MALTHUS, Thomas Robert, was born in 1766, at the Rookery, in the county of Surrey, a small but beautiful estate, at that time in the possession of his family. His father, Daniel Malthus, was a gentleman of good family and independent fortune, attached to a country life, and much occupied in classical and philosophical pursuits, with a strong bias towards foreign literature. He was the friend and correspondent of Rousseau, and ultimately one of his executors; his habits and manners were retired, and his character singularly unostentatious; and he was the author of several works which appear to have succeeded in their day, though he never could be persuaded to acknowledge them. Robert Malthus was the second son of this gentleman; and in early life he gave so good promise, in respect both of character and abilities, that his father undertook the conduct of his education, directed his youthful studies, and, in order to form his habits and dispositions, entered into all the details of his pleasures and amusements. At what school his earlier years were passed does not appear; but, whether from accidental circumstances, or from the peculiar opinions entertained by his father on the subject of education, he was never sent to any public seminary; and hence he is one amongst many remarkable instances, of men who have risen into eminence under the disadvantage of an irregular and desultory education. From the age of nine or ten, until the time of his admission at Cambridge, with the exception of a short period which he spent at Warrington, he remained under private tuition, and was sometimes a solitary pupil in the house of his tutor. But it must be allowed that his instructors were men of no common stamp; for, besides his father, whose watchful vigilance never relaxed, one of them was Richard Graves, author of the Spiritual Quixote; and the other, Gilbert Wakefield, a scholar, politician, and divine, the editor of several ancient works, and the classical correspondent of Mr Fox, but a man wild, restless, and paradoxical in many of his opinions, a prompt and hardy disputant, and, unhappily for himself, deeply involved in several of those fierce controversies to which the French Revolution had given birth.

Ί hat a youth like Robert Malthus, naturally sensitive and intelligent, could not be brought into frequent contact with men of such qualities and attainments, without deriving great advantages, and incurring some danger, from intercourse with them, may be easily believed. But whilst he reaped the former, his natural good sense and early habits of observation happily protected him from the latter. He was not of a temper or disposition readily to mould his own character or opinions upon those of the first person into whose society he might be accidentally thrown. From an early period of life he began to judge for himself, even in matters relating to his education, and in this respect, as well as in others, showed in how short a time a fund of useful experience may be laid up by an intelligent and discerning mind, thrown upon its own resources, and confident of its own energies. In looking back to this period of his life, it is instructive to observe the singular discretion with which he appears to have steered his course amidst the critical circumstances which surrounded him; how much in the formation of his character was due to influences which were never taken into account; and how few marks and signs it bore, when grown to maturity, of the scenes amidst which his early days had been passed. More than one instance occurred in which the advice of the father was successfully combated by the superior discretion of the son. Nor was the moral influence of his instructors in any respect more decisive. He left [7:14:68]the house of Mr Graves, indeed, before any lasting impressions were likely to have been made on his mind; but although he remained with Mr Gilbert Wakefield until his admission at college, and always upon the kindest terms, there seems to have been no great community of sentiment or opinion between the master and pupil; their characters were altogether different, nor was there anything in the truly catholic spirit of Mr Malthus which could be traced to his training in that sectarian school. At the same time, it would be unjust to the memory of his father to deny that he was more indebted to this excellent parent than to any other instructor, not so much for any knowledge directly conveyed, as for the opportunities which their intimacy afforded, of stimulating the faculties of his mind, encouraging him to think for himself, and implanting in him that love of truth and independence of spirit which were ever afterwards the distinguishing attributes of his character. Specimens of this happy intercourse of mutual good feeling, and of amicable and frank discussion, may be found in the correspondence between the father and the son, contained in the memoir of the latter, prefixed to the collected edition of his works.

In 1784, young Malthus was removed from Mr Wakefield’s house to Jesus College, Cambridge, where he was admitted on the recommendation of that gentleman, formerly a fellow of the society. At this period he was distinguished for gentlemanly deportment, polished manners, and a degree of temperance and prudence which he carried even into his academical pursuits; and he was always more remarkable for the steadiness than for the ardour of his application, preferring to exercise his mind equably in the various departments of literature cultivated in the college, rather than to devote it exclusively to any one in particular, and actuated more by the love of excellence than by the ambition of excelling. But notwithstanding this moderation, there was nothing that he attempted in which he did not arrive at some distinction. He obtained prizes for declamations both in Latin and in English. He was considered as amongst the foremost in the classical lecture-room, and on taking his degree in 1788, his name appeared in the Tripos as the ninth wrangler. He also found time for the cultivation of history and general literature, particularly poetry, of which he was always a warm admirer and a discerning judge. In 1797 he took his master’s degree, and was made fellow of his college; and having about the same time entered into holy orders, he undertook the cure of a small parish in Surrey, near to his father’s house; but he occasionally resided in Cambridge on his fellowship, for the purpose of pursuing with more advantage the course of study to which he was attached.

His first attempt as a writer was a pamphlet entitled The Crisis, which he left in manuscript, having at his father’s request judiciously refrained from printing it. It was written about the year 1797, and the chief object of the writer was to impugn the measures and general government of Mr Pitt. In 1798 appeared his first printed work, being an Essay on the Principle of Population as it affects the Future Improvement of Society, with Remarks on the Speculations of Mr Godwin, Μ. Condorcet, and other writers, in one volume octavo. In this production, the general principle of population which Wallace, Hume, and others, had very distinctly enunciated before him, though without foreseeing the consequences which might be deduced from it, was clearly expounded, and some of the important conclusions to which it leads, in regard to the probable improvement of society, were likewise stated and explained; but his documents and illustrations were still imperfect, and he himself was yet scarcely aware of the whole extent and bearings of the subject. The book, however, was received with some surprise, and excited considerable attention, as an attempt to overturn the theory of political optimism, and to refute, upon philosophical principles, the speculations then so much in vogue as to the indefinite perfectibility of human institutions. But whilst the minds of the generality were in a state of suspense between these conflicting doctrines, the author left the country in search of materials to complete the exposition of his great and fundamental principle.

In 1799, he sailed for Hamburg, along with three other members of his college, of whom Dr Edward Daniel Clarke was one. The party separated in Sweden, and Dr Clarke, accompanied by Mr Cripps, proceeded rapidly to the north, whilst Mr Malthus and Mr Otter continued leisurely their tour through Sweden, Norway, Finland, and part of Russia, the only countries at that time open to English travellers. Of this tour he has left other memorials besides those embodied in his own work, and amongst these may be mentioned the valuable notes which have since served to enrich the last volume of Dr Clarke’s Travels. During the short peace of Amiens, he again left England, and, along with some of his relations, visited France and Switzerland; exploring all that was most interesting in these countries, and continuing, wherever he went, to collect facts and documents for the illustration of the principle he had announced, and the completion of his work. In 1805, he married Harriet, eldest daughter of Mr Eckersall of Bath, and was soon afterwards appointed to the professorship of modern history and political economy at Haileybury, a situation in which he remained until his death. In 1825, he had the misfortune to lose a beloved and affectionate daughter, who was carried off in the bloom of youth by a rapid decline; he bore this affliction, however, with his usual resignation, but, for the sake of Mrs Malthus, who felt her loss most acutely, he made a short tour on the Continent, whence he returned in autumn to resume his ordinary functions at Haileybury.

It has sometimes been insinuated, with a view to depreciate the merits of Mr Malthus as an original writer, that he was indebted to his father for those new views of population which first appeared in the essay already noticed, and which subsequently attracted so much attention. For this surmise, however, there appears to have been no foundation whatever. That the mind of Mr Malthus was set to work upon the subject of population in consequence of frequent discussions between his father and himselfi he has fully admitted; but no two individuals ever entertained opinions more opposite, or differed more completely, respecting the very principle which the one is alleged to have suggested to the other. Daniel Malthus, a man of romantic and somewhat sanguine temper, had warmly espoused the doctrines of Condorcet and Godwin concerning the perfectibility of man, to which the sound, practical sense of his son was always opposed; and when the question had often been the subject of animated discussion between them, and the latter had rested his cause principally upon the obstacles which the tendency of population to increase faster than the means of subsistence would always throw in the way, he was desired by his father to put down in writing, for more mature consideration, the substance of his argument. He complied with this request, and the consequence was the Essay on Population, which his father, impressed with the importance of the views, and the ingenuity of the arguments, recommended him to submit to the public. Such is the substance of Mr Malthus’s own statement, which appears to be completely borne out by circumstances of real evidence. In the octavo volume, the main object being the refutation of Condorcet and Godwin, it is against them that his arguments are throughout chiefly directed; whilst the chapter on the poor laws occupies a very subordinate portion of the work, and forms a branch of the subject into which he appears to have been involuntarily led, without any intention of pursuing it. But finding that the field into which he had thus entered was of infinitely greater interest[7:14:69] than that in which he had at first expatiated, he wisely continued his researches; and as the subject grew upon him, both in extent and importance, as he advanced, he insensibly gave to it the ascendency which it deserved. Hence, in the quarto volume which he published upon his return from the Continent, the order as well as the relative proportions of the matter is reversed; the state and prospects of the poor become the prominent feature, and occupy the principal portion of the book, whilst Mr Godwin and.the perfectibility of man are treated as matters of less moment, and restricted to much smaller dimensions. These facts furnish a key to many passages in the work, as well as to the form and the order in which they now appear; they show how one thought germinated out of another,^[1. Qual ramicel a ramo, Tai da pensier pensiero In lui germogliava. ] until the whole grew into the maturity of a goodly system; and they illustrate a profound observation of Dr Butler, who, speaking of Christianity, describes it as a scheme not yet entirely understood, but likely to be further developed as the knowledge of nature is extended. “For this is the way,” says he, “that all improvements are made, by thoughtful men tracing out obscure hints as it were dropped us by nature accidentally, or which seemed to come into our minds by chance. For all the same phenomena, and the same faculties of investigation, from which such great discoveries in natural knowledge have been made in the present and last age, were equally in the possession of mankind several thousand years before.”

The latter years of Mr Malthus’s life were passed in the society of his family, in the exercise of his ministerial and official duties at the college, and in the cultivation of the studies more immediately connected with them. In proportion as the principle of population became better known, his reputation increased. Most of the statesmen of his time, and all the eminent political economists, embraced his opinions, and, in their several departments, paved the way for that practical application of his principles, in regard to the poor laws, which has since taken place. Nor was this just appreciation of his labours confined to Great Britain. In fact, the principle he had established found in other countries fewer prejudices to encounter than in this, principally because the situation of the poor was almost everywhere else less critical. Hence he was honoured with distinctions from several sovereigns of Europe, and elected a member of the most eminent literary and scientific societies, particularly the National Institute of France, and the Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin. In his own country, he was one of the founders of the Political Economy Club, and also of the more recent institution called the Statistical Society; and he not only attended regularly the meetings of both, but took a prominent share in their discussions. He maintained a frequent correspondence with the most eminent political economists of the day, both at home and abroad; and he neglected no opportunity which offered to contribute towards the advancement of that science which he had so successfully cultivated. But, whilst engaged in these useful and honourable pursuits, his career was unexpectedly terminated by death. He had just entered his seventieth year when he was attacked by the disorder which proved fatal to him. A few days before his death he left London for Bath, on a visit to his father-in-law, being in good spirits, and apparently in vigorous health, anticipating a cheerful Christmas with his children, and other members of his family, who had been invited to meet him. But Providence had ordered it otherwise. Soon after his arrival he was seized with an affection of the heart, which in a few days hurried him to the grave. His death was totally unexpected by his friends, perhaps also by himself, but he retained the full possession of his faculties to the last.

On the character of Mr Malthus as an author, in which, of course, he stands most prominent, it is not necessary for us to enlarge here. His principal work has been long known, not only in this country, but in almost every other; and the judgment generally pronounced upon it by intelligent and unprejudiced men has been such as to satisfy his warmest friends. We are perfectly aware of the different opinions which have been formed of this Essay, and of the calumnies with which the author was assailed. We know that coldness, harshness, and even cruelty, have frequently been imputed to him, and that a deliberate design of degrading the poor has been charged against the author of a work whose sole motive and object was to increase their comforts, and raise their moral and intellectual condition. But, on the other hand, the most reflecting and cultivated minds in this, as well as in other countries, have adopted and approved both the principles and the reasoning of this work, whilst its opponents have, with few exceptions, been persons who had either not read it at all, or who had grossly misconceived its object and tendency; and, what is of still more importance, its doctrines are now being put to the test of a great legislative experiment, with every prospect of the happiest success. 1hat the view which Mr Malthus took of the principle of population is a gloomy one, need not be disputed; and that his illustrations of this principle, when considered by themselves, are perhaps too exclusively physical, may also be admitted; but, to form an accurate judgment of the work, the different portions of it must be interpreted in connection with one another, and also with a special reference to the circumstances of the times, the condition of society, and the opinions which have obtained amongst philosophers and political economists. In writing on a new and difficult subject, Mr Malthus took the phenomena as he found them; and in endeavouring to discover a general principle by which they might be connected and explained, with reference to practical results, he never once thought that he was encroaching on the province of the moralist and the divine, far less bringing into question the superintending agency of that Providence by which all things are ultimately made to work together for good.

In consequence of his professional engagement at the East India College, the studies of Mr Malthus were, during many of his later years, chiefly directed to political economy, and, in accordance with the turn which the subject had taken, to the discussion of certain subtile and controverted points of the science, in which an unavoidable ambiguity of language has added to the natural obscurity of the subject, and thus increased the difficulty of arriving at a clear understanding of the questions in dispute. Amongst these may be mentioned the controversies as to the measure of value, the excess of commodities, the true theory of rent, and some others, on all which his opinions and views are entitled to the most careful consideration. In this field, indeed, embracing as it does the transcendental and esoteric doctrines of the science, Mr Malthus deserves to be classed with the most distinguished of his fellow-labourers; and it is proper to add, that his Theory of Rent, which was always spoken of in the highest terms by the late Mr Ricardo, displays a degree of refined ingenuity which has never perhaps been surpassed, and evolves a discovery, the importance of which can only be duly estimated by those who are fully aware of the uncertainty in which the subject was previously involved, as well as of the revolution which it may be said [7:14:70]to have effected in the whole science of political economy. But, after all, it is not upon his success in this department, in which he must be content to divide with others the honour of discovery, but upon his Essay on the Principle of Population, that his reputation, as a bold and original thinker, must finally rest. The latter work forms the solid pedestal of his renown, and, notwithstanding all that his adversaries have alleged, we are satisfied that it is too firmly fixed ever to be shaken, far less destroyed.

The following is a list of his works in the order in which they were published, viz. 1. An Essay on the Principle of Population, as it affects the Future Improvement of Society, with Remarks on the Speculations of Mr Godwin, Μ. Condorcet, and other writers, 1798; 2. An Investigation of the cause of the present High Price of Provisions, containing an Illustration of the Nature and Limits of Fair Price in time of Scarcity, and its Application to the particular circumstances of this Country, 3d edit. 1800; 3. An Essay on the Principle of Population, or a View of its past and present Effects on Human Happiness, with an Inquiry into our prospects concerning the future removal or mitigation of the evils which it occasions (a new edition, very much enlarged), 1803; 4. A Letter to Samuel Whitbread on his Proposed Bill for the Amendment of the Poor Laws, 1807; 5. A Letter to Lord Grenville, occasioned by some Observations of his Lordship on the East India Company’s Establishment for the Education of their Civil Servants, 1813; 6. Observations on the Effects of the Corn Laws, and of a Rise or Fall in the Price of Corn on the Agriculture and General Wealth of the Country, 1814, 3d edit. 1815; 7. The Grounds of an Opinion on the Policy of restricting the Importation of horeign Corn, intended as an Appendix to the Observations on the· Corn Laws, 1815; 8. An Inquiry into the Nature and Progress of Rent, and the Principles by which it is regulated, 1815; 9. Statements respecting the East India College, with an Appeal to Facts in Refutation of the Charges lately brought against it in the Court of Proprietors, 1817; 10. Principles of Political Economy considered, with a view to their practical Application, 1820, 2d edit. 1836; 11. Measure of Value stated and illustrated, with an Application of it to the Alteration in the Value of the English Currency since 1790, 1823; 12. Definitions in Political Economy, preceded by an Inquiry into the Rides which ought to guide Political Economists in the Definition and Use of their Terms, 1827; 13. A View of the Principle of Population, written for the Supplement to the fourth, fifth, and sixth editions of this work, (a.)