tree, in full vigor, tapped for the first time, will yield but half a pound of sugar in the season. Let it, however, be tapped for several successive seasons, and it will yield three pounds - the health of the tree being thereby in no manner affected. Here, the supply first given is but one-sixth of what is afterwards produced, to be spared from the service of its own particular life. Need the question be asked, as to whether the tree, full as it had been of health and vigor, required the drainage to relieve the plethora, or whether the drainage induced a surplus flow of sap, for the purpose of supplying the accidental waste? Applying this case to the question of population, it might, with great propriety, be asked - Has the drainage of population from Ireland produced a tendency of vital force in the direction of procreation; or has the drainage been required for the correction of excess in the procreative tendency?

The difference between vegetable and animal modes of vitality, whatever it be, docs not affect the bearing of these instances upon the proposition under consideration-life, of every kind and degree, requiring similar provisions of constitutional law. In all cases, organic capabilities must be accommodated to the conditions by which the being is likely to be affected-failure in this being followed by failure in the scheme of creation, and disappointment of its purposes.

It has been intended here to show, first, that none of the functions of the human body has any such fixed and determined rule of action, as would permit of its being made the basis of arithmetical formulæ, as has been done by Mr. Malthus and his successors; next, that they all vary, under varying conditions, through the whole scale, from deficiency up to excess; third, that they vary in their form, under self-adjusting laws, in obedience to the final cause of the being's existence; and lastly, that there is no instance, throughout the whole of nature's realm, in which the known laws of the subject thwart their own objects, or break the harmony of the general scheme of creation.

In answer, it may be said, that the germs of life perish in a thousand seeds, for one that finds root, and survives in successive generations. The reply, however, is a plain and simple one. they being the proper food of beasts, birds, and men, to that end, and that alone, appointed. Having performed that work, their

office is fulfilled, without jar, or break, in the general order. Beasts, birds, and fishes, prey upon each other-man, in turn, subsisting upon them all. Here, again, we find no inconsistency, no violation of the order of creation so plainly indicated these inferior animals being plainly destined to violent death, and thus most mercifully relieved from the incapacities attendant upon great advance in age. Being well provided with those instincts which are called into action by the necessity for providing for their young, the continuance of the races is thus secured. Having no filial affection, impelling them to provide material aid and comforts for the aged, they have no hospitality, no family economy, no capabilities for either social service, or such further self-development as would make life, prolonged beyond a vigorous maturity, either a necessity, or a blessing, to them. Consequent upon this it is, that we find nothing in their constitution which either predicts, or pledges, a life prolonged beyond an average maturity.

Of all earthly creatures, below the rank of man, it may be safely said, that their sufficiency for his use is the fulfilment of their destiny. His existence, however, has no such reference to a higher class of beings here, as to warrant the idea, that his life may be crippled, abridged, or otherwise disappointed, without involving a violation of the harmony of things, and a disturbance of the order, plainly indicated in the constitution of the system at the head of which he has been placed. It is not the divine order, but man's disorder, that limits his earthly life so far within the period, beyond which he ceases to be useful to his fellows, or to find enjoyment for himself.

§3. In the inorganic world, all the compounds are constantsthe composition of clay, coal, and granite, being the same now that it was a thousand years since, and certain to be the same a thousand years hence. In the organic world, we find a susceptibility of change, the fruits and flowers developed by cultivation being greatly superior to those existing in their original state -the dog and the horse exhibiting themselves, at times, as capable of receiving instruction fitted to enable them almost to take their places by the side of the reasoning man. Look where we may, however, we meet with evidence of the one great law, VOL. III.-18

that the power of progress is in the direct ratio of the dissimilarity of the parts, and consequent perfection of organization.

Coming now to man, we find the highest physical organization, combined with a power for intellectual development, that places him far above all other creatures; and here it is, that we find no constants all the parts and portions of the MAN, as distinguished from the animal, being in a perpetual course of changethe power of association growing in one country, and declining in another individuality becoming more and more developed in one portion of society, and less so in others- the feeling of responsibility augmenting in one man, while decaying in those around him one set of men becoming more provident from year to year, while another becomes more reckless-one nation manifesting the existence of a power for rapid progress in the direction of increasing civilization, when, close at hand may be found others whose progress is equally rapid in the direction of total barbarism. In the first of these, freedom increases from day to day, with constant increase of the feeling of hope in all the men of whom the community is composed. In the last, freedom gradually declines, and slavery takes its place their members becoming more despairing from year to year. In the one, hope in the future prompts to the feeling of self-respect that, in time, producing foresight. In the other, recklessness. exhibits itself as the offspring of despair.

The qualities of the man thus indicated are very various, but are yet in close relation each and every of them in the ascending scale, tending to promote the advance of every other; that, too, as certainly as does decline in any one tend to cause diminution in every other. The more perfect the power of association, the greater becomes the development of individuality, that, in turn, by increasing the number of differences in society, greatly increasing the power of association and combination. The greater the development of the individual faculties, the more perfect is the physical and mental power of the individual man, and the more absolute is his responsibility to himself, to his family, to his fellowmen, and to his Creator for all his actions.* Responsibility, in its

That responsibility exists in the ratio of the development of the various faculties, is proved by the fact that the law does not hold the monomaniac responsible for his actions.

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turn, produces a habit of reflection, leading to economy of his powers and facilitating the accumulation of machinery, by means of which he obtains power to guide and direct the forces of nature to his service thus accumulating wealth, by aid of which he draws larger supplies of food from the same surface, and is thereby enabled more perfectly to combine his efforts with those of his neighbor man, and more and more to develop his own individuality, and that of those with whom he thus associates. The power of progress is, as we have already seen, in the ratio of these conditions.

The savage is nature's slave, driven by want to the commission of acts that, abstractly considered, are highly criminal. To what extent, however, is he so, disposed, as he probably would be, to be humane and honest, if he could be so, and still preserve his life. The civilized man, nature's master, feels that his responsibility grows with the growth of power-demanding careful study of every act. The one wanders on extensive surfaces, seeking almost in vain a supply of food. Little prompted to sexual intercourse, he holds in small esteem the mother of his child, nor does he care for the child itself. Elsewhere, as in the Pacific islands, with food abounding, that intercourse furnishes the chief enjoyment of life infanticide becoming universal, and relieving the parent from all responsibility for his offspring. Akin to the first of these, we find the Spartan institutions - Lycurgus having deemed it necessary to stimulate the sexual appetite, while seeking to relieve the parent from all responsibility for his children.

With the growth of numbers and of wealth, men are enabled to combine together, and the more perfect the power of association the greater becomes the development of individuality - the greater is the tendency towards the creation of local centres - towards decline in the value of the products of the earth towards increase in their utility- towards the division of land—and towards the development of the real MAN -the being to whom was given power to direct the forces of nature, as preparation for the work of governing his passions and himself.

Man becomes a responsible being-a real MAN, as land be comes divided, and he becomes more free-losing that responsibility, as land becomes consolidated, and he becomes enslaved. In the one case, society tends, gradually, to take the natural form

heretofore described its motion becoming more rapid and regular-commerce steadily increasing agriculture becoming more and more a science the necessity for the trader's services steadily diminishing-rude products and finished commodities steadily approximating in their prices each and every one of these phenomena furnishing proof conclusive of advance in civilization. In the other, society gradually loses its true proportions — its motion becoming more fitful and irregular-commerce declining and trade acquiring power-agriculture becoming less and less a science raw materials and finished products becoming more widely separated-each and all of these phenomena presenting evidence of declining civilization.

In the one, men and women become more thoughtful and reflective the matrimonial tie being sought for chiefly because of the desire for enjoying the comforts of home and family. In the other, both become more reckless sexual intercourse being sought as a means of the indulgence of passion, and as being, indeed, almost the only mode of gratification in which the poor may legally indulge.

§ 4. "The division of land," says one of the most observant and philosophical of recent British travellers, after a careful examination of the principal nations of Europe, "carries within itself a check upon over-population, and the consequent deterioration of the social condition, which is totally wanting in the other social system. In even the most useful and necessary arts and manufactures, the demand for laborers is not a seen, known, steady, and appreciable demand; but it is so in husbandry under this social construction. The labor to be done, the subsistence that labor will produce out of his portion of land, are seen and known elements in a man's calculation upon his means of subsistence. Can his square of land, or can it not, subsist a family? Can he marry, or not? are questions which every man can answer without delay, doubt, or speculation. It is the depending on chance, where judgment has nothing clearly set before it, that causes reckless, improvident marriages in the lower, as in the higher classes, and produces among us the evils of over-population chance necessarily entering into every man's calculations, when certainty is removed altogether; as it is, where certain sub