Ch. xii. China and Japan. 217 



" the poor are idle, and might gain a subsistence, 

 " if they would work. The labours and efforts 

 " of these poor people are beyond conception. 

 " A Chinese will pass whole days in digging the 

 " earth, sometimes up to his knees in water, and 

 " in the evening is happy to eat a little spoonful 

 " of rice, and to drink the insipid water in which 

 " it was boiled. This is all that they have in ge- 

 " neral."* 



A great part of this account is repeated in Du- 

 halde; and, even allowing for some exaggeration, 

 it shews in a strong point of view to what degree 

 population has been forced in China, and the 

 wretchedness which has been the consequence of 

 it. The population which has arisen naturally 

 from the fertility of the soil, and the encourage- 

 ments to agriculture, may be considered as ge- 

 nuine and desirable ; but all that has been added 

 by the encouragements to marriage has not only 

 been an addition of so much pure misery in itself, 

 but has completely interrupted the happiness 

 which the rest might have enjoyed. 



The territory of China is estimated at about 

 eight times the territory of France.t Taking the 

 population of France only at 26 millions, eight 

 times that number will give 208,000,000; and 

 when the three powerful causes of population, 

 which have been stated, are considered, it will 

 not appear incredible, that the population of China 



* Lettres Edif. et Curieuses, torn. xvi. p. 394. et seq. 

 + Embassy to China, Staunton, vol. ii. p. 546. 



