
 Population, iii. 198. 
 
 this can only be done by circulating juster notions on 
 the subject, iii. 198. 
 
 in the higher ranks, little more is wanted than an in- 
 creased degree of respect and of personal liberty to 
 single women, iii. 199 
 
 among the lower classes, the same object would be 
 attained by the establishment of a proper system of 
 parochial education (See the article Education), 
 hi. 200. 
 
 See also particularly the articles Encouragement , Im- 
 provement, and Objections. 
 
 Populousness
 
 INDEX. 483 
 
 Populousness of ancient or modern nations, question re- 
 specting the superiority of, i. 556 361. 
 Port Jackson ; hardships experienced in the first settle- 
 ment of the colony of, ii. 292. 
 Positive checks to population enumerated, i. 21,22, 23. 
 Potatoe-ground ; plan of improving the condition of the 
 poor by means of, and of cows, considered, iii. 
 238255. 
 Poverty, miserable, among some of the negro nations of 
 Africa, i. 218. 
 abject, in China, i. S03 306. 
 almost all poverty is relative, ii. 314. 
 when hopeless, ceases to operate as a spur to industry, 
 
 iii. 42. 
 its powerful influence in producing vice of every sort, 
 
 iii. 120124. 
 effect of the knowledge of the principal cause of, on 
 civil liberty. See the article Civil Liberty. 
 Preventive check to population described, i. 18. 
 
 if it do not produce vice, is the least evil that can arise 
 
 from the principle of population, i. 19, 20. 
 consequences when it does produce vice, i. 20, 21. 
 moral and vicious branches of this check, i. 21, 22, 23. 
 most prevalent in England, ii. 42, 43 47- 
 more prevalent in the states of modern Europe than in 
 past times or among uncivilized nations, and at pre- 
 sent the most powerful of all the checks, ii. 217, 218. 
 effectually destroyed by ignorance and despotism, 
 
 iii. 43. 
 those countries where it most prevails are at the same 
 time most distinguished for chastity, iii. 312. 
 Productions of the earth, observations on the periods of 
 the increase of, i. 9 1 1 . 
 particularly in Great Britain, i. 12 15. 
 Prolijickness. See the article Fruitfulness. 
 Property : an equal distribution of, highly favourable to 
 the increase of population, i. 326. 
 where it is equalized, the number of children should 
 
 be limited, according to Aristotle, i. 337, 338. 
 something like the present administration of property 
 would result from a state of perfect equality, ii. 258 
 261. 
 
 2 i 2 Prudential
 
 484 INDEX. 
 
 Prudential restraint defined, i. 22, note. 
 
 inattention to it would cause a great degree of mi- 
 sery to prevail under the best government, iii. 160. 
 foundation of our expectations respecting the extension 
 
 of this check to marriage, iii. 309 313. 
 See also the article Moral Restraint. 
 Prussia ; general mortality in, according to different 
 
 writers, i. 467, 459 46l. 
 proportion of second marriages in Prussia and Silesia, 
 ii. 140. 
 See also the article Silesia, and names of other parts. 
 
 Q. 
 
 QUITO ; rapid progress which the Spanish colony there 
 made in population, notwithstanding its ill manage- 
 ment, ii. 190, 191. 
 
 R. 
 
 RAYNAL, Abbe ; his inconsistent reasoning in his 
 
 comparisons of savage and civilized life, i. 83. 
 his absurd position on the right of man to subsistence, 
 
 iii. 154, 155. 
 Redundant population, very distinct from a population 
 
 actually great, i. 151, 158, 165, 166. 
 cause why poor, cold, and thinly-peopled countries, 
 
 tend generally to a superfluity of inhabitants, i. 165. 
 Reform, erroneous views of, corrected, iii. 166- 174. 
 Registers of births and deaths must always afford very 
 
 uncertain data for estimating the population, ii. 76. 
 
 those of the above description in England and 
 Wales, more deficient in the former than in the lat- 
 ter part of the last century, ii. 7 1 73. 
 
 imperfection of registers of births, deaths, and mar- 
 riages in Scotland, ii. 105, 106 109. 
 
 in most countries the omission in the births and deaths 
 is greater than in the marriages, ii. 133, 134. 
 
 (Registers.
 
 INDEX. 485 
 
 (Registers. Continued.) 
 
 Effects of Epidemics on Registers of Births, Deaths, 
 and Marriages, considered, ii. 169. 
 
 table on this subject, ii. 170. 
 
 observations on the above table ; the number of mar- 
 riages very nearly doubled in the year after a plague, 
 ii. 171. 
 
 fruitfulness of marriages after that period, ii. 175. 
 
 variations in the proportions of births to deaths in the 
 different periods, ii. 176. 
 
 mortality after the plague, ii. 177- 
 
 several examples of the continual variations in the pro- 
 portions of the births and marriages, as well as of the 
 deaths, to the whole population, ii. 179 184. 
 
 the least variable proportion is that of the births to 
 marriages ; and reason of this, ii. 185. 
 
 effects of the common epidemical years, ii. 187. 
 
 Representative system of government, its powerful ef- 
 fect in favouring the prudential check to population, 
 iii. 163, 164. 
 
 Restraint. See the articles Moral and Prudential Re- 
 straint. 
 
 Restrictions on the importation of corn, in what cases ap- 
 plicable, ii. 478 494. 
 
 objections to such restrictions, ii. 475, 494 499> 
 504507. 
 
 beneficial results of restrictions on the importation 
 of foreign corn in a country possessed of great landed 
 revenues, ii. 499 503. 
 
 Retirement, religious ; frequent and strict, in Tibet, i. 
 286, 287- 
 
 Revenue the source of population, and not population 
 of revenue, iii. 46 49- 
 
 Revolution ; mischievous effects of the hopes entertained 
 by the lower classes of immediate relief from, iii. 
 163, 164. 
 the circulation of just principles respecting popula- 
 tion among them, would destroy such expectations, 
 iii. 319- 
 
 Right of the poor to support should be formally dis- 
 claimed, iii. 177, 178. 
 
 {Right
 
 486 INDEX. 
 
 (Right of the Poor to support, &c. Continued.) 
 
 objections against this disavowal, answered, iii. 
 542353. 
 " Rights of Man" erroneous principles of that work, iii. 
 
 152160. 
 Roman empire, its fall occasioned by repeated inundations 
 of barbarians from the north of Europe, i. 138 
 152. 
 Romans ; State of, with Respect to the Checks to Popu- 
 lation, i. 342. 
 
 destructive ravages of war during their first struggles 
 for power, repaired by the principle of increase, i. 
 344. 
 
 practice of infanticide in early times, and its effect, i. 
 343, 344. 
 
 the abolition of the comparative equality of property 
 produced a great decrease in the number of citizens, 
 1.345. 
 
 the jus trium liberorum ineffectual in adding to the po- 
 pulation, i. 346, 347. 
 
 vicious habits of every kind prevalent, i. 347, 348, 
 349- 
 
 the Roman world not most populous during the long 
 peace under Trajan and the Antonines, i. 350. 
 
 question of the superior populousness of ancient or 
 modern nations, i. 356. 
 
 comparative efficacy of the preventive and the positive 
 checks among the Romans, i. 3Gl. 
 Rumford, Count ; his plan of improving the condition of 
 
 the poor considered, iii. 250, 251. 
 Russia ; State of, with Respect to the Checks to Popu- 
 lation, i. 414. 
 
 extraordinary results of the lists of births, deaths, and 
 marriages, i. 414, 415. 
 
 proportion of births to deaths in different districts, i. 
 415. 
 
 of marriages to births, i. 416. 
 
 of deaths to the population, i. 417 419- 
 
 of births to the population, i. 420. 
 
 of infants dying within the first year, i. 420. 
 
 of ) early marriages to the population, i. 42 1 . 
 
 {Russia :
 
 INDEX. 487 
 
 (Russia : State of, with Respect to the Checks to Po- 
 pulation. Continued.) 
 the registers of Petersburgh give a much greater mor- 
 tality of female children than of male, i. 422. 
 comparative mortality at different periods of life in Pe- 
 tersburgh, i. 423. 
 
 general mortality there, i. 424. 
 
 management of its foundling-hospital, and mortality in 
 this institution, i. 424 427 429- 
 
 of that at Moscow, i. 430. 
 
 pernicious effects of these establishments, i. 43 1 
 434. 
 
 principal obstacle to a rapid increase of population, 
 
 the vassalage of the peasants, i. 435. 
 a very considerable advance both of cultivation and of 
 
 population made during the reign of the late empress 
 
 and since, i. 438. 
 State of the population at different periods, i. 438, 
 
 439- 
 births, deaths, and marriages, in the Greek church, for 
 
 the year 1799, i- 439- 
 Comparative proportion of the marriages and the deaths. 
 
 i. 440. 
 
 s. 
 
 SACRIFICES, human, at Otaheite, i. 112. 
 SY. Cergue, parish of; proportion of its marriages to 
 births, and of the latter to the population, i. 477. 
 
 of its births to deaths, i. 478. 
 habit of emigration there, i. 479- 
 
 St. Domingo, Indians of; neglected purposely to culti- 
 vate their lands, in order to starve out their op- 
 pressors, i. 92, 93. 
 
 St. Paul, inference from his declarations respecting mar- 
 riage, iii. 98, 99. 
 
 Samoyedes, their mode of living, i. 237- 
 
 Sandzvich Islands ; state of, with respect to the checks 
 to population, i. 121, 122. 
 occasional scarcities at, i. 127- 
 
 Savage life, mode in which the oscillations in population 
 are produced in, i. 27 32. 
 
 (Savage
 
 488 INDEX. 
 
 (Savage life. Continued.) 
 
 difficulty of rearing children in, i. 46. 
 
 want of ardour in the men, generated by the hardships 
 and dangers to which they are necessarily subject, i. 
 53. 
 
 the general characteristic of savages, to despise and de- 
 grade the female sex, i. 56, 57. 
 
 the period of life shorter among savages than in civi- 
 lized countries, i. 62, 63. 
 
 savages are rendered liable to pestilential diseases by 
 the dirt of their persons, and the closeness and filth 
 of their cabins, i. 64 66. 
 
 instances of the pressure of want in, i. 80 89- 
 
 comparative advantages and disadvantages of savage 
 and of civilized life, i. 129 131. 
 
 See also the article Barbarism. 
 Saving Banks ; their general benefits, iii. 275. 
 
 their objects stated, iii. 276. 
 
 the policy of giving persons parochial assistance, 
 though they may have certain limited sums in saving 
 banks, considered, iii. 278, 279- 
 Saxony, ancient ; want of cultivation in, accouuted for, 
 
 i. 665, 166. 
 Scandinavians, ancient. See the article Goths. 
 
 spread themselves by sea over various nations of Eu- 
 rope, i* 16 1, 162. 
 
 different prevalence of the preventive check to po- 
 pulation in ancient and in modern Scandinavia, i. 
 163. 
 Scarcity of food, the ultimate check to population, i. 3, 
 5, 17. 
 
 illustrated, i. 25. 
 
 horrid, in Tierra del Fuego and Van Diemen's land, i. 
 36, S7. 
 
 in New Holland, i. 3841. 
 
 various instances of, among the American Indians, i. 
 8188. 
 
 among the New Zealanders, i. 102. 
 
 among the inhabitants of the Marquesas and Friendly 
 Islands, i. 127. 
 
 among the Kalmucks who inhabited the fertile steppe 
 of the Wolga, i. 196. 
 
 (Scarcity
 
 INDEX. 489 
 
 ( Scarcity of Food. Continued.) 
 
 among the negro nations of Africa, i. 208, 209. 
 
 frequent in northern Siberia, i. 234, 235. 
 
 in Sweden in 1799, i- 411. 
 
 instances of, in Scotland, ii. 125 128. 
 
 it may or may not accompany an increasing, but must 
 necessarily a permanently declining, population, Hi. 
 3537. 
 
 See also the articles Famine, and Poor-Laws (under 
 Poor J. 
 
 Scotland; State of, with Respect to the Checks to 
 Population, ii. 105. 
 
 imperfection of the registers of births, deaths, and mar- 
 riages, ii. 105. 
 
 average mortality, and probabilities of life, ii. 106, 
 107. 
 
 proportion of marriages, ii. 108. 
 
 marriages later in Scotland than formerly, ii. 111. 
 
 the condition of the lower classes considerably im- 
 proved of late years, ii. 109. 
 
 this probably owing in part to the increase of the 
 preventive check to population, ii. 109. 
 
 different state of those parts where marriages are 
 earlier, ii. 112. 
 
 rapid tendency to increase in various districts, ii. 1 14 
 
 117. 
 prolifickness of the women, ii. 118, 11 9. 
 state of the poor, ii. 120. 
 endemic and epidemic diseases, ii. 123. 
 
 scurvy, rheumatisms, consumptions, fevers, and 
 small-pox, ii. 123, 124. 
 
 scarcities and famines, ii. 125. 
 
 effects of these upon deaths, births, and marriages, 
 in some parishes, ii. 126, 127 129- 
 
 in general over-peopled, ii. 131. 
 
 Romantic passion of the peasants, and its beneficial 
 
 influence on the national character, iii. 90, note*, 
 advantage of superior instruction possessed by the 
 lower classes, and its beneficial effects, iii. 205, 206, 
 319, 320. 
 See also the article Highlands. 
 Scurvy, its inveteracy in Scotland, ii. 123. 
 
 Self-love,
 
 490 INDEX. 
 
 Self-love, the principal source of improvement in the 
 state of mankind, li. 248, 256, 322. 
 distinguished from selfishness, iii. 348, note. 
 Sensuality of all kinds strongly reprobated in the ordi- 
 nances of Menu, i. 271,272. 
 Shangalla negroes, singular custom respecting polygamy 
 among, l. 211, 212, 
 shortness of life among, i. 222, 223. 
 Shepherds, what renders nations of them peculiarly for- 
 midable, i. 134. 
 difficulty of the transition from the pastoral to the agri- 
 cultural state, i. 172. 
 a certain degree of security necessary for this pur- 
 pose, i. 184. 
 See also the article Pastoral. 
 Shetland Isles; increase of population there prejudicial, 
 
 ii. 113. 
 Siberia, Northern; State of, with Respect to the Checks 
 to Population, i. 233. 
 frequent scarcity of food, i. 234, 235. 
 ravages of the small-pox, i. 235, 236. 
 mode of living, i. 237. 
 
 Southern : extraordinary fertility of the soil ; popula- 
 tion, nevertheless, does not increase in the proportion 
 which might be expected, i. 238. 
 the great obstacle in this case is, the want of demand 
 for labourers, and of a market for the produce, i. 
 242 245. 
 a bounty upon children would not effectually increase 
 
 the population, i. 246. 
 means to be taken to produce that result, i. 246. 
 beneficial changes effected by the late empress of 
 
 Russia in this respect, i. 247 249- 
 the introduction of habits of industry, still necessary, 
 
 i. 250. 
 unhealthiness, occasional droughts, and other circum- 
 stances unfavourable to increase, i. 251 254. 
 Silesia ; proportion of its annual mortality to its popu- 
 lation, and of births to deaths, i. 461. 
 See also the article Prussia. 
 Sinclair, Sir John, notice of his Statistical Account of 
 Scotland, i. 28, note. 
 
 Sirt,
 
 INDEX. 491 
 
 Sird, prevalence of putrid fevers in, i. 217. 
 
 Slavery, this condition unfavourable to the propagation 
 
 of the species in the countries where it prevails, i. 
 
 352. 
 checks to population which are peculiar to a state of 
 
 slavery, i. 353, 354. 
 Slaves ; great and constant exportation of, from Africa, i. 
 
 208, 209. 
 practice of selling, in China, i. 310. 
 the argument in favour of the slave-trade, deduced 
 
 from the principle of population, examined and re- 
 futed, hi. 384387- 
 Sleswick, duchy of ; comparative state of the poor in, iii. 
 
 195. 
 Small-pox, its ravages among the American Indians, i. 
 
 64, 66. 
 
 among the Kalmucks who inhabited the fertile 
 steppes of the Wolga, i. 197. 
 
 in Persia, i. 268. 
 
 dreadful in the northern parts of Siberia, i. 235, 
 236. 
 
 in Scotland, ii. 124. 
 
 its effects much increased by a superabundant popu- 
 lation, ii. 203, 204. 
 notwithstanding its destructive ravages, the average 
 population of the earth probably not affected by it, 
 iii. 136. 
 consequences of its possible extirpation by means of 
 
 the cow-pox, considered, iii. 137. 
 See also iii. 311. 
 Society Islands. See the article Otaheite. 
 Solon sanctioned the exposing of children, i. 329* 
 
 his probable motives for such permission, i. 329, 330. 
 Son ; to have one born confers on a man spiritual benefits 
 of the highest importance, according to the ordi- 
 nances of Menu, i. 269, 270. 
 Soups, cheap ; utility and value of such inventions esti- 
 mated, iii. 250, 251. 
 South America, ravages of famine in, i. 85, 86. 
 South-sea Islands ; state of, with respect to the checks 
 to population, i. 95. 
 
 (Soutli-sea
 
 492 INDEX. 
 
 (South-sea Islands. Continued. 
 
 some of the more considerable, but less known islands, 
 
 i. 97, 98. 
 New Zealand, i. 99 102. 
 Otaheite and the Society Islands, i. 103 118. 
 the Friendly and Sandwich Islands, i. 1 19. 
 vice, including war, the principal check, i. 121, 122. 
 Easter Island, Marianne Islands, Formosa, and others, 
 
 i. 124, 125. 
 the fertility of these islands probably exaggerated ; 
 
 occasional scarcities in them, i. 126. 
 the average population generally presses hard against 
 the limits of the average food, i. 128. 
 Spain, wretched state of the poor in, iii. 196. 
 Spartan discipline considered, i. 131. 
 Specie; old prejudices respecting, strikingly resemble 
 
 those on the subject of population, iii. 33, 39 
 Speculation ; the late rage for wide and unrestrained, a 
 
 kind of mental intoxication, ii. 241. 
 Spencean System of equality ; absurdity of, exposed, ii. 
 
 280, 281, note. 
 Spirits. See the article Distilleries. 
 Spring loaded with a variable weight, the generative 
 
 faculty compared to, i. 33, note. 
 Statistics; many parts of, to which history might very 
 
 usefully be made to extend, i. 27 30. 
 Sterility; of women, among the American Indians, ac- 
 counted for, i. 53 58. 
 Steuart, Sir James ; his plan of improving the condition 
 
 of the poor, considered, iii. 228, 229 ' 
 Stock ; the profits of, will be high when there is abund- 
 ance of good land, and no difficulties impede its 
 purchase and distribution ; and there is an easy 
 foreign vent for its raw produce, ii. 338. 
 Submission ; the measure of, to government, ought to be 
 
 determined by general expediency, iii. 149 
 Subscriptions in aid of the poor will not prevent a recur- 
 rence of distress, ii. 307 309- 
 Subsistence; the means of, the ultimate regulator and 
 check to the increase of plants and animals, i. 3, 4. 
 cannot be permanently increased faster than in an arith- 
 metical ratio, i. 9, 14. 
 
 (Subsistence.
 
 INDEX. 493 
 
 (Subsistence. Continued. 
 
 the want of, is the most efficient cause of the imme- 
 diate checks to population, ii. 196, 197- 
 the general amount of population regulated in this 
 respect by scarce seasons, and the recurrence of 
 unfavourable periods, and not by plentiful or favour- 
 able ones, i. 198, 200. 
 countries are populous according to the quantity of 
 human food which they produce or can acquire, and 
 happy according to the liberality with which this 
 food is divided, ii. 214. 
 Suffolk, proportion of its annual births to its population, 
 
 ii. 62. 
 Sunday schools, ii. 204. 
 
 Surplus produce ; proportion of, regulates the number of 
 manufacturers, merchants, proprietors, and persons 
 engaged in the various civil and military professions, 
 ii. 397, 398. 
 Sweden ; state of, with respect to the checks to popu- 
 lation, i. 387- 
 comparative efficacy of the preventive and the positive 
 
 checks, i. 387, 388. 
 large proportional mortality, i. 388. 
 
 cause of this, i. 389' 
 
 does not produce food sufficient for its population, i. 
 
 391393. 
 
 affected in a peculiar manner by every variation of the 
 seasons, i. 394. 
 
 statement of average mortality, i. 394. 
 
 proportion of yearly marriages, i. 395. 
 
 the population of, is continually going beyond the ave- 
 rage increase of food, i. 396, 397. 
 
 the government and the political economists of, are 
 nevertheless incessantly labouring to increase it more 
 rapidly, i. 397. 
 
 a supply beyond the effectual demand for labour could 
 
 only produce misery, i. 398, 399- 
 accusations against the national industry probably not 
 
 well founded, i. 399, 400. 
 the woods sometimes cleared away too precipitately, 
 
 without consideration of the probable value of the 
 
 land when cleared, i. 401. 
 
 (Sweden:
 
 494 index. 
 
 (Sweden : State of, with Respeet to the Checks to Po- 
 lation. Continued.) 
 
 this country might possibly have been better peopled 
 formerly than at present, but the supposition not 
 probable, i. 402. 
 
 political regulations impeding the progress of cultiva- 
 tion, i. 403. 
 
 measures of the government for the encouragement of 
 population ; hospitals, &c, i. 404. 
 
 rendering the commerce of grain free throughout 
 the interior, i. 405. 
 
 adoption of a law limiting the number of persons to 
 each farm, i. 406. 
 
 absolute population of the country ; recent increase, and 
 
 periodical checks, i. 407, 408, 409. 
 patience with which the lower classes bear the pressures 
 
 of scarcity, i. 410. 
 sickly seasons have in general arisen from unwhole- 
 some nourishment, occasioned by severe want,i. 41 1, 
 
 412. 
 the general healthiness has lately increased, i. 412. 
 Proportion of yearly births to the population, i. 457. 
 impossibility, or certain destructive consequences, of 
 
 establishing the English system of poor-laws in this 
 
 country, iii. 193. 
 Switzerland ; State of, with Respect to the Checks to 
 
 Population, i. 463. 
 alarm which prevailed there some years ago concerning 
 
 its depopulation, i. 463. 
 statistical paper published at that time, exhibiting a 
 
 continued decrease of the births, i. 464. 
 this circumstance, however, not decisivcof a diminished 
 
 population, i. 465. 
 the mortality in the last period noticed extraordinarily 
 
 small, and the proportion of children reared to pu- 
 berty extraordinarily great, i. 465. 
 prevalence of plagues in the former periods, i. 466. 
 an actual increase of population had probably taken 
 
 place, i. 466. 
 the diminution of births not owing to the unfruitfulness 
 
 of the women, but to the operation of the preventive 
 
 check, i. 469- 
 
 (Switzerland:
 
 INDEX. 495 
 
 (Switzerland: State of, with Re9pect to the Checks to 
 
 Population. Continued.) 
 limits to the population of a country strictly pastoral, i. 
 
 487. 
 effect of the introduction of manufactures into some of 
 
 the smaller cantons, i. 489- 
 natural excitement to emigration, i. 490. 
 if the alleged decrease did really take place, it must 
 
 have improved the condition of the lower classes of 
 
 people, i. 490, 491. 
 effects of a redundant population seen in a clear point 
 
 of view by some of the inhabitants of a particular 
 
 district, i. 491 494. 
 regulations tor the relief of the poor, i. 495. 
 state of the poor there, iii. 195. 
 agricultural improvements, i. 495. 
 amount of the population at different periods, i. 496. 
 Syria ; state of, with respect to the checks to population, 
 
 i. 255260. 
 See also the article Bedoweens. 
 
 T. 
 
 TARTARS; State of, with Respect to the Checks to 
 Population; their general manners, i. 170. 
 distribution of them according to the quantity of food, 
 
 i. 173. 
 manners of the Mahometan Tartars, i. 175. 
 
 of the Usbecks, i. 175 177. 
 
 the Casatshia tribe, i. 177, 178. 
 other tribes, i. 178. 
 
 general habits of the Mahometan Tartars, i. 179- 
 heathen Tartars; the Kalmucks and Moguls, i. 181. 
 Bedoweens, i. 182. 
 
 tribes living in a more favourable soil ; the Kirgisiens, 
 i. 189, 190. 
 
 the Kalmucks who inhabited the fertile steppes of 
 the Wolga, i. 194. 
 
 Taxation, not the cause of the present distresses 
 among the poor, ii. 360363. 
 
 Theory,
 
 496 INDEX. 
 
 Theory, distinction between mischievous and genuine, 
 
 hi. 81283. 
 Tibet; State of, with Respect to the Checks to Popu- 
 lation, i. 284. 
 attachment of several males to one female, i. 284. 
 to repress rather than to encourage population, seems to 
 
 be an object of the government, i. 285. 
 celibacy recommended by powerful motives, i. 286. 
 religious retiremeut frequent and strict, i. 286, 287. 
 all the brothers of a family associate with one woman, 
 
 i. 287, 288. 
 notwithstanding these excessive checks, the population 
 is kept up to the level of the means of subsistence, i. 
 288, 289- 
 multitude of beggars, i. 289- 
 Tierra del Fuego : state of, with respect to the checks to 
 population; scarcity of food, and want of every con- 
 venience and comfort, i. 36. 
 Tongataboo, occasional scarcity at, i. 127. 
 Towns. See the article Villages. 
 Townsend, Mr. ; his plan of improving the condition of 
 
 the poor, considered, iii. 229 2S3. 
 Turkish dominions ; State of, with Respect to the Checks 
 to Population, i. 255. 
 nature of the government, i. 255, 256. 
 the miri, or general land-tax, rendered oppressive and 
 ruinous by the pachas, i. 256. 
 
 consequent misery of the peasants, and deplorable 
 state of agriculture, i. 257, 259- 
 
 destructive extortion of the pachas, i. 257 259, 26 1. 
 
 a maximum in many cases established, i. 262. 
 
 effect of the above measures in decreasing the means of 
 subsistence, i. 263. 
 
 direct checks to population ; polygamy, i. 263. 
 
 unnatural vice ; plague, and the disorders which fol- 
 low it ; epidemics and endemics ; famine, and the 
 sicknesses which follow it, i. 264. 
 
 late marriages among the lower classes, i. 266. 
 Extinction of the Turkish population in another century, 
 
 falsely predicted, ii. 207. 
 
 UNFRUITFUL^ ESS,
 
 INDEX. 497 
 
 u. 
 
 UNFRUITFULNESS of women among the Ameri- 
 can Indians, accounted for, i. 53 58. 
 Union of the sexes; early, in New Holland, i. 44. 
 Unmarried persons ; proportion of, in the Pays de Vaud, 
 i. 484. 
 in France, ii. 3. 
 
 those who live single, or marry late, do not diminish 
 the absolute population, but merely the proportion 
 of premature mortality, ii. 50. 
 See also the articles Celibacy, Chastity, Restraint, and 
 
 Marriage. 
 Uncultivated land, neither injures nor benefits the poor, 
 iii. 51, 52. 
 Unnatural vice, its prevalence in the Turkish dominions, 
 
 i. 264. 
 Usbeck Tartars, manners of, i. 176. 
 
 state of, with respect to the checks to population, 
 i. 176, 177- 
 Utility, the surest foundation of morality that can be col- 
 lected from the light of nature, iii. 215. 
 
 V. 
 
 VALLEY, beautiful, in Norway, i. 390, note. 
 
 Van Diemen's Land : state of, with respect to the checks 
 to population ; scarcity of food, i. 37. 
 
 Vassalage of the Russian peasants, the principal obstacle 
 to a rapid increase of population among them, 
 i. 435. 
 
 Vice, checks (both preventive and positive) to population 
 which come under this head, i. 23. 
 
 Villages, average mortality of, i. 389. 
 agricultural ; general proportion of their annual mar- 
 riages to their population, i. 451. 
 the general measure of mortality in single states will 
 
 vol. ii. 2k (Villages,
 
 498 INDEX. 
 
 ( ['Mages. Continued.,) 
 
 depend upon the proportion of the inhabitants of 
 towns to villagers, i. 459 
 different proportions of mortality in towns and in vil- 
 lages, ii. 56, 57- 
 
 Virginia, failures and hardships experienced in the first 
 settlement of the English colony there, ii. 289* 
 
 Virtuous love, peculiar delights of, iii. 72. 
 
 Vis medicatrix reipublica , the desire of bettering our 
 condition, and the fear of making it worse, ii. 343, 
 
 in. 311. 
 
 w. 
 
 WAGES (See Labour). 
 
 Wallace, Mr., in his System of Equality, has very insuffi- 
 ciently estimated the principle of population, and 
 the difficulties arising from it, ii. 220. 
 
 JVar ; maxims of, among the American Indians, i. 74, 75. 
 
 among the New Zealanders, i. 98 100. 
 excessive ravages of, in Abyssinia, i. 217, 218. 
 
 the wars among the Grecian states were extremely 
 
 bloody, i. 340, 341. 
 wars do not depopulate much while industry continues 
 
 in vigour, i. 350. 
 this check to population has abated in modern Europe, 
 
 ii. 217- 
 a system of moral restraint might be expected to repress 
 
 the frequency of war, iii. 96 98. 
 
 great strength of such a state of society in a war of 
 defence, iii. 99- 
 
 Waste among the rich, does not influence the average 
 distress of the poor, iii. 50. 
 neither injures nor benefits the poor, iii. 50, 51. 
 Waste lands ; the existence of, without other evidence, 
 no ground of inference against the internal economy 
 of a country, iii. 57 61. 
 Wealth; Of increasing, as it affects the Condition of the 
 Poor, iii. 1. 
 
 {Wealth;
 
 INDEX. 499 
 
 (Wealth ; Of increasing, as it affects the Condition of the 
 
 Poor. Continued.) 
 an increase of the revenue or stock of a society, is not 
 
 always a proportional increase of the funds destined 
 
 for the maintenance of labour, iii. 2. 
 case of this nature, when a nation adds what it saves 
 
 from its yearly revenue to its manufacturing capital 
 
 solely, iii. 3. 
 the increase of wealth and capital rarely accompanied 
 
 with a proportionately increased power of supporting 
 
 an additional number of labourers, iii. 4. 
 illustration of that point from a comparison of the 
 
 early and present state of Europe, iii. 5,6, 7. 
 every increase of national stock, not an increase of real 
 
 funds for maintenance of labour, iii. 7, 10, 11. 
 illustration from the example of China, iii. 7 10. 
 state of the poor employed in manufactories with re- 
 m spect to health, and other circumstances, iii. 13 16. 
 an increase of wealth beneficial to the lower classes, 
 
 though it. does not imply a proportionate increase of 
 
 the funds for the maintenance of mere labour, iii. 
 
 25, 26. 
 of the definition of wealth ; and of the agricultural 
 
 and commercial systems. See under the article 
 
 Agriculture. 
 Weyland, (Mr.,) examination of his objections to the pre- 
 mises developed in this work, iii. 397 424. 
 Widozcers, a much greater proportion of, marry again, 
 
 than of widows, ii. 155. 
 Wife, difficulty in the choice of one, according to the 
 
 ordinances of Menu, i. 275. 
 Woman, the dictate of nature and virtue seems to be an 
 
 early attachment to one, i. 6. 
 cruel treatment of women among the natives of New 
 
 Holland, i. 42 44. 
 their degraded and wretched state among the American 
 
 Indians, i. 53, 56. 
 reason why the disgrace attending a breach of chastity 
 
 in a woman should be greater than in a man, ii. 
 
 263265. 
 character drawn of the women of Indostan, in the 
 
 ordinances of Menu, i. 276. 
 
 (Woman.
 
 500 INDEX. 
 
 . 
 
 (Woman. Continued.) 
 
 in a certain tribe on the coast of Malabar, several males 
 
 attached to one woman, i. 282, 283. 
 the same custom practised in Tibet, i. 284. 
 
 Y. 
 
 YOUNG, (Mr.,) his plan of improving the condition of 
 the poor, considered, iii. 234 249 2.55. 
 his objection to the plan proposed in this Essay for the 
 gradual abolition of the poor-laws, and his own plan 
 for the relief of the poor, examined, iii. 353 383. 
 
 z. 
 
 ZOROASTER teaches, that to plant a tree, to cultivate 
 a field, to beget children, are meritorious acts, i. 266. 
 
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