Ch. ii. Of Systems of Equality. Godwin. 23 



over the face of the country. All men are equal. 

 The labours of luxury are at an end ; and the ne- 

 cessary labours of agriculture are shared amicably 

 among all. The number of persons and the pro- 

 duce of the island we suppose to be the same as 

 at present. The spirit of benevolence, guided by 

 impartial justice, will divide this produce among 

 all the members of society according to their 

 wants. Though it would be impossible that they 

 should all have animal food every day, yet ve- 

 getable food, with meat occasionally, would sa- 

 tisfy the desires of a frugal people, and would be 

 sufficient to preserve them in health, strength and 

 spirits. 



Mr. Godwin considers marriage as a fraud and 

 a monopoly.* Let us suppose the commerce of 

 the sexes established upon principles of the most 

 perffect freedom. Mr. Godwin does not think him- 

 self, that this freedom would lead to a promiscuous 

 intercourse; and in this I perfectly agree with him. 

 The love of variety is a vicious, corrupt and unna- 

 tural taste, and could not prevail in any great 

 degree in a simple and virtuous state of society. 

 Each man would probably select for himself a 

 partner, to whom he would adhere, as long as that 

 adherence continued to be the choice of both par- 

 ties. It would be of little consequence, according 

 to Mr. Godwin, how many children a woman had, 

 or to whom they belonged. Provisions and assist- 

 ance would spontaneously flow from the quarter 



* Polit. Justice, b. viii. c. viii. p. 498, et seq. 



