Excerpt from The Law of Population, Vol. 1: A Treatise, in Six Books, in Disproof of the Superfecundity of Human Beings, and Developing of the Real Principle of Their Increase Having, in a preceding publication, stated the reasons which induced me to undertake the pre sent work, it is unnecessary for me to advert to them on this occasion; still more superfluous would it be to repeat what was then said on the great importance of the subject discussed in these volumes. The Principle of Population, highly interesting in itself, is, when considered as a practical question, manifestly one of the most important subjects which can engage human attention, as fallacious views concerning it ne cessarily lead to the most pernicious couse quences. Two opinions are held, as to its nature and tendency. The one, that human prolificness is so regulated, as naturally to produce happi ness; the other, that it exists in an excess, which has'as constant a tendency to occasion misery. It is needless to add, that these different views, whether individually or nationally entertained, lead to principles and conduct diametrically opposite. 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.