in itself, has
that relation to the other which belongs to the divisions of a whole, in
which all things are so interblended and harmonious as to produce a
cumulative and finally perfect effect; while in the various systems
presented to us by Europe, every part is in conflict with every other.

In denying Mr. Ricardo's _theory of the occupation of the earth_, Mr.
Carey did not undertake to present any by himself, but this he has done
in his more recent performance, The Past, the Present and the Future,
published in Philadelphia in 1848. In this original and masterly
composition, he has shown that the law is in direct opposition to the
principle announced by Mr. Ricardo, and since adopted in the English
school, and to some extent in France and in this country. In the infancy
of civilization, man is poor and works with poor machinery, and must
take the high and poor soils requiring little clearing and no drainage;
and it is only as population and wealth increase, that the richer soils
are brought into cultivation. The consequence is, that in obedience to a
great law of nature, _food tends to increase more rapidly than
population_, and it is only by that combination of effort which results
from increasing density of population that the richer soils can be
brought into activity. The truth of this is shown by a careful and
particular account of the settlement of this country, followed by a
rapid sketch of the occupation of Mexico, the West Indies, South
America, Great Britain, France, Italy, Greece, India, and the Islands of
the Pacific, illustrating and confirming the position that the poor
lands at the heads of streams, or the small and rocky islands, are first
chosen for cultivation, while the lower and richer soils are left
unimproved for want of the means which come with growing wealth and
population. Mr. Ricardo's theory is then examined in all its parts, and
shown to be entirely opposed to the whole mass of facts presented in a
rapid review of the course of events in the different portions of the
world, while the exceptions made by him for the purpose of providing for
the infinite number that could not be brought under his general law, are
shown to be _themselves the law_; and that such is the case is now
admitted by some of the most eminent economists of Europe.

With the downfall of Mr. Ricardo's hypothesis of the occupation of land,
disappears the base on which rests the celebrated theory of Mr.
Malthus--a theory