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however, when plunged into this destitution and distress, from which it appears they are by no means to be relieved, his last appearance would be as a minister of mercy.

(17) But much, and a very unfair use, is made of the expression, "marrying without a fair prospect of supporting their children1:" let us, therefore, examine, for a moment, its signification, which, it is to be regretted, has not, on a point of such extreme concernment, been more clearly defined. It will be found, however, that the omission is, to all intents and purposes, immaterial. But to gather, as well as we may, what is meant by this "fair prospect." There is not, it may be affirmed, one marriage in ten celebrated throughout the entire country, in which the parties could make out, to the satisfaction of our anti-populationists, this fair prospect of a livelihood for themselves, and probable families, under the various circumstances that may possibly befal them, so as to render them, through life, independent of assistance. Indeed, who, among the working classes, on their entrance into active life, could do so? Necessity, in every such case, is the mother of industry, as well as of invention. In possession of youth, and health, and strength, with industrious intentions, confiding in each other and in Providence; aye, and if it must be so expressed, "disgracefully relying" upon their country, if any unforeseen affliction or privation await them, (a reliance which I do not perceive is reckoned disgraceful, if it exist in a higher sphere,) the humble and affectionate couple fulfil the design of their Creator, and taste the only unpolluted pleasures which are accessible to a life of labour and poverty, and for which there are, as it respects them at least,

1 1 Malthus, Essay on Population, p. 538.

no substitutes; the pleasures of mutual care and affection. The custom of their country and its institutions, as one of their own class, Bloomfield, beautifully sings, Give love and honest industry their way,

And cheer the sunshine of life's little day.

And if those institutions did otherwise, if they effectually discouraged their marriages, and deserted them in their distresses, with that "dependent poverty," which, Mr. Malthus says, ought to be held disgraceful, would be driven out of the country, as Addison has well observed, its trade, its arts, and its wealth.

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(18) But one of the most singular circumstances attending this cruel proposition is this, that though so much stress is laid upon the necessity of deserting those who have married without this "fair prospect,' still, not the least advantage is held out in behalf of those who have married with it, and who may subsequently fall into unforeseen misfortune, a case which the most inveterate theorist will not have the face to deny is possible, and even frequent. In the destruction of the national charity, no reservation is to be made for these, so that the accusation against those who are said to contract improvident marriages is made the apology for deserting the entire class. It is idle to say, that private benevolence would amply supply the loss of the public provision, as it respects the sufferers under consideration. Private benevolence, under the successful pupilage of a system which teaches that the evils endured are traceable to the principle of population; that a man whose labour is not wanted has no business to be where he is; that even the sick and the impotent ought to have no claim to relief, it is not likely would be very eager to extend assistance to those, who, in a family which they were incapacitated to maintain, presented so many

living proofs of their criminality, according to political economy, proofs, the effect of which it would be hard indeed for the poor victims of misfortune to efface. Indeed, under such a system, the attempt would, in most instances, be hopeless.

(19) Much might be added, as to the dreadful effects of abrogating the national charity; the cruelty and suffering such a measure would inevitably occasion, especially in a country like this, where the population is so dense, and the nature and demand of labour so varied and fluctuating. The injury the lower classes must individually sustain by the spread of the "preventive check" among them will be shortly adverted to in the next chapter; in the mean time, I think it cannot but be acknowledged, that a system which only prescribes to the rich that they should reform their drawing-room etiquette, but which demands, as it regards the poor, the surrender of their natural, moral, and legal right to sustentation in their distresses, is, in the highest possible degree, partial and unjust.

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CHAPTER XX.

ON THE PREVENTIVE CHECK: ITS CRUELTY.

(1) THE injustice and partiality of the preventive check, in enforcing its restraints, penally, upon the lowest rank of society only, has been already shewn; the peculiar severity with which its inflictions would be felt by that class, compared with the higher ones, has also been adverted to; but the latter fact demands, from its great importance, more particular consideration.

(2) Without contending, or believing, that the happiness which the marriage state confers can, in whatever condition of life, be, generally speaking, supplied from any other source; still, a moment's consideration will suffice to convince us, that when inhibited to poverty, it implies an incomparably greater injury than it would if denied to wealth; one indeed, which, in every subsequent stage of life, is totally irreparable. The condition of affluence, which voluntarily foregoes the connubial state, makes no sacrifice; its animal gratifications are the reverse of being surrendered; on the contrary, it is their corrupt indulgence, probably, which has quenched those sensibilities, which render the natural and permanent connection marriage requires, desirable. Meantime, it possesses means, potent to command all the pleasures of life, and all those personal attentions, which the condition we are considering universally enjoys.

(3) But let the advocates for imposing this yoke upon the poor, behold the consequences with which

their attempt is justly chargeable. To a labouring man of whatever pursuit, the wife is at once his solace; his assistant; his companion; his nurse; nay even, his servant. Imagine the projected change to have taken place, and then trace one of your poor victims of the preventive check through life, and which of its stages is not cheerless and wretched in the highest degree? See him retiring from his daily toil, to a dismal hut, where all must be confusion and uncleanliness; where, weary as he is, he must renew his exertions, in order to prepare his meal, which he must take in comfortless solitude. But I will pass over the misery of a state like this, without a companion or an assistant, in order to advert to another. See this man smitten with disease, and writhing under personal suffering; a state to which his labours render him peculiarly liable, and what then is his condition? without any to "make all his bed in his sickness," to soothe his sufferings and administer to his pressing necessities, "to preserve him and to keep him alive," or, if it so please Providence, to console his dying hour with the tears of sorrowful affection, and the certainty of a fond and faithful remembrance; instead of this, I say, he must suffer unassisted and unpitied; like a stricken beast, which, deserted by its kind, retires to his lair and expires in solitude and destitution. Will the political economists supply the place of those affectionate attentions which their system demands that the poor man should surrender? The idea is ridiculous! As it respects the poor of the other sex, the imposition of the preventive check would, if possible, render those who were its victims still more forlorn and it is needless to state, that to dictate its observance in a certain degree to the males, would imply its existence in an equal extent among

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