Author: Nathan Allen

Publisher:

Published: 2015-07-12

Total Pages: 42

ISBN-13: 9781331277972

Excerpt from Population: Its Law of Increase The increase of Population as governed by fixed laws or principles seems never to have attracted any public attention till near the close of the Eighteenth Century. The French Revolution prevailing at that period, gave rise to some bold and speculative inquiries concerning the progress and perfectibility of man, the origin and extent of human government, as well as the existence and power of a Creator of all things. In 1793, William Godwin published a work upon Political Justice, respecting the unequal distribution of the good things of this life and the causes of so much poverty, misery and suffering in the world, which must, in the very nature of tilings, seemingly cast reflections either upon human or divine government. The Rev. Thomas It. Malthus, connected at that time with the University of Cambridge, in an accidental conversation with a friend in respect to the merits of Godwin's views, was prompted to make some criticisms which led to the publication, in 1798, of an "Essay on the Principle of Population as it Affects the Future Improvement of Society" This Essay was afterwards greatly improved, and passed through several editions in the form of two large, octavo volumes. The principles embodied in this work, had at the time, and have since had a most powerful influence. While on the one hand they were readily adopted by large numbers, and have been extensively incorporated into works upon Political Economy, on the other hand, they have been controverted by many of the ablest minds in Great Britain. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.