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46 justly alleged, that the measure was prudent, but the event unlucky: and it would be difficult, to distinguish from the rest, those cases in which the like excuse might not be urged with equal justice.

It is convenient, here, to distinguish between the motives and the disposition to prudence. By the motives, I mean circumstances external to the minds of the individuals, operating from without upon the reasoning faculty, and furnishing the considerations and grounds upon which they determine to be prudent. By the disposition, I mean something internal to the mind itself, namely, the strength of the reasoning faculty, combined with the degree of self-command possessed by the individuals, and their consequent sensibility to prudential considerations. Supposing now a necessity for a limitation of the number of births, that is, for the preventive check, to exist, it is evident that the dictates of this necessity will be attended to, in proportion, jointly to the motives for prudence which the constitution of the society suggests to the individuals composing it, and to their sensibility to prudential considerations. The