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rating i * Jbanded , applies als& to man in the sinrplest and most elementary of his relations , and respects only the wants inseparable from his being . It
is as follows : —•* There is a constant tendency iri the human species to increase much faster than the means of subsistence : it is this tendency which
produces want with all its attendant evils ; if , therefore , we contribute to keep tho « e alive who do not support themselves , we encourage a population for which nature has not provided / ' Now , is it not manifest that
if the principle on which this argument is founded be true , it must include all those who do not labour with their own h ^ nds or intellects for the produce which they and their
families consume ? Does it not go tb « s far , that the constitution of that society is radically vicious which suffers any class toevist who live merely < to enjoy ? Does it not further establish that to allow such a class , not
merely to live but to consume in their luxuries , a proportion of labour and of produce which would support the existence of manv , is extreme folly and injustice ? Does it not argue that to submit to the stateliness and
luxuries of the rich is a thousand tii » es more impolitic than to contribute to the bare subsistence of the poor ? The true question to be first decided on this subject is , whether the earth is adequate merely to the subsistence of that r-aoe for whose use it was
intended . If it is sufficient for life aJone , when cultivated by all , there is no room , for any to exist who do not labour- , and chanty to one who is incapable of providing for himself , is injustice to all . But then if we Cannot afford charity , still less can we
afford pomp . If we cannot keep any beings , incapable of earning a subsistence , in the mere necessaries of We , far less can we consistently with the laws of nature , allow whole classes to remain in possession of superfluous Enjoyments . If we are reduced so low by «« the grinding Jaw of
neeeswty » " how oppressive a usurpation is * H property , and rank , and power , *? Mch not only take a share of our * canty pittance without contributing * ° increase it , but consume that produce in mere superfluities which fli ght support immortal beings , wtoo , for ttttoti or ito aid , arc prevented from
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coming into existence i On this suppositiou , the trappings of royalty and the luxuries of the great are actually purchased at the expense of life < a privilege of which , in this world , we can form no adequate idea . All that
deliarhts and blesses us here nn&Ht delights and blesses us here ought then to be immediately forsaken . Government , nobility , property itself * must cease . To all the " sweet courtesies which this brief world affords , " w « must bid an eternal adieu . As
nature has barely supplied us with the means of living , we must cease to think of enjoying . All that is sweet and cherishing must be resigned , and the world relapse into the barbarism of the earliest times .
But the priuciple is unfounded . The experience of ages , nay , the slightest glance at society , must convince us that the human species is provided with more , far more , of nature ' s abundance than is requisite
merely to preserve it . " The basest beggars are in the poorest thing superfluous . " The labour and ingenuity of man exerted on the productions of the earth , produce a thousand artificial luxuries . Man can afford to
give to the social state not merely solidity and strength , but grace , elegance , and faiT proportion . We do not estimate our needs as though they depended on our physical appetites alone .
We have hope and love , imagination a » d affections , and consequently require objects to revere , to deligfit in , and to pity . These the inequalities © f society supply . An hereditary race of nobiUt \\ with its old halls and
magnificent domains , is not only politically but morally useful . It binds past times to present , keeps alive the remembrance of great virtues « nd heroic deeds , and excite * the best feelings of a peasantry , attached ev » en with a child-like love to tfeeir native
soil . Every tank of ^© cwty assists awd supports the other , and feelps to maintain that state of reciprocal obligation which is adapted in ne towctffisfljr the heart of man than the mere nreceeN enties of his body , if tine lower orders contribute their labour to affivd
krxwries to tire higher , these in their * ui * n » fay their v « ry pageantry and pomp , increase the enjoyments of the f > o © r . In such a ^ fate xrf thfrrgs , tire inquiry whether each wam lias flatooxired for
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On the Si / stein of Multhus . 661
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1817, page 661, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2470/page/21/
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