CLIMATE, SEASONS, kc. 49 



to call it, as a proof of the fostering na- 

 ture of their government; though, just 

 now, they are preaching up the vile and 

 foolish doctrine of Parson Malthus, who 

 thinks, that there are too many people, 

 and that they ought (those who labour^ 

 at least) to be restrained from breeding so 

 fast. But, as to the fact, I do not believe 

 it. There can be nothing in the shape of 

 proof; for no actual enumeration w^as 

 ever taken 'till the j^ear 1 800. We know 

 well, that London, Manchester, Bir- 

 mingham, Bath, Portsmouth, Plymouth, 

 and all Lancashire and Yorkshire aad 

 some other counties have got a vast 

 increase of miserable beings huddled 

 together. But, look at Devonshire, 

 Somersetshire, Dorsetshire, Wiltshire, 

 Hampshire, and other counties. You will 

 there see hundreds of thousands of Acres 

 of land, where the old marks of the 

 plough are visible, but which have not 

 been cultivated for, perhaps, half a cen- 

 tury. You will there see places, that 

 were once considerable towns and villa- 

 ges, now having, within their ancient 

 limits, nothing but a few cottages, the 

 i'arsonage, and a single Farm-house. It 

 is a curious and a melancholy sight, where 

 an ancient church, with its lofty spire or 

 tower, the church sufficient to coftta;jn a 

 thousand or two or three thousand of 

 people conveniently, now stands surroun- 

 ded by a score or half a score of miserable 

 mud-houses, with floors of earth and 

 covered with thatch ; and this sight 

 strikes your eye in all parts of the five 

 Western counties of England. Surely 

 these churches were not built without the 

 5 



