GEOGRAPHY. 



u manv human beings will be brought into ex 

 istence, as have already existed, during the by- 

 past ages of the world, there will, of course, be 

 found, at the general resurrection, 290,000,000,- 

 000 of mankind. Vast as such an assemblage 

 would be, the whole of the human beings here 

 supposed, allowing six square feet for every indi 

 vidual, could be assembled within the space of 

 62,400 square miles, or on a tract of land not 

 much larger than that of England, which con 

 tains, according to the most accurate calcula 

 tions, above 50,000 square miles. 



Our world is capable of sustaining a much 

 greater number of inhabitants than has ever yet 

 existed upon it at any one time. And since we 

 are informed in the Sacred Oracles, that God 

 &quot; created it not in vain, but formed it to be in 

 habited,&quot; we have reason to believe, that, in 

 future ages, when the physical and moral ener 

 gies of mankind shall be fully exerted, and when 

 Peace shall wave her olive branch over the na 

 tions, the earth will be much more populous 

 than it has ever been, and those immense deserts, 

 where ravenous animals now roam undisturbed, 

 will be transformed into scenes of fertility and 

 beauty. If it be admitted, that the produce of 

 twelve acres of land is sufficient to maintain a 

 family consisting of six persons, and if we reckon 

 only one-fourth of the surface of the globe ca 

 pable of cultivation, it can be proved, that the 

 earth could afford sustenance for 16,000 millions 

 of inhabitants, or twenty times the number that 

 is presently supposed to exist. So that we have 

 no reason to fear that the world will be over 

 stocked with inhabitants for many ages to come ; 

 or that a period may soon arrive when the in 

 crease of population will surpass the means of 

 subsistence, as some of the disciples of Mal- 

 thus have lately insinuated. To suppose, as 

 some of these gentlemen seern to do, that wars 

 and diseases, poverty and pestilence, are neces 

 sary evils, in order to prevent the increase of 

 the human race beyond the means of subsist 

 ence which nature can afford while the im 

 mense regions of New Holland, New Guinea, 

 Borneo, and ths greater part of Africa and 

 America are almost destitute of inhabitants 

 is both an insult on the dignity of human nature, 

 and a reflection on the wisdom and beneficence 

 of Divine Providence. The Creator is bene 

 volent and bountiful, and &quot; his tender mercies 

 are over all his works ;&quot; but man, by his tyranny, 

 ambition, and selfishness, has counteracted the 

 streams of Divine beneficence, and introduced 

 into the social state poverty, disorder, and mi 

 sery, with all their attendant train of evils ; and 

 it is not before such demoralizing principles be 

 in some measure eradicated, and the principles 

 of Christian benevolence brought into active 

 operation, that the social state of man will be 

 greatly meliorated, and the bounties of heaven 

 fully enjoyed by the human race. If, in the pre 



sent deranged state of the social and politica 

 world, it be found difficult, in any particular 

 country, to find sustenance for its inhabit wits, 

 emigration is the obvious and natural remedy 

 and the rapid emigrations which are now taking 

 place to the Cape of Good Hope, New Holland 

 Van Dieman s Land, and America, are, doubt 

 less, a part of those arrangements of Providence, 

 by which the Creator will accomplish his de 

 signs, in peopling the desolate wastes of our 

 globe, and promoting the progress of knowledge 

 and of the true religion among the scattered tribes 

 of mankind. 



With th at branch of knowledge to whicn I 

 have now adverted, every individual of the hu 

 man race ought to be, in some measure, ac 

 quainted. For it is unworthy of the dignity of 

 a rational being, to stalk abroad on the surface 

 of the earth, and enjoy the bounty of his Crea 

 tor, without considering the nature and extent 

 of his sublunary habitation, the variety of au 

 gust objects it contains, the relation in which he 

 stands to other tribes of intelligent agents, and 

 the wonderful machinery which is in constant 

 operation for supplying his wants, and for pro 

 ducing the revolutions of day and night, spring 

 and autumn, summer and winter. In a reli 

 gious point of view, geography is a science of 

 peculiar interest. For &quot; the salvation of God,&quot; 

 which Christianity unfolds, is destined to be 

 proclaimed in every land, in order that men of 

 all nations and kindreds and tongues may par 

 ticipate in its blessings. But, without exploring 

 every region of the earth, and the numerous 

 islands which are scattered over the surface of 

 the ocean, and opening up a regular intercourse 

 with the different tribes of human beings which 

 dwell upon its surface, we can never carry into 

 effect the purpose of God, by &quot; making known 

 his salvation to the ends of the earth. As 

 God has ordained, that &quot; all flesh shall see the 

 salvation&quot; he has accomplished, and that human 

 beings shall be the agents for carrying his de 

 signs into effect so we may rest assured that 

 he has ordained every mean requisite for accom 

 plishing this end ; and, consequently, that it is 

 his will that men should study the figure and 

 magnitude of the earth, and all those arts by 

 which they may be enabled to traverse and ex 

 plore the different regions of land and water, 

 which compose the terraqueous globe and that 

 it is also his will, that every one who feels an 

 interest in the present and eternal happiness 

 of his fellow men, should make himself acquaint 

 ed with the result of all the discoveries in this 

 science that have been, or may yet be made, in 

 order to stimulate his activity, in conveying to 

 the wretched sons of Adam, wherever they 

 may be found, &quot; the unsearchable riches of 

 Christ.&quot; 



