222 Of the Checks to Population in Bk. i. 



" be other occasions for them to exercise their 

 " zeal, particularly at certain times of the year, 

 ** when the small-pox or epidemic disorders carry 

 " off an incredible number of children."* It is 

 indeed almost impossible to suppose that the ex- 

 treme indigence of the lower classes of people 

 should not produce diseases, likely to be fatal to 

 a considerable part of those children whom their 

 parents might attempt to rear in spite of every 

 difficulty. 



Respecting the number of infants which are 

 actually exposed, it is difficult to form the slightest 

 guess ; but, if we believe the Chinese writers 

 themselves, the practice must be very common. 

 Attempts have been made at different times by 

 the government to put a stop to it, but always 

 without success. In a book of instructions before 

 alluded to, written by a mandarin celebrated for 

 his humanity and wisdom, a proposal is made for 

 the establishment of a foundling hospital in his 

 district, and an account is given of some ancient 

 establishments of the same kind,| which appear 

 to have fallen into disuse. In this book the fre- 

 quency of the exposure of children and the dreadful 

 poverty which prompts it, are particularly de- 

 scribed. " We see," he says, " people so poor, 

 that they cannot furnish the nourishment neces- 

 sary for their own children. It is on this account 

 that they expose so great a number. In the 



* Lettres Edif. torn. xix. p. 100. 

 t Ibid. p. 110. 



