Ch. ij. Of Systems qj EqtKthly. Godiuhi. 29 



The sole question is, what is this principle ? Is it 

 some obscure and occult cause? Is it some mys- 

 terious interference of Heaven, which at a certain 

 period strikes the men with impotence, and the 

 women with barrenness ? Or is it a cause open 

 to our researches, within our view ; a cause which 

 has constantly been observed to operate, though 

 with varied force, in every state in which man has 

 been placed ? Is it not misery and the fear of 

 misery, the necessary and inevitable results of the 

 laws of nature in the present stage of man's ex- 

 istence, which human institutions, so far from ag- 

 gravating, have tended considerably to mitigate, 

 though they can never remove ? 



It may be curious to observe, in the case that 

 we have been supposing, how some of the princi- 

 pal laws, which at present govern civilized society, 

 would be successively dictated by the most im- 

 perious necessity. As man, according to Mr. 

 Godwin, is the creature of the impressions to 

 which he is subject, the goadings of want could 

 not continue long, before some violations of public 

 or private stock would necessarily take place. As 

 these violations increased in number and extent, 

 the more active and comprehensive intellects of 

 the society would soon perceive that, while the 

 population was fast increasing, the yearly pro- 

 duce of the country would shortly begin to di- 

 minish. The urgency of the case would suggest 

 the necessity of some immediate measures being- 

 taken for the general safety. Some kind of con- 

 vention would be then called, and the dangerous 



