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    be proportionably less , as man has realized more , but they rest on no better foundation . For while a nation remains unexplored , or even a track of land unimproved by culture , no greater obstacle can exist to filling it with a

    healthy and intelligent population , than did exist iu the earliest ages of the world . As long as mere space remains , and man retains his original powers , there can be no other bar to his exertions in extending the boundaries of human habitation , and

    consequently increasing the family of man , than the first settlers of the earth had to contend with . Nay , more ; the prospect of ameliorating the human condition , of bringing distant wastes into culture , of embellishing savage lands with the arts , the virtues

    and the charities of life , is much fairer mow than at any former period . The wonders now accomplished by machinery and the division of labour would have been regarded in darker times as the effects of magic- And all the power derived from knowledge is ,

    from its very nature , progressive . In the fine arts , indeed , in all that depends on high imagination , deep feeling and intuitive power , former times may well surpass- us . But , in practical science , each , improvement is a step

    to another ; every new power brought into action , operates not only in facilitating the operations in which it is employed , but in furnishing new materials for thought and fresh means of inquiry . Thus the improvement of the world , as far as relates to

    inanimate matter , may proceed almost in a geometrical ratio . And if so much has already been done in peopling and adorning it with so far scantier means , how much more is to be expected with materials so improved and perpetually enlarging ?

    Indeed , a view of the present state of the globe might at once convince us that a far larger population is yet to be reared on it . Surely he who has made nothing in vain , has not destined mighty tracts of the most luxuriant part of the world to be for ever deserted . , He has not intended

    its spicy groves , delicious regions covered with eternal green , sweet spots lying calmly on the breast of crystal waters , harvests , that rise spontaneously and bask in unclouded sunshine , to delight the imagination

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    alone . Till the earthb £ " replenished and subdued , " the command and the blessing "be fruitful and multiply , " must continue . If universal peace , if purity of manners , ' if the growth of the humanities and the affections of

    life , should favour increasing population , there is yet room for them at nature ' s table . Not only the earth , but the sea , contains inconceivable stores of food , perpetuated without

    expense or toil . At present , indeed , the fisheries , from temporary causes , produce little ; but it cannot be supposed that such stupendous resources were altogether bestowed on us in vain . Were it not for our artificial

    w ants and enervating luxuries , the cup of our blessings would be , not only full to the brim , but running

    over . But it may still be said , that a time must come , when all the resources of nature shall be inadequate to supply a population still increasing ; when the stores of earth and sea will admit

    of no further enlargement or discovery , and when , consequently , without inevitable misery , the numbers of man can increase no longer . Supposing this to be the case , it can furnish no reason for remaining in our present condition , for not approaching as nearly as possible to the highest conceivable state of human bliss , for

    repressing the immense accessions of life , of virtue and of happiness , which must be produced in the ages which will precede this great consummation . Besides , the argument of the objector confutes itself . That glorious period can never arrive till wars shall be no

    more , till knowledge shall have become universal , and till man is raised in the scale of created being . The vices which prevent the increase of our species , and those which tend to destroy it , must have been nearly banished from the world . Earth must

    have become , as Eden once was , the garden of the Lord . In thia state of things , is it too much to expect that passion will be subdued ; that mind , if not omnipotent over matter , will have the chief rule : and that man

    will be able to adapt his desires to his condition ? Indeed , the very virtue ^ which have occasioned the increase of man to the highest beneficial extent , will repress it , wheji it i& no longe * needfuL

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    534 , On the System of Malthus .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1817, page 534, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2468/page/22/