doctrine-after the apology quoted above for having expressed himself ill-sayeth, "if we look back through the history of the whole world, [a pretty wide look, by the by,] and compare the state of each country at distinct periods of two hundred or three hundred years, the cases in which food has increased during the preceding period of two hundred or three hundred years, in a greater ratio than population, will be found to be more numerous than those in which population has increased during the preceding period in a greater ratio than food!" And we say, "that if we look back through the history of the whole world," we shall find no such instances of portentous folly as that which these two learned Professors have now exhibited, in thus gravely and solemnly informing themselves and mankind, the Political Economists' Club, and the world, that should any future adventurer reach the North, he has only to turn about, and touch the South Pole.

After all this, it would be idle, at present, to point out, in Mr Senior's Two Lectures, of which the leading doctrine is nearly right, and very ancient, the many other flagrant violations of logic of which he has been guilty-he whose logic is so much admired by Mr Whatley, that that gentleman, in his work on Logic, has called in its aid to the settlement of Definitions rendered by it clear as the sun at noonday!

One precious specimen more we cannot choose but quote. "Every addition," quoth Mr Senior, (Lecture I., p. 12,)" made to the quantity of food produced, makes, in general, a further addition more difficult. Every addition to the existing population diffuses wider the means of still farther addition." In Lecture II., page 48, quoth Mr Senior, " If a single country can be found in which there is now less poverty than is universal in a savage state, it must be true that, under the circumstances in which that country is placed, the means of subsistence have a greater tendency to increase than the population." But not only can a single country be found, but Mr Senior tells us--as we have seen (Letter to Malthus, p. 74)" that the cases in which food has increased in a greater ratio than population, will be found to be more

numerous than those in which population has increased in a greater ratio than food!" Has not Mr Senior reason to be ashamed of himself for having laid down two propositions as both true-of which the truth of the one prevents the possibility of the truth of the other?

Mr Senior having thus "smoothed the raven down of Malthus till it smiled," also tries to set right Mr Mill's and Mr M'Culloch's opinions, which he thinks wofully wrong, on the Law of Population. Now Mr Mill's are, beyond all doubt, those of Mr Malthus, driven unflinchingly, but legitimately, to extremest lengths; and Mr Malthus has himself passed the highest eulogium on Mr M'Culloch's_exposition of the Principle of his Essay. Who, then, is right, and who is wrong? Who is Pretender, and who is King? Who is the Sir Astley Cooper-who the Mr St John Long?

Such being a slight sketch of the state in which the Science of Political Economy stands-which we observe Mr Senior calls (page 3) one of the "Moral Sciences"-with regard to the Law of Population, we turned for that reason, as well as many others, with feelings of the deepest interest to Mr Sadler's Great Work. It is a Great Work. The Three Volumes lately published, (two being in one,) consisting of upwards of 1300 pages, are divided into Four Books. In the First, he states the principles of the theory he opposes, that of Mr Malthus, together with something of its history, shewing that it is irreconcilable with itself in all its main positions, and especially with those checks which it announces as solely regulating the redundant numbers of mankind. Mr Sadler proves, that the ratios on which it is professedly built, are, when applied to the subject, fallacious in themselves, and ridiculous as connected with each other; that the direct checks, as they are termed, have never been necessary, or otherwise than injurious, in reference to the prosperity and happiness of the population of any community; that the wars of ancient Greece, or those waged upon the Roman empire, so constantly appealed to by the assertors of human superfecundity, originated not in excessive numbers; that

the opinions of the ancient philosophers of Greece, particularly those of Plato and Aristotle, on the subject of population, have been either misunderstood or misrepresented; that the direct checks to population have diminished in their operation in every country as population has increased; and that, under the same circumstances, the influence of the preventive check has also constantly abated; that this check, the main prop of the system, is unnatural in itself, and its imposition, therefore, unlawful, wicked, and cruel; that as proposed to be enforced on the lower classes of society, it is in the utmost degree partial; that it would also be as impolitic as it is cruel and unjust, were it possible to enforce it; and lastly, that the defence put forth for the consequences it necessarily involves, is, whether considered in a political, religious, or moral point of view, utterly untenable. This Book contains twenty-three chapters.

Book Second is entitled, " Of the Theory of Human Superfecundity: its Principle, as founded upon the Population of the United States of America and of China, stated and disproved." The increase of population in the United States of America has long been appealed to, as the one triumphant demonstration of the geometric ratio so often advanced. In this section of his work, Mr Sadler shews that the data on which that demonstration is founded are utterly erroneous, both as it regards the number of inhabitants, at the period from which it dates its calculations, and the circumstances which have mainly contributed to its rapid increase. For Mr Sadler, in utter disproof of these supposed doublings, (in twelve, fifteen, twenty, or fiveand-twenty years,) shews, from official records, that the population of the Colonies, at the period from which the terms of duplication are usually dated, was at least five times as large as computed by Mr Townsend, Mr Malthus, and others; that neither in the New England provinces, constantly appealed to, nor in the United States generally, has the doubling, so often assumed, nor any geometric duplication at stated intervals, ever taken place; and that the real increase of the inhabitants of America has, at all periods, been greatly ac

celerated by emigration. That this emigration has been immense, from the earliest period of American colonization to the date of the last census, Mr Sadler shews, first, by a series of direct historical proofs, extending through the whole interval; secondly, by its effects on the manners, customs, and language of the different states, as described by American writers, and attributed by them to that sole cause; thirdly, by sundry statistical documents of various kinds, all demonstrating the same fact; fourthly, by the very censuses of the United States, which, it is proved, could not otherwise contain the facts which they exhibit, especially those striking deviations from the laws of nature, regarding the proportion of the sexes, and the rate of mortality, which they manifest throughout. The great effect which a certain, and relatively small, number of adults, proceeding to a community and marrying there, naturally has upon its increase, is computed; and, in conclusion, it is calculated, even on the admission of those who have confidently pronounced Emigration to be "immaterial," that its effect, according to their own admission, would ac count for the greater part of the entire increase that has taken place in that country.

Respecting China-the empire in which we have been long instruct ed to believe that the Principle of Population has finally produced those evils which are asserted to be its inevitable consequence-the fallacies put forth as to the number of its inhabitants, and their condition, are fully exposed, and the deductions of the anti-populationists consequently overturned. This Book consists of eighteen chapters.

In the Third Book, the numerous fundamental errors in those calculations on which the system has chiefly relied is exhibited, and a series of mistakes exposed, which Mr Sadler says he believes have been but rarely paralleled, at least in works professedly scientific, and, in his opinion, fatal to the whole theory. The fundamental error of Mr Malthus, that the number of marriages is regulated by the number of deaths, and in a direct, if not indeed exact, proportion to them, is disproved by a series of tables, relating to the

several countries where the necessary facts have been collected; and especially by those respecting England, which, during the last forty years, have been given annually in the Censuses. It is afterwards shewn also, by other tables, that periods of comparative scarcity are constantly those of greater, and not, as asserted, of less prolificness. And proofs are given, derived both from the lower and elevated classes of society, that the preventive check, as far as the postponement of marriages, to the utmost extent which the advocates of such an expedient dare propose, would not have the effect they contemplate, but the contrary one-as such a postponement, were it possible, would increase the number of the births, and diminish the proportion of the deaths, of the children resulting from the marriages so postponed. It consists of eighteen chap

ters.

The Fourth Book is devoted to the developement and demonstration of an essentially different Principle of Population, established by references to every national register of human existence which has hitherto been published in any part of the world, and are in perfect unison with the nature, interests, and duties of mankind, under all possible circumstances of society. To this is added a Dissertation on the Balance of Food and Numbers throughout animated nature, which still farther illustrates and extends the Principle of Reproduction in human beings, as enunciated and proved throughout the Treatise. Of this Dissertation we gave an account some time ago-accompanied with many long extracts, in which there breathed the finest spirit of religion and philosophy, and of which the eloquence is equal to that of any prose composition of our age. None of our readers can have forgotten them -none, we are sure, will dissent from our judgment of their merits. The Fourth Book consists of twentyfour chapters.

The Treatise will be concluded by two other books-Fifth and Sixthnot yet published. The Fifth will comprise an examination of different countries of the world, in reference to the principles at issue; and in which it will be shewn, contrary to

the position maintained in the prevailing theory, that as the population of each has increased, the general prosperity has been still more advanced, and that a corresponding improvement has taken place in regard to the moral and intellectual character of the species. It will also be shewn that no country upon earth contains at present any thing approaching to the number of inhabitants for which nature has evidently contemplated to provide. The last Book will consist chiefly of deductions from the Law of Population thus established, touching the rights, interests, and duties of mankind; wherein will be discussed several

important principles of Political Philosophy, in reference, especially, to our own country. In conclusion, a view will be taken of the future progress and improvement of society, as suggested by the preceding principles, and which reason and religion warrant us in anticipating.

We have adopted the simplest way of letting our readers know the aim of Mr Sadler, in his great-his stupendous Work; for it is no less, whether we consider the vast range of his enquiries, or the consummate talent by which they are all conducted. To review such a Work, to any purpose, would require many long articles-many more, we fear, than we may be able to find room for, according to the plan and character of this Magazine. Yet, most assuredly, we shall do all we can to make our readers acquainted with its leading principles, and with some of the many thousand proofs by which they are established. Not now, however; at present we have an easier taskto vindicate this noble Work from one of the basest attacks ever made by ignorance and folly on learning and wisdom. But before coming to the caitiff, a few words of Mr Sadler, and of the conduct towards him of some other critics of a better kindcritics to whose talents and integrity, though we differ from them in many, perhaps most, great political questions, we have never withheld our testimony.

The great abilities of this remarkable man were known to us, and to thousands, before he entered Parliament. There he at once took his place in the highest order of speakers-and

of the Globe, Morning Chronicle, Spectator, and Examiner, after their first fall, shook their heads, and knew not what to make of it-muttered some incoherent sentences about long tables and intricate calculations, and thenceforward were mute.

""Twas pitiful-'twas wondrous pitiful"-for, men of talents like these, and men devoted, if you believe them, to economical science, in the pure love of truth, were bound, and ought to have been impelled, to sift the tables and calculations thoroughly in the fanners-and if there was nothing but chaff, the winds would have winnowed it away, and Mr Sadler stood before the public a convicted impostor. Instead of acting thus, a few paragraphs were all these scribes indited upon, and almost all against, a Treatise, on a subject of paramount importance, consisting of upwards of thirteen hundred pages; and whatever these scribes may think, or pretend to think, of the principle it propounds, discussing all the questions in political economy, which the consideration of such a subject embraces, and thus affording opportunities without end of convicting the author of ignorance or error, if ignorant and erroneous his speculations were, sophistical the reasonings, and false the facts by which they were supported,

there, now that Brougham and Huskisson are gone, we know not who is his equal-either in eloquence, talent, or information. His two speeches on the Catholic Question proved him an orator. And he has never spoken in the House since, without his power being felt, although he has not put it forth again in the same splendour with which he opened his career. So much the better that he has not-for genius like his seeks not for occasions of display, but waits till they cometill great questions arise that demand it. Such questions are now about to be debated, and on these he will bring his great powers to bearwe shall hear the voice of Sadler, we trust, above those of many would-be statesmen, on Parliamentary Reform. That he appeared in public life as a Tory, an antiCatholic, an anti-Revolutionist, and an enemy to that disastrous mercantile system misnamed Free-Trade, was sufficient to bring upon him, at once, the abuse of a great part of the press. Whigs, republicans, radicals, all regarded him with sincere fear, and hypocritical scorn; and from all their enginery, paperpellets were showered on the member for Newark. But they all bounded off his shining shield like hailstones from crystal as hard as bright -and many-most of the clumsy crew, finding that they could make no impression, dropped away sullenly from the assault. A sulky sneer is almost all they now venture on-and their severest sarcasm is the epithet eloquent applied to him in italics, a sarcasm which sometimes escapes through the fingers of the compositor. His great work on the Law of Population, to these gentry proved a stumbling-block. They approached it with an air of mixed caution and insolence not a little ludicrous; and "into such strange vagaries fell as they would dance;" but one and all staggered over it to their discomfiture, and on recovering their feet, walked away in an opposite direction, with a few angry imprecations, not altogether uninspired by a sense of their own stupidity, for having needlessly got into a scrape which it required merely common sense to have avoided. Even such intelligent persons as the political economists

the utmost reach to which their candour could be stretched, was to acknowledge that Mr Sadler was a man of some industry-that here and there he made a few good observations on practical matters-and that he evidently meant well though he did not know how to set about it, being an amiable person, but of ordinary abilities. Then the style of the Treatise was too declamatorytoo rhetorical-too poetical-which being interpreted, means, that Mr Sadler is not as dry as Mill, nor as dull as M'Culloch.

Against such a work written by such a man, who at length" insupportably his foot advanced" in the Edinburgh Review? Who is the Harapath sent against Samson ? But Sadler, though a Samson, is not a blind one-nor has he been captived by the Philistines. It behoved Harapath, therefore, to come on cautiously, and to know the use of his "weaver's beam." But instead of a giant, lo! a dwarf! And instead of a

"weaver's beam," lo! a rotten staff, or rather a" frush saugh-wan'," that, at the very first attempted blow, caught on Samson's fore-arm, flies into flinders, and leaves the little Cockney-champion at the mercy of one, whose contempt, strong as it is, does not save the anility from annihilation.

To be plain, the Edinburgh Reviewers, ever since Mr Sadler's first effulgence in Parliament, have been the chief sneerers. A dozen times, at least, has his name been sibilated through the teeth of these serpents, whose hiss, however, is worse than their bite. The old fangs have expended all their poison, and the reptiles keep merely mumbling the hand they seek to sting. When these writers are at their severest, they link together the names of Sadler and Southey; thinking that, by

"Apt alliteration's artful aid," they expose these two distinguished persons to public derision. But the Public-of late unusually pensive has lost her wonted relish for impertinence, and merely whispers in an under tone to a friend-perhaps Christopher North-" Chastise these Cockneys!" and they are chastised. In their " pride of place," these high-born and high-bred gentlemen think it excessively absurd, that a Leeds manufacturer should be a Member of Parliament, and the author of a Treatise on the Law of Population. They have expressed their astonishment-nay their anger-that a "manufacturer of linens" should become a "manufacturer of speeches" -a sentiment which, we presume, was submitted in foul sheet to the Warden of the University of London for his imprimatur. The ablest writer in the Edinburgh Review on Political Economy, and who, we believe, has frequently in this sort of spirit sneered at Mr Sadler, was not very many years ago a common day labourer, and might have been seen digging and ditching, if not with much skill or alacrity, at least with that dogged perseverance, for which, more than by any higher quality, he is still distinguished. To his honour, let such useful labours be here recorded; but to his dishonour, be it likewise here recorded, that his elevation from a peasant's to a profes

sor's chair, (and a peasant's chair was his, though now he be the proprietor of a small hereditary farm, on which may the sun shine brightly, and the dews softly descend,) has not been accompanied by suitable elevation of moral feeling, else had he, who once earned his bread by the sweat, not as now of his brains, but of his browand perhaps the bread so won was as well-baked as that he now eatsscorned all alliance with the scorners of honest and honourable industry, far more abhorred the suspicion of being himself the bitterest among them, and moved inwardly about the midriff by the droll idea of a Leeds linen-manufacturer being able absolutely to make a speech in the London House of Commons, forgetful how much droller to him should be the idea of himself, now absolutely a professor of political economy in the University of London, in days of yore professing but to break stones on the highway, or to heap up the highway-mire in small dirt-cocks, till the dung-waggon came by, and rumbled away with the manure to fields about to rejoice in the ethereal spirit of the spring.

Now, for Professor M'Culloch we have no little respect. True, that he is still a very vulgar person,—indeed the most so of any man we can charge our memory with,-sometimes in his writings quite brutal. His native coarseness seems not to admit of any refinement-it won't polish. But we respect him for his abilities, and for that strength of character which, in untoward circumstances, supported him through a considerable education, till ultimately he became entitled by mind, though not by manners, to "sit at good men's feasts," and associate with persons in a condition of life far above what his own once was, but not much above that to which he has been raised chiefly by his own merits. For Mr Sadler, too, we entertain no little-nay, the greatest respect, even although he still is, we believe, what he has long been, a "manufacturer of linens." More fortunate than Mr M'Culloch, in early life it was his lot to receive a finished education, and to live from boyhood to the present hour among a class of persons whom we cannot help calling, whatever the Edinburgh Review may say, gentlemen. In the