314 Of the Checks to Population Bk. ii. 



to an individual proprietor. But in countries not 

 similarly circumstanced, the most complete suc- 

 cess in institutions of this kind would be a glaring 

 injustice to other parts of the society. The true 

 encouragement to marriage is the high price of 

 labour, and an increase of employments which 

 require to be supplied with proper hands ; but if 

 the principal part of these employments, appren- 

 ticeships, &c, be filled up by foundlings, the de- 

 mand for labour among the legitimate part of the 

 society must be proportionally diminished, the 

 difficulty of supporting a family increased, and 

 the best encouragement to marriage removed. 



Russia has great natural resources. Its produce 

 is, in its present state, above its consumption ; and 

 it wants nothing but greater freedom of industrious 

 exertion, and an adequate vent for its commodi- 

 ties in the interior parts of the country, to occa- 

 sion an increase of population astonishingly rapid. 

 The principal obstacle to this, is the vassalage, or 

 rather slavery, of the peasants, and the ignorance 

 and indolence which almost necessarily accom- 

 pany such a state. The fortune of a Russian noble- 

 man is measured by the number of boors that he 

 possesses, which in general are saleable like cattle, 

 and not adscripti glebce. His revenue arises from 

 a capitation tax on all the males. When the boors 

 upon an estate are increasing, new divisions of 

 land are made at certain intervals; and either 

 more is taken into cultivation, or the old shares 

 are subdivided. Each family is awarded such a 

 portion of land as it can properly cultivate, and 



