Page:An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798).djvu/245

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PRINCIPLE OF POPULATION.
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CHAP. XII.

Mr. Godwin's conjecture concerning the indefinite prolongation of human life.—Improper inference drawn from the effects of mental stimulants on the human frame, illustrated in various instances.—Conjectures not founded on any indications in the past, not to be considered as philosophical conjectures.—Mr. Godwin's and Mr. Condorcet's conjecture respecting the approach of man towards immortality on earth, a curious instance of the inconsistency of scepticism.

Mr. Godwin's conjecture respecting the future approach of man towards immortality on earth. seems to be rather oddly placed in a chapter, which professes to remove the objection to his system of equality from the principle of population. Unless he supposes the passion between the sexes to decrease faster, than the duration of life increases, the earth would be more encumbered than ever. But leaving this difficulty to Mr. God-win,