piness of mankind. For instance, if it is true that religion or opinion of any kind exerts a direct influence over morals, then it is not true that morals depend entirely on the state of population. Or if it is true, that the invention of a useful art, which is accident, or the public encouragement of it, which is design, may contribute to the support of a larger population without multiplying its inconveniences, then it is not true that all human happiness or misery can be calculated according to a mechanical ratio. But these matters are, I confess, set in the clearest light by a reference to facts, and I can quote no better authority than Mr. Malthus himself.

He says, "It will not be difficult, from the "accounts of travellers, to trace the checks to " population, and the causes of its present de

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cay [in Turkey]; and as there is little dif"ference in the manners of the Turks, whether "they inhabit Europe or Asia, it will not be " worth while to make them the subject of dis"tinct consideration." (I shall presume that I have so far reconciled the reader's mind to the bug-bear, population, that he will not regard depopulation as one of the most beautiful features in the economy of a state.]

Our author then proceeds, "The funda" mental cause of the low state of population " in Turkey, compared with its extent of terri

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tory, is undoubtedly the nature of its govern"ment. Its tyranny, its feebleness, its bad " laws and worse administration of them, with "the consequent insecurity of property, throw " such obstacles in the way of agriculture, that "the means of subsistence are necessarily de"creasing yearly, and with them, of course, the " number of people. The miri or general land"tax, paid to the sultan, is in itself moderate; " but by abuses inherent in the Turkish govern"ment, the pachas, and their agents have found "out the means of rendering it ruinous. "Though they cannot absolutely alter the im

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post which has been established by the sultan, they have introduced a number of changes, "which, without the name, produce all the ef"fect of an augmentation. In Syria, according "to Volney, having the greatest part of the land " at their disposal, they clog their concessions " with burthensome conditions, and exact the " half, and sometimes even two-thirds of the crop. "When the harvest is over, they cavil about " losses, and, as they have the power in their "hands, they carry off what they think pro"per." [What they leave behind them, is what Mr. Malthus when he gets into his abstractions calls "the fund appropriated to the maintenance of labour," or, "the aggregate "quantity of food possessed by the owners of " land beyond their own consumption."] "If the " season fail, they still exact the same sum, and

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expose every thing that the poor peasant pos"sesses to sale. To these constant oppressions "are added a thousand accidental extortions. "Sometimes a whole village is laid under con"tribution for some real or imaginary offence. "Arbitrary presents are exacted on the acces"sion of each governor; grass, barley, and " straw are demanded for his horses;" (Mr. Malthus thinks, farther on in his book, that "the waste of the rich, and the horses kept for " pleasure" in this country are no detriment to the poor here, but rather a benefit, page 478.] " and commissions are multiplied, that the sol"diers who carry the orders may live upon the "starving peasants, whom they treat with the " most brutal insolence and injustice. The consequence of these depredations is, that the poorer class of inhabitants, ruined, and unable any longer to pay the miri, become a burden " to the village," [something I suppose in the same way that the poor among us become a burden to the parish] or fly into the cities; but "the miri is unalterable, and the sum to be "levied must be found somewhere. The por

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" tion of those who are thus driven from their "homes falls on the remaining inhabitants, "whose burden, though at first light, now be "comes insupportable. If they should be "visited by two years of drought and famine, "the whole village is ruined and abandoned ; " and the tax, which it should have paid, is " levied on the neighbouring lands. The same "mode of proceeding takes place with regard "to the tax on Christians, which has been "raised by these means," [by what means, by the principle of population?] " from three, " five, and eleven piastres, at which it was first "fixed, to thirty-five and forty, which absolutely " impoverishes those on whom it is levied, and "obliges them to leave the country. It has "been remarked that these exactions have made "a rapid progress during the last forty years, "from which time are dated the decline of "agriculture, the depopulation of the country, " and the diminution in the quantity of the " specie carried to Constantinople. The pea"sants are every where reduced to a little flat " cake of barley, or doura, onions, lentils, and "water. Not to lose any part of their corn " they leave in it all sorts of wild grain, which "often produces bad consequences. In the "mountains of Lebanon and Nablous, in time " of dearth, they gather the acorns from the oak

* which they eat after boiling or roasting them " on the ashes. By a natural consequence of " this misery, the art of cultivation is in the " most deplorable state. The husbandman is "almost without instruments, and those he has " are very bad. His plough is frequently no " more than the branch of a tree cut below a " fork and used without wheels. The ground " is tilled by asses and cows, rarely by oxen, " which would bespeak too much riches. In "the districts exposed to the Arabs, as in Pa"lestine, the countryman must sow with his "musket in his hand, and scarcely does the "corn turn yellow before it is reaped and con"cealed in subterraneous caverns. As little as " possible is employed for seed corn, because "the peasants sow no more than is barely

necessary for their subsistence. Their whole "industry is limited to the supply of their " immediate wants, and to procure a little bread, " a few onions, a blue shirt, and a bit of woollen, " much labour is not necessary. The peasant " lives therefore in distress, but at least he does "not enrich his tyrants, and the avarice of "despotism is its own punishment." [Note.These are the unhappy persons, as our author expresses it in a passage, which may hereafter be quoted at length, who in "the great lottery of life have drawn a

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