ii2 At the Darkest Hour. 



rejoin, or, if an evil, it is, at least, a necessary one. What 

 greater calamity could befall humanity, as human society 

 and human civilization are at present established, than to 

 have the passing generation not pass off, but remain on 

 the crowded stage of human life? Even war and the 

 slaughter of thousands is, by not a few political econo- 

 mists, regarded as a beneficial event for relieving the 

 social congestion of overpopulated countries. If immor- 

 tality were achieved, starvation, suicide on a national 

 scale, infanticide, or the execution of aged persons would 

 ensue from a necessity. 



These are views which are fairly pertinent, although, 

 properly administered, the natural resources of the earth 

 are undoubtedly adequate to the sustenance of six billions 

 of inhabitants, without crowding or poverty, in the place 

 of the billion and a half who now dwell on it. This 

 latter reflection does not meet the objection of overpopu- 

 lation, however. Nor is it necessary to meet it, in the 

 sense of providing field for a vast population, since Nature 

 herself has already met it in her plan of vital evolution. 

 The procreative instinct is intensified or diminished in 

 ratio with the duress which human life encounters in the 

 struggle for existence. With the hard- worked and short- 

 lived, children multiply rapidly. Where all the conditions 

 of life are hard and evil, procreation is active. 



On the other hand, education, refinement, ease, leisure 

 and the prospect of a long, happy lifetime redound not to 



