“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created He him, male and female created He them, and God blessed them and God said unto them, ’Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth.’”—­(Genesis i., 27-28).  This commandment was repeated to Noah and his sons.

Whether Moses was recording the voice of God, or interpreting a physiological law is immaterial to this aspect of a great social question.  The fact remains that in obedience to a great law of life, all living things are fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, and multiplication in a state of nature is limited only by space and food.

In a state of nature, reproduction is automatic, and only in this state is this physiological law, or this divine command obeyed.

The reason of man intervenes, and interprets, and modifies this law.

A community of men becomes a social organism, calls itself a State, and limits the law of reproduction.  It decrees that the sexes shall, if they pair, isolate themselves in pairs, and live in pairs whether inclined to so live or not.

If the State has a right so to interpret and limit the law of reproduction, a principle in human affairs is established, and its decree that individuals shall not mate before a certain age, or not mate at all, is only a further application of the same principle.  By the law of reproduction a strong instinct, second only in force and universality to the law of self-preservation, is planted in the sexes, and upon a blind obedience to this force, the continuity of the race depends.

The tendency in the races of history has been to over-population, or to a population beyond the food supply, and there is probably no race known to history that did not at some one period of its rise or fall suffer from over-population.

States have mostly been concerned, therefore, with restraining or inhibiting the natural reproductive instinct of their subjects through marriage laws which protect the State, by fixing paternal responsibility.  There were strong reasons why a State should not be over-populated, and only one reason why it should not be under-populated.  That one reason was the danger of annihilation from invasion.

Sparta was said to have suffered thus, because of under-population, and passed a law encouraging large families.  Alexander encouraged his soldiers to intermarry with the women of conquered races, in order to diminish racial differences and antagonism, and Augustus framed laws for the discouragement of celibacy, but no law has ever been passed decreeing that individuals must mate, or if they do mate that they shall procreate.

Malthus, the great and good philanthropist of Harleybury, a great moralist and Christian clergyman, urged that it was people’s duty not to mate and procreate until they had reasonable hope of being able easily to rear, support, and educate the normal family of four, and, if that were impossible, not to mate at all.  As a Christian clergyman, Malthus did not interpret the Divine command apart from the consequences of its literal acceptance.