^OfCAllFORj^ .^WEUNIVERS"// >- ^ %a3AINa-3WV^ ^^•IIBRARYQ^ 4^tUBRARY6>/\ ^OJITVDJO'^ '^OJITVJ-JO^ '&AiivaaiH^^ St-llBfiARYGc >i, .^'rtEUNIVERS'/A ^lOSANCElfj> ^,>M-lIBRA1lYa/:^ ^t-llBR, ^0FCAIIF0% %iiiA!Nnmv ^ 3 5 MU. Godwin's first reply itself, >would go on in the ratio of 9,. 4. 8. IG. 32. ()4.., and subsistence, upon a supposition certainly suffi- cienlly favourable, only in the ratio of ^2. 4. 6. 8. 10. 12., for every twenty years successively." p. 57, 58. Such were Mr. Godwin's opinions three years after the Essay on Population made its appearance. And it is very remarkable that in his new w^ork of 6^Q pages he should never once have alluded to his former reply. Doubtless Mr. Godwin was at liberty to change his opinions ; but he was bound in fairness towards the public, and in candour to- wards Mr. Malthus, to have stated the reasons which had induced him to decide that it was his duty to hold out Mr. Malthus as the hard-hearted, unfeeling enemy of the human race, after the pains he had taken to represent him as their benefactor. We have seen, we shall further see as we go along, that Mr. Godwin inculcated with ardour ** the principle of population ;" and that he devised remedies for the evils which resulted from a too rapid increase of people. Mr. Godwin may be of opinion that his first reply was all folly, and nothing to the purpose ; and that now, when he is better informed, it does not deserve to be noticed : but then he should have said so. Others may have been confirmed in their opinion of the value of Mr. Malthus's work, by Mr. Godwin's clear statements and elu- cidations. Mr. Godwin w^as also bound to treat Mr. Malthus, not only with respect, which he has not done, but with something more, after the en- TO MR. MALTIIUS. 7 eouragement. he had given him to proceed, by clearing and advocating " the principle of popu- lation.** Mr. Malthus, in his preface to his first edition of tlie Essay on Population, published in 1798, in- forms us, that *' it owed its origin to a conversation with a friend on the subject of Mr. Godwin's Essay on Avarice and Profusion, in the Enquirer.'* Mr. Godwin had previously, in his " Enquiry concern- ing Political Justice,'* supposed a state of society might in time exist infinitely more wise and vir- tuous than the present state of society, in which all would be nearly on a footing of equality, and, as he stated, infinitely more happy. This he again advocated in the essay referred to by Mr. Malthus. To this Mr. Malthus replied, *' No ; you have not sufficiently considered the principle of population, and its effects : you will be x)verwhelmed with people pressing against the means of subsist- ence ; and, as this must necessarily produce vice and misery, your theory will never be realized." The answer to this seemed obvious ; and Mr. Malthus might himself have been produced as an evidence for the justness of the theory. If the tendency of population be to increase in a geome- trical ratio, and the period of doubling be a short one, it follows, of course, that the mass of the people in an old country must remain in a state of wretchedness, until they are convinced that their welfare depends upon themselves, and that it can be maintained in no other way than by their ceas- ing to propagate faster than the means of comfoil- B 4 8 MR. GODWIN .S FIRST REI'LV able subsistence are produced. This appeared to be the very point to which Mr. Godwin's theory led : it is, in fact, the point to which he himself conducted it. In the eighth book of his " Enquiry concerning Political Justice,'* he discusses, as will be noticed, at the end of the fifth chapter, the necessity for restraining the too rapid increase of population, which he saw was at variance with his theory. The object of his writing was to prove that mankind might and would be happier in pro- portion as they became wiser. The book was to show them in what particulars they were deficient, and to inculcate the knowledge necessary for their improvement. If, then, there were any truth in Mr. Godwin's theory, Mr. Malthus was answ^ered at once : he had answered himself; for, unless the people did obtain the necessary knowledge, they could never be in the state supposed by Mr. God- Avin ; and Mr. Malthus, in endeavouring to pre- vent them from procreating too rapidly, and con- sequently from deteriorating their condition in the first instance, and putting it out of their power to improve it afterwards, was placing them in a situ- ation to realize Mr. Godwin's theory. I would not, however, be understood as approv- ing the whole of Mr. Malthus's expedients ; neither do 1 believe that Mr. Malthus would himself, were he not in too great a hurry to witness their effects, and were he not, but too often, disposed to favour the prejiidices of the rich. Tlie consequence of this haste and prejudice has been to create ill-will, and to perpetuate animosities. TO :\n;. malthl^s. 9 No effectiuil check to the progress of popuhition, at all beneficial to the people, can be expected, bnt by means of increased knowledge ; to teach which to the great body of them must be a work of some time, requiring in the teachers great urbanity, great diligence, great patience, and great clearness of statement; and yet, if it were set about in the right spirit, there is no knowing how short the time might be before a visible alteration for the better would become apparent. This was another of Mr. Godwin's points, and to this he should have held fast; and this was also, at one time, Mr. God- win's opinion. In his first Re})ly, p. 55., he says, " I had been invited and urged to enter into the discussion of the principles contained in the Essay on Population ;" but he adds, " I own I never could persuade myself to see any adequate reasonfor so doing. It stood out so obvious and glaring to my mind, that the reasonings of the Essay on Popula- tion did not bear with any paiticular stress on my hypothesis; that I thought other men, who had any considerable motive to wish for information, ought to be able to make it out for themselves, Avithout calling upon the original author for assistance." In his second Reply, Mr. Godwin says, " The result of an investigation into the subject of po})u- lation, I believe mil afford some presumption tiiat there is in the constitution of the human species a POWER, absolutely speaking, of increasing its numbers,'' This cautious and equivocal manner of treating the subject, leaves the writer at liberty to conclude just what he plea^cb from it, or to exjilaiii it awa} ; 10 MR. (;0D win's first reply it conveys no distinct idea to the reader. Mr. Godwin goes on : — " Mr. Malthus says, that the POWER is equal to the multipHcation of mankind, by a doubling every twenty-five years ; that is, to an increase for ever in a geometrical series, of which the exponent is two ; — a muliipUcation tihich, it is difficult Jbr human imagination, or (as I should have thought) Jbr human credulity, to JollowJ^ — Introduction, p. 4. Who that reads this could suppose that the most credulous of human beings was Mr. Godwin himself? Who could have imagined that Mr. Godwin had ever written, and deliberately sent to the press, the passages which have been quoted, or that which follows ? *' Let it be recollected, that / admit the ratios of the author in their full extent, and that I do 7wt attempt, in the slightest degree, to vitiate the great foundations of his theory. My undertaking coi fines itself to the task of repelling his conclusions.** *' I admit fully that the princijjle of population in the human species, is in its oxvn nature energetic and unlimited, and that the safety of the ivorld can no otherwise be maintained^ hut by a constant and powerful check upon this principle. — This idea demolishes at once many maxims which have been long and unsnspectedly received into the vulgar code of morality, such as, that it is the first duty of princes to watch for the multiplication of their subjects, and that a man or woman who passes the term of life in a condition of celibacy, is to be considered as having failed to discharge one of the principal obligations, they owe to the com- TO MR. MALTHUS. 11 munity. On the contrary, it now appears to be rather the man who rears a numerous family, that lias in some degree transgressed the consideration he owes to the public welfare. Population is always, as this author observes, in all old settled countries (putting out of our view the temporari/ occurrence of extraordinary calamities, which, \\q\\. eYQY,mai/ be expected to be rapidly repaired, )in some degree of excess beyond the means of subsistence ; there is constantly a smaller quantity of provisions y than would be requisite for the cornfortable and vigorous support of all the inhabitants.*' p. 61. It is rather too much, after having been thus instructed by Mr. Godwin himself, to be told we are in a state of fatuity for believing him. The quotations from Mr. Godwin's first reply, might have been reserved until I came to examine the chapters which treat more particularly of the topics to which they relate j but as Mr. Godwin has made his introduction a kind of summary of his book, has condemned the principle of popula- tion, in a few sweeping clauses, and given Mr. Malthus's credulous disciples a castigation for their folly, it appeared to me that this was the proper place for them. The reader will frequently find occasion to refer to them. In his new work, Mr .Godwin goes on, through many pages, arguing apparently against Mr. Malthus, when, in fact, he is arguing with him. lie accuses him of doing what he has not done, and he blames him for not doing what he has done : he picks out a particular passage, or a few words V2 Mil. Godwin's si:( ond reply wluch ill the loose way in which Mr. Mallhus has occasionally written, make against him ; antl he comments on them as if they were conclusions from a scries of reasonings. Thus, Mr. Godwin quotes a passage in the " Essay on Population," against Mr. Mallhus, which he had taken from Dr. Faley, in which he observes that, " tJiedccaij of population is the greatest evil that a state can sajjer.'" New this is prec'sely what Mr. Malthus has taken much pains to in- culcate. To prevent this decay, to keej) the popidation u\) to the highest point, at whicli the mass of the people can be maintained in comfort, is the very object and end of his essay. Mr. Godwin chooses to understand iiim in another sense. He proceeds thus : "Such has been the doctrine," (Paley's) "I believe, of every enlightened politician and legis- latoi", since the world began. l»ut Mr. Malthus has placed this subject in a new light ; lie thinks that there is a possibility that the globe of earth may, at some time or other, contain more human inhabitants than it can subsist ; and he has there- fore written a book, the direct tendencij of which is to keep down the numbers qf^ mankind. IJe has no consideration for the millions and millions of men who might be conceived as called into ex- istence, and made joint partakers with us in such happiness as a sublunary existence, with liberty and improvement, might impart ; but, for the sake of a i'uture possibility, would shiU again.^t them, once Jar alt, the door ifciistcncc. TO MR. IMALTilUS. 13 " He says, indeed, ' the difficulfj/, so far from being remote, /> hnmiueni and irtrincdiate. At every period doing the progress of cidtivation, from the present moment to the time when the whole eartl> was become Hke a garden, tlie distress for want of food, woidd be constantly jiressing on all mankind.' He adds, it is true, in this place, ' if they xvere equal;' but these words are plainly unnecessary, since it is almost the sole j^tf^yose of his hook to show that, in all old established countries, * the population is ahvays pressing hard against the means of sid)sistence.* This however, I mean the disti^ess that must always accompany us in every step of our progress, is so palpably untrue, that I am astonished that any man shoidd have been induced, by the love of paradox, and the desire to dividge something new, to make the assertion.** p. 16. Perhaps Mr. Godwin's astonishment may cease, when he finds that Mi*. Malthus is not the only writer who has propagated the ^^ palpable untruth** and illustrated it, so as to give it the semblance of truth. Hear one of them. He says : " In all old settled countries, the measure of population continually trenches on the measure of subsistefice, and the actual quantity of provisions falls somewhat short of what would be necessary for the vigorous and comfortable support of the inhabitants. *« It is therefore well worthy of our attention to enquire, respecting such a country as England, where, according to the majority of political cal- 14 MR. Godwin's first reply culatioii, j)opiilation has long been at a stand, by wliat checks it has been kept down within the limits it is found to preserve. " One of the cliecks continually operating, is, that great numbers of the children who are born in this country, are half destroyed by neglect and improper food, and that, after pining away a few weeks or a year or two of existence, they perish miserably, without any chance of approaching maturity. The parents, in many classes of the community, scarcely able to maintain themselves in life, if they provide food in sufficient quantity for their children, can at least pay no attention to its being properly adapted to their age or con- stitution. The married w^oman, whose only shelter is a hovel or a garret, if she is unfortunate enough to be prolific, is so harrassed by the continual labour which her circumstances require of her, that her penury becomes visible to every spectator, in the meagreness of her shattered frame. She can pay no regularity of attention to the infants she brings into the world. They are dragged about by children a little older than themselves, or thrust into some neglected corner, unable to call or to seek for the supply of their wants. They are bruised, they are maimed, their bodies distorted into horrible deformity, or their internal structure suffering some unseen injury, which renders them miserable while they live, and ordinarily hurries them to an early grave. This is, undoubtedly, a sufficient check upon increasing population." / TO MR. MALTHUS. 15 " Another check upon increasing population, which operates very powerfully and extensively in the country we inhabit, is that sentiment, whether virtue, prudence, or pride, which continually re- strains the universality and frequent repetition of the marriage contract." Mr. Godwin pro- ceeds to develope, with a masterly hand, the oper- ation of this check, and he anticipates its operation and its value in an improved state of society. In such a state of society, says he, *' It will be im- possible for a man to fall into the error on which we are commenting, from inadvertence. The doc- trines of the Essay on Population^ if they he truej as I HAVE NO DOUBT that they are, will be fully un- derstood. Society will not fall into clans as at present, nor be puzzled and made intricate, by the complexity of its structure. No man will be able to live, without character and the respect of his neighbours ; and no consideration on earth will induce him to forfeit them." — Mr. Godwin's Reply, 1801, pp. 71, 7^. 74, 75. It is really difficult to persuade one's self that the passages quoted were dictated by the same under- standing, and penned by the same liand ; Mr. Godwin no where tells us he has changed his opi- nions, but goes on as if they had always been what they are at the present time. He writes a book against himself, in which he freely uses offensive terms against those who may have been persuaded by his writings to have faith in the Principle of Population. IC) .'Ml'.. Godwin's second iiep.ly The passage referred to, as quoted from Mr. Malthiis's Avork by Mr. Godwin, wants tlie head ; liad tliat not. been cut oW, it would have ap})eare(l that Mr. Malthus was combating the systems of equality of Wallace and Condorcet, who, like others who advocated systems of equality, invariably represent the difficulties arising from a rapid increase of population, as being at a great and almost immeasurable distance. " Even Mr. Wal- lace,'* says Mr. Malthus, *' who thought the argu- ment itself of so much weight as to destroy his whole system of equality, did not seem to be aware that any difficulty could arise from this cause, till the earth had been cultivated like a gar- den y and was incapable of' any further i?ic7'ease of 'produce. If this were really the case, and a beau- tiful system of equality were in other respects practicable, I cannot think that our ardour in the pursuit of such a scheme ought to be damped by the contemplation of so remote a difficulty. An event at such a distance might be left to Pro- vidence. But the truth is, that if the view of the aT'gume?it given in this essay be just, the difficulty, so far from being remote, is imminent and imme- diate. At every period during the progress of cultivation, from the present moment to the time when the whole earth was become like a garden, the distress from want of food would be con- stantly pressing on all mankindy if they were all equal. Though the produce of the earth would be increasing every year, population would be in- TO MR. MALTHUS. 17 creasing much faster, and this superior power must necessarily be checked by the periodical or con- stant action of moral restraint, vice, or misery."* Having decapitated the passage, Mr. Godwin also cut off the lower extremities, and then called out, This is the object Mr. Malthus intended to ex- hibit; when, in truth, the object differs essentially from the part which is exhibited for the whole. Mr. Godwin affirms, that Mr. Malthas has no consideration for the millions on millions of men who might be conceived as called into existence. But if, as Mr. Godwin argues in other places, the power of increase, if it exist at all in the human species, is exceedingly small, and that if war and other atrocious follies of mankind were to cease, it might still be doubted if mankind could in- crease, and, as he says in his conclusion, that there is more reason to fear a diminution than to expect an increase, there seems to be no reason why he should so pathetically complain of the cruelty of Mr. Malthus, in desiring to prevent the birth, and to deprive of enjoyment the millions on miUions, which, according to him, could never be brought into existence. Mr. Godwin cannot, or will not see, what their being " equal** has to do with the question; and yet it seems plain enough. If they were not " equal" then, according to Mr. Malthus, the poor would be the sufferers ; if they were " equals* then all would suffer. Mr. Malthus does not deny that ; mankind may go on increasing ; he * Malthus, vol. ii. p. 220. 5th Edition. c 18 MR. Godwin's second reply. repeatedly says they may, and happily too, pro- vided they do not increase faster than the means of subsistence is provided. He does not say the whole earth may not be cultivated like a garden ; on the contrary, he expresses his desire that it should be so ; but he says, you cannot preserve the beautiful system of equality you have sup- posed, and go on breeding without restraint ; and that, if you attempt it, you will be disappointed. Mr. Malthus, in some parts of his work, speaks doubtfully of the effects of moral restraint and the preventive checks, to keep the population from heading the means of subsistence. In other places, he seems disposed to believe they will some day be found efficient and equal to the pur- pose. He has, however, taken much pains to in- culcate the necessity of resorting to them, in the hope of mitigating the terrible effects of the posi- tive checks, " vice and misery," not for the pur- pose of keeping down the population, as Mr. God- win represents, but for the purpose of improving the condition of the mass of the people, and in- creasing their number, as fast as the means of com- fortable subsistence can be provided for them. CHAP. 11. OF SWEDEN. ITS POPULATION. TABLES OF MORTALITY. — POWER OF PRO- CREATION. — MR. Godwin's assertion, that sweden en- joyed SINGULAR ADVANTAGES AS TO POPULATION, EXA- MINED AND REFUTED. COMPARED WITH THE UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA. In Sweden, an account of births, marriages, and deaths, has been taken with more regularity, more accurately, and for a longer period, than in any other country. The censuses of the people have also been more correctly and more frequently taken, and contain many more particulars than the governments of other nations have thought it necessary to require. Mr. Malthus has therefore taken particular notice of the tables which relate to the population of Sweden, for the purpose of supporting his doctrine ; and Mr. Godwin has re- ferred to them, for the purpose of showing its un- soundness. Between these two gentlemen, almost every thing that can be said respecting these tables has been said. Mr. Malthus has shown that popu- lation increases but slowly in Sweden ; Mr. God- win has done the same. Mr. Malthus has also shown, that the population constantly presses against the means of subsistence in Sweden j Mr. Godwin denies this. Jn other particulars there is ' very little difference between them, Mr. Godwin ^0 SWEDISH TABLES generally confirming the doctrines of Mr. Malthus, while he gives to his words the appearance of con- tradicting them. The difference between these two gentlemen, lies in their applications of the Swedish tables to other countries. Of this more will be said, in the chapters on the Population of the United States of America. It appears from a very laboured analysis of the Swedish population by Mr. Godwin, that not quite one in five of the whole population is a marriageable woman, and that the births are not quite four one- eighth to a marriage. Mr. Godwin infers, that nearly all the women marry at some period of their lives, and that as great a number of children are born in that country as can be born from the same number of people in any country. That the mor- tality of children under twenty years of age, which, by the " constitution and course of nature," is at the least one out of every two births, may be taken as the mortality of England, France, and the United States of North America. That these conclusions are erroneous, will be shown even with respect to Eng- land, and still more so with respect to the United States of North America. The Swedish tables are defective, inasmuch as they do not notice the ages at which the females are married. Had this been done, it would pro- bably have been found, that a considerable number do not marry at all, that marriages generally do not take place so early as they would do were the climate more genial, the land more fertile, and the government better adapted to promote the OF MORTALITY. 21 well-being of the people ; and, consequently, tliat there are neither so many children born as might, under other circumstances, be born, nor so many of those which are born, reared. Mr. Godwin has taken much pains to induce his readers to believe the contrary ; but it will be seen, when we come to treat of the United States of North America, that not only has he failed in establishing his propo- sitions, but that he lias himself adduced proofs which establish the contrary, and fully confirm Mr. Malthus's assertions, of the power in the hu- man species to increase with great rapidity. The Swedish tables contain a great deal of cu- rious and useful information respecting the popul- ation of that country, and one cannot but regret with Mr. Godwin, that we have not as correct accounts of the population of other countries. These tables are, however, useful only in re- spect to Sweden, and to countries similarly circumstanced, and can only lead us into error, when we apply them to countries very differently circumstanced. Yet Mr. Godwin has so applied them, disregarding the best established principles of political economy ; he has rejected evidence which would have led him to correct conclusions, and in his want of know^ledge, he has set up to teach what he does not comprehend, and expects unqualified credence to his crude notions. 1. Mr. Malthus has said, " That in no country have the means of subsistence been so abundant, and the manners of the people so pure, that no check whatever has existed to early marriages, c 3 *2^ x'lATjj. or from the difficulty of providing for a family ; and that no waste of the human species has been occasioned by vicious customs, by towns, by unhealthy occupations, or too severe labour. Con- sequently, in no state that we have yet known, has the power of population been left to exert itself with perfect freedom." * 2. That *• in the Northern States of America, where the means of subsistence have been mucii more ample, the manners of the people more pure, and the checks to early marriages fewer, the population has been found to double itself, for above a century and a half successively, in less than 25 years." t 3. And this, he says, *' has been repeatedly ascertained to be from procreation only." t It is to prove the impossibility of this increase, and of the power of mankind to increase at a very slow rate, if at all, in any country, and under any circumstances, that Mr. Godwin has bestowed so much labour on the Swedish Tables. *• Sweden §," says Mr. Godwin, ** Is B,7^egiopene toto divisa orbe. It receives few emigrants, and it sends forth few colonies." This may be granted. Sweden sends forth a considerable number of male emigrants, who spread themselves all over Europe; but it is probable that a large proportion of them return home again. Mr. Godwin says, ** In the period to which the accounts relate that I am about to produce (174<8 to 1805), this kingdom * Malthus, vol. i. p. 6. f lb. p. 7. J. lb. p. 9. ^ Enquiry, p. 152. SWEDEN. 23 has enjoyed a great portion of internal tran- quillity.*' This is a deceptive way of putting the case ; but if it could be truly said of Sweden, it could also be said of the North American States, the internal tranquillity of which has been much less disturbed during the same period, than Sweden. It is true, Sweden has not had to sus- tain many long continued foreign wars, but those it has engaged in have been very destructive, and it has been miserably plagued, with what Mr. Godwin considers as the most destructive of all causes to the human species — *' bad govern- ment.*' Sweden has indeed suffered greatly from this cause, during the whole of the period to which the accounts selected by Mr. Godwin relate. The revolution of 17<56, as well as the causes of it, were inimical to the welfare, and, consequently, to the increase of the people. The war which followed that revolution, produced nothing but loss of lives, money, and reputation. In I762, com- menced the misfortunes and miseries occasioned by the two factions of the Hats and Bonnets, each faction receiving support from foreign powers, de- sirous of the ruin of Sweden. Each faction triumphed in its turn, and the country was torn to pieces ; so miserable did the factious aristocracy make the people, and so much did they embarrass all affairs of state, that at length the king resolved to abdicate, in order to obtain a convocation of the Diet, which might, it was hoped, afford some alleviation to the long sufferings of the people. The Diet effected none of the requisite changes, c 4 24* STATE or produced none of tlie good effects expected ; and it has been remarked, that when Adolphus Fre- derick died in 1771> he was regretted for his good- ness and humanity, and pitied by those who had been witnesses to a reign, which the injustice and vexation of a corrupt and mercenary senate had rendered a period of misery to the people, and discomfort to the king. He was succeeded by Gustavus III., who effected a revolution by means of the army, and governed the nation as he pleased, until he was assassinated by Ankerstrom, in 179^. In 1788 he made war upon Russia, exhausting the state, and impoverishing the people. This war was most disastrous, and, during its continuance in the north, the southern provinces were overrun by the Danes. Gustavus IV. succeeded him, under the regency of his uncle, by whom, and afterwards by the crazy king himself^ the government was conducted in a way calculated to do infinite injury to the people. Well might a French aristocratical writer in 1796 exclaim, '* To what a deplorable govern- ment has not Sweden been subject for these 50 years !" * Yet Mr. Godwin assures us, that *' Swedeji has possessed almost every imaginable advantage for the increase of its inhabitantSy by direct procreation.^' t — And, adverting to the slow rate of increase, he • Fortia's Travels in Sweden, Mr. Pinkerton's Collection, A'ol. vi. p. 373- I have not been able to procure a copy of Fortia's Travels in the French Language. f Enquiry, p. 1.52. SWEDEN'. 25 says, " We have seen that, under the most Javoii?'- able circumstances^ and such as cannot he ej^pected to continue in any country for any length of time, the increase is perfectly insignificant.'* * Mr. Godwin has thus given up his expectation of improvement in the human race ; and all those acquirements of whicli he vaunted, have been, and will continue to be, useless. It might be sup- posed, did we not know the contrary, that Sweden was a perfect Arcadia. Bad government, ex- treme ignorance, and, consequently, bad habits among the people ; a sterile country, a rigorous climate, frequent dearths, occasional famines, and severe epidemics, gave to Sweden, according to Mr. Godwin, ** almost every imaginable advan- tage for the increase of its inhabitants,'* placed the population in " the most favourable circum- stances," enabled him to compare it with the United States of America, and to conclude, with what reason we shall see presently, that fewer children are born to a marriage in the United States than in Sweden, and that as many of those that are born, die in their nonage in the one country as in the other. This slight sketch of the political condition of the people of Sweden, contains a refutation of Mr. Godwin's assertion. But the domestic and moral condition of the people, is unhappily still more conclusive against him. Dr. Clarke, in his Travels, observes, that " at Gothenburgh, on the 18th of June, the inhabitants said, they had experienced but * Enquicy, p. 369. '20 STATE OF fifteen days of summer, the ice having thawed on the Sd only, and that in Sweden there is no spring." * " The winter had,*' to be sure, " been uncom- monly severe, and of more than usual duration. This had caused a general dearth of provisions, both among men and cattle. Many of the houses and barns had been unroofed, the thatch having been torn off to supply fodder. As we travelled from Sjord, across the country to Tang, the bones of famished cattle, which had perished during the winter, were every where visible ; and we heard dreadful accounts of the sufferings the late scarcity had occasioned." " We examined the interior of mant/ of the cot- tages of the poor ; but in this part of Sweden (south of Stockholm,) we never had the satisfac- tion to observe any thing like comfort or cleanli- ness. In these respects, they certainly are inferior to the Danes. A close and filthy room, crowd- ed with pale, swarthy, wretched-looking children, sprawling upon a dirty floor, in the midst of the most powerful stench, were the usual objects that presented themselves to our notice." t Yet this is the country Mr. Godwin thinks possesses almost every imaginable advantage for the rearing of children. "At Orebo, a considerable town, on the market- day, the only provisions for sale, were, butter, dried fish, eels, and perch ; there was not a joint of meat to be seen."t * Clarke's Travels, vol. v. 4'to. p. 107. f lb. 109. t lb. p. Ul. SWEDEN. ^7 ♦' The diet is principally salted fish, eggs, and milk. We rarely saw butcher's meat, during this or any subsequent part of our journey,*' * although it lasted till October. Eggs and milk, it must be concluded, are not to be had but in small quanti- ties, during the long and severe winters in Sweden. Dr. Clarke, it must be remembered, was received by the better sort of people, and had the means of commanding the best of accommodation and enter- tainment. If, then, the persons with whom he associated, were thus scantily supplied, what must have been the condition of the mass of the people? The Doctor tells us, that " bread, and brandy flavoured with anniseed, are the two most import- ant articles of diet of the people." t " Bread is baked in the greater part of Sweden, only twice in the year, in many other parts of the country only once ; it is made, for the most part, of 7^ye JiouTf seasoned wuth anniseed ; it is made in the form of biscuits spitted upon rods, and hung up over the heads of the inhabitants." t " Misne bread is mentioned as being still eaten by some of the people in the northern parts, and by others, in seasons of scarcity. It is made of the rind of the pine and fir, sometimes mixed with the meal of wild oats." § And further on, our traveller <* recommends the people to eat the rein-deer moss, or Lichen Mangiferinus, which may in many places be obtained by removing the snow." II * Clarke's Travels, vol. v. p. 140. f lb. p. 110. X lb. p. 201. § lb. p. 283. jl lb. p. 556. 28 STATE OF Tlierc are no other substitutes to which the people can resort, and they have not the means of purchasing grain, to supply the deficiency of bad seasons from foreign countries. ** Potatoes are not common, and garden vege- tables are seldom seen.'* * In by far the greater part of Sweden, the farmers are obliged to cut the grain in an unripe state. North of Stockholm, this is always done ; " every dwelling has by the side of it a lofty ensign of the climatey in a high conspicuous rack, for drying the unripened corn. These machines make a great figure ; sometimes there are, 2, 3, or 4, of them to one dwelling, which are seen at a distance, and announce to the traveller the proportion of arable land in the occupation of the landholder, whose dwelling he approaches." t Mr. Malthus, who w^as a fellow-traveller with Dr. Clarke, speaks of the same year, 17.99, as a very fatal one. *' In July, about a month before the harvest, a considerable portion of the people was living upon breads made of the inner bark of the Jir, and of dried sorrel^ absolutely xvithout any mix- ture of mealy to make it more palatable and nourish- ing. The sallow looks and melancholy countenances of the peasants^ betrayed the unwholesomeness of their nourishment ; many had died^ but the full effects of such a diet had not then been felt. They would probably appear afterwards, *in the form of some epidemic sickness.*' X ' * Clarke's Travels, vol. v. p. 580. f lb. p. 201. } Malthus, vol. i. p. 409. SWEDEN. 29 " The years 1757, 1758. I768. 1771, 1772, 1773, are, on good authority, stated as particularly mortal. The year 1789 must have been very highly so : it materially affected the proportion of births to deaths, for the twenty years ending 1795." * ** Both men and women, north of Stockholm,'* says Dr. Clarke, *' go barefooted, maintaining, and, perhaps, with reason, that it is much better to do so, than to wear the wooden shoes which are used in the south of Szvede?iy which always cause ex- crescences upon the feet, and often lame those who use them.'* t The general use of spirituous liquors, and its bad consequences, have • been noticed by every traveller. M. Fortia, who travelled over a large portion of Sweden in 1791, observes, that this lamentable habit begins in infancy, and may be regarded as one of the causes of the depopulation of Sweden. We have seen (he says) children, nine or ten years of age, drink such large glasses of brandy, as we ourselves never could compass. The habit of diinking, far from being peculiar to the common people, prevails among the higher classes. "t After speaking of the climate and seasons, he adds, " The frequent use of brandy, which we have before noticed, is another cause of diminish- ing the number of its inhabitants, from the great number of victims who die before they reach ma- turity, or who, if they live, remain, in consequence, wifit for procreatio7i.*' § * Malthus, vol. i. p. 408. % Clarke's Travels, vol, v. p. 202. X Fortia in Pinkerton, vol. vi. p. 520. § lb. 523. 30 STATE OF The peasants distil the grain for their own use ; and an attempt to prevent the practice, in a time of scarcity, caused an insurrection. M. Fortia says, " There is no dearth of libertin- ism in the great towns ; there it begins sometimes earlier than at twelve years of age, and is carried to excess till eighteen or twenty. The young folks then become prudent, that is to say, confine them- selves to one lover, and after some years marry^ commonly to great advantage ; the men not regarding in the least their former way of life." * Mr. Williams, who travelled for five years in the north of Europe, for the purpose of collecting information respecting the constitutions, laws, and customs, of the several nations, who had, as he informs us, access to the houses of the most con- siderable people, to the collections of the curious, and the archives of the state, has collected a great many particulars respecting Sweden, which de- serve attention j some few of them, from his chapter on Manners and Customs, and that on the Laws, shall be briefly noticed, t *' The nobility alone," he says, " amount to 10,900, so that about the 214th part \ of the nation are privileged to live on the labours of the others. * Fortia, 520. f Vide " The Rise, Progress, and present State of the North- ern Governments, viz. the United Provinces, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, and Poland," &c. by J. Williams, Esq. Printed for T. Becket, London, 1777, in two Vols. -tto. :|: The British aristocracy does not comprise the 2014th part of the people. SWEDEN. ^ They have adopted much of the French manners and customs, but the smaUness of their fortunes, and tlie laws of the country, prevent them from wearing rich apparel. They never descend to any employment, in the church, or to the practice of the law or physic, or to the exercise of any trade : there is scarcely an example known, of a gentle- man who has accepted the command of a Swedish merchant ship. They are too proud to cultivate and improve their lands, and the generality of farmers are so poor, and their lands so fettered, by the policy of the government, that they are not capable of cultivating them. They are precluded from all the rights and privileges which the nobi- lity enjoy, and in many instances, are denied the natural rights of mankind. Although agriculture has always been esteemed the surest basis of the riches and power of a state, it is in this kingdom deprived of its necessary supply of workmen, bur- thened with the heaviest taxes, and with the entire charge of recruiting both soldiers and sailors. By the nearest calculation, one in six of the adult cultivators must serve in the army ; that is, every five of the farmers must provide a sixth for the army and navy, from which the nobility and all the other orders of the state are exempt. " It is no small part of the policy of this govern- ment, to keep the farmers or peasants, in a poor and distressed state. Every farmer is prohibited by law, to purchase any of the free estates of the kingdom, or to keep more than one servant to assist hirn in, the cultivation of the land, if he have .S2 STATE OF ever so great an estate to cultivate and improve ; he is, moreover, forbidden to make a division of his farm, and thereby to multiply the number of la- bourers ; and whoever attempts to cultivate small parcels of land, are declared every year from the pulpits to be vagabonds, and are forced into the military service, from which they can never be released, except they are maimed or disabled. There are no magazines, nor is one province al- lowed to send its produce to another ; so that one part of the kingdom may be in great want, and another part have a superfluity. " The farmers, and particularly those who cul- tivate the crown lands, have the titles and pos- session of these lands frequently disputed upon the most frivolous pretences, and often in the most unjust manner taken away from the cultivator, by those who have no just pretension whatever, and the poor farmer finds himself deprived of the property of the houses he has built, and of the land he has cultivated ; and his wife and family deprived of a place of abode, and even of subsistence. " Most of the farmers live in a poor condition, and are taught, by necessity, to practise several arts in a rude manner, in making instruments of husbandry and other necessaries, which they can- not afford to buy; and, to keep them to this, and to favour the cities, it is not permitted to have more than one tailor, or other such artizan in the same parish, though it be ever so large ; and many of the parishes are fifteen to twenty miles in circumference. 10 SWEDEN. 33 " The different branches of trade, as well as every other thing relating to merchandize ; are monopo- lized ; only a fixed number of any sort of artizan and tradesmen is allowed in any town, so that w^hen a young man has served his apprenticeship, he cannot exercise his trade till he has served another term of years as a journeyman, and then not till there be a vacancy by the death of one of the masters. The workmen are bad, and there is but little improvement in their manufactories.'* " The condition of the women is very lamentable. There is no part of the world, where the women, among the lower classes, are made greater drudges than in Sweden ; for, besides the ordinary offices of their sex, they are put to plough, to thresh, to row in boats, to bear burthens at the building of houses, and on other occasions, and often they are employed as postillions.** ** The administration of the law is described as unjust in the extreme ; the lawyers and judges as poor, and constantly open to be bribed ; so that unless a man be rich, he has no chance whatever of having justice done him." If, with all these disadvantages, Sweden could increase its population, as Mr. Godwin admits it did, what reasonable man can doubt, that, in a country where few of these disadvantages pre- vailed, the rate of increase would be much more rapid j and such a country is the United States of North America. In no part of these States is the winter either so severe, or of so long continuance, as in the D 34 STATE OF SWEDEN. most southern parts of" Sweden. The soil is generally very superior, in many places it is very fertile, while the government is of all others by far the best, in relation to the increase of the popu- lation. There are some unhealthy spots, such as New Orleans, and the swamps in the more south- ern states on the Atlantic ; but, generally, it is a healthy country. Among others, a recent travel- ler, * who appears to be an observing plain mat- ter-of-fact man, having no hypothesis to support, has stated a number of circumstances from which no other inference can be drawn. Yet Mr. Godwin puts this country far behind Sweden, in every respect, in regard to its popu- lation ; with how much justice will be seen in the fbllpwing chapters. * See Palmer's Travels. 85 CHAPTER III. OF THE UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA. SECTION I. INTRODUCTION. QUESTION STATED. INCREASE OF PEOPLE FROM PROCREATION, COMPARED WITH SWEDEN. EMIGRA- TION FROM EUROPE TO THE UNITED STATES. FROM GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. PARLIAMENTARY RE- TURNS. DR. SEYBERt's STATISTICAL ANNALS OF THE UNITED STATES. AMERICAN IMMIGRATION ACT. NUMBER OF IMMIGRANTS. BRITISH LAWS RESPECTING PASSENGERS TO FOREIGN STATES. NUMBER OF SHIPS, TONS, AND PASSENGERS TO THE UNITED STATES, 1811 TO 1821. DESERTERS FROM THE BRITISH ARMIES IN AMERICA. PROBABLE NUMBER OF EMIGRANTS DURING THE LAST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. Ihe United States of North America constitute the only nation oi' which we have any knowledge, whose population has been repeatedly doubled, in very short periods, by means of procreation. The proofs are numerous, clear, and conclusive. Mr. Godwin hailed the statement of this in- crease as an unquestionable and highly important a/ldition to our knowledge ; but he now says, in a tone of derision, *« If America had never been discovered, we should never have heard of the geometrical ratio." Mr. Godwin might have ob- jected to the discoveries of Newton on the same D Q 36 UNITED STATES ground, and given aS a reason, that, had the apple never fallen, Newton would never have studied the subject of gravitation ; or have maintained, in contradiction to his own most laboured writ- ings, and the opinions of all philosophers, that effects may be produced without causes. Tf it be true, however, that the power of increase in the human species, is equal to a doubling of the whole population of a nation, in periods of twenty-five years or less, not only will the geometrical ratio of Mr. Mai thus be proved, but the tendency of mankind to increase faster than the means of subsistence can be provided, will also be proved ; and it will follow of course, that poverty, vice, and misery, will abound in every country in which the popuktion does so increase, and that it will con- stantly press against the means of subsistence. It has been already observed, that every writer on the subject of population, has admitted the power in the human species to increase their numbers. Mr. Godwin, however, doubts the ex- istence of such a power; he says, "It remains to this day a problem whether the numbers of our species can be increased,"* Dr. Price, whom Mr. Godwin holds up to the terror of those who admit the principle of population, supposed the power to increase the number of mankind to be much more efficacious than Mr. Malthus has stated it to be in the United States of North America. There appears to be no reason why Mr. Malthus should be taunted or reproached, or his doctrine * Reply, p. 115. OF NORTH AMERICA. 37 now held up to ridicule more than in 1801, when Mr. Godwin lauded his discovery, and rested his praise on the very same ground, then, that he does his censure now. Mr. Godwin has divided his subject into books and chapters ; his fourth book treats of the United States of North America. It commences by his observing that, •* In the second book of this work, I have shown the absolute impossibility , so far as all the tables that have yet been formed respecting the multiplication of mankind can be relied on, that the increased population of the United States of North America, '* a doubling," according to Mr. Malthus, '• for above a century and a half successively, in less than twenty-five years," could have been produced by the principle of *^ popula- tion.** We have seen (he says, alluding to Sweden) that *' under the most favourable circum- stanceSy* and such as cannot be expected to continue in any country for any length of timCy the increase is perfectly insignificantj compared with the mon- strous propositions of Mr. Malthus, — and that^om the constitution of human nature, it must neces- sarily be so. Here, then, I might have closed my argument respecting the principal topic of the present treatise. I might have rested my ap- peal with every strict and impartial reasoner, whether the phenomenon of the increased numbers of the people of the United States, must not be accounted for in some other way, and not from procreation. But I know that many readers, and many persons calling themselves reasoners, are D 3 38 INCREASE OF PEOPLE neither strict nor impartial. And I would wil- lingly consent to depart a little from the rigid forms of logical deduction, if, by so doing, I can the more fully satisfy such as these." * Here are several matters deserving notice, 1. That it is absolutely impossible, according to cer- tain tables, that the population in America should, for a century and a half, have doubled in twenty- five years successively from procreation. 2. That the reason for this inference, is, that it was not so in Sweden, under the most favourable circum- stances. 3. That these circumstances, such as they were in Sweden, cannot be expected to exist in any country for any length of time. 4. That by the constitution and course of nature, there can be none but a perfectly insignificant increase of man- kind. That Sweden, during the latter half of the last century, or indeed in any period with its barren lands, its severe climate, its despotic government, its poverty ^ its destructive mines, its ignorant people, should have been the very best country in the world to breed the largest number of persons, is a proposition which it is presumed very few, *' strict and impartial reasoners,'* will admit ; but that Mr. Godwin, of all men, should affirm, that, taken as a whole, Sweden, during this period, presented so very many favourable circumstances, as to warrant him in saying, in the face of the doctrines he has all his life long been teaching, that " they cannot be expected to continue in any country, for any length of time," is very * Reply, p. 368. IN THE UNITED STATES. 39 strange indeed. It seems as if Mr. Godwin's new hypothesis, the xvant of poxver in the human species to increase their niimtjer, had totally eradicated his old hypothesis of the perpetual tendency of man- kind towards perfection. I however shall not give up this doctrine quite so easily. It was Mr. Godwin who first led me to the contemplation of the progress of human intellect in its march towards happiness, and I am neither to be made to doubt of the improved state of mankind, at the present moment, compared with former periods, nor of the still higher state at which they will arrive. What Mr. Godwin means by the '* constitution of nature forbidding an increase which is not insignificant," is, that half the born are inevitably doomed by that '* occult cause,*' which he has here named ** 7ia- turey** never to arrive at the age of manhood, than which nothing can be well more absurd; here again, too, Mr. Godwin has abandoned, and con- tradicted his former good teaching, and would fain persuade us, that all our knowledge, present or future, will never enable us to prevent the pre- mature and unnecessary death of half the human species, at that time of their lives, when, of all others, there is surely the least reason, " according to the constitution of nature," that they should die : the reasonings and tables in Book II. of Mr. Godwin's work, so far from being conclusive against the power of procreation, have very little, if any relation to the question. Showing what Sweden did, and inferring some matters relating D 4 40 INCREASE OF PEOPLE to America, and asserting that the " most favour- able circumstances for increasing mankind existed in Sweden, are any thing but proofs of the want of power to increase by procreation, under any circumstances. It will, however, be fully proved, that the United States of America enjoy many more favourable circumstances than Sweden, both for the production of children, and for the rearing them when produced, and, that the population has doubled for a considerable space of time from ^^procreation only,'' in less than twenty five years, and is still doubling at the same rate. It seems strange, that Mr. Godwin should call what he has said in his *' second book, rigid logical demonstration," as showing the want of power in the human species to increase, and to assert, that here he might have closed his argu- ment triumphantly. Surely this is dogmatizing with a high hand. " I protest," he says, " against any imperfect- ness in the present division of my treatise, as having the effect of vitiating the reasonings of the divisions immediately proceeding." * If this protest mean any thing, it means, I protest that the reader shall take what I have said as ** rigid logical deductions," and "if I shall not be able to make out, to demonstration, the precise sources of the increase of population in the United States, I shall at least show, in what follows, that it is impossible that the source should be found in the principle of procreation ;*' that is, * Reply, p. 370. IN THE UNITED STATES. 41 if J cannot show that the increase has been from emigration, still I protest that you must beheve it has, whether it be so in fact or not, or whether it be possible or impossible. You must not dis- believe, or attempt to disprove my conjectures, for, after all, to this conclusion you must come, ** that it could not have been from procreation" This, to be sure, does not seem much like " strict logical deduction," or philosophy. If it should appear from indisputable evidence, that not a twentieth part of the number of persons has emigrated to the United States, which Mr. Godwin has found to be necessary to account for the po- pulation, all his assertions and protests will go for nothing ; and however impossible the increase by procreation may appear to him, still, to that, and to that only, must it be referred. Mr. Godwin deprecates all attempts to show that the United States have increased by pro- creation, because, he says, it is not an inaccessible island like Japan. He denies the possibility of proof, thus : ** Well, then, there can be no proof that the increasing number of the inhabitants of the United States came from procreation only.** * If, however, it be proved^ that the people did not come by emigration, it will be difficult to find how they could come but by procreation. Mr. Godwin, speaking of the United States, says, *' Without imputing to them any vicious am- bition, they might, from mere virtue and benevo- lence of soul, wish to see the vast tracts, above, below, and around them on every side, ador}icd * Reply, p. 374. 42 EMIGRATION 'with a healthy, an Indus triouSy a civilized^ and a happy race of people. Their government is free, their in- stitutions are liberal, and what they most obviously want, is greater multitudes of men to partake these blessings. They are not converts to Mr. Malthus's philosophy ; or, at least, not such converts, as to be disposed to make it their rule of action, for the territory over whiclV they (the government) pre- side. They are not exactly prepared, to trust for the future population of their domain to procre- ation only." *' Long has the coast of North America been looked to by the discontented, the unhappy, and the destitute of every kingdom in Europe, as the land of promise, the last retreat of independence, the happy soil on which they might dwell and be at peace. How could it be otherwise? Here every man, without let or molestation, may worship God according to his conscience. Here there are 710 legal iiiflictions of torture, no hastiles and dungeons, no SANGUINARY LAWS. HerE LAND, BY HUNDREDS AND THOUSANDS OF ACRES, may be had almost for NOTHING. Here the wages of labour are high." * Here is an enumeration of circumstances all conducive to happiness, scarcely one of which is enjoyed by Sweden. Here are reasons for the prevalence of good moral habits, such as can be exhibited no where else. Here are inducements to every girl to get a husband, and to every young man to take a wife, which no old country can offer. Here is the proof, that a family of children is to the working man his greatest blessing ; while * Reply, p. 375. TO THE UNITED STATES. 43 in Sweden, as in other old countries, it is but too frequently his greatest curse. How strange it seems, that after Mr. Godwin has declared Sweden to possess *' the most Javourable chrumstances" to increase its population, he should immediately ex- hibit so many " circumstances'* in the very country he was depreciating, all of them of extreme effi- cacy, all of them infinitely more favourable than *' the most favourable 1" How strangely does the ignis fatuus of an hypothesis lead astray the most acute minds ! Mr. Godwin labours through many pages, quot- ing the rhodomontade of Dr. Johnson on emi- gration ; and in endeavouring to enlist the feelings of his readers, in the hope of leading them to con- cur in the Doctor's assertions, of the " fever of emigration, the prodigious numbers that shipped themselves for America from 1776, the period of the declaration of independence, to the breaking out of the French Revolution in 1789. But this last was the event, tliat, if we trace its conse- quences through all its ramifications, may em- phatically be said to have broken down the dykes which held in the population of Europe, and poured out the streams of its real, or its ima- ginary superfluity, to fructify the immeasurable plains of the Western A¥orld." * Those sweeping and overwhelming passages must be received with great caution ; our under- standings must not be carried away by the flood. Speaking of the United States prior to 177-5, Mr. * Reply, p. 397. 44 ExMIGUATION Godwin says, *• Hitherto it had been a fashion with many to regard our American colonies with scorn, on account of those convicted of crimes here being sent thither ; it was the declaration of independence which changed the scene in the Western World, and gave a new and a powerful impulse to the tide of emigration,"* This is most true, and most consolitary. But we must not reckon on any very large number of persons emigrating to America, for some years after the declaration of independence. The dis- content and troubles which existed, and had con- tinually increased, for several years immediately preceding that declaration, the " scorn" men- tioned by Mr. Godwin, and also the war with this country, which was only terminated by the treaty signed on the Sd September 1783, almost wholly prevented emigration. Many more persons were lost to the United States, in consequence of their joining the English standard, or by being killed in the war, by their removal to Canada, where provision was made for them, by their removal to Europe, and to other parts of the world, than were gained by emigration during the eight or nine years of the war, from its first breaking out to the ratification of the treaty of peace. It is only since that time, that we are authorised to talk of any considerable annual emigration to America. No very great number of persons settled in America, in consequence of the French revolution. The period between the breaking * Reply, p. SQl. 10 TO THE UNITED STATES. 45 out of that revolution and the war between Eng- land and France, was but a short one, and it put an end to emigration from France. From the commencement of that war in 1793, to its final conclusion in 1814, very few persons passed from any part of the continent of Europe to the United States of North America. Almost the whole of her emig-rants were from the British Islands. The reader is requested to bear these circumstances in mind, while perusing the following pages. Mr. Godwin has cautioned his readers in the outset, against believing that the United States of America could have any but the most insig- nificant increase of people from procreation, and in other places he peremptorily denies there could be any increase at all, except from emigration. " America," he says, •' does not from procreation only keep up its numbers ;'* he has, therefore, set down 70,325, as the amount of the annual emi- gration from 1749 to 1790, notwithstanding the reason he has given, why previous to 1775 there could be no very considerable emigration ; and notwithstanding he had read in Dr. Price's book, which he quotes with apparent satisfaction, that during a portion of this time more came from the United States than went to them ; and notwith- standing the war, which continued for more than eight years, wholly prevented emigration during that period. It may then be fairly concluded, that no considerable annual emigration took place un- til 1784 at the soonest. Mr. Godwin states the population of the Unitel States thus : 40 EMIGRATION " 1. As it was estimated in 1749 1,046,000 2. The census in 1790 3,929,320 3. The census in 1810, omitting., for the sake of 'perspicuity, that o/'lSOO 7,239,903." * How omitting the census of 1800, was to make either the statement, or the observations on it more perspicuous, does not appear ; but it makes, as will appear, a very material difference in the amount of the emigrants, who are by Mr. Godwin asserted to have gone to America annually, from 1800 to 1810. Mr. Godwin is willing to take the present popu- lation of the United Sates at 10,000,000. It is expected that, by the census now taking, it will be found to exceed that number ; but taking it, as Mr. Godwin has done, at 10,000,000, upon the hypothesis that nothing worthy the name of a settlement was made before 1610, the annual increase of people will be. From 1610 to 1749 6,973 1749 ... 1790 70,325 1790 ... 1810 165,527 l^, however, we take in the census of 1800, as we ought to do, the annual increase to 1821, will be as follows : From 1610 to 1749 6,973 1749 ... 1790 70,325 1790 ... 1800 138,042 1800 ... 1810 193,014 18iO ... 1820 276,809 Mr. Godwin is too accurate an observer, not to have seen all the consequences which would follow * Reply, p. 401, 402. TO THE UNITED STATES. 47 from his retaining the census of 1800, and there- fore he rejected it. To have asserted that 193,014 persons actually arrived every year^ and remained as settlers in the United States from 1800 to 1810, and that '276,809 arrived annually and remained from 1810 to 1820, would have been too large a draft to draw even on credulity itself, and the average was therefore made to run back as far as 1790, including a period of 20 years, although there had been an actual enumeration of the people in 1800, and totally excluding the period since 1810. Mr. Godwin seems to have got angry with this part of his subject ; he says, " We should proceed very idly in our examination of this ques- tion, if we did not admit that there is considerable difficulty. It was this difficulty that gave birth to the vain boasts of Dr. Franklin and Dr. Styles, and to the atrocious and heart-appalling theories of Mr. Malthus.'* * Mr. Godwin endeavours to give a plausible ap- pearance to his statement of emigration, defective as he has made it : 1. By taking the whole period from 1790 to 1810, from which to calculate the annual average : 2. From not having brought it down to 1820: 3. By deterring the reader from a too close examination of his statement, by pre- tending difficulty where there is none, and by his abuse of Dr. Franklin, Dr. Styles, and Mr. Malthus. •' There is," he says, *' no choice in the solution of the question, but either to refer it to an inherent, rapid, and incessant po'wer in the human species, * Reply, p. 402. 48 EMIGRATION to multiply its numbers^** which, he says, he has proved " to be impossible, or to emigration." — " The present population, with one ejcception, must have arisen from a direct transportation of the in- habitants of the Old World to the New." " What are 10,000,000 of human creatures to the population of Europe, which is computed to contain 153,000,000 of souls ? 10,000,000 of these might be taken away, and never missed."* This is all very unsatisfactory, and very sophistical. All Europe is made to be contributory, and yet by far the greater part can scarcely be said to have supplied an emigrant. Russia has sent none. Sweden and Denmark, very few. Austria, Bo- hemia, Hungary, Poland, and Turkey, none, per- haps. Prussia, and the north of Germany, no great number ; Switzerland and France, not many; Spain and Portugal, none ; Holland, a few only. Nine-tenths have probably gone from. England, Scotland, and Ireland. Mr. Godwin's attempt to bolster up his absurd account of the number of emigrants, and his endeavours to give it an air of probability, ought to have no weight whatever with any *• diligent enquirer." Another argument, not a bit better, is built up from the " Tonnage of shipping cleared outwards, from 1663 to 1818. At the first period, it was 142,000 tons, at the latter, 3,074,409 tons j" but this loose way of stating possibilities, adds nothing to our information, and it could hardly have been intended for that purpose. " Transportation," as * Reply, p. 403. TO THE UNITED STATES. 49 emigration is now called, to the country, Mr. God- win has truly described as the most desirable in the world for the mass of" the population, is repro- bated as *' one of the blessings^* immediately grow- ing out of Mr. Malthus's theory." * But Mr. Godwin is himself a better evidence than Mr. Malthus, that, notwithstanding what he here says in contradiction to what he had said just before, " Transportation'* to the United States of North America, is a real blessing. An account is given of a scheme of a Mr. John Campbell, in 1815, to induce the Scotch to remove to Canada, which has very little to do with emi- gration to the United States. Niles*s Weekly Register, published at Baltimore, is then put in requisition, and an extract is taken from one of its numbers, in which it is asserted, that '* within the two last weeks ending the 15th August I8I7, 26 vessels brought to the several ports of the United States, From Amsterdam, Germans and Swiss 1896 England, Scotland, and Ireland 281 The same, through Nova Scotia and Newfoundland 238 France 97 Total 2512 *' Aug. 30. I8I7. Within the two weeks ending yesterday, in 21 vessels. From England, Ireland, and Scotland ......... 557 Holland, Germans and Swiss 365 France 25 Total 947 1 * Reply, p. 409. f lb. p. 411. E 50 F.MinnATiOM " Of these 171 reached the United States, via Halifax, though great inducements are held out to settlers there. As, for instance, a Dutch ship which arrived at Philadelphia, put into that port for provisions, when the government offered to the passengers 10,000 acres of land gratis in fee simple, and farming utensils, if they would stay there; but they refused. Many settlers, as they are called, arrive in Canada, from whence hundreds of them pass up the river, &c. and cross into New York and Ohio. It seems to be discovered, that it is more convenient to reach our country through the British Colonies, than to come on direct. Fa- cilities are afforded for the former, which are denied to the latter." * Then comes an account of a ship from London, with settlers going to Canada, who rose upon the crew and carried her into Boston. Mr. Godwin again quotes " Niles's Register, 12th September, 1818," thus : " The current of emi- gration from the British Dominions, to the terri- tory of the United States^ never was so strong as it is noxv. For the week ending the 31st August, 2150 passengers, nearly the whole of whom were emigrants from Europe, arrived at the single port of New York, and for the subsequent week we kept an account of the passengers reported in the newspapers (which is far short of the number that arrived), and found them to amount to nearly 3000, for fve or sia: principal ports, and the aggre- gate may be fairly estimated at 6000, for the two weeks preceding the 6th September. Of the 6OOO, * Reply, p. 412. TO THE UNITED STATES. 51 there were from England about 4000 ; from Ire- land, 1000 J from Scotland, Holland, and France, 1000 ; total, 6000 : about a hundred only from France.** * Having done with Mr. Niles and his Register, Mr. Cobbett and his Register is next taken up. In his «' Register,'* August M-, 1819, in a letter by that gentleman, dated Long Island, in the State of New York, is the following assertion: " Within the last twelve monthst upwards of 150,000 HAVE LANDED FROM ENGLAND, tO Settle Jiere.** Mr. Godwin makes these statements, in order *< strikingly to illustrate the fact, of the vast number of emigrants from Europe, that may be conveyed across the Atlantic.** t Not one of these statements deserves the least credence. Niles wrote his accounts at random, from such common rumours as our own news- papers often do, where, in respect to numbers, hun- dreds are multiplied into thousands. During the years 1816, 1817, and 1818, a hot dispute was going on respecting emigration to America. It was maintained by writers here, that America was overstocked with emigrants, and it was to counteract these statements, as well as to extol their own country, that some of the Ameri- can journalists, Niles among them, magnified both the numbers that arrived, and the advan- tages they met with. The stagnation of business • Reply, p. 413. f lb. ^l*. E 2 5^ KAF If; RATION' which followed, put an end to the dispute. It was then asserted, in an authoritative manner in the newspapers, that our consuls in the different sea-ports of the United States, had, by the direction of our ambassador, shipped several thousands of British emigrants, who were unable to provide for themselves, for Canada. A New York paper, in July, 1819, said, there were then upwards of 5000 workmen in that city, for whom no sort of em- ployment could be found, and it recommended them to remove into the Western States, where labourers were much wanted. Mr. Cobbett, in his Register, written in Long Island, notices these circumstances, and in his ** Year's Residence in America," he observes : " But some go back after they come to Ame- rica, and the consul at New York, has thou- sands of applications from men who want to go to Canada, and little bands of them go off to that fine country very often.*' * It is very probable that Canada received more emigrants from the United States, than it furnished ; and there is no good reason for believing, that Canada ever supplied any very great number. The passage quoted by Mr. Godwin from Cob- bett's Register, is taken from a letter addressed to several persons here, who were detained in prison for imputed political offences, during the suspen- sion of the Habeas Corpus Act. He is showing the effects of the system pursued by ministers, and * Reply, p. 384. TO THE UNITED STATES. dS among them, that of driving the people out of the country. He takes up the round number 150,000, prohably as an approximation from what he had seen in the American newspapers ; but be this as it may, it was not possible for one-third of the number to have emigrated from these islands. Tile whole tonnage, both British and foreign, of all the ships cleared outwards to the United States of North America, during the year of which Mr. Cobbett speaks, was 1 1.5,344 tons. Foreign vessels are allowed to carry one passenger only, for every five tons, and British vessels one, for every two tons including the crew. But if any British vessel carry *' merchandize, or goods," then she can carry but o?ie passenger Jbr everij two tons of the iinladen part of the vessel. Taking the average all round at one passenger for every five tons, and allowing nothing for merchandize or goods, and excluding the crews from all consideration, the whole number of persons could not have exceeded 29.069. But the absurdity, the impossibility, of 150,000 persons arriving in America, from Great Britain and Ireland, much less from England only, as Mr. Cobbett's words imply, admits of as direct proof in another way: 1.50,000 ])assen- gers would require 1500 ships of 400 tons each, if every ship took 100 passengers; or 1875 ships of 320 tons each, if every ship took 80 passen- gers; if every ship carried a passenger for every four tons, and took no merchandize whatever, and the amount of tonnage would be (300,000 tons. E 3 54" EMIGRATION But the returns to Parliament, to use Mr. God- win's language, *' sets all this at rest for ever." By these returns it appears that the total number of vessels cleared out from all the ports of Great Britain and Ireland, for the United States of North America, in the year 1819, was as follows : Ships. Tons. Passengers. England 386 117,140 7,350 Ireland 71 19,161 2,513 Scotland 35 9,043 637 492 145,344 10,500 Tiius, instead of 1500, or 1875 ships, measuring 600,000 tons, carrying 150,000 emigrants, there were only 492 ships, measuring 145,344 tons, car- rying 10,500 passengers, and among this number were many merchants, clerks, travellers, and others, who were not emigrants. Instead of 80 or 100 emigrants to each ship, and one emigrant for every four tons, there were not 22 passengers for each ship, and not one pas- senger for every 13 tons. The returns to Parliament, from which the above statement is taken, are, for the ten years preceding 1821, for England and Ireland ; and for the nine years preceding 1821, for Scotland. All these accounts show a vast increase of emigration, in the years, 1816, 181?, 1818, and 1819, which decreased very much in 1820. More than three-fourths of all the emigrants from England went in these four years of the series, and TO THE UNITED STATES. 55 less than one-fourth in the remaining six years of tlie series. Considerably more than half the emigrants from Ireland went in the same four years, and consider- ably less than half, in the remaining six years of the series. While, from Scotland, nearly three-fourths went in these four years, and the remaining one-fourth, in the other five years of the series. ** The limitation to which ** Mr. Godwin ** alludes lies," he says, " in this : The majority of the emigrants that pass over from Europe to North America may be supposed to be in the flower of their life. Now every such emigrant is equal to two human beings, taken indiscriminately among tlie population, or rather among the rising generation of an old-established country. For ex- ample, we have found that in four children born into the world, we have no right to count upon more than one female who, by child-bearing, can contribute to keep up, or increase the numbers of mankind, in the next generation. But of emigrants withdrawing themselves to America, as we have been informed they usually withdraw themselves in families, we have a right, if they go in the flower of their lives, out of every four to count iqjon tico females who, by child-hearing, may contribute to the future population of the comitry. Those who pass over in the flower of their lives have already sur- mounted the dangers of childhood, and early life ; and the females among them may immediately be counted in the roll of those effective members of E 4 5(3 EMIGRATION the community, for the purpose here treated of, who, and who alone, are of value in keeping up the internal, and proper population of a country. Perhaps, in consideration of this exception, we may reduce the number of emigrants necessary, upon the principles of tliis treatise, to account for the reported increase of population in the United States for twenty years, from 1790 to 1810, from 165,000 annually, to 80,000 or 90,000." * This is a sad begging of the question ; it is very loose and very assuming. He knows very little of emigration to the United States who can believe *' that the emigrants usually withdraw in families." It is perfectly notorious, that the proportion of male to female emigrants is very great. Mr. Godwin does not, to be sure, say, that all who emigrate are in the flower of their lives, or that half of them are females just ready to commence breeding ; but the passage is so worded as to convey the idea ; and this being so, and taking a table constructed by Mr. Booth as a guide, the reader is called upon to believe, that the 165,000 persons, supposed by Mr. Godwin to have emi- grated annually, from 1790 to 1810, may be re- duced to 80,000 or 90,000, and, of course, that the 276,000, from 1810 to 1820, may also be re- duced to 140,000, or 150,000 annually. This is any thing but reasoning. The hypothesis is equally fanciful and absurd. Mr. Godwin says, *' I have received an offi- cial account fiom Ireland, of the number of * Reply, p. 401. TO THE UNITED STATES. 57 persons who emigrated from this country to North America in three years, ending 5th January, 1819. The total stands thus : Number of persons emigrating from Dublin 6,6-^5 from Ireland generally... 35,633 Total 42,278 Is there no chance that the persons actually emigrating^ should even have exceeded the number officially reported under that head ?"* In the first place, it may be necessary to re- mark, that no report is made under " that heady'' that is, as emigrants ; the return is simply as to passengers, and whether he be an emigrant, a merchant, or a traveller, he is a passenger. In the second place, it is hardly possible, as we shall see, when we come to speak of the laws on this subject, that any considerable number of pas- sengers should be omitted in the return. In the third place, it does not appear, from JNIr. Godwin's statement, how many were emigrants to Canada ; and it is very probable, that a general return, such as Mr. Godwin speaks of, included also the West Indies, as the Irish accounts for North America usually do. In the fourth place, it does not appear what Mr. Godwin means by an official return. In the official return made to Parliament, it appears, that in the three years to which Mr. Godwin refers, and they were years of comparatively very large * Reply, 1). 111. 58 EMIGRATION emigration, the total number of ships for the three years, was 321 j of tons, 81,098 ; of passen- gers, 14,239, cleared out of all the ports of Ire- land, for the United States of North America ; while the average of passengers for the last ten years, is 3,065 annually, instead of 14,092 an- nually, as Mr. Godwin's statement might lead us to believe. Mr. Newenham remarks, that, " if we said that during the fifty last years of the last century the average annual emigration to America, and the West Indies, (for a considerable number went to the West Indies,) amounted to about 4000, I am disposed to think, we should rather fall short of, than exceed the truth." * And even this must be taken to include the Canadas. Mr. Newenham represents the years 1771, 177^, 1773, as years when emigration was carried to a great extent from the North of Ireland, and the «* annual average is stated at 9,533 ;"t but how many went to Canada, how many to the United States, and how many to the West Indies, does not appear. Mr. Wakefield, who had access to the official documents, doubts the correctness of Mr. Newen- ham's statement. He says, ** that considerable emigrations may have taken place, in some years, I do not mean to controvert, but they w^ere not annually to such an extent ; and from all the ac- counts I have been able to collect, they have now * Enquiry respecting the Population of Ireland, p. 60. t lb. 59. TO THE UNITED STATES. 59 (1811) almost ceased, as will appear from the fol- lowing list." * A list is then given of the names of all the vessels which cleared out of all the ports of Ire- land, their tonnage, and number of passengers in each, and the day on which they cleared for any port in the United States of America, between the 5th of March, 1806, and the 1st of June, 1811, inclusive. By this list it appears, that. In 1806 the number of passengers was 192 1807 304 1808 113 1809 126 1810 45 In 1811 emigration increased with great rapidity. Mr. Wakefield's account comes down to the 1st of June + only, by which time a return had been made of 628 passengers, who had embarked, and the official return, which will be noticed pre- sently, shows that the number of emigrants in that year was a considerable number. In 1818 was published at Philadelphia a very valuable work, under the title of " Statistical An- nals of the United States of North America, founded on Official Documents t from the 4th March 1789 to 20th April 1818, by Adam Seybert, M. D., * Wakefield's Account of Ireland, vol. ii. p. 712. f It should be observed, that emigration to North America is confined almost wholly to the summer. ,t. This work was compiled under the sanction of the Amer- ican Government, " by an act passed on the 20th April, 1818. The Secretary of State is directed to subscribe for, and to receive, for the disposal of Congress, 500 copies of the ()() ]::M] ORATION Deputy to Congress from Pennsylvania, and Member of several Scientific Societies." The second section treats of emigration. The compiler says, " It is not his intention to establish any theory of population, but to deter- mine as much as possible from facts, leaving the s])eculative philosopher to draw his own conclu- sions, and to contend with .Wallace, Davenant, Petty, Hume, Price, Malthus, and other political economists.'* *' It is," he says, " believed that the population of the United States has been much augmented by the emigrants from Europe : there are no authentic documents on the subject, and we can only estimate the increase we have thus acquired. Emigrants come pr'mcipallij from Great Britahi, Irelandy and Germany; hut fe^tjc from other countries. In 1794', Statistical Annals purposed to be published by Adam Seybert of Philadelphia." On the 23d Jan. 1819, it was " Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled, that the Secretary of State cause to be distributed one copy of Seybert's Statistical Annals to the Pre- sident of the United States ; to the Vice-President of the United States, and to the Executive of each State and Terri- tory, one copy ; two copies for the use of each of the depart- ments, viz. State, Treasury, War, and Navy; one copy for the use of the Attorney-General of the United States ; and one copy to each member and delegate of the fifteenth Congress ; and one copy to each College and University in the United States, if applied for by such College or University ; and the residue of the 500 copies of the Annals aforesaid shall be de- posited in the Library of Congress, for the use of the members." TO THE UNITED STATES. (U Mr. Cooper estimated tliem at 10,000. In 180(5, Mr. Blodget said, from tlie best records and estimates at present attainable, they did not average more than 4000 per annum for the ten preceding years. In 179 i^, the people in Great Britain were very much disposed to come to the United States, but this current was soon checked by the acts of the British Government.** '* Though we admit that 10,000 foreigners might have arrived in the United States in 1794, we cannot allow that they did so hi an equal number in any preceding or subsequent year until I8I7.** Dr. Seybert enumerates several causes which prevented emigration from this country to the United States ; among others, the custom of im- pressing men found on board ships leaving this country, which was, as I know, a common practice. In I8I7, one of the great years of emigration to the United States, when many causes, both here and in other European States, induced people to leave their native countries, it appears, that the arrivals from all parts of the world in the ten principal ports of the United States, and they are almost all the ports at which emigrants arrive, were !22,'210. *' The returns were obtained from the records of the Custom Houses, except Charlestown, which was made from the report of the Harbour Master. They include all passengers, citizens, and aliens, who arrived in the ports enumerated.** C)^ AMERICAN LAW The number of persons who went on business must have been very great. Many from the West Indies, for instance, many from the Canadas, may also be supposed to be of this description, and some probably made several voyages during the year. Dr. Seybert concludes that (iOOO settlers per annum^ from 1790 ^0 1810, w«5 the utmost the United States could have received. By an act of the 15th Congress of the United States, dated March 2, 1819, chap. 4G. sect. iv. and V. it is ordered, That every captain or master of every ship or vessel arriving in any port of the United States, or the territories thereof, shall, when he reports his vessel to the proper officer, deliver a list, which shall contain, 1. An accurate account of every passenger taken on board his ship or vessel in any foreign port or place. 2. Every such list must contain the age, sex, and occupation of every passenger. 3. The country to which they severally belong. 4. The country in which they purpose to settle. 5. The number, if any, of those who died on the voyage. 6. The list shall be sworn to by the master, under the same penalties for neglect or refusal, and the same disabilities and forfeitures, as are provided for a refusal or neglect to report and deliver a manifest of the cargo. 7. The collectors of the customs must deliver. RELATiyG TO IMMIGRANTS. 63 every quartei' of a year, the lists received to the Secretary of State, who must lay them before Congress in every session. In the National Calendar for the year 1821, a list is given of the number, sex, and occupation of the passengers who arrived in the different ports of the United States from the 30th Sept. 1819, to the 30th Sept. 1820 ; and by this list it appears that the total number of persons, exclusive of the crews of the vessels, was 7j001 ' of which, 1,9*59 were females^ and 5,042 were males. The ages are not given, nor the countries whence they came ; except that " they are chiefly from Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, and France. Many belonged to the United States, and were returning home, which has tended to swell the number under the class of merchants, which appears to be 938. A very few have stated their residence to be but tem- porary j and there are some who appear to be merely passing to and from Canada." The list contains an account of all who came. There are in it, two ambassadors, four consuls, one governess, one steward, one judge, one nurse : these are pro- bably among those whose intended residence was declared to be temporary. There is no account of the number of persons who at any time left the United States : yet the number must have been considerable. " The question between us,'* says Mr. Godwin, " is the cause of the increase. Mr. Malthus says it has been repeatedly ascertained to be from pro- creation only. I SAY the cause is emigration." * * Reply, p. 4-39. ()4< BRITISH LAWS The American evidence which has been adduced proves the absurdity of Mr. Godwin's assertion, and is decisive of the question against him. Having shown, from the American evidence, tlie insignificance of tlie immigration to the rapid increase of the popuhition in the United States, the next enquiry shall be as to what better evidence the British accounts furnish to support Mr. God- win's assertion. By the act 43 G. 3. c. 56. British vessels are allowed to carry, includiiig the crew, one person for every two tofis, hy measurement of such part of the vessel as may remain unladen. Foreign vessels one person for fve tons only. No vessel can be cleared, unless a muster-roll, containing the name, age, sex, &c. of every person on board, has been delivered to the officer of the customs. The penalties under this act are quite sufficient to ensure its strict observance. 50/. per head for any person above the number allowed. 50/. for each omission in the roll. 500/. for taking any person on board at a place where there is no custom-house. Vessels may be overhauled by a magistrate in port, and by ships of war at sea, and may be seized and detained until the penalties are paid, or se- curity to pay them given. Every vessel having fifty persons on board must take a qualified surgeon, a medicine chest, and must conform to other regulations. By 57 G. 3. c. 10. British ships clearing out RELATING TO EMIGRANTS. 65 for the Canadas are allowed to have on board one adult, or three children under fourteen years of age, for every ton and a half of the unladen part of the ship. But every vessel clearing out for the Canadas must give a bond, in the penalty of 500/., to land the passengers at the port to which the ship cleared, and nowhere else. On arrival at the port, the list of passengers is to be delivered to the gov- ernor of the port, who is to cause the passengers to be examined and compared with the list. No passenger must be allowed to land until the list and passengers have been compared by the proper officer ; nor can the bond be cancelled until it has been done. It would be mere waste of time to attempt showing that an accurate account must be given of all persons on board ships leaving the country, and indeed every body at all connected with ship- ping knows that such an accoinit is given. The substance of the official accounts laid before Parliament, of the number of ships, British and Foreign, cleared out from all the ports of Great Britain and Ireland, their tonnage, and the number of passengers, is exhibited in the following tables. ()(i NUMBER OF EMIGRAlfTS Table I. Of the number of Ships cleared out, from all the Ports of Great Britairt and Ireland, for the United States of North America. The amount of their Tonnage, and the number of Passengers, from the official returns laid before Parliament, for the following years : viz. England. Ireland. Scotland. Totals ■ Years. Years. Ships. Tons. Passengers. Ships 1811. Tons Passengers 395 111,653 1,095 90 25,529 5,881 No Account. 485 566 70 9 499 625 707 722 492 625 137,182 102,878 19,247 2,711 166,133 199,825 194,739 200,486 145,344 166,568 6,976 5,661 260 32 3;850 11,052 9,657 14,259 10,500 6,714 i 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1812. S 293 82,339 936 64 18,176 4,562 9 2,363 163 T P 1813. S.... 70 19,247 260 None. None. T... P 1814. S 9 2,711 32 None. None. T P 1815. S 440 151,317 1,774 57 8,840 1,733 22 5,976 338 T P 1816. S 455 159,891 3,255 131 31,089 6,895 39 8,845 902 T P.... 1817. S 574 161,009 5,657 87 21,676 3,244 46 12,054 776 T. P 1818. S T 569 159,899 9,015 386 117,140 7,350 105 28,333 4,100 50 12,254 1,144 P 1819. S 71 19,161 2,513 55 9,045 637 T P 1820. Ships Tons Passengers 54V) 144,836 4,254 51 13,884 1,720 29 7,848 740 Totals: 10 years Eng and& IreU ind. — 9 ye irs Scotland. 4,600 1,335,113 68,961 FROM GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 67 Table II. Showing the total number of Ships cleared outwards, from all the ports of England andlreland, in the ten Years, ending 31st December, 1820; and from Scotland in the nine Years, ending 31st December, 1820. The amount of their Ton- nage, and the number of Passengers, from each country, separately and collectively. England Ireland Scotland Ships. Tons. Passengers. 3,756 1,110,042 53,608 634 166,688 30,653 230 58,583 4,700 Totals 4,600 1 1,335,113 1 68,961 Table III. Showing the Annual average, deduced from Table 11. and also the proportion of Passengers to each Ship, and the number of Tons to each Passenger. England... Ireland ... Scotland... Ships. Tons. Passengers. Passengers. 1 573 63 26 1 1 1 ,004 16,688 6,487 3,560 3,065 522 1 to' 33 tons 1 to 5| do. 1 to I2i do. 9 to a Ship. 49 do. 20 do. Totals 462 134,179 6,947 1 to 19 do. 15 do. 1 The returns to Parliament include natives re- turning home, merchants, clerks, and other men of business, travellers and others, as well as settlers. No accounts can be obtained of those who left the United States and returned home; or of those who entered into the service of the South American States: of those who went to Canada and all other parts of the world; or of those who were killed in the late war; yet the number must have been very great, and the loss, upon the whole, much greater than the number received by the United States from the Canadas. If, however, the numbers be F 2 (is DESERTERS FROM THE KRITISIT ARMY ' considered equal, some allowance made for de- fective returns from some of the ports in Ireland, and the number of actual emigrants to be taken at six thousand per annum, it will surely be stating the number sufficiently high. If to this number be added two thousand per annum from the rest of Europe, it will make tiie total number of settlers eight thousand per annum. Let us, however, sup- pose that America has received eight thousand settlers annually for the last twenty-five years, which assuredly she has not, and to these let us add tlie number of deserters from the British armv, in Canada and in the United States during the late war, to which Mr. Godwin has referred. The means of estimating the utmost possible amount of the settlers obtained from this source is also within our reach. An account is annually made up at the War Office, and regidarly laid before Parliament, of casualties, deaths, and desertions, in the whole army, abroad and at home, including the militia. By these accounts it appears that " the number of desertions Vvas, In 1812 at home ... 3,409 abroad 2,509 . 1813 -3,233 2,589 1814 3,477 5,380 1815 3,374 4,029." The desertions at home appear to have been nearly the same in each of the four years ; those abroad differed very little in 1812 and 1813 ; but, in 1814^ the number was rather more than doubled : it was during this year and the early part of 1815, that the great desertions from the armies in North America took place. If, then, we take the lowest IN THE UNITED STATES. 69 number, that of 1812, as a standard, it will appear that, in the three subsequent years, the number of deserters was increased as follows : viz. in 1813 by 89 1814 by 2,871 1815 by 1,520 Total... 4, 4-80 If we suppose every man of them to have settled in the United States, the annual average, for the last twenty-five years, will only be increased by 180. But it will be an increase of the unproductive class as to procreation, the whole number being men, and none of them breeding women. If these be added to the eight thousand before-mentioned, the total annual number of new settlers will be eight thousand one hundred and eighty. Eight thousand settlers per annum, for the last twenty-five years, or for any previous number of years, is a much larger number than America received ; but there is still room enough for a more ample allowance, and, to put the matter beyond dispute, I will take it at ' ten thousand ; and, notwithstanding Mr. Godwin says the native part of the population in the United States is decreasing, and that, including the emi- grants, population, so far as it depends upon pro- creation, is at a stand, I will sup})ose that the immigrant population has doubled from ])rocrcation during those twenty-five years. Taking, then, an annual immigration of ten thousand for twenty-five successive years, and allowing them to double their numbers in the same space of time, the account will stand as in the following table : — F 3 70 NUMBER OF EMIGRANTS A Table, showing the Proportionate Licrease of 10,000 Emigrants annually for 25 years, from 179(3 to 1821, the period of their doubling by Procreation being also 25 years. „ Number of Emigrants Number of Emigrants and their ' " in each Year. Increase at the Close of 1820^ 1796 10,000 20,000 1797 10,000 19,453 1798 10,000 18,921 1799 10,000 18,404 1800 10,000 17,900 1801 10,000 17,411 1802 10,000 16,935 1803 10,000 16,471 1804 10,000 16,021 1805 10,000 15,583 1806 10,000 15,157 1807 10,000 14,744 1808 10,000 14,339 1809 10,000 13,947 1810 10,000 13,566 1811 10,000 13,195 1812 10,000 12,834 1813 10,000 12,483 1814 10,000 12,142 1815 10,000 11,810 1816 10,000 11,487 1817 10,000 11,173 1818 10,000 10,867 1819 10,000 10,570 1820 10,000 10,281 Total of Emigrants...250,000 With Increase...365,694 The Population of the United States in 1800 w^as 5,309,758 in 1790 it was ... 3,929,326 Showing an Increase of 1,380,432 AND THEIR INCREASE. 71 If this increase be divided by two, and the half be added to the amount of the population of 1790, itwillgive for the population, in 1795, — 4,619,542.* If this be doubled in the ensuing twenty -five years, the amount of the population, in 1820, will be 9,239*084 ; and, if to this number be added the emigrants and their increase, as per the preceding table, the total population will be 9,604,778, half a million, probably, less than the amount of the census now taking.! Had the emigrants and their increase been nearly three times the number they have been assumed, for the purpose of illustration, to be, still the population would have doubled its number by *' procreation only '* since 1795, without any aid from emigration, or any increase of people from increase of territory, t * In allowing half the increase for the first half of the ten years, from 1790 to 1800, more is conceded than an accurate calculation would warrant ; but greater precision is not neces- sary. f March, 1821. ^ Sec Appendix, No. I. F 4 Tl CHAPTER III. OF THE POPULATION IN THE UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA. SECTION II. INCREASE OF PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES FROM PROCRE- ATION. EXAMPLES IN THE PARISH OF HENGHAM. AT PORTSMOUTH. VALUE OF LIFE IN THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OF THE UNITED STATES. — IN SWEDEN. COMPARED. PROOFS OF A VERY RAPID INCREASE OF PEOPLE FROM PROCREATION IN THE UNITED STATES, FROM MR. GODWIN'S DATA. JjiNOUGH has been sakl to establish the fact, that the population in the United States of North America has doubled in periods short of twenty-five years, from procreation ; and that immigration has, for a long period, been of comparatively small conse- quence. And here, repeating Mr. Godwin's words, " the argument might be closed.'* But Mr. God- win lays much stress on the arguments he has used in his succeeding chapters, and if these were left un- noticed, it might be objected that they could not be refuted. The subject is also of too much importance to the welfare of the human race to justify any one who interferes with it, in leaving any part of it in doubt or obscurity, which he has the means of elucidatmg In what follows, it will be seen that Mr. Godwin has proved his cafl