438 Inquiry into the Effects 
population of England, where there is com- 
paratively little misery, ought to bear a much 
greater proportion to its extent than that of 
Scotland or Ireland, where this supposed 
check to natural increase exists in a far 
greater degree. The fact, however, is other- 
wise; and in those countries, the real in- 
crease is even much greater than it appears, 
on account of the constant emigration into 
other countries where a better subsistence 
may. be procured. 
In England, the lower classes now form a 
community of no small consideration in the 
state. ‘They are great consumers both of the 
produce and of the manufactures of the 
country, and having acquired a taste for do- 
mestic comforts, and even for a degree of lux- 
ury, their wants have established a home de- 
mand, superior in its extent to the market 
afforded by all the world besides. It cannot, 
however, be said of the English poor that 
they have eaten the bread of idleness; for had 
that been the case, this country never could 
have attained its present state of wealth and 
comfort. Great wealth can only be accumu- 
lated where great industry prevails; and the 
superior opulence of the middle rank in 
England furnishes, in my view, a complete 
answer to the arguments against the poor 
——— 
