ADDRESS. XVII 



thickly peopled country in the world. Deducting then 

 from the 50,000,000 square miles which compose the 

 land surface of the globe, the liberal allowance of one- 

 fifth, for deserts, inland waters, mount an steeps, ice- 

 bound regions, and lands otherwise not susceptible of 

 cultivation, we have 40,000,000 square miles remain- 

 ing, which would support, on the above assumption, 

 25,600,000,000 inhabitants, or just twenty times the 

 estimated population of the world at the present 

 time. This would give to the United States more 

 than 1,500,000,000 inhabitants. These numbers may 

 seem amazing, and the supposition of such future popu- 

 lousness incredible. But let us consider the ratio in 

 which the human race is actually increasing on the 

 earth, and we shall see no reason to doubt that its 

 growing population will fully keep pace with its utmost 

 possible fruitfulness. Assuming that only 6,000 years 

 ago, (and it is, in fact, considerably less,) there were 

 but two human beings in this world, how many times 

 has the number doubled itself, in the elapse of those 

 6,000 years? Less than thirty times. This is equiva- 

 lent to doubling once in every 200 years. If the 

 present population were doubled but five times, it 

 would greatly exceed the vast number .which we have 

 estimated as the possible limit of the earth's capacity 

 to support human life. That is to say, at this rate of 

 increase, in less than 1,000 years from the present 

 time there will be 30,000,000,000 human mouths for 

 •the earth to feed. But our calculation is at fault. 

 We have overlooked that great destruction of mankind, 

 which took place, according to the common reckoning, 

 more than 1,600 years after men began to multiply on 



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