346 Of the Checks to Population Bk. ii. 



themselves and their families. The case is still 

 stronger than in Norway, and receives a particu- 

 lar precision from the circumstance of the births 

 and deaths being so nearly equal. 



If a father had unfortunately a larger family 

 than usual, the tendency of it would be rather to 

 decrease than increase the number of marriages. 

 He might perhaps with economy be just able to 

 support them all at home, though he could not 

 probably find adequate employment for them on 

 his small property; but it would evidently be 

 long before they could quit him, and the first 

 marriage among the sons would probably be after 

 the death of the father ; whereas, if he had had 

 only two children, one of them might perhaps 

 have married without leaving the parental roof, 

 and the other on the death of the father. It may 

 be said perhaps in general, that the absence or 

 presence of four grown-up unmarried people will 

 make the difference of there being room or not, 

 for the establishment of another marriage and a 

 fresh family. 



As the marriages in this parish would, with few 

 exceptions, be very late, and yet from the extreme 

 healthiness of the situation be very slowly dis- 

 solved by the death of either of the parties, it is 

 evident that a very large proportion of the sub- 

 sisting marriages would be among persons so far 

 advanced in life, that most of the women would 

 have ceased to bear children ; and in consequence 

 the whole number of subsisting marriages was 

 found to be to the number of annual births in the 



