Ontheonehand，’itisoftheveryutmostimportancetothehappinessofmankindthattheyshouldnotincreasetoofast’40but，ontheotherhand，ifthefissionwereweakened，themotiveswhichmakeamanindustriousandcapableofprogresswouldbediminishedalso。Itwould，ofcourse，besimplertoomitthe’teleology’；tosaythatsanitaryregulationsaremadenecessarybytheplague，notthattheplagueisdivinelyappointedtoencouragesanitaryregulations。MalthusisatthepointofviewofPaleywhichbecomesDarwinismwheninverted；buttheconclusionismuchthesame。
　　Hereacheselsewhere，infact，amorepreciseviewofthevalueofthe’moralrestraint。’Inachapterdevotedforoncetoanidealstateofthings，41heshowshowaracethoroughlyimbuedwiththatdoctrinewouldreconcilethedemandsofthetwoinstincts。Populationwouldinthatcaseincrease，but，insteadofbeginningbyanincrease，itwouldbeginbyprovidingthemeansofsupporting。Nomanwouldbecomeafatheruntilhehadseenhiswaytoprovideforafamily。Theinstinctwhichleadstoincreasingthepopulationwouldthusbeintrinsicallyaspowerfulasitnowis；butwhenregulatedbyprudenceitwouldimpelmankindtobeginattherightend。
　　Foodwouldbereadybeforemouthstoeatit。
　　IV。SOCIALREMEDIES
　　ThisfinalsolutionappearsinMalthus’sproposedremediesfortheevilsofthetime。Malthus42declaresthat’anincreaseofpopulationwhenitfollowsinitsnaturalorderisbothagreatpositivegoodinitself，andabsolutelynecessary’
　　toanincreaseofwealth。Thisnaturalorderfallsin，asheobserves，withtheviewtowhichMirabeauhadbeenconverted，that’revenuewasthesourceofpopulation，’andnotpopulationofrevenue。43Malthusholdsspecificallythat，’inthecourseofsomecenturies，’thepopulationofEnglandmightbedoubledortrebled，andyeteverymanbe’muchbetterfedandclothedthanheisatpresent。’44HepartscompanywithPaley，whohadconsideredtheidealstatetobe’thatofalaboriousfrugalpeopleministeringtothedemandsofanopulentluxuriousnation。’45That，saysMalthus，is’notaninvitingprospect。’Nothingbutaconvictionofabsolutenecessitycouldreconcileustothe’thoughtoftenmillionsofpeoplecondemnedtoincessanttoil，andtotheprivationofeverythingbutabsolutenecessaries，inordertoministertotheexcessiveluxuriesoftheothermillion。’Buthedeniesthatanysuchnecessityexists。Hewishespreciselytoseeluxuryspreadamongthepoorerclasses。Adesireforsuchluxuryisthebestofallcheckstopopulation，andoneofthebestmeansofraisingthestandard。Itwould，infact，contributetohis’moralrestraint。’So，too，heheartilycondemnsthehypocrisyoftherich，whoprofessedabenevolentdesiretobetterthepoor，andyetcomplainedofhighwages。46If，hesayselsewhere，47acountrycan’onlyberichbyrunningasuccessfulraceforlowwages，Ishouldbedisposedtosay，Perishsuchriches！’Noone，infact，couldseemoredistinctlythanMalthusthedemoralisinginfluenceofpoverty，andthesurpassingimportanceofraisingthepeoplefromtheterriblegulfofpauperism。
　　HereferstoColquhoun’saccountofthetwentythousandpeoplewhoroseeverymorninginLondonwithoutknowinghowtheyweretobesupported；
　　andobservesthat’whenindigencedoesnotproduceovertactsofvice，itpalsieseveryvirtue。’48Thetemptationstowhichthepoormanisexposed，andthesenseofinjusticeduetoanignoranceofthetruecauseofmisery，tendto’sourthedisposition，tohardentheheart，anddeadenthemoralsense。’Unfortunately，themeanswhichhavebeenadoptedtolessentheevilhavetendedtoincreaseit。Inthefirstplace，therewasthemaster-evilofthepoor-laws。Malthuspointsoutthedemoralisingeffectsoftheselawsinchaptersfullofadmirablecommonsense，whichhewasunfortunatelyabletoenforcebyfreshillustrationsinsuccessiveeditions。Heattendssimplytothestimulustopopulation。Hethinksthatifthelawshadneverexisted，thepoorwouldnowhavebeenmuchbetteroff。49Ifthelawshadbeenfullycarriedout，everylabourermighthavebeencertainthatallhischildrenwouldbesupported，or，inotherwords，everychecktopopulationwouldhavebeenremoved。50Happily，thebecomingprideoftheEnglishpeasantrywasnotquiteextinct；
　　andthepoor-lawhadtosomeextentcounteracteditself，ortakenawaywithonehandwhatitgavewiththeother，byplacingtheburthenupontheparishes。51Thuslandlordshavebeenmoredisposedtopulldownthantobuildcottages，andmarriagehasbeenchecked。Onthewhole，however，Malthuscouldseeinthepoor-lawsnothingbutavastagencyfordemoralisingthepoor，temperedbyasystemofpettytyrannicalinterference。
　　Heproposes，therefore，thatthepoor-lawshouldbeabolished。Noticeshouldbegiventhatnochildrenbornafteracertaindayshouldbeentitledtoparishhelp；and，ashequaintlysuggests，theclergymanmightexplaintoeverycouple，afterpublishingthebanns，theimmoralityofrecklessmarriage，andthereasonsforabolishingasystemwhichhadbeenprovedtofrustratetheintentionsofthefounders。52Privatecharity，hethinks，wouldmeetthedistresswhichmightafterwardsarise，thoughhumanityimperiouslyrequiresthatitshouldbe’sparinglyadministered。’
　　Uponthisdutyhewritesasensiblechapter。53TohisnegativeproposalsMalthusaddsafewofthepositivekind。Heisstronglyinfavourofanationalsystemofeducation，andspeakswithcontemptofthe’illiberalandfeeble’argumentsopposedtoit。Theschools，heobserves，mightconfer’analmostincalculablebenefit’uponsociety，iftheytaught’afewofthesimplestprinciplesofpoliticaleconomy。’54Hehadbeendisheartenedbytheprejudicesoftheignorantlabourer，andfelttheincompatibilityofafreegovernmentwithsuchignorance。Arealeducation，suchaswasgiveninScotland，wouldmakethepoornot，asalarmistshadsuggested，moreinflammable，butbetterabletodetectthesophistryofdemagogues。55Heis，ofcourse，infavourofsavingsbanks，56andapprovesfriendlysocieties，thoughheisstronglyopposedtomakingthemcompulsory，astheywouldthenbethepoor-lawinanewform。57Thevalueofeveryimprovementturnsuponitseffectinencouragingthe’moralrestraint。’
　　Malthus’sultimatecriterionisalways，willthemeasuremakepeopleaversetoprematuremarriage?Hereachestheapparentlyinconsistentresultthatitmightbedesirabletomakeanallowanceforeverychildbeyondsix。58Butthisisonthehypothesisthatthe’moralrestraint’hascometobesohabitualthatnomanmarriesuntilhehasafairprospectofmaintainingafamilyofsix。Ifthiswerethepracticalcode，theallowanceincaseswheretheexpectationwasdisappointedwouldnotactasanencouragementtomarriage，butasareliefunderaburthenwhichcouldnothavebeenanticipated。ThusallMalthus’steachingmaybesaidtoconvergeuponthispracticalpoint。Addtothetencommandmentsthenewlaw，’thoushaltnotmarryuntilthereisafairprospectofsupportingsixchildren。’Thenpopulationwillincrease，butsufficientmeansforsubsistencewillalwaysbeprovidedbeforehand。Weshallmakesurethatthereisaprovisionforadditionalnumbersbefore，notafter，weaddtoournumbers。Foodfirstandpopulationafterwardsgivestherule；thusweachievethegoodendwithouttheincidentalevils。
　　Malthus’sviewsoftheappropriateremedyforsocialevilsundoubtedlyshowanimperfectappreciationofthegreatproblemsinvolved。Recklesspropagationisanevil；butMalthusregardsitasanevilwhichcanbeisolatedandsuppressedbysimplyaddinganewarticletothemoralcode。Heisdealingwithacentralproblemofhumannatureandsocialorder。Anymodificationofthesexualinstinctsoroftheconstitutionofthefamilyinvolvesaprofoundmodificationofthewholesocialorderandofthedominantreligiousandmoralcreeds。Malthustacitlyassumesthatconductisdeterminedbytheplayoftwoinstincts，unalterableinthemselves，butcapableofmodificationintheirresultsbyamoreextensiveviewofconsequences。Tochangemen’srulingmotivesinregardtothemostimportantpartoftheirlivesistoaltertheirwholeaimsandconceptionsoftheworld，andofhappinessineveryotherrelation。
　　Itsupposes，therefore，notamereadditionofknowledge，butatransformationofcharacterandanalteredviewofallthetheorieswhichhavebeenembodiedinreligiousandethicalphilosophy。Heoverlooks，too，considerationswhichwouldbeessentialtoacompletestatement。Apopulationwhichistooprudentmaysufferitselftobecrowdedoutbymoreprolificracesinthegeneralstruggleforexistence；andcasesmaybesuggestedsuchasthatoftheAmericancolonies，inwhichanincreaseofnumbersmightbeactuallyanadvantagebyfacilitatingamoreefficientorganisationoflabour。
　　Theabsenceofadistinctappreciationofsuchdifficultiesgivestohisspeculationthatone-sidedcharacterwhichalienatedhismoresentimentalcontemporaries。ItwasnaturalenoughinamanwhowasconstantlyconfrontedbytheterribledevelopmentofpauperisminEngland，andwastoomuchtemptedtoassumethatthetendencytorecklesspropagationwasnotonlyaverygraveevil，buttheultimatesourceofeveryevil。Thedoctrinetakenupinthisunqualifiedfashionbysomeofhisdisciples，andpreachedbythemwiththeutmostfervourastheonesecretofprosperity，shockedboththeconservativeandorthodoxwhoseprejudicesweretrampledupon，andsuchRadicalsasinheritedGodwin’sorCondorcet’stheoryofperfectibility。Harshandone-sidedasitmightbe，however，wemaystillholdthatitwasofvalue，notonlyinregardtothemostpressingdifficultyoftheday，butalsoascallingattentiontoavitallyimportantconditionofsocialwelfare。Thequestion，however，recurswhether，whenthedoctrineissoqualifiedastobeadmissible，itdoesnotalsobecomeameretruism。
　　AnanswertothisquestionshouldbeginbyrecognisingonespecificresemblancebetweenhisspeculationsandDarwin’s。Facts，whichappearfromanolderpointofviewtobeproofsofamiraculousinterposition，becomewithMalthus，aswithDarwin，thenormalresultsofadmittedconditions。Godwinhadadmittedthattherewassome’principlewhichkeptpopulationonalevelwithsubsistence。’’Thesolequestionis，’saysMalthus，59’whatisthisprinciple?
　　Isitsomeobscureandoccultcause?amysteriousinterferenceofheaven，’
　　inflictingbarrennessatcertainperiods?or’acauseopentoourresearchesandwithinourview?’Otherwritershadhadrecoursetothemiraculous。
　　OneofMalthus’searlyauthoritieswasSü；ssmilch，whohadpublishedhisGö；ttlicheOrdnungin1761，toshowhowProvidencehadtakencarethatthetreesshouldnotgrowintothesky，theantediluvianshadbeenmadelong-livedinorderthattheymighthavelargefamiliesandpeopleanemptyearth，whilelifewasdivinelyshortenedastheworldfilledup。
　　Sü；ssmilch，however，regardedpopulationasstillinneedofstimulus。