accomplish either good or bad results, will be its value, if
wisely improved.

It is not to be denied that this view of the subject is in favor of
_early_ marriage. And I can truly say, indeed, that every thing
considered, early marriage does appear to me highly desirable. And it
would require stronger arguments than any which I have yet seen
adduced, even by some of our political economists, to make me surrender
this opinion.

The only serious objection, of a popular kind, to early marriage,
arises from the difficulty of supporting a family. But the parties
themselves must be supported at all events, whether married or single.
'But the consequences'--And what are the consequences? An _earlier_
family, indeed; but not of necessity a larger. I believe that facts
will bear me out in stating that the sum total of the progeny of every
thousand families who commence at from twenty-five to thirty, is as
great as that of one thousand who begin at from twenty to twenty-five.
I have even seen pretty large families where the eldest was thirty-five
years younger than both the parents; and one or two instances of
numerous families where marriage did not take place till the age of
forty. Physiologists have long observed this singular fact, and it has
sometimes been explained by saying, if indeed it be an explanation,
that Nature, in these cases, unwilling to be cheated out of her rights,
endeavors to make up in energy and activity what has been lost in time.

The question, however, will recur, whether families, though equally
large, cannot be better maintained when marriage is deferred to a later
period. And it certainly is a question of immense importance; For
nothing is more painful than to see large families, whose parents,
whether young or more advanced, have not the means of educating them
properly. It is also not a little painful to find instances of poverty
so extreme that there is absolute suffering, for want of food and
clothing.

But the question must be determined by facts. And it would be greatly
aiding the cause of humanity if extensive comparisons were made between
the pecuniary condition of those who marry early and those who defer
the subject to a later period. But from my own limited observation I am
fully of opinion that the result of the comparison would be greatly in
favor of early marriages. Should this prove to be true, the position
which I have assumed is, I think, established; for it appears to me
that n