THE WEALTH OF NATIONS.

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seems always to weaken, and frequently to destroy altogether,the powers of generation.

But po\ rty, though it does not prevent the generation, isextremely unfavourable to the rearing of children. The ten-der plant is produced, but in so cold a soil, and so severe aclimate, soon withers and dies. It is not uncommon, I havebeen frequently told, in the Highlands of Scotland , fora mo-ther who has borne twenty children not to have two alive.Several officers of great experience have assured ine, that sofar from recruiting their regiment, they have never been ableto supply it with drums and fifes from all the soldiers’ childrenthat were born in it. A greater number of fine children, how-ever, is seldom seen any where than about a barrack of sol-diers. Very few of them, it seems, arrive at the age of thir-teen or fourteen. In some places one half the children borndie before they are four years of age; in many places beforethey are seven; and in almost all places before they are nineor ten. This great mortality, however, will everywhere befound chiefly among the children of the common people, whocannot afford to tend them with the same care as those of bet-ter station. Though their marriages are generally morefruitful than those of people ol‘ fashion, a smaller proportion oftheir children arrive at maturity. In foundling hospitals, andamong the children brought up by parish charities, the mor-tality is still greater than among those of the common people.

Every species of animals naturally multiplies in proportionto the means of their subsistence, and no species can evermultiply beyond it. But in civilized society it is only amongthe inferior ranks of people that the scantiness of subsistencecan set limits to the further multiplication of the human spe-cies; and it can do so in other way than by destroying a greatpart of the children which their fruitful marriages produce.

The liberal reward of labour, by enabling them to providebetter for their children, and consequently to bring up agreater number, naturally tends to widen and extend thoselimits. It deserves to be remarked too, that it necessarilydoes this as nearly as possible in the proportion which thedemand for labour requires. If this demand is continuallyincreasing, the reward of labour must necessarily encouragein such a manner the marriage and multiplication of labourers,as may enable them to supply that continually increasingdemand by a continually increasing population. If the re-ward should at any time be less than what was requisite for