An Essay on the Principle of Population

The following Essay owes its origin to a conversation with a friend, on the subject of Mr Godwin's essay on avarice and profusion, in his Enquirer.…

The Essay might, undoubtedly, have been rendered much more complete by a collection of a greater number of facts in elucidation of the general…

It is an obvious truth, which has been taken notice of by many writers, that population must always be kept down to the level of the means of…

The view which he has given of human life has a melancholy hue, but he feels conscious that he has drawn these dark tints from a conviction that they…

If he should succeed in drawing the attention of more able men to what he conceives to be the principal difficulty in the way to the improvement of…

The great and unlooked for discoveries that have taken place of late years in natural philosophy, the increasing diffusion of general knowledge…

It has been said that the great question is now at issue, whether man shall henceforth start forwards with accelerated velocity towards illimitable,…

Yet, anxiously as every friend of mankind must look forwards to the termination of this painful suspense, and eagerly as the inquiring mind would…

The advocate for the present order of things is apt to treat the sect of speculative philosophers either as a set of artful and designing knaves…

The advocate for the perfectibility of man, and of society, retorts on the defender of establishments a more than equal contempt. He brands him as…

In this unamicable contest the cause of truth cannot but suffer. The really good arguments on each side of the question are not allowed to have their…

The speculative philosopher equally offends against the cause of truth. With eyes fixed on a happier state of society, the blessings of which he…

It is an acknowledged truth in philosophy that a just theory will always be confirmed by experiment. Yet so much friction, and so many minute…

I have read some of the speculations on the perfectibility of man and of society with great pleasure. I have been warmed and delighted with the…

The most important argument that I shall adduce is certainly not new. The principles on which it depends have been explained in part by Hume, and…

The cause of this neglect on the part of the advocates for the perfectibility of mankind is not easily accounted for. I cannot doubt the talents of…

In entering upon the argument I must premise that I put out of the question, at present, all mere conjectures, that is, all suppositions, the…

I do not know that any writer has supposed that on this earth man will ultimately be able to live without food. But Mr Godwin has conjectured that…

Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence increases only in an arithmetical ratio. A slight acquaintance with numbers…

Through the animal and vegetable kingdoms, nature has scattered the seeds of life abroad with the most profuse and liberal hand. She has been…

This natural inequality of the two powers of population and of production in the earth, and that great law of our nature which must constantly keep…

I have thus sketched the general outline of the argument, but I will examine it more particularly, and I think it will be found that experience,…

The different ratio in which population and food increase--The necessary effects of these different ratios of increase--Oscillation produced by…

Whether the law of marriage be instituted or not, the dictate of nature and virtue seems to be an early attachment to one woman. Supposing a…

If I allow that by the best possible policy, by breaking up more land and by great encouragements to agriculture, the produce of this Island may be…

A great emigration necessarily implies unhappiness of some kind or other in the country that is deserted. For few persons will leave their families,…

But to make the argument more general and less interrupted by the partial views of emigration, let us take the whole earth, instead of one spot,…

Taking the population of the world at any number, a thousand millions, for instance, the human species would increase in the ratio of--1, 2, 4, 8, 16…

No limits whatever are placed to the productions of the earth; they may increase for ever and be greater than any assignable quantity, yet still…

Among plants and animals the view of the subject is simple. They are all impelled by a powerful instinct to the increase of their species, and this…

These considerations are calculated to prevent, and certainly do prevent, a very great number in all civilized nations from pursuing the dictate of…

One principal reason is that the histories of mankind that we possess are histories only of the higher classes. We have but few accounts that can…

Such a history would tend greatly to elucidate the manner in which the constant check upon population acts and would probably prove the existence…

It very rarely happens that the nominal price of labour universally falls, but we well know that it frequently remains the same, while the nominal…

The true cause of the advance in the price of labour is thus concealed, and the rich affect to grant it as an act of compassion and favour to the…

Of the manners and habits that prevail among nations of shepherds, the next state of mankind, we are even more ignorant than of the savage state. But…

The absolute population at any one period, in proportion to the extent of territory, could never be great, on account of the unproductive nature of…

Where there is any inequality of conditions, and among nations of shepherds this soon takes place, the distress arising from a scarcity of provisions…

For, independently of any vicious customs that might have prevailed amongst them with regard to women, which always operate as checks to population,…

Notwithstanding the exaggerations of some old historians, there can remain no doubt in the mind of any thinking man that the population of the…

The reason that the greater part of Europe is more populous now than it was in former times, is that the industry of the inhabitants has made these…

When we are assured that China is the most fertile country in the world, that almost all the land is in tillage, and that a great part of it bears…

The preventive check appears to operate in some degree through all the ranks of society in England. There are some men, even in the highest rank, who…

A man of liberal education, but with an income only just sufficient to enable him to associate in the rank of gentlemen, must feel absolutely certain…

These considerations undoubtedly prevent a great number in this rank of life from following the bent of their inclinations in an early attachment.…

The sons of tradesmen and farmers are exhorted not to marry, and generally find it necessary to pursue this advice till they are settled in some…

The labourer who earns eighteen pence a day and lives with some degree of comfort as a single man, will hesitate a little before he divides that…

The servants who live in gentlemen's families have restraints that are yet stronger to break through in venturing upon marriage. They possess the…

The second, or positive check to population examined, in England--The true cause why the immense sum collected in England for the poor does not…

To remedy the frequent distresses of the common people, the poor laws of England have been instituted; but it is to be feared, that though they may…

It will be said, perhaps, that the increased number of purchasers in every article would give a spur to productive industry and that the whole…

A collection from the rich of eighteen shillings in the pound, even if distributed in the most judicious manner, would have a little the same…

It may at first appear strange, but I believe it is true, that I cannot by means of money raise a poor man and enable him to live much better than he…

Supposing the quantity of food in any country to remain the same for many years together, it is evident that this food must be divided according to…

An increase of population without a proportional increase of food will evidently have the same effect in lowering the value of each man's patent. The…

Secondly, the quantity of provisions consumed in workhouses upon a part of the society that cannot in general be considered as the most valuable part…

Hard as it may appear in individual instances, dependent poverty ought to be held disgraceful. Such a stimulus seems to be absolutely necessary to…

I feel no doubt whatever that the parish laws of England have contributed to raise the price of provisions and to lower the real price of labour.…

It is a general complaint among master manufacturers that high wages ruin all their workmen, but it is difficult to conceive that these men would not…

A man who might not be deterred from going to the ale-house from the consideration that on his death, or sickness, he should leave his wife and…